Frequency
Asked Questions
This FAQ answers some frequently asked
questions that are not covered in the Rules or in the Pre-Party briefing.
Youth Plaque. The USS Wisconsin Amateur Radio
Club sponsors a "Youth" plaque for the high score achieved
by a person 18 years or younger.
FT8/4. Is FT8/4 allowed? All digital
modes are allowed. However we know of no valid way to
exchange the required information, i.e., Serial Number and
QTH, in FT8 or FT4. Shortening the received
signal report to obtain a SN is not a valid exchange.
Inferring "DX" for QTH from a station call sign is not a
valid exchange of QTH. Logs identified using these or
other such methods will be disallowed.
HF Mobile Antennas. Are HF antennas allowed on
a mobile station? Yes. You may change antennas
or change band on an antenna as long as you are always
capable of operation as a mobile.
Hours of operation: How many hours may a
station operate? There is no limit on the number of
hours you may operate within the hours of the contest.
SO1R. The VaQP has a plaque this year for High
Single Operator Single Receiver. This addresses some
concerns that the high scoring single operator stations are
operating using two or more receivers concurrently.
This advanced technique allows for running on one receive
band and searching on the second receiver for mults.
Stations should include "X-SO1R: YES" or "X-SO1R: NO" in
their cabrillo file header.
Power Category. VaQP has three power
categories: QRP, low and high. The power is Peak
Envelope Power (PEP) at the final amplifier output to the
antenna transmission system. Typically hams use the
transmitter output rating. Alternatively, they may use
a power meter attached to the output of the final
amplifier. This is common approach in most if not all
contests.
Logging program Auto-Fill. Be careful with the
auto-fill feature in your logging program. For
example, N3FJP, will accept either
abbreviation or full county name. As users type, the
abbreviation or county name auto fills automatically, as
they type each character. Users have the option to set
the county field to fill by either abbreviation or county
name. If the user has set the option to auto fill by
county name instead of abbreviation and starts typing CHE,
Chesapeake would be logged in error.
Comments,
questions, and recommendations should be emailed to
[email protected].