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Kayak Island, NA-157

Ashmore Reef, OC-216

Iony Island, AS-069

Bhola Island, AS-140

Viktoriya Island, EU-190

Arakamchechen Is., AS-071

Dobrzhanskogo Is., AS-203

St. John's Is., OC-101

Rathbone Is, NA-243

Ellesmere Is, NA-008

East Pen Is, NA-230

Axel Heilberg Is, NA-043

Lunga Is., EU-108

Sao Francisco Is., SA-027

Sandy Islet, OC-294

Gonzalo Is., SA-097

Isla Escondida, SA-096

Welcome. If you want to learn more about us, you have come to the right place.

The IOTA (Islands On The Air) Programme is an exciting and innovative activity programme that has caught the interest of thousands of radio amateurs worldwide. Established in 1964, it promotes radio contacts with stations located on islands around the world to enrich the experience of all active on the amateur bands and, to do this, it draws on the widespread mystique surrounding islands. It is administered by Islands On The Air (IOTA) Ltd (called here IOTA Management) in partnership with the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB).

IOTA Management has grouped the oceans' islands into some 1200 'IOTA groups' with, for reasons of geography, varying numbers of 'counters', i.e. qualifying islands, in each group and has published the listings in the IOTA Directory and on the IOTA website. The objective, for the IOTA Island Chaser, is to make radio contact with at least one counter in as many of these groups as possible and, for the IOTA Island Activator, to provide such island contacts. The programme has a strong rule structure. IOTA Management encourages friendly competition among chasers by publishing details of participants' performance in an Honour Roll and annual listings, as well as by recognising it with certificates and prestige awards.

Right, now you know the basic idea. This website will fill in the gaps. It has been designed by the IOTA IT Team to meet the specific needs of those participating in the programme. We are indebted to Michael Wells G7VJR for making Club Log available for QSO matching for IOTA awards and to Rob Banfield DM1CM for allowing us to incorporate features from iotamaps.org into the website.

IOTA Management thank the many IOTA enthusiasts who have contributed to IT development through Friends of IOTA.

Join Friends of IOTA and support the development of the IOTA Programme!

IOTA Group Level - GBP 500+ Archipelago Level - GBP 250-499
Island Level - GBP 100-249 Atoll Level - GBP 10-99

Click here for a list of donors.

IOTA Contest 2018 Logs Update

You might want to check again for QSO matches as we have fixed some issues with the QSO matching and B4/BY1OK has been accepted.

IOTA Contest 2018 logs are online. We are waiting for further information from 9M2SDX, B4/BY1AA, BD7YK, BD4SDX, BD7PCA, BG5BAA, BG5BRT, BH4BQI, BY7KP, HS5NMF, and J49A before these activations can be accepted. Please do not contact us on these activations, you can try again any time.

PA3EXX, 26 November 2018

IOTA DX Spots

Rob DM1CM has made some changes to his iotamaps.org software to filter out cluster spots with incorrect IOTA groups. The spots are available from the main menu IOTA DX Spots. If you are logged on to the website it also shows you your wanted IOTA groups if one is spotted.

PA3EXX, 18 November 2018

Announcement of new IOTA groups at RSGB Convention

IOTA Management announced on 31 August 2018 on the IOTA website the five yearly review of the Directory list of IOTA groups (see previous Management News item). It mentioned its intention of releasing a small number of additions at this year’s RSGB Convention in Milton Keynes with a second tranche at Ham Radio Friedrichshafen in July 2019. IOTA Management is grateful to proposers of some 28 candidate groups received by the 1 October deadline. On Sunday 14 October IOTA General Manager Roger Balister, G3KMA announced the first tranche of 6 new groups at the RSGB Convention. They covered a Swedish/Finnish joint sovereignty island and groups in North America, Asia and Oceania. All new groups have provisional numbers. This means that they will need to be confirmed by an operation taking place after 14 October 2018 that meets the 1000 QSO and other normal validation requirements. Only after confirmation of the number will credit for past operations be considered. Read the full list here.

G3KMA, 14 October 2018

New Checkpoint Appointed

The IOTA Management Team is pleased to announce the appointment with immediate effect of a new checkpoint to cover Portugal. Luis Sutil Teixeira, CT4NH has agreed to take on checkpoint duties for Portugal, previously covered by Julio Mateiro, CT1ZW. Our thanks go to Julio for his long service over many years and we wish him the very best for the future. Luis’s email is xx9tnh@gmail.com and mailing address Luis Sutil Teixeira, Rua Visconde Moreira de Rey 3, 2790-162 Carnaxide, Portugal. We welcome Luis to the team and look forward to working with him. IOTA Participants in Portugal, please note your new checkpoint.

G3KMA, 11 October 2018

Proposed Additions to the IOTA List of Valid Island Groups

IOTA Programme Structure A.4.2 in the 2018 Directory provides for a review of the list of valid island groups to take place every five years. The last such occasion took place in June 2014 with the announcement made at the 50th anniversary celebration of IOTA’s launch the following month. It resulted in 11 new groups being added. This time IOTA Management has decided to bring forward the review to give a chance for any new groups announced to be activated in 2019, the target year. The review process is scheduled to start with an announcement of some additions at this year’s RSGB Convention and may possibly finish with a top-up at next year’s Friedrichshafen Ham Radio event. Any new groups will be very few in number, probably between 5 and 10. It should be noted that only proposals that meet the programme criteria at Sections B and C of the IOTA Programme Structure chapter (2018 Directory) will be considered and, as guidance, it is unlikely that any additions will be made to the Europe list because it is already generously covered. Proposals for consideration should be sent to Roger, G3KMA by 1 October with a short justification (one paragraph please) in terms of the programme criteria.

Best Regards
G3KMA, 31 August 2018

Updated Privacy Policy

We have made some changes to our privacy policy in line with new data regulations. These include

Clarity on what data we have, how we use it, why we need it, how long we keep it and who has access to it;
Choices you have over how we use your data;
Details of where to contact if you have any concerns.

Perhaps the main change for holders of an IOTA record is that we have introduced a two year limit on the time that we retain your personal data if you have not logged in to your record on the IOTA website. Do log in at least once every two years, otherwise to recover your list of credits you will need to re-register your personal information. You can read the full privacy policy here.

G3KMA, 24 August 2018

Two New Checkpoints Appointed

The IOTA Management Team is pleased to announce the appointment with immediate effect of two new checkpoints to cover Spain and Canada. Christian Cabre, EA3NT has agreed to take on checkpoint duties for Spain, previously covered by Josep Gilbert, EA3BT and Nuria Font, EA3WL. His email is ec3adc@gmail.com. Our thanks go to Josep and Nuria for their long service over many years and we wish them well. Bud Powell, VE7SMP has agreed to accept a similar task for Canada, previously covered by Reg Beck, VE7IG (SK). His email is ve7smp@rac.ca. Their mailing addresses are OK in QRZ.com. We welcome Christian and Bud to the team and look forward to an increase in IOTA awareness in their areas. IOTA Participants in these countries, please note your new checkpoint.

G3KMA, 23 August 2018

VE7IG SK

It is with great sadness that I learned of the death on 24 July 2018 of Reg Beck, VE7IG. Reg had served as IOTA checkpoint for Canada since 2003, carrying out the role conscientiously and with great care. He stepped down in March this year for personal reasons. As long as I can recall, he showed himself to be a passionate supporter and friend of the IOTA Programme although he put as much into several other award programmes and was amongst the top achievers in all of them. In recent years he operated at times as VE1DXA from his daughter’s home in Nova Scotia from where he activated a number of IOTA groups. He was a real IOTA enthusiast who will be sadly missed. The IOTA Community expresses heart-felt thanks to our friend Reg and passes sincere condolences to his family.

G3KMA, 29 July 2018

IOTA Directory 2018

Copies of IOTA Directory 2018 can now be purchased from the IOTA Shop. This 18th edition will probably be the last paper edition to be printed, the inevitable consequence of the Internet age. The Directory contains the complete listing of 15,000 IOTA islands as well as everything readers need to know to participate in the programme. Included in the colour section are fascinating reports on several rare IOTA operations, well worth reading. The rules have seen a major and once only restructuring to make them easier to follow. The list of Most Wanted IOTAs has been recast to show the listing in three ways: based on contacts credited all-time, credited to those who updated in the last 10 years and to those who did so in the last 5 years. Regular features such as the Honour Roll and other performance listings, award winners and advice on making a first application are also included. Remember, this may be the last printed edition published, so if you prefer to check data in paper form, you would be well advised to purchase a copy. In addition to the Directory the newly established IOTA Shop also offers IOTA flags, large and small, and IOTA patches. More to come.

G3KMA, 28 May 2018