2026 VERMONT QSO PARTY

The 68th Vermont QSO Party will take place during the first full weekend of February 2026.

It will begin at 0000 UTC Saturday February 7 and will end at 2400 UTC Sunday February 8, which is a 48-hour period.

In local time, this corresponds to a start time of 7:00 PM EST FRIDAY night February 6th and an end time of 7PM SUNDAY night February 8th.

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 2026 Vermont QSO Party Rules for specific rules.

BEFORE THE QSO PARTY!!

W1AW/1 ACTIVATION

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. NEW this year is the State QSO Party Mobile/Portable Challenge, which is a special category created for the mobile and portable operators of the State QSO Parties. Go tostateqsoparty.com for rules and full details of the various operating awards.

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 FT4 on a particular band, it only counts once.
2. Use only 4-digit grid squares in your log. That is, FN34, not FN34km!
3. The number of FT8/FT4 multipliers (for Vermont stations) is the number of grid squares worked, divided by 3 and rounded DOWN.
4. The number of FT8/FT4 multipliers (for outside Vermont stations) is the number of grid squares worked in Vermont (maximum of 5).
5. If an FT8/FT4 station does not send its grid square, it can count for QSO credit, but not for grid square credit.
6. For RTTY operation, use states and countries as multipliers. Other stations must send their state or province to count for credit.
7. 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 24.915/24.919 MHz upper side band. No other forms of activity are allowed on 30, 17 and 12 meters.

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, K1BIF, KC1IFK, KI1P, KK1L, N1GB, N1FS, N1GVT, N1IBM, NQ1B, W1FP, W1NVT.

Logging Digital Contacts

The WSJTx software generates an ADIF file for FT8/FT4 contacts. If you made FT8 contacts, when you upload your log, you can upload the ADIF file out of WSJTx and the robot will convert the ADIF and merge it into your Cabrillo log containing the SSB and CW contacts. MAKE SURE you only upload the portion of your WSJTx ADIF corresponding to the QSO Party (i.e. February 7-8, 2026). You will have to provide your correct Grid Square. If you did not make FT8/FT4 QSO's, then ignore this on the upload page.

If you made FT8/FT8 QSO's using WSJTx, use these steps to upload your log.

1. With WSJTx open, click on "File" at the top left
2. In the drop down box, click on "Open Log Directory"
3. Look for the file name "wsjtx_log.adi". Click on it to open it. This is your ADIF log.
4. BEFORE DOING ANYTHING ELSE, save this file to another file name for safe keeping. If you mess up you could lose your QSO's.
5. Look through the file and notice the indication "qso_date" in the file. Erase all dates which are not in the range 20260207 through 20250208.
6. Save this file as "yourcall".adi. This is the file which gets uploaded to the ADIF converter when you upload.
7. Exit the editor. Say "NO" when they want you to save the changes.

CATEGORIES

• Single-Op
• Multi-Op
• Rover / mobile.

EXCHANGE

SCORING

• Phone: 1 pt
• RTTY: 2 pts
• Digital (all WSJTx modes count as 1 mode): 2 pts
• CW: 3 pts
  Contacts with W1AW/1 from stations outside of Vermont add 2 points to each of the above.
  

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

• 50 U.S. States
  
• 13 Canadian Provinces and Territories (see list below)
  
• Any ARRL DXCC country (except U.S. Canada, Alaska, Hawaii)
  
• 14 Vermont Counties (see list below)
  
• 2026 Club Station W1NVT
  
• Grid squares divided by 3 only for for FT8 and other WSJT modes.

County Line Operations
Mobiles may operate from a location straddling a Vermont county line. They will announce this as such. You can work these stations once, but you can count them as two contacts from the different counties. Be sure to log these as separate contacts. Do not try to enter both counties on the same log line! This rule only applies to Vermont counties. If you are situated on a state line, pick one.

Club Station Multipliers
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.
Club multiplier for 2026: W1NVT These count on each mode: Phone, CW, Digital.

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.

LOG CHECKING

Be sure to log all contacts accurately!
A busted callsign, incorrect exchange (state, province, country, county) or incorrect band/mode will all result in a contact being removed. Be sure to use the specific VT QSO County abbreviations and NOT abbreviations from other contests (some are different). Duplicate contacts will not be counted.

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: 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 20-10m days and 40m late night. These have changed from past years due to changing band conditions.

Sat 0000-0015Z	Fri 7PM ET	7205 KHz
Sat 0100-0115Z	Fri 8PM ET	7205 KHz
Sat 0200-0215Z	Fri 9PM ET	3850 KHz
Sat 1800-1815Z	Sat 1PM ET	7205 KHz
Sat 2200-2215Z	Sat 5PM ET	7205 KHz
Sun 0000-0015Z	Sat 7PM ET	7205 KHz
Sun 0100-0115Z	Sat 8PM ET	7205 KHz
Sun 0200-0215Z	Fri 9PM ET	3850 KHz
Sun 1800-1815Z	Sun 1PM ET	7205 KHz
Sun 2200-2215Z	Sun 5PM ET	7205 KHz

2026 Schedules for selected Vermont stations

W1NVT - The host station will be active 8AM until past midnight all days.
Most activity will be on SSB, with some activity on CW.
FT8 will run most of the day concurrent with the SSB activity.
At various times, W1NVT will operate as W1AW/1. Check the cluster for activity.
W1NVT counts as a bonus multiplier. W1AW/1 counts as 2 extra points per contact.

Sat 0000-0300   Fri 7-10 PM   20/40/80M SSB
Sat 0300-0500   Fri 10-midn   FT8/4
Sat 1300-2400   Sat 8AM-7PM   20/15/10M SSB and FT8/4
Sun 0000-0300   Sat 7-10PM    20/40/80M CW Sprint 50 kHz from bottom band edge
Sun 0300-0500   Sat 10-midn   FT8/4
Sun 1300-2400   Sun 8AM-7PM   20/15/10M SSB and FT8/4


KK1L   (CHI) (FN34) will be on Phone, CW, FT4 and FT8
Sat 0000-0400
Sat 1300-0000


K1IB - This will be a mobile operation sitting on county lines. Each QSO 
can count as TWO QSO's, but you must log 2 QSOs. This operation will be all CW.
Times are approximate.
Sat 0000Z: Windsor Co. 80/40M 
Sat 1400Z: Essex/Caledonia Co. 10-40M
Sat 1545Z: Washington/Caledonia Co. 10-40M
Sat 1730Z: Caledonia/Orange Co. 10-40M
Sat 1915Z: Orange/Windsor Co. 10-40M


KI1P - Schedule is not set, but these are the possibilities
Sat 0200-0400 Washington/Orange Co. 40-80M
Sat 1500-1700 Grand Island/Chittenden Co. 15-20M
Sun 1500-1700 Essex/Caledonia Co. 15-20M

Other Vermont Stations likely to be on:
K1BIF, K1ZK, KE1VT, N1TTW, NQ1B, W1XIV  

Also look for Vermont stations operating as W1AW/1.
Schedule at:  www.ranv.org/w1awsked.html 

Check the DX Cluster for activity. Most Vermont stations will spot themselves at the start of a run.

Remember! If on FT8/FT4, no county multiplier can be claimed! Only grid squares count there.

REPORTING

1. On-Line Submission. VTQSO logs should submitted on line at this site: https://vtqp.contesting.com/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.

   SSB, Phone, CW and RTTY contacts must be in Cabrillo Format! Most contest software can produce this for you. Digital FT8/FT4 contacts must be in ADIF format. See the discussion above on how to generate this.

   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 DEADLINE OF 2 WEEKS!! The deadline for all submissions is February 22, 2026 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 18 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 E-MAIL LOGS directly, as these are not 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 20 or more Vermont contacts will receive a certificate.
• Stations in Vermont making 100 or more contacts will receive a certficate.
• Results will be published on this site within 60-90 days after the end of the QSO Party

OTHER CONTESTS

OTHER INFORMATION

CANADIAN PROVINCES AND TERRITORIES

VERMONT COUNTIES