Iowa QSO Party 2018

- Updated for 2018! Iowa counties and abbreviations list
- Updated for 2018! US states and Canadian provinces list
- Here is a map of Iowa counties
- New for 2018! Cabrillo template and sample log file

Iowa QSO Party -- 2018 Rules

Download a PDF version of the rules. ( updated 12 AUG 2018 )

Important changes and new items for 2018 have been highlighted below.

Date and Time:

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Saturday, September 15, 2018 from 9AM - 9PM US Central Time (1400Z, September 15 - 0200Z, September 16, 2018)

Purpose:

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The purpose of the Iowa QSO Party is to encourage contact with Iowa amateur radio stations by other Iowa hams and hams worldwide.

Objective:

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Iowa stations work everybody, including other Iowa stations. Stations outside Iowa work as many Iowa stations as possible. See the rules below for further details. Send comments or questions to: iowaqsoparty@hotmail.com

Entry Classes:

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- Iowa Single-Op Fixed (between 5 Watts and 150 Watts)
- Iowa Multi-Op Fixed (between 5 Watts and 150 Watts)
- Iowa Single-Op Mobile/Portable (between 5 Watts and 150 Watts)
- Iowa Multi-Op Mobile/Portable (between 5 Watts and 150 Watts)
- Out-of-State (within US and Canada) (between 5 Watts and 150 Watts)
- DX (outside US and Canada) (between 5 Watts and 150 Watts)
- QRP (5 Watts or less, any location)
- High Power (more than 150 Watts, any location)

Modes:

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- Phone (includes digital phone)
- CW
- Digital (excludes digital phone but includes other digital modes)
Satellite QSOs are allowed.
Repeater or network QSOs are NOT allowed.
FT8 is allowed as long as the FULL Iowa QSO Party exchange is completed by BOTH parties.

Bands:

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Contacts may be made on any amateur band EXCEPT the 60m, 30m, 17m, and 12m bands. Here are some suggested frequencies (plus or minus):

Band	CW	DIGITAL	PH/SSB	PH/FM
160m	1.820	1.805	1.855
80m	3.540	3.580	3.840
40m	7.040	7.080	7.210
20m	14.040	14.080	14.285
15m	21.040	21.080	21.330
10m	28.040	28.080	28.415
6m	50.040	50.090	50.150	52.550
2m	144.060		144.250	146.550
1.25m			222.150	223.450
70cm	432.105		432.150	446.550

Exchange:

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- Iowa Stations: send RS/T and county (see the county abbreviation list)
- All Other US/Canada Stations: send RS/T and state/province (see the state/province abbreviation list)
- DX Stations (outside US and Canada): send RS/T and "DX"

Scoring:

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QSO Points:
- Each phone contact is worth one (1) point per band.
- Each CW contact is worth two (2) points per band.
- Each digital mode contact is worth two (2) points per band.
- Duplicate contacts are worth zero points.
- A station may be worked ONCE per MODE (1 Phone and 1 CW and 1 Digital), per BAND.
- Mobile/Portable stations may be worked once per MODE, per BAND, per COUNTY.

Multipliers:
- Stations Outside Iowa: One multiplier for each Iowa county worked (see the county list).
- Iowa Stations: One multiplier for each Iowa county worked, one multiplier for each state (including Iowa) or Canadian province worked (see the state/province list), and one multiplier for working at least one DX station.

Bonus Points:
- Bonus Stations earn a 500 point bonus.
- QSOs with Bonus Stations, 10 bonus points per QSO in addition to the regular 1 or 2 points per QSO.

Final Score:
- Multiply total QSO points by the total number of Multipliers, then add Bonus points.

Note about Claimed Scores:
- For a variety of reasons, not all claimed scores produced by logging software are accurate. Your official score is the number we arrive at during the scoring process after all logs have been submitted and scored together.

Bonus Stations:

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A Bonus Station is a pre-registered Iowa organization willing to setup a mobile or portable, multi-operator station for the purpose of promoting emergency communications and amateur radio activity outside the shack to its members. Possible organizations could include local radio clubs or county/district ARES groups and must enter in one of the Iowa Multi-Op Mobile/Portable, QRP, or High Power classes. Bonus Stations earn a 500 point bonus and give out contacts worth an additional 10 points per QSO in addition to the regular 1 or 2 points per QSO to the stations making contacts with a Bonus Station.

If your organization is interested in setting up a Bonus Station, notify the contest committee at iowaqsoparty@hotmail.com with the following info by September 6:
- Station callsign
- Organization name
- Copy of the invitation sent out to your members
- (optional) Link to your organization webpage with more info

Club Competition:

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Scores attributed to any amateur radio club will be credited toward that club. All clubs with three or more credited scores will be included in an overall ranking of those scores with a certificate awarded to the club with the highest score.
- Bonus stations may not contribute their points toward a club for the club competition.

General:

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- Spotting on the packet clusters or via Internet is permissible, including self-spotting.
- Stations entering the QRP Class are limited to no more than 5 Watts.
- Stations transmitting with more than 150 Watts must enter the High Power Class.
- Stations are not allowed to change their entry class once established.
- The Out-of-State, DX, QRP, and High Power classes include both single-operator and multi-operator stations combined in the same class.
- Mobile/portable stations who change counties are considered to be a new station in each new county.
- Mobile/portable stations may park/setup on a county line/junction and represent all counties at the intersection simultaneously.
- Some portion of the vehicle or station should physically be in each county being run. For example, if your antenna is in one county, the feedline passes thru a second county, and the transmitter is in a third county, then you may claim all three counties at the same time.
- All intersecting counties may be worked in a single exchange (JA6DX this is W0YL, you are 59 in Story STR, Marshall MSL, and Hardin HDN counties).
- Please keep safety in mind and do not cause a traffic hazard where you park your vehicle.
- Single/Multi Operator - an operator is a person running a transmitter. Someone logging for you is not considered another operator.
- Multi-Operator vs. Single-Operator is determined by the number of operators, not the number of radios used.
- Download the list of Iowa counties and 3 letter abbreviations. All operators must use these abbreviations in their exchanges and in their logs.
- Download the state and province list. All operators must use these abbreviations in their exchanges and in their logs.
- Here is a map of Iowa counties for those interested in station locations.
- Here is a Cabrillo template and sample log file.

--- Known available Iowa QSO Party software. There may be others, but these are the ones we are aware of at this time. Please use the newest available version of your chosen logging program.
-- N1MM logging software ( https://n1mm.hamdocs.com/ )
-- N3FJP ( http://www.n3fjp.com/stateqsoparty.html )
-- GenLog ( http://www.qsl.net/w3km/ )
-- WriteLog ( https://writelog.com/ )
-- NO5W ( http://www.no5w.com/ )

Submission of Logs:

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- Logs must be received by 11:45PM Central Time on October 15, 2018 (0445Z OCT 16 2018).
- Submit logs via email to: iowaqsoparty@hotmail.com
- Contest logs should be in Cabrillo format! Here is a Cabrillo template. Most contest software will produce this output for you automatically.
- See http://www.arrl.org/cabrillo-format-tutorial for some basic Cabrillo info.
- Other electronic formats will work but we STRONGLY PREFER Cabrillo format.
- Paper logs will only be accepted for 10 contacts or less. Paper logs should be postmarked October 10, 2018, so they will arrive in time to be included in the scoring process. The mailing address is below.
- Another option instead of paper logs would be to use one of the various online Cabrillo generators. Manually enter your contacts into one of those, and it will generate a Cabrillo file for you.
- Verification of receipt of logs will be made on the Iowa QSO Party website.

Mailing Address:
STORY COUNTY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB
1124 Roosevelt Ave
Ames, IA 50010
USA

Awards:

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- Iowa Single-Op Fixed High Score
- Iowa Multi-Op Fixed High Score
- Iowa Single-Op Mobile/Portable High Score
- Iowa Multi-Op Mobile/Portable High Score
- Out-of-State (within US and Canada) High Score
- DX (outside US and Canada) High Score
- QRP (5 Watts or less) High Score
- High Power (more than 150 Watts) High Score
- Club High Score
- Top number of counties worked

ENTRANT AGREEMENT:

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By submitting a log to the Iowa QSO Party, entrant agrees that all decisions made by the Story County Amateur Radio Club Iowa QSO Party High Council are final. That said, every effort will be made to maintain fairness to all participants.