RSGB Christmas Hope QSO Party | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A
series of 90 minute
duration daytime contests that has
been introduced on a temporary basis to help and support radio amateurs
who are
isolated at home and would appreciate contact with other people. This contest series is open to all entrants and is not restricted to RSGB members. This series is for Single Operator Stations only (please no Multi-Operator entrants at this time). A requirement of the series is that participants must be in full compliance with all measures in respect of COVID-19, that are currently applied by the authorities at their station location. This series does not contribute to the HF Championship and is not linked to any RSGB Affiliated Club contests. Scoring is “Anyone works Anyone” – a scoring QSO does not need to include a UK station. QSOs are encouraged before and after the contest periods. We include recommended frequencies for phone discussion after each event in these rules. Participants are encouraged to call “CQ HQP” or “CQ Hope QSO Party”. We would like to see the number of participants growing as the series runs. On Phone and CW please be sure to ask if the frequency is in use before calling. Please enter as many or as few events as you wish - you may wish to concentrate on one mode or to try all four modes. We suggest entrants use a CQ WPX template in their contest logging software for the SSB, CW and RTTY events; this will log correctly but will not score correctly for this series - all logs will be rescored during adjudication. For FT4 the latest WSJT-X package will be appropriate and this is described below. If you have any queries about these rules, please e-mail hf.query@rsgbcc.org |
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1. Objective | The key objective of this series is to entertain and support our members and others who are currently staying at home. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2. Date & Time |
(a)
There are two series, 21st to 31st December 2020 and 4th to 14th
January 2021. The two series are standalone and the overall
scores from the two series will not be added together. (b) Each 90 minute event will be limited to one mode but QSOs can be made on the five contest bands 80m, 40m, 20m, 15m and 10m (c) The Running schedule is:
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(a) Frequency limits
(b) On Phone, CW and RTTY, entrants must ensure that their transmitted signal is within the above frequency limits at all times. Please call on the first clear frequency from the lowest end of the frequency limits, to prevent other entrants from having to tune the entire allocation to find you. (c) Only one signal may be transmitted at any one time (d) After each contest, entrants are encouraged to contact others on 80m or 40m on SSB. Recommended frequencies are 3.710 MHz and 7.110 MHz (or above, subject to frequency occupancy). (e) We recommend that entrants QSY to 10m and 15m to look for QSOs at the halfway point in each event (45 minutes in) and start looking from the bottom of the frequency allocation in Phone, CW and RTTY. |
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& Power |
(b) All entrants are defined as being Assisted (c) Entrants may change Section from one contest to another (d) Single Operator only. This contest series is open to all entrants and is not restricted to RSGB members. (e) Given the nature of this series, please use a callsign by which you will be easily recognised. Club Calls may be activated by an individual club member.(f) Operation must be from a single Station location where all transmitters, receivers, and antennas are located within a circle of a radius no greater than 500m. Remote receivers outside the Station location are not permitted. (g) Remote operation of a station is allowed where the operator is situated within the same country on the DXCC list. Additionally an operator's home station, as shown in the licensee's licence documents, may be remotely operated from a location in another country. (h) A remotely operated station must obey all station licence, operator licence, and category conditions. The callsign used must be one issued or permitted by the Regulatory Authority of the remote station location. The location of the Station must also comply with the requirements above. The address of the operator must be included in the 'Address of Operator when operating Remote from Station Address' box on the Station Information Page and the address of the remote station must be included in the Cabrillo header 'ADDRESS:' box. (i) The RSGB HF Contest Committee may place remotely operated stations in a separate results table. (j) Additional Rules for the FT4 Christmas Hope QSO Party only(i) Mode: Standard FT4 mode will be used as implemented, for example, in WSJT-X V2.2.2 or later or the equivalent in JTDX, MSHV etc. The installation packages for WSJT-X software are available here. (ii) Only one signal may be transmitted at any one time. Entrants may transmit in both FT4 cycles – alternating transmission on different bands (iii) Entrants are not permitted to operate as a FOX in FOX & HOUND mode |
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(a) For Phone, CW & RTTY: RS(T) plus serial number - starting at 1 and incrementing by 1, irrespective of band for each contest. If you are not sent a serial number, log a zero. (b) For FT4 only: (i) 4-character Locator (e.g. IO91) using Standard FT4 mode (ii) Serial number is NOT required (iii) Signal report is required |
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(a) The same station may be contacted on each band for points and multipliers (b) QSO scoring on Phone, CW, RTTY & FT4:
(c) On Phone, CW and RTTY Multipliers are the countries of the DXCC list, on each band (d) On FT4 Multipliers are 4 character grid squares, on each band (e) An FT4 QSO with a station that does not send their four character locator will score 1 point but not count for a multiplier (f) Stations in FT4 that do not send their four character locator as part of their contest exchange will score 1 point per QSO with no multiplier (g) Stations with compound (or non-standard) callsigns, for example GB75PEACE or HB9/G9ZZZ, that are unable to send a locator due to FT4 protocol, will not be penalised as described in (f) above; also stations making a QSO with a station that is using a compound callsign will score as if they had received a unique four-character grid, thus accruing QSO points, depending on continent and band, plus a multiplier. QSOs between two stations using compound callsigns are not supported in FT4. |
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7. Log
Submission and Adjudication |
(a) For Phone, CW & RTTY: Submit in Cabrillo format here by 23:59:59 (UTC) on the day following the end of the contest. View the correct Cabrillo format for this contest. Before submission, check that you
have used the correct Cabrillo Mode Codes: (b)
For FT4: (c) For all modes: (i) Logs must be uploaded individually. If the robot finds format errors, it will reject the log and ask for resubmission of a corrected logfile. Second and subsequent log uploads may be subject to analysis of any changes that have been made. (ii) If you have difficulties preparing or uploading your Cabrillo logfile, please contact the contest adjudicator to ask for assistance, before the submission deadline. (iii) Adjudicated results will be online and will include online logfiles for all entrants. (iv) Errors will incur penalties as outlined in the RSGB HF Adjudication Principles. This penalty will be the loss of an additional 2 QSO points. (v) The use of CAT control to log the correct frequency and mode is highly recommended - you will lose QSO points for frequency or mode errors. |
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(a)
Results for each event
will be tabulated for each of the three power levels for
UK&CD and for non-UK&CD. (b) For each two week series, normalised scores based on the highest scoring entrant in each power level in each event will be shown in a table for each mode. This will be shown separately for UK&CD and non-UK entrants. At the end of the series, these will show the winning UK&CD and non-UK entrant in each mode. (c) For each two week series, normalised scores based on the highest scoring entrant in each power level in each event will be shown in a table for all contests combined. This will be shown separately for UK&CD and non-UK entrants. At the end of the series these will show the winning UK&CD and non-UK entrant in all events. (d) At completion of the series, certificates may also be downloaded by all entrants |
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(a) Any infringement considered to be outside the spirit of the contest may result in QSOs being disallowed, the entry being reclassified as a Checklog, or the entry being disqualified. (b) Self-spotting or asking to be spotted is not permitted. (c) Call signs logged must be the same as those exchanged over the air by the entrants during the QSO. Correction of logged call signs and exchanges after the contest, by use of any database, recordings, email or other methods, is not allowed. (d) All requests for contacts, responses to calls, and copying of call signs and contest exchanges must be accomplished during the contest period using the mode and frequencies of the contest. (e) You must send your callsign at least every 3rd QSO and no less often than once a minute. |
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By entering any RSGB HF Contest you declare that: (a) Your station was operated strictly in accordance with the rules and spirit of the contest, within the conditions of your licence, and that the power output from your transmitter was no greater than that permitted in the section of the contest that you are entering. (b) You agree that decisions of the RSGB HF Contest Committee will be final in cases of dispute. (c) By submitting a log entry, you give the RSGB permission to score, amend, publish, republish, print, and otherwise distribute that entry by any means. |
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Mike
G3VYI: Phone Quin G3WRR: CW Ian G0FCT: RTTY Tom GM8MJV: FT4 |
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Updated 20th December 2020 |