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California QSO Party

October 2, 2021 @ 2:00 am October 3, 2021 @ 8:00 am UTC-7

The California QSO Party (CQP) is held every year on the first weekend of October.  The first CQP took place in 1966. Since 1974, the Northern California Contest Club (NCCC) has sponsored CQP.  CQP has traditionally opened the annual contest season by providing an opportunity for contesters to prepare for the ARRL November Sweepstakes since the format is similar. 

Stations outside of California, worldwide, work stations in California only. The 58 counties of CA are the multipliers. California stations work all stations in or out of CA. The 50 US states and 8 Canadian areas are the multipliers.  Stations outside of Canada and the US add to one’s QSO total but do not count as multipliers. See the full set of CQP Rules for more details. 

On this site you will find lots of information, so peruse the index above and learn all about the California QSO Party!  Also, be sure to visit the NCCC website for the latest scoop on a super contest club.

  • Before CQP:
  • After CQP
    • Send In Your Log Before The Deadline: 23:59 UTC MONDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2021
    • Start HERE
      NOTE: See the Rules page for submitting via email.
    • After you submit your log, you can check to be sure it’s listed on the CQP server: HERE
    • CQP T-Shirts – Like the wine, each year’s T-shirt is a special vintage.  All entries qualify for the special CQP T-shirt — no minimum number of QSOs needed.  The 2021 CQP T-Shirt color will be Brown. Place your order for a T-shirt by sending an email to shirts@cqp.org stating the sizes and quantities for each size (M/L/XL/XXL), the call sign of the CQP operation, the call sign of the person placing the order, and the address to ship to.  Send payment, $20 ($25 for DX entries), either via PayPal [using this email address: paypal@nccc.cc ] — or a check to: NCCC, c/o Tom Carney, K6EU, 1545 Elwood Drive, Los Gatos, CA 95032.  All orders are due by January 31, 2022. 
      NOTE: You MUST send that email order to shirts@cqp.org to trigger the order. If you don’t, your order will not be processed. 

Contest Log
Please refer to the Rules web page for the preferred way to submit your log.

Documentation

Contact Information
Many NCCCers contribute to making the CQP a success.  Feel free to contact any of the following members for additional information or comments:

CQP Chairman, Dean Wood, N6DE
Expedition Antennas and Masts: Glen Brown, W6GJB
Log Submission and Log Checking: Tom Epperly, NS6T
WACC: Fred Jensen, K6DGW
Website: John Miller, K6MM

Rules: 2021 California QSO Party (CQP)
Last Update: 31-July-2021 at 1800 UTC

Click HERE for a printable copy (PDF) of this Rules page.

Logs are due by 2359 UTC on Monday, October 18, 2021. 
Logs must be submitted electronically in Cabrillo format – paper, Excel, and ADIF logs are NOT acceptable.
 

DATES + TIMES:

Begins: 1600 UTC – 02 October 2021     Ends: 2200 UTC – 03 October 2021

OBJECTIVE:
Stations outside of California work as many California stations in as many CA Counties as possible. 
Stations inside California work everyone. Non-CA to non-CA contacts do not count for QSO credit. 

EXCHANGE: 
1. California stations send QSO number and 4-letter county abbreviation.  
2. Stations outside of California send QSO number and 2-letter State, Canadian area abbreviation, or “DX”. 
QSO number = contact serial number starting with 1 for the first contact, progressing to 2 for the next contact, and so on. It is unnecessary to send leading zeros in the QSO number. 

QSO POINTS:
Each complete non-duplicate Phone contact is worth 2 points.  
Each complete non-duplicate CW contact is worth 3 points.   Although there is no credit for duplicate contacts, there’s no penalty either, so please do not remove them from your log as they help with log checking. 

MULTIPLIERS:
 
A. California Stations (Maximum of 58 Multipliers)
Count U.S. states (50) and Canadian areas (8): MR, QC, ON, MB, SK, AB, BC and NT where:

  • MR = Maritime provinces plus Newfoundland and Labrador (NB, NL, NS, PE)
  • NT = Northern Territories (NT, NU, YT)

Note: Although the “CA” abbreviation is not used as a multiplier in this contest, the first valid CA county logged will count as the multiplier for California.  California stations must log all CA contacts with their 4-letter county abbreviation; everything else as two characters, including “DX” for all stations outside of the U.S. and Canada.
B. Non-California Stations
Count all 58 California Counties for a maximum of 58 multipliers. 

SCORE:
The final score is the total number of QSO Points multiplied by the total number of multipliers (58 maximum). 
QSO Points = (CW Qs x 3 pts) + (Phone Qs x 2 pts)
Final Score = QSO Points  x  # Multipliers

MODES:  CW, Phone

BANDS:  160, 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters
Frequencies: 
CW: 40 kHz up from the bottom band edge on 10m-80m; 160m at 1815 kHz 
SSB: 1845 kHz, 3610 & 3750-3820 kHz (avoiding 3790-3800 kHz DX window), 7230 kHz, 14250 kHz, 21300 kHz, 28450 kHz.

Rallies: 
1900Z: Try 10m at 28040 and 28450 kHz 
0300Z and 0600Z: Try 80CW at 3540 kHz and 75PH at 3610 kHz and 3750-3820 kHz (avoiding 3790-3800 kHz DX window) 
0500Z: Try 160CW at 1815 kHz 
0530Z: Try 160PH at 1845 kHz