CQWE Contest Rules

Information and Rules for 2024

Updated 2-Nov-2024

The Annual CQ-WE (Western Electric) Contest is open to all Radio Amateurs. The objective is to contact, via ham radio, as many Radio Amateurs as possible who currently work for, did work for, or are retired from, any part of the pre-divestiture “Bell System”, or any company that was created from the separated parts of what was once the “Bell System”. This includes AT&T, Bell Labs, Western Electric, Local Phone Companies, and many other companies that are/were part of the “Bell System”. Contract employees of these companies are considered to be working for the Bell System for purposes of this contest.

Please note: The rules are subject to review and change by the
Contest Committee until October 1st.

  1. THE CONTEST PERIOD
    The contest shall be held the second full weekend in November, from 1900Z Saturday through 0500Z Monday. See the Contest Schedule section below for more detailed information about the various contest times.
  2. THE CONTEST BANDS
    Only contacts within the following bands will count for contest credit:
    160m, 80m, 40m, 20m, 15m, 10m, 6m, 2m, 70cm.
  3. THE EXCHANGE
    A contest exchange must include the following information:
    • Call sign, First Name, Location Code and Years of Service:
      • Bell System Participants: Visit our Location Code page and use the instructions given there to determine your Location Code. Non-Bell Participants: Use Location Code ‘ZZ’.Bell System Participants: Use your Years of Service, the number of years you have been employed, or were employed, within the Bell System. Alternatively, if you desire, you may opt to use the formula for non-Bell participants, described below.Non-Bell Participants: Use the number of CQ-WE contests you have participated in, counting those past contests for which you submitted a log, plus the current contest. (For non-Bell participants in 2023, this number will fall between 1 and 17.)
    EXAMPLE Exchange: W4BXI de K8NU CARL CB 23
  4. THE BASICS
    • Each entry submitted must be for an individual operator, using one transmitter at a time.
    • Bell System Participants may contact anyone.
    • Non-Bell System Participants may only contact Bell System Participants.
    • A station may be worked in any and/or all of three categories (CW, PHONE, DIGITAL) for credit.
    • The PHONE category applies to all voice contacts (SSB, FM, AM, D-STAR voice*, etc.).
    • The CW category applies to all contacts made via Morse code.
    • The DIGITAL category includes non-verbal and non-CW contacts made using a form of digital modulation (for example: RTTY, AMTOR, PSK, and D-STAR data*).
    *  To be valid, D-STAR contacts, like all CQ-WE contacts, must be point-to-point and not involve a repeater or gateway.
  5. GENERAL SCORING RULES
    • Each station may be worked once per band and category for contest credit.
    • Each of the three categories (CW, PHONE, DIGITAL) is scored separately.
    • The number of points for each contact is the “Years of Service” number received in the exchange.
    • To create an additional incentive for working a large number of locations, a Location Multiplieris used. This multiplier is the number of distinct Location Codes contacted in a given catagory.
    • One’s score for each category is determined by multiplying the sum of the points (i.e., the Years of Service associated with each contact made in that category) by the Location Multiplier for that category.
    • To encourage log submissions that lend themselves to computer validation, if one’s contest logs are submitted in the format produced by the current year’s CQ-WE contest logger, and in a form that may be read and processed electronically, 100 incentive points will be added to the CW score of those making at least five CW contacts, and 100 incentive points will be added to the PHONE score of those making at least five PHONE contacts. No incentive points will accrue for DIGITAL scores.
    • One’s Total Score is the sum of the three category scores.
  6. MISCELLANY
    • All logs must be kept in UTC (Zulu) time.
    • You may not change your contest information (Name, Location Code, Years of Service) during the contest.
    • Only Published Location Codes may be used in the contest.
    • Simplex operation only. Contacts made through repeaters, digipeaters, or gateways are not permitted.
    • Cross-band contacts are not permitted.
    • Soliciting contacts by non-Amateur Radio means (for example, Internet, telephone, text message, etc) during the contest is not permitted.
    • Working the same station consecutively on the same band in different categories is not allowed.
  7. AWARDS Awards will be issued for the following categories:
    • Works Location High Top-5 Combined Score ¹
    • Works Location High Participation ¹
    • Individual High Total Score
    • Individual High CW Score
    • Individual High Phone Score
    • Individual High Digital Score
    • Individual High QRP Score ²
    • Individual High Active Bell System Employee or Retiree Score ³
    • Individual Non-Bell System Participant High Total Score
      • (And maybe a few others for ‘Special Effort’)

    ¹ Only location codes representing actual physical facilities are eligible for this award.
    ² QRP status may be claimed by those operating the entire contest using a PEP power output of no more than 5 watts in the CW and DIGITAL categories, and no more than 10 watts in the PHONE category.
    ³ Whichever category serves to complement the “High Total Score” winner, from those self-designating themselves as such on the submitted forms.

    If a yearly contest host is secured – A Certificate of Participation will be awarded to every entrant who submits a properly completed entry form and who has made at least five valid contacts.
  8. REPORTING
    • Send your completed logs to the National Coordinator as soon as possible after the contest. Your submission must be postmarked, delivered, or date stamped, no later than Dec 1st of the contest year to be valid. Electronic entries are assumed to be signed when submitted. Hand delivered logs are permitted, but if not on paper, they must be received on a medium the National Coordinator deems acceptable.

    Logs may be submitted in one the following ways, in decreasing order of preference:
    Submissions from the N4HAI or N1MM loggers:
    • Using the N4HAI or N1MM+ logger and emailing logs is the preferred way of submitting your contest logs. N4HAI logger users email us the .XML log file it generates – already named properly when generated.N1MM+ logger users email us the Cabrillo log file it generates and name it including your call similar to this example: CQWE-2023-W2XXX.logRefer to the instructions provided with the logger program to produce this file. It is the only thing you need to send us to certify your score. Please do not hand edit the file or change its name. If you find a mistake, use the logger software to make the necessary corrections and then generate a new file. The file should be emailed or otherwise electronically delivered to the National Coordinator. The file must be emailed as an Attachment. Use the body of the message for any personal comments. Code the contest name and year, your callsign, and your exchange, in the Subject line of the email. Example:  CQ-WE 2023 – W2EQ – Tom MT 17 You can earn incentive points by using this methodology. If you qualify, these points will be added to your score automatically.
    Submission of Text/Paper Logs (20 contacts or less only):
    • Handwritten or printed logs containing all the required contest information are acceptable for a CQ-WE contest submission of 20 contacts or less.
    • Entrants must log: UTC Date and Time, Call Sign, Freq/band, Mode, Name, Location code and Years of Service for each contact.
    • Just submit a log of your contacts – no location code counting or scoring is required.
    • These logs cab be post office mailed or emailed as either (1) standard ASCII text files, or (2) a PDF file.
  9. FORMS Official CQWE logging forms are no longer available.
  10. 2024 CONTEST SCHEDULE
    Saturday, Nov 9  1900-2300Z  CW, DIGITAL 
    Sunday, Nov 10  0100-0500Z  PHONE 
    Sunday, Nov 10  1900-2300Z  PHONE  
    Monday, Nov 11   0100-0500Z  CW, DIGITAL
    REMINDER: Sunday and Monday 0100-0500Z is really Saturday and Sunday evening in the USA!
  11. SUGGESTED DIGITAL SCHEDULE
    (These times are merely suggestions designed to enhance efficiency. Digital contacts may be made at any time during the CW/DIGITAL portion of the contest. For HF digital, note that the suggested digital frequencies have been located adjacent to the upper edge of the suggested CW frequencies, so that they may be easily checked for activity throughout the contest.)
    Saturday, Nov 9 
    10M  2000Z 
    6M  2030Z 
    15M  2100Z 
    2M  2130Z 
    20M  2200Z 
    Monday, Nov 11 
    40M  0200Z 
    80M  0230Z 
    70cm  0300Z 
    160M  0330Z 
  12. SUGGESTED FREQUENCIES 
     BAND         CW             DIGITAL            PHONE 
     160       1810-1820        1820-1825         1850-1860 
     80        3540-3560        3560-3565         3825-3925 
     40        7025-7040        7040-7045         7178-7240  
     20       14040-14060      14060-14065       14250-14300
     15       21040-21060      21060-21065       21360-21400
     10       28040-28060      28060-28065       28450-28480
     6         50.0-50.1          50.4            50.1-50.3
     2        144.08-144.1       145.6           144.220 (SSB)
                             145.67 (D-STAR)     146.550 (FM) 
                             146.60 (D-STAR)     145.750 (FM) 
                                                 146.580 (FM) 
                                                 147.540 (FM) 
    70 cm       432.1        432.60              446.000 (FM)
                             446.00 (D-STAR)     432.500 (SSB) 
                                                 446.00 (D-STAR)