For my SBARC hams.
Dave AI6VX
From: Jacques KN6VQ via groups.io
Date: Fri, Sep 12, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Subject: [K6MEP] 2025 CA QSO Party Thread
Hello all,
We are now three weeks away from one of the most fun contests of the year:
the California QSO Party (CQP)! It starts at 1600Z on Saturday, October 4th
and ends at 2200Z on Sunday. That's 9am Saturday to 3pm Sunday our time.
You may be asking yourself, "Why is the CQP so fun, Jacques?" Well, I have
answers! Most of the time in contests, CA is not that desirable. Getting a
CA state or CQ Zone 3 multiplier is really pretty easy, so operators don't
search for us like they would an elusive South Dakota or Wyoming station.
During the CQP, however, we finally get to be the hunted!
Every single North American station who participates in this contest is
specifically looking to make a contact with *you*! They really, really,
really *need* to call you. That's why I suggest that anyone who operates
this year, regardless of contest experience or station size, try calling CQ
at least for a little bit. It can seem daunting, especially if you end up
with a mini pileup of callers, but the only way to learn is by doing it!
If you are even considering giving it a go this year, I would suggest you
register your participation here:
https://www.cqp.org/register.html
Once you sign up as being an operator from Ventura County (or another
county if you want to operate mobile), you'll be more likely to get on the
air when the contest starts.
I'll have a few more posts about the CQP in this thread over the coming
weeks. If you would like to take a look at the rules now, they can be found
here:
https://www.cqp.org/Rules.html
Feel free to ask me any questions you may have about this contest, either
in this thread or directly. I look forward to seeing some of your names on
the County Tracker Spreadsheet!
See you on the air!
Jacques
KN6VQ
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: *Peter Heins N6ZE via groups.io <http://groups.io>* <n6ze=
aol.com(a)groups.io>
Date: Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Subject: [K6MEP] ARRL September VHF Contest, 1800 UTC Saturday, 9/13 - 0259
UTC Monday, 9/15
ARRL September VHF Contest
About
Objective: For amateurs in the US and Canada (and their possessions) to
work as many amateur stations in as many different 2 degrees x 1 degree
Maidenhead grid squares as possible using authorized frequencies above 50
MHz. Stations outside the US & Canada (and their possessions) may only work
stations in the US (and its possessions) and Canada.
Dates: The second full weekend in September (September 13-15, 2025)
Contest Period: Begins 1800 UTC Saturday, ends 0259 UTC Monday. (11am pdt
Saturday until 7:59 pm pdt Sunday)
Notice: Participants in the FM Only category can now count contacts made on
902 MHz and 1.2 GHz toward their scores. Previously, only contacts on the
four lowest VHF bands (50, 144, 222 and 432 MHz) counted toward
participants' scores in this category.
Click Here for Complete ARRL September VHF Contest Rules (PDF)
For contest information contact contests(a)arrl.org or (860) 594-0232
All legal modes are permitted. For Cabrillo file mode definitions, Digital
modes should be represented as "DG" (for all things digital), SSB Phone as
"PH", FM voice as "FM", and CW as "CW".
Stations in KH0-9, KL7 & KP1-KP5, CY9 and CY0 count as W/VE stations and
can be worked by DX stations for contest credit.
Log Submission Deadline
Logs are due within TEN (10) days after the event is over. Logs may be
submitted either online or via mail, but electronic Cabrillo logs are the
preferred method. Electronic logs must be submitted via our web app at
contest-log-submission.arrl.org/
Logs that have been submitted electronically are listed on the Logs
Received page. Click the contest name to see a list of submitted logs
sorted by call sign and club name.
Online Log Submission - Cabrillo formatted logs must be uploaded via our
web app at contest-log-submission.arrl.org.
Submitting Paper Logs By Mail - Be sure to mail your completed Summary
Sheet and Log Sheets postmarked before the log submission deadlines.
Paper Entry Forms:
September VHF Summary Sheet
VHF/UHF Log Sheet
Send completed Summary Sheets and logs to:
ARRL - September VHF Contest, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111
If submitting a paper log, it is strongly suggested you use a delivery
method that offers a tracking number.
If you wish to convert your log into a Cabrillo formatted log for
electronic submission, visit www.b4h.net/cabforms/ and select the event of
interest. You can input your log data which will be converted to a Cabrillo
formatted log for you (it will generate a log and return it to you), and
then you can in turn submit your Cabrillo log online via the web app at
contest-log-submission.arrl.org/.
Awards:
Downloadable Certificates will be awarded in the following categories at
https://contests.arrl.org/certificates.php
Single Operator:
- Top Single Operator in each ARRL/RAC Section for high and low power.
- Top Single Operator on each band (50, 144, 222, 432, 902, 1296 and
2304-and-up categories) in each ARRL/RAC Section where significant effort
or competition is evident. (Note: Since the highest score per band will be
the award winner for that band, an entrant may win a certificate with
additional single-band endorsements.) For example, if KA1RWY has the
highest single-operator all-band score in the CT Section and her 50- and
222-MHz scores are higher than any other CT single operator’s, she will
earn a certificate for being the single-operator Section leader and
endorsements for 50 and 222 MHz.
- Top Single Operator Portable in each ARRL/RAC Section where significant
effort or competition is evident. (Single Operator Portable entries are not
eligible for single-band awards.)
- Top Single Operator, 3-Band in each ARRL/RAC Section where significant
effort or competition is evident.(Single Operator, 3-Band entries are not
eligible for single-band awards.)
- Top Single Operator, FM Only in each ARRL/RAC Section where significant
effort or competition is evident. (Single Operator, FM Only entries are not
eligible for single-band awards.)
Rover:
- Top Rover, Limited Rover and Unlimited Rover in each ARRL Division and
Canada where significant effort or competition is evident. (Rover entries
are not eligible for single-band awards.)
Multioperator:
- Top Multioperator score in each ARRL/RAC Section where significant effort
or competition is evident. (Multioperator entries are not eligible for
single-band awards.)
- Top Limited Multioperator in each ARRL/RAC Section where significant
effort or competition is evident. (Limited Multioperator entries are not
eligible for single-band awards.)
DX:
- Top DX stations where significant effort or competition is evident.
Club Competition:
There are ten ARRL-sponsored contests that are designated as Affiliated
Club Competitions (ACC) for ARRL and RAC affiliated clubs:
- RTTY Roundup
- January VHF Contest
- International DX Contest
- International Digital Contest
- June VHF Contest
- 222 MHz and Up Distance Contest
- September VHF Contest
- November Sweepstakes
- 160-Meter Contest
- 10-Meter Contest
For full club competition rules, please see the link below:
- Club Competition Rules ver 1.2 (rev 09 Feb 2022)
-
Additional Information
-
Cabrillo Templates for the new SO3B and SOFM Categories-
The September VHF Contest now includes two new categories: Single Operator,
3 Band and Single Operator, FM Only. Here are examples of Cabrillo log
headers to enter the new categories.
If you are going to copy/paste these templates into your own Cabrillo log,
please be sure to substitute your own station info!
Single Operator, 3-Band:
START-OF-LOG: 3.0
CONTEST: ARRL-VHF-SEP
CALLSIGN: W1AW
LOCATION: CT
OPERATORS: W1AW
CATEGORY-ASSISTED: NON-ASSISTED
CATEGORY-BAND: VHF-3-BAND
CATEGORY-MODE: MIXED
CATEGORY-OPERATOR: SINGLE-OP
CATEGORY-POWER: LOW
CATEGORY-STATION: FIXED
CATEGORY-TRANSMITTER: ONE
CLAIMED-SCORE:
CLUB:
SOAPBOX:
SOAPBOX:
NAME: W1AW
ADDRESS: 225 Main St
<https://www.google.com/maps/search/225+Main+St?entry=gmail&source=g>
ADDRESS: Newington, CT 06111
QSO: 50 PH 2013-09-14 1900 W1AW FN31 WD5USA EM04
QSO: 144 PH 2013-09-14 1922 W1AW FN31 WD5USA EM04
QSO: 432 PH 2013-09-14 1924 W1AW FN31 WD5USA EM04
QSO: 144 PH 2013-09-14 2220 W1AW FN31 AF5Q/R EM14
QSO: 144 PH 2013-09-14 0043 W1AW FN31 AF5Q/R EM04
QSO: 432 PH 2013-09-14 0043 W1AW FN31 AF5Q/R EM04
QSO: 50 PH 2013-09-14 0359 W1AW FN31 AF5Q/R EM04
END-OF-LOG:
Single Operator, FM Only:
START-OF-LOG: 3.0
CONTEST: ARRL-VHF-SEP
CALLSIGN: W1AW
LOCATION: CT
OPERATORS: W1AW
CATEGORY-ASSISTED: NON-ASSISTED
CATEGORY-BAND: VHF-FM-ONLY
CATEGORY-MODE: FM
CATEGORY-OPERATOR: SINGLE-OP
CATEGORY-POWER: LOW
CATEGORY-STATION: FIXED
CATEGORY-TRANSMITTER: ONE
CLAIMED-SCORE:
CLUB:
SOAPBOX:
SOAPBOX:
NAME: W1AW
ADDRESS: 225 Main St
<https://www.google.com/maps/search/225+Main+St?entry=gmail&source=g>
ADDRESS: Newington, CT 06111
QSO: 50 FM 2013-09-14 1900 W1AW FN31 WD5USA EM04
QSO: 144 FM 2013-09-14 1922 W1AW FN31 WD5USA EM04
QSO: 432 FM 2013-09-14 1924 W1AW FN31 WD5USA EM04
QSO: 144 FM 2013-09-14 2220 W1AW FN31 AF5Q/R EM14
QSO: 144 FM 2013-09-14 0043 W1AW FN31 AF5Q/R EM04
QSO: 432 FM 2013-09-14 0043 W1AW FN31 AF5Q/R EM04
QSO: 50 FM 2013-09-14 0359 W1AW FN31 AF5Q/R EM04
END-OF-LOG:
Full Contest Details
Click Here for Complete ARRL September VHF Contest Rules (PDF)
_______________________________________________
VHFcontesting mailing list
VHFcontesting(a)contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/vhfcontesting
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