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Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2009

I'd like to take this time to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas.

This is a season of giving, peace, understanding and goodwill among all. I hope that this Christmas will find you among friends and family with good food, good times, and good memories. And I hope too that Santa lines the bottom of your Christmas tree with all the Amateur Radio goodies that it can hold!

Wish you a very happy new year, many nice DX contacts, a lot of pleasure with our hobby and see You in 2009 again!

CQ World Wide DX Contest Rules

The 2008 CQ World-Wide DX Contest

SSB: October 25-26, 2008 CW: November 29-30, 2008

Starts: 0000 GMT Saturday Ends: 2359 GMT Sunday

I. OBJECTIVE: For amateurs around the world to contact other amateurs in as many zones and countries as possible.

II. BANDS: All bands, 1.8 through 28 MHz, except for WARC bands.

III. TYPE OF COMPETITION (choose only one):
For all categories: All entrants must operate within the limits of their chosen category when performing any activity that could impact their submitted score.

All high power categories must not exceed 1500 watts total output power, or the output power of their country, whichever is less, on any band.

All transmitters and receivers used by the entrant must be located within a single 500-meter diameter circle or within the property limits of the station licenseeís address, whichever is greater. All antennas used by the entrant must be physically connected by wires to the transmitters and receivers used by the entrant. Only the entrantís callsign can be used to aid the entrantís score. A different callsign must be used for each CQ WW entry. An entrantís remote station is deter mined by the physical location of the transmitters, receivers, and antennas. A remote station must obey all station and category limitations of Rule III.

A. Single Operator categories: For all single operator categories, only one person (the operator) can contribute to the final score during the official contest period.

QSO alerting assistance of any kind (this includes, but is not limited to, packet, local or remote Skimmer and/or Skimmer-like technology, Internet) places the entrant in the Single Operator Assisted category.

1. Single Operator High (All Band or Single Band): One person. One signal at any one time. QSO alerting assistance of any kind is not allowed. Self- spotting or asking to be spotted is not allowed. Total output power per band must not exceed 1500 watts or the out- put power regulations of the country in which the entrant is operating, whichev- er is less.

2. Single Operator Low (All Band or Single Band): One person. One signal at any one time. QSO alerting assis- tance of any kind is not allowed. Self- spotting or asking to be spotted is not allowed. Total output power per band must not exceed 100 watts.

3. Single Operator QRP (All Band or Single Band): One person. One signal at any one time. QSO alerting assistance of any kind is not allowed. Self- spotting or asking to be spotted is not allowed. Total output power per band must not exceed 5 watts.

4. Single Operator Assisted (All Band or Single Band): One person. One signal at any one time. QSO alerting assistance is allowed (this includes, but is not limited to, packet, local or remote Skimmer and/or Skimmer-like technology, Internet). Self-spotting or asking to be spotted is not allowed. Total output power per band must not exceed 1500 watts or the output power regulations of the country in which the entrant is operating, whichever is less.

B. Multi-Operator (all band operation only):
1. Single Transmitter ( MS): Only one transmitter and one band permitted during any 10-minute period. Exception: Oneband only oneóother band may be used during any 10-minute period ifóand only ifóthe station worked is a new multiplier. Ten-minute periods are defined as starting with the first logged QSO on a band. Logs found in violation of the 10-minute rule will automatically be reclassified as M2. If electronic logging is used (Cabrillo), for each QSO the run transmitter or multiplier transmitter must be indicated in the log.

2. Two Transmitter (M2):A maximum of two transmitted signals at any time on different bands.Both transmitters may work any and all stations.A station may only be worked once per band regardless of which transmitter is used.Each of the two transmitters used must keep a separate chronological log for the entire contest period, or if electronic logging is used, the electronic log submittal (Cabrillo) must indicate which transmitter made each QSO.Each transmitter may make a maximum of 8 band changes in any clock hour (00 through 59 minutes).

3. Multi-Transmitter (MM): No limit to transmitters, but only one signal and running station allowed per band.

C. Team Contesting: A team consists of any five radio amateurs operating in the single operator category. A person may be on only one team per mode. Competing on a team will not prevent any team member from submitting his/her personal score for a radio club. A team score will be the sum of all the team member scores. SSB and CW teams are totally separate. That is, a member of an SSB team may be on a totally different CW team. A list of a teamís members must be received at CQ Headquarters by the time the contest begins. E-mail to < This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it >, or mail or fax the list to CQ, Att: Team Contest, 25 Newbridge Road, Hicksville, NY 11801 U.S.A.; fax 516-681-2926. Awards will be given to the top teams on each mode.

IV. NUMBER EXCHANGE:
Phone: RS report plus zone (i.e., 5705). CW: RST report plus zone (i.e., 57905).

V. MULTIPLIER:Two types of multiplier will be used.

1. A multiplier of one (1) for each different zone contacted on each band.
2. A multiplier of one (1) for each different country contacted on each band.

Stations are permitted to contact their own country and zone for multiplier credit. The CQ Zone Map, DXCC country list, WAE country list, and WAC boundaries are standards. Maritime mobile stations count only for a zone multiplier.

VI. POINTS:
1. Contacts between stations on different continents are worth three (3) points.
2. Contacts between stations on the same continent but different countries, one (1) point.
Exception: For North American stations only, contacts between stations within the North American boundaries count two (2) points.
3. Contacts between stations in the same country are permitted for zone or country multiplier credit but have zero (0) point value.

VII. SCORING: All stations: the final score is the result of the total QSO points multiplied by the sum of your zone and country multipliers.

Example:
1000 QSO points · 100 multiplier (30 Zones + 70 Countries) = 100,000 (final score).

VIII. AWARDS: First-place certificates will be awarded in each category listed under Sec.III in every participating country and in each call area of the United States, Canada, European Russia, Spain, and Japan.
All scores will be published. To be eligible for an award, a Single Operator station must show a minimum of 12 hours of operation. Multi-operator stations must operate a minimum of 24 hours. A single-band log is eligible for a singleband award only. If a log contains more than one band it will be judged as an allband entry, unless specified otherwise. In countries or sections where the returns justify, 2nd and 3rd place awards will be made.
All certificates/plaques will be issued to the licensee of the station used.

IX. TROPHIES AND PLAQUES:
Plaques and trophies are awarded for top performance in a number of categories. They are sponsored by individuals and organizations. For a current list of plaques and sponsors, or to learn how to become a sponsor, see the CQ web- site: . A station win- ning a World trophy will not be consid- ered for a sub-area award; the trophy will be awarded to the runner-up in that area.

X. CLUB COMPETITION:
1. The club must be a local group and not a national organization.

2. Participation is limited to members operating within a local geographic area defined as within a 275 km radius from center of club area (except for DXpeditions specially organized for operation in the contest; club contributions of DXpedition scores are per- centaged to the number of club members on the DXpedition).

3. To be listed, a minimum of 3 logs must be received from a club, and an officer of the club must submit a list of participating members and their scores, both on phone and CW.

XI. LOG INSTRUCTIONS:
1. All times must be in GMT.
2. All sent and received exchanges are to be logged.
3. Indicate zone and country multiplier only the FIRST TIME it is worked on each band.
4. Electronic log submission: We want your electronic log. The Committee requiresan electronic log for any possible high-scoring log. By submitting a log to the CQ WW Contest, the entrant agrees to have the log open to the public. If possible, we would appreciate complete frequencies in the log.
E-mail Required Content: Please submit your log in the Cabrillo file format created by all major logging programs. Be sure to put the STATION CALLSIGN and the MODE in the iSubject:î line of each message. Your e-mail log will automatically be acknowledged by the server. You will also receive a personal access code from the server at a later time.
Electronic submission implies a signed declaration that all contest rules and regulations for amateur radio in the country of operation have been observed. Submit your CQ WW SSB log to < This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it > and your CQ WW CW log to < This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it >.

5. Paper log submission: For paper logs, use a separate sheet for each band. Each paper log entry MUSTbe accompanied by a summary sheet showing all scoring information, category of competition, and contestantís name and address in BLOCK LETTERS. Sample log and summary sheets and zone maps are available from CQ. A large, self-addressed envelope with sufficient postage or IRCs must accompany your request. If official forms are not available, make up your own, 80 contacts to the page on 1 8 /2" · 11" paper. All paper log entrants are required to submit cross-check sheets (an alphabetical list of calls worked) for each band on which 200 or more QSOs were made.

6. Bad QSO: The bad QSO is removed and a penalty of three more equivalent QSOs is applied to the points only.

7. QRPp and Low Power stations must indicate their category on their summary sheets and state the actual maximum power output used, with a signed declaration.

XII. DISQUALIFICATION:
Violation of amateur radio regulations in the country of the contestant, or the rules of the contest; unsportsmanlike conduct; taking credit for excessive unverifiable QSOs or unverifiable multipliers will be deemed sufficient cause for disqualification. Incorrectly logged calls will be counted as unverifiable contacts. An entrant whose log is deemed by the Contest Committee to contain a large number of discrepancies may be disqualified from eligibility for an award, both as a participant operator or station, for one year. If an operator is disqualified a second time within five years, he/she will be ineligible for any CQcontest awards for three years. ANY use by an entrant of any non-amateur means including, but not limited to, telephones, telegrams, internet, Instant Messenger, chat rooms, VoIP, or the use of packet to SOLICIT, ARRANGE, or CONFIRM any contacts during the contest is unsportsmanlike and the entry is subject to disqualification. Action and decisions of the CQ WW Contest Committee are official and final.

XIII. DEADLINE:
1. All entries must be postmarked NO LATER than December 1, 2008 for the SSB section and January 15, 2009 for the CW section.
Indicate SSB or CW on the envelope and/or disk.

2. An extension of up to one month may be given if requested by e-mail ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ). The granted extension must be confirmed by the Contest Director, must state a legitimate reason, and the request must be received before the log mailing deadline. Logs postmarked after the extension deadline may be listed in the results but will be declared ineligible for an award.
Both Phone and CW mailed logs should be sent to CQ Magazine, 25 Newbridge Road, Suite 309, Hicksville, NY 11801. Please mark SSB or CW on the envelope.