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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.

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.

Announcement of new IOTA groups at Ham Radio Friedrichshaven

Following the decision to split the 5 yearly review of the IOTA list into two parts, we announced the first tranche of six new IOTA groups at the RSGB Convention, Milton Keynes on 14 October 2018 (see Management News item of the same date). The plan mentioned at the time was to add the second tranche at Ham Radio Friedrichshafen in June 2019. At the event’s IOTA Forum on Saturday, 22 June this took place with the announcement of a further six new groups. The review has now completed its work; the next one is scheduled for 2024.

These new groups have provisional numbers. This means that they will need to be confirmed by an operation taking place after 22 June 2019 that meets the 1000 QSO and other normal validation requirements. Only after confirmation of the group number will credit for past operations be considered. Read the full list here.

The addition of these six groups takes the total of groups that have confirmed or provisional IOTA numbers to 1172. Of these 1131 have seen activity, the remaining 41 have not. The number of unnumbered groups remains at 33. A number of these will be withdrawn in due course to keep within the programme cap of 1200 groups set long ago by the Management Team as a firm policy decision.

G3KMA, 22 June 2019

IOTA Participation at Ham Radio Friedrichshafen 21-23 June

A number of stands that major on DX and IOTA will be grouped together into an area called the DX-Plaza in the main Society Hall. IOTA will join with the Swiss DX Foundation (SDXF), the EU DX Foundation (EUDXF), the EI DX Group, the Clipperton DX Club, the Union Française des Télégraphistes and the Mediterraneo DX Club with representatives of each manning their stand. A series of 15-20 minute mini-presentations on recent DX and IOTA expeditions will be shown in the DX-Plaza at the following times:

Friday, 21 June 2019	Topic	Presented by
11:00	Recipe for a DXpedition	Gene, K5GS
14:30	H44R, H44R/P & H4ØD	Cezar, VE3LYC
16:30	IOTA Expeditioners of the Year	Charles, MØOXO
Saturday, 22 June 2019
12:30	A35EU	Martin, PA4WM
14:00	5WØGC & YJØGC	Stan, LZ1GC

Special get-together times will also be organised – details on the stand. This is a good opportunity to meet the guys who put on these operations.

The IOTA Forum will again take place between 10:00 and 12:00 hours local on Saturday morning in Hall A2 Room 1. The programme is

10:00 – “IOTA Expedition to French Polynesia: TX0A and TX0M” by Cezar Trifu, VE3LYC

10:35 – “K7Y: NA-250 (New)” by Michael McGirr, K9AJ

11:00 – “Announcement of New IOTA Groups 2019” by Roger Balister, G3KMA

11:20 – “VE3LYC/KL7: The Challenge of Little Diomede (NA-150)” by Cezar Trifu, VE3LYC

The customary IOTA Dinner will be held on Saturday evening at Gasthof Heuschober, Allmannsweiler Str. 108 (about 1km from the Messe), starting at 19:30 hours. A leaflet giving directions is available from the IOTA stand. All can be accommodated subject to available space.

G3KMA, 14 June 2019

IREF announces IOTA Expeditioner of the Year award winners.

Hearty congratulations to Cezar Trifu, VE3LYC on being presented with the IREF IOTA Expeditioner of the Year award for 2018 at Dayton last weekend. This is especially significant as it is the first year that the award has been given. Cezar is well-known worldwide for mounting operations from some of the remotest islands listed in IOTA for the benefit of the IOTA community. The award related only to operations in 2018 but his record goes back over many years. Second place was awarded to Mikhail Zavarukhin, VE7ACN and the third went to David Deane, EI9FBB. All three well deserved the awards for the range of operations that they put on during the year. I am sure that IOTA enthusiasts everywhere will be delighted to see that they get this recognition and join us in sending them our congratulations and thanks.

G3KMA, 21 May 2019

2019 IOTA Honour Roll – Annual Listings have been posted.

The 2019 Honour Roll and Annual Listings have been posted on the IOTA website.

G3KMA, 24 February 2019

SM5DJZ SK

It is with deep regret that I learned of the death on 11 December 2018 of Jan Hallenberg SM5DJZ. Jan had served as IOTA checkpoint for Scandinavia from 2002 until November 2017 when he had to step down for health reasons. Throughout these years he carried out the role of checkpoint conscientiously and with great care. He looked after the interests of his customers in Scandinavia well beyond what might be expected of a checkpoint. He gave back so much. At all times he showed himself to be a passionate supporter and friend of the IOTA Programme and with 1096 credits on the database reached the highest levels of performance himself. That kind of score can only be reached with real dedication. A true IOTA enthusiast in every way he will be sadly missed. On behalf of the IOTA Community I should like to express heart-felt thanks to our friend Jan and pass sincere condolences to his family. Rest In Peace.

G3KMA, 15 December 2018

Appointment of new Directors

At its Board meeting on 17 November 2018 IOTA Ltd appointed a number of IOTA enthusiasts to serve as Directors on an enlarged Board. The full Board is Roger Balister G3KMA, Cezar Trifu VE3LYC, Charles Wilmott M0OXO, Dan Sullivan W4DKS, Hans-Georg Goebel DK1RV, Jim Nakajima JA9IFF and Ghis Penny, ON5NT. We thank Dr Jeff Cantor K1ZN who stepped down as Director in early November for his help and support during his period of service on the Board. We welcome the new appointees and look forward to the added strength they bring to the programme’s management.

G3KMA, 14 December 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

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