2015 Indiana QSO Party Rules

Objective: For Amateurs worldwide to contact as many stations in Indiana as possible on the 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meter Amateur bands.

Date and Contest Period: Contest starts at 1600 UTC Saturday and ends at 0400 UTC Sunday the first full weekend of May. (Saturday noon to midnight EDT or 11am to 11pm CDT.) For 2015, this is May 2-3. All stations may operate the full 12-hour period.

Entry Categories:
Single-operator (High Power, Low Power or QRP). One person performs all logging, spotting, and operating functions.
Low Power is transmitter output of 100 watts or less.
QRP is transmitter output power of 5 watts or less.
Multi-operator single transmitter (Multi-Single). Only one signal is permitted on the air at any time.
Multi-Operator Multi-transmitter (Multi-Multi). Fixed stations (only) may operate without limit on the number of operators, transmitters or signals per band.
Mobile. Mobile is defined as a self-contained single or multi-operator station, capable of legal motion (land, water or air), motion optional. A mobile station that at any time uses a larger antenna incapable of being used in motion is considered a rover (see below).
Portable. A single transmitter station set up in a temporary location with temporary antennas (Field Day style). Portable stations may be either single or multiple operator.
Rover. A portable, or a mobile station using larger (non-mobile) antennas, that operates from more than one location.
A portable station may move (in entirety -- antennas included) to a new county or county line, thereby becoming a rover.
Rover stations may be worked again when they change counties (same as mobile stations).
Operation while mobile is permitted.
A county line mobile, portable, or rover may operate from only one or two counties at a time. In other words, three and four county operations are not allowed.
Multi-Multi entrants may transmit any number of signals simultaneously. All others may transmit only one signal on the air at any given time.
There is no "Assisted" category. Therefore, stations using spotting assistance shall enter as Multi-Single or Multi-Multi. Self-spotting is not permitted.
Fixed stations must enter as Single-operator, Multi-Single or Multi-Multi only.

Contest Exchange:
Indiana stations send RS(T) plus Indiana county.
Non-Indiana stations in the USA and Canada send RS(T) and state, province or territory.
All others (DX) send RS(T) only or RS(T) plus "DX".

Scoring:
QSO points:
Count one point for each complete two-way phone QSO.
Count two points for each complete two-way CW QSO.
Stations may be worked once in each mode (CW/phone) on each band (160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10). The same fixed station could theoretically be worked twelve times. Exception: Mobile and rover stations may be worked in each county of operation. For example, you may rework the same mobile station in both modes on every band every time the mobile moves to a new county.
Stations on county boundaries may be worked for multiple county credit (stations need not physically move to declare a new county). Contacts with such stations should be logged in either of two ways:
as multiple QSOs, one per county.
as one QSO with each county duly noted.
Note that most contest logging programs have a mechanism for entering multiple counties for each QSO.
Non-Indiana stations may work only Indiana stations.
Repeater, cross-band and cross-mode contacts are not allowed.

Multipliers:
Non-Indiana stations:
The 92 Indiana counties (see Section 9).
Indiana stations:
The 92 Indiana counties (see Section 9).
The other 49 U.S. states (District of Columbia counts as Maryland).
The 13 Canadian Provinces/Territories: NB, NS, QC, ON, MB, SK, AB, BC, NT, NL, YT, PE and NU.
Multipliers count once per mode (i.e. once on CW and once on phone). This means you can double your possible mults by working both modes.
Indiana stations may work DX stations for QSO point credit, but there are no DX multipliers.

Final Scoring:
Multiply QSO points by total multipliers.

Example #1: KX9IO (in Indiana) has 354 non-duplicate CW QSOs with stations in 39 states/provinces and 27 Indiana counties and 292 non-duplicate SSB QSOs with stations in 41 states/provinces and 32 Indiana counties.

Total score = ((354 x 2) + 292) x (39 + 27 + 41 + 32)
Total score = 1000 x 139
Total score = 139, 000

Example #2: WX5ZR (outside Indiana) has 103 non-duplicate CW QSOs with stations in 24 Indiana counties and 42 non-duplicate SSB QSOs with stations in 12 Indiana counties.

Total score = ((103 x 2) + 42) x (24 + 12)
Total score = 248 x 36
Total score = 8928

Club Competition:
In addition to individual awards, there is an award for the Indiana Amateur Radio Club whose members turn in the highest total aggregate score.
Clubs must be legitimate radio clubs, meeting FCC requirements for club licensing. Clubs need not have a club license or be members of the Indiana Radio Club Council to qualify. The sponsor of Indiana QSO Party, currently the Hoosier DX and Contest Club, is not eligible for this award.
Logs turned in by a club's members must be for contacts made from within the state of Indiana for the Indiana QSO Party.
Club members must CLEARLY indicate only one club affiliation when submitting logs. Cabrillo format logs should show club affiliation in the log header lines. Submissions using other log formats should be suitably marked.
To be eligible for the club competition award, at least three club members must participate. One of the following conditions must be satisfied:
at least three club members submit individual logs meeting the above requirements for single operator logs, or
the club submits a single log for a multi-operator station (single or multi transmitter) with at least three club members shown as operators, or
the club submits a combination of single and multi-operator station logs to meet the minimum participation requirement.
It is not necessary for a log to be from a station using a club's call sign, although the activation of club stations is encouraged.

Awards:
The top scoring fixed station (high power, low power, and QRP), portable, rover, and mobile in Indiana and the top scoring station outside Indiana will receive plaques.
Plaques for the top Indiana Multi-Op and Multi-Multi entries may be awarded if activity warrants.
Plaques may also be awarded for top single operator entries from W1 and W7 call areas (New England QSO Party and 7QP).
Sponsors for additional plaques are always welecome. Contact HDXCC for additional information.
The top scoring club (aggregate score of three or more members' logs from Indiana operations) will receive a plaque.
Certificates for each entry category, each Indiana county, each state/province/territory and each country will be awarded where significant effort or competition is evident.

Log Submissions:
Computer generated logs must be submitted as an ASCII text file with Cabrillo format strongly preferred. Logs may be sent via e-mail to inqp@hdxcc.org. Please name both the log file and your summary sheet file with your call (e.g., KJ9D.SUM, KJ9D.LOG, etc.).
Hand-written paper logs may be submitted by postal mail to HDXCC, c/o Mike Goode N9NS, 10340 Broadway, Indianapolis, IN 46280-1344. (Only hand-written paper logs can be accepted. If you use computer logging, send a computer generated file - not paper!)
All entries (including paper logs) must include a summary with at least the following information:
Call sign used for INQP
Names and Call signs of all operators
Mailing address
Entry Category (Single-Op entries must specify power level: High/Low/QRP)
The QTH of the operation (e.g., Indiana county, State or Province)
Note that Cabrillo format logs normally have this information (and more) in the log header, and in that case, there is no need for a separate summary sheet.
Logs must be received no later than June 1, 2015 (Note new deadline!).

Suggested Frequencies:
CW: 1.805 MHz and 30 kHz up from the band edge on 80-10 meters. A window for only mobiles to call CQ should be observed from 35 to 40 KHz up.
SSB: 1.845, 3.820, 7.190, 14.250, 21.300 and 28.400 MHz.
Try 160 meters at 0200 UTC.

Web Site: www.hdxcc.org/inqp Please visit the web site for additional information including:
A list of Indiana counties and abbreviations
Indiana county map
Notes on compatible logging software
Mobile and county expedition plans