CWSP – São Paulo CW Group
South America Integration Contest CW – SACW
RULES 2023
1 – OBJECTIVE
2 – DATE and DURATION
3 – MODES and BANDS
4 – CATEGORIES
5 – POWER LIMITS
6 – RECOMMENDED CQ MESSAGES
7 – MESSAGE EXCHANGE
8 – VALID CONTACTS
9 – SCORING PER VALID CONTACT
10 – MULTIPLIERS
11 – FINAL SCORE
12 – AWARDS
13 – GENERAL RULES
14 – LOG
15 – PUBLISHING OF RESULTS
16 – DECLARATION
– ATTACHMENTS
1 – OBJECTIVE: To promote the integration of radioamateur operators in South America, aiming at the highest number of valid contacts between its participants.
2 – DATE and DURATION: Annually, the third complete weekend of November (in 2022 it will be on the 19/20), starting at 1800 UTC (1500 Brazilian local time) on Saturday and ending at 2100 UTC (1800 Brazilian local time) on Sunday (duration of 27 hours).
3 – MODES and BANDS: Exclusively CW (A1a), on the following bands; 80, 40, 15 and 10 meters. It is recommended not to use the first 10 kHz of the bands, in order to give space to DX and ops who are not participating in the contest.
4.1 – Single Operator Single Band (SOSB)
a) Only the participant will perform all functions related to operating of the participants station throughout the contest period.
b) Only one signal can be transmitted at any time on any band by the participating station.
c) The participant can operate on all bands, within the legal limits of the participant’s license, however it is mandatory to state in the LOG in which band the participant is competing.
d) In this case the LOG should contain all contacts made on all bands (to allow the checking process), however the final score is calculated for the valid contacts for the selected band, all other contacts will be considered as a checklog.
4.2 – Single Operator – All Bands (SOAB):
a) Only the participant will perform all functions related to operating of the participants station throughout the contest period.
b) Only one signal can be transmitted at any time on any band by the participating station.
c) The participant can operate on all bands, within the legal limits of the participant’s license.
d) The participant can change bands at any time, without any restrictions.
4.3 – QRP – All bands (QRP):
a) Only the participant will perform all functions related to operating of the participants station throughout the contest period.
b) Only one signal can be transmitted at any time on any band by the participating station.
c) The participant can operate on all bands, within the legal limits of the participant’s license.
d) The participant can change bands at any time, without any restrictions.
e) The output power of the transmitter should not exceed 5W RMS (~36 dBm).
4.4 – YL: A YL radioamateur operator will compete normally in the chosen category (SOSB, SOAB or QRP) applying the same rules of each category.
5.1 – The category SOSB (item 4.1) will be divided in:
a) HP (High Power): The total power output shall not exceed 1,500W RMS (respecting the established limits of the operator’s license).
b) LP (Low Power): the total power output shall not exceed 100W RMS.
5.2 – The category SOAB (item 4.2) will be divided in:
a) HP (High Power): The total power output shall not exceed 1,500 W RMS (respecting the established limits of the operator’s license).
b) LP (Low Power): the total power output shall not exceed 100 watts RMS.
c) QRP: the total power output shall not exceed 5 watts RMS.
6 – RECOMMENDED CQ MESSAGES: CQ SACW TEST or CQ SA TEST
7 – MESSAGE EXCHANGE: The message which has to be exchanged between participants is:
RST + ITU ZONE (599 15, for example) except:
a) CWSP member stations: RST + M (599 M, for example)
See the list of CWSP members
b) QRP stations: RST + QRP (599 QRP, for example)
c) YL stations: RST + YL (599 YL, for example)
Observations:
a) In case a CWSP member opts to participate in a different category, his/her points will match the chosen category.
b) The table with DXCC countries and respective ITU zones are listed at the end of the Rules section.
a) All contacts correctly registered between two participating stations during the contest, checked by matching LOG entries.
b) The registration of an incorrect callsign in the LOG, will invalidate the contact and subsequent points.
c) Only those participants whose callsigns are listed in at least 5 different LOGs will be considered participating in the contest, although these listings should result in valid contacts.
d) Only one contact per band between participants will be valid. In case there are any duplicate contacts registered (DUPE), do not eliminate these, because during the checking of the logs only one contact will be counted, as long as it is valid.
9 – SCORING PER VALID CONTACT:
a) Between stations in the same ITU zone: 1 point
b) Between stations in different ITU zones: 2 points
c) With QRP or YL stations: 3 points
d) With CWSP members stations: 5 points
10 – MULTIPLIERS: Two multipliers will be used:
a) All different valid DXCC entities (countries) of South America once per band
b) All specific prefixes of South America, once per band
The final score (declared or claimed) will be obtained by the sum of points in all bands multiplied by the sum of all multipliers in all bands except in the situation described in item 4.1 when points and multipliers are restricted to the single band chosen in which to compete.
Example: Total of points: 500
Total of different prefixes: 25
Total of different DXCC entries: 15
Final (declared) score: 500 x (25 + 15) = 20.000 points
a) Digital Certificates of participation will be made available for download to all participants who sent their LOGs within due time as established in this document.
b) Plaques, trophies or medals will be awarded to the first ranked in each category as listed below, although there should be a minimum of 10 competing participants in subsequent categories.
b.1) SOSB LP in 80, 40, 15 e 10m (maximum 4 awards).
b.2) SOSB HP in 80, 40, 15 e 10m (maximum 4 awards).
b.3) SOAB LP (1 award).
b.4) SOAB HP (1 award).
b.5) SOAB QRP (1 award).
c) A plaque, trophy or medal will be awarded to the YL which obtains the highest score, independent of the category in which she competed or the number of participants.
d) A plaque, trophy or medal will be awarded to the Brazilian C-class radioamateur who obtains the highest score, independent of the category in which he/she competed or the number of participants.
a) All laws and rules in place to regulate the radioamateur service in the country in which the participating radioamateur station is located and operated should be respected.
b) Any violation of whatever item of these rules could imply declassification of the participant.
c) The received LOG’s in the SOSB category will only be valid to compete in the chosen band, although other contacts could have been made with contacts and subsequent multipliers in other bands.
d) The contacts which have been made in different bands rather than the one to compete in, will serve to check contacts of other participants and should be kept in the LOG.
e) The hours (time-zone) which should be used is UTC. Differences in registration greater than 5 minutes will invalidate the contact.
f) Self-spotting is not permitted, as well as any advertisement, lives or otherwise, on any social media or website during the period of the Contest.
g) Remote operation (totally or partially) is not permitted. All components at the station should be physically connected and with the operator.
h) In case the participant doesn’t want to be classified, simply classify your log as CHECKLOG.
i) The practice of any unsportsmanlike conduct summarily disqualifies the Contest Participant.
j) The following types of conduct are being considered unsportsmanlike;
j.1) Using any means of communication other than CW (A1a), technically produced by radio during the contest in order to establish contacts. Examples: telephone, Internet, Instant messaging (SMS), chat rooms, VoIP, e-mail, whatever social media platform or website.
j.2) To transmit signals other than by interrupting the carrier wave (A1a)
j.3) To transmit signals with excessive bandwidth and/or harmonics
j.4) To use power output greater than established in the QRP category
j.5) To use any other means for reception rather than your own equipment and antennas (WebSDR for example)
k) Reports and complaints about unsportsmanlike conduct must be sent to the SACW Committee (sacw@cwsp.com.br) within 7 days of the end of the Contest, accompanied by a statement based on sufficient evidence for verification and judgment by the SACW Committee.
l) The SACW Committee is the final responsible for verifying and judging possible reports and/or complaints and its decisions will be final, and no appeals are admitted.
m) The eventual disqualification(s) applied by the SACW Committee will be disclosed in the publication of the Final Results, as well as the motivation for this decision.
a) The records made in the LOG must be chronologically ascending and contain: Data, QTR (UTC), QRG, Callsign of the contacted station and the sent and received messages.
b) The default file format to use and send is Cabrillo V3.0. The responsibility for completing the LOG is exclusive to the Participant.
c) The SOSB Category participant must include all contacts made during the contest period, even in other bands. Only contacts made in the band specified in the LOG (Category Band) header will be considered for scoring purposes.
d) Incorrect header completion can result in unwanted category enrollment or Participant reclassification as check log.
e) The N1MM+ Log program is recommended and for which the extra file udc will be available for download from the SACW (http://sacw.cwsp.com.br) website. These files cannot be changed and their use is mandatory.
f) Incorrect Incoming Message and/or Callsign records as well as duplicate contacts will be disregarded.
g) If other software is used, it is recommended a carefully verification of the appropriate format for the standard spacing (like N1MM+ format).
h) Participants must email their LOGs to sacw@cwsp.com.br until 2359 UTC on the 15th day after the end of the Contest (in 2022: Monday, December 5). The date and time recorded in the sending of the email will be considered.
i) In the “Subject” field, fill in only with the Callsign used by the Participant during the Contest.
j) The name of the LOG file to be attached to the email should be, example: py2aa.log (do not use another extension). Texts in the body of the email will not be read.
k) All LOGs received within the established deadline will be officially accepted when listed on the SACW website.
l) The correction is the sole responsibility of the Participant, who may submit the corrected version within the period described above. Only the last LOG sent will be considered.
a) The Provisional Result will be published on the SACW page, 60 days after the end of the deadline for sending the LOGs.
b) Requests for review in the score and/or classification, provided that they are duly substantiated, may be sent exclusively to the SACW Committee by email (sacw@cwsp.com.br) within 15 days of the publication of the Provisional Result.
c) The Final Result will be published within 15 days of the publication of the Provisional Result.
16 – DECLARATION: By submitting your LOG the Participant automatically declares that:
a) Has read, understood and participated in the Contest in accordance with all these Regulations.
b) Agrees to the publication of your LOG, provided that the identification of the log is only by the Callsign used during the Contest.
c) Unconditionally accepts the decisions communicated by the SACW Committee, which will be sovereign and final, and there is no appeal possible.
ITU ZONES
