==For release in publications in September, 2018==

The Sierra Nevada Amateur Radio Society is proud to present the Nevada QSO Party which will be an annual event on the second full weekend in October. This year it will start at 2000 hours Nevada time (PDST) on Friday, October 12 (0300z 10/13/2018) and run until 1400 on Sunday, October 14 (2100z 10/14/2017)

The objective of this contest is to activate and work all 17 of the counties in Nevada. Nevada stations will work anyone, anywhere, and out of state stations will work Nevada Stations. All stations may be worked on the three different modes for up to three times on each HF band and only once on the VHF+ frequencies. Rovers in Nevada can be worked again when they change counties.

The state of Nevada is one of the rarest U.S. States on the air.  Be sure to work Nevada in the upcoming Nevada QSO Party; it will be helpful you when going for ARRL WAS (Worked All States award) and other awards like grid zones and counties.

The VHF+ band will consist of all legal frequencies from 50 MHz up to 1300 MHz. In order to bring a lot of new hams into contesting, we are allowing the use of repeaters on these frequencies. There are linked systems which will allow out of state contacts. All modes will be allowed with the exception of the WSJT modes.

On the HF side, Phone, CW, and Digital modes will add multipliers to the QSO points. All conversational digital text modes are allowed with all counting the same. Currently, the WSJT modes do not have a contest exchange message that is handled as a valid regular message, so those modes are not allowed. (This may be changed if this is added to the WSJT program in the future)

Logging software from N1MM will have the ability to work on this contest. For those that are using paper and pencil or some other logging method that does not produce a Cabrillo file, we also have the WA7BNM Cabrillo log maker which will allow you to build a Cabrillo file. All entries over 10 contacts must submit an electronic Cabrillo log.

We also have a sign-up form to allow stations to sign up for the counties which they will activate and what modes they will be using. We are going to try and get operators out in all counties and have all modes covered. Please use this form if you are going to be operating in Nevada.

The Nevada QSO Party website is http://nvqso.com/  Complete rules are listed under the “Rules” tab and please read the FAQs for additional information.  

Information is subject to change on the website so be sure to check back regularly.  Please visit this site often and pass the word onto your friends! 

 

We are looking forward to your participation in this contest!

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For further information on this news release, contact Jim Shepherd at W6US@SNARS.ORG