The European ham population center is huge for contests. We need multipliers all around the world, but in terms of QSO points, a good signal to the northeast is really important.

Here is the breakdown by continent of my QSOs in the 2017 ARRL Int DX CW contest (730 QSOs total), with 67% of the contacts in Europe alone:

EU - 67%, NA - 15%, SA - 10%, AF - 3%, OC - 3%, AS - 1%.

The above breakdown is fairly typical for all DX contests that I have experienced from our location in the world.

When you look at an Azimuthal map from our QTH, the value of a great signal in the northeast direction is obvious. 45 degrees is about the sweet spot where the vast majority of the ham population lives!

Make sure you have a great pattern to the northeast! For dipole antennas, that means the ends of the wire should be NW / SE, so that the strongest radiation lobes, broadside to the antenna, are NE / SW!

It matters, big time!

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