[CQ-Contest] IOTA Contest 2003

[Donald Field]

Hello all

The 2003 IOTA Contest is only about 10 days away, and lots of expeditions
have already been announced. I'm having trouble keeping track of them all,
but the various Web sites (NG3K DL2VFR etc.) all carry up-to-date listings.

The rules can be found on the HF Contests Committee Web page
(www.rsgbhfcc.org) which is where claimed scores, soapbox comments, and
eventually final scores and write-up will appear in due course. The rules
are largely unchanged this year, although the wording regarding the various
sections and categories has been modified, hopefully to make it more clear.
The one main change is the introduction, as a result of a number of
requests, of a QRP category. I hope this will draw a good number of entries.
The island expedition definition has been amended to allow islands which can
be reached by air. This corrects what was really an anomaly in last year's
rules.

Finally, Cabrillo logs become the preferred log format, though no log will
be rejected as a consequence of its log format, whether paper or electronic.
SDI (EI5DI) and LUXLOG (LX1NO) fully support the preferred Cabrillo
definition for the contest, but Cabrillo logs from other popular programs
(e.g. Writelog, N1MM) are almost certainly adequate. Unfortunately Cabrillo
has not been supported by CT in the past for IOTA and, with CT now in the
public domain as shareware, I rather suspect it hasn't happened this year
either. Please don't send empty Cabrillo logs from CT (always wise to look
at the log you are sending first). In the past the .ALL file has been the
only CT file which actually records all the necessary exchange information,
so please check this before sending a CT log.

Log checking continues to move on apace, and this year the checking should
be more comprehensive than ever, thanks to the efforts of G4VXE G4FON N5KO
and others. At the same time, I am hoping it will be even faster than ever,
as a result of the higher level of automation (don't worry, your QSO will
only be zeroed when it has been double-checked by a human being!).

We have a number of new trophy sponsors this year, to whom I am extremely
grateful. I am also grateful to John G3LZQ for taking on the co-ordination
of the trophies. John and I will issue a full list shortly, as soon as John
has recovered from his GB5HQ (IARU Contest) activities!

Any questions to me please at: iotacontest at rsgbhfcc.org (sorry, this was
printed wrongly in the rules - mea culpa).

73 Don G3XTT
IOTA Contest Manager