From: "ARRL" <memberlist@arrl.org>

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March 26, 2025
Editor: Paul Bourque, N1SFE [ mailto:contest-update@arrl.org ]

ARRL Home Page
https://www.arrl.org/

Contest Calendar
https://www.arrl.org/contest-calendar

iCom
[https://www.icomamerica.com/lineup/amateur/]


In this Issue:
â-¢Upcoming Contests - Things to Do
â-¢Contest Summary
â-¢News, Press Releases, and Special Interest
â-¢Results and Records
â-¢Conversation
â-¢Contests
â-¢Log Due Dates

Upcoming Contests - Things to Do

CQ World Wide WPX Contest - SSB

One of the largest HF contests of the year, the CQ World Wide WPX Contest - SSB, runs from 0000 UTC Saturday, March 29 through 2359 UTC Sunday, March 30. Participants may operate on the 1.8, 3.5, 7, 14, 21, and 28 MHz bands. The exchange is your signal report and a sequential contact serial number starting with the numeral 1. Single Operator stations may operate 36 of the 48 hours, and off times must be a minimum of 60 minutes, during which no QSO is logged. Multioperator stations may operate for the entire 48-hour contest period. For full rules and scoring details, see www.cqwpx.com [ http://www.cqwpx.com ] .

VHF/UHF Spring Sprints

The 144 MHz Spring Sprints, sponsored by the Central States VHF Society, begin at 2300 UTC on Monday, April 14, and conclude at 0600 UTC on Tuesday, April 15. The 144 MHz Spring Sprints are the first of five events, each focusing on specific bands. Note the start and end times for the 144, 222, and 432 MHz Sprints have changed from local time to UTC. Participants may operate for no more than four hours beginning at their first contact. For all sprint events other than the Microwave Sprint, a station may be worked once on SSB, CW, FM or AM (analog) and worked again using a digital mode for a total of two contacts per band.

The other dates are as follows:
â-¢222 MHz - Tuesday April 22, 2300 UTC - Wednesday April 23, 0600 UTC
â-¢432 MHz - Wednesday April 30, 2300 UTC - Thursday May 1, 0600 UTC â-¢Microwave - Saturday May 3, 0800 local time - 1400 local time
â-¢50 MHz - Saturday May 10, 2300 UTC - Sunday May 11, 0300 UTC

For rules and more information, visit sites.google.com/site/springvhfupsprints/2025-information [ https://sites.google.com/site/springvhfupsprints/2025-information ] .

Upcoming State QSO Parties

For those who enjoy state QSO parties, here are three events coming up on the first weekend of April that might interest you. You can find more details at the individual event web pages or the contests section.

April 5 - 6:
â-¢Louisiana QSO Party [ https://laqp.louisianacontestclub.org/laqso-rules-htm/ ]
â-¢Mississippi QSO Party [ https://arrlmiss.org/mississippi-qso-party/ ] â-¢Missouri QSO Party [ https://www.w0ma.org/index.php/missouri-qso-party ]

Georgia and Florida State Parks on the Air Events

If you're a Parks on the Air activator or hunter, there are two events occurring the first week of April that might be of interest. Georgia State Parks on the Air [ https://gaparks.org/ ] begins at 1200 UTC on Saturday, April 5, and concludes at 2359 UTC on Sunday, April 6. The Florida State Parks on the Air [ https://flspota.org/rules/ ] begins at 1400 UTC on Saturday, April 5, and concludes at 2200 UTC on Sunday, April 6. For more information, visit the individual sponsors' websites

[https://surgestop.com/filter-products/index.html]


Contest Summary

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

March 27
â-¢CWops Test (CWT) [ https://cwops.org/cwops-tests/ ]
â-¢RSGB 80m Club Championship, SSB [ https://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/rules/2025/r80mcc.shtml ]

March 28
â-¢QRP Fox Hunt [ http://www.qrpfoxhunt.org/winter_rules.htm ]
â-¢NCCC FT4 Sprint [ https://www.ncccsprint.com/ft4ns.html ]
â-¢Weekly RTTY Test [ https://radiosport.world/wrt.html ]
â-¢NCCC Sprint [ https://ncccsprint.com/rules.html ]
â-¢Sasquatch Stomp [ https://www.pnwqrp.org/sasquatch-stomp ]
â-¢K1USN Slow Speed Test [ http://www.k1usn.com/sst.html ]

March 29
â-¢Feld Hell Sprint [ https://sites.google.com/site/feldhellclub/Home/contests/sprints/waaaeo-sprint ]
â-¢CQ WW WPX Contest, SSB [ https://www.cqwpx.com/rules.htm ]

March 30
â-¢Classic Exchange, CW [ http://www.classicexchange.org/ ]

March 31
â-¢K1USN Slow Speed Test [ http://www.k1usn.com/sst.html ]
â-¢QCX Challenge [ http://www.qrp-labs.com/party.html ]
â-¢ICWC Medium Speed Test [ https://internationalcwcouncil.org/mst-contest/ ] â-¢OK1WC Memorial (MWC) [ https://memorial-ok1wc.cz/index.php?page=rules2l ] â-¢QCX Challenge [ http://www.qrp-labs.com/party.html ]

April 1
â-¢Worldwide Sideband Activity Contest [ https://wwsac.com/rules.html ]
â-¢QCX Challenge [ http://www.qrp-labs.com/party.html ]
â-¢ICWC Medium Speed Test [ https://internationalcwcouncil.org/mst-contest/ ] â-¢ZL Sprint [ https://www.nzart.org.nz/activities/contests/sprints/ ]

April 2
â-¢QRP Fox Hunt [ http://www.qrpfoxhunt.org/winter_rules.htm ]
â-¢Phone Weekly Test [ http://www.perluma.com/Phone_Fray_Contest_Rules.pdf ] â-¢A1Club AWT [ https://a1club.org/contest/awt/ ]
â-¢CWops Test (CWT) [ https://cwops.org/cwops-tests/ ]
â-¢VHF-UHF FT8 Activity Contest [ http://www.ft8activity.eu/index.php/en/ ] â-¢Mini-Test 40 [ http://minitest.narod.ru/ ]
â-¢Mini-Test 80 [ http://minitest.narod.ru/ ]
â-¢UKEICC 80m Contest [ https://www.ukeicc.com/80m-rules.php ]

April 3
â-¢Walk for the Bacon QRP Contest [ https://qrpcontest.com/pigwalk40/ ] â-¢CWops Test (CWT) [ https://cwops.org/cwops-tests/ ]
â-¢SARL 80m QSO Party [ http://www.sarl.org.za/public/contests/contestrules.asp ]
â-¢NRAU 10m Activity Contest [ https://nrau.net/nrau-contests-in-general/ ] â-¢SKCC Sprint Europe [ https://www.skccgroup.com/operating_activities/skse/ ]

April 4
â-¢QRP Fox Hunt [ http://www.qrpfoxhunt.org/winter_rules.htm ]
â-¢NCCC FT4 Sprint [ https://www.ncccsprint.com/ft4ns.html ]
â-¢Weekly RTTY Test [ https://radiosport.world/wrt.html ]
â-¢NCCC Sprint [ https://ncccsprint.com/rules.html ]
â-¢K1USN Slow Speed Test [ http://www.k1usn.com/sst.html ]

April 5
â-¢YBDXPI SSB Contest [ https://contest.ybdxpi.net/ssb/rules/ ]
â-¢PODXS 070 New Member Jamboree [ https://www.podxs070.com/o7o-club-sponsored-contests/nmj ]
â-¢EA RTTY Contest [ https://concursos.ure.es/en/eartty/bases/ ]
â-¢RSGB FT4 International Activity Day [ https://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/rules/2025/rallband_ft4.shtml ]
â-¢Georgia State Parks on the Air [ https://gaparks.org/rules-register/ ] â-¢Louisiana QSO Party [ http://laqp.louisianacontestclub.org/laqso_rules.htm ]
â-¢Mississippi QSO Party [ https://www.arrlmiss.org/ ]
â-¢Missouri QSO Party [ http://www.w0ma.org/index.php/missouri-qso-party ] â-¢Florida State Parks on the Air [ https://flspota.org/rules/ ]
â-¢SP DX Contest [ https://spdxcontest.pzk.org.pl/2024/rules.php ]
â-¢George Batterson 1935 QSO Party [ https://www.qsl.net/ve7sl/batterson.html ]

April 7
â-¢K1USN Slow Speed Test [ http://www.k1usn.com/sst.html ]
â-¢ICWC Medium Speed Test [ https://internationalcwcouncil.org/mst-contest/ ] â-¢OK1WC Memorial (MWC) [ https://memorial-ok1wc.cz/index.php?page=rules2l ] â-¢RSGB 80m Club Championship, CW [ https://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/rules/2025/r80mcc.shtml ]

April 8
â-¢ARS Spartan Sprint [ http://ars-qrp.com/Spartan_Sprint/Spartan_Sprint.html ]
â-¢Worldwide Sideband Activity Contest [ https://wwsac.com/rules.html ] â-¢ICWC Medium Speed Test [ https://internationalcwcouncil.org/mst-contest/ ] â-¢ZL Sprint [ https://www.nzart.org.nz/activities/contests/sprints/ ]
â-¢DARC RTTY Sprint [ https://www.darc.de/der-club/referate/conteste/rtty-kurz/darc-rtty-contest-english-version/darc-rtty-rules/ ]

April 9
â-¢NAQCC CW Sprint [ http://naqcc.info/sprint_rules.html ]
â-¢Phone Weekly Test [ http://www.perluma.com/Phone_Fray_Contest_Rules.pdf ] â-¢A1Club AWT [ https://a1club.org/contest/awt/ ]
â-¢CWops Test (CWT) [ https://cwops.org/cwops-tests/ ]
â-¢VHF-UHF FT8 Activity Contest [ http://www.ft8activity.eu/index.php/en/ ] â-¢Mini-Test 40 [ http://minitest.narod.ru/ ]
â-¢Mini-Test 80 [ http://minitest.narod.ru/ ]

RigSelect Radio Switch SO2R Controller
[https://rigselect.com/]


News, Press Releases, and Special Interest

2025 Visalia Contest Dinner

There are still tickets available for the Contest Dinner at the 2025 International DX Convention in Visalia, California on April 11 - 13, 2025. The dinner will be on Friday, April 11 at 6:45 PM. The featured speaker will be Tim Duffy, K3LR, who will be presenting "The K3LR Contest Station - 2025 WPX SSB K3LR vs ND7K multi-multi."

The deadline to purchase tickets is Sunday, April 6. No tickets will be available at the door. For more details, visit dxconvention.com/friday-dinners [ https://dxconvention.com/friday-dinners/ ] or contact Jeff Stai, WK6I, at wk6i.jeff@gmail.com [ mailto:wk6i.jeff@gmail.com ] .

Results and Records

March 2025 North American RTTY Sprint Preliminary Results

Preliminary results for the March 2025 North American RTTY Sprint are available at the National Contest Journal web site at ncjweb.com [ https://ncjweb.com/ ] . Log check reports are available by contacting the RTTY Sprint Contest Manager via email at rttysprintmgr@ncjweb.com [ mailto:rttysprintmgr@ncjweb.com ] .

- Thanks to Ed Muns, W0YK

2024 Oceania DX Contest Results

The results from the 2024 Oceania DX (OCDX) Contest are available at their web site, www.oceaniadxcontest.com/category/news [ https://www.oceaniadxcontest.com/category/news ] . The organizers of the event thank everyone who participated as well as the 2024 plaque sponsors. The 2025 OCDX Contest will be the 80th running of the contest and some special features planned to commemorate the anniversary. The dates for the 2025 contests are October 4 - 5 (SSB), and October 11 - 12 (CW).

- Thanks to Brian Miller, VK3MI / ZL1AZE

2024 Radio Amateurs of Canada Winter Contest Results

The results of the 2024 Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) Winter Contest are now available at www.rac.ca/contesting-results [ https://www.rac.ca/contesting-results/ ] . Any questions should be directed to canadawinter@rac.ca.

- Thanks to Sam Ferris, VE5SF

Conversation

With the CQ World Wide WPX SSB Contest coming up this weekend, I'd like to remind participants to be mindful of band edges. If you're operating near the upper or lower edges of the band, or of your operating privileges, be aware that your signal's bandwidth may extend beyond what the frequency display on your radio is reading. For example, when operating using lower sideband phone, if your radio dial reads 7.125 MHz, your signal extends outside the phone privileges for US amateurs and into the CW portion of the 40-meter band.

The ARRL website has a handy, printable US Amateur Radio Bands [ https://www.arrl.org/files/file/Regulatory/Band Chart/Hambands4_Color_17x11.pdf ] chart for those who wish to have one for quick reference.

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 [ http://contest-update@arrl.org ] .

73, Paul, N1SFE

Contests

March 27, 2025 - April 9, 2025

An expanded, downloadable version of QST's Contest Corral [ http://www.arrl.org/contest-calendar?utm_source=Informz&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=ARRL ] is available as a PDF. Check the sponsors' website for information on operating time restrictions and other instructions.

HF CONTESTS

CWops Test (CWT) [ https://cwops.org/cwops-tests/ ] , Mar 27, 0300z to Mar 27, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Mar 29.

CWops Test (CWT) [ https://cwops.org/cwops-tests/ ] , Mar 27, 0700z to Mar 27, 0800z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Member: Name + Member No./"CWA", non-Member: Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Mar 29.
[ https://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/rules/2025/r80mcc.shtml ]
RSGB 80m Club Championship, SSB [ https://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/rules/2025/r80mcc.shtml ] , Mar 27, 2000z to Mar 27, 2130z; SSB; Bands: 80; RS + Serial No.; Logs due: Mar 28.

QRP Fox Hunt [ http://www.qrpfoxhunt.org/winter_rules.htm ] , Mar 28, 0100z to Mar 28, 0230z; CW; Bands: 20; RST + (state/province/country) + name + power output; Logs due: Mar 29.

NCCC FT4 Sprint [ https://www.ncccsprint.com/ft4ns.html ] , Mar 28, 0100z to Mar 28, 0130z; FT4; Bands: (see rules); 4-character grid square; Logs due: Mar 30.

Weekly RTTY Test [ https://radiosport.world/wrt.html ] , Mar 28, 0145z to Mar 28, 0215z; RTTY; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Mar 30.
[ https://www.ncccsprint.com/ft4ns.html ]
NCCC Sprint [ https://www.ncccsprint.com/ft4ns.html ] , Mar 28, 0230z to Mar 28, 0300z; CW; Bands: (see rules); Serial No. + Name + QTH; Logs due: Mar 30.

Sasquatch Stomp [ https://www.pnwqrp.org/sasquatch-stomp ] , Mar 28, 1900z to Mar 29, 0300z; CW; Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RST + (state/province/country) + (Sasquatch number/zip code) + name; Logs due: Apr 11.

K1USN Slow Speed Test [ http://www.k1usn.com/sst.html ] , Mar 28, 2000z to Mar 28, 2100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Maximum 20 wpm, Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Mar 30.

Feld Hell Sprint [ https://sites.google.com/site/feldhellclub/Home/contests/sprints/waaaeo-sprint ] , Mar 29, 0000z to Mar 29, 2359z; Feld Hell; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6; (see rules); Logs due: Apr 2.

CQ WW WPX Contest, SSB [ https://www.cqwpx.com/rules.htm ] , Mar 29, 0000z to Mar 30, 2359z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RS + Serial No.; Logs due: Apr 4.

Classic Exchange, CW [ http://www.classicexchange.org/ ] , Mar 30, 1300z to Apr 2, 0700z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6, 2; Name + RST + (state/province/country) + rcvr/xmtr manuf/model; Logs due: Apr 30.

K1USN Slow Speed Test [ http://www.k1usn.com/sst.html ] , Mar 31, 0000z to Mar 31, 0100z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Maximum 20 wpm, Name + (state/province/country); Logs due: Apr 2.

QCX Challenge [ http://www.qrp-labs.com/party.html ] , Mar 31, 1300z to Mar 31, 1400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RST + Name + (state/province/country) + Rig; Logs due: Apr 6.

ICWC Medium Speed Test [ https://internationalcwcouncil.org/mst-contest/ ] , Mar 31, 1300z to Mar 31, 1400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due: Apr 3.

OK1WC Memorial (MWC) [ https://memorial-ok1wc.cz/index.php?page=rules2l ] , Mar 31, 1630z to Mar 31, 1729z; CW; Bands: 80, 40; RST + Serial No.; Logs due: Apr 4.

QCX Challenge [ http://www.qrp-labs.com/party.html ] , Mar 31, 1900z to Mar 31, 2000z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RST + Name + (state/province/country) + Rig; Logs due: Apr 6.

ICWC Medium Speed Test [ https://internationalcwcouncil.org/mst-contest/ ] , Mar 31, 1900z to Mar 31, 2000z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due: Apr 3.

Worldwide Sideband Activity Contest [ https://wwsac.com/rules.html ] , Apr 1, 0100z to Apr 1, 0159z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6; RS + age group (OM, YL, Youth YL or Youth); Logs due: Apr 2.

QCX Challenge [ http://www.qrp-labs.com/party.html ] , Apr 1, 0300z to Apr 1, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; RST + Name + (state/province/country) + Rig; Logs due: Apr 6.

ICWC Medium Speed Test [ https://internationalcwcouncil.org/mst-contest/ ] , Apr 1, 0300z to Apr 1, 0400z; CW; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10; Name + QSO No.; Logs due: Apr 3.

ZL Sprint [ https://www.nzart.org.nz/activities/contests/sprints/ ] , Apr 1, 0800z to Apr 1, 0929z; CW, SSB, FT4; Bands: 80; CW/SSB: RS(T) + Outside Temperature (C), FT4: 4-character grid square; Logs due: Apr 2.

QRP Fox Hunt [ http://www.qrpfoxhunt.org/winter_rules.htm ] , Apr 2, 0100z to Apr 2, 0230z; CW; Bands: 20; RST + (state/province/country) + name + power output; Logs due: Apr 3.

Phone Weekly Test [ http://www.perluma.com/Phone_Fray_Contest_Rules.pdf ] , Apr 2, 0230z to Apr 2, 0300z; SSB; Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15; NA: Name + (state/province/country), non-NA: Name; Logs due: Apr 4.
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