  In the colliding-wind region of massive binaries, non-thermal radio emission
occurs. This non-thermal radio emission (due to synchrotron radiation) has so
far been observed at centimetre wavelengths. At millimetre wavelengths, the
stellar winds and the colliding-wind region emit more thermal free-free
radiation, and it is expected that any non-thermal contribution will be
difficult or impossible to detect. We aim to determine if the material in the
colliding-wind region contributes substantially to the observed millimetre
fluxes of a colliding-wind binary. We also try to distinguish the synchrotron
emission from the free-free emission. We monitored the massive binary Cyg OB2
#8A at 3 mm with the NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array (NOEMA) interferometer
of the Institut de Radioastronomie Millimetrique (IRAM). The data were
collected in 14 separate observing runs (in 2014 and 2016), and provide good
coverage of the orbital period. The observed millimetre fluxes range between
1.1 and 2.3 mJy, and show phase-locked variability, clearly indicating that a
large part of the emission is due to the colliding-wind region. A simple
synchrotron model gives fluxes with the correct order of magnitude, but with a
maximum that is phase-shifted with respect to the observations. Qualitatively
this phase shift can be explained by our neglect of orbital motion on the shape
of the colliding-wind region. A model using only free-free emission results in
only a slightly worse explanation of the observations. Additionally, on the map
of our observations we also detect the O6.5 III star Cyg OB2 #8B, for which we
determine a 3 mm flux of 0.21 +- 0.033 mJy. The question of whether synchrotron
radiation or free-free emission dominates the millimetre fluxes of Cyg OB2 #8A
remains open. More detailed modelling of this system, based on solving the
hydrodynamical equations, is required to give a definite answer.
