diff --git a/adam-core/src/main/scala/edu/berkeley/cs/amplab/adam/rdd/RecalibrateBaseQualities.scala b/adam-core/src/main/scala/edu/berkeley/cs/amplab/adam/rdd/RecalibrateBaseQualities.scala
index 1eafb884e8..4c9c89217c 100644
--- a/adam-core/src/main/scala/edu/berkeley/cs/amplab/adam/rdd/RecalibrateBaseQualities.scala
+++ b/adam-core/src/main/scala/edu/berkeley/cs/amplab/adam/rdd/RecalibrateBaseQualities.scala
@@ -35,8 +35,8 @@ private[rdd] object RecalibrateBaseQualities extends Serializable with Logging {
     val rdd = poorRdd.map(new RichADAMRecord(_))
     // initialize the covariates
     println("Instantiating covariates...")
-    val qualByRG = new QualByRG(rdd)
-    val otherCovars = List(new DiscreteCycle(rdd), new BaseContext(rdd))
+    val qualByRG = new QualByRG()
+    val otherCovars = List(new DiscreteCycle(), new BaseContext())
     println("Creating object...")
     val recalibrator = new RecalibrateBaseQualities(qualByRG, otherCovars)
     println("Computing table...")
@@ -52,7 +52,6 @@ private[rdd] class RecalibrateBaseQualities(val qualCovar: QualByRG, val covars:
   def computeTable(rdd: RDD[RichADAMRecord], dbsnp: SparkBroadcast[SnpTable]): RecalTable = {
 
     def addCovariates(table: RecalTable, covar: ReadCovariates): RecalTable = {
-      //log.info("Aggregating covarates for read "+covar.read.record.getReadName.toString)
       table + covar
     }
 
diff --git a/adam-core/src/main/scala/edu/berkeley/cs/amplab/adam/rdd/recalibration/ReadCovariates.scala b/adam-core/src/main/scala/edu/berkeley/cs/amplab/adam/rdd/recalibration/ReadCovariates.scala
index 8e015d3b6d..cf65228cc6 100644
--- a/adam-core/src/main/scala/edu/berkeley/cs/amplab/adam/rdd/recalibration/ReadCovariates.scala
+++ b/adam-core/src/main/scala/edu/berkeley/cs/amplab/adam/rdd/recalibration/ReadCovariates.scala
@@ -28,27 +28,35 @@ object ReadCovariates {
 }
 
 class ReadCovariates(val read: RichADAMRecord, qualByRG: QualByRG, covars: List[StandardCovariate],
-                     val dbSNP: SnpTable) extends Iterator[BaseCovariates] with Serializable {
+                     val dbSNP: SnpTable, val minQuality:Int = 2) extends Iterator[BaseCovariates] with Serializable {
 
-  val startOffset = read.qualityScores.takeWhile(_ <= 2).size
-  val endOffset = read.qualityScores.size - read.qualityScores.reverseIterator.takeWhile(_ <= 2).size
-  val qualCovar: Array[Int] = qualByRG(read, startOffset, endOffset)
-  val requestedCovars: List[Array[Int]] = covars.map(covar => covar(read, startOffset, endOffset))
+  def isLowQualityBase(qual : Byte) : Boolean = {
+    qual.toInt <=  minQuality
+  }
+
+  val qualityStartOffset = read.qualityScores.takeWhile(isLowQualityBase).size
+  val qualityEndOffset = read.qualityScores.size - read.qualityScores.reverseIterator.takeWhile(isLowQualityBase).size
+
+
+  val qualCovar: Array[Int] = qualByRG(read, qualityStartOffset, qualityEndOffset)
+  val requestedCovars: List[Array[Int]] = covars.map(covar => covar(read, qualityStartOffset, qualityEndOffset))
+
+  var readOffset = qualityStartOffset
 
-  var iter_position = startOffset
 
-  override def hasNext: Boolean = iter_position < endOffset
+  override def hasNext: Boolean = readOffset < qualityEndOffset
 
   override def next(): BaseCovariates = {
-    val offset = (iter_position - startOffset).toInt
-    val mismatch = read.isMismatchAtReadOffset(offset)
+    val baseCovarOffset = readOffset - qualityStartOffset
+    val mismatch = read.isMismatchAtReadOffset(readOffset)
     // FIXME: why does empty mismatch mean it should be masked?
-    val isMasked = dbSNP.isMaskedAtReadOffset(read, offset) || mismatch.isEmpty
+    val isMasked = dbSNP.isMaskedAtReadOffset(read, readOffset) || mismatch.isEmpty
     // getOrElse because reads without an MD tag can appear during *application* of recal table
     val isMismatch = mismatch.getOrElse(false)
-    iter_position += 1
-    new BaseCovariates(qualCovar(offset), requestedCovars.map(v => v(offset)).toArray,
-      read.qualityScores(offset), isMismatch, isMasked)
+    val qualityScore = read.qualityScores(readOffset)
+    readOffset += 1
+    new BaseCovariates(qualCovar(baseCovarOffset), requestedCovars.map(v => v(baseCovarOffset)).toArray,
+      qualityScore, isMismatch, isMasked)
   }
 
 }
diff --git a/adam-core/src/main/scala/edu/berkeley/cs/amplab/adam/rdd/recalibration/StandardCovariate.scala b/adam-core/src/main/scala/edu/berkeley/cs/amplab/adam/rdd/recalibration/StandardCovariate.scala
index f990d37e66..8a788acac7 100644
--- a/adam-core/src/main/scala/edu/berkeley/cs/amplab/adam/rdd/recalibration/StandardCovariate.scala
+++ b/adam-core/src/main/scala/edu/berkeley/cs/amplab/adam/rdd/recalibration/StandardCovariate.scala
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ import edu.berkeley.cs.amplab.adam.rich.RichADAMRecord._
 import org.apache.spark.rdd.RDD
 
 // this class is required, not just standard. Baked in to recalibration.
-class QualByRG(rdd: RDD[RichADAMRecord]) extends Serializable {
+class QualByRG() extends Serializable {
 
   def apply(read: RichADAMRecord, start: Int, end: Int): Array[Int] = {
     val rg_offset = RecalUtil.Constants.MAX_REASONABLE_QSCORE * read.getRecordGroupId
@@ -33,9 +33,10 @@ class QualByRG(rdd: RDD[RichADAMRecord]) extends Serializable {
 
 trait StandardCovariate extends Serializable {
   def apply(read: RichADAMRecord, start: Int, end: Int): Array[Int] // get the covariate for all the bases of the read
+
 }
 
-case class DiscreteCycle(args: RDD[RichADAMRecord]) extends StandardCovariate {
+case class DiscreteCycle() extends StandardCovariate {
   // this is a special-case of the GATK's Cycle covariate for discrete technologies.
   // Not to be used for 454 or ion torrent (which are flow cycles)
   def apply(read: RichADAMRecord, startOffset: Int, endOffset: Int): Array[Int] = {
@@ -46,10 +47,7 @@ case class DiscreteCycle(args: RDD[RichADAMRecord]) extends StandardCovariate {
   }
 }
 
-case class BaseContext(records: RDD[RichADAMRecord], size: Int) extends StandardCovariate {
-  def this(_s: Int) = this(null, _s)
-
-  def this(_r: RDD[RichADAMRecord]) = this(_r, 2)
+case class BaseContext(size: Int = 2) extends StandardCovariate {
 
   val BASES = Array('A'.toByte, 'C'.toByte, 'G'.toByte, 'T'.toByte)
   val COMPL = Array('T'.toByte, 'G'.toByte, 'C'.toByte, 'A'.toByte)
diff --git a/adam-core/src/test/scala/edu/berkeley/cs/amplab/adam/rdd/RecalibrateBaseQualitiesSuite.scala b/adam-core/src/test/scala/edu/berkeley/cs/amplab/adam/rdd/RecalibrateBaseQualitiesSuite.scala
index d89819aed2..6b028f2793 100644
--- a/adam-core/src/test/scala/edu/berkeley/cs/amplab/adam/rdd/RecalibrateBaseQualitiesSuite.scala
+++ b/adam-core/src/test/scala/edu/berkeley/cs/amplab/adam/rdd/RecalibrateBaseQualitiesSuite.scala
@@ -391,9 +391,8 @@ class RecalibrateBaseQualitiesSuite extends SparkFunSuite {
     val rec2 = ADAMRecord.newBuilder().setRecordGroupId(rg2).setQual(qualStr(qual2)).build()
     val rec3 = ADAMRecord.newBuilder().setRecordGroupId(rg3).setQual(qualStr(qual3)).build()
     val records = List(rec1, rec2, rec3)
-    val recRDD = sc.makeRDD(records, 1).map(new RichADAMRecord(_))
-    System.out.println(recRDD.first())
-    val qualByRG = new QualByRG(recRDD)
+
+    val qualByRG = new QualByRG()
     val intervals = List((0, 29), (6, 29), (0, 21), (0, 20))
     for (interval <- intervals) {
       assert(qualByRG(rec1, interval._1, interval._2).deep == qual1.slice(interval._1, interval._2).toArray.deep)
diff --git a/adam-core/src/test/scala/edu/berkeley/cs/amplab/adam/rdd/recalibration/ReadCovariatesSuite.scala b/adam-core/src/test/scala/edu/berkeley/cs/amplab/adam/rdd/recalibration/ReadCovariatesSuite.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6c23a5dcdd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/adam-core/src/test/scala/edu/berkeley/cs/amplab/adam/rdd/recalibration/ReadCovariatesSuite.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2014. Mount Sinai School of Medicine
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package edu.berkeley.cs.amplab.adam.rdd.recalibration
+
+import edu.berkeley.cs.amplab.adam.util.SparkFunSuite
+import edu.berkeley.cs.amplab.adam.avro.ADAMRecord
+import edu.berkeley.cs.amplab.adam.models.SnpTable
+
+class ReadCovariatesSuite extends SparkFunSuite {
+
+  test("Test Quality Offset"){
+
+    val read = ADAMRecord.newBuilder()
+      .setRecordGroupId(0)
+      .setReadMapped(true).setStart(10000)
+      .setReferenceName("1")
+      .setCigar("10M")
+      .setMismatchingPositions("5C4")
+      .setSequence("CTACCCTAAC")
+      .setQual("##LKLPPQ##")
+      .build()
+    var readCovar = ReadCovariates( read, new QualByRG(), List(new BaseContext(2)), SnpTable() )
+    val firstBaseCovar = readCovar.next()
+    assert(firstBaseCovar.qual === 43 )
+    readCovar.foreach(bc => assert(bc.qual === bc.qualByRG) )
+
+    readCovar = ReadCovariates( read, new QualByRG(), List(new BaseContext(2)), SnpTable() )
+    val bases = readCovar.drop(3)
+    val mismatchedBase = bases.next()
+    assert(mismatchedBase.qual === 47)
+    assert(mismatchedBase.isMismatch === true)
+
+  }
+
+  test("Test ReadCovar on SoftClipped Read"){
+
+    val read = ADAMRecord.newBuilder()
+      .setRecordGroupId(0)
+      .setReadMapped(true).setStart(10000)
+      .setReferenceName("1")
+      .setCigar("2S6M2S")
+      .setMismatchingPositions("3C2")
+      .setSequence("CTACCCTAAC")
+      .setQual("##LKLPPQ##")
+      .build()
+    var readCovar = ReadCovariates( read, new QualByRG(), List(new BaseContext(2)), SnpTable() )
+    val firstBaseCovar = readCovar.next()
+    assert(firstBaseCovar.qual === 43 )
+    readCovar.foreach(bc => assert(bc.qual === bc.qualByRG) )
+
+    readCovar = ReadCovariates( read, new QualByRG(), List(new BaseContext(2)), SnpTable() )
+    val bases = readCovar.drop(3)
+    val mismatchedBase = bases.next()
+    assert(mismatchedBase.qual === 47)
+    assert(mismatchedBase.isMismatch === true)
+
+  }
+
+}