To help keep HARC Club members, and non-members, interested in staying on the air and utilizing our frequencies, the Holland Amateur Radio Club is sponsoring an on-air contest event! The objective: Make as many contacts in 1 (one) month as possible. The contest is open to anyone who is a properly licensed Amateur Radio Operator.
Here are some details about the contest:
1. The Contest will last for 1 (one) month.
2. The Contest will start at 12:00 AM ET on March 1st 2021 and conclude at
11:59 PM ET on March 31st 2021.
3. This is a fun contest so feel free to stick around and chat with the person
you’re making a QSO with. No need to rush off to the next QSO. The point of the contest is to have fun, meet new people or say hello to someone you haven’t seen/talked with in a while.
4. This contest is Technician License Friendly and structured so Techs have just as much of a competitive chance as Generals and Extras.
5. The 10 meter (28.300 – 28.500), 6 meter bands and up are the bands that are allowed, as well as CW Portions of any band available to Techs.
What is the point system?
1 point for a Repeater (Digital and/or Analog) QSO or Domestic Echolink, IRLP, or Allstar QSO (See Rule 5), Hotspot Digital Voice QSO, CW QSO for experienced CW operators (See Rule 9 for CW QSO’s).
2 points for a Simplex (Digital and/or Analog) QSO, Winlink Message Exchange, Packet QSO (APRS Message, Keyboard-to-Keyboard, etc).
3 points if you have a QSO on a domestic non-local repeater or
Simplex (ie skip into Wisconsin, etc) – can be Digital or Analog.
4 points if your QSO is DX (ie. skip into Canada) (See Rule 4) or is a FM VHF/ UHF Satellite QSO, CW QSO for new CW operators (See Rule 9 for CW QSO’s).
Here are the basic rules of the contest:
1. FM, AM, Sideband, Digital Voice, CW, and V/UHF AX25 Packet are the only modes that can be used.
2. Hotspot QSOs WILL count. All hotspot QSOs, regardless of distance, will count for 1 point.
3. Duplicates: You can only work a station once per method per band through the duration of the contest – ie you can work a station on a repeater analog, then digital, then again on Simplex, then again on Echolink, and you cannot work that station again on Repeater, Simplex or Echolink (or other VoIP service – See Rule 5) on the same band. However you may repeat the process on a different band (if you did 2 meter repeater, simplex, then a VoIP service, then you could follow those steps again on 440, 220, 10 meters, or 6 meters.)
4. To keep the contest fair for Technicians, 10 meter FM will not count
since 10 meter FM is not available for Techs. However, 10 meter sideband (28.300 – 28.500 ONLY) will count and 6 meters and up is available as long as the mode is FM, AM, Sideband, Digital Voice, CW, or V/UHF Packet. CW portions of bands available to Techs are allowed as well.
5. The use of Echolink, IRLP, or Allstar is allowed for Domestic & DX QSOs. But you must be the one to initiate the QSO (ie you accessed
the remote repeater and called for a QSO). For stations using
the Echolink computer/phone/tablet software, Echolink QSOs
must connect to a repeater and not an individual user. Echolink, IRLP, and Allstar count as one VoIP QSO so you cannot work the same station on IRLP if you’ve worked it on Echolink or Allstar or any combination of the three. (See Rule 3)
6. Sorry, nets do not count – however you may coordinate with someone on a net for a QSO (repeater or Simplex) before or after the net. Please respect and follow Net Rules and Procedures as well as the Net Control Station’s guidelines.
7. VHF/UHF AX25 Packet is welcome. No FT8, PSK31, RTTY, etc. Winlink email messaging is welcomed but only on VHF/UHF Packet. The initial station must get a reply message back in order
for the QSO to count. APRS does NOT count
EXCEPT if it is an APRS Message and you get a reply back to your APRS message. APRS Message to APRS Message only – no APRS services like SMSGTE, etc.
8. Digital Voice = DMR, Fusion (C4FM), D-STAR, P25, and NXDN.
9. Regarding CW: To help make sure it is fair for techs, only the tech CW
portions of 80m (3.525-3.585MHz), 40m (7.025-7.125MHz), 15m (21.025-21.200MHz),10m (28.000-28.200MHz), and 6m (50.000-50.100MHz) and up will be allowed for CW QSOs in the contest.
In addition, the 4 points per CW QSO will only be awarded to techs and/ or new CW operators (within the last 3 years). So if you’re a
new CW operator within the last 3 years, regardless of your license level, you may receive 4 points. Experienced CW operators are welcome too but your CW QSO’s will only receive 1 point per CW QSO. Again, this is to make it fair for inexperienced CW operators and techs. Also,
Techs are limited to 200w or less power output on the HF bands so the same power output limitations will be required for a valid CW QSO.
Log Submission Details:
1. Logs must be submitted via email within 2 (two) weeks of the contest’s conclusion. No later than 11:59 PM ET April 15th 2021.
2. Submit your logs to ke8bsm@arrl.net.
3. For the email subject line, please type “[YOUR CALLSIGN] HARC
QSO CONTEST”
4. Please use your name and callsign in the filename.
5. Log entry format: THEIR CALL – Name – Location (use 6 figure GRID
Square) – Band & Method Used – Point Value of QSO (sorry this is not a
standard logging format).
6. Log submissions can be attached as an MS Excel file, PDF, or
Word Document
7. Please total up your points at the end of your document.
8. Please include your License Level (Tech, General,
Extra) and how long you’ve been a ham radio operator in your log submission.
What does the winner receive?
1. A certificate that’ll be emailed to the winner which they can print and hang in their shack.
2. Your name, call, and city/state will be put on the HARC website (hollandarc.org) for all to see in addition to the Facebook Group.
3. Bragging rights.
4. A new Baofeng Analog radio or $50 Amazon Giftcard (winner’s choice,
only pick one).
5. The top 3 New Hams (licensed within the last year) will have their Holland
Amateur Radio Club Membership dues paid for (1 year).
Please have fun! If you have questions, please email ke8bsm@arrl.net.
