[CQ-Contest] IARU band plans - just what are they?

[Don Field]

The IOTA Contest has a rule requiring adherence. It is difficult to "prove"
non-adherence but there is often strong evidence (especially when there is
full-frequency logging by one or both stations). We also monitor the contest
when the opportunity arises.

So far we have not penalised any entrant for non-adherence, but we have
shown in the Adjudication Report (our equivalent to the CQ UBN) the number
of transgressions and indicated that penalties will be applied in future
years. This robust approach has already resulted in a significant reduction
in contest operation outside the recommended sub-bands, rather suggesting
that many people had not previously read the rules but had simply assumed a
total free-for-all.

The RSGB does, from time to time, receive complaints from members who find
thei enjoyment of the bands constrained at weekends due to contest activity.
It is all very well to say "use the WARC bands" but for phone-only
operators, that leaves you with 18MHz upwards - not too helpful for local
nets, etc. So I do believe contesters need to show some moderation and we
(the RSGB Contest Committee) are trying to lead by example in this respect.

Incidentally, we also apply contest sub-bands in our local (UK only) 80m
events, and adherence is almost 100% and pretty much self-policing - any
contester calling CQ outside those bands is quickly jumped on by fellow
contesters who suspect him or her of trying to gain an unfair advantage!

Don Field G3XTT
RSGB Contest Committee Chairman

2009/12/3 Julius Fazekas <phriendly1 at yahoo.com>

> Has WAE or any contest organization penalized folks for not following the
> IARU band plans?
>
> Has there ever been any penalties levied against a contester by any
> official IARU organization?
>
>
> Julius Fazekas
> N2WN
>
> Tennessee Contest Group
> http://www.k4ro.net/tcg/index.html
> http://groups.google.com/group/tcg1?hl=en
>
> Tennessee QSO Party
> http://www.tnqp.org/
>
> Elecraft K2/100 #4455
> Elecraft K3/100 #366
> Elecraft K3/100 #1875
>
>
> --- On Wed, 12/2/09, VR2BrettGraham <vr2bg at harts.org.hk> wrote:
>
> > From: VR2BrettGraham <vr2bg at harts.org.hk>
> > Subject: [CQ-Contest] IARU band plans - just what are they?
> > To: cq-contest at contesting.com
> > Date: Wednesday, December 2, 2009, 10:04 AM
>  > A while back there was some
> > discussion here about the IARU R1 band
> > plan, as a result of DARC adopting the R1 band plan in the
> > WAE rules.
> > Here is a post to that thread by DL6KVA:
> >
> >
> http://search.contesting.com/archives/html/CQ-Contest/2009-07/msg00248.html
> >
> > In the upcoming IARU R1 HF committee meeting, DARC has put
> > forward a paper on band plans, which can be found here:
> >
> >
> http://iaru-r1.org/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=173&func=download&id=294&chk=21d786e3ee7686357f4e705dec541e6b&no_html=1
> >
> > In case that link doesn't work, try this: http://tinyurl.com/yf8l69w
> >
> > In this paper, DARC seems to acknowledge that IARU band
> > plans are
> > just recommendations.
> >
> > However, the IARU R1 band plan is now part of the WAE
> > rules, so it is
> > no longer just a recommendation.
> >
> > And it is applied to all, not just R1.
> >
> > Is there any other activity in amateur radio that has IARU
> > band plans
> > forced upon it like is being done to radiosport?
> >
> > Introduction
> >
> > The objective of the Cavtat recommendations CT08_C4_Rec_15
> > and
> > CT08_C4_Rec_16 is to leave parts of each HF band free of
> > contest
> > activity.
> >
> > Background
> >
> > Although the WARC bands are free of contests, they cannot
> > serve in
> > all circumstances the need of non-contesters (due to
> > propagation, skip
> > etc). The objective of contest preferred segments,
> > established in the
> > band plan in the mid-eighties, is to separate non-contest
> > activity from
> > contest activity. As the band plans are recommendations
> > only, and
> > some bands do not have contest preferred segments, contest
> > organizers
> > should be encouraged to include band sections to be used
> > within the
> > rules of the contest. This should be made with due
> > consideration to the
> > number of expected participants in the contest. DARC would
> > like to see
> > a detailed summary of the IARU Region 1 contests rules and
> > start an
> > exchange of experiences concerning this proposal.
> >
> > Recommendation
> >
> > That the HF Committee is analyzing the current situation.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > CQ-Contest mailing list
> > CQ-Contest at contesting.com
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
> >
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