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1. Precedence of Rules:
1.2. General Rules for HF and VHF contests take precedence over General Rules for all contests.
2. Conditions of Entry: Entrants agree to be bound by:
2.2. The regulations of the national licensing authority;
2.3. The decisions of the ARRL Awards Committee.
3. General Rules:
3.2. All signs and exchange information must be sent, received, acknowledged and logged correctly by each station for a complete QSO.
3.3. One operator may not use more than one call sign from any given location during the contest period.
3.4. The same station may be worked only once per band for contest credit.
3.5. A transmitter used to contact one or more stations may not be subsequently used under any other call during the contest period, except for family stations where more than one call has been issued, and then only if the second call sign is used by a different operator. (The intent of this rule is to accommodate family members who must share a rig, and to prohibit manufactured or artificial contacts.)
3.6. For the purposes of ARRL contests, maritime mobile is defined as shipboard operation on the high seas, outside of the territorial waters of the country (defined for these purposes only as 12 miles).
3.7. All transmitters and receivers must be located within a 500-meter diameter circle, excluding antennas.
3.7.2. Exceptions:
3.7.2.2. Multioperator and Single Operator Assisted stations may use spotting nets.
3.8. Cross-band contacts are not permitted.
3.9. Contacts made through repeaters, digipeaters, or gateways are not permitted.
3.9.2. Satellite contacts, where allowed, are not subject to this rule.
3.10. The use of non-Amateur Radio means of communication (for example, Internet or telephone) to solicit a contact (or contacts) during the contest period is not permitted.
3.11. Entrants who qualify for unsponsored plaques may purchase them from the ARRL Contest Branch.
3.12. General contest queries should be directed to the Contest Branch Manager via e-mail at n1nd@arrl.org or by telephone at 860-594-0232.
3.13. All logs (electronic or paper) submitted to the ARRL for any contest must be in chronological order, in a single log (file). Separate band-by-band files or logs are subject to being classified as checklogs and ineligible for competition.
3.14. In contests where packet or spotting nets are allowed, spotting your own station or requesting another station to spot you is not permitted.
4. ARRL Standard File Format for Electronic Submission of Entries.
4.2. All electronic files must be standard ASCII text.
4.3. Cabrillo format specifications are available:
4.3.2. On the Internet at http://www.kkn.net/~trey/cabrillo/.
4.3.3. By sending an SASE with two units of postage and $1 to: Cabrillo File Specs, Contest Branch, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111.
4.4. Electronic files may be submitted either via the Internet as e-mail or on diskette.
4.4.2. E-mails must include the participant's call sign, contest name and year in the Subject line of the e-mail. Electronic files must be names with the operator's call sign and the file extension .log. Files that are sent using a filename other than the operator's call sign are subject to being classified checklogs.
4.5. Electronic logs are assumed to be signed when submitted.
4.6. Any log that is computer generated must submit the electronic file of the log in ARRL file format. Failure to submit the required electronic file can result in the entry being designated a checklog, and thereby ineligible for competition. A paper printout of the log file is not an acceptable substitute.
4.7. Only one entry may be included in each submission (e-mail or diskette). CW and Phone weekends of the November Sweepstakes and International DX Contest are considered separate contests and must be submitted separately.
4.8. All diskettes submitted become property of the ARRL and are not returnable.
4.9. Multioperator Two Transmitter category entries must indicate which transmitter makes each QSO in the log file.
4.10. In a Cabrillo format log, you do not record any on or off times. The log checking software will calculate on and off times from your Cabrillo log file.
4.11. Any electronic file that does not include complete entry information (category, power, etc) will have the missing data recorded at a default value.
4.12. Diskettes sent via postal service should be mailed to: ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111 with the contest name clearly marked on the envelope/mailer.
5. Paper Logs:
5.2. The most current forms should be used, as scoring rules, ARRL sections, etc, do change periodically.
5.3. Handwritten logs files, showing required QSO information, are accepted for all ARRL contests.
5.4. Handwritten logs that have been transcribed after the contest to a word processor, database, or contest-logging program are considered electronic logs and must meet Cabrillo file format and submission requirements.
5.5. Paper entries with more than 500 QSOs must include band by band dupe sheets.
5.6. Paper entries should be submitted to: ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111 with the contest name clearly marked on the envelope.
5.7. Only one contest entry may be included in each envelope mailed to ARRL.
6. Reporting:
6.2. Logs not submitted by the contest deadline will be classified as checklogs: no extensions, no exceptions.
6.3. Entries received at the ARRL more than 30 days after the contest submission deadline may not be included in QST listings.
6.4. Only one entry per e-mail / envelope is allowed.
6.5. All entries must include complete summary information.
7. Disqualification and Penalties:
7.2. Score reduction may be made for taking credit for unconfirmed QSOs or multipliers, duplicate contacts or other scoring discrepancies.
7.3. An entry with more than two-percent duplicate contacts left in the log or an entry in which more than 2% "rubber clocking" (altering the actual time to increase the operating time so that it is greater than the allowable limit) is detected will be automatically disqualified.
7.4. Participants that are disqualified will be barred from submitting an entry in the next annual running of that specific contest; for example, disqualification from the 2000 phone SS prohibits submission of an entry for the 2001 phone SS, but 2001 CW SS participation is allowable.
7.5. Call signs of all disqualified participants will be listed in the QST contest report.
7.6. Any participant on the borderline of disqualification, but not actually disqualified may receive a warning letter.
7.7. In a paper log, for each duplicate contact that is claimed for credit, each miscopied call sign or each busted exchange that is removed from the log by HQ, three additional contacts will be deleted as a penalty. In electronic logs, for each duplicate contact that is claimed for credit, each miscopied call sign or each busted exchange that is removed from the log by HQ, one additional contact will be deleted as a penalty. The penalty will not be considered part of the 2% disqualification criteria.
7.8. In all cases, the decisions of the ARRL Awards Committee are final.
8. Club Competition:
8.1.2. (February and March) International DX Contest
8.1.3. September VHF QSO Party
8.1.4. November Sweepstakes
8.1.5. (December) 160-Meter Contest
8.1.6. (December) 10-Meter Contest
8.2. Only clubs actively affiliated with the ARRL may participate in the club competition. This means the club:
8.2.2. Has filed an annual report with the Field Services Department of ARRL HQ within the last two years.
8.3. For a club to be listed, the following conditions must be met:
8.3.2. The entry must clearly indicate the club name on the summary sheet.
8.3.3. The club secretary must send a list of all club members eligible to compete for the club (not a club roster) and which level (unlimited, medium, local) they wish to enter for each competition within 30 days after the contest.
8.3.4. A member's score must be shown in the contest results to be counted for a club. Only that score shown in the results (or in subsequent corrections) will count for the club competition.
8.4. There are three categories of club competition:
8.4.1.2. One station can submit two entries--one on CW and one on phone in the November Sweepstakes and the DX Contest.
8.4.1.3. All stations and all operators must reside within 175 miles (282 km) of the club's center.
8.4.1.4. All members must attend at least 2 club meetings per year to be eligible to submit an entry. (However, if the person has not been a member for a year's time, they must have attended one meeting as a member prior to the contest.)
8.4.1.5. Those club members who are disabled to the extent that they are unable to travel are exempt from the two meetings per year rule. However, they must be regularly active in club affairs.
8.4.1.6. To be considered bona fide, a member must be active in club affairs.
8.4.1.7. Members living outside 175 miles and members that operate stations outside 175 miles may not compete in the club competition. (See rule 8.6.)
8.4.2. Medium
8.4.2.2. One station can submit two entries--one on CW and one on phone in the November Sweepstakes and the DX Contest.
8.4.2.3. The same mileage and attendance requirements apply as the unlimited class club.
8.4.2.4. Members living outside 175 miles and members that operate stations outside 175 miles may not compete in the club competition. (See rule 8.6.)
8.4.3. Local
8.4.3.2. (One station can submit two entries--one on CW and one on phone in the November Sweepstakes and the DX Contest.)
8.4.3.3. All members must reside and operate within 35 miles of the club's center.
8.4.3.4. There is no attendance requirement.
8.5. Single Operator and Multioperator station scores may be counted:
8.5.2. At multioperator stations, at least 66% of the operators must be members of the same club for the score to count for that club.
8.5.3. A multioperator entry may (optional) utilize non-member operators licensed one year or less without including such operators in the above 66% calculation. (The intent here is to encourage clubs to recruit contesters from newer amateurs without adversely affecting the club aggregate score.)
8.6. For the ARRL International DX Contest, DXpedition (operating outside the United States and Canada) scores may be counted for either single operator or multioperator stations even though the operation is outside the club's area.
8.6.2. For multioperator stations, the score counts for only one club and at least 66% of the operators must be members of that club and meet all other criteria.
8.7. In conjunction with the two meetings per year rule, the club must hold at least four in-person meetings per year.
8.8. A club's entry classification may be changed if, in the opinion of the ARRL Awards Committee, the club has manipulated its number of entries to allow the club to enter a lower classification. (For example, if a club with 100 members submits only the 10 highest scores, even if more than 10 of its members wish to compete.)
8.9. It is not within the intent of these rules that a club should vote out a member or that a member resign and then be voted back into the club later so the member-attendance rule can be met.
8.10. The highest scoring active affiliated club entry in each category (unlimited, medium, local) will be awarded a gavel.
