Rules: 2023 California QSO Party (CQP)

Last Update: 26-June-2023 at 0000 UTC

Click HERE for a printable copy (PDF) of this Rules page.

Logs are due by 2359 UTC on Monday, October 23, 2023.
Logs must be submitted electronically in Cabrillo format – paper, Excel, and ADIF logs are NOT acceptable.

DATES + TIMES:
Begins: 1600 UTC - 07 October 2023     Ends: 2200 UTC - 08 October 2023

OBJECTIVE:
Stations outside of California work as many California stations in as many CA Counties as possible.
Stations inside California work everyone. Non-CA to non-CA contacts do not count for QSO credit.

EXCHANGE:
1. California stations send QSO number and 4-letter county abbreviation.  
2. Stations outside of California send QSO number and 2-letter State, Canadian province/territory, or "DX". 
QSO number = contact serial number starting with 1 for the first contact, progressing to 2 for the next contact, and so on. It is unnecessary to send leading zeros in the QSO number.  
How to log a county-line QSO in N1MM+, N3FJP, and Writelog. Click HERE

QSO POINTS:
Each complete non-duplicate Phone contact is worth 2 points. 
Each complete non-duplicate CW contact is worth 3 points.   Although there is no credit for duplicate contacts, there's no penalty either, so please do not remove them from your log as they help with log checking.

MULTIPLIERS:
A. California Stations: Maximum of 58 Scored Multipliers out of 63 Total Multipliers
(U.S. states = 50 and Canadian provinces/territories = 13).

Notes:

• MR (Maritime) multiplier has been removed. NB (New Brunswick), NS (Nova Scotia), NL (Newfoundland and Labrador) and PE (Prince Edward Island) provinces have been added as multipliers.
• NT multiplier has been redefined as Northwest Territories only (VE8). YT (Yukon) and NU (Nunavut) territories have been added as multipliers.
• Although there are 63 possible multipliers that can accrue toward the CA station's multiplier tally, the maximum number of counted multipliers toward the CA station's final score is 58.
• DX is the QTH sent by all stations outside of the U.S. and Canada, however it does not count as an additional multiplier toward the CA station's multiplier tally. DX QSOs count as QSO credit.
• The first valid CA QSO logged with 4-letter county abbreviation will count as the multiplier for California. California stations must log all CA contacts with their 4-letter county abbreviation.

B. Non-California Stations
Count all 58 California Counties for a maximum of 58 multipliers.

SCORE:
The final score is the total number of QSO Points multiplied by the total number of scored multipliers (58 maximum).
QSO Points = (CW Qs x 3 pts) + (Phone Qs x 2 pts)
Final Score = QSO Points  x  # Multipliers

MODES:  CW, Phone

BANDS:  160, 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters
Frequencies:
CW: 40 kHz up from the bottom band edge on 10m-80m; 160m at 1815 kHz
SSB: 1845 kHz, 3750-3820 kHz (avoiding 3790-3800 kHz DX window), 7230 kHz, 14250 kHz, 21300 kHz, 28450 kHz.

Rallies:
1900Z: Try 10m at 28040 and 28450 kHz
0300Z and 0600Z: Try 80CW at 3540 kHz and 75PH at 3750-3820 kHz (avoiding 3790-3800 kHz DX window)
0500Z: Try 160CW at 1815 kHz
0530Z: Try 160PH at 1845 kHz

Notes:
1. Stations may be worked once on CW and once on Phone on each of the 6 bands (maximum of 12 QSOs with any one station).
2. All CW contacts must be made outside the Phone sub-bands except for 160 meters.
3. Avoid frequencies already in use by any mode and follow the WWROF Contester's Code of Ethics.
4. A station's transmitters, receivers and amplifiers must be located within a single 500-meter diameter circle.

LOGGING SOFTWARE:
Please visit the CQP Software Page.

ENTRIES:
Please submit your log by either one of the following methods.

	Option	Comment	Link
	1. Use The CQP Log Submission Form	Preferred Method Please use this form if at all possible. It's easy.
	2. Email Your Log As Attachment	Please consider Option 1 First.
NOTES: 1. Logs are due by 2359 UTC on Monday, October 23, 2023. Logs must be submitted electronically in Cabrillo format – paper, Excel, and ADIF logs are NOT acceptable. 2. If you need to correct something in your log, you can resubmit it. The last version of your log received before the log submission deadline will be considered "your official" log. . If you have any difficulty with either submission method, please email a description of the problem to: info@cqp.org. 3. Regardless of the method you use to submit your log, it is your responsibility to check our Logs Received page and verify that it has been listed.  You can check the CQP Logs Received server here: robot.cqp.org  The server is updated daily. 4. By submitting a log the submitter agrees that the log is a public document which may be released at the discretion of the Contest Sponsor.

PLAQUES: 40 awards
Note: See CQP Awards Page for a complete list of Awards and Sponsors.

SPECIAL CQP WINE - The top 20 CA and top 20 non-CA Single-Operator/Single-Operator-Assisted entrants will receive a personalized bottle of NCCC Private Reserve California Wine.  CQP wine is generously donated by Twisted Oak Winery. Winners who reside in locations where we cannot legally ship wine from California, as well as any winner under the age of 21, will be awarded a gift card instead.

CERTIFICATES - all entries will be able to print out a Certificate of Achievement.

CQP is sponsored by the Northern California Contest Club