ARRL November Sweepstakes
Contest Objective: To support amateur self-training in radiocommunications, including improving amateur operating skills, conducting technical investigations, and intercommunicating with other amateurs. Stations in the United States and Canada (including territories and possessions) exchange information with as many other US and Canadian stations as possible on the 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meter bands.
Dates:
CW: First full weekend in November (GO HERE for date{s})
Phone: Third full weekend in November (GO HERE for date{s})
Contest Period: Begins 2100 UTC Saturday and runs through 0259 UTC Monday.
NOTE: There will be no Changes to Sweepstakes Multipliers for 2026.
There are 85 Section Multipliers in this event. Canadian stations located in Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut should continue to send TER (Territories) as their section.
Click here for the complete ARRL November Sweepstakes rules (PDF)
Click here for information on the Affiliated Club Competion program
For contest information contact contests@arrl.org or (860) 594-0232
Operating Guidelines:
The current November Sweepstakes Information Package is available as a downloadable PDF below,
2025 ARRL November Sweepstakes Package
Contest Exchange- the required exchange consists of:
Serial Number: A consecutive contact number starting with 1.
Precedence:
- “Q” for Single Operator, QRP (5 watts or less)
- “A” for Single Operator, Low Power (more than 5 watts, but no greater than 100 watts)
- “B” for Single Operator, High Power (more than 100 watts, but no greater than legal limit)
- “U” for Any Single Operator Unlimited Power Category (High, Low, or QRP)
- “M” for Multioperator, High Power or Multioperator, Low Power
- “S” for School Club
Your Call Sign: The call sign must be included as part of the exchange.
Check: The last two digits of the year the operator or the station was first licensed. The same Check must be sent throughout the contest.
ARRL/RAC Section: Send and log the 85 abbreviations in the ARRL Contest Multipliers List
The following is a typical Sweepstakes contact:
CQing Station: CQ Sweepstakes from W9JJ
Answering Station: W1AW
CQer: W1AW 123 A W9JJ 79 CT
Ans: 43 M W1AW 31 CT
CQer: Thanks, CQ Sweepstakes from W9JJ
As the answering station, it is not necessary to send the CQing station's call before the exchange unless you think there might be some confusion about what station you are responding to.
Operating Time
All stations may operate no more than 24 of the 30 hours. Scores will be calculated from contacts logged during the first 24 hours of operation.
This rule limits operating time (listening or transmitting) to 24 hours. Contacts logged after 24 hours of operation will not be counted toward the final score, but there is no penalty for including those contacts in a submitted log, and the station contacted is eligible to receive credit for the contact.
Off-times must consist of a minimum of 30 consecutive minutes without operating. Listening time counts as operating time.
Log Submission Deadline
Logs are due within SEVEN (7) days after the event is over. Logs may only be submitted electronically, online, via our web app at contest-log-submission.arrl.org/
Entries for the CW and Phone portions of the competition must be submitted separately and must be postmarked before their respective 7-day deadline.
Logs that have been submitted electronically are listed on the Logs Received page. Click the contest name to see a list of submitted logs sorted by call sign or club name.
Online Log Submission is required - Cabrillo formatted logs must be uploaded via our web app at contest-log-submission.arrl.org. See note that follows:
For all ARRL/IARU HF Contests, beginning September 30, 2026, Only Online Log Submission Will Be Accepted. For Cabrillo file assistance see https://www.b4h.net/cabforms/
If you intend to transcribe then upload paper logs in to an electronic cabrillo file, possibly using Cabforms assistance described above, here are the historical forms used in the past:
CW Sweepstakes Summary Sheet
Phone Sweepstakes Summary Sheet
Sweepstakes Paper Logging Form
Awards
Certificates will be awarded in the top operator CW and Phone scores in each category in each ARRL/RAC Section and Division. Printable certificates will be downloadable from contests.arrl.org/certificates.php.
All Overall and Division winners will be awarded a plaque recognizing their efforts. Plaques are sponsored by individuals, groups or clubs, or by the Principal Awards Sponsor, Icom America. For details on plaque sponsorship, contact the ARRL Contest Program at contests@arrl.org or 860-594-0232
Participation pins and Clean Sweep coffee mugs are available for purchase from the ARRL Store by qualifying stations.
Club Competition:
There are ten ARRL-sponsored contests that are designated as Affiliated Club Competitions (ACC) for ARRL and RAC affiliated clubs:
- RTTY Roundup
- January VHF Contest
- International DX Contest
- International Digital Contest
- June VHF Contest
- 222 MHz and Up Distance Contest
- September VHF Contest
- November Sweepstakes
- 160-Meter Contest
- 10-Meter Contest
For full club competition rules, please see the link below:
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