2021 VERMONT QSO PARTY

The 63rd Vermont QSO Party will take place during the first full weekend of February 2021.

It will begin at 0000 UTC Saturday February 6 and will end at 2400 UTC Sunday February 7, which is a 48-hour period.

In local time, this corresponds to a start time of 7:00 PM EST FRIDAY night February 5th and an end time of 7PM SUNDAY night February 7th.

The VERMONT QSO PARTY provides the opportunity for Amateur Radio Operators to contact and exchange QSO information with Vermont Amateur Radio operators. All licensed amateur radio operators are invited to participate. Stations outside Vermont work Vermont stations. Stations within Vermont work everyone.

The discussion below is a summary of the QSO Party. Please download The Official 2021 Vermont QSO Party Rules for specific rules.

BEFORE THE QSO PARTY!!

State QSO Party Challenge

The annual State QSO Party Challenge recognizes all radio amateurs’ participation in the U.S. State and Canadian Province QSO parties. It is open to any radio amateur who participates in any of the approved State QSO Parties. Participants must simply submit their scores to 3830Scores.com to be included in the Challenge. Go to stateqsoparty.com for full details.

FT8 and FT4

1. Stations can only count once per band for credit on digital modes. That is, if you work a station on both FT8 and RTTY on a particular band, it only counts once.
2. The number of FT8/FT4 multipliers (for Vermont stations) is the number of grid squares worked, divided by 4 and rounded DOWN.
3. The number of FT8/FT4 multipliers (for outside Vermont stations) is the number of grid squares worked in Vermont (maximum of 5).
4. If an FT8/FT4 station does not send its grid square, it can count for QSO credit, but not for grid square credit.
5. Digital contacts on modes not using grid squares (RTTY & PSK-31) will use states and countries as multipliers. Other stations must send their state or province to count for credit.
6. In addition to the suggested frequencies listed below, FT8/FT4 contacts can also be made ONLY on the recognized FT8/FT4 frequencies of 10.136/10.140, 18.110/18.104 and 24.920/24.919 MHz upper side band. No other forms of activity are allowed on 30, 17 and 12 meters.
7. A Cabrillo log of FT8/FT4 contacts must be submitted. An ADIF file is NOT acceptable. The FT8/FT4 log can be submitted separately from other modes, or combined. QSO's not in proper Cabrillo format will not be scored! The WSJTx software will output an ADIF file and a generic log file. You will have to find a method to convert the ADIF file to Cabrillo or indirectly log the FT8/FT4 contacts into logging software. If you use the N1MM logging software, there is a way to marry the logging software to WSJTx for a seemless operation. Go to N1MM-WSJTx to learn how to do this. Note that this process is rather lengthy and definitely should not be attempted 5 minutes before the start of the QSO Party!

Most Vermont stations can be found in the FN34 and FN33 grid squares. Small pieces of Vermont also lie in FN32, FN44 and FN35. The contest manager will determine which FT8/FT4 contacts are valid Vermont contacts. Remember that stations outside of Vermont can only work Vermont stations for credit. Although not an exhaustive list, these are the Vermont stations most likely to be on FT8/FT4: AA1SU, AB1DD, K1BIF, K1VMT, KB1FRW, KC1IFK, KI1P, N1GB, N1FS, NQ1B, W1BD, W1FP, W1JXN, W1NVT.

CATEGORIES

EXCHANGE

SCORING

• Phone: 1 pt
• CW: 2 pts
• Digital: 2 pts
  All digital modes (RTTY, PSK, Packet) count as ONE Mode)

Multipliers
Multipliers count ONLY ONCE PER MODE. Multipliers consist of:

• 50 U.S. States
  
• 12 Canadian Provinces and Territories (see list below)
  
• Any ARRL DXCC country (except U.S. Canada, Alaska, Hawaii)
  
• 14 Vermont Counties (see list below)
  
• Specific Vermont Club Stations
  
• Grid squares divided by 4 only for for FT8 and other WSJT modes.

Club Station Multipliers
Only approved Vermont Club Stations will count as multipliers. A club operation must inform the QSO Party Chairman no later than one week before the contest. A club operation must commit to operating at least 5 hours duing the event. Stations using their own call sign may not then use a club call sign to give out a multiplier.
Valid club multipliers for 2021: W1NVT W1JXN N1FS

Power Multiplier

High Power	over 150w	x 1.0
Low Power	over 5w, under 150w	x 1.5
QRP	under 5w	x 2.0

Final Score is QSO Points times multipliers times power multiplier.

SUGGESTED FREQUENCIES AND TIMES

Phone: 80-15 meters: the first 25 kHz of the General portion of each band, 1850-1875 KHz, 28.400-28.425 MHz.

CW: 25-50 kHz from the bottom edge of each band.

VHF: 50.130 MHz SSB, 144.200 MHz SSB, 146.520 MHz FM.

USE OF SPOTTING NETWORKS

VERMONT ACTIVITY HOURS

Vermont activity hours have been scheduled to allow Vermont stations to find each other. Please check these frequencies, as it is rough to work each other on 20m days and 40m nights.

Sat 0000-0015Z	Fri 7PM ET	3850 KHz
Sat 1800-1815Z	Sat 1PM ET	7200 KHz
Sun 0000-0015Z	Sat 7PM ET	3850 KHz
Sun 1800-1815Z	Sun 1PM ET	7200 KHz
Sun 2345-0000Z	Sun 6:45PM	3850 KHz

Schedules for selected Vermont stations

W1NVT (CHI) (FN34) [bonus multiplier] will be primarily on SSB
Sat 0000-0100   Fri 7-8 PM    40M
Sat 0100-0300   Fri 8-10 PM   80M
Sat 1500-2000   Sat 10AM-3PM  20M
Sat 2000-2400   Sat 3-7PM     40M
Sun 0000-0300   Sat 7-10PM    80M
Sun 1500-2000   Sun 10AM-3PM  20M
Sun 2000-2400   Sun 3-7PM     40M  
There will also be CW and FT8 activity at various times, operator permitting.

K1MZM (WAS) (FN34) will be on 0030-0230 on 3.520 MHz at the start and 1800-2130 Saturday on 7.020 MHz.
 
K1VMT (LAM) (FN34) will be on CW mostly plus some phone during daytime and early evening hours.

N1FS [bonus multiplier] will be mobile and on the air from all 14 Vermont counties.
 
KI1P (WAS) (FN34) will be on all bands SSB and FT8.

N1JEZ (CAL) (FN44) will be primarily on 20 meters SSB during the day and 40/80 meters at night.

W1JXN (CHI) (FN34) [bonus multiplier] will be on most of the operating period with an emphasis on twilight and evening hours.
He will primarily be on CW and FT8 with some SSB and RTTY, focusing on 40 and 160 meters. 
 
NS1DX (BEN) (FN32) is a multiop at K2LE/1's location at the Southern end of Vermont. They'll have a big signal and likly spend
a good deal of time on CW.

More info will be provided as we learn about it.

Be sure to check the cluster for activity.

REPORTING

1. On-Line Submission. VTQSO logs should submitted on line at this site: https://www.b4h.net/vtqp/vtqpsubmitlog.php.
   You will be asked to provide an email address, category (single-op or multi-op) and power level (5/150/1500). You then will select the file containing your log.

   Contest log must be in Cabrillo Format! Most contest software will produce this for you. The log must be in chronological order, from earliest QSO to latest QSO. Both N1MM and N3FJP (the paid version only) will support the Vermont QSO Party. Other software is "USE AT YOUR OWN RISK"!
   

   NEW FEATURE THIS YEAR!
   If you made FT8 contacts, you can upload the ADIF file out of WSJTx in addition to your Cabrillo log and the robot will convert the ADIF and merge it into your Cabrillo log. This is a lot easier than in the past! MAKE SURE you only upload the portion of your WSJTx ADIF corresponding to the QSO Party (i.e. February 6-7, 2021). You will have to provide your correct Grid Square. If you did not make FT8 QSO's, then ignore this on the upload page.

   The robot will quickly scan your log and either accept it or report errors. You can then modify your log file to fix the problems and resubmit the log.
   
   NOTE NEW DEADLINE OF 2 WEEKS!! The deadline for all submissions is February 21, 2021 at 2359 UTC or 6:59 PM EST.
   
   

2. Postal Mail. We strongly, strongly encourage all participants to submit logs electronically!! However, paper contest logs will be accepted via postal mail to: Vermont QSO Party, PO Box 9392, South Burlington, VT 05403-9392. PAPER LOGS MUST BE POSTMARKED NO LATER THAN FEBRUARY 21 TO BE CONSIDERED. When submitting paper logs, please include summary sheet and dupe sheets

Any software which automatically looks up call sign addresses is NOT to be used and any logs submitted in this format are not acceptable (Ham Radio Deluxe and N3FJP have this feature and it MUST be turned off!) Participants are expected to COPY ALL pertinent contest exchange information! If you have questions or issues with contest software, contact the Contest Manager at the above address, BEFORE the QSO Party.

DON'T MAIL LOGS directly, as these are no longer accepted.

AWARDS

• The 3 highest single operator scorers outside Vermont but within the U.S. will receive a 3 oz. miniature jug of genuine Vermont Maple Syrup!
• The top scorers in each category from Vermont and each category outside Vermont will receive a certificate.
• Stations outside Vermont making over 10 Vermont contacts will receive a certificate.
• Stations in Vermont making over 100 contacts will receive a certficate.
• Results will be published on this site within 60 days after the end of the QSO Party

OTHER CONTESTS

OTHER INFORMATION

CANADIAN PROVINCES AND TERRITORIES

VERMONT COUNTIES