2015 Pirate QSO Party Rules
Rules Changes for 2015: The contest will now be 3 hours long, and the ship colors will be red and blue instead of red and black -- see "Color group" rule below. The contest is also being held three days later, on the evening of the 22nd for US-dwelling landlubbers.
Date + time:
UTC: September 23rd, 2015, 0:30 to 3:30 (PDT: Tues. September 22nd, 2015, 5:30pm to 8:30pm)
Objective: Work other "pirates" (participating stations) while maintaining control of as many doubloons as possible -- see "doubloon rule" below.
Mode + Frequencies: SSB only. 3 bands: 40, 20, and 15 meters. Suggested frequencies are around 7.225, 14.275, 21.325 mHz. Stations may be worked once per band.
Class entry: To determine whether you are in the red or blue category, please see "color group rule" below.
Single Op Red: HP, LP, QRP
Single Op Blue: HP, LP, QRP
Multi-Single Red
Multi-Single Blue
Power levels:
High Power = 1500 watts or less
Low Power = 100 watts or less
QRP = 5 watts or less
Color Group rule: Color groups are determined by callsign. Stations using callsigns that have suffixes between A and M belong to the red group. Stations using callsigns that have suffixes between N and Z belong to the blue group. For example, if W6RRR and KK6GMG were operating together under the callsign W6RRR, they would be considered part of the blue group.
Doubloon rule: Each pirate starts the contest with 30 virtual doubloons.
Note: Doubloons were a type of gold coin (worth 16 Pieces of Eight) traded by Spaniards up to the middle of the 1800s, and are often mentioned in pirate literature.
Scoring: Total points times number of doubloons at end of contest.
Running stations: S&P stations of the other color are worth 4 points, -1 doubloons. S&P stations of the same color are worth 1 point.
S&P stations: Running stations of the other color are worth 1 point, 1 doubloon. Running stations of the same color are worth 1 point.
Dupes: If two stations work each other more than once on the same band, no points nor doubloons change hands.
Note: Miscounting [and incorrectly conveying] your number of doubloons will not result in a penalty, but might be confusing for the log-checker(s).
“Walk the Plank” QSY rule: At the end of his or her exchange, a S&Ping pirate may tell a CQing pirate of the opposite color to “walk the plank!” That pirate must now QSY at least 5 kHz, but is *given* one doubloon (and doesn't lose any). Example: Imagine W6RRR has 30 doubloons and 0 points and works K6GHA who has 30 doubloons and 0 points and decides to steal his frequency. W6RRR would end up with 29 doubloons and 1 point and K6GHA with 31 doubloons and 4 points. If W6RRR simply made the exchange and moved on without making him “walk the plank”, she would end up with 31 doubloons and 1 point and K6GHA would have 29 doubloons and 4 points.
Suggested CQ: CQ Avast *callsign*
Exchange: # of doubloons before the QSO, chosen pirate name (real name may be used instead).
Example QSO 1:
N0AX starts with 25 doubloons.
N0AX: CQ Avast N0AX
W6RRR: W6RRR (she has 18 doubloons)
N0AX: W6RRR, you scallywag, 25 doubloons, Silver
W6RRR: Aye, 18 doubloons, Captain Arr
N0AX: Aye, and off with ye! CQ Avast N0AX (who now has 24 doubloons)
[QSO example courtesy N0AX]
Example QSO 2:
W6RRR starts with 27 doubloons.
W6RRR: CQ Avast Whiskey Six Radio Radio Radio, W6 aRrr aRrr aRrr
KG6AO: Kilo Golf Six Alpha Oscar (let's imagine he has 32 dubloons at this point in the exchange)
W6RRR: Kilo Golf Six Alpha Oscar, Two Seven Captain Arr
KG6AO: Three Two Cutlass, and ye better walk the plank or I'll quarter ya with it!
W6RRR: This isn't the last ye'll hear o' me! Arrrgh!
KG6AO: CQ Avast KG6AO (KG6AO now has 31 doubloons, and W6RRR has 28)
Packet/assistance: Any station using packet or other assistance will be put in the M/S category.
Logs: Should be sent or postmarked on or before Tuesday, September 30. A link to download the logging program, along with information about how to format your log, can be found on the "Logs" page.
Reporting: Report directly to W6RRR at w6rrr [at] arrl [dot] net or send your paper log to:
Kali Fraser, W6RRR
702 California St.
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Awards: The color group that ends up with the highest combined score will be declared victorious. The top pirate(s) for each category will also get a certificate and small piece of pirate booty.
Date + time:
UTC: September 23rd, 2015, 0:30 to 3:30 (PDT: Tues. September 22nd, 2015, 5:30pm to 8:30pm)
Objective: Work other "pirates" (participating stations) while maintaining control of as many doubloons as possible -- see "doubloon rule" below.
Mode + Frequencies: SSB only. 3 bands: 40, 20, and 15 meters. Suggested frequencies are around 7.225, 14.275, 21.325 mHz. Stations may be worked once per band.
Class entry: To determine whether you are in the red or blue category, please see "color group rule" below.
Single Op Red: HP, LP, QRP
Single Op Blue: HP, LP, QRP
Multi-Single Red
Multi-Single Blue
Power levels:
High Power = 1500 watts or less
Low Power = 100 watts or less
QRP = 5 watts or less
Color Group rule: Color groups are determined by callsign. Stations using callsigns that have suffixes between A and M belong to the red group. Stations using callsigns that have suffixes between N and Z belong to the blue group. For example, if W6RRR and KK6GMG were operating together under the callsign W6RRR, they would be considered part of the blue group.
Doubloon rule: Each pirate starts the contest with 30 virtual doubloons.
Note: Doubloons were a type of gold coin (worth 16 Pieces of Eight) traded by Spaniards up to the middle of the 1800s, and are often mentioned in pirate literature.
Scoring: Total points times number of doubloons at end of contest.
Running stations: S&P stations of the other color are worth 4 points, -1 doubloons. S&P stations of the same color are worth 1 point.
S&P stations: Running stations of the other color are worth 1 point, 1 doubloon. Running stations of the same color are worth 1 point.
Dupes: If two stations work each other more than once on the same band, no points nor doubloons change hands.
Note: Miscounting [and incorrectly conveying] your number of doubloons will not result in a penalty, but might be confusing for the log-checker(s).
“Walk the Plank” QSY rule: At the end of his or her exchange, a S&Ping pirate may tell a CQing pirate of the opposite color to “walk the plank!” That pirate must now QSY at least 5 kHz, but is *given* one doubloon (and doesn't lose any). Example: Imagine W6RRR has 30 doubloons and 0 points and works K6GHA who has 30 doubloons and 0 points and decides to steal his frequency. W6RRR would end up with 29 doubloons and 1 point and K6GHA with 31 doubloons and 4 points. If W6RRR simply made the exchange and moved on without making him “walk the plank”, she would end up with 31 doubloons and 1 point and K6GHA would have 29 doubloons and 4 points.
Suggested CQ: CQ Avast *callsign*
Exchange: # of doubloons before the QSO, chosen pirate name (real name may be used instead).
Example QSO 1:
N0AX starts with 25 doubloons.
N0AX: CQ Avast N0AX
W6RRR: W6RRR (she has 18 doubloons)
N0AX: W6RRR, you scallywag, 25 doubloons, Silver
W6RRR: Aye, 18 doubloons, Captain Arr
N0AX: Aye, and off with ye! CQ Avast N0AX (who now has 24 doubloons)
[QSO example courtesy N0AX]
Example QSO 2:
W6RRR starts with 27 doubloons.
W6RRR: CQ Avast Whiskey Six Radio Radio Radio, W6 aRrr aRrr aRrr
KG6AO: Kilo Golf Six Alpha Oscar (let's imagine he has 32 dubloons at this point in the exchange)
W6RRR: Kilo Golf Six Alpha Oscar, Two Seven Captain Arr
KG6AO: Three Two Cutlass, and ye better walk the plank or I'll quarter ya with it!
W6RRR: This isn't the last ye'll hear o' me! Arrrgh!
KG6AO: CQ Avast KG6AO (KG6AO now has 31 doubloons, and W6RRR has 28)
Packet/assistance: Any station using packet or other assistance will be put in the M/S category.
Logs: Should be sent or postmarked on or before Tuesday, September 30. A link to download the logging program, along with information about how to format your log, can be found on the "Logs" page.
Reporting: Report directly to W6RRR at w6rrr [at] arrl [dot] net or send your paper log to:
Kali Fraser, W6RRR
702 California St.
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Awards: The color group that ends up with the highest combined score will be declared victorious. The top pirate(s) for each category will also get a certificate and small piece of pirate booty.