Pennsylvania QSO Party 2008 Official Rules

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Pennsylvania QSO Party 2008 Official Rules

Purpose of the party

Pennsylvania Amateurs try to contact as many other amateurs in Pennsylvania, the
United States, Canada and the world. Pennsylvania Amateurs receive multipliers for each
Pennsylvania county, US and Canadian section, and one multiplier for DX entities.
Non Pennsylvania Amateurs try to contact as many Pennsylvania Amateurs as possible.
Non-Pennsylvania Amateurs receive a multiplier for each Pennsylvania County with a
QSO.
A Pennsylvania Amateur is defined as an Amateur operating in the State of
Pennsylvania, without regard to the Amateur’s home address. Other Operators are
considered Out-of-state.
Operating Periods – 1600Z October 11 to 0500Z October 12, and 1300Z October 12 to
2200Z October 12.
Bands for the QSO Party:
160 meters
80 meters
75 meters
40 meters
20 meters
15 meters
10 meters
6 meters
2 meters
Above 2 meters, QSOs are permitted, but those frequencies are not much in use for the
party at this time. Interested Operators are encouraged to set up skeds if desired.
Suggested Frequencies:
SSB: 1.850, 3.825, 7.200, 14.280, 21.380, 28.480, 50.125, 146.55. Note that 12, 17, 30,
60 meter and repeater QSOs are not permitted.
CW: 40 KHz up from the bottom and 1810KHz
PSK: 3.580, 7.080, 14.07015, 21.080, 50.250
RTTY: 3.580, 7.080, 14.080, 21.080, 28.080
160 meters Try at 0300Z Sunday Follow 160 meter band plan
Hi Band Activity periods
Sat and Sun:
10M – 1800Z
15M – 1900Z
20M – 2000Z
SSB on the hour, CW on the half hour
Mobile Window – 5 KHz below listed suggested frequencies. Keep this area clear for
weak mobiles.
Exchange – Sequential serial number plus county or ARRL or Canadian section (see
Canadian section explanation for details). Stations on county line give out 1 serial
number per contact plus multiple county multipliers.
Work stations once per band and mode. Work Rovers and mobiles again as they change
counties.
Scoring:
QSO points:
CW – 160M and 80M = 2 points/QSO
CW – all other allowable bands = 1.5 points/QSO
PSK = 2 points/QSO
RTTY = 2 points/QSO
SSB = 1 point/QSO
FM = 1 point/QSO
Special Event Station QSO = 200 points
The Special Event Station for the 2008 PAQSO Party is W3OK.
Entry Divisions
Single operator Medium power 6 -150 Watts
Single Operator QRO 151W – Legal band limit
QRP Operator 5 Watts or less
Single Operator CW only 150 Watts or less
Multi-Single Only one signal on air at a time
Multi-Multi
Portable Single OP
Portable Multi-Single Only one signal on air at a time
Portable Multi-Multi
Mobile
Rover
Station Definitions
A Home station is a station that is operated from a fixed position. It does not need to be
a domicile. Club stations are considered home stations.
A Portable station is a station that is set up for the purpose of operating in the party,
with the intention of teardown in the post party period. Typical of a portable station
would be operations from a camp cabin or tent. Antennas are not restricted, but are
typically more home station like. Portable stations are not restricted in their power
source. Battery, Generator, or mains power is perfectly acceptable.
A Mobile station is a station that is capable of operation while moving. Moving is
defined as travel in a legal manner on Pennsylvania Highways. The antenna must be of a
type generally accepted as a mobile antenna. Mobile stations are not required to be in
motion while operating. For the purposes of the party, to be counted as a mobile, you
must be operating within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Note that this does not
exclude mobile operation outside of Pennsylvania. It means that outside of the
commonwealth, there are no mobile bonuses available, so no need for the designation.
A Rover station is a station that is capable of moving from one place to another, but is
typically using an antenna that is set up on site, then torn down and moved to another
site. Rovers do not operate as a mobile en route between stations.
QRP operations are those operations at a power of 5 watts or less. They may be
undertaken on any station setup capable of operation at 5 watts or less. If a QRP
multiplier is to be claimed, the entire party must have been run at QRP level.
Scoring
Multipliers for Pennsylvania Stations:
ARRL Sections + Canadian Sections + PA Counties + 1 DX. See Canadian Section
explanation for details.
Multipliers for Stations operating outside of Pennsylvania:
Pennsylvania Counties.
Final Score = Total points times Total Multipliers.
QRP Operation Bonus Multiplier = Total Points times 2.
PA Mobile operation Bonus points:
Add 500 Points to final score for each county you operated from where you made at least
10 QSOs.
PA Rover operation Bonus points
Add 500 Points to final score for each location you operated from where you made at
least 10 QSOs.
Additional Mobile and Rover rules
A Mobile station must be truly mobile, using an antenna accepted as a mobile antenna,
and capable of moving between counties without any setup/teardown.
Mobile stations identify by the addition of /M to their call signs for CW, RTTY, and
PSK and spoken Mobile on SSB or FM.
Mobile stations must submit a summary for each county operated from, and an aggregate
summary for the party.
Rover stations identify by the addition of /R to their call signs for CW, RTTY, and PSK
and spoken Rover on SSB or FM.
Rover stations must travel 5 miles or more between stops to be eligible for the 500 point
bonus.
Rover stations must submit a summary for each county operated from, and an aggregate
summary for the party.
County Line Stations
County line stations may be either Home Stations or Portable stations. Mobile or Rover
stations are not eligible. Note: if a station that is essentially a mobile station ie, a
transceiver in a vehicle with a mobile antenna wished to run county line, they could do
so, but at the expense of being mobile. That would be their position for the entire party,
and they would enter as a county line station, and not as a mobile.
A County line station is defined as follows. The station must be situated very near the
boundaries of at least two or more adjacent counties. Ideally the antenna should cross the
boundary, but safety and practicality do not always allow that. Many boundaries are in
the middle of rivers or highways. The key element is that the station must be set up as
near as practical to the adjacent borders. Party officials are available to determine
admissibility of any county line station setup.
Bonus Stations:
The PAQSO party will at it’s discretion have a special bonus station during the party.
The station may consist of a single station, multiple stations in different counties, or other
novel operations. QSOs with the bonus station are worth 200 points, and any multiplier
that has not been claimed yet. The Bonus Station for 2008 is W3OK.
Entry Materials:
Entry materials consist of a log and dupe sheets and an official summary sheet or
reasonable facsimile. 100 points will be deducted for each duplicate QSO found. All
entry materials can be downloaded from the website.
Entry materials must be received by November 15th following the party in one of three
ways:
1 Paper copies of all materials may be sent via US Mail or other delivery service
2 Electronic logs on CD may also be sent vial US Mail or other delivery service.
3 Electronic Logs may be submitted via email to paqsolog@nittany-arc.net
Note: do NOT send email communications to the paqsolog address. That address is set
up exclusively for logs. Non-log email submissions will not get to us. Use the regular
email addresses for the party chairs. mcoslo@comcast.net or w3jxp@comcast.net.
Donations
A donation of 3 dollars or more along with your entry will help us to defray mailing and
printing costs associated with the party, and will be greatly appreciated.
Whatever method of submitting a log, an official Summary sheet or reasonable
facsimile must be filled out and mailed to the Nittany ARC for the party. An official
summary that can be filled out on-line ant that will calculate the score from your
input is available at http://www.nittany-arc.net/entryforms.htm Just fill it out, print it,
and mail it.
Mailing address: PAQSO Party 2008 c/o NARC
P.O. Box 614
State College PA 16804-0614
Logs submitted without a mailed summary sheet will be treated as a check log
Plaques and Awards
Plaques go to top scorers in all entry divisions plus:
Single Op Out of State
Eastern Time Zone
Central Time Zone
Western Time Zone
Out of State Medium Power
Out of State QRP
Top Canadian Entry
DX
Single Op Medium Power EPA
Single OP High Power EPA
Single Op Medium Power WPA
Single OP High Power WPA
Rover Single or Multi single
Rover Multi-Multi
20 meter "Good Neighbor" - to be considered for this award, submit total 20 meter
QSO's.
Plaque for top first time entrant
Intended to encourage new contesters, a plaque can be awarded to the top single operator
from Pennsylvania who enters the party for the first time. If you got your feet wet logging
or operating briefly at a multi-op station, you are still eligible. This is not an award for
“Big Guns from other contests. The decision as to eligibility for this award is the Contest
chairs.
All 67 County Plaque
If you work all 67 counties during the party, a special plaque can be awarded in
recognition of that feat. To order submit a 67 county summary sheet to aid the log
checkers in addition to the regular summary listing the pertinent details. Then enclose a
check for 28 dollars made payable to NARC.
Club Competition Award
A Trophy is awarded to top club competition Station
Certificates to 2nd through 5th place Club competition
The winner is determined by summation of the scores of club members. The current
status of club members is determined by a list that is provided by a club officer,
preferably the club president. The PAQSO chair will ask for the list after the party and
the top club scores become apparent.
County and Section Certificates
Certificates will be mailed to county and section winners. To qualify for a certificate, the
Operator must compile more points than other operators from that section or county. In
some cases, a mobile operator may be the leading scorer from several counties. In that
event, the mobile Op will receive the corresponding certificates. The PAQSO party
administration will mail the certificates to the respective winners.
Special Certificates
The PAQSO Party may at times offer special certificates for various achievements in the
party. These certificates will usually be awarded after the achievement has been made,
and after receiving a Self addressed stamped envelope.
Participation Coffee Mugs
Anyone who makes 100 QSOs or more during the Party is eligible for a PAQSO Party
mug personalized with the Operator’s call sign. To order submit your log showing 100 or
more QSOs and a check for 18 Dollars made payable to NARC.
Participation T Shirts
Anyone participating in the Party in any way is eligible for a PAQSO Party participant TShirt.
To order, mark on the summary sheet the Shirt (s) and size (s) desired, and a check
for 15 dollars for each shirt made payable to NARC.
Canadian Section Explanation
The Canadian sections in use by the PAQSO party are somewhat different than those in
use by the RAC at this time. They are:
NB
NF
NS
PEI
VE2
VE3
VE4
VE5
VE6
VE7
VE8
V02
YUK
QSO party logging Programs
W3BW-logging program
http://www.wb3w.net/maqpdown.htm
N3FJP-Amateur Contact Log Program
http://www.n3fjp.com
NA Logging Program
http://datom.contesting.com/CATALOG.HTM
Writelog
http://www.writelog.com
EQF Software
http://www.eqf-software.com
W3KM-Genlog Software
http://www.qsl.net/w3km/genlog.htm
The PAQSO Website is located at:
http://www.nittany-arc.net/paqso.html
The PAQSO Party reflector – To subscribe, send a two word message “subscribe paqso”
to majordomo@QTH.net
PAQSO Party Chair
Michael J Coslo N3LI
PAQSO Party Co-Chair
John Passaneau, W3JXP
Pre-Party Net
To check on party activity regarding mobiles, portables, rovers and general information,
there will be a net on Friday, October 10, at 0000Z 3.910 LSB +/-.