FGARC YOTA CONTEST
Contest Rules
1. Organiser: The Fisher’s Ghost Amateur Radio Club Inc. (FGARC).
2. Objective: To promote and increase activity of Youngsters on the Air.
3. Dates and times:
- Start: 00:00:00 UTC on 1 December.
- End: 23:59:59 UTC on 31 December.
4. Allowed Bands: 80m, 40m, 20m, 15m, 10m, 2m, 70cm.
5. Modes: CW, Phone, Digital, Mixed.
6. Categories:
- YOTA (≤ 25 years of age on 1 December). All persons operating the station must be 25 years of age or younger on 1 December.
- Non-YOTA (> 25 years of age on 1 December). Persons of any age may operate the station.
7. Exchange:
- YOTA Station: RS(T) + Y (Yankee)
- Non-YOTA Station: RS(T) + N (November)
- It is important to decide the category you intend to enter before the contest starts as your sent exchange determines your category, and this must not be changed after you start the contest. If your sent exchange is "Y", a person older than 25 years on 1 December must not operate the station during the contest.
- You MUST configure your logging software to log your sent exchange as either "Y" or "N" before you start the contest. (It will default to "N" if you're using our N1MM UDC). Logs received without a valid sent exchange will be rejected at submission.
8. Scoring:
- Contact with a YOTA station: 100 points.
- Contact with a Non-YOTA station: 1 point.
- The final score is the sum of all contact points.
9. Contacts:
- Everyone can work everyone.
- Only one (1) contact with the same station, per band and mode, per calendar day is permitted. You can work the same station multiple times per calendar day provided each contact is on a different band or mode.
- Repeat contacts with the same station per band and mode are only permitted on different calendar days.
- Calendar days start at 00:00:00 UTC and end at 23:59:59 UTC.
- All contacts must be made via RF. Contacts via satellites, telephones, repeaters, Echolink, IRLP, WSPR, or the internet are not permitted.
- All contacts with YOTA stations must be verified by at least one of the following two methods. Unverified YOTA contacts will only score 1 point instead of 100 points. 1. The YOTA station submits a log confirming the QSO.
2. The YOTA station appears in at least one (1) other submitted log.
10. Logs:
- Logs must show the following details for each contact:
- frequency or band
- mode
- UTC date and time
- your station callsign
- RS(T) sent
- exchange sent
- worked station callsign
- RS(T) received
- exchange received
- Logs must be in Cabrillo V3 format.
- ADIF logs can be converted to Cabrillo at https://vk2pr.com/pages/log_converter.
- Log submission deadline is 23:59:59 UTC on 7 January.
- Logs must be submitted online using the submit page.
- The log filename must be in the format “callsign.log”. i.e. “vk2fg.log” (alphanumeric characters only in callsign).
- After your entry is submitted, you can check that your entry has been received on the Received Logs page.
11. General Rules:
- Self-spotting and soliciting contacts is permitted. You must not self-spot on DX/Telnet clusters more than once in a 30 minute period.
- Remote operation is permitted provided all transmitters, receivers, and antennas are located within a circle of 500m diameter.
- Only one (1) callsign may be used per station for the duration of the contest.
- Only one (1) entry is permitted per station callsign. i.e. a station callsign cannot enter both categories.
- A Non-YOTA is not permitted to operate a station entering the YOTA category.
- A YOTA may operate a station entering the Non-YOTA category.
12. Awards:
- Plaques for stations winning first place in each category.
- Certificates for stations placing second and third in each category.
- Participation certificates for all entrants in the YOTA category.
13. Other Notes:
- Suggested CQ call is “CQ YOTA contest” or “CQ VK YOTA Contest”.
- Operators are encouraged to have a conversation with the YOTA when contact is made.
- In this YOTA contest, it is discouraged from having a quick “5 by 9” contest QSO.
- Part of the intent of this contest is to give YOTA operators experience and build their confidence in radio operations, so please, ask a little bit about them, e.g. their operating conditions, why they are interested in amateur radio, etc. See the Help & FAQ page for suggested QSOs.
- If having an extended QSO, log it ASAP after receiving the exchange to avoid large time differences for log checking.
14. Declaration: By submitting a contest log, an entrant agrees that they have:
- Read and understood the rules of the contest and agreed to be bound by them.
- Operated according to all rules and regulations that pertain to amateur radio for the station location.
- Read and agreed to our Privacy Policy.
- Agreed that all actions and decisions made by FGARC in relation to the contest are official and final.
Page last updated: Thursday 23 October 2025 at 06:41:35 UTC.