-
IARU Celebrates 100 Years by holding two (2) Operating Events
Event Overview
Welcome to IARU's 100th Anniversary On-Air Celebrations!
Introduction:
The IARU was founded at a meeting in Paris in 1925 as the international representative of the Amateur Radio movement. At the time the “short waves” were just beginning to be understood and to be exploited for global communication using power levels and antennas that were within reach of private individuals operating from their own homes. These radio amateurs needed an organization to coordinate their activities and to be their voice at international conferences.
The IARU Centennial QSO Party (IARU CQP) will be held for 9 days, beginning at 0000 UTC on Saturday, April 12, and ending at 2359 UTC on Sunday, April 20. The CQP encompasses World Amateur Radio Day on Friday, April 18, 2025.
This event will celebrate 100 years of the IARU promoting the interests of amateur radio worldwide, seeking to protect and enhance our spectrum privileges. Amateur radio operators worldwide are encouraged to be active on the air. Based only on QSOs uploaded to LoTW (QSLs/Confirmations are not required), a website (to be published later in the year) will track participants’ accumulated contact points and provide participation certificates for download.
As announced in the January 2025 issue of QST, the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) is celebrating two on-air operating events honoring their 100th Anniversary (the IARU was formed on April 18, 1925).
In a fashion similar to the 2023 ARRL Volunteers on The Air event, amateur operators worldwide are encouraged to be active on-the-air. To recognize this activity, the IARU CQP will maintain a web site where accumulated QSO points can be tracked, followed by participation certificates that can be downloaded (the web site will be announced later this year). Points will be awarded in the IARU CQP for contacts made and uploaded only to ARRL’s Logbook of The World (LoTW).
On-Air Celebrations:
- A 2025 IARU Centennial QSO Party (IARU CQP) will be held for one week. Beginning Saturday April 12th @ 0000 UTC running through Sunday April 20th @ 2359 UTC – encompassing World Amateur Radio Day, Friday April 18, 2025.
- The 2025 Annual IARU HF Championship Contest: This (annual) 24-hour-long IARU HF Championship Contest starts at 1200 UTC, July 12, 2025 – and ends 1159 UTC July 13, 2025). See highlighted link for rules.
Certificates will be generated for both events (the CQP Certificate will be introduced later this year - and will be exclusively (only) tallied by QSOs uploaded to Logbook of The World (LoTW).
See https://www.iaru.org for updates on all 2025 IARU planned activities.
See https://iaru-cqp.arrl.org for further on-air operating event details.
IARU CQP Rules follow:
Getting on the air:
Beginning Saturday April 12th @ 0000 UTC running through Sunday April 20th @ 2359 UTC – encompassing World Amateur Radio Day, Friday April 18, 2025, operating in the 9-day CQP does not require any special protocol. You will just get on the air as you would at any other time, whether casually, or when seeking new countries, rare band states, counties, zones, or working new grids during a VHF+ band opening,or perhaps catching a QSO with a new park or island on the air, maybe checking in your favorite daily net, or just weekly schedules with friends. And of course giving a casual CQ to contact someone new.
Suggested (non-WARC) frequencie segments to look for CQP'ers:
| Meters | CW (MHz) | Phone(MHz) | Digital (MHz) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 160 | 1.800 - 1.843 | 1.843 - 1.900 | 1.800 - 1.843 |
| 80 | 3.500 - 3.600 | 3.600 - 4.000 | 3.525 - 3.600 |
| 40 | 7.000 - 7.125 | 7.125 - 7.300 | 7.025 - 7.100 |
| 20 | 14.000 - 14.150 | 14.150 - 14.350 | 14.025 - 14.150 |
| 15 | 21.000 - 21.200 | 21.110 - 21.450 | 21.025 - 21.200 |
| 10 | 28.000 - 28.300 | 28.300 - 29.700 | 28.025 - 28.200 |
| 6 | 50.000 - 50.125 | 50.125 - 50.500 | Normally accepted frequencies (50.260, 50.275, 50.313, etc.) |
| 2 | 144.000 - 144.100 | 144.100 - 148.000 | 144.170, 144.174 |
| 1.25 | 222.000 - 225.000 | 222.000 - 225.000 | 222.000 - 225.000 (222.065, 222.074) |
| 70cm | 420.000 - 450.000 | 420.000 - 450.000 (432.100) | 420.000 - 450.000 (432.065, 432.074) |
| 903 MHz and higher - one contact per mode | |||
| Satellites - one contact per mode | |||
IARU-CQP April Week event Band points:
- Each (non-WARC) HF Band (1.8 - 29.7 MHz) contact made on the authorized event bands and then uploaded to LoTW will be awarded 2 points;
- Each VHF Band (50 – 225 MHz) contact made on the authorized event bands and then uploaded to LoTW will be worth 5 points;
- Each UHF (430 - 2350 MHz) contact made on the authorized event bands and then uploaded to LoTW will be worth 10 points;
- And each SHF/EHF/THF contact (3000 MHz – Light) contact made on the authorized event bands and then uploaded to LoTW will be worth 20 points (2190-, 630-, 60-, 30-, 17, 12-, 8- and 4-Meter band contacts are not counted for credit in this event).
Contacts with IARU extra-point stations: A list of HQ, Administrative Council, and Region 1, 2 and 3 call signs will be published at https://iaru-cqp.arrl.org and are worth 100 bonus points. Contacts with ARRL HQ W1AW (the IARU International Secretariat) and with NU1AW (the IARU Club Call Sign) are also worth 100 extra points each.
- Many of these stations will be activated during IARU CQP week, AND during the 24-hour-long IARU HF Championship Contest (this event starts at 1200 UTC, July 12, 2025 – and ends 1159 UTC July 13, 2025).
- For IARU Centennial Points and Awards, contacts may be made during both events.
- Reminder: Contacts must be uploaded to Logbook of The World to be scored. If you are not yet a participant in LoTW, go to https://lotw.arrl.org/lotw-help/getting-started/ to get started.
To be scored in the event, either one or both stations participating in a QSO must upload their logs to LoTW (a QSL Match is not required {ie, if either of the QSO Partners is not a LoTW participant, points are still awarded for just one participant’s upload to LoTW}).
QSO Information Exchange
- Many stations will try to keep their QSOs short and at a minimum -- the exchange is typically Call Sign and Signal Report on HF, or Call Sign and Grid Square on VHF and above.
- Other than during the July IARU HF Championship Contest, QSOs do not have to be contest style. It is not necessary to exchange the IARU organizational information (as IARU Station points will be determined by call sign). There is an IARU Call Signs database that will be used (and updated during the year as warranted) to assign point values to QSOs of logs submitted electronically to LoTW.
- Don’t forget to upload your IARU HF Championship log to the ARRL Contest Logs upload page (at https://contest-log-submission.arrl.org/) and to LoTW using your logging app or TQSL app.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
2025 Annual IARU HF Championship Contest: This 24-hour-long IARU HF Championship Contest starts at 1200 UTC, Saturday July 12, 2025 – and ends 1159 UTC, Sunday July 13, 2025). See https://www.arrl.org/iaru-hf-world-championship and https://contests.arrl.org/ContestRules/IARU-HF-Rules.pdf
Log uploads: Logs must be uploaded to the Contest uploader https://contest-log-submission.arrl.org/ if you are participating in the contest; and uploaded to LoTW if you are seeking the IARU-CQP Participation Certificate.
Awards
IARU-CQP Participation Certificates (available online only) will recognize ongoing and total (end of event) achievement of your participation in the April and July events. We plan to show on the certificates your Rank Overall, also Rank by Country [plus totals for QSO Points, Bonus Points and Score]
The entry deadline for log uploads to LoTW for IARU CQP awarded points (and certificates) is September 30, 2025.
Special notes:
· Repeater and Aeronautical contacts are not valid for credit. Two-way EME and Satellite contacts are accepted.
· Mobile and portable operations are OK, but do not count for points in addition to home operation unless the operation takes place from a different call sign or another DXCC entity; i.e., one QSO with W9JJ counts for W9JJ, whether it is made with W9JJ/1, or W9JJ/M, W9JJ/P, etc.
· DX: KH6/W9JJ, KL7/W9JJ, PJ4/W9JJ, or VE3/W9JJ counts for points separately as these operations were from a separate DXCC entity during the event.
LoTW Uploads: Each variant of a call sign will need a separate/new TQSL Call Sign certificate in order for those QSOs to be uploaded to LoTW.
QSLs are via LoTW only.
Q Do I have to upload QSOs via LoTW to get the online awards?
A Yes. All certificates will only be available online for download.
Q Should I use a special CQ call to signify that I want IARU Centennial QSO Party QSOs?
A While all contacts during April’s IARU CQP Week in 2025 as uploaded to LoTW will be included in scoring, if you wish on phone you may call "CQ CQP" or “CQ Centennial QSO Party” and is appropriate; On CW or digital modes "CQ CPQ" is the easiest option. Really though, it is probably best to just call CQ and work all callers anyway and just operate as normal (because all contacts are worth at least 2 points, there will always be points to add). During the IARU HF Contest, standard contest CQs are recommended.
Q Do I have to receive a station’s IARU title/abbreviation over the air in order to get point credit for the April 2025 CQP event?
A For the IARU CQP, NO, if you upload your CQP log to LoTW (and upload to LoTW your IARU HF Contest log) uploading systems, the point value will be determined automatically based on your uploads. [Note: Uploads to the ARRL Contest Log uploads page at
https://contest-log-submission.arrl.org/ for just the IARU HF Championship must be in Cabrillo format, and must include the special IARU Station’s Exchange for such contacts.]
Q Who do I write if I think my score point value is incorrect?
A Write to IARUCQP@arrl.org
Q Can I work DX stations?
A Absolutely. Many people who live outside the USA are members of other IARU Societies – this is a Worldwide Celebration. Many DX stations will be actively chasing International Contacts and/or IARU HQ call signs in the IARU Centennial QSO Party and in the IARU HF Championship Contest.
Q May I contact a station on the same band and mode more than once for points?
A Generally, NO (– the exception is you can include CW or Phone contacts you make in the July 2025 IARU HF Championship contest that you upload to the contest log uploader and to LoTW). Either way, your overall score will only be tallied based on your Band/Mode initial April CQP week plus your July IARU HF Contest QSOs – any third or fourth or more Band/mode QSOs can be made, but will not be tallied in your overall IARU CQP total.
If you have questions not answered above, please email us at IARUCQP@arrl.org
