This was the first time CDARC had attempted the IOTA contest, as such then it was a learning experience for all concerned. The IOTA contest is a contest to work as many island stations as possible in a 24 hour period and is very fiercely fought by over 1000 stations across the world.  The section we decided to enter was the Multi Operator, Low Power (100 watts max), Mixed Mode as this gives the best opportunity for all team members, new contester or experienced, to have a good fun time without the need for a complex set up.

We used the Elecraft K2/100 as the main transceiver, with an FT 840 as backup and a 132 ft doublet fed with ribbon feeder as our main antenna, with a Butternut HF6 as a stand by.  For power we used some very large storage batteries with some solar cells to keep them topped up.  The generator was really for boiling the kettle and topping up the batteries if it was found necessary, in fact it was so hot that nobody wanted tea or coffee and there was no time for tea breaks anyway.  For logging we used the Asus EEEPC running SDI.

Despite the usual sort of problems with /P set ups, RF in the PC/keyer, funny matching between the feeder and the transceiver and over heating of the K2 the set up seemed reasonable effective. You never seem to allow for enough debugging time at these events.  We had surprisingly good EU conditions on 15 and 10m with 20m mostly showing EU activity too.  40 and 80 supplied most of our multipliers and points. The weather was very hot and sunny, probably over 30C, and only one short shower and no close thunder storms.

For most of the team, perhaps more used to the more measured pace of VHF contesting, the level of HF activity and the sheer number of stations were probably a bit of a surprise. However a good time was had by all, some new skills and tricks were learnt so put the last full weekend in July for next year in your diary now.