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ARRL contests

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(Redirected from ARRL VHF contests)
ARRL contests
SponsorARRL Contest Branch, Newington, Connecticut
Number of events19 annual events
CalendarEvents in every month except May
Log formatCabrillo, uploaded through the ARRL web app
Best-known events
HFSweepstakes, International DX, IARU HF World Championship
VHF and upJanuary, June and September VHF contests
For newcomersRookie Roundup, Kids Day, School Club Roundup
Not contestsField Day, Straight Key Night

ARRL contests are the on-air competitions and operating events sponsored by the ARRL through the year. They range from 48-hour HF marathons that draw the world's top contest stations to six-hour events for newly licensed hams and a day set aside for friendly CW on a straight key. The ARRL's contest calendar lists each year's dates, and each event has its own rules page.[1]

The contest year

Dates follow fixed rules, such as "the first full weekend of November", so they shift slightly each year. W/VE means stations in the United States and Canada; DX means everyone else.

Event When Modes Who works whom
Straight Key Night January 1 (UTC) CW, straight keys or bugs preferred Anyone; not a contest[2]
Kids Day First Saturday of January, third Saturday of June Any Hams with young guest operators work anyone[3]
RTTY Roundup First full weekend of January RTTY only Anyone works anyone
January VHF[4] Third or fourth full weekend of January All, 50 MHz and up W/VE work each other; DX work W/VE[5]
School Club Roundup A school week in February and in October Phone, CW, digital Anyone, especially school stations[6]
International DX CW in February, phone in March CW or phone W/VE work DX[7]
Rookie Roundup A Sunday in April, August and December SSB, RTTY, CW in turn Rookies work anyone; others work only rookies[8]
International Digital First full weekend of June Digital, except RTTY Anyone works anyone[9]
June VHF Second full weekend of June All, 50 MHz and up As January VHF
Field Day Fourth full weekend of June Any US, Canada and IARU Region 2 enter; not a contest[10]
IARU HF World Championship Second full weekend of July CW and phone Everyone works everyone[11]
222 MHz and Up Distance First full weekend of August Any, 222 MHz and up Scored by distance[12]
10 GHz and Up Third full weekends of August and September Any, 10 GHz up to light Two weekends[13]
EME Four weekends, August to November Any, via the moon Worldwide[14]
September VHF Second full weekend of September All, 50 MHz and up As January VHF
Collegiate QSO Party Early October Phone, CW, digital College clubs and anyone[15]
Sweepstakes November: CW first full weekend, phone third CW or phone W/VE only[16]
160-Meter First full weekend of December CW Everyone works W/VE[17]
10-Meter Second full weekend of December CW, phone or both Anyone works anyone[18]

Notes on the events

  • HF. In the International DX Contest, US and Canadian stations send a signal report and state or province, and DX stations send their power.[7] In Sweepstakes and the 160-Meter Contest, US and Canadian stations send their ARRL or RAC section.[16][17] The IARU HF World Championship is held under IARU rules, with the ARRL, the IARU's International Secretariat, handling logs and results.[11] Most stations send their ITU zone; society headquarters stations such as W1AW send their society's abbreviation.[11]
  • VHF and up. The VHF contests use grid squares as the exchange and multiplier and have rover categories for stations that drive between grids.[5] The 222 MHz and Up contest scores each contact by the distance between the two stations' grid locators.[19] The EME weekends, chosen for good conditions, cover moonbounce on 2.3 GHz and up in late summer and 50 to 1296 MHz in the fall.[14][1]
  • For newcomers. A "rookie" is a ham first licensed in the current year or the three before it.[8] The Rookie Roundup lasts six hours, power is limited to 100 watts, and entrants send a score summary rather than a log.[8] The Collegiate QSO Party began in 2018 with the ARRL's Collegiate Amateur Radio Initiative as sponsor.[20] The ARRL's Collegiate Amateur Radio Program still lists it as a fall event, and its rules are on its own website, hosted by Tony Milluzzi, KD8RTT, one of its original organizers.[21][15][20] See Youth in amateur radio.
  • Not contests. The ARRL says plainly that Field Day is not a contest,[10] and Straight Key Night awards no points; participants instead vote for a "Best Fist" and the most interesting contact.[2]

Rules and log submission

Each contest has general rules shared by all ARRL contests plus its own rules for bands, times, exchange and categories.[22] The HF contests use only the traditional contest bands, 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meters, and leave the 60, 30, 17 and 12-meter bands alone; the Digital Contest adds 6 meters. Electronic logs in the Cabrillo format, which most logging software produces, are uploaded through the ARRL's web app, which issues a receipt.[23] Deadlines differ: seven days after the International DX, IARU and Digital contests, ten days after the VHF contests, and 30 days after the second 10 GHz weekend.[7][11][9][5][13] Field Day has its own entry page, Straight Key Night takes logs by email, and some events still accept paper logs.[23]

Results and awards

Results, records and downloadable certificates are published on the ARRL Contest Portal.[24] Certificates go to top scorers by category and area, and plaques go to overall and division winners when an individual, club or group sponsors them.[7]

For a first ARRL contest, try the Rookie Roundup if you are newly licensed, or the phone weekend of Sweepstakes, where every US and Canadian station is a contact and the pace is unhurried. See How to enter your first contest.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Contest Calendar, ARRL.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Straight Key Night, ARRL.
  3. ↑ Kids Day, ARRL.
  4. ↑ RTTY Roundup, ARRL.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 January VHF, ARRL.
  6. ↑ School Club Roundup, ARRL.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 ARRL DX, ARRL.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Rookie Roundup, ARRL.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 ARRL Digital Contest, ARRL.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Field Day, ARRL.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 IARU HF World Championship, ARRL.
  12. ↑ 222 MHz and Up Distance Contest, ARRL.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 10 GHz & Up, ARRL.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 EME Contest, ARRL.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Collegiate QSO Party.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Sweepstakes, ARRL.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 160 Meter, ARRL.
  18. ↑ 10 Meter, ARRL.
  19. ↑ ARRL 222 MHz and Up Distance Contest Rules, ARRL.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Collegiate QSO Party to Debut in September, ARRL, August 2018.
  21. ↑ Collegiate Amateur Radio Program, ARRL.
  22. ↑ Contest Rules, ARRL.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Log Submission, ARRL.
  24. ↑ Contests, ARRL.
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