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Goal: Exchange the letter “E” with as many people as possible.

Dates: January 1 – December 31, repeated annually.

Explanation: The letter “E” stands for “Everything you might want me to send that you can figure out without my help.” For example, in the CQWW CW contest, a station in Guyana sends 59909 which has too many dashes so it gets abbreviated to 5NNTN. This can be further abbreviated to a single dit (Morse for “E”) because logging software can fill in 59909 based on the call. In normal operation, the letter “E” means “Look me up on QRZ.com and if I haven’t said it there I’m not interested in saying it and if I have said it there I’m not interested in using up spectrum repeating myself.”

Bands/Modes: Any band and mode may be used.

Duplicates: You may not work the same station twice in the same 60 second period.

Score: Natural log of e raised to the power of the number of contacts where e = Euler’s number.

Entry Categories:

  1. Number of operators: Zero (fully automated), One, Two, Three, Infinity
  2. Number of radios: Zero (remote), One, Two, Three, Infinity
  3. Power: Zero (ESP, etc.), Micro (500 mw), QRP (5 watts), Low (100 watts), High (1,500 watts), Criminal (15 KW+)
  4. Assistance: Unassisted, Spotting, Skimmer, Drugs

Overlay Categories:

  1. Classic: So old you are unable to operate more than 24 hours in any 365 day period.
  2. Neo-Classical: Youngsters who also don’t have the stamina for more than 24 hours in a 365 day period.
  3. Rookie: Licensed for less than 3 years or unlicensed altogether.
  4. Wet noodle: All antennas made of non-conducting material dipped in salt water.
  5. Transitional: Became married, divorced, or deceased (or all three) during the year.
  6. Morse: International, American, or Continental.
  7. Eyeball QSO: All contacts made by blinking in code.
  8. Mobile: All contacts made from the third most populated city in Alabama.
  9. Stationary: All contacts logged on paper with a quill pen.
  10. Pirate: All contacts made with either a peg-leg or a parrot on the shoulder.

Band Categories:

  • All band
  • Non-WARC Only
  • WARC Band
  • HF Only
  • VHF Only
  • UHF Only
  • Light Only
  • Single-Band/Single Mode
  • Single-Band/Multi-Mode

Awards: Feel free to give yourself awards for any combination of band, mode, overlay, geographical region you wish. For example, N2BA and N2GSG wink at each other on New Year’s Eve and claim that they are tied for first place in the Zero Power, Zero Radio, Eyeball QSO, Light Only, American, International, and Continental Morse categories for Grid Square FN20vt.

Genesis: EQSO Party was created by N2BA, author of the NCJ Series Game Design for Contesters. EQSO was inspired by Cow Clicker, a trivial game in which you merely click on an image of a cow over and over. Cow Clicker was created by game designer, Ian Bogst, as a deconstructive satire of social games like Farmville. Bogst was surprised when Cow Clicker became a viral phenomenon and 50,000 players signed up, all furiously clicking on a cow to advance their score. Perhaps the same thing happens to EQSO Part because “everyone wants to be heard” and hams are no exception. However, most us want to know we are heard loud and clear but we don’t actually have anything to say.

Join the Rag Sniffers’ Club

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EQSO Party sponsors the Rag Sniffer’s Club. To qualify you merely need to work 30 different stations in 30 minutes. Click here to download a blank PDF form you can print out and fill in yourself.

EQSO Party QSL Gallery

If you create a special QSL for the EQSO Party then send it to Brooke@BrookeAllen.com and we’ll include it here.

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