NSARA Contest

Date:

The contest will take place each year on the first Sunday in March.

Hours:

The contest will run for EIGHT hours, two four hour sessions.

• Morning Session: 08:00 AM AST - 12:00 PM AST
• Afternoon Session: 02:00 PM  AST - 06:00 PM AST

Operating Band:

All contacts for contest credit will take place on the 80 Meter band within the allocation(s) guidelines of the Radio Amateurs of Canada 80M Band Plan. A PDF of the HF Band Plans can be found on the RAC website.

• Phone contacts must occur in the PHONE allocation of the 80M band.
• CW contacts must occur in the CW portion of the 80M Band.
• Digital contacts must occur in the DIGITAL allocation of the 80M band.

Exchange:

Nova Scotia Stations will exchange: Call Sign, Signal Report, and County.

Non Nova Scotia stations will exchange: Call Sign, Signal report, and a contact number.

Nova Scotia Stations operating portable or mobile must make it clear they are portable or mobile. See bonus points

QSO Points:

Score one point per completed PHONE contact.

Score one point per completed CW contact.

Score one point per completed DIGITAL contact.

The same station can be logged on each mode (e.g. PHONE, CW, DIGITAL (PSK31, SSTV, RTTY etc.)) within the Band Plan Guidelines.

Multipliers:

The 18 counties of Nova Scotia will count as multipliers. 

Any Amateur from anywhere can take part but only Nova Scotia Counties will count as multipliers.  Each multiplier may be counted once on each mode.

Bonus Points:

Added to score after QSO Points X Multipliers

All stations: A bonus of 10 points will be awarded for each Rover or Field Day type station worked. The bonus is awarded for each mode worked with each rover or field day station.

Rover or Portable stations: 100 BONUS points awarded for each county worked from.

Scoring Example:

Phone QSOs = 61
Multipliers      = 15
Total              = 915

Bonus Points = 250
(5 Portable or Rover stations worked, plus you gave mobile contacts from 2 counties)

Final Score    = 1165

Categories/Modes:

The following 4 categories are eligible for certificates as detailed in the Awards section of the rules.

• Phone
• CW
• Digital (All digital modes excluding CW)
• Mixed Mode

Category notes:

1. Single Operator or Multi operator permitted.

2. Single Transmitter operation ONLY, with no restrictions on the number of operators.
3. Field Day or Rover type of portable operations to rare counties is encouraged, especially if BASIC operators are involved. See bonus points
4. The contents of a log that is submitted for a specific Category must reflect that Category. In the event of a conflict between the actual content of the log and the stated Category in other elements of the entry material, the actual contents of the log will be used to determine the Category of entry where possible. In the event this cannot be determined or in the event where a log does not identify the entry Category, the entry will be classified into the most advantageous Category.
5. An entrant who enters a specific Category (i.e. Phone) but who also worked additional contacts outside that Category should try to mark (or highlight) the contacts they wish counted for their entry.
6. Each new multiplier in a Category must be clearly marked in the log.
7. Multipliers in a specific category entry will be counted for score only in that category.

Logging:

A separate log sheet should be kept for each mode (Category) of transmission by Call Sign. The log must clearly indicate the mode used for the contest contact.

The log must show:

• Station worked
• Time of contact (UTC or local)
• Mode
• Signal Report
• County, if the contact is with a NS station or a contact number for NON NS stations
• Claimed bonus points

Download log sheets here: Excel, PDF

Submit Logs:

Contest Entrants will have one month (30 days) to submit logs after the contest ends. Entries can be submitted by:

• paper log mailed in
• eMail in plain text
• electronically as an image or attachment on an eMail
• electronically as a file in plain ASCII/Text format or a generic spread sheet

Awards/Certificates:

Anyone who makes 25 or more contacts (any mode) in the contest (regardless of the score), and submits a log, will receive a "Participation Certificate". Stations making contacts with all 18 Nova Scotia counties (all modes) will have "Clean Sweep" indicated on their certificates and they will also qualify for the NSARA Worked All Nova Scotia Counties Award (WANSC) without QSL card submission.

Winners:

Winners (1^st Place) will be recognized separately for Phone, CW, Digital and Mixed Mode. The winner will receive a certificate (suitable for framing) as well as having their photo on the NSARA web page and in TCA and local media if desired.

Nova Scotia County list for use in the NSARA Contest:

The list can be used to check off the counties as you work them. Some counties have a large number of Amateurs, while others have only one or two active Hams.

Contest Committee:

The contest committee, comprised of NSARA Directors, will make the final decision in all matters regarding the contest.  The contest committee encourages Clubs or other groups of Hams to do a Field Day type of operation during the contest.

There are no contest restrictions on who can operate using one Call Sign, so a Multi/Single type of operation is encouraged, especially if Basic level Hams are involved. This contest experience may encourage them to pass the CW license requirements as well as experimenting with some of the new modes such as PSK31 or SSTV.

Send Logs to:

NSARA Contest Coordinator
Peter Surette
20 Dresden Way
Debert, N.S.
B0M 1G0

Or e-mail them to: [email protected] or [email protected]