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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.

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 at Friedrichshafen

Representatives of IOTA will be sharing stand 460-9 this year with DARC – DX- Referat. From the RSGB stand, turn right and go to the other end of the aisle (short side of the hall). We will be there on Friday and Saturday. Copies of the new Directory will be available.

On Friday evening the regular IOTA get-together will take place at 1900 hours at Gasthof Heuschober, Allmannsweiler Straße 108, 88046 Friedrichshafen. For a map, see here. Copies are also available on the stand. There is limited seating, so it’s best to get there early.

The IOTA Forum on Saturday morning takes place at 1000 hours in Hall A2, Room 1. The programme is

- H40GC OC-100 by Stanislav LZ1GC

- DUx/SP5APW OC-235, OC-090 and OC-128 by Jacek SP5APW

- Irish Islands IOTA Tour 2018 by Dave, EI9FBB

- Any extra time can be devoted to Questions and Answers by Roger, G3KMA about the programme

All are welcome to these events. Hope to see you there.

G3KMA, 30 May 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

2018 IOTA HONOUR ROLL - ANNUAL LISTINGS

The 2018 Honour Roll and Annual Listings have been posted on the IOTA website at https://www.iota-world.org. Together the two main listings show growth of 4.6% over the same listings in 2017. 221 record-holders have scores of 1000 or more IOTA groups, an increase of 6.8%, and 562 have scores of at least 750 groups, the number required for the IOTA Plaque. Scores at the top continue to close with 37 record-holders breaking through the 1100 mark and 17 of them within 10 of the top score. Congratulations to joint leaders 9A2AA and I2YDX on 1119 groups out of a possible 1124 and indeed to all who have joined the IOTA family or updated in the last year.

G3KMA, 10 April 2018

Calling IOTA DXpeditioners attending Friedrichshafen Ham Radio

The IOTA Organising Committee have unfilled slots in the IOTA Forum Programme on the Saturday morning, 2 June for presentations on IOTA operations. If you have a talk that you would like to give, please contact Ric Stumpf-Siering at dl2vfr@darc.de and win an IOTA flag.

G3KMA, 6 April 2018

IOTA Credits for Non-standard Log Names

The chasers can now get IOTA credits through QSO matching for irregular log names. To facilitate this, the log names are now listed on the accepted activations tab. In order to get a match for AA1AA/P on XX-yyy with the log name AA1AA/P_XX-yyy, the chaser must upload to Club Log a QSO with the callsign AA1AA/P_XX-yyy. Once the match is obtained, the system will automatically use the proper callsign in the subsequent credit application. For any questions contact us at info@iota-world.org.

Team IOTA, 8 December 2017

2017 IOTA Contest Data Uploaded

The 2017 IOTA Contest data has now been uploaded to the IOTA database and is available for QSO matching. We thank all concerned on the RSGB Contest Committee. It should be noted that if an operation is asked by IOTA’s Validation Team (not the same as the RSGB Contest Committee) for validation and this is not sent in good time, QSO matching will not be allowed and a warning that the operation will not be accepted for IOTA will be posted on the database for applicants to note. IOTA’s help point is at info@iota-world.org. Enquiries relating to the contest results should be directed to the RSGB Contest Committee at www.iotacontest@rsgbcc.org.

G3KMA, 24 November 2017

Change of Checkpoint

It is with regret that we inform Scandinavian IOTA chasers that Jan Hallenberg, SM5DJZ has had to step down as their checkpoint for health reasons. Jan has been the checkpoint for Scandinavia for many years and we owe him a great debt of gratitude for a job well done and send him our good wishes.

Claes "Mel" Carneheim, SM0MPV has agreed to take over his duties with immediate effect.

Our thanks go to Mel for stepping forward – his address is Claes "Mel" Carneheim, Sagov. 3, SE-182 47 Enebyberg, Sweden and his email address is sm0mpv@ssa.se.

Calling Chasers with a Pending Score on the IOTA Database but not in the Programme

As a further step in database housekeeping we have to inform all chasers who have registered but have never entered the programme with an accepted score that the Board of IOTA Ltd has decided to allow them one year to post a score, failing which it will close their records. It considers that it makes no sense to allow substantial numbers of chasers to maintain a pending record assembled using all the benefits of an IOTA programme but not take the simple step of entering the programme. The one year will run from the date of this news item (26 September) or the date of first registration whichever is the later. Closed records will be moved without further notice to Archives where they will no longer be visible to their “owners”. To avoid this action chasers will need to submit an application within the year. The Board regrets the need for such action but has taken it in the interests of good management. Queries about this notice should be sent to info@iota-world.org.

G3KMA, 26 September 2017