These are the rules the 52 teams followed during WRTC-96. The "exhibition teams" were exempt from all rules and were not eligible for awards.
WRTC-96 will be held in conjunction with the IARU HF World Championship contest. The WRTC competitors will have a slightly different set of additional rules they must follow, however.
Operating times will be limited to 12:00 UTC Saturday, July 13 through 06:00 UTC Sunday, July 14. This is six hours less than the IARU Championship standard hours, beginning at the standard HFWC contest starting time.
Teams will utilize only the 40, 20, 15 and 10 meter bands with no operation on either 80 or 160 meters.
The same station may be contacted on both SSB and CW on each of the four bands, with SSB QSOs counting 1 point and CW QSOs counting 2 points. All CW contacts must be made in the lowest 100 kHz of each band.
Multipliers will be the sum of DXCC Countries plus ITU Zones plus IARU HQ Stations.
All WRTC-96 competitors will be located in IARU zone 6. You may determine your IARU zone (which is different from the more commonly used CQ zones) by comparing your callsign prefix with the IARU Zone List.
For a world map showing the IARU zones, link to IARU Zone Map
Note: WRTC Team rules have been modified. Teams should refer to the official update published by Chief Judge, K4VX.
RULES FOR THE WRTC TEAMS
WRTC TEAMS: Each WRTC team is encouraged to bring their own
equipment. This means everything except the coax and antennas.
OBJECT: To contact as many other amateurs around the world as
possible on the 7, 14, 21 and 28 MHz bands.
DATE: Second full weekend of July (July 13-14, 1996).
CATEGORY: All WRTC stations will be TRUE multi-single. Before the
contest begins each team will name one transceiver "A" and one
"B". The transceiver they name "A" will be the only one
allowed to tramsmit during the entire contest. Transceiver "B"
can be used only to SWL. If transceiver "A" breaks down (as
determined by a judge or referee) the SWL transceiver ("B")
can be used as the designated transmitter. There will be NO 10
minute rule. Transceiver "A" and "B" can move frequencies as
often as desired.
MODES: Both SSB and CW on each band
WRTC-96 CONTEST PERIOD: 1200 UTC Sat until 0600 UTC Sun
CONTEST EXCHANGE: WRTC stations send signal report and ITU zone. A
complete exchange must be logged for each valid QSO.
VALID CONTACT: The same station may be worked once per band/mode
only in the accepted portions of that band for that mode.
Note: working a station in the phone portion of the band on CW
is not permitted.
POINTS: A) Contacts with SSB stations count 1 point.
B) Contacts with CW stations count 2 points.
MULTIPLIERS: ITU zones, HQ stations and DXCC countries worked on
each frequency band.
SCORING: (Total number of ITU zones, HQ stations and DXCC countries
worked on all bands) x (total number of QSO points from
all bands) = final score
STATION: Each station will consist of ONLY (if it is not on this
list you can not use it):
1. Antennas: A tribander at 40-60 feet; A dipole or similar
antenna for 40 meters (station owner supplies)
2. Two (2) transceivers (**)
3. A recording device(supplied by the WRTC committee)
4. Foot switches (if wanted)(*)
5. Earphones for two people(*)
6. A microphone(*)
7. Keyer(if wanted) and paddle(if wanted)(*)
8. One (1) computer with connecting cables if wanted(*)
9. Antenna switches capable of switching the two antennas
between either rig(*)
10. A logging program that will handle the parameters of the
contest (provided by WRTC-96)
* = Teams must bring these items
** = Teams are encouraged to bring these items
LOGGING: The log shall be kept on a computer using an appropriate
software program. If computers are not familiar to the
entrants, a paper log may be kept. Only one computer will be
allowed.
PENALTY: For every bad call removed from a log, a penalty
of 3 more QSO's of similar point value will be removed (total
of 4 QSO's removed).
SUBMISSION OF LOGS: The entrants must submit their computer disks
or paper logs to a Judge or Referee at their WRTC host
station, with no correction allowed, within 10 minutes after
the contest ends. If a paper log is submitted, the log must be
made into a computer log by a judge or referee with a team
member present to interpret handwriting. The decisions of the
WRTC-96 Judges will be final.
1) Eligibility: All licensed amateurs worldwide. 2) Object: To contact as many other amateurs, especially IARU member-society HQ stations, around the world as possible using 1.8 through 30 MHz. (The 10, 18, and 24-MHz bands may not be used for contest QSOs.) 3) Date: Second full weekend of July (July 13-14, 1996). 4) Contest Period: 1200 UTC Sat until 1200 UTC Sun. Both single and multioperator stations may operate for the entire 24-hour period. 5) Categories: A) Single operator--phone-only, CW-only and mixed-mode. One person performs all operating and logging functions. Use of spotting nets is not permitted. All operators must observe the limits of their operators' licenses at all times. Single-operator stations are allowed only one transmitted signal at any given time. B) Multioperator--single transmitter, mixed-mode only. Must remain on a band for at least 10 minutes at a time. Only one transmitted signal allowed at any given time. (Exception: Only IARU member-society HQ stations may operate simultaneously on more than one band, with one transmitter on each band/mode. Only one HQ station call sign per member- society per frequency band is permitted.) All operators must observe the limits of their operators' licenses at all times. 6) Contest Exchange: IARU member-society HQ stations send signal report and official IARU member society abbreviation. All others send signal report and ITU zone. A complete exchange must be logged for each valid QSO. 7) Valid Contact: A) The same station may be worked once per band/mode. Mixed-mode entries may work a station once per mode (but only in the generally accepted portions of that band for that mode. Note: Reworking a station in the phone portion of the band on CW is not permitted). Example: On any band, a station may be worked once on phone and once on CW (in the CW segment) for additional QSO credit. However, this counts as only one multiplier. Crossmode, crossband and repeater QSOs do not count. Where contest-preferred segments are incorporated in regional band plans, participants are requested to observe them. B) The use of non-Amateur Radio means of communication (eg, telephone) for the purpose of soliciting a contact (or contacts) during the contest period is inconsistent with the spirit and intent of this announcement. 8) QSO Points: A) Contacts within your ITU zone, as well as QSOs with all IARU HQ member-society stations, count one point. B) Contacts within your continent (but different ITU zone) count three points. C) Contacts with a different continent count five points. 9) Multipliers: Total number of ITU zones plus IARU member- society HQ stations worked on each frequency band. (Note: HQ stations do not count for zone multipliers.) 10) Scoring: Multipliers times the total number of QSO points. 11) Reporting: A) Entries must be postmarked no later than 30 days after the end of the contest (August 14, 1996). No late entries can be accepted. Any entry received after mid-October 1995 may not be received in time to be included in the printed results. Use official forms, a reasonable facsimile, submit entry on diskette, upload your entry to the ARRL BBS, or send your entry to ARRL HQ via Internet. (1) You may submit your contest entry on diskette in lieu of paper logs. The floppy diskette must be IBM compatible, MS-DOS formatted, 3.5 or 5.25 inch (40 or 80 track). The log information must be in an ASCII file, following the ARRL Suggested Standard File Format, and contain all log exchange information (band, date, time in UTC, call of station worked, exchange sent, exchange received, multipliers [marked the first time worked] and QSO points). One entry per diskette. An official summary sheet or reasonable facsimile with signed contest participation disclaimer is required with all entries. (2) You may submit your contest entry via the ARRL BBS (860-594-0306) or via Internet to contest@arrl.org. Send your ASCII summary sheet file (Make sure it includes all the pertinent information outlined in the official summary sheet.) and your ASCII log file following the ARRL Suggested Standard File Format. (B) Logs must indicate band, mode, date, time in UTC, calls and complete exchanges (sent and received), multipliers and QSO points. Multipliers should be marked clearly in the log the first time they are worked. Entries with more than 500 QSOs total must include cross-check sheets (dupe sheets). (C) Contest summary, logs, and cross check sheet (if required) or diskettes should be sent to IARU HQ, Box 310905, Newington, CT 06131-0905, USA. 12) Awards: A certificate will be awarded to the high-scoring CW- only, phone-only, mixed-mode and multioperator entrant in each State, each ITU Zone and each DXCC Country. In addition, achievement-level awards will be issued to those making at least 250 QSOs or having a multiplier total of 50 or more. Additional awards may be made at the discretion of each country's IARU member-society. 13) Conditions of Entry: Each entrant agrees to be bound by the provisions of this announcement, by the regulations of his/her licensing authority and by the decisions of the ARRL Awards Committee, acting for the IARU International Secretariat. 14) Disqualification: An entry may be disqualified if the overall score is reduced by more than 2%. Score reduction does not include correction of arithmetic errors. An entry may be disqualified if more than 2% of duplicates are left in the log. A three-QSO reduction will be assessed for each duplicate QSO found during log checking or for each miscopied call sign.