[NLRS] January VHF rules and club competion

[Jon Platt via NLRS]

Hello NLRS land -
 
The League has added an "Unlimited Categories and Spotting Assistance FAQ" to their website at http://www.arrl.org/january-vhf .  The link can be found under the "Overview" section.  If you use spotting assistance as defined there you would be in one of the unlimited categories.   Read the rules to be sure.
 
The ARRL January VHF contest does have a club competition.  In previous years the NLRS has placed well.  To contribute your score to the club are four requirements.  One, you must be a NLRS member.  Two, you must live within the 175 mile ARRL club service circle.  Three,  you must indicate "Northern Lights Radio Association" (not NLRS) in the club line of your contest log that you send in.  And four, you must submit your log.   See the details below on each of these four.  
 
One.  To join the NLRS, or to up your yearly dues, please send $5 to our club's Secretary-Treasurer, Glen, KC0IYT at 5649 126th St. W, Apple Valley, MN 55124.   Please do not send your money to me and please send only $5 as our logging system does not track multiple years.  
 
Two.  Our club service area is defined on our NLRS.org web site as follows:  "The Service Area of the Northern Lights Radio Society shall be a 175-mi radius circle, centered at 45 degrees N by 94 degress West, or approximately 3 statute miles NE of the town of Winstead, MN."   If you live or rove within this area, you can contribute your score to the NLRS club.  If you live outside of this circle you can still be a NLRS member, but your score cannot be considered with the clubs.   

Three.  Here is a copy of just the header section from my W0ZQ.LOG file from last year.   This was generated using N1MM.  Note the club designation on the fourth line down.  You need to spell out the full name, do not use NLRS or any abbreviations.   N1MM fills this information in automatically when I entered that data.  Because these are text files you can also manually enter the club name before you send the log file.
START-OF-LOG: 3.0
LOCATION: MN
CALLSIGN: W0ZQ
CLUB: Northern Lights Radio Society
CONTEST: ARRL-VHF-JAN
CATEGORY-OPERATOR: SINGLE-OP
CATEGORY-ASSISTED: NON-ASSISTED
CATEGORY-BAND: ALL
CATEGORY-MODE: MIXED
CATEGORY-POWER: HIGH
CATEGORY-STATION: FIXED
CATEGORY-TRANSMITTER: ONE
CLAIMED-SCORE: 14490
OPERATORS: W0ZQ
NAME: Jon Platt
ADDRESS: 9512 Riverview Ave South
ADDRESS-CITY: Bloomington
ADDRESS-STATE-PROVINCE: MN
ADDRESS-POSTALCODE: 55425
ADDRESS-COUNTRY: USA
CREATED-BY: N1MM Logger V13.12.2

Four.   Here is a cut and paste of the reporting rules from the ARRL web site.   I usually just email my W0ZQ.LOG file in to the provided link.   Within a few minutes I get a report back from the ARRL website stating if my log was accepted, or, if there are problems with the log format that need to be fixed.

6.1. Email electronic Cabrillo-formatted logs to JanuaryVHF at arrl.org; hand-written paper logs or diskettes should be mailed to ARRL January VHF Contest, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111.
6.2. Entries that have been electronically generated must submit their log file in the Cabrillo file format. Paper printouts of electronic files are not acceptable substitutes. Logs created with word processing or spreadsheet software are considered electronic logs and must be submitted in Cabrillo format.
6.3. Entries must be emailed or postmarked no later than 0359 UTC Wednesday, February 25, 2015.
6.4. Entries may be submitted using the web applet.
6.5. Rovers who submit scores for the club competition must submit a second summary sheet indicating QSOs and score if they make any contacts from outside of the club territory. Indicate clearly on the summary sheet and in log if the log is the total entry or  that portion to be counted for the club score.


73, Jon
W0ZQ