[UK-CONTEST] IOTA -" nul points" for Fixed-to-Fixed, pse!

[Frank Hunt]

Something from the prospective of an islander 18,000km miles from the G-
island.

I'm always interested in discussions on changing the rules of contests 
especially if the proposed changes benefit me. However in the case of the 
IOTA contest I don't reckon any changes to the qso points system will 
result in any noticeable increase to my qso total.

This year operating HP 24H non-assisted CW-only, I made 403 non-island 
contacts and 124 island contacts, but with only 66 multipliers. I see that 
some Eu stations are reporting around 250 CW mults!  Of the 125 stations 
that featured in the IOTA Contest Announced Operations on the NG3K 
web-page, just 5 of them were heard/worked !

The problem is of course that the vast majority the IOTA island stations are 
in Eu of course and most including the expedition stations are probably 
QRP/ low-power/simple antennas type stations and as such their signals 
have limited possibility of being heard outside Europe.

Whilst acknowledging that the popularity of the IOTA contest has increased 
over the past few years, if increased participation and interest from stations 
outside of Europe or east coast US is desired, then what is needed and 
should be promoted, is more high-power/better antenna Eu island stations - 
or a permanent increase in the SFI to 250 !

73,
Frank ZL2BR/ZM2B



On 3 Aug 2010 at 21:08, Chris G3SJJ wrote:

>   I think I am happy with this though still trying to work through the
>   logistical implications when actually operating in the contest as
>   opposed 
> sitting here 50 weeks before next year's event!
> 
> One of the challenges with drawing up contest rules is not to change
> too often. The last tweaking of points was in 2001 so I reckon 10
> years on should be a reasonable time span. I am happy with the n-i to
> n-i change but interestingly the i to n-i increase to five points has
> a similar ring to pre-2001.
> 
> My feeling would be to go to the 1 pointer change and re-assess in say
> a further 5 years. We need the non-island participation as well. I
> recall this being a strong point during discussions I was involved
> with.
> 
> Another aspect is the mini-dxpeditions also recently mentioned, but I
> would like to see emphasis on multi-op low power. Radio should be a
> social hobby and the MO LP section is ideal for encouraging
> teamworking and sharing skills.
> 
> Chris G3SJJ
> 

> On 03/08/2010 20:02, Robin Thompson wrote:
> > As one of the "regularly operating IOTAs"
> > I agree with Paul as well...
> > Increase the incentive for non Island stations to chase the
> > Dxpeditions and Islands, instead of strings of more non Island
> > stations !
> >
> > Otherwise I would say things are pretty much "just right" ...
> >
> > Robin
> > G3TKF
> > Op for GJ6YB (and many other G6YB operations!)
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: uk-contest-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:uk-contest-
> >> bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Paul O'Kane
> >> Sent: 03 August 2010 16:49
> >> To: UK Contest Reflector
> >> Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] IOTA -" nul points" for Fixed-to-Fixed,
> >> pse!
> >>
> >> To avoid misunderstanding, here's a summary of the
> >> current IOTA points structure, and what I've
> >> suggested.
> >>
> >>
> >> Old New  Category
> >>
> >>   3   3   Island to Own-Island (same IOTA Ref)
> >> 15  15   Island to Other-Island
> >>   3   5   Island to non-Island - Changed
> >>
> >> 15  15   Non-Island to Island
> >>   3   1   Non-Island to Non-Island - Changed
> >>
> >>
> >> If the two suggested changes were to be considered, there
> >> might be an argument for changing Island to Own-Island
> >> from 3 to 5 (the same as for Island to Non-Island).
> >>
> >> 73,
> >> Paul EI5DI