IOTA Contest FAQs
(The contest rules appear elsewhere on this website.
These FAQs are intended purely to expand on the rules,
but not in any way to override them)
1. Q. Who can take part? A. All licensed
amateurs may take part.
2. Q. What is the purpose of the contest?
A. The contest is based on the popular IOTA Awards Program,
and is intended to encourage contacts with island stations.
There are also special awards for expedition entrants,
to encourage island expeditions over the contest weekend.
3. Q. Who can I contact? A. You may
contact any amateur station, whether on an island or
not. However, extra points and multipliers are gained
by working island stations.
4. Q. What bands may I use? A. The
contest takes place in the 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10m bands,
in the IARU contest-preferred segments. CW QSOs should
take place in the recognised CW ends of the bands.
5. Q. What power levels? A. There are
High Power, Low Power and QRP sections. These are defined
as (High Power) Whatever your licence permits, up to
a maximum of 1500 watts output; (Low Power) Maximum
of 100 watts output; (QRP) Maximum of 5 watts output.
6. Q. What modes? A. The contest is
mixed-mode. Single-operators may enter as SSB, CW or
Mixed Mode. Multi-ops must enter as Mixed mode.
7. Q. How many hours can I operate?
A. The contest is 24 hours in length. As a single-operator,
you can choose to operate in a 24-hour or a 12-hour
section (Multi-ops must enter as 24 hours). In the 12-hour
section, your operating time starts with your first
QSO and ends with your last QSO. Off times before the
first QSO and after the last QSO need not be 60 minutes
in length. Off-times during your period of operation
must, however, be a minimum of 60 minutes. So, for example,
if you make a QSO at 1545 and the next at 1630, that
is regarded as continuous operation. For the off-time
to count, your next QSO must not take place until 1645.
8. Q. What antennas? A. There are no
restrictions on antennas for most entrants, However,
those entrants competing for the Low Power Expedition
Trophies are restricted to single-element antennas (see
below).
9. Q. What is the DXpedition category?
A. All entrants will be listed in the main results listing.
However, expedition stations will also be listed in
the separate Expedition Listing, and can compete for
DXpedition trophies. The purpose of this is to encourage
DXpeditions to islands which might not otherwise be
activated during the contest. Therefore, an expedition
must meet certain criteria in terms of the island itself
(for example, it must be accessible only by sea or air,
not by a bridge or causeway) and in the nature of the
operation, which must be set up on a temporary basis.
Low power expeditions are also restricted to single-element
antennas, as this is often all that can be carried on
small aircraft or in small boats.
10. Q. How does the scoring work? A.
Contacts with island stations count 15 points. Contacts
with non-island stations count 3 points. The only exception
is that, if you are an island station, contacts with
your own IOTA group count 3 points.
11. Q. What is a good strategy for the contest?
A. The contest lasts just 24 hours, so you need to use
every minute effectively. Your exact strategy will depend
on where in the world you are. But remember that island
QSOs count for five times as many points as QSOs with
non-island stations. Islands also count as multipliers,
once per band and per mode. So you will want to ensure
that you work as many multipliers as possible. In the
Northern Hemisphere the night will be short, as the
contest takes place in the middle of summer, so you
will want to ensure that you use the LF bands effectively
during the hours of darkness.
12. Q. Can I use the Packet Cluster system?
A. Multi-ops may use the Packet Cluster. Single-Operators
may also do so, but should declare their entry as “Assisted”,
and will be listed separately from other entrants. Self-spotting
is not allowed.
13. Q. What format should the log be?
A. Logs can be in any recognised form, paper or electronic.
However, the Cabrillo format is preferred, and the contest
rules give examples to illustrate this. Several of the
popular logging programs now support Cabrillo for the
IOTA contest, or you can use a text editor to create
your own Cabrillo log. Please ensure that your log contains
all the necessary QSO data (date, time, frequency, your
callsign and callsign of station worked, RS(T) + serial
+ IOTA sent, RS(T) + serial + IOTA received). If you
use electronic means to log, then please send your log
in electronic form, either by e-mail or on disc. All
logs will be entered into a single database for adjudication.
Paper logs will be typed into the database by volunteers,
and the organisers cannot be held responsible for any
errors in this process, which is why it is always best
to send an electronic log if possible. WA7BNM offers
an online form into which you can type small logs after
the contest. This generates the preferred Cabrillo format.
It can be found at http://www.b4h.net/cabforms/iota_cab.php
14. Q. Are there any logging programs you recommend?
A. SDI (www.ei5di.com),
Writelog (www.writelog.com),
CT (www.k1ea.com),
LuxLog, N1MM (http://pages.cthome.net/n1mm/)
and several other popular programs support the IOTA
contest effectively.
15. Q. Where should logs be sent? A.
Electronic logs should be sent to iota.logs@rsgbhfcc.org
Do not use any other address which you may have seen
published. You will receive an acknowledgement within
24 hours, asking you to go to a Web page to complete
the submission process. Paper logs should be sent to
RSGB IOTA Contest, PO Box 9, Potters Bar, Herts EN6
3RH, England.
16. Q. When will the results be published?
Where can I find them? A. Rules, claimed scores, soapbox,
photographs and, when they are ready, the final results,
all appear on the RSGB HF Contest Committee Web site
(www.rsgbhfcc.org). The results are also published in
the RSGB’s monthly journal RadCom.
17. Q. What if I operate more than 12 hours,
but enter the 12-hour category. A. The first
12 hours of operation will count.
18. Q. What if I enter single-mode but make
some QSOs on the other mode? A. The QSOs on
the other mode will only be used for checklog purposes.
19. Q. What if I sent an incorrect or duplicate
serial number during the contest? A. Log what
you sent. This way neither you nor the station you worked
will lose points.
20. Q. How are the logs adjudicated.
A. Where we have logs for both sides of a QSO, we check
all info (callsign, time, band, mode, RS(T),serial number,
IOTA received). Errors in copying may result in the
QSO being disallowed. Where we do not have the other
log, we are often still able to check many of these
details. Final scoring is based on remaining QSOs. So,
for example, if you lost a QSO which was a mult, as
long as you worked that same mult again later, you will
have lost QSO points but not the multiplier. If you
did not work that same mult again, then you will have
lost the multiplier too.
21. Q. Are UBN reports available after the contest?
A. Yes, we have our own version of UBN, which gives
you details of where you gained or lost points. Send
an e-mail to iotacontest@rsgbhfcc.org
requesting the UBN after the results are available.
22. Q. What trophies and certificates are available
for taking part in the contest? A. A large
number of trophies and certificates are available, based
on category and continent, but not on individual countries.
A full list appears on the RSGB HFCC Web site.
23. Q. Where can I go for more information?
A. If anything is unclear, you can e-mail a question
to iotacontest@rsgbhfcc.org
24. Q. How can I find out more about the IOTA
Awards Program? A. The IOTA Awards Program
is run by the RSGB, and details appear on the following
Web page: www.rsgbiota.org
You can also buy an IOTA Directory from the RSGB, which
gives full details of the Program, along with lots of
other related information.
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