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 39
Virginia Independent Cities.
Dates
March 18 - 20, 2006. Contest times are from 1800 UTC on Saturday,
March 18 through 0200 UTC on Monday, March 20.
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 single transmitter 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
QRP (5 watts or less) or High/Low (High and Low are one category)
Band Categories
Multi-Band or Single Band
Mode Categories
Phone (SSB/FM), CW, Digital (RTTY/PSK) and Mixed.
Club Entry
Club - Minimum of three valid contest entries each indicating club
affiliation.
Contest Rules
Virginia stations work all stations. Out-of-State stations work
Virginia stations only. Work fixed stations once per band/mode.
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. Work
Virginia Mobiles in each Virginia County or Independent City from which
they operate. Mobiles and Fixed stations on County or Independent City
lines count as one QSO and only one County/Independent City multiplier.
No cross-mode or repeater QSO's. Spotting nets, DX clusters, etc., may
be used to locate other stations - no self-spotting permitted. All
operators must observe the limits of their operator's license.
Exchange
Exchange QSO number and QTH (Virginia County or Independent City for VA
stations; State, Province or DX Country for others). Virginia Mobile
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'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).
Virginia Mobile and Fixed Stations multiply QSO points by the total
number of Virginia counties, Virginia Independent cities, U. S. States
(except Virginia), Canadian Provinces and DX Countries. No extra
DX multiplier for U.S. (including Alaska and Hawaii), Virginia, and
Canada. Mobile 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.
Virginia Mobiles receive a bonus of 100 additional points for each
Virginia County/Independent City from which they log a valid QSO.
Outside of Virginia stations, multiply QSO points by the total number
of Virginia Counties (95) and Independent Cities (39) worked to obtain
final score.
All stations add 500 bonus points for a contact with K4NVA the club
station of the Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club.
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
subbands for these modes. All frequencies plus or minus QRM and nets.
Entries
For award purposes, Fixed and Mobile operation will be considered
separately. Please submit separate logs for Fixed and Mobile operation.
Multiple operator stations should indicate all operators by name and
call sign.
Electronic (preferred) or paper logs, summary and dupe sheets (200 or
more QSO's) are required for all entries. The 'dupe sheet' requirement
is waived if recognized contesting software is used. Summary sheets are
available at the contest web site. Contestants using computer logging
and reporting software are required to verify scoring and duping to
ensure contest rules have been followed.
For Club Competition purposes, be sure to indicate club name on summary
sheet and log.
Submit entires by April 15, 2006 by mail to the VA QSO Party, Call Box
599, Sterling, VA 20167 or by 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.
Contest Web site:
http://www.qsl.net/sterling/VA_QSO_Party/QSOParty.htm
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].