2015 Florida QSO Party (FQP)
Sponsored by the Florida Contest Group

1) Object: For amateurs outside of the state of Florida to make contact with as many Florida stations as possible. Florida stations, activating as many counties as possible, work everyone.

2) Contest Period: 4th full weekend of April. There are two operating periods. 1600Z April 25 - 0159Z April 26 and 1200Z - 2159Z April 26. 20 hours total. All stations may operate the full 20 hours.

3) Categories:

(A) Single operator. One person performs all operating and logging functions. Use of spotting nets (operator arrangements involving assistance through DX-alerting nets, PacketCluster, CW Skimmer, self spotting, etc) is not permitted. Use of spotting assistance will be reclassified as single operator assisted. Only one (1) transmitted signal on the air at any time. There are no limits on band changes.

(B) Single operator assisted. One person performs all operating and logging functions. Use of spotting nets, operator arrangements involving assistance through DX-alerting nets, PacketCluster, CW Skimmer is permitted. Self spotting is not permitted. Only one (1) transmitted signal on the air at any time. There are no limits on band changes.

(C) Multioperator. More than one person contributing to the score, such as relief operators or loggers. Self spotting is not permitted. There are no limits on band changes.

(1) Multi-Single. Only one (1) transmitted signal on the air at any time.

(2) Multi-Multi. More than one (1) transmitted signal on the air at any time. No simultaneous SSB/CW signals on one band at the same time.

(D) Mobile. Mobile is a station that is self-contained (radio, antenna, power source) capable of motion. Motion is optional. The Mobile category is not limited by the number of operators for competition purposes. Mobile entrants may be either Single Operator or Multioperator. There are two classes of Single Operator for mobiles.

(1) Single Operator. One person performs all operating, logging, and driving functions. NOTE - Operating in this category does not require simultaneous operating, logging and driving. Operators who choose to simultaneously operate, log and drive are reminded that doing so can be extremely dangerous. Operators in this category are encouraged to do so with utmost attention to driving safety.

(2) Single Operator Plus Driver. The entrant performs all operating and logging functions and has a separate driver who need not be a licensed Amateur. The driver may not assist in any operating or logging functions. Please note the driver in your entry.

(E) School (University, College, High School, etc.). Operation is to take place from a station on campus. Operation from a club members home station is ONLY allowed if there is no station on campus. Operators can be Students, Faculty, Staff and Alumni from the School. Awards will be issued to top Florida and top non-Florida School. For award purposes, there is no distinction between Single and Multi operator stations or power levels in this category.

(F) SWL.

4) Power. Three power output categories for all categories. Logs not showing power output category will be listed as high power.

(A) QRP - 5W output or less
(B) Low Power - 150W output or less
(C) High Power - more than 150W output

5) Modes:

(A) All entrants may operate:

(1) Mixed mode (phone and CW)
(2) Phone only
(3) CW Only

6) Contest Exchange:

(A) Florida stations send signal report and county.
(B) W/VE stations (including KH6/KL7) send signal report and state or province.
(C) DX stations (including KH2/KP4, etc.) send signal report and DXCC prefix.

7) Scoring:

(A) QSO Points: Each complete non-duplicate Phone contact is worth 1 point, per band. Each complete non-duplicate CW contact is worth 2 points, per band. No partial contact credit. No duplicate contact credit. The loss of the incorrect QSO plus a penalty of one additional QSO is assessed for an incorrectly copied callsign or QTH. If that was the only one with that QTH, then the multiplier is also lost (no penalty multipliers, however).

(B) Multipliers:

(1) For Florida stations, 50 states (including Florida) and District of Columbia (DC); Canada NS (VE1), NB (VE1, VE9), NL (VO1, VO2), PE (VY2), QC (VE2), ON (VE3), MB (VE4), SK (VE5), AB (VE6), BC (VE7), NT (VE8), NU (VY0), YT (VY1); DXCC Countries (except the US, Canada, KH6 and KL7); Maritime Mobile (ITU Regions, R1, R2, R3). A multiplier can be counted once per mode, regardless of the number of bands on which it is worked.

(2) All others work Florida counties (a maximum of 67). Florida mobile stations that change counties are considered to be a new station and may be contacted again for point and multiplier credit. Florida stations on a county line may be claimed as a QSO and a multiplier from each county (2 QSO's and 2 multipliers). County lines, whether land or water, are defined as per "County Hunter" rules. Mobiles should sign callsign/cty. Mobiles use only one call per county. A Florida county multiplier can be counted once per mode, regardless of the number of bands on which it is worked.

(C) Final Score: Multiply QSO Points by total multipliers by the power multiplier (see below). A mobile entrant's score will be the cumulative total of multipliers and QSO's. This will be determined by the log checkers.

(1) Power Multiplier: If all QSO's were made using 5W or less, multiply your score by 3; if all QSO's were made using less than 150W, multiply your score by 2; if any or all QSO's were made using more than 150W, multiply your score by 1. No power multiplier for SWL's.

8) Suggested frequencies: CW - plus or minus 35 kHz up. Phone - plus or minus 7.195, 14.260, 21.335, and 28.470 MHz. Look for SSB activity on the hour and CW on the half hour. No 160 or 80 meters, WARC bands, or VHF bands.

(A) Mobile Windows. "Home" stations (in Florida and out of state) should not call CQ or "run" stations in this mobile "window".

(1) CW 7.025-7.035, 14.040-14.050, 21.040-21.050, 28.040-28.050 MHz

(2) SSB 7.180-7.190, 14.265-14.275, 21.340-21.350, 28.480-28.490 MHz

9) Miscellaneous:

(A) Call signs and exchange information must be received by each station for a complete QSO.

(B) No cross-mode contacts; CW contacts must be made in the CW portion of the band.

(C) Use of remote receivers/transmitters is permitted, as long as the TX/RX are co-located at the same location.

(D) Stations may be worked once per mode, per band (and mobiles in each new county), i.e., WC4E may be worked on both 20 CW and 20 SSB for credit.

(E) Your call sign must indicate your DXCC country (also, portables in Hawaii and Alaska must sign /KH6 or /KL7).

(F) Club competition, as per ARRL Club definitions. Please indicate your club affiliation on your summary sheet and/or log.

10) Reporting:

(A) Entries must be received (or postmarked for mailed in logs) no later than 30 days after the end of the contest (May 26, 2015). All entrants are encouraged to submit their logs electronically (e-mail, Web Page, etc.). The file format for electronic logs is Cabrillo.

(1) E-Mail. You may submit your contest logs via e-mail to logs@floridaqsoparty.org.

(2) Web Page. Entrants who do not use computer logging are encouraged to use the log-entry web form, to enter the QSO info from their paper logs.

(3) Via Regular Mail. Contest logs may be submitted via postal mail to: Florida QSO Party, c/o Ron Harps, K8NZ, 315 Ohio Rd., Lehigh Acres, FL 33936.

(4) When submitting paper logs, please include summary sheet. A summary sheet is not required for logs sent electronically in Cabrillo format. Other electronic formats, please include summary sheet.

(B) Logs must indicate band, mode, date, time in UTC, calls, sent (signal report and state/county/province/DXCC prefix) and received exchange (signal report and state/county/province/DXCC prefix). SWL's log senders report.

(1) Entry forms (rules, summary sheet, log sheet, and county abbreviations) are available for downloading.

(C) Logs that have been received will be listed on the Florida QSO Party Web site no more than 48 hours after receipt.

(D) Final results will be posted on the Florida QSO Party Web site.

11) Awards:

(A) Plaques will be awarded in various categories. See the current list of available plaques and sponsors here. Certificates will be awarded to top scorers in each category from each Florida county, State, Canadian province, and DXCC country.

(B) Special awards may be awarded at the discretion of the Florida QSO Party Contest Committee.

12) Condition of Entry: Each entrant agrees to be bound by the provisions, as well as the intent, of this announcement, the regulations of his or her licensing authority and the decisions of the Florida QSO Party Contest Committee.