Florida QSO Party

1. Object	For amateurs outside of the state of Florida to make contact with as many Florida stations as possible. Florida stations work everyone.
2. Contest Period	Last full weekend of April. There are two operating periods. 1600Z April 29 - 0159Z April 30 and 1200Z - 2159Z April 30. 20 hours total. All stations may operate the full 20 hours.
3. Categories	(A) Single operator. One person performs all operating and logging functions. Use of spotting nets (operator arrangements involving assistance through DX-alerting nets, PacketCluster, etc) is not permitted. Only one (1) transmitted signal on the air at any time. (B) Multioperator. Those obtaining any form of assistance, such as relief operators, loggers, or use of spotting nets. NOTE - Multioperator stations do not have to remain on a band for 10 minutes before changing bands. (1) Multi-Single. Only one (1) transmitted signal on the air at any time. (2) Multi-Multi. More than one (1) transmitted signal on the air at any time. No simultaneous SSB/CW signals on one band at the same time. (C) Mobile. Mobile is a station that is self-contained (radio, antenna, power source) capable of motion. Motion is optional. Mobile entrants may be either Single Operator or Multioperator. (D) Novice/Technician. Novice or Technician licensees perform all operating and logging functions.
4. Power	Three power output categories for all categories. Logs not showing power output category will be listed as high power. (A) QRP - 5W output or less (B) Low Power - 150W output or less (C) High Power - more than 150W output
5. Modes	(A) Single Operator, Mobile, Multioperator and Novice/Technician categories may operate: (1) Mixed mode (phone and CW) (2) Phone only (3) CW Only
6 Contest Exchange	(A) Florida stations send signal report and county. (B) W/VE stations (including KH6/KL7) send signal report and state or province. (C) DX stations (including KH2/KP4, etc.) send signal report and DX.
7. Scoring	(A) QSO Points: Each complete non-duplicate Phone contact is worth 1 point. Each complete non-duplicate CW contact is worth 2 points. No partial contact credit. Duplicate contacts must be clearly identified and are worth 0 points. A penalty will be assessed for incorrect logging, including incorrect callsigns, multipliers, or unmarked duplicate contacts. The penalty consists of loss of the incorrect QSO and/or multiplier (if any) plus one additional QSO. (B) Multipliers: (1) For Florida stations, 50 states (including Florida); Canada MAR (VE1, VE9, VY2), NF (VO1, VO2), QC (VE2), ON (VE3), MB (VE4), SK (VE5), AB (VE6), BC (VE7), NW (VE8, VY0), YT (VY1); DXCC Countries (except the US, Canada, KH6 and KL7); Maritime Mobile (ITU Regions, R1, R2, R3). A multiplier can be counted once per mode. Working NP4Z on CW and then on SSB is two Puerto Rican multipliers. (2) All others work Florida counties (a maximum of 67). Florida mobile stations that change counties are considered to be a new station and may be contacted again for point and multiplier credit. Florida stations on a county line may be claimed as a QSO and a multiplier from each county (2 QSO's and 2 mults). County lines, either land or water, are defined as per "County Hunter" rules. Mobiles should sign callsign/cty. Mobiles use only one call per county. A Florida county multiplier can be counted once per mode. Working W1YL in Hillsborough County on CW and then on SSB is two county multipliers. (C) Final Score: Multiply QSO Points by total multipliers by the power multiplier (see below). Florida mobile operations must submit separate logs for each county activated; a mobile entrant's score will be the cumulative total of multipliers and QSO's. This will be determined by the log checkers. (1) Power Multiplier: If all QSO's were made using 5W or less, multiply your score by 3; if all QSO's were made using less than 150W, multiply your score by 2; if any or all QSO's were made using more than 150W, multiply your score by 1.
8. Suggested Frequencies	CW - plus or minus 35 khz up, and plus or minus 10 khz up for Novices/Technicians. Phone - plus or minus 7.260, 14.260, 21.335, and 28.485 MHz. Look for SSB activity on the hour and CW on the half hour. Fixed stations are urged to call CQ above/below these suggested frequencies to keep them clear for low power mobile operations. No 160 or 80 meters, WARC bands, or VHF bands.
9. Miscellaneous	(A) Call signs and exchange information must be received by each station for a complete QSO. (B) No cross-mode contacts; CW contacts must be made in the CW portion of the band. (C) Stations may be worked once per mode, per band, i.e., WC4E may be worked on both 20 CW and 20 SSB for credit. (D) Your call sign must indicate your DXCC country (also, portables in Hawaii and Alaska must sign /KH6 or /KL7). (E) Club competition, as per ARRL Club definitions. Please indicate your club affiliation on your summary sheet.
10. Reporting	(A) Entries must be postmarked no later than 30 days after the end of the contest. No late entries can be accepted. Any logs (other than check logs) with over 100 QSO's are encouraged to submit their logs in computer readable format. (1) E-Mail. You may submit your contest logs via e-mail to [email protected]. Send your summary sheet file and your log file (.SUM and .LOG files generated by logging software such as NA, etc.) following the Cabrillo File Format. Those without logging software, can create an ASCII file of your log information following the Cabrillo File Format, with a text editor. (2) On Disk. You may submit your logs on diskettes instead of paper logs. The floppy diskette must be IBM compatible, MS-DOS formatted, 3.5 inch. The log information must be in an ASCII file following the Cabrillo File Format. (.SUM and .LOG files generated by logging software such as NA, etc.) Those without logging software, can create an ASCII file of your log information following the Cabrillo File Format, with a text editor. (3) Via Regular Mail. Contest logs (paper or diskette) may be submitted via postal mail to: Florida QSO Party, c/o Ron Wetjen, WD4AHZ, 5362 Castleman Dr., Sarasota, FL 34232. (B) Logs must indicate band, mode, date, time in UTC, calls and received exchange, multipliers and QSO points. Multipliers should be marked clearly in the log the first time they are worked. (1) Entry forms (summary sheet, log sheet, and county abbreviations) can also be found at the FQP Web Site, http://www.qsl.net/fqp (2) You may also receive entry forms (rules, summary sheet, log sheet, and county abbreviations) by mail. Please send a business sized SASE, to Florida QSO Party, c/o Ron Wetjen, WD4AHZ, 5362 Castleman Dr., Sarasota, FL 34232. (C) Logs that have been received will be listed on the Florida QSO Party Web site no more than 48 hours after receipt. (D) Final results will be posted on the Florida QSO Party Web site, as well as the "3830" Internet reflector. (E) If you wish a hard copy of the results, please send a business size SASE to Florida QSO Party, c/o Ron Wetjen, WD4AHZ, 5362 Castleman Dr., Sarasota, FL 34232.
11. Awards	(A) Certificates will be awarded to top scorers in each category from each Florida county, State, Canadian province, and DXCC country. (B) Special awards may be awarded at the discretion of the Florida QSO Party Contest Committee.
12. Condition of Entry	Each entrant agrees to be bound by the provisions, as well as the intent, of this announcement, the regulations of his or her licensing authority and the decisions of the Florida QSO Party Contest Committee.