Islands On The Air (IOTA) users may now obtain contact credits via ARRL’s Logbook of The World (LoTW). A similar arrangement is already in place with Club Log.

“Islands On The Air (IOTA) Ltd. is delighted to announce the implementation of the ARRL application which allows the use of QSO-matching via LoTW,” IOTA’s Roger Balister, G3KMA, said. “We wish to thank ARRL for having made their application available.”

Balister said an initial list of operations extending from the arrangement with LoTW has been added to the IOTA database, and these will become available for contact-matching starting on May 21. “We are sure that the IOTA community will welcome this development for which they have long been pressing,” Balister added.

ARRL Director of Operations Norm Fusaro, W3IZ, points out that LoTW has, for years, allowed award sponsors access to a utility that lets them verify contacts in LoTW. “The IOTA folks have begun using this utility, but still check the QSOs against known IOTA operations,” he explained, noting that applicants cannot apply for IOTA awards through LoTW.

To claim a new island group from matched LoTW contacts, users would click on “Retrieve QSOs from LoTW” to retrieve matching records. Within 30 minutes, IOTA users will receive an email listing the matches added to a list of pending contacts.

Use the “Submit HF application” or “Submit VHF application” utilities to go through the steps necessary to ensure that your application is complete before submitting it. Once IOTA has accepted the LoTW-matched contacts and any others in an application supported by QSL cards, IOTA will credit the contacts to your IOTA Award account and issue any appropriate awards or certificates.

See Instructions for LoTW QSO Matching for details. Direct correspondence to the IOTA Support Desk.