India Islands Awards

In India,we have hundreds of islands in the coastal region,as well as in the deep sea. Indian Islands in the deep sea were activated by operators (both DX and VUs) many times since Indian Independence. All these Islands have IOTA listings. Some activities in the Coastal Island Groups have taken place too and their listings are also given.

In addition, we had 24 Indian Antarctic Expeditions too, to bases like Indian Bay Camp,Dakshin Gangothri, and Maithri in the 7th Continent. This year,(2007-09), the 25th IAE Team is in Maitri Base.

The name of the Award is derived from the first two alphabets of ANdaman, NIcobar, LAkshadweep, MInicoy and Coastal Islands, and it contains the two alphabets of Antarctica also.

Time period:  All QSOs from 15th August 1947, are valid.

Duplication:  Duplicate QSO’s with the same call sign are NOT ACCEPTABLE for scoring.

QSO Points System:      A system of scoring is developed, from which you can score the Confirmed QSOs you have with the Indian Islands, as given below. The Islands that have been frequently activated have less weightage to those which are activated the least.

  1. Any Confirmed QSO with Indian Islands, before 15th August 1972, counts as follows:

 Andaman        (AS-001),              15 points

 Nicobar        (AS-033),              20 points

 Lakshadweep    (AS-011) and           15 points

 Minicoy        (AS-106) Islands       20 points.

  1. For confirmed QSOs with a Coastal Island group(only one expedition QSO is counted per island), on any date, counts at 15 points each.

 St. Mary Island-  AS-096   (2 expeditions)    Karnataka State Gr.

 Sagar Island   –  AS-153   (4 expeditions)    West Bengal State Gr.

 Sacrifice Rock –  AS-161   (1 Expedition)     Kerala State Gr.

 Elephanta Is   –  AS-169   (3 Expeditions)    Maharashtra State gr.

 Arnala  Is     –  AS-169   (1 Expedition)     Maharashtra State gr.

 Pamban  Is     –  AS-173   (1 Expedition)     Tamil Nadu  State Gr.

 Nachugunta  Is –  AS-199   (1 Expedition)     Andhra Pradesh State South Gr.

 Grandi  Is     –  AS-177   (1 Expedition)     Goa State Gr.

  1. For any confirmed QSO with Multinational expeditions like VU4AN/VU2…,

VU4AN/VU3…,VU4MY,VU4RG,VU7SJ, etc.,. QSLs with operator’s call like  VU4../VU3…; and  VU7…/VU3…  is  ONLY accepted for the following:

VU4AN,VU4RG, VU4MY, VU7SJ  etc., count 03  points each

VU7MY, VU7NRO                    count 04  points each

VU7LD                            count 05  points each

  1. For any confirmed contact with a LOCAL ham resident of the Island/ or Official postedin  Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshadweep, Minicoy and Coastal  Is ,

with valid address printed on the QSL, is  15 points,Examples VU2,4 and 7 for  suffixes GV,DIA,FBZ/FB,JPS.  (VK9NS  operations from VU2JPS is not considered)

  1. For any confirmed QSO with a Resident Mainland Indian withVU2…/VU4,

VU2…/VU7, call  in  the  Andaman, Nicobar,  Lakshadweep and Minicoy  Islands, is worth   15 points.,

  1. AnyQSO with  expeditions of VU2ANI,VU2NRM,VU2KV,VU7WCY/RM,VU7US,VU2GDG,   etc.. from any of the  Islands count for  20 points
  2. Any QSO with the Indian Antarctic Expedition Station counts for 20 points.

IOTA  AN-010,016; WAP-IND-01-Dakshin Gangothri; IND-02-Indian Bay Camp;IND-03-Maithri.

Only ONE Antarctic  QSL is considered for SECOND Class Award. TWO QSL scores can be considered for FIRST and EXCELLENCE  Class awards,provided the QSO is NOT with the same Indian  Antarctic call sign.

(  VU2IF, AT0A, VU2AXA, VU3PMG, AT3A, AT3D,VU2JBK, VU2MSW, VU2RAY, VU3HKQ, VU3DEN, VU3NHQ, VU3BPZ etc were QRV from Indian Antarctic Bases, at different periods.)

  1. Award Endorsements and Classes:

Mode endorsement available  for CW, SSB, Digital or Mixed;

Band endorsement  Single or All bands;  is available.

Award Classification:

BASIC:    If you have confirmed QSOs with any THREE groups. For example:(i) Andaman (iii)ONE of the Coastal Is Groups, then, the number of points required for the or Nicobar Is; (ii)Lackshadweep or  Minicoy Is, “Basic Award” is a minimum of “50” points. Minimum 3 QSL cards needed.

SECOND:  If you have Confirmed QSOs with ANY THREE of (1) Andaman or Nicobar or    Lakshadweep or Minicoy Is Groups,(3) any TWO of the Coastal Island groups,and one Indian Antarctic QSO, activated till date of application, the number of points required for the “Second Class Award” is a minimum of 90 points. Minimum of 6 QSLs needed.

FIRST:   If you have confirmed QSOs  with each of  Andaman, Nicobar, Lakshadweep and Minicoy Is Groups, THREE  of the Coastal Island groups,and two Indian Antarctic QSOs, activated till the date of your application,with over 120  points,you get “FIRST Class Award”. Minimum of 9 QSL cards needed.

EXCELLENCE: If you have confirmed QSOs  with EACH of  Andaman, Nicobar, Lakshadweep and Minicoy Is Groups, FOUR  of the Coastal Island groups,and two Indian Antarctic QSOs, activated till the date of your application, you get “EXCELLENCE Class Award”. Requirements, for this class is a minimum of 150 points. Minimum of 10 QSL cards are needed.

Award upgrade from one class to another, is by a new certificate and endorsement only. No stickers are available. In case, you qualify for FIRST class Award, there is no need to get the Basic and Second Class Awards.

AWARD MAILING: The award would be of “A4” size (210×297 mm), in multi-colour. From the experiences of many amateurs, it is  seen that Postal Transit Losses and folding/mutilations are very common/frequent. To avoid this sort of a loss or mutilation, this award is issued in the ELECTRONIC FORM  and sent to your E-mail Id, ready to be downloaded at your end, in “pdf” format.

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In the new millennium, activations of Coastal Island Groups like AS-169, AS-173 and

AS-199  were accomplished and  the following operations have taken place from non-Coastal Island  Groups:

VU4AN  (Andaman Is) had 30 DX ops with VU calls and 39 VUs were also there from  17 April to 25 April 2006

VU7LD (Lakshadweep Is) had 20 plus VU operators  in    December 2007  operating from Kavaratti Is.

VU7MY (Minicoy) had 5 VU operators from  15th to 30th January 2007  from Minicoy Is

VU7RG  (Lakshadweep Is)  had  DX operators  working from Agatti, Bangaram, Kadamat Is; 15th to 25th January 2007,

VU4RG (Andaman) with German operators from 24 Oct to 03 Nov 2008

VU4MY (Andaman) with VU YLs VU2YAM and VU2BL from  24 Oct to 03 Nov 2008

VU7SJ (Lakshadweep- Agatti Is) with German and VU Ops from 24 Oct to 03 Nov 2008

VU7NRO (Lakshadweep- Kadamatt Is) with OM VU2UWZ and XYL VU2NIS team 24 Oct to 03 Nov 2008

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PROOF OF QSOs/QSLs:   Scanned copies of QSLs are to be E-mailed, to  The Awards Manager, for scrutiny  to “VU2UR@)rediffmail.com”,or “Manohar_arasu@yahoo.co.in”.

Award Fee is 7 latest IRCs or Bank’s Demand Draft for 7 US$ 0r  5 Euros to be sent  to VU2UR’s postal address(by Registered post only, as the pilfereage in postal transit is TOOmuch).Green Stamps are NOT to be sent under any circumstance, by mail.

Those applying for other than,Basic Award, like  Second, First and Excellence class, without applying for the Basic Award, the fee is 10 latest IRCs, or 10 US$ or 5 € only

Second Series of VU Awards from VU2UR.

The first series of Six Awards contained:  SAARC  Award, Himalaya-Hind Sagar Railway Award,

VU-10 Million PIN points Award; World Heritage-India Award; ANNILAMICI Award and

Worked VUFF Award. The interest shown by the world of amateurs, is very encouraging.

The following seven awards in Electronic form, contain five simpler awards for working various

VU Islands, like VU4, VU7  and Coastal islands. The other two awards are  for working

VU Amateur Radio Contesters and the City of Bengaluru.

No QSLs required. No date limit.All bands all modes including  WARC bands  OK.

Endorsement for single mode, single band can be given. Only Electronic Award. in “pdf or jpeg”

  format will be mailed to your E-mail Id.

Please read the requirements of each award. Check from your VU log, and  you may be

qualifying for more than ONE award. I request all of you to send your  VU log to me first,

I will check your  log and would notify you about the  number of awards  you can  claim.

You can send ONE GCR list, claiming more than one award, after my checking your VU log.

If you are claiming more than three awards, the question of your sending the  award fee, gets

easier. For those claiming less than three awards, IRC mode  may be convenient.

The fee for 3 awards is 3 Euros; for 4 awards- 4 Euros; for 5 awards- 5 Euros.

For 6 or 7 Awards also –5 Euros only. This can be sent via Western Union transfer to the

following name and address, of giving full details the sender and his full address:

“B.L.Manohar”.

MIG-6, 80 Feet Road, KST, BANGALORE 560060, India.

My E-mail Id  is vu2ur2009@rediffmail.com

Please do not send any Green Stamps or Euros in snail mail, which are always stolen

in transit.

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1)    Worked  ANDAMAN  ISLANDS  Award  (W A I  AWARD)

WAIA

Requirements: Work different Andaman Island stations as follows

For BASIC award- 4 different Andaman QSOs

For FIRST  Class Award, 8 different Andaman QSOs and

For EXCELLENCE Class Award, 12 different Andaman QSOs.

Fee ONLY 2 IRCs.                          Submit GCR list.

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2)   Worked  ANDAMAN-NICOBAR ISLANDS  Award  (W A-N I  AWARD)

WANIA

Requirements: Work different stations from Andaman and Nicobar Islands

as follows:

For Basic Award, you need 4 different Andaman and 1 Nicobar QSO.

For First Class Award, you need 8 different Andaman and 1 Nicobar QSOs  and

for  Excellence Class, you need  12 different Andaman and 2 Nicobar QSOs.

Fee ONLY 2 IRCs.                        Submit GCR list.

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3)     Worked LAKSHADWEEP ISLANDS  Award (W L I AWARD)

WLIA

Requirements: Work minimum of 3 different Lakshadweep(Laccadive) Stations

Fee ONLY 2 IRC.                         Submit GCR list.

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4)     Worked LAKSHADWEEP-MINICOY ISLANDS  Award (W L-M I AWARD)

WLMIA

Requirements: Work minimum of 3 different Lakshadweep(Laccadive) Stations

and 1 Minicoy Station.

.

Fee ONLY 2 IRC.                         Submit GCR list.

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5)       Worked Coastal Islands of India ( WCII  Award )

WVUCIA

Requirements: Work minimum of 4 different  QSOs covering at least 3 coastal Islands.

More than  one QSO from the same island, but with a different call sign is OK

Fee ONLY 1 IRC.                          Submit GCR list.

 

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6)      Worked VU  Contesters  Award  (W VU C  Award)

WVUCA

There is a new generation of VU amateur radio contesters. They are  contesting

in CW, SSB, and Digital modes in various International Amateur Radio Contests.

Some of them are:

VU2TS, VU2PAI, VU2PTT, VU2MTT, VU3DMP,VU2SWS, VU2NKS, VU2NXM, VU3DJQ,

VU2LBW, VU2CDP,VU2BGS, VU2UR, VU2LYX, VU2RMS, VU2JOS, VU2NIS  and others……

Requirement: Work any 3 different stations from the above list, in any one or

more Contests, (giving the name of the contest), or non-contest QSOs,  too are valid.

No QSLs required. No date limit. All bands all modes OK.

Endorsement for single mode, single band can be given.

Fee ONLY 1 IRC.                           Submit GCR list.

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7)     Worked  BENGALURU  Award     (W   BENGALURU  Award)

WBA

The city of  BENGALURU( a k a  BANGALORE ) the capital city of the State of

Karnataka is known as the ELECTRONIC  CITY  or GARDEN  CITY or SILICON CITY or

IT CITY of India. The city has over 1500 amateur licence holders QRV in

VHF/UHF/Satellite / CW/SSB/and Digital modes.

The very active stations from this city were/are:

VU2PTT, LBW, ZAP,WAP, RMS, BGS, GX (SK), IR(SK), MKP (SK), UR, LX, GUR, VNK,

LYX, LCI, JHM, FI, POP, GSM, 3GFF, 3ITI  and others…..

Requirement: Work any 2 different stations from this city.

No QSLs required. No date limit.All bands all modes   OK.

Endorsement for single mode, single band can be given.

Fee ONLY 1 IRC.                          Submit GCR list.