The 2007 IOTA provisional scores have been posted and it looks like the N4A expedition to the South Core Banks did well in the low power category. The scores for low power expeditions shows that N4A (N4YDU & W4KAZ) placed 24th worldwide, 13th worldwide for mixed mode, and #1 in North America for low power expeditions.
The mast pictured in the photo on the right is 1.785 (45mm) military surplus mast obtained from K4TMC, The Mast Company. The N4A website has more photos of the gear used.
The IOTA results database results also seem to show that N4A might also have the #2 low power score from North America, but that is not an award category for the IOTA contest. We were #105 worldwide, low power, and for NA we were beaten by #66 WP2I operating a fixed station in Puerto Rico. We just barely edged out W4H. Geography is an issue. Given the short propagation conditions, our east coast location was good, but not as good as some of the high power Canadian entries.
This is a fun contest, and it gets less participation from the US than from EU. For those looking for another summertime contest to go along with Field Day and IARU, this is a great one for hunting EU DX. If you are able to operate from a qualifying island, you can be a multiplier- and the DX will be hunting you!
You certainly did better than I did as ZF2DK: I came in 1615th place overall. However, I am not complaining: I was in ZF on vacation (or holiday, as some say), and just operating between dips in the pool and working on my suntan. I didn’t even realize that the IOTA contest would take place while I was there, so I just did a few dozen contacts and submitted my log. Of course, I think that technically I “won” for operating from Grand Cayman (mostly since I was the only one on the island who operated in the contest).
Incidentally, the links to the IOTA contest in your post are broken, they point to some Stew Perry info. Here’s what you had intended to post: http://iotacontest.com/contest/iota/2007/finalScore.php
Thanks for the heads up on the busted link.
I hope the Caymans were more moderate than the outer banks. The heat and humidity took its toll on us, and we had not hydrated properly for it. No pool either. 😉