7O6T - Yemen Approved For DXCC Credit

For those questioning the legitimacy of the 7O6T operation from Yemen, the answer is that it is approved for DXCC credit. See note below received a few moments ago from the ARRL DXCC Desk.

Subject: Operations approved for DXCC
From: "Moore, Bill, NC1L (ARRL Awards Branch)"

The following operations are approved for DXCC credit:

7O6T - Yemen
Current Operations

6O3A - Somalia
2012 Operation

73 es DX!
Bill Moore NC1L
Awards Branch Manager
ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio™
225 Main Street
Newington, CT 06111

 

Never had a question, already uploaded my to LOTW with HRD.

See you at Dayton my friend.. dont know if I'll have any time to QSL check... but I'll try.,

We'll be in booths 108-109-100 in Audio Alley

 

I don’t recall anyone questioning if it was legit, only if it should be. I for one believe that the ARRL should NOT approve for credit (key words are for credit) any operation that excludes (or must exclude) contacts.

 

I agree it is greatly unfair, and shortsighted, if not blind to the Spirit of International good will But the operators have to abide by the rules of the country from which they operate. (It's even in the IARU guidelines.)
But it's also not exactly right to try to boycott and exclude a DXpedition station that's legitimate to over 99.5% of the Amateur Community. The political turmoil and yes, hatred in that part of the world is historic, and rampant. Amateur Radio shouldn't be held hostage.

 

I agree that it's unfair and contrary to the spirit of amateur radio. I work any station anywhere. I have worked 7O6T. I have worked countries that have been on the opposite political pole of the United States. In doing so, I hope that I am spreading a little good will. Yemen is supposedly an ally of the United States and I am sure that there is billions of US dollars pumped into their economy by our military operations there.

 

The issue is not with the DXpedition and it’s my fault for not being clear, I should have stated that the ARRL should not have Yemen on the “DXCC List”.

DXCC is only a game we play; the rules should be constructed such that all players have a fair and equal chance to score points. Any Country (entity) that does not allow fair play of the game simply should not be on the list.

 

Thanks Bill and Bill.

 

As you so aptly note -- DXCC is a "game". It is not a serious life endeavor. It's simply a diversion for some ham radio ops who enjoy competing to contact others operating stations in various places both familiar and not.

Few games are ever truly "fair" -- ask any casino-goer even as they try to "beat the house".

So why get all worked up -- and foster rancor and anger -- over a "game"?

Let it rest, please. Life is unfair. Ranting and complaining here will do nothing to change Yemen's foreign policy and simply seems to be an exercise in trying to spoil the "game" for others.

 

A sad commentary on the ethics of the ARRL that they would approve this DXpedition for DXCC credit. I made my views known to the ARRL and they did not even give me the courtesy of a reply to my email.

 

John, I agree with you 100% - and that was what my objection was to the ARRL for excluding this DXpedition from DXCC (or any other award) credit. The Yemen government is free under the ITU rules to have as vile a set of rules as they so desire, but the international ham radio community should NOT validate their ethnic/religious discrimination, which is exactly what the ARRL has done.

As I said in a Facebook posting to them today "today I am ashamed to admit I am a member of that organization".

 

This is correct - BUT the organizers of the DXpedition, their sponsors and other associated with the project, if they had ethics & integrity, had another alternative: to refuse to accept the constraints imposed upon them by Yemen and discontinue the entire operation. This they did not do, and at least to me that speaks VOLUMES about them.

 

First, I am not worked up; I expressed my opinion (not a rant). Second, what is unfair about casinos? Just because the odds favor the house does not make the games unfair, all players have the same chance to win. To fall back to “life is unfair” is a cop-out, I don’t buy it.

I don’t expect anything posted here will change any policy in Yemen, I am simply saying that the DXCC rules are flawed. The design of the rules has spoiled the “game” for others. Fair play should be the number one objective in any set of “game” rules; and the ARRL has missed the mark.

It is not a rant, not getting worked up, simply expressing my viewpoint on a topic that is worthy of debate.

 

I will be perfectly honest here.
I am quite tired of everyone complaining about the exclusion of Israel. Of course it is wrong but the Yemen Government made up a non sense rule that the team has to follow. If the team does not follow the rules, the operators will likely get imprisoned and you can forget any more operations in Yemen. If a foreign ham was visiting the USA, would you expect them to follow the FCC rules? I sure hope so. And discrediting a dxpedition that the team has put so much time, money and effort into just because the Government is childish makes no sense either. There is about 100 hams listed on QRZ from Israel, but there are millions of hams world wide. It doesn't make it right to exclude those operators but there is little that can be done. It seems to Government in these middle-eastern countries is run by the participants of the QRZ forums and cannot get along because of trivial things.

Complaining about it rarely helps.

*flame suit on*

 

Not complaining always results is worse. I'm sure it would not be acceptable for "credit" for DXCC if Yemen had prohibited communications with the U.S. and everyone would complain about that!

This is another example of the what's-in-it-for-me mentality

 

AMEN Donald!! If we don't complain about something that is wrong, NOTHING will get changed. I for one intend to complain very loud and long.

I'll be at Dayton & I already have a list of folks I will visit to make my views on this issue known to them IN PERSON, including the participants in the DXpedition, their sponsors & assistants, and the ARRL.