2000Z to 2359Z on 19 December 2010

A fun CW contest to encourage homebrewers to get on the air.

5000 bonus point per band if using a homemade (including kit) transceiver.
Another 5000 points if operating portable using a battery and temporary aerial !

DATE/TIME:    

2000Z to 2359Z on 19 December 2010

MODE:    

HF CW Only.

EXCHANGE:    

Members send:  RST, State/Province/Country, ARCI member number
Non-Members send:  RST, State/Province/Country, Power Out

QSO POINTS:

Member = 5 points
Non-Member, Different Continent = 4 points
Non-Member, Same Continent = 2 points

MULTIPLIER:

SPC (State/Province/Country) total for all bands.  The same station may be worked on multiple bands for QSO points and SPC credit.

POWER MULTIPLIER:    

>5 Watts = x1
>1 - 5 Watts = x7
>250 mW - 1 Watt = x10
>55 mW - 250 mW = x15
55 mW or less = x20

SUGGESTED FREQUENCIES:

160m    1810 kHz
80m    3560 kHz
40m    7030 kHz (please listen at 7040 kHz for rock bound participants)
20m    14060 kHz
15m     21060 kHz
10m    28060 kHz

SCORE:
Final Score = Points (total for all bands) x SPCs (total for all bands) x Power Multiplier + Bonus Points.

BONUS POINTS:

If operating a HB Transmitter add 2000 points per band
If operating a HB Receiver add 3000 points per band
If operating a HB Transceiver add 5000 points per band
(Homebrew is defined as:  if you built it, it is homebrew (kits too!)

If you are operating PORTABLE using battery power AND a temporary antenna, add 5000 points to your final score.  (You can NOT be at your shack operating from battery power using your home station antenna to qualify for this bonus.)  This is to help level the playing field for contesters who work from the field against contest stations with 5 element yagis at 70 ft.

CATEGORIES:

Entry may be All-Band, Single Band, High Bands (10m-15m-20m) or Low Bands (40m-80m-160m)

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

Get on any of the HF bands except the WARC bands and hang out near the QRP frequencies.  Work as many stations calling CQ QRP or CQ TEST as possible, or call CQ QRP or CQ TEST yourself!  You can work a station for credit once on each band.

LOG SUBMISSION:    

Email Submission:  Submit Logs in plain text format along with a summary stating your Callsign, Entry Category, Actual Power and Station Description along with score calculation to This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

Snail mail Submission:  Submit Logs along with a summary stating your Callsign, Entry Category, Actual Power and Station Description along with score calculation to:

ARCI Holiday Spirits
c/o Jeff Hetherington, VA3JFF
139 Elizabeth St. W.
Welland, Ontario
Canada  L3C 4M3

Deadline:

Entries must be postmarked on or before 19 January 2011.


RESULTS:

Will be published in QRP Quarterly and shown on the QRP-ARCI website.

CERTIFICATES:

Will be awarded to the top scoring entrant in each category, as well as the top scoring entrants from each State, Province and Country.  Certificates may be awarded for 2nd and 3rd place if entries are sufficient in a category.