[CQ-Contest] ARRL June VHF: Getting Your Contest Rover Category Correct in Cabrillo

[Kutzko, Sean, KX9X]

Hello, Rovers!

Since this weekend's June VHF QSO Party contest is the first with three Rover categories, I want to be sure you know how to electronically submit your Rover log in the right category. To do so requires that your log file contains the proper category description in the Cabrillo format.

Descriptions of the rover categories in ARRL VHF+ and UHF contests can be found in section 2.3 of the General Rules For All ARRL Contests Above 50 MHz, located at: http://www.arrl.org/contests/announcements/rules-vhf.html . The complete Cabrillo log file format specification is on-line at http://www.kkn.net/~trey/cabrillo .

Use the CATEGORY-OPERATOR tag to specify the number of operators in your Rover. The choices are SINGLE-OP, MULTI-OP or CHECKLOG. If you're roving by yourself, choose SINGLE-OP. If you have two operators in your rover operation, choose MULTI-OP. If you choose CHECKLOG, your log will be used in the contest adjudication process, but your score will not count.

Use the CATEGORY-STATION tag to specify your rover category. The choices are:

ROVER
ROVER-LIMITED
ROVER-UNLIMITED

There must be a hyphen between Rover and the words Limited and Unlimited.

Use the CATEGORY-TRANSMITTER tag to specify the number of transmitters that are simultaneously on the air. Your choices are ONE or UNLIMITED.

Use the CATEGORY-POWER tag to specify your power category. The choices for the Rover and Unlimited Rover categories are HIGH and LOW.  Limited Rovers have the same power restrictions as Single-Operator Low-Power and must specify power as LOW.  QRP is not a valid power selection for any Rover category. Remember that there will be no sub-division of the Rover and Unlimited Rover scores based on power.

Here is a sample Cabrillo 3.0 header for the June VHF QSO Party, using the bogus call "BØGUS/R" entering as an Unlimited Rover with two operators:

START-OF-LOG: 3.0
ARRL-SECTION: CT
CALLSIGN: BØGUS/R 
CLAIMED-SCORE: 435
CLUB: None
CONTEST: ARRL-VHF-JUN
CATEGORY-OPERATOR: Multi-op
CATEGORY-STATION: Rover-Unlimited
CATEGORY-TRANSMITTER: Unlimited
CATEGORY-POWER: High
NAME: Hawley Smoot
ADDRESS: 111 1st St.
ADDRESS: Bogus, CT 11111
ADDRESS: 
OPERATORS: KX9X, NN1N
SOAPBOX: Gasoline sure is expensive!
SOAPBOX: Hilltops are good!

If your logging software creates a Cabrillo file version 2.5 or earlier, manually change the header to match the format in the example above. A Cabrillo file is just a text file; PC's that use Windows can edit text files in Notepad, found under Programs > Accessories.

As always, electronic log submissions for the June VHF QSO Party in Cabrillo format should be emailed to junevhf at arrl.org .

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at kx9x at arrl.org. Thanks for your support of the ARRL VHF contests, and be safe when roving this weekend.

73, 

Sean Kutzko, KX9X
Contest Branch Manager

ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio
225 Main Street
Newington CT 06111-1494
Telephone: 860-594-0232
Fax: 860-594-0259
email:skutzko at arrl.org