RSGB IOTA Contest FAQs

IOTA Contest FAQs
These FAQs are intended purely to expand on the contest rules, but not in any way to override them

1. Who can take part?
All licensed amateurs may take part.

2. What is the purpose of the contest?
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. Who can I contact?
You may contact any amateur station, whether on an island or not. However, extra points and multipliers are gained by working island stations.

4. What bands may I use?
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. What power levels?
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. What modes?
The contest is mixed-mode. Single-operators may enter as SSB, CW or Mixed Mode. Multi-ops must enter as Mixed mode.

7. How many hours can I operate?
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. What antennas?
There are no restrictions on antennas, except that DXpedition stations must not use antennas already set up on the island.

9. What is the DXpedition category?
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.

10. How does the scoring work?
Contacts with island stations score 15 points, except that islands contacting the same island reference score 5 points. Non-island stations are encouraged to search for island stations by the higher score and potential multipliers.

11. What is a good strategy for the contest?
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 score much higher than 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. Can I use the Packet Cluster system?
Multi-ops may use the Cluster. Single-Operators may also do so, but must declare their entry as “Assisted”, and will be listed separately from other entrants. Self-spotting is not allowed.

13. What format should the log be?
Logs can be paper or electronic. However, the Cabrillo format is required, and the contest rules give examples to illustrate this. Paper logs will be typed into the database by volunteers, and the organisers cannot be held responsible for any errors in this process. WA7BNM offers an online form into which you can type small logs after the contest, and can be found at http://www.b4h.net/cabforms/

14. Are there any suitable logging programs?
SD, Writelog, N1MM+, SkookumLogger and several other popular programs support the IOTA contest.

15. Where should logs be sent?
The proceedure for submitting logs has changed for 2018 onwards. Electronic logs must now be uploaded here. Do not email your log. You will receive an acknowledgement within 24 hours. If you cannot create an electronic log (see 13 above), paper logs can be should be sent to RSGB IOTA Contest, Radio Society of Great Britain, 3 Abbey Court, Fraser Road, Priory Business Park, Bedford, MK44 3WH, UK.

16. When will the results be published? Where can I find them?
Rules, claimed scores, soapbox, photographs and, when they are ready, the final results, all appear on the RSGB Contest Committee Web site (www.rsgbcc.org). The results are also published in the RSGB’s monthly journal RadCom.

17. What if I operate more than 12 hours, but enter the 12-hour category.
The first 12 hours of operation will count.

18. What if I enter single-mode but make some QSOs on the other mode?
The QSOs on the other mode will only be used for checklog purposes.

19. What if I sent an incorrect or duplicate serial number during the contest?
Log what you sent. This way neither you nor the station you worked will lose points.

20. How are the logs adjudicated.
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. Are UBN reports available after the contest?
Yes, we have our own version of UBN, which gives you details of where you gained or lost points. Your individual UBN report will be automatically sent to you after the results have been published.

22. What trophies and certificates are available for taking part in the contest?
A large number of trophies and certificates are available, based on category and continent, but not on individual countries.

23. Where can I go for more information?
If anything is unclear, you can e-mail a question to iotacontest@rsgbcc.org

24. How can I find out more about the IOTA Awards Program?
The IOTA Awards Program is run by IOTA Ltd, and details appear on the following Web page: www.iota-world.org You can also buy an IOTA Directory from IOTA Ltd, which gives full details of the Program, along with lots of other related information.