LZ DX Contest

Organized By
Bulgarian Federation of Radio Amateurs

Date and period
The weekend before the last full weekend of November (the weekend before CQWW CW contest weekend) from 12:00 UTC on Saturday till 11:59 UTC on Sunday (21-22 November 2020).

Bands and modes
80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters HAM radio bands on both CW and SSB modes.
It is necessary to observe the IARU band plan.

Station Entry Categories

General Station Rules
Entrants in “High Power” categories transmit with more than 100W RF, but no more than the power allowed by their license or 1500W RF, whichever is lower.
The maximum output power for entrants in “Low Power” categories must not exceed 100W RF.
All transmitters and receivers of a station must be within a single 500-meter diameter circle. Antennas must be physically connected by RF transmission lines to the transmitters and receivers.
The use of DX-Cluster, Skimmer, or Skimmer-like technology (such as Reverse Beacon Network, RBN) is allowed. Spotting information obtained from any source outside the station boundary via a closed or dedicated communication link (such as Web-SDR, Remote Control) may NOT be used. Self-spotting and/or requesting stations to announce one’s own call through a spotting technology is NOT allowed.
Bulgarian stations are listed and ranked separately from foreign entrants.

Single Operator
Only one person performs all operating, logging, and spotting functions as well as equipment and antenna adjustments without any external assistance.

SINGLE-OP ALL MIXED HIGH – Single Operator/All Bands/Mixed/High Power
SINGLE-OP ALL MIXED LOW – Single Operator/All Bands/Mixed/Low Power
SINGLE-OP ALL CW HIGH – Single Operator/All Bands/CW/High Power
SINGLE-OP ALL CW LOW – Single Operator/All Bands/CW/Low Power
SINGLE-OP ALL SSB HIGH – Single Operator/All Bands/SSB/High Power
SINGLE-OP ALL SSB LOW – Single Operator/All Bands/SSB/Low Power
SINGLE-OP 10M MIXED HIGH – Single Operator/Single Band/Mixed-10M
SINGLE-OP 15M MIXED HIGH – Single Operator/Single Band/Mixed-15M
SINGLE-OP 20M MIXED HIGH – Single Operator/Single Band/Mixed-20M
SINGLE-OP 40M MIXED HIGH – Single Operator/Single Band/Mixed-40M
SINGLE-OP 80M MIXED HIGH – Single Operator/Single Band/Mixed-80M
SINGLE-OP ALL MIXED QRP – Single Operator/All Bands/Mixed/QRP (max.10W)
SINGLE-OP ALL MIXED SWL – SWL

Single-band categories are only “High Power”.

Multi-Operator
More than one person performs all operating, logging, and spotting functions as well as equipment and antenna adjustments.

MULTI-OP SINGLE-TX ALL MIXED HIGH – Multi Operators/Single Transmitter/All Bands/Mixed

Multi operator category is only “High Power”.

Contacts and Exchange

Contact rules
УAll participants are encouraged to contact as many other participants as possible. The same station may be worked once on CW and once on SSB on each band.
Mode and/or band changes are not limited for entrants in single operator categories.
Entrants in multi operator categories must observe 10 min rule for the band and/or mode change for the running station. Transmission on another band is allowed to a multiplier station only if the station worked is a new multiplier. Multiplier station is subject to its own 10-minute rule for band changes only.

Despite the category, only one signal can be transmitted at any given time!

Exchange
For non-LZ entrants: RS(T) + ITU zone
For LZ entrants: RS(T) + 2 letters district abbreviation which is derived from the district the entrant operates from.

Score calculation

QSO Points:
10 points for each QSO with LZ station
3 points for each QSO with other continent
1 point for each QSO with the same continent (own country included)
1 point for each QSO between LZ and LZ station

SWL Points:
3 points for two call signs and two numbers
1 point for two call signs and one number

The multiplier for non-LZ stations:
The sum of worked ITU zones + worked LZ districts on each band, regardless of the mode

The multiplier for LZ stations:
The sum of worked ITU zones + worked DXCC countries on each band, regardless of the mode

Final score:
The sum of QSO points multiplied by the final multiplier

LOG Submission

General Rules
By submitting their logs to the contest committee, entrants agree that they fully understand contest rules and agree to be bound by them. All logs submitted become property of the BFRA and are not returnable. BFRA has the right to disclose received logs and/or the corresponding log checking reports to the public and/or third parties. BFRA shall ensure that any log data besides station callsign, entrant name, and QSO data is filtered on log disclosure. The submission of logs in an electronic CABRILLO format is recommended for all entrants. Entrants claiming top scores in respective categories are strictly required to submit their logs in an electronic CABRILLO format with exact frequencies (1KHz precision as defined in CABRILLO format) for every contact in the log.

Electronic Logs
Electronic logs must be submitted in CABRILLO format to the following e-mail address: lzdxc@bfra.bg
Entrants must ensure that submitted logs adhere to the CABRILLO standards as defined on: http://wwrof.org/cabrillo/
Direct upload of CABRILLO logs can be performed on the following address: http://bfra.bg:8080/WebEditor/

Paper Logs
Separate logs for each band + a summary sheet are required. Entrants submitting paper logs will not be eligible for awards.
Please, send your log to:
Bulgarian Federation of Radioamateurs (BFRA)
P.O.Box 830
1000 Sofia
Bulgaria

Log Submission Deadline
15 days after the contest (post seal being decisive for paper logs, e-mail date, and time of arrival for electronic logs).

Ranking
Ranking of entrants is performed by the LZDX Contest Committee, appointed by BFRA.
Points may be deducted, or entrants disqualified, for violation of the rules or the spirit of the contest. The decisions of the Contest Committee are official and final in all matters of dispute.

Awards

Awards for bulgarian participants
Winners in the SINGLE-OP ALL MIXED HIGH, SINGLE-OP ALL MIXED LOW, and MULTI-OP SINGLE-TX ALL MIXED HIGH categories will be awarded plaques.

Awards for foreign participants
Category winners in each category will be awarded plaques.

The top three scores in each category will be awarded a paper diploma.
BFRA reserves the right to issue additionl awards!

Recommended logging software
Following software products have been known to work for LZ DX Contest:
N1MM, DXLog, SD, WriteLog, TR4W, Wintest
… or any other in IARU contest mode.

LZ Districts details
The total number of LZ districts is 28.
Below are the abbreviations of all 28 districts:

BU – BURGAS
BL – BLAGOEVGRAD
VN – VARNA
VT – VELIKO TARNOVO
VD – VIDIN
VR – VRATSA
GA – GABROVO
DO – DOBRICH
KA – KARDZHALI
KD – KYUSTENDIL
LV – LOVECH
MN – MONTANA
PA – PAZARDZHIK
PK – PERNIK
PL – PLEVEN
PD – PLOVDIV
RZ – RAZGRAD
RS – RUSE
SS – SILISTRA
SL – SLIVEN
SM – SMOLYAN
SF – SOFIA (CITY)
SO – SOFIA (DISTRICT)
SZ – STARA ZAGORA
TA – TARGOVISHTE
HA – HASKOVO
SN – SHUMEN
YA – YAMBOL