IRTS 80m Counties Contest

One hour on 80 metres, three times a year, with Ireland's 32 counties as the multipliers.

Rules at irts.ieThe rules are the sponsor's. This page holds the dates and the facts.

When it runs

Dates set by the sponsor each year (no derivable rule)

2000Z → 2100Z

Times are UTC, as the sponsor states them.

The sponsor announces these dates a year at a time and there is no rule to derive, so this calendar holds only the years they have published: 2026.

Next runnings

2000Z Wed 21 Oct → 2100Z Wed 21 Oct · 1h2026
in 20 days

Operating

Modes: CW / SSB
Bands: 80m
CW 3510-3560 kHz; SSB 3600-3650 and 3700-3775 kHz.
Exchange: EI and GI stations send a signal report, a serial number starting at 001 and their county. Everyone else sends the report and serial only.
Logs: no deadline or format recorded
Who can enter: Anyone, anywhere.
Six sections for EI and GI stations and two for stations outside them, so entry is open -- but the counties are the point and they are all in Ireland.

Where this comes from

Checked against the sponsor: Yes. The rule on this page was read off IRTS's own published rules. Link last confirmed 2026-08-23.
What the source says: irts.ie/cgi/st.cgi?r_hfcrules.html for the rules and irts.ie/cgi/st.cgi?test_calendar, IRTS's own Rules & Calendar page for the dates. Bands: '80m: CW 3510 - 3560; SSB 3600 - 3650 & 3700 - 3775'. Exchange: 'Signal report, serial number (starting 001 for the first contact) and county' from EI and GI stations, and 'signal report & serial number only' from DX. Six sections for EI/GI and two for stations outside them. The calendar gives three runnings in 2026: Thursday 1 January at 17:00 UTC, Wednesday 18 March at 20:00 and Wednesday 21 October at 20:00, each one hour, with logs due 15 January, 1 April and 4 November. Checked 2026-08-23.
Recorded caveats: THIS RECORD WAS WRONG IN EVERY FIELD THAT MATTERED AND IS REWRITTEN. It was carried as the third Sunday of June, 1300-1500 UTC, with NO source_note at all -- a stub whose rule, month, weekday, hour and duration were all invented. IRTS runs it three times a year for ONE HOUR each: 1 January, 18 March and 21 October in 2026. Nothing about the old record survived contact with the sponsor's own calendar. It was flagged `verified: false` throughout, which is the only reason it was not a lie -- and it is exactly why the registry entry said 'that record is unverified; source it'. An unverified record is a promise to come back, and this is what coming back found. MANUAL, AND THE NEW YEAR ROUND KEEPS ITS OWN HOUR. The January running is at 1700 UTC and the other two at 2000, so the record's default is 2000 and 1 January carries an override. There is no ordinal to derive: a fixed New Year's Day round and two Wednesday evenings in March and October are not one pattern.

Something wrong? How to report it — a link to the sponsor's own page is all it takes.

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