IDAHO QSO Party (IDQP) Rules
1. Objective: For amateurs outside of the state of Idaho – to make contact with as many Idaho stations as possible during
the event.
For Idaho stations – to activate as many counties as possible, and work as many stations both in and out of Idaho,
during the event.
2. Contest Period: Always the second full weekend of March. The operating hours are from 1900Z to 1900Z, a single 24
hour period. All stations may operate the full 24 hours.
3. Categories: Note – Operators in all categories may change bands whenever they wish. There is no restriction on how long
you must remain on a band.
A. Single operator. One person performs all operating and logging functions. Use of spotting nets (operator arrangements
involving assistance through DX-alerting nets, PacketCluster, etc) is not permitted. Only one (1) transmitted signal on the
air at any time.
B. Multioperator – Includes those obtaining any form of assistance, such as relief operators, loggers, or use of spotting nets.
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.
C. Mobile/Rover. Mobile/Rover is a station that is self-contained (radio, antenna, power source) capable of motion.
Motion is optional. This category is not limited by the number of operators for competition purposes.
There is a category for In-State and one for Out of State.
D. School (University, College, High School, etc.). Operation is to take place from a station on campus.
Operation from a club member home station is ONLY allowed if there is no station on campus. Operators can be
Students, Faculty, Staff and Alumni from the School.
E. Special Events Stations (Idaho Only). Each special event station will be recognized.
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: All entrants may operate one of the following categories:
A. Mixed mode (Phone, CW, Digital) or any combination thereof
B. Phone only
C. CW only
D. Digital only
6. Contest Exchange:
A. Idaho stations send signal report and county (three character abbreviation).
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/country.
7. Scoring:
A. QSO Points: Each phone QSO counts as one point, regardless of band. Each CW and Digital QSO counts as two points,
regardless of band.
B. Multipliers:
1) For Idaho stations, count each US state, Canada province, and DXCC country as a multiplier. A multiplier is counted
once per mode, regardless of the number of bands on which it is worked. Note: for mobile/Rovers- the rule mentioned
above will count for each county you activate.
2) All others work Idaho counties. Idaho mobile stations that change counties are considered to be a new station
and may be contacted again for point and multiplier credit. Idaho 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 per "County Hunter" rules. Mobiles should identify themselves by call sign / county. Mobiles use only
one call per county. An Idaho 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. Mobile operations must submit separate logs for each county
activated; a mobile entrant's score will be the cumulative total of multipliers and QSO's. This will be determined by
the log checkers.
8. Suggested frequencies: CW - plus or minus 35 kHz up. Phone - plus or minus 7.260, 14.260, 21.335, and 28.470 MHz.
Digital – use commonly accepted region of band. RTTY is most common digital mode, but use of all flavors of digital are
encouraged.
A. Mobile Windows. Idaho fixed stations should not call CQ or "run" stations in this mobile "window".
1) CW 7.025-7.030, 14.040-14.050, 21.040-21.050, 28.040-28.050 MHZ
2) SSB 7.265-7.275, 14.265-14.275, 21.340-21.350, 28.480-28.490 MHz
these are just some of the suggested frequencies. ALL ham bands can be used except the WARC bands.
9. Miscellaneous:
A. Call sign/exchange information must be received by each station for a complete QSO.
B. No cross-mode contacts are allowed.
C. CW contacts must be made in the CW portion of the band.
D. Stations may be worked once per mode, per band (and mobiles in each new county), i.e., NT4TT may be worked on
both 20 CW and 20 SSB for QSO credit.
E. Your call sign must indicate your DXCC country (also, portables in Hawaii and Alaska must sign /KH6 or /KL7).
F. Amateur Radio Clubs may compete, as per ARRL Club competition rules. Please indicate your club affiliation on
your summary sheet and/or log.
G. Idaho stations are encouraged to identify themselves by county, i.e., K7IQP/KOO (station in Kootenai County)
or NX7TT/JEF (station in Jefferson County) on CW / Digital, and “K7IQP slash Kootenai” or “NX7TT slash Jefferson”
on phone.
H. For out of state operators, the number of Idaho counties (44 total) is the multiplier.
I. For Rovers in Idaho, scores are accumulated by county. You may work the same station from two counties for QSO points.
J. Repeaters are not to be used.
K. Send questions about the Idaho QSO Party (IDQP) or these rules to nx7tt@msn.com
L. Send all logs to idqplogs@msn.com
M. Visit www.nx7tt.com after the IDQP to see that your log submission has been accepted, and for award information.
10. Reporting:
A. Entries must be received (or postmarked for mailed in logs) no later than 30 days after the end of the contest. All entrants
are encouraged to submit their logs electronically (e-mail, 3.5 inch floppy disk, etc.). The file format for electronic logs is
Cabrillo, ADIF, or Excel spreadsheet. Cabrillo submissions should be modeled after the New England QSO Party (NEQP)
format, available at http://www.kkn.net/~trey/cabrillo/neqp.txt
1) E-Mail. You may submit contest logs via e-mail to: idqplogs@msn.com. E-mailed logs should be organized
as follows: List your call sign on the subject line, and attach the log as a text document, named (your call).TXT.
(Example: K7IQP.TXT)
2) On Disk. You may submit your logs on diskettes instead of paper logs. The floppy diskette must be IBM
compatible, MS-DOS formatted, 3.5 inch. The diskette should be labeled with your call sign, and contain
a file (your call).TXT. (Example: K7IQP.TXT). Send diskettes via postal mail to the address listed in subparagraph
10.A.4), of these rules.
3) IDQP Web Page. Entrants who do not use computer logging are encouraged to use the standard log-entry,
to transfer QSO info from their paper logs. Standard log sheets are available at www.nx7tt.com. Click on the
IDQP button, then choose the Paper Logs button.
4) Via Regular Mail. Contest logs (paper or diskette) may be submitted via postal mail to the address listed on
the home page at www.nx7tt.com.
B. Logs must indicate band, mode, date, time in UTC, calls, sent and received exchange.
C. Logs that have been received will be listed on the NX7TT Web site no more than 48 hours after receipt.
D. Final results will be posted at www.nx7tt.com
11. Awards:
A. Certificates will be awarded to top scorers in each Operator/Power/Mode category from each Idaho county, State,
and DXCC country. An additional certificate will be issued for the top In-State and Out-Of-State Mobile/Rover.
B. Special awards may be awarded at the discretion of the Idaho 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 Idaho QSO Party Contest Committee.
Remember, submit e-mail logs to idqplogs@msn.com