January 15, 2025

Editor: Paul Bourque, N1SFE

In this Issue:

• Upcoming Contests – Things to Do
• Bulletins
• Contest Summary
• Results and Records
• Contests
• Log Due Dates
• ARRL Information
• Acknowledgements

VHF operators should note that the ARRL January VHF Contest is this weekend, beginning at 1900 UTC on Saturday, January 18, and concluding at 0359 UTC on Monday, January 20. Contacts can be made on all amateur frequencies above 50 MHz. Whether your mode of choice is CW, phone, or one of the newer digital modes (such as FT4 or FT8), there are plenty of ways for hams of all experience levels to participate in the event. Single operator participants can enter in all mode or analog-only (CW and phone) categories.

For more details, see www.arrl.org/january-vhf.

North American QSO Party, SSB

For HF contesting fans, the North American QSO Party, SSB also runs this weekend, starting at 1800 UTC on Saturday, January 18 and concluding at 0559 UTC on Sunday, January 19. For North American stations, the exchange is your name and station location (state, province, or country, while non-North American stations use only their name. This event runs concurrently with the 2025 North American Collegiate Championship, which is sponsored by the Society of Midwest Contesters. Visit the above links for more information.

CQ World Wide 160-Meter Contest, CW

The CQ World Wide 160-Meter Contest, CW begins at 2200 UTC on Friday, January 24, and runs through 2200 UTC on Sunday, January 26. See the website for rules and other contest details.

Winter Field Day

Winter Field Day, sponsored by the Winter Field Day Association, is the last full weekend of January. It starts at 1900 UTC on Saturday, January 25, and concludes at 1859 UTC on Sunday, January 26. Any mode that fully supports the exchange is allowed during the contest. Operation on all bands HF, VHF, and UHF, with the exception of 12, 17, 30, and 60 meters is allowed. For more information, visit the Winter Field Day website.

The author of the full results article for ARRL RTTY Roundup, Jeff Stai, WK6I, requests that you email him any stories and high-resolution photos of the event to wk6i.jeff@gmail.com. Jeff notes that he also monitors the ARRL Contest Soapbox and 3830 Scores website. So far, 1,855 logs have been received for the contest, which is close to the record number of entries that were received last year.

WSJT-X Release Candidate 2.7.0-rc8 Now Available

The WSJT-X development team has announced that release candidate WSJT-X 2.7.0 rc8 is ready for beta testers to download and use. This revision introduces a new message system primarily intended for contests. Otherwise, RC8 is mostly a bug-fix release of the well-functioning RC7.

The WSJT-X message system can be used to invite your QSO partner to QSY to another frequency or mode (e.g., during contests), or to send some general short messages. To understand how to use the Message System, be sure to read Section 8 of the updated WSJT-X User Guide for RC8.

Direct links to installation packages for Windows, Linux, and MacOS can be found at wsjt.sourceforge.io/wsjtx.html.

– Thanks to Joe Taylor, K1JT

January 16

• Walk for the Bacon QRP Contest
• NAQCC CW Sprint
• CWops Test (CWT)
• NTC QSO Party

January 17

• NCCC FT4 Sprint
• Weekly RTTY Test
• QRP Fox Hunt
• NCCC Sprint
• K1USN Slow Speed Test

January 18

• Malaysia DX Contest
• Hungarian DX Contest
• PRO Digi Contest
• RSGB AFS Contest, SSB
• North American QSO Party, SSB
• NA Collegiate Championship, SSB
• ARRL January VHF Contest
• Feld Hell Sprint

January 19

• Run for the Bacon QRP Contest

January 20

• K1USN Slow Speed Test
• ICWC Medium Speed Test
• OK1WC Memorial (MWC)
• RSGB FT4 Contest

January 21

• Worldwide Sideband Activity Contest
• ICWC Medium Speed Test

January 22

• SKCC Sprint
• QRP Fox Hunt
• Phone Weekly Test
• A1Club AWT
• CWops Test (CWT)
• Mini-Test 40
• Mini-Test 80

January 23

• NAQCC CW Sprint
• CWops Test (CWT)

January 24

• NCCC FT4 Sprint
• Weekly RTTY Test
• QRP Fox Hunt
• NCCC Sprint
• K1USN Slow Speed Test
• CQ 160-Meter Contest, CW

January 25

• REF Contest, CW
• BARTG RTTY Sprint
• UBA DX Contest, SSB
• Winter Field Day
• Australia Day Contest

January 27

• K1USN Slow Speed Test
• QCX Challenge
• ICWC Medium Speed Test
• OK1WC Memorial (MWC)
• QCX Challenge

January 28

• Worldwide Sideband Activity Contest
• QCX Challenge
• ICWC Medium Speed Test

January 29

• QRP Fox Hunt
• Phone Weekly Test
• A1Club AWT
• CWops Test (CWT)
• Mini-Test 40
• Mini-Test 80
• UKEICC 80m Contest

The final results and scores for the 2024 CQ World Wide (CQWW) VHF Contest have been posted at cqww-vhf.com/results.

– Thanks to CQWW VHF Contest Director, John Golomb, N2NC

That’s all for this time. Remember to send contesting-related stories, book reviews, tips, techniques, press releases, errata, schematics, club information, pictures, stories, blog links, and predictions to contest-update@arrl.org.

73, Paul, N1SFE

An expanded, downloadable version of QST‘s Contest Corral is available as a PDF. Check the sponsors’ website for information on operating time restrictions and other instructions.

HF CONTESTS

Walk for the Bacon QRP Contest, Jan 16, 0000z to Jan 17, 0300z; CW; Bands: 20; Maximum 13 wpm, RST + (state/province/country) + Name + (Member No./power); Logs due: Jan 23.

NAQCC CW Sprint, Jan 16, 0130z to Jan 16, 0330z; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20; RST + (state/province/country) + (NAQCC No./power); Logs due: Jan 19.

CWops Test (CWT), Jan 16, 0300z to Jan 16, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./”CWA”, non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Jan 18.

CWops Test (CWT), Jan 16, 0700z to Jan 16, 0800z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./”CWA”, non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Jan 18.

NTC QSO Party, Jan 16, 1900z to Jan 16, 2000z; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20; NTC Member: RST + Member No., non-Member: RST + “NM”, Less than 25 wpm; Logs due: Jan 20.

NCCC FT4 Sprint, Jan 17, 0100z to Jan 17, 0130z; FT4; Bands: (see rules); 4-character grid square; Logs due: Jan 19.

Weekly RTTY Test, Jan 17, 0145z to Jan 17, 0215z; RTTY; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Jan 19.

QRP Fox Hunt, Jan 17, 0200z to Jan 17, 0330z; CW; Bands: 20; RST + (state/province/country) + name + power output; Logs due: Jan 18.

NCCC Sprint, Jan 17, 0230z to Jan 17, 0300z; CW; Bands: (see rules); Serial No. + Name + QTH; Logs due: Jan 19.

K1USN Slow Speed Test, Jan 17, 2000z to Jan 17, 2100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Maximum 20 wpm, Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Jan 19.

Malaysia DX Contest, Jan 18, 0000z to Jan 18, 2359z; SSB; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RS + CQ Zone; Logs due: Jan 26.

Hungarian DX Contest, Jan 18, 1200z to Jan 19, 1159z; CW, SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; HA: RS(T) + 2-letter county, non-HA: RS(T) + Serial No.; Logs due: Jan 24.

PRO Digi Contest, Jan 18, 1200z to Jan 19, 1159z; RTTY; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Digi Club Member: RST + Serial No. + “M”, non-Members: RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Jan 26.

RSGB AFS Contest, SSB, Jan 18, 1300z to Jan 18, 1700z; SSB; Bands: 80, 40; RS + Serial No.; Logs due: Jan 19.

North American QSO Party, SSB, Jan 18, 1800z to Jan 19, 0559z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; NA: Name + (state/DC/province/country), non-NA: Name; Logs due: Jan 26.

NA Collegiate Championship, SSB, Jan 18, 1800z to Jan 19, 0559z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; NA: Name + (state/DC/province/country), non-NA: Name; Logs due: Jan 26.

Feld Hell Sprint, Jan 18, 2000z to Jan 19, 0559z; Feld Hell; Bands: 160, 80, 40; (see rules); Logs due: Jan 23.

Run for the Bacon QRP Contest, Jan 19, 2300z to Jan 20, 0100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RST + (state/province/country) + (Member No./power); Logs due: Jan 25.

K1USN Slow Speed Test, Jan 20, 0000z to Jan 20, 0100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Maximum 20 wpm, Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Jan 22.

ICWC Medium Speed Test, Jan 20, 1300z to Jan 20, 1400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due: Jan 23.

OK1WC Memorial (MWC), Jan 20, 1630z to Jan 20, 1729z; CW; Bands: 80, 40; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Jan 24.

ICWC Medium Speed Test, Jan 20, 1900z to Jan 20, 2000z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due: Jan 23.

RSGB FT4 Contest, Jan 20, 2000z to Jan 20, 2200z; FT4; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Signal report; Logs due: Jan 21.

Worldwide Sideband Activity Contest, Jan 21, 0100z to Jan 21, 0159z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6; RS + age group (OM, YL, Youth YL or Youth); Logs due: Jan 22.

ICWC Medium Speed Test, Jan 21, 0300z to Jan 21, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due: Jan 23.

SKCC Sprint, Jan 22, 0000z to Jan 22, 0200z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6; RST + (state/province/country) + Name + (SKCC No./”NONE”); Logs due: Jan 26.

QRP Fox Hunt, Jan 22, 0200z to Jan 22, 0330z; CW; Bands: 20; RST + (state/province/country) + name + power output; Logs due: Jan 23.

Phone Weekly Test, Jan 22, 0230z to Jan 22, 0300z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15; NA: Name + (state/province/country), non-NA: Name; Logs due: Jan 24.

A1Club AWT, Jan 22, 1200z to Jan 22, 1300z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: RST + Name; Logs due: Jan 27.

CWops Test (CWT), Jan 22, 1300z to Jan 22, 1400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./”CWA”, non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Jan 25.