Minnesota QSO Party 2004 Rules

7th Annual Minnesota QSO Party
1400-2400 UTC (8AM-6PM CST) 05 February 2005

Contest Rules:

Time: Contest runs from 1400 until 2400 UTC (8 AM to 6 PM CST) 05 February 2005.

QSO Rules: MN stations work everyone, all other W/VE & DX work MN stations. Work stations once per band & mode. MN mobiles may be worked once per band & mode from each county, & MN mobiles may work stations once per band & mode from each county.

Bands/Modes: HF classes: 160m-10m (excluding WARC bands), CW/RTTY/SSB only. VHF Classes: 6M and above, CW/FM/SSB only (no repeater QSOs).

Exchange: MN stations send name & county (three letter designator). ** NOTE ** MN Mobile stations must sign call sign with county three letter designator, in addition to the exchange; for example KØBUD/HEN for Hennepin County. W/VE & DX send name & state/province/country. Multipliers for MN is MN counties (87 total) plus states/provinces (49 states excluding Minnesota + DC + 11 Canadian provinces + 3 Canadian Territorries = 64 W/VE mults total); 151 max multipliers (all bands) for MN stations. Multipliers for everyone else are MN counties (87 total). DXCC countries may be worked for points only-no multipliers.

Scoring: Score 1 QSO point for SSB QSO, 2 QSO points for CW/RTTY QSO. Final score is QSO points total times multiplier total. VHF class, no repeater QSOs allowed.

Operating Classes-MN: Single Op Low Power (100w or less), Single Op QRP (5 watts or less), Mobile/Portable, Multi Op/Single Transmitter, VHF. All classes mixed modes only. The Minnesota Wireless Association is sponsoring the MN Club aggregate trophy to the club with the highest collective point total submitted by it's members (who MUST SPECIFY club affiliation on the summary sheets turned in with the log). Minnesota Wireless Association itself is not eligible for this trophy.

Operating Classes-W/VE: Single Op Low Power (100w or less), Single Op High Power, Single Op QRP (5 watts or less).

Operating Classes-DX: Unlimited

Suggested Frequencies-CW: Up from 1.850, 3.550, 7.050, 14.050, 21.050, 28.050. ** NOTE ** Suggested "goto" time for 160m is 2330 UTC. CW QSOs in the SSB Portion of the Band are not allowed.

Suggested Frequencies-SSB: Up from 1.870, 3.850, 7.250, 14.270, 21.350, 28.450. ** NOTE ** Suggested "goto" time for 160m is 2330 UTC.

Suggested Frequencies-RTTY: Within the ARRL suggested band plans for all bands.

Logs: Send logs (including summary sheet) by March 15th to WAØMHJ@arrl.net or mail to MNQP 4745-170th Lane NE, Ham Lake, MN 55304-5233 by 15 Mar 2005. Log & scoring summary sheet available on the Internet at WWW.WØAA.ORG.

Prizes: 1st place in each MN & W/VE class receives plaques or certificates depending on the number of entries. The top twenty W/VE entries outside Minnesota will receive a special gift of Premium Wild Rice from the state of Minnesota. The Contest Committee reserves the right to limit prize distribution based on the level of financial support received by sponsoring clubs.

MN Three Letter County Designators: The 87 counties of Minnesota are each assigned a 3 letter designator. A list of these counties is available at http://www.w0aa.org/mnqp/2005/mnqpmult.html. These should be used if designing a template for your contest software of choice. The following programs support the Minnesota QSO Party: NA, TR, WriteLog, N1MM, and a special MNQP Logger written by WRØDK. All support files are available at WWW.WØAA.ORG.

County Line Operation: Mobile or portable stations that change geographic area (counties for Minnesota stations, state or province for others) are considered to be a new station and may be contacted again for QSO points and multiplier credit. No station may claim simultaneous operation in more than one county, state, or province. A mobile or portable station must move a minimum of 500 feet before claiming to be in a new county, state, or province.

Rev 8-1 -- Feb 3, 2005