::.  RULES Collegiate QSO Party™ 2003 Collegiate QSO Party™ Rules OPERATORS: SAFETY is of paramount importance above all other considerations before, during, and after the Event. Take time to review the Rules and Operating Tips. Note that severe penalties will be imposed for self-spotting. Note this year’s earlier deadline for submitting logs (14 days). Rules subject to change in CARA’s sole discretion without notice or obligation. Review Rules on CARA web site immediately before event for updates. UPDATES, 19/SEP/2003 (posted 0300 UTC Sep. 20): W4C will be active during the 2003 Collegiate QSO Party™. Designated Station W4C is required to send only sequential QSO numbers.

MORE INFO Text-only page CARA Web Site

Event:

The "Collegiate QSO Party™" (the "Event").

Sponsor:

Collegiate Amateur Radio Association, Inc. ("CARA").

Purpose:

To promote activity at and among collegiate Amateur Radio clubs.

Dates/Time:

1200 UTC Saturday September 20 to 0400 UTC Sunday September 21, 2003

Operating in the Event:

Work stations anywhere in the world once per mode per band for QSO credit. Work stations in the portion of the band generally accepted for the mode used. Participants should follow standard contest practices by making and responding to "CQ Collegiate QSO Party" calls on phone, RTTY and PSK31 or "CQP" on CW. Log a complete exchange each valid QSO. Collegiate QSO Party contacts are to be made only on CW, RTTY, PSK31, SSB, or AM. No repeater, satellite, FM, cross-mode, cross-band or repeater QSOs. Spotting nets, DX packet/web clusters, etc., may be used to locate other stations. Spotting by a collegiate club station of other collegiate club stations is permitted. However, SELF-SPOTTING IS PROHIBITED (see section on self-spotting, below). Operators must observe the limits of their license. Licensed club members, Alumni collegiate club members, faculty members who are licensed Amateurs, and/or club call sign trustees may operate the club stations during the Event. Unlicensed club members may operate under supervision of a licensed club member.

Participant Classes:

Class A: Collegiate Station - Single Operator. - One operator performs all operating. Only one transmitter may be on the air at a time; Class B: Collegiate Station - Multi Operator/Single Transmitter. - Two or more operators perform all operating. Only one transmitter may be on the air at a time; or Class C: Collegiate Station - Multi-Operator/Multi-Transmitter. - Two or more operators perform all operating. Two or more transmitters may be on the air at a time. Class D: Non-Collegiate Station - Single or Multi-Operator/Single Transmitter secondary school (high school) club. - Loggers may be counted as operators in this class. Class D participants should note on their summary sheets whether they operated as single or multi-operator stations. Class E: Non-Collegiate Station - Non-club Single Operators. Limit operation to one of the referenced classes. Class A through D stations must be fixed or portable (no mobile operation). Stations in Class E may operate fixed, portable, or mobile. The term "collegiate" is defined to mean an accredited post-secondary educational institution.

Exchange:

Minimum required exchange that must appear in a participant’s log: UTC time of contact, frequency or band, station call sign, signal report sent, sequential QSO numbers, and name of school contacted for Classes A through D or name of operator for Class E (the "Minimum Required Exchange"). This requirement is not intended to limit conversation or information exchanged during QSOs. Note: The Class need not be part of the Minimum Required Exchange. On digital modes, clubs are encouraged to use abbreviations after their call signs, i.e., "U" for university, "C" for college, "T" for technical school, "V" for vocational school, "S" for primary and secondary schools. Examples: WØIO, University of Iowa ARC would send "WØIO/U"; KC7KFF, Carl Hayden Community High School Amateur Radio Club would send "KC7KFF/S".

Frequencies:

Contestants may use the 160 meter, 80 meter, 40 meter, 20 meter, 15 meter, and 10 meter Amateur bands. No WARC band contacts allowed. Suggested frequencies: CW: 1805 kHz and 20-50 kHz up from band edge on other bands; Phone: 1845 kHz, 3850-3950 kHz, 7200-7300 kHz, 14200-14280 kHz, 21350-21450 kHz, and 28300-28400 kHz. RTTY/PSK31: anywhere in the digital sub-bands. These recommendations are only meant as guidelines to help Collegiate QSO Party participants find one another, and are not to be considered strict limitations on frequencies available for use.

Points, Scoring & Penalties:

Earn 1 point per QSO. Stations may be worked once per mode and band for QSO credit. Bonus points: Collegiate club contacts: 20 points per QSO with a collegiate club station; QRP operation: (10 Watts output or less): 10 bonus points for each 50 QSOs logged; Administrative QSO: Participants in Classes A, B, or C add 25 bonus points for submitting written proof of a QSO between a top-level administrator of your school (e.g., the Dean, President) and any station worked during the Event ("Administrative QSO"). The Administrative QSO bonus is available only once during the Event. Proof of an Administrative QSO in the form of a written or electronic mail letter signed by the administrator who made the QSO must be submitted to CARA with the log entry; and Designated CARA Station: 20 points for working the designated CARA station (the "Designated Station"). This bonus available only once during the Event. However, Participants may work the Designated Station on multiple bands/modes for regular QSO credit (1 point per QSO). 2003 Designated Station: W4C. Multipliers: Each collegiate club QSO counts as a separate multiplier on each band-mode. Example: working a college club on 80CW, 40SSB, 40CW, 40PSK, and 15SSB earns five (5) multipliers. Final claimed score tabulation: Total QSO Points + Bonus Points = Total Event Points x Multipliers = Final claimed score View and print sample LOG SHEET, SUMMARY SHEET and DUPE SHEET or request hard copies by sending US$2.00 and SAE to CARA, P.O. Box 150232, Alexandria, Virginia, U.S.A.

Entry Submission & Deadline:

Participants must submit complete log sheet(s) and a summary sheet. Submit a dupe sheet(s) if more than 100 stations are logged. The log sheet(s) must clearly show the Minimum Required Exchange for all stations worked. Participants submitting electronic entries are encouraged to use Cabrillo™ format or ASCII text files for logs and Microsoft Word® documents for logs, dupe sheets and summary sheets. CARA will make a reasonable effort to review entries submitted in other formats. Participants submitting hard copy entries must use the forms available on this web site or reasonably similar facsimiles. Deadline: Send entry via surface mail postmarked no later than October 5, 2003 to: Mailing address: CARA P O Box 150232 ALEXANDRIA, Virginia 22315 USA or electronically as attachments to e-mail transmitted no later than 0400 UTC October 6, 2003 to: E-mail: qsoparty@collegiatehams.com Entries submitted via (1) surface mail that cannot be reasonably evaluated, or (2) e-mail submissions that cannot be reviewed through any reasonable effort by CARA or are quarantined for any reason by virus detection software used by CARA, will not be accepted. CARA will confirm non-acceptance of an entry only upon written request.

Self Spotting:

IT IS A VIOLATION OF THE COLLEGIATE QSO PARTY RULES TO ENGAGE IN SELF-SPOTTING DURING THE EVENT. Self-spotting of collegiate or high school stations by their operators or club members during the Event may subject the club to disqualification or other penalties. Spotting of a collegiate or high school club station by a member of the club or operator of that station or by anyone affiliated with the club or any of its operators or members, even if not a participating station operator during the Event, and regardless of the geographic location of the spotter during the Event, shall be conclusive evidence that self-spotting occurred. CARA may review any packet or web cluster database, including ISP routing information, third party reports, or any other information in making a determination in its sole discretion as to whether self-spotting occurred.

Awards:

CARA may provide recognition of Participants who earn a top score(s) in the Event through acknowledgment on its web site. CARA may rank separately Participants who enter the Collegiate QSO Party under Class D or E in its sole discretion.

Participation in Event:

Participants agree (1) to be bound by the Event Rules, and DISCLAIMERS, incorporated herein by reference, and (2) that the decisions of CARA shall be final with regard to acceptance of log materials and scores, penalties, and disciplinary action. NOTICE: The Rules are subject to change in CARA’s sole discretion without notice or obligation. Prospective participants should review the Rules posted on the CARA web site immediately before the Event starts for Rules changes and/or updates, if any.

Disqualification:

Self-spotting, inappropriate conduct by participants (including individual operators), including but not limited to illegal and/or unsportsmanlike conduct ("Offense(s)"), shall not be tolerated by CARA. Participants who commit Offenses during the Event, including those that reflect unfavorably on the collegiate Amateur Radio community, CARA, or the Amateur Radio service generally, shall be subject to disqualification or other appropriate disciplinary action by CARA in its sole discretion. Disciplinary action may be taken at the discretion of CARA at any time during or after the Event. CARA may, in its sole discretion, penalize participants responsible for Offenses through disqualification, revocation of award(s), banning participants from the Event permanently or for a period of years, or by any other manner deemed appropriate by CARA. The term "inappropriate conduct" shall be construed broadly.

Date of info: 18 September, 2003	Source: CARA web site