WRTC-96 Rules

Updated 23 December 1996

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.

WRTC-96 Rules for Competitors

The standard rules for the IARU HF World Championship apply to the WRTC competitors. In addition, special rules apply only to the 52 teams competing in WRTC-96 and do not effect anyone else competing in the IARU HF event. The unique rules for WRTC-96 are that each of the fifty-two teams will compete as a two-person, multi-single entry running a maximum of 100 watts output. No packet spotting is allowed.

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


In July of this year the second WRTC-96 competition will be held in Northern California during the IARU HF Championship. Below are the rules that pertain to only the WRTC TEAMS.

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.

Standard Rules, 1996 IARU HF World Championship

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.


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