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Monthly update of data in IOTA Directory 2000
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>>> IOTA REFERENCE NUMBERS ISSUED <<<
AF-090 5R Madagascar's Coastal Islands East (Madagascar)
AS-158 BY2 Liaoning Province East group (China)
AS-159/Pr TA Black Sea Coast West group (Turkey)
EU-188 R1P Pechorskoye Sea Coast West group (Russian Federation)
OC-247/Pr YB8 Sabalana and Tengah Islands (Indonesia)
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>>> PROVISIONAL IOTA REFERENCE NUMBERS AS AT 1 JULY 2001 <<<
AS-156/Pr R0B Ushakova Island (Russian Federation)
AS-157/Pr 3W South China Sea Coast Centre group (Vietnam)
AS-159/Pr TA Black Sea Coast West group (Turkey)
NA-220/Pr OX Greenland's Coastal Islands South West (Greenland)
OC-244/Pr DU1-4 Luzon's Coastal Islands (Philippines)
OC-247/Pr YB8 Sabalana and Tengah Islands (Indonesia)
Note: A full listing of new IOTA reference numbers issued since publication
of IOTA Directory 2000 may be found on the IOTA Manager's web site at
http://www.eo19.dial.pipex.com/index.shtml.
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>>> OPERATIONS WHICH HAVE PROVIDED ACCEPTABLE VALIDATION MATERIAL <<<
AF-090 5R8GT Sainte-Marie Island (April 2001)
AF-090 5R8GY Sainte-Marie Island (May/June 2001)
AS-013 8Q7WH North Ari Atoll, Maldive Islands (June 2001)
AS-056 JA6GIJ/6 Me Island, Danjo Islands (June 2001)
AS-056 JA6JPS/6 Me Island, Danjo Islands (June 2001)
AS-056 JA6LCJ/6 Me Island, Danjo Islands (June 2001)
AS-154 YM0KG Giresun Island (April 2001)
AS-158 BA4DW/2 Dachangshan Island, Changshan Islands (May 2001)
EU-188 UE1RCV/1 Sengeyskiy Island (March 2001)
NA-045 XF3/AB5EB Mujeres Island (June 2001)
NA-045 XF3/KB5SKN Mujeres Island (June 2001)
OC-034 YC9WZJ New Guinea/Irian Jaya Island (resident)
SA-017 HK3JJH/5 La Palma Island (April 2001)
Note: This list includes operations where validation material was
volunteered, ie not specifically required for credit to be given. In all
cases, cards now submitted will be accepted by Checkpoints if they meet
normal standards. This means that the island name must be on the card.
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>>> OPERATIONS FROM WHICH VALIDATION MATERIAL IS AWAITED <<<
>>> AS AT 1 JULY 2001 <<<
AS-050 RU0B/P Isachenko Island, Sergeya Kirova Islands (April 2001)
AS-057 RU0B Uyedineniya Island (April 2001)
AS-068 RS0B/P Kravkova Island, Mona Islands (April 2001)
AS-140 S21BR Dakhin Shahbazpur (Bhola) Island (December 2000)
AS-156/Pr RI0B Ushakova Island (April 2001)
AS-157/Pr 3W7D Tam Island (April 2001)
AS-159/Pr YM0KI Kefken Island (June 2001)
EU-186 TA1ED/0 Gokceada Island (December 2000)
NA-035 HR6SI Santanilla Islands (March 2001)
NA-220/Pr OX3LG Simiutaq Island (April 2001)
OC-091 DU1KGJ/P Polillo Island (February 2001)
OC-093 4H2B Batan Island (February 2001)
OC-126 4I1P Lubang Island (February 2001)
OC-244/Pr 4I1P Marinduque Island (February 2001)
OC-247/Pr YB8HZ/P Sabalana Island (June 2001)
SA-088 PSA088 Tacami Island (June 2001)
Note: Checkpoints are not authorised to credit QSL cards for an operation
where validation is required.
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>>> UPDATES ON THE ABOVE <<<
Apologies for the late posting of this 1 July bulletin. The information above
has been updated in the 1 August IOTA NEWS under preparation which can be
accessed on the IOTA Manager's website above. Under IOTA NEWS BULLETINS click
01/08/2001.
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>>> IOTA CONTEST 2001 (updated information) <<<
A reminder that the IOTA Contest takes place from 1200 UTC Saturday 28 July
to 1200 UTC Sunday 29 July 2001. As this contest now attracts more than 1000
participants, it is quite possible to work during the 24 hours the 100
different IOTAs required to qualify for the basic award. Full details are at
http://www.rsgbhfcc.org/ .
If you plan to take part as an island station, please check IOTA Directory
2000 to see that your island counts and that you have the right IOTA number.
If it is not listed, it could be that its IOTA status has been withdrawn. So
you may need to investigate. When submitting a contest entry, you MUST
mention the name of the island from which you operated. The group name or the
IOTA reference number is not sufficient.
Please note that ALL correspondence about the contest rules, conduct,
adjudication and results must be directed to the IOTA Contest Manager, Don
Field, G3XTT at iotacontest@rsgbhfcc.org and NOT to the IOTA Committee or the
IOTA Manager. Notices of planned island activity should be addressed to Steve
Lawman, G0UIH at g0uihsteve@compuserve.com .
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>>> IOTA HONOUR ROLL AND ANNUAL LISTINGS 2001 <<<
The full Honour Roll and Annual Listings can be found on the official IOTA
web site at http://www.rsgbiota.org . The following is the write-up which
accompanied it in the July issue of RadCom, the RSGB Members' Magazine:
RSGB IOTA ANNUAL LISTINGS 2001
By Roger Balister, G3KMA, RSGB IOTA Manager
Last year's rash statement was "the 2001 Honour Roll will make interesting
reading". Revision 2000 had led to the addition of 58 new IOTAs, almost all
split from existing groups. The Committee had decided that QSLs for past
contacts with islands in these new groups could count but only after
reference numbers had been issued following fresh activity. The need for a
further operation was considered essential, not just to stimulate activity
but, more importantly, to level the playing field. Acceptance of old cards
meant of course that credits for the 'original' groups would need to be
rechecked to ensure that they properly counted. The unknown factor in all
this was the extent to which members could, by the Honour Roll deadline,
produce valid QSLs for the new groups and replacements where necessary for
the original ones. This could significanty affect scores. The result could be
very similar to throwing a pack of playing cards in the air and seeing how
they landed!
A word on why all this was necessary. A close comparison of the 1998/99 and
2000 Directories will show that IOTA groups now have their geographical
co-ordinates precisely defined with all valid islands within the resulting
'rectangles' listed. This exercise necessitated restructuring of some groups
to avoid confusing overlaps while at the same time identified for removal
those previously listed groups which were found to have no valid islands.
This, together with the rounding up of the IOTA group ceiling to 1200,
created scope for the addition of the 58 new groups. The revision was crucial
to the long term future of the programme. Now done, there is no compelling
reason why it should ever need to be repeated!
ONE NEW IOTA A WEEK
A record 55 previously unnumbered IOTAS saw activity in the 12 months under
review. This included a staggering 36 of the 58 'New Groups' announced in the
Directory. Already by early July DXpeditions were beginning to trip over each
other in the rush to be the first to operate. The impact was most noticeable
in Europe where some groups had resident amateurs or were otherwise quite
easy to activate. Soon a lot of attention was being paid to the new groups
fringing the Black Sea, where the littoral countries had pressed so long for
IOTA recognition. This was their day! Most of the new groups outside Europe
were more difficult to access, so it took longer but they shared in the
activity.
EFFECT ON SCORES
With a score of 970 Jean-Pierre, F9RM still holds Number One position
although, following recent activity from some of the rarest FO groups, the
margin is now noticeably closing. Livio, I1ZL has marked up 962 groups,
Claudio, I1SNW 956 and Antonio, EA4MY 955. John, G3AAE, who so sadly became a
Silent Key last autumn, had sufficient QSLs to place him equal sixth with
Garry, VE3XN and Don, W9DC at 949 groups. Eddy, ON6HE follows close on their
heals with 948 with Mat, ON5KL one behind. Interestingly, despite the
unsettling effect of the changes, the top nine stations appear within the top
ten positions in the same order this year as last. The close correlation
continues down through position 50 with only four stations breaking through
to join them. The speed of progression from the Annual Listing to the Honour
Roll has increased with 24.3% of the membership now having a score of at
least 492 representing 50% of the total number of activated groups.
IOTA: THE ACHIEVEMENT
The real achievement of the high scorers in IOTA needs to be acknowledged. It
is easy to focus on the IOTA groups that are 'easy' to work but they probably
number less than one third of the total 1000 groups. An equal number come
into the category of being very difficult having had less than five valid
operations, very few lasting longer than three or four days. The remaining
third are of routine difficulty with some activity on a regular or sporadic
basis.
Just look for a moment at what someone with a top score will have got close
to working. The examples given here are from Oceania, the most difficult area
for a European station - a different selection would make the point better
for eg a West Coast American member. These are countries where there are more
than one IOTA. The numbers represent different island groups, not just
different islands or just contacts. For example, a top station would have had
to work close on 42 distinct island groups in Indonesia!
3D2 7 FW 2 P2 18 VP6 3
9M6/8 3 H4 12 T32 2 YB 42
A35 5 KH5 2 V63 10 YJ 4
DU 21 KH6/7 2 V73 3 ZK1 8
FK 6 KH8 4 VK 46 ZL 9
FO 16
Now add the other 20 or so DXCC entities in Oceania which coincide with a
single IOTA - these also have to be worked - and you will see the scale of
the achievement. In answer to the comment that they were all made on lists or
nets, this is just not so - this feature of IOTA has long since passed and
some of the high scorers have never been on a net in their life.
Similarly the charge that the IOTAs rarely operate CW is also no longer
strictly true. Although there is still an imbalance towards SSB, this is
reducing and most recent operations have used both modes.
THANKS
IOTA saw a further 11% increase in award applications in the period under
review. This healthy rate of entry into the programme, which has continued
for many years, would not be possible without the strong support and
commitment of our checkpoints. This year they had to cope with substantial
additional work handling the conversion of members' records on to the basis
of Directory 2000. We owe them all a big vote of thanks - we could not have
done without them. Finally, thanks are due to Martin, G3ZAY for his help in
the compilation of the data.
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Roger Balister, G3KMA Mauro Pregliasco, I1JQJ
RSGB IOTA Manager RSGB IOTA Committee Member (Europe)
19 July 2001 21 July 2001
Past IOTA Notices are available at
http://www.425dxn.org/iota
Mauro Pregliasco, I1JQJ/KB2TJM
425 DX News Editor
http://www.425dxn.org
i1jqj@425dxn.org
