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

Mon Dec 7 04:24:25 PST 2009

Thanks for the response Don.

Some contests are certainly easier to contain within the recommended frequencies. This is one of those things where size definitely matters.

This is an ancient battle in the Amateur Radio community and always rears it's head after weekends where tens of thousands of hams around the world participate in contesting. Short of ending contest activities altogether, I suspect it will continue.

It's a delicate balance and little fun for the adjudicators.

Cheers,
Julius

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 Sun, 12/6/09, Don Field <don.field at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Don Field <don.field at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] IARU band plans - just what are they?
> To: "CQ-Contest MailList" <cq-contest at contesting.com>
> Date: Sunday, December 6, 2009, 12:47 PM
> 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
> > >
> > _______________________________________________
> > CQ-Contest mailing list
> > CQ-Contest at contesting.com
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
> >
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