Contest Update Issue

The ARRL Contest Update for December 18, 2024 undefined

December 18, 2024


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	Contest Calendar

In this Issue:

Upcoming Contests – Things to Do
Contest Summary
News, Press Releases, and Special Interest
Sights and Sounds
Results and Records
Operating Tip
Contests
Log Due Dates

Upcoming Contests – Things to Do

OK DX RTTY Contest

The OK DX RTTY Contest is this weekend, from 0000 – 2359 UTC on Saturday, December 21. Contacts may be made only using RTTY mode on the 10-, 15-, 20-, and 40-meter bands. This contest is great preparation for the 2025 ARRL RTTY Roundup, which runs from January 4 – 5, 2025.

ARRL Rookie Roundup – CW

The ARRL Rookie Roundup – CW begins at 1800 UTC on Sunday, December 22, and concludes at 2359 UTC. Rookie Roundup encourages newly licensed operators to get on the HF bands and experience competitive amateur radio operating. This event is a great way for clubs to get newer members on the air and it is the perfect opportunity to mentor new licensees.

You can enter as a Rookie if you made or will make your first-ever contact this year or during the previous 3 calendar years or if you’ve never made any contest contacts using CW. Complete rules can be found at www.arrl.org/rookie-roundup.

Contest Summary

See the "Contests" section below for complete contest information.

December 19

December 20

December 21

December 22

December 23

December 24

December 25

December 26

December 27

December 28

December 30

December 31

January 1

News, Press Releases, and Special Interest

Tickets for the 2025 Orlando Contest Dinner to be held on February 7, 2025 are now available at floridacontestgroup.square.site. The dinner, sponsored by The Florida Contest Group, Icom, and DX Engineering, is held in conjunction with the Orlando Hamcation.

Tickets are 30.00 and include dinner and a raffle ticket for a chance to win the grand prize, an Icom IC-7610 transceiver. Contact Chris Plumblee, W4WF, at chris.plumblee@gmail.com if you have any questions.

– Thanks to Chris Plumblee, W4WF

Sights and Sounds

Timothy Cates, KC1QDK, combined a Parks on the Air activation at Monadnock State Park in New Hampshire with the 2024 ARRL 160-Meter Contest. He stated that it was his first time operating on 160 meters.

Timothy Cates, KC1QDK, photo

Results and Records

The preliminary scores for the 2024 Scandinavian Activity Contest (SAC) CW and SSB are now available at www.sactest.net/blog/sac-2024-preliminary-results. Participants are reminded to check their entries and to contact SAC support at support@sactest.net if they notice any errors or have any questions.

– Thanks to Ingemar Fogelberg, SM5AJV

Operating Tip

Many contest participants now report their scores in real-time using online scoreboards such as Contest Online Scoreboard and contest.run. Some users have commented that they often find the large amount of data displayed by the scoreboards a distraction from operating. Victor Androsov, VA2WA, posted some tips for best setting up Contest Online Scoreboard to make it less distracting at blog.contestonlinescore.com/is-using-a-scoreboard-distractive.

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

Contests

December 19, 2024 - January 1, 2025

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, Dec 19, 0000z to Dec 20, 0300z; CW; Bands: 20; Maximum 13 wpm, RST + (state/province/country) + Name + (Member No./power); Logs due: Dec 26.

CWops Test (CWT), Dec 19, 0300z to Dec 19, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Dec 21.

CWops Test (CWT), Dec 19, 0700z to Dec 19, 0800z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Dec 21.

NTC QSO Party, Dec 19, 1900z to Dec 19, 2000z; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20; NTC Member: RST + Member No., non-Member: RST + "NM", Less than 25 wpm; Logs due: Dec 22.

NCCC FT4 Sprint, Dec 20, 0100z to Dec 20, 0130z; FT4; Bands: (see rules); 4-character grid square; Logs due: Dec 22.

Weekly RTTY Test, Dec 20, 0145z to Dec 20, 0215z; RTTY; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Dec 22.

QRP Fox Hunt, Dec 20, 0200z to Dec 20, 0330z; CW; Bands: 20; RST + (state/province/country) + name + power output; Logs due: Dec 21.

NCCC Sprint, Dec 20, 0230z to Dec 20, 0300z; CW; Bands: (see rules); Serial No. + Name + QTH; Logs due: Dec 22.

AGB-Party Contest, Dec 20, 1600z to Dec 20, 1700z; CW, SSB, Digital; Bands: 80, 40; AGB Member: RST + QSO No. + Member No., non-Member: RST + QSO No.; Logs due: Jan 17.

K1USN Slow Speed Test, Dec 20, 2000z to Dec 20, 2100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Maximum 20 wpm, Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Dec 22.

Feld Hell Sprint, Dec 21, 0000z to Dec 21, 2359z; Feld Hell; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6; (see rules); Logs due: Dec 25.

OK DX RTTY Contest, Dec 21, 0000z to Dec 21, 2359z; RTTY; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RST + CQ Zone; Logs due: Dec 28.

Croatian DX Contest, Dec 21, 1400z to Dec 22, 1400z; CW, SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; 9A: RS(T) + county, non-9A: RS(T) + ITU Zone; Logs due: Dec 30.

RAEM Contest, Dec 22, 0000z to Dec 22, 1159z; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Serial No. + latitude (degs only) + hemisphere + longitude (degs only) + hemisphere (see rules), N=North, S=South, W=West, O=East (e.g. 57N 85O); Logs due: Jan 5.

ARRL Rookie Roundup, CW, Dec 22, 1800z to Dec 22, 2359z; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; NA: Name + 2-digit year first licensed + (state/province/XE area/DX); Logs due: Dec 25.

K1USN Slow Speed Test, Dec 23, 0000z to Dec 23, 0100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Maximum 20 wpm, Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Dec 25.

ICWC Medium Speed Test, Dec 23, 1300z to Dec 23, 1400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due: Dec 26.

OK1WC Memorial (MWC), Dec 23, 1630z to Dec 23, 1729z; CW; Bands: 80, 40; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Dec 27.

ICWC Medium Speed Test, Dec 23, 1900z to Dec 23, 2000z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due: Dec 26.

Worldwide Sideband Activity Contest, Dec 24, 0100z to Dec 24, 0159z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6; RS + age group (OM, YL, Youth YL or Youth); Logs due: Dec 25.

ICWC Medium Speed Test, Dec 24, 0300z to Dec 24, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due: Dec 26.

SKCC Sprint, Dec 25, 0000z to Dec 25, 0200z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6; RST + (state/province/country) + Name + (SKCC No./"NONE"); Logs due: Dec 29.

QRP Fox Hunt, Dec 25, 0200z to Dec 25, 0330z; CW; Bands: 20; RST + (state/province/country) + name + power output; Logs due: Dec 26.

Phone Weekly Test, Dec 25, 0230z to Dec 25, 0300z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15; NA: Name + (state/province/country), non-NA: Name; Logs due: Dec 27.

A1Club AWT, Dec 25, 1200z to Dec 25, 1300z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: RST + Name; Logs due: Dec 30.

CWops Test (CWT), Dec 25, 1300z to Dec 25, 1400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Dec 28.

Mini-Test 40, Dec 25, 1700z to Dec 25, 1759z; CW; Bands: 40; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Dec 27.

Mini-Test 80, Dec 25, 1800z to Dec 25, 1859z; CW; Bands: 80; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Dec 27.

CWops Test (CWT), Dec 25, 1900z to Dec 25, 2000z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Dec 28.

CWops Test (CWT), Dec 26, 0300z to Dec 26, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Dec 28.

CWops Test (CWT), Dec 26, 0700z to Dec 26, 0800z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Dec 28.

DARC Christmas Contest, Dec 26, 0830z to Dec 26, 1059z; CW, SSB; Bands: 80, 40; DL: RS(T) + DOK (or "NM" if not a DARC member), non-DL: RS(T) + QSO No.; Logs due: Jan 2.

NCCC FT4 Sprint, Dec 27, 0100z to Dec 27, 0130z; FT4; Bands: (see rules); 4-character grid square; Logs due: Dec 29.

Weekly RTTY Test, Dec 27, 0145z to Dec 27, 0215z; RTTY; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Dec 29.

QRP Fox Hunt, Dec 27, 0200z to Dec 27, 0330z; CW; Bands: 20; RST + (state/province/country) + name + power output; Logs due: Dec 28.

NCCC Sprint, Dec 27, 0230z to Dec 27, 0300z; CW; Bands: (see rules); Serial No. + Name + QTH; Logs due: Dec 29.

K1USN Slow Speed Test, Dec 27, 2000z to Dec 27, 2100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Maximum 20 wpm, Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Dec 29.

RAC Winter Contest, Dec 28, 0000z to Dec 28, 2359z; CW, Phone; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6, 2; VE: RS(T) + (province/territory), non-VE and VE0: RS(T) + Serial No.; Logs due: Jan 11.

YB Banggai DX Contest, Dec 28, 0000z to Dec 28, 2359z; SSB; Bands: 40, 10; RS + Age; Logs due: Jan 4.

Stew Perry Topband Challenge, Dec 28, 1500z to Dec 29, 1500z; CW; Bands: 160; 4-Character grid square; Logs due: Jan 12.

Original QRP Contest, Dec 28, 1500z to Dec 29, 1500z; CW, SSB; Bands: 80, 40, 20; RST + Serial No. + "/" + Power category; Logs due: Jan 31.

K1USN Slow Speed Test, Dec 30, 0000z to Dec 30, 0100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Maximum 20 wpm, Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Jan 1.

YOTA Contest, Dec 30, 1000z to Dec 30, 2159z; CW, SSB; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Single Op: RS(T) + age (on Jan 1 of year of contest), Multi-Op: RS(T) + average age of ops (on Jan 1 of year of contest); Logs due: Jan 4.

QCX Challenge, Dec 30, 1300z to Dec 30, 1400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RST + Name + (state/province/country) + Rig; Logs due: Jan 5.

ICWC Medium Speed Test, Dec 30, 1300z to Dec 30, 1400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due: Jan 2.

OK1WC Memorial (MWC), Dec 30, 1630z to Dec 30, 1729z; CW; Bands: 80, 40; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Jan 3.

QCX Challenge, Dec 30, 1900z to Dec 30, 2000z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RST + Name + (state/province/country) + Rig; Logs due: Jan 5.

ICWC Medium Speed Test, Dec 30, 1900z to Dec 30, 2000z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due: Jan 2.

Worldwide Sideband Activity Contest, Dec 31, 0100z to Dec 31, 0159z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6; RS + age group (OM, YL, Youth YL or Youth); Logs due: Jan 1.

QCX Challenge, Dec 31, 0300z to Dec 31, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RST + Name + (state/province/country) + Rig; Logs due: Jan 5.

ICWC Medium Speed Test, Dec 31, 0300z to Dec 31, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due: Jan 2.

Bogor Old and New Contest, Dec 31, 0900z to Dec 31, 2359z; SSB; Bands: 80, 40, 10; RS + operator age; Logs due: Jan 31.

AGB New Year Snowball Contest, Jan 1, 0000z to Jan 1, 0100z; CW, SSB, Digital; Bands: 80; AGB Member: RST + QSO No. + Member No., non-Member: RST + QSO No.; Logs due: Jan 22.

QRP Fox Hunt, Jan 1, 0200z to Jan 1, 0330z; CW; Bands: 20; RST + (state/province/country) + name + power output; Logs due: Jan 2.

Phone Weekly Test, Jan 1, 0230z to Jan 1, 0300z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15; NA: Name + (state/province/country), non-NA: Name; Logs due: Jan 3.

SARTG New Year RTTY Contest, Jan 1, 0800z to Jan 1, 1100z; RTTY; Bands: 80, 40; RST + QSO No. + name + happy new year (native language); Logs due: Jan 31.

AGCW Happy New Year Contest, Jan 1, 0900z to Jan 1, 1200z; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20; AGCW: RST + Serial No. + "/" + Member No., non-AGCW: RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Jan 14.

A1Club AWT, Jan 1, 1200z to Jan 1, 1300z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: RST + Name; Logs due: Jan 6.

CWops Test (CWT), Jan 1, 1300z to Jan 1, 1400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Jan 4.

Mini-Test 40, Jan 1, 1700z to Jan 1, 1759z; CW; Bands: 40; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Jan 3.

Mini-Test 80, Jan 1, 1800z to Jan 1, 1859z; CW; Bands: 80; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Jan 3.

CWops Test (CWT), Jan 1, 1900z to Jan 1, 2000z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Jan 4.

UKEICC 80m Contest, Jan 1, 2000z to Jan 1, 2100z; SSB; Bands: 80; 6-Character grid square; Logs due: Jan 1.

VHF+ CONTESTS

AGCW VHF/UHF Contest, Jan 1, 1400z to Jan 1, 1800z; CW; Bands: 144 MHz, 432 MHz; RST + "/" + Serial No. + "/" Power class + "/" + 6-character grid locator; Logs due: Jan 9.

VHF-UHF FT8 Activity Contest, Jan 1, 1700z to Jan 1, 2100z; FT8/4; Bands: 144 MHz; 4-character grid square; Logs due: Jan 6.

Log Due Dates

December 19

December 20

December 21

December 22

December 23

December 25

December 26

December 27

December 28

December 29

December 30

January 1

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Acknowledgements

ARRL Contest Update wishes to acknowledge information from WA7BNM's Contest Calendar.

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