Summertime Fun on the Contest Bands With the 2011 IARU; 24 Hours and Lots of Options

By Jamie Dupree NS3T  radio-sport.net 
Posted July 4, 2011

A year ago, noses were still a bit out of joint among some contesters in the wake of questions raised about the HQ competition in the 2009 IARU Contest. Now that seems to be in the past, as contesters get ready for this year's 24 hour worldwide test.

As the ARRL noted about the 2010 IARU, this contest continues to grow in popularity, as log submissions were up by almost 10% last year to over 3700 logs.

For many, the appeal is simple - the IARU is a 24 hour mixed mode contest, which has plenty of categories and lots of stations to work from all over the world.

In 2010, three different records were achieved, as RV1AW set a new worldwide high power mark for Single Op CW; N1UR added a few points to his USA Phone Only Low Power mark and W1RM also bolstered his USA Low Power CW world record.

The IARU Contest Difference

The IARU contest not only comes at a different time than most contests, but it also has plenty of categories to fit everyone's schedule and station capability.

You can run either CW or SSB - both in the Mixed category - and also decide amongst QRP, High Power and Low Power.

As with most contests, the low power entrants are the biggest in number, with Low Power CW getting the most entries in 2010, followed by Low Power Mixed and then Low Power SSB.

If you are looking for a soft spot, the ARRL statistics show that only 40 entries were received last year in Single Op QRP SSB - there were 45 in Single Op QRP Mixed.

Where do you want to be in this contest to win? For the most part, the IARU test favors a European location, especially in Zone 28, which was home to a number of major category winners again in 2010.

For the US and Canadian entries, the East Coast Zone 8 entries have the best chance to prevail.

What About the HQ Stations?

It was a "most unfortunate dispute" which tarnished the outcome of the 2009 IARU, as Team DA0HQ and Team AO8HQ leveled charges and counter-charges about what was in the DA0HQ log and what should not have been in that log.

The ARRL at first decreed that the HQ category would be no more, but then, a group of volunteers stepped forward and offered to judge the HQ logs, getting the ARRL out of that part of the contest.