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In the wake of public criticism of contesters by a top IARU official, a radio-sport.net review has found that hundreds of competitors in Europe, Africa and Northern Asia have violated the licensing rules of their country by operating on frequencies not allocated to them in the 160 meter band.
The logs showed stations big and small, single operators and multi-ops alike from IARU Region I dropping below 1810 to grab a rare multiplier, an extra contact, or even to run stations.
"I will do all I can to keep Region 1 amateurs inside the amateur bands," reiterated IARU Region I President Hans Blondeel Timmerman PB2T, who raised a red flag about illegal contest operations after this year's CQ 160 SSB Contest.
In an email to radio-sport.net, Blondeel Timmerman would not rule out further efforts to publicly call out those who fail to observe the limits of their ham radio license.
"This depends on the behavior of contesters," Blondeel Timmerman added.
But others see it much differently.
"This smacks of a witch hunt," said Rick Tavan N6XI.
"I don't think contest sponsors and writers should play Cops of the World."
At issue is the allocation of frequencies on the low end of 160 meters. Much of the world can go down to 1800 kHz, but in Europe, Africa and Northern Asia, the band ends at 1810 kHz.
Most of the time, the out of band contacts were from Search & Pounce efforts, and rarely from CQ's (you can see a CQ example on the right with UU7J in the 2006 CQ WW CW.)
Among those found too low on 160 meters, highly placed operators like Jose Nunes CT1BOH, who finished second in the World SOAB HP in the 2008 CQ WW CW Contest from CT3NT.
1805 CW 2008-11-29 0750 CT3NT 599 33 P40W 599 09
The QSO with P40W was a move from 80 meters.
"I don't remember the QSO but it was for sure an inadvertent violation," Nunes told radio-sport.net. CT3 is allowed to operate between 1810-1850 kHz on 160 meters.
In the same contest, Nunes also dropped below 1810 to score a mult with 8P5A:
1809 CW 2008-11-30 0054 8P5A 599 8 CT3NT 599 33
(The CT3NT log shows this contact on 1840, but Tom Georgens 8P5A was running legally at this time on 1809 kHz.)
8P5A also had other out of band callers from Europe and Africa down below 1810 during this same run:
1809 CW 2008-11-30 0045 8P5A 599 8 EA8ZS 599 33
1809 CW 2008-11-30 0045 8P5A 599 8 CT1FJK 599 14
1809 CW 2008-11-30 0055 8P5A 599 8 IR4M 599 15
1809 CW 2008-11-30 0057 8P5A 599 8 SP5DRH 599 15
8P5A returned to 1809 for the final minutes of the 2008 CQ WW CW and had a few more Europeans call below the legal limit of 1810 kHz:
1809 CW 2008-11-30 2355 8P5A 599 8 RT9W 599 16
1809 CW 2008-11-30 2359 8P5A 599 8 YT0A 599 15
Those were just some of many examples of out-of-band contacts found in a review of the CW leg of the CQ WW Contests in 2006, 2007 and 2008, using publicly released logs from the CQ WW Contests.
Other familiar names and calls found below 1810 in the 2008 CQ WW CW test included Team 4L0A from Georgia, which found V47NT for a multiplier:
1808 CW 2008-11-30 0245 4L0A 599 21 V47NT 599 08
Team 4L0A had the highest claimed Multi-Single score in the World, but was given a "private DQ" by the CQ WW Contest Committee.
Also found below 1810, the winner of the World Multi-Two CW title in 2008, Team D4C.
1807 CW 2008-11-30 0327 D4C 599 35 NF8J 599 04
Also dropping below 1810 was EF8M, operated by Valery Komarov RD3AF in the 2008 CQ WW CW Contest.
1809 CW 2008-11-29 0556 EF8M 599 33 WA5VGI 599 03
1809 CW 2008-11-29 0557 EF8M 599 33 OH0V 599 15
1809 CW 2008-11-29 0558 EF8M 599 33 K8CC 599 04
While OH0V is in the log, Jukka Klemola OH6LI (the OH0V operator) says he was not transmitting below 1810, but that EF8M was listening up.
"I was transmitting well within the Finnish 160 meter band," Klemola said in an email to radio-sport.net.
The next QSO is listed on 1809 in the log of K8CC, who was S&P'ing on 160 meters while calling CQ on 80m.
Komarov may well have been trying to squeeze his way into a useable frequency, because after the three contacts above, the rest of his run on 160 meters was on 1810.
Depending on how close to the edge he was, that may still have been a frequency violation.
In the end, the multiplier is a temptation too difficult to ignore for some operators.
Take VP9I in Bermuda, which was operated by Kyle Chavis WA4PGM in the 2006 CQ WW CW, as he did a 160 meter single band entry.
Chavis sometimes likes to go low in the band to CQ on 160 from VP9, and when he went under 1810, there were a number of Europeans more than ready to grab his multiplier.
Remember - VP9I is on a legal frequency.
Every one of the following stations listed here in bold was operating illegally.
1805 CW 2006-11-25 2333 VP9I 599 5 LA3XI 599 14
1805 CW 2006-11-25 2358 VP9I 599 5 G5W 599 14
1805 CW 2006-11-26 0005 VP9I 599 5 OZ1LXJ 599 14
1805 CW 2006-11-26 0022 VP9I 599 5 GI3OQR 599 14
1805 CW 2006-11-26 0025 VP9I 599 5 MD6V 599 14
1805 CW 2006-11-26 0030 VP9I 599 5 HB9LCW 599 14
1805 CW 2006-11-25 2333 VP9I 599 5 OL3A 599 15
1805 CW 2006-11-25 2343 VP9I 599 5 S50U 599 15
1805 CW 2006-11-26 0018 VP9I 599 5 OK5W 599 15
1805 CW 2006-11-26 0042 VP9I 599 5 OM5XX 599 15
1805 CW 2006-11-25 2338 VP9I 599 5 IH9P 599 33
1805 CW 2006-11-26 0008 VP9I 599 5 EA8EW 599 33
1806 CW 2006-11-25 0325 VP9I 599 5 SM5CEU 599 14
1806 CW 2006-11-25 0406 VP9I 599 5 DL8CMM 599 14
1806 CW 2006-11-25 0416 VP9I 599 5 ON4WW 599 14
1806 CW 2006-11-25 0432 VP9I 599 5 G3SWH 599 14
1806 CW 2006-11-25 0438 VP9I 599 5 G6PZ 599 14
1806 CW 2006-11-25 0441 VP9I 599 5 DL7CX 599 14
1806 CW 2006-11-25 0442 VP9I 599 5 CT1FJK 599 14
1806 CW 2006-11-25 0452 VP9I 599 5 HB9CIW 599 14
1806 CW 2006-11-25 0500 VP9I 599 5 DL0CS 599 14
1806 CW 2006-11-25 0501 VP9I 599 5 DL4SZB 599 14
1806 CW 2006-11-25 0509 VP9I 599 5 DA3A 599 14
1806 CW 2006-11-25 0520 VP9I 599 5 DL0GOL 599 14
1806 CW 2006-11-26 0119 VP9I 599 5 EA6IB 599 14
1806 CW 2006-11-25 0313 VP9I 599 5 IR4M 599 15
1806 CW 2006-11-25 0317 VP9I 599 5 OM8A 599 15
1806 CW 2006-11-25 0325 VP9I 599 5 OM5FM 599 15
1806 CW 2006-11-25 0326 VP9I 599 5 OM7CA 599 15
1806 CW 2006-11-25 0414 VP9I 599 5 OM7M 599 15
1806 CW 2006-11-25 0431 VP9I 599 5 OM7CA 599 15
1806 CW 2006-11-25 0511 VP9I 599 5 SN3R 599 15
1806 CW 2006-11-25 0321 VP9I 599 5 RA1ZZ/3 599 16
1806 CW 2006-11-25 0321 VP9I 599 5 UA3BS 599 16
1806 CW 2006-11-25 0324 VP9I 599 5 RA3XDX 599 16
1806 CW 2006-11-25 0455 VP9I 599 5 RN3OK 599 16
1806 CW 2006-11-25 0327 VP9I 599 5 CT9L 599 33
1807 CW 2006-11-26 0134 VP9I 599 5 LN8W 599 14
So what is the answer here?
"It would be much more helpful if IARU R1 officials would try with ITU to change outdated 1810 kHz lower limit and power restrictions on Top Band," said Mario Miletic S56A.
But as of now, no extra frequency allocations are a possibility, meaning stations in Europe, Africa and Northern Asia will simply have to be more vigilant about where they are on Topband.
But here is an example of a European Multi-Op, UU7J in Ukraine, calling CQ at 1809 kHz, which is out-of-band.
In these examples from the 2006 CQ WW CW Contest, UU7J calls CQ on 1809, and is answered by 80 stations who also should not be operating below 1810 kHz.
This week, we use part of the VY2ZM log from the CQ WW CW Contest in 2008 to show you a number of Region I stations who were most certainly violating the terms of their amateur radio license, by transmitting on a frequency not available in their country.
Again, in this log segment, VY2ZM is on a legal frequency from Canada. The stations answering Briggs are not. These contacts occurred on November 30, 2008.
