Updated CQ World Wide Contest Rules for 2018 Contest Season

CQ has announced that, effective with 2018 contests, some modifications to the CQ World Wide Contest rules have been developed and approved by the contest committee.

• The “busted call/NIL” penalty is reduced from 3× to 2×.
• Email addresses for log submissions have been removed, and the committee now “strongly prefers” using web uploads to submit logs. Paper logs will still be accepted.
• The 10× penalty for “rubber clocking” with MS/M2 entries has been eliminated, although the committee “will continue to vigorously pursue time abuses.”
• The observer program has been eliminated. “Given the absence of a reasonable pool of volunteers and supporting funding, the program has proven to be impractical,” CQ said.
• The top entry in the “Rookie” category will be awarded on a one-time-only basis. Previous Rookie winners are ineligible for plaques in this category.