"The year 2014 marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of the Islands On The Air (IOTA) Programme by British SWL Geoff Watts, BRS-3129.
"As a build-up to our celebrations on this occasion, the RSGB IOTA Manager and Committee announce an exciting activity period in which all licensed amateurs world-wide are invited to participate.
"For a two-year period during 2012 and 2013, IOTA chasers are encouraged to contact as many different IOTA groups as possible, and IOTA activators to play their part by operating from as many groups as possible, with special emphasis on the less-frequently activated ones.
"The points system adopted rewards ‘Activators’ with higher scores for activating the rarer IOTA groups. Certificates and awards will be available to both ‘Chasers’ and ‘Activators’ to reflect attainment of graduated bands of performance
together with attractive prizes for top scorers.
"The challenge provides a level playing field for everyone, whether they are complete newcomers to IOTA or are holders of the prestigious IOTA 1000 Islands Trophy, because everyone starts with a clean slate on 1st January 2012.
"We hope that all our readers will consider ways in which they can support this event. We would like to see work starting now to schedule activity from as many IOTA groups as possible throughout the 24 months.
"Let us target 500 groups initially in the hope and expectation of being able to raise this higher as the Marathon progresses."
The complete rules of the IOTA 50th Anniversary Marathon will appear in the forthcoming ‘RSGB IOTA Directory’ to be released at Dayton. They can also be seen on G3KMA’s website at: http://www.g3kma.dsl.pipex.com
They will also be uploaded to the RSGB IOTA Web site shortly when key personnel return from Visalia at:
http://www.rsgbiota.org
Roger Balister, G3KMA
