Nevada QSO Party – October 11 - 13, 2024
0300 UTC Saturday to 2100 UTC Sunday (8 PM Friday to 2 PM Sunday PDT) the second weekend in October. Nevada stations work everyone, others work Nevada stations only. Work stations once per band/mode. Nevada mobiles may be worked again as they enter new counties.
Entry categories:
Single-op: high-power, low-power <100W, QRP <5W; CW, Phone, Digital, Mixed, VHF
Multi-single: high-power, low-power No differentiated mode
Multi-multi. No differentiated mode or power levels
Nevada County Expedition (an operation from a temporary location using antennas installed for the contest period, using temporary supports or trees): either
single-county, county-line; single-op, multi-single, multi-multi; or
open (anything else, ie, moving between county locations and setting up antennas.)
Nevada Mobile (station must be self-contained and capable of motion): single-op (one person, unassisted, performs all operating, logging and driving functions and, for safety reasons, should operate only while parked); multi-single (any other mobile operation); high-power, low-power; CW, Digital, Phone, Mixed, VHF. Use of APRS (gps location and call only) is allowed for all mobile stations.
There are no subclasses for assisted/unassisted. Self spotting is allowed.
Awards: Certificates will be awarded to all finishers in each category within and outside Nevada; Plaques will be awarded to all top finishers in each category with a 50-QSO minimum for Nevada stations and a 20-QSO minimum for out-of-state. See the web site for a list of plaques to be awarded.
Exchange: Nevada stations send signal report plus 5-letter state/county code like NVWAS; (see Counties tab). County-line stations send signal report and multiple codes, e.g., NVWAS/NVPER. Non-Nevada stations send signal report plus ARRL/RAC section, (e.g., "DX", two or three-letter codes. Stations in other QSO parties send their appropriate exchange. Remember, this contest is using ARRL/RAC SECTIONS and not states. Logs must show the section in each contact. The following are invalid exchanges and those QSOs will not count toward your score: CA, WA, TX, FL, NJ, PA, NY, MA, and ON. County-line contacts may be logged with one entry showing all counties or with separate entries for each county.
Stations that are running must give their callsign at the end of every contact. FCC rule §97.119 Station identification.(a) Each amateur station, except a space station or telecommand station, must transmit its assigned call sign on its transmitting channel at the end of each communication…
Special note for NV stations working Pennsylvania, Arizona and South Dakota stations: Their QSO contest is the same weekend as ours and there are a lot of them on the air. They will give a report like “123 PA ELK” then they will expect you to give the report of (serial number) Nevada Pershing. While most of them will not record the Nevada county, but you really want to know if they are EPA or WPA, so you can use the ‘Note’ function of your logger to attach a note to the QSO so you can go back after the contest and determine the EPA/WPA location from their county exchange, and you will have the serial number data and their county so that you can send them a log also. This will work for South Dakota and Arizona if you want to enter their contests also…
Bands: 160m, 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 for HF stations and 6, 2, 1.25m, 70cm, 33cm, and 23cm for the VHF class stations. Suggested operating frequencies: 1815 and 40 kHz up on CW, except on 40m, where 7025-7035 is suggested; 1845, 3855, 7180, 14255, 21355 and 28455 on SSB; 3580+, 7035+, 14070+, 21070+ on PSK; 3585+, 7038+, 14075+, 21075+ on RTTY. Check 80m at 0500Z, 160m at 0530Z. All CW and Digital contacts must be in the CW/Data sub-bands. VHF class contacts can be CW, SSB, FM or any of the digital voice modes, or any of the conversational digital text modes
Scoring: 1 point per VHF QSO, 2 points per HF SSB QSO, 3 points per HF CW or Digital QSO. County-line contacts count as multiple QSOs for both stations. Nevada stations multiply total QSO points by the total of Nevada Counties (17), ARRL/RAC sections (84), and other DXCC entities (maximum of 20) per band.. Non-Nevada stations multiply total QSO points by Nevada counties worked (17) per band. All VHF/UHF/SHF bands count as only one Band. There are no penalties for dupes, so go ahead and log them as one of you are missing them from your log.
Logs: All logs must be received by November 1; All logs need to be submitted with our new web entry site, https://nvqp.contesting.com/nvqpsubmitlog.php. A web form is available for online Cabrillo log-file generation and submission. Be sure your entry includes name, address and email address, station callsign, entry category, location code(which is your ARRL/RAC section or DX) and operator callsigns for multi-op entries or the use of a special callsign. Entries that do not conform to these requirements will be rejected. Do not use computer logging programs set up for other contests!!! The most common other program used was for the 7QP, but it uses states, not SECTIONS and exchanges using states for those states that have multi sections will not be scored…
Check to make sure your callsign appears on our web site's Received Logs page -- normally within two-three days of receipt.
Other: All equipment and antennas must lie within a 1000-foot diameter circle. County-line operations must be within 500 feet of the county line and the gps lat/lon reading must be submitted in your entry email. Any computer-to-computer conversational mode is considered digital, however WSJT-X modes are not allowed. The same station may be worked on each band on CW, Phone, and Digital. All contacts made using repeaters, digipeaters, satellites, etc will be in the VHF category and will count as VHF class stations. Only one entry per callsign (can't do, e.g., mobile and expedition entries).
Help: On the web site at http://nvqso.com are these complete rules; FAQs (please read); lists of county names and abbreviations: state/county maps; county sign-up sheet; logging-program info and configuration files, and list of plaques. Further questions may be sent to w6us@snars.org
VHF class: This class is designed to expose those who are limited by license class or equipment to participate in this contest. All repeater voice modes such as FM, DMR, P25, C4FM, etc are allowed and all modes for simplex on the VHF/UHF bands are allowed. The repeaters may be linked, and satellites may be used. Please be courteous and do not monopolize a repeater and yield to established nets. Entrants may have to explain this contest to other users and encourage them to join the fun. HF operators may make VHF contacts if they are using Phone or Mixed categories.