The post below was from last October. So this weekend I tried to beat that performance. Mission accomplished, -- and a new "personal best". I was on the air for 31 hours of the last 48, and worked 82 countries this time.
I contacted 491 foreign ham radio operators (outside the continental US and Canada). The countries included: Morocco, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Aland Islands, Azores Islands, Balearic Islands, Cape Verde Islands, Canary Islands, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine, Kalingrad (Konigsberg), England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Austria, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Antigua-Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cuba, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, St Lucia, St. Maarten, Turks-Caicos Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Plus, I contacted Hawaii and Alaska (which in ham radio circles are considered different countries from the U.S.).
Nine more contacts, and I would have talked to 500 different hams around the world. I heard, and tried (and failed) to contact hams: South Africa, Namibia, Gambia, South Korea, Indonesia, Israel, Greece, Cyprus, Macedonia, San Salvador, Greenland, and Liberia.
So here's your challenge, should you decide to accept it. Can you think of a country in Europe or South American that's not listed above (or listed below)?
Surprisingly, I didn't work the following countries that I worked last October: Cyprus, El Salvador, Iceland, Panama, Sicily, Madeira Islands, St Kitts-Nevis, or Cueta-Melilla.
There were surprisingly large numbers of hams active in Brazil, Poland, Puerto Rico, Croatia, Cuba, Portugal, Spain, Serbia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Venezuela, and the Caribbean islands. And as expected, there were also many in Germany, France, the British Isles, and Mexico.
I "exercised" all three of my shortwave radios. My signal was just a tad less energy than a 100-watt lightbulb, and I used just a wire antenna (G5RV design) strung between two trees in the backyard.