ARRL has clarified its contest rules to clearly prohibit the practice
of interleaved CQs — also known as “dueling CQs” — on two or more
frequencies in the same band. The clarification is an extension of
existing rules that permit only “one transmitted signal,” and it
formalizes what had been a “gentleman’s agreement.”
“ARRL reviewed it, concurred that this is technically occupying two
channels, and in consultation with several members of the Board of
Directors — who had been contacted by concerned parties — and the
Programs and Services Committee, it was concluded we needed to ‘clarify’
our existing rules,” ARRL Contest Branch Manager Bart Jahnke, W9JJ,
said.
An explanatory paragraph points out, “The intent of the rules has
always been that a participant would use/occupy only a single channel in
a given band, changing frequency in band from time to time leaving a CQ
frequency to work a multiplier or to change the CQing frequency as band
occupancy or changing propagation dictated, and this rules
clarification will now give the needed added clarity to that intent.”
The issue arose when a multioperator station successfully employed
in-band interleaved CQs in the last ARRL International DX SSB event,
substantially boosting their score.
The topic subsequently occupied a lot of bandwidth on the CQ-Contest
reflector, where elite contester Frank Donovan, W3LPL, observed, “That
doesn’t make it right for [a contest station] to follow this practice
that is generally understood to be unacceptable behavior by all of the
rest of us.” At the time of the event, however, ARRL rules did not
explicitly prohibit the practice, and as another top contester, Steve
London, N2IC, asked, “Falls under the ‘what is not specifically
prohibited is allowed’ rule?”
Responding to a poster who said dueling CQs on the same band was
simply “innovation,” Hans Brakob, K0HB, opined, “By any reasonable
measure, running interleaved CQs on two [frequencies] in the same band
consumes two operating channels on that band. In the existing period of
limited propagation, many would consider such double-occupancy of a
finite resource to be selfish, not innovative.”
The update brings ARRL’s contest rules in line with those of
CQ-sponsored contests, which already prohibit the practice of in-band,
interleaved CQs. The IARU HF Championship Contest bans the practice for
multioperator entries.
The rule clarification does not prohibit the practice of alternating
CQs on different bands, also called 2BSIQ — two-band synchronized
interleaved QSOs.
