2018 Virginia QSO Party Rules
SPONSOR
Sponsored by the Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club, Call Box 599, Sterling, VA 20167.
OBJECTIVE
To promote amateur radio activity in the 95 Virginia Counties and 38 Virginia
Independent Cities.
DATES
Saturday, 17 March 1400 UTC - Sunday, 18 March 0400 UTC and Sunday, 18 March
1200 UTC - 2400 UTC.
(For
Virginians, this is Saturday 10 AM - 12 Midnight and Sunday 8 AM - 8 PM Virginia
local time.)
ENTRY CATEGORIES
Operator Categories
Single Operator - One person performs all operating and only one
transmitter may be on the air at a time.
Multi Operator / Single
Transmitter - Two or more
operators with one transmitter on the air at one time.
Multi Operator / Multi
Transmitter - Two or more
operators with two or more transmitters on the air at one time.
Station
Categories
Fixed Station
Mobile - Single or Multiple individuals operating Mobile under a single
call sign with only one transmitter on the air at a time. A mobile station is
self-contained and capable of legal motion (land, water or air) while
operating. Motion is optional, and discouraged, during operation.
Expedition - One or more operators of a station that moves between two or
more Virginia locations during the course of the contest. All equipment, power
supplies and antennas must be transported to each operating site.
Power
Categories
High (greater than 150 watts), Low (150 watts or less) and QRP (5 watts or
less)
Band Categories
Multi-Band or Single Band
Mode Categories
Phone, CW, Digital, and Mixed
Club Entry
Club - Minimum of three valid contest entries each indicating club affiliation.
VALID CONTACTS
Virginia stations work all stations. Out-of-State stations work Virginia stations only. Work fixed stations once per band/mode.
Work Virginia Expeditions and
Mobiles in each Virginia County or Independent City from which they operate.
Stations on County or Independent City lines count as one QSO and one
County/Independent City multiplier. Mobile and Expedition stations must
use appropriate suffix in call sign.
Satellite contacts allowed.
No cross-mode or repeater QSO's. Spotting nets, DX clusters, etc., may be used to locate other stations - no self-spotting permitted.
Logs with a significant number of QSOs with the same station will be categorized as check logs.
EXCHANGE
Exchange QSO number and QTH (Virginia County or Independent City for VA stations; State, Province or "DX" for others).
Virginia Mobile and
Expedition Stations log QSO's by Virginia Independent City or County of operation.
Identify all QSO's with
band/mode, sequential QSO number sent/received and date/time of contact in UTC.
Please follow standard
contest practices by making and responding to "CQ Virginia QSO Party"
calls.
Multiple Transmitter stations
may maintain sequential QSO numbers independently for each transmitter.
SCORING
QSO Points:
QSO's count 1 point per Phone, 2 points per CW, 2 points per digital mode
(RTTY, PSK31,etc.), and 3 points per contact made with a Virginia Mobile (Phone
or CW or Digital).
Multipliers:
Multipliers are only counted once, i.e., contacting the same Virginia County, Independent City, State, Province or Country using a different band or mode
counts only as a new QSO, not as a new multiplier.
Virginia Mobile, Expedition,
and Fixed Station multipliers are the total number of Virginia counties,
Virginia Independent cities, U. S. States (except Virginia), Canadian
Provinces, and DX entities. No extra DX multiplier for U.S. (including Alaska and Hawaii), Virginia, and Canada.
Mobile and Expedition stations that contact 10 (ten) or more
different stations while operating from a county or independent city may claim
it as a multiplier, if not otherwise worked.
Outside of Virginia station
multipliers are the total number of Virginia Counties (95) and Independent
Cities (38) worked.
Bonus
Points:
Virginia Mobile and Expedition stations receive a bonus of 100 additional
points for each Virginia County/ Independent City from which they log a valid
QSO.
Final
score:
Final score is the number of QSO Points multiplied by the number of
Multipliers plus Bonus Points.
FREQUENCIES
160 meters and up, except no WARC band QSO's permitted. Suggested frequencies:
CW - 1805
KHz and 50 KHz up from band edge on others.
PHONE -1845, 3860, 7260, 14270, 21370 and 28370 KHz.
Novice/Tech Plus - 10 KHz up from the edge of the CW band
and 28370 KHz on PHONE.
VHF - 50.130, 144.200 (CW & SSB), 146.580 and 223.50
MHz.
UHF - 446.00 MHz.
Digital contacts should use normally accepted sub-bands for
these modes.
ENTRIES
For award purposes, Fixed, Expedition, and Mobile operation will be considered
separately. Please submit separate logs for Fixed, Expedition, and Mobile operation.
Multiple operator stations should indicate all operators by call sign.
Electronic (preferred) or
paper logs, summary and dupe sheets (200 or more QSO's) are required for all
entries. The summary and 'dupe sheet' requirement is waived if recognized
contesting software is used. Paper forms are available at the contest web site.
For Club Competition
purposes, be sure to indicate club name on summary sheet and log.
Submit log entries by 15 April by mail to the VA QSO Party, Call Box 599, Sterling, VA 20167 or by email
to [email protected]. If you have problems, please send an email to
[email protected].
A $1.00 donation to help
defray the costs of printing and mailing is encouraged.
AWARDS
All participants submitting a log will receive a certificate.
The Plaques to be awarded are
identified on the contest web site.
INFORMATION
Additional information may be obtained by mail at VA QSO Party, Call Box 599,
Sterling, VA 20167; from the SPARC website www.qsl.net/sterling; or by
contacting Gordon, NQ4K, at [email protected].
Anticipated Plaques
Virginia Stations Only |
Virginia SO High Power |
Virginia SO Low Power |
Virginia SO Phone High Power |
Virginia SO Phone Low Power |
Virginia SO Phone/ Mixed QRP |
Virginia SO CW QRP |
Virginia Mobile Multiple Operator |
Virginia Mobile Single Operator |
Virginia Expedition |
Virginia Club - Combined Score |
Virginia Club - Virginia QSOs Only |
Multiple Operator Single Transmitter Station |
Multiple Operator Multiple Transmitter Station |
Virginia SO CW High Power |
Virginia SO CW Low Power |
Any Single Operator Station |
SO VHF Only |
SO Novice/Tech/Rookie |
SO Single Band |
SO Virginia Counties/ Independent Cities Contacted |
SO Digital Mode |
SO Youth (18 or younger) (Enter age in soapbox or on summary sheet) |
SO Young Adult (19-24) (Enter age in soapbox or on summary sheet) |
SO VA QSOs Only |
Single Operator stations Outside of Virginia |
Outside Virginia SO |
Outside Virginia Phone/ Mixed QRP |
Outside Virginia Single Operator CW QRP |
Single Operator DX station (outside US and Canada) |
DX Station |