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VU International DX Contest Rules

Rules: VU International DX Contest 2014

Starts: 1200 UTC (1730 IST) Saturday, December 6th, 2014

Ends: 1200 UTC (1730 IST) Sunday, December 7th, 2014

1. Objective: To encourage DX contacts between stations in India and other countries.

(a) For amateurs in India to contact maximum number of amateurs ONLY outside India during the contest period

(b) For amateurs in other Asian countries to contact stations in various States and Union Territories in India and other DX non-Asian stations

(c) For amateurs outside Asia to contact stations in various States and Union Territories in India as well as other Asian countries

2. Period of Operation: 24 hours.

3. Bands: ONLY the 3.5, 7, 14, 21, and 28 MHz bands may be used. Observance of established band plans is strongly encouraged. On 40m, please spread out and use the upper section of the band from 7100 to 7200 for Phone as well.

4. Modes: Contacts may be made on PHONE & CW modes. For mixed mode entries, a station may be worked once each on CW & SSB on each band, for QSO points credit.

(a) CW

(b) PHONE

5. Terms of Competition for All Categories:

(a) Participants may call “CQ VU” or “CQ VU CONTEST” to differentiate from other contests that may be running at the same time.

(b) All entrants must operate within the limits of their chosen category when performing any activity that could affect their submitted score. Only the entrant’s call sign may be used to aid the entrant’s score.

(c) A different call sign must be used for each entry.

(d) Entrants must not exceed the maximum power limit specified by their license, or the power limit of their entry category, whichever is less, on any band. Power is measured at the final output connector of the transmitter.

(e) Self-spotting or asking other stations to spot you on any DX Cluster is not allowed.

(f) Use of QSO alerting assistance is not permitted except for multi operator categories. QSO alerting assistance is the use of any technology or outside method that provides call sign and frequency information regarding any other station to the operator. This can include telephone calls, DX Clusters, Skimmers etc.

(g) All operation must take place from one operating site. Transmitters and receivers must be located within a 500-meter radius circle or within the property limits of the station licensee, whichever is greater. All antennas must be physically connected by wires to the transmitters and receivers used by the entrant.

6. Entry Categories:

(a) Single Operator Categories: All operating and logging functions are performed by one person (the operator). Only one transmitted signal is permitted at any time. QSO alerting assistance of any kind is not allowed.

(i) Single Operator High (All Band): QSO alerting assistance is not permitted. Total output power above 100 watts up to legal limit.

(ii) Single Operator Low (All Band): QSO alerting assistance is not permitted. Total output power must not exceed 100 watts.

(iii) Single Operator QRP (All Band): QSO alerting assistance is not permitted. Total output power must not exceed 10 watts.

(b) Multi-Operator Categories (All Band): More than one person can contribute to the final score during the official contest period. Select category based on number of transmitted signals.

(i) Single-Transmitter (MULTI-ONE): Only one transmitted signal is permitted at any time.

(ii) Multi-Transmitter (MULTI-UNLIMITED): No limit to transmitters, but only one transmitted signal (and running station) allowed per band at any time. Use a separate serial number sequence for each band.

(c) Mode Categories: The following mode categories shall be considered for this contest.

(i) CW

(ii) PHONE

(iii) MIXED

7. Exchange:

(a) VU station sends RST Report + Indian State abbreviation (2 letter abbreviations of States and Union Territories)

(b) Asian stations outside VU and all others send RST Report + Serial number starting from 001

Example:

CW : 599 KA (sent by Indian Station) or 599 001 sent by all Stations outside VU

SSB : 59 TN (sent by Indian Station) or 59001 sent by all Stations outside VU

8. Contact Points: For mixed mode entries, a station may be worked once each on CW & SSB on each band, for QSO points credit.

(a) Contacts between stations in VU and other countries are worth six (6) points

(b) Contacts between stations  in Asia (other than VU) and non-Asian countries are worth three (3) points

9. Multipliers:

(a) For VU Stations – Total of Asian and DX countries as per DXCC list counted once on each band

(b) For Asian Stations outside VU – Total of VU States & other DX countries based on DXCC list counted once on each band

(c) For DX Stations – Total of VU States & Asian countries based on DXCC list counted once on each band

10. Scoring: An Indian station may be worked once each on CW and SSB on each band for QSO point credit.

(a) Single-Operator and Multi-Operator:

(i) All-Band score is total contact points from all bands X Total Multipliers

11. Awards: Only logs submitted in electronic format are eligible for awards.

(a) To be eligible for an award, a Single Operator station must show a minimum of 4 hours of operation. Multi-operator stations must operate a minimum of 12 hours.

(b) Certificates will be awarded to the first three highest scoring stations in each category listed under Section 5 above for VU, Asian and non-Asian DX stations. The scores of VU stations will also count towards the annual VU Top Contester of the Year award each year.

12. Instructions for Submission of Logs: We would appreciate receiving all logs in electronic format. Electronic submission of logs is required for anyone competing for an award and for those who use a computer to log the contest or prepare contest logs.

(a) The log MUST show the following for each contact: correct time of QSO, frequency (or band), call, Exchange sent, and Exchange received. A log without all required information may be reclassified to CHECKLOG.

(b) The CABRILLO file format is the standard for logs. However you may use the Excel or PDF sample log format documents which will be provided in the Resources section of this Contest on the ARSI web site.

The following is the Cabrillo format for this contest.

START-OF-LOG: 3.0
CALLSIGN: Your Call Sign
CONTEST: VU-DX
CATEGORY-OPERATOR: SINGLE-OP/MULTI-OP
CATEGORY-BAND: ALL
CATEGORY-MODE: CW/PHONE/MIXED
CATEGORY-POWER: HIGH/LOW/QRP
CATEGORY-TRANSMITTER: ONE/TWO/UNLIMITED
CLAIMED-SCORE: 2356
CLUB: Your Local Club Name if applicable
NAME: Your Name
ADDRESS: Your Address Line 1
ADDRESS: Your Address Line 2
ADDRESS: Your Address Line 3
OPERATORS: List call signs of all operators
SOAPBOX: Put your comments here.
SOAPBOX: Use multiple lines if needed.
QSO: 7025 CW 2012-04-29 0911 VU2VWN 599 KL W2TS 599 001 0
QSO: 14185 PH 2012-04-29 1020 VU2VWN 59 KL N2UR 59 050 0
QSO: 3545 CW 2012-04-29 1143 VU2VWN 599 KL VU2NKS 59 MH 0
END-OF-LOG:

Each QSO line above will be formatted as below in text mode. If you are not using a logging program that can generate Cabrillo, Windows Notepad is an appropriate tool to just type this up.

                         UTC  --------info sent------- -------info rcvd-------- QSO: freq  mo date       time call          rst exch   call          rst exch   t QSO: ***** ** yyyy-mm-dd nnnn ************* nnn ****** ************* nnn ****** n QSO:  7025 CW 2012-04-29 0911 VU2VWN        599 KL     W2TS          599 001    0 QSO: 14185 PH 2012-04-29 1020 VU2VWN        59  KL     N2UR          59  050    0 QSO:  3545 CW 2012-04-29 1143 VU2VWN        599 KL     VU2NKS        59  MH     0 000000000111111111122222222223333333333444444444455555555556666666666777777777788 123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901  

Note the Cabrillo log format abbreviations for CW and SSB are CW and PH respectively.

If your radio does not use CAT control from a computerized logging program you may use the following FREQ designators in the QSO line of the Cabrillo log for each band.

80m    - 3500
40m    - 7000
20m    - 14000
15m    - 21000
10m    - 28000

(c) E-mail is the expected method of log submission. Please provide only your call sign in the SUBJECT line of the email. Logs in CABRILLO, Microsoft Excel or text format replicating the above columns may be sent to [email protected]

(d) Instructions for paper logs: Paper logs using may be mailed to Prasad Rajagopal, PO Box 7523, Bangalore, 560075. Please superscribe the envelope in bold as “VU INTERNATIONAL DX CONTEST”. Each paper log entry must be accompanied by a Summary Sheet listing all scoring information, the category of competition, and the entrant’s name and mailing address in BLOCK LETTERS.

(e) Logging Software:

(i) SD by Paul O’Kane EI5DI now supports this contest on a free basis for both the VU and DX ends. The software is available from http://www.ei5di.com

(ii) N1MMLogger now supports this contest with an add-on User Defined Contest module. The software is available at http://www.n1mm.com – the UDC module for this contest is available at VU_DX.zip which contains instructions on use.

13. Rule Violations: Violation of amateur radio regulations or the rules of the contest; unsportsmanlike conduct; taking credit for excessive unverifiable QSOs or multipliers; use of any non-amateur means of communication to SOLICIT, ARRANGE, or CONFIRM any contacts during or after the contest will be deemed sufficient cause for disqualification.

14. Declaration: By submitting an entry in the VU International DX Contest you agree that:

(a) you have read and understood the rules of the contest and agree to be bound by them,

(b) you have operated according to all rules and regulations that pertain to your amateur radio license,

(c) your log entry may be made open to the public when notifying awards and scores, and

(d) all actions and decisions of ARSI are official and final.

15. Deadline: All entries must be emailed or postmarked NO LATER than December 20th, 2014. Logs emailed or postmarked after the deadline may be ineligible for any awards.

16. Abbreviations of VU States & Union Territories:

State/Union Territory Two-letter Code
Andhra Pradesh AP
Arunachal Pradesh AR
Assam AS
Bihar BR
Chhattisgarh CG
Goa GA
Gujarat GJ
Haryana HR
Himachal Pradesh HP
Jammu & Kashmir JK
Jharkhand JS
Karnataka KA
Kerala KL
Madhya Pradesh MP
Maharashtra MH
Manipur MN
Meghalaya ML
Mizoram MZ
Nagaland NL
Orissa OR
Punjab PB
Rajasthan RJ
Sikkim SK
Tamil Nadu TN
Tripura TR
Telangana TS
Uttarakhand UA
Uttar Pradesh UP
West Bengal WB
Andaman & Nicobar AN
Chandigarh CH
Dadra and Nagar Haveli DN
Daman & Diu DD
Delhi DL
Lakshadweep LD
Pondicherry PY

17. Questions:

Any questions pertaining to this Contest may be e-mailed to the ARSI Contests & Awards Manager, Prasad VU2PTT, at [email protected]