March 12, 2025

Editor: Paul Bourque, N1SFE

In this Issue:

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

The Virginia QSO Party (VAQP) begins at 1400 UTC on Saturday, March 15, and runs through 2359 UTC on Sunday, March 16. See the website for rules and other contest details. Participants are reminded that the VAQP is part of the 2025 State QSO Party Challenge. For more details about the challenge, visit stateqsoparty.com.

North American SSB Sprint

The North American SSB Sprint Contest, begins March 23 at 0000 UTC, and concludes at 0359 UTC. The 4-hour contest, on the 80-, 40-, and 20-meter bands, are short, intense competitions which challenge the best operators, while allowing others to sharpen their contesting skills. Operators who have never participated in the sprints before should take a look at the Tips & Tricks section of the website.

For complete rules, visit ssbsprint.com/rules.

At the 76th International DX Convention, which will be held April 11-13, 2025 in Visalia, California, there is a Friday track dedicated to “Next Generation DXing,” which may interest those curious about remote operation and contesting. Topics include remote operation, construction of remote stations, distributed team building, data networking, and more. Details are available at dxconvention.com/nextgendx.

– Thanks to Mark Aaker, K6UFO

Contest Related Events at 2025 Dayton Hamvention

Tim Duffy, K3LR, has compiled a list of contest-related events that will be held during 2025 Dayton Hamvention, Contest University, and the Hope Hotel. Visit www.contestsupersuite.com/contest-related-events to see the complete list.

March 13

• CWops Test (CWT)
• BCC QSO Party

March 14

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

March 15

• PODXS 070 Club St Patrick’s Day Contest
• BARTG HF RTTY Contest
• Popov Memorial Contest
• Russian DX Contest
• F9AA Cup, SSB
• AGCW VHF/UHF Contest
• Virginia QSO Party
• Feld Hell Sprint
• AWA John Rollins Memorial DX Contest

March 16

• UBA Spring Contest, SSB
• Run for the Bacon QRP Contest

March 17

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

March 18

• Worldwide Sideband Activity Contest
• ICWC Medium Speed Test

March 19

• QRP Fox Hunt
• Phone Weekly Test
• A1Club AWT
• CWops Test (CWT)
• VHF-UHF FT8 Activity Contest
• Mini-Test 40
• Mini-Test 80
• IRTS 80m Counties Contest

March 20

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

March 21

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

March 22

• FOC QSO Party
• Russian YL/OM Contest
• Africa All Mode International DX Contest

March 23

• North American SSB Sprint Contest
• UBA Spring Contest, 6m

March 24

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

March 25

• Worldwide Sideband Activity Contest
• ICWC Medium Speed Test

March 26

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

CQ World Wide (CQWW) Contest Director John Dorr, K1AR, has announced that the final scores for the 2024 CQ WW CW Contest are now available at cqww.com. He would like to thank the CQWW Contest committee for their hard work in compiling the results.

2024 CQ World Wide RTTY Contest Results

The results of the 2024 CQ WW RTTY Contest are available at cqwwrtty.com/results. The results article, line scores, score database, updated records and more are available on the web site.

– Thanks to Ed Muns, W0YK

February 2025 North American QSO Party (NAQP) – RTTY Preliminary Results

Preliminary results for the February 2025 North American QSO Party (NAQP) – RTTY are now available on the National Contest Journal (NCJ) website at www.ncjweb.com/current-naqp-rtty-results. Report any issues to NAQP RTTY Contest Manager Mark Aaker, K6UFO, via email at rttynaqpmgr@ncjweb.com. He is also looking for your photos and stories from the event which may be included in the final results article in NCJ.

– Thanks to Mark Aaker, K6UFO

January 2025 North American QSO Party – SSB Preliminary Results

Preliminary results for the January 2025 North American QSO Party – SSB have been posted to the NCJ website at ncjweb.com/current-naqp-ssb-results. If you have questions about your results, contact NAQP SSB Contest Manager Bill Lippert, AC0W at ssbnaqpmgr@ncjweb.com. Log Checking Reports are also available by email at the same address.

– Thanks to Bill Lippert, AC0W

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

CWops Test (CWT), Mar 13, 0300z to Mar 13, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./”CWA”, non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Mar 15.

CWops Test (CWT), Mar 13, 0700z to Mar 13, 0800z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./”CWA”, non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Mar 15.

BCC QSO Party, Mar 13, 1900z to Mar 13, 2059z; CW, SSB, RTTY; Bands: 80; RS(T) + T-shirt size (see rules); Logs due: Mar 13.

QRP Fox Hunt, Mar 14, 0100z to Mar 14, 0230z; CW; Bands: 20; RST + (state/province/country) + name + power output; Logs due: Mar 15.

NCCC FT4 Sprint, Mar 14, 0100z to Mar 14, 0130z; FT4; Bands: (see rules); 4-character grid square; Logs due: Mar 16.

Weekly RTTY Test, Mar 14, 0145z to Mar 14, 0215z; RTTY; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Mar 16.

NCCC Sprint, Mar 14, 0230z to Mar 14, 0300z; CW; Bands: (see rules); Serial No. + Name + QTH; Logs due: Mar 16.

K1USN Slow Speed Test, Mar 14, 2000z to Mar 14, 2100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Maximum 20 wpm, Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Mar 16.

PODXS 070 Club St Patrick’s Day Contest, Mar 15, 0000z to Mar 15, 2359z; PSK31; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6; (state/province/country); Logs due: Mar 22.

BARTG HF RTTY Contest, Mar 15, 0200z to Mar 17, 0159z; RTTY; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RST + Serial No. + 4-digit time (UTC); Logs due: Mar 24.

Popov Memorial Contest, Mar 15, 0500z to Mar 15, 0859z; CW, SSB; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; YL: RS(T) + experience (see rules); Logs due: Mar 29.

Russian DX Contest, Mar 15, 1200z to Mar 16, 1200z; CW, SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Ru: RS(T) + 2-character oblast, non-Ru: RS(T) + Serial No.; Logs due: Mar 30.

F9AA Cup, SSB, Mar 15, 1200z to Mar 16, 1200z; SSB; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 2; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Apr 15.

Virginia QSO Party, Mar 15, 1400z to Mar 16, 2359z; CW, Phone, Digital; Bands: All, except WARC; VA: Serial No. + county, non-VA: Serial No. + (state/province/”DX”); Logs due: Apr 15.

Feld Hell Sprint, Mar 15, 2000z to Mar 15, 2159z; Feld Hell; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; (see rules); Logs due: Mar 19.

AWA John Rollins Memorial DX Contest, Mar 15, 2300z to Mar 24, 0300z; CW, AM; Bands: 80, 40, 20; RST + name + state/prov + Eqpt Year; Logs due: Apr 15.

UBA Spring Contest, SSB, Mar 16, 0700z to Mar 16, 1100z; SSB; Bands: 80; ON: RS + Serial No. + UBA Section, non-ON: RS + Serial No.; Logs due: Mar 30.

Run for the Bacon QRP Contest, Mar 16, 2300z to Mar 17, 0100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RST + (state/province/country) + (Member No./power); Logs due: Mar 22.

K1USN Slow Speed Test, Mar 17, 0000z to Mar 17, 0100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Maximum 20 wpm, Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Mar 19.

ICWC Medium Speed Test, Mar 17, 1300z to Mar 17, 1400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due: Mar 20.

OK1WC Memorial (MWC), Mar 17, 1630z to Mar 17, 1729z; CW; Bands: 80, 40; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Mar 21.

Bucharest Digital Contest, Mar 17, 1800z to Mar 17, 2059z; FT4; Bands: 80, 40; RST + QSO No.; Logs due: Mar 24.

ICWC Medium Speed Test, Mar 17, 1900z to Mar 17, 2000z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due: Mar 20.

RSGB FT4 Contest, Mar 17, 2000z to Mar 17, 2200z; FT4; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Signal report; Logs due: Mar 18.

Worldwide Sideband Activity Contest, Mar 18, 0100z to Mar 18, 0159z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6; RS + age group (OM, YL, Youth YL or Youth); Logs due: Mar 19.

ICWC Medium Speed Test, Mar 18, 0300z to Mar 18, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due: Mar 20.

QRP Fox Hunt, Mar 19, 0100z to Mar 19, 0230z; CW; Bands: 20; RST + (state/province/country) + name + power output; Logs due: Mar 20.

Phone Weekly Test, Mar 19, 0230z to Mar 19, 0300z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15; NA: Name + (state/province/country), non-NA: Name; Logs due: Mar 21.