Info about the NAQP - North American QSO Party
The North American QSO Party (NAQP) is sponsored by the National Contest Journal and is held twice a year, once in January and again in August. There are three different NAQP contests each held on different weekends, CW, SSB and RTTY covering 10 through 160 meters not including 60 meters and the WARC bands.
The NAQP is unique in that the contest period is only 12 hours long starting at 1800 UTC and ending at 0600 UTC. Single operator stations may operate 10 hours maximum and part of the strategy is when to take your breaks.
The exchange for the NAQP is simple, just your Name and State. Complete rules and contest information may be found here http://www.ncjweb.com/NAQP-Rules.pdf
- CW: 1800 UTC 1/14/23 to 0600 UTC 1/15/23 (second full weekend in January)
- CW: 1800 UTC 8/5/23 to 0600 UTC 8/6/23 (first full weekend in August)
- SSB: 1800 UTC 1/21/23 to 0600 UTC 1/22/23 (third full weekend in January)
- SSB: 1800 UTC 8/19/23 to 0600 UTC 8/20/23 (third full weekend in August)
- RTTY: 1800 UTC 2/25/23 to 0600 UTC 2/26/23 (starts on last Sat. in Feb.)
- RTTY: 1800 UTC 7/15/23 to 0600 UTC 7/16/23 (third full weekend in July)
The NAQP is unique in that the contest period is only 12 hours long starting at 1800 UTC and ending at 0600 UTC. Single operator stations may operate 10 hours maximum and part of the strategy is when to take your breaks.
The exchange for the NAQP is simple, just your Name and State. Complete rules and contest information may be found here http://www.ncjweb.com/NAQP-Rules.pdf
How do teams work in the NAQP?
The NAQP allows for team entries. Each team is made up of 5 stations each operating from their home stations as single operator entries. Station participating on a team enter the contest as a single operator and compete individually against others, but their scores are also combined with members of their team. Each team is given a name and the team roster is submitted to the NAQP contest manager before the contest begins. The DFW Contest Group tries to put together as many five man teams as possible to increase local participation.
To clarify, being on a team in this contest does not mean you get to operate with others (a multi-op) , but instead you operate from your QTH and submit your score as an individual.
Try to use logging software if possible, it really does simplify things. The following programs are most popular:
There are other logging choices but these are the most popular. Be sure if you are single operator in the NAQP that you check the Single Operator UNASSISTED category. The default setting in some software is assisted and in this contest you MAY NOT use DX cluster or RBN spots to find stations to work.
To clarify, being on a team in this contest does not mean you get to operate with others (a multi-op) , but instead you operate from your QTH and submit your score as an individual.
Try to use logging software if possible, it really does simplify things. The following programs are most popular:
- N1MM
- Writelog
- N3FJP
- Wintest
There are other logging choices but these are the most popular. Be sure if you are single operator in the NAQP that you check the Single Operator UNASSISTED category. The default setting in some software is assisted and in this contest you MAY NOT use DX cluster or RBN spots to find stations to work.