Author: K5ZD

Several years ago, Valery R5GA created a web site where he displayed the highest 60-minute QSO rates found in the public logs for popular contests.  When he announced he was thinking of closing his site, we asked if he would share his code so we could use it for CQ WW logs.  I am very pleased to announce that he agreed to our request. The high QSO rates for CQ WW SSB/CW logs are now available at http://www.cqww.com/rates/ .

The QSO rates are calculated from the public logs (currently 2005-2015). We may include some earlier years as we get the logs out of the archive.  QSOs are counted before dupes and before log checking. We look for the highest QSO count within a 60 minute period in the log. While a log may have several high rate periods, only the highest one is shown in the results.

The QSO Rates page allows you to look at highest rates by category, by continent, and by country. A search function allows you to search for an operator or entry callsign and see the highest rates found for that call.

Please send any comments or questions at: https://cqww.com/contact.

Thanks to Valery Petrov R5GA for making this concept and code available to the CQ WW Contest Committee.

The ARRL HF operating guidelines provide a very clear definition of the term “self spotting.”

“Self-spotting is the practice of announcing your own call and run frequency on the spotting
network. ARRL contest rules specifically prohibit both self-spotting and requesting spotting by
other stations. It’s a form of CQing that does not take place on the amateur bands, just a step
away from making phone calls to solicit contacts.”

The CQ WW rules specifically prohibit self spotting:

IX. GENERAL RULES FOR ALL ENTRANTS:

4.  Self-spotting or asking to be spotted is not permitted.

Each year the rules enforcement working group of the CQ WW Contest Committee will identify areas where the rules are not being followed.  This year we have detected a very high number of stations that appear to be engaged in self-spotting.  In many cases, there is an attempt to hide this behind phantom callsigns or made to appear like the spots were from a local friend. This kind of activity is not permitted under the rules.

While no decisions have yet been made, there are likely to be disqualifications and warnings issued to some entrants of CQ WW Phone 2015.

We want everyone to be aware of the rule against self-spotting in advance of the upcoming  CQ WW CW event.  Please follow the rules so the contest is fair for everyone and you do not put your entry at the risk of disqualification.