Rally period: 0000 UTC April 30, 2005 until 0700 UTC May 9, 2005 (Friday evening through late Sunday of the following week). The rally period has been chosen to coincide with the eta-Aquarids meteor shower. More information on this shower can be found here.

Bands: 50, 144, 222, and 432 MHz.

Rules: QSOs can be made using any mode provided they are entirely by meteor scatter. No QSOs within own maidenhead grid square or any of the 8 adjacent grid squares. Exchange is both callsigns, 4 character maidenhead grid squares, and final `Rogers'.

Categories: High or low power (low power < 200 W for all QSOs), single or multi-band, and assisted or unassisted. Operating `assisted' allows scheduling of QSO attempts during the rally period. `Unassisted' operation prohibits any scheduling or self-spotting during the rally. In particular, monitoring activity by use of the Pingjockey website is strictly prohibited for unassisted operators. Detailed procedures for unassisted/random operation can be found here. All operators are reminded that exchanging information without the use of meteor scatter during the QSO attempt invalidates the contact.

Scoring: Assisted: 1 point per QSO on 50/144, 3 points on 222, 10 points on 432. Unassisted: 3 points on 50/144, 9 points on 222, 30 points on 432. Score is QSO points times number of unique grid squares worked per band.

Rovers: QSO points x (Unique grid squares worked per band + Number of grids from which at least 1 QSO was completed). This is the standard rover scoring formula for VHF contests. Rovers compete with fixed stations for awards.

Assisted operators are strongly encouraged to work unassisted operators. As incentive, assisted operator entries can score unscheduled (ie. unassisted) QSOs with unassisted points. If a station has already been worked with assisted scoring, replace with appropriate unassisted points. Example: K1JT works W8WN on 144 MHz after scheduling on Pingjockey. The QSO is scored with 1 point. Later in the rally, these stations work randomly. The QSO is now scored with 3 points.

Log submission: Participants should submit: 1) A summary and 2) A rally log.

1) The summary should include: i) Your call, ii) Your time zone, iii) Assisted or Unassisted, iv) High or Low power, v) QSOs per band, and vi) Final claimed score. Examples can be seen here. Please show the arithmetic you use to obtain your final score, ie. QSO points x Multipliers = Final Score.

2) For each QSO, the log must show: i) Date, ii) Time (UTC), iii) Callsign of station worked, iv) Grid, v) Band, and vi) QSO points.

Any convenient log submission format is acceptable. Logs should be emailed by June 11, 2005 to Mike WB2FKO (mph@swcp.com) or regular mail at 3209 Cagua Dr NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110.

Awards: Certificates will be mailed to category high scorers in each of the four North American time zones.

Rally coordinators: Joe (K1JT); Russ (K2TXB); John (N6ENU); Mike (WB2FKO)