1. The European Traveller PSK Award Program (ETPA) was devised by the European PSK Club on 7th May 2011. This was to sponsor a series of PSK awards for activating various European Areas according to the official EPC EU Areas List. This award series is issued to Activators (individual operators) only. This award series is intended to encourage expedition and mobile activity of EPC members from various corners of Europe.
2. Administrative geography concerns itself with the hierarchy of areas relating to national governments in Europe. This hierarchy is complicated for not only are there several layers but the structure is different in each European Country. In addition the boundaries of many of the layers in the hierarchy are subject to periodic or occasional change. Therefore please watch for the EU Areas list updates to make sure that you have its up to date version.
3. ETPA-10, ETPA-20, ETPA-30, ETPA-40, ETPA-50, ETPA-60, ETPA-70, ETPA-80, ETPA-90, and ETPA-100 Awards may be claimed by any licensed radio amateur eligible under these Rules who can produce evidence in a form of ADIF log of having activated 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100 different current EU Areas respectively at the time of application on BPSK31, BPSK63, BPSK125, QPSK31, QPSK63, and/or QPSK125 modes. Credit will be given for contacts made on any of the amateur bands below 30 MHz. If your previously activated EU Area became a deleted entity, it will be counted as a new created EU Area depending on the location of your previous activation. Please note that the Activator can be an individual operator only. The special annual ETPA Excellence Plaque is awarded to those who have activated the greatest amount of EU Areas during the calendar year according to these Rules.
4. ETPA is not the case when you run with your radio through various EU Areas as a marathon runner making just a few contacts per area to make yourself happy as an activator. You must make a minimum of 50 contacts with different stations for ETPA purposes from each EU Area activated and be prepared to attempt to work each station monitoring your frequency. Each worked call sign counts only once per activated EU Area regardless of band or mode. For an EU Area to be activated the operator, transceiver, computer with interface and the whole of the aerial must be located either on land in the EU Area or in a vehicle in the EU Area. If the vehicle is a boat, it must be on an inland waterway. Only if it is not practical for the whole of the aerial to be in the EU Area, the feed point must be in the EU Area. The Activator can use any legal call sign. Contacts made by using club station or special event station call signs count to the credit of the Activator under his own call sign. All stations must be operated in accordance with their licensing conditions. Please note that your home QTH cannot be used as an activated EU Area, moreover the ETPA station must be either portable or mobile. Stations must not be located in a permanent building or shelter. Power must be obtained solely from on-site batteries, portable generators or solar cells, without use of mains. All equipment, aerials and supports must be set up on site no more than 24 hours before the start of the expedition. This does not apply to short term storage of equipment on site. All portable or mobile stations will still be required to sign /p or /m when possible even though in some countries the licence regulations make the use of the /p and /m suffixes optional when operating portable or mobile. Activations count on or after 1st July, 2011. All news from the Activators will be published on the EPC website under the ETPA News, and generated as newsfeeds.
5. To become an ETPA Activator you have to register your own call sign first. This service is available at the EPC Member Centre under your account. After the registration you will receive a notification with your personal Activator Identification Code (AIC). Each AIC consists of 4 digits and issued in the serial number sequence, such as 0001, 0002, 0003, etc. If for some reason you change your personal call sign your AIC remains the same. EPC AIC is given on your personal name, not on your call sign.
6. Each time before you go for activation you have to apply for the Activation Reference Code(s) (ARC) for each unique activating EU Area which consists of EU Area code + your personal AIC + number of your activated EU Area in total (example UK.SG.GL-0001-001). For example if GM0XXX with AIC 9999 is going to activate EU Area UK.SG.GL using MM0EPC/p club's call sign his ARC would be UK.SG.GL-9999-001, where 001 is a serial number of his unique activating EU Area. If GM0YYY with AIC 8888 is going with GM0XXX, and this is his second unique activating EU Area (for example the first one was UK.SC.ST-8888-001 as GM0YYY/p) his ARC this time would be UK.SG.GL-8888-002. Please remember that it's a good practice to send your ARC number during each QSO so that chasers know that you are operating within the ETPA activity.
If GM0XXX went to EU Area UK.SG.GL and made 35 QSOs under ARC UK.SG.GL-9999-001 all these contacts are saved in our database under AIC 9999. This expedition is not valid for ETPA until GM0XXX goes back in to this EU Area and makes another 15 QSOs with different stations at least to make the total of required 50 QSOs per EU Area. As soon as GM0XXX completes the minimum requirement, this EU Area will be calculated as an activated one for his ETPA scores. This second expedition to EU Area UK.SG.GL will have the same ARC. If GM0XXX goes to EU Area UK.SG.GL again, he may make even 1 QSO and be happy since it does not make any difference any more for his ETPA scores, though it would make more happy chasers.
Some handy example:
01.10.2011 - GM0XXX worked as MM0EPC/m from UK.SC.ST (34 QSOs) - ARC UK.SC.ST-9999-001 - not valid yet for his personal score
07.10.2011 - GM0XXX worked as GM0XXX/m from UK.DX.FL (106 QSOs) - ARC UK.DX.FL-9999-002 - valid
08.10.2011 - GM0XXX worked as GM0XXX/m from UK.SC.ST (17 QSOs) - ARC UK.SC.ST-9999-001 - valid now
12.10.2011 - GM0XXX worked as MM0DGR/p from UK.DX.FL (20 QSOs) - ARC UK.DX.FL-9999-002 - already valid, good for more chasers
30.10.2011 - GM0XXX worked as GM0XXX/m from UK.SC.SH (300 QSOs) - ARC UK.SC.SH-9999-003 - valid
The club station's call sign may be used during the activation by the operator(s), but a personal ARC will be issued for each operator of that station. For example individual operators MM0XXX (AIC 0001), MM0YYY (AIC 0002), and MM0ZZZ (AIC 0003) are going to activate EU Area UK.SC.SH by using MM0EPC/p club's call sign. They will have the following ARCs (presuming it is a first expedition for every one):
MM0XXX - UK.SC.SH-0001-001
MM0YYY - UK.SC.SH-0002-001
MM0ZZZ - UK.SC.SH-0003-001
Each operator has to make 50 QSOs at least with different stations by using MM0EPC/p call sign to validate the activation for their personal ETPA score. They may use 1, 2, or 3 radios at the same time if they wish. More operators - more contacts for chasers.
Every time you apply for the ARC number you have to fill-in a special form at the EPC Member Centre with the following fields:
- Call Sign to be Used
- EPC Number
- Operator's Call Sign
- EU Area
- Date(s) and Time of the Activity (Vacation)
- Output Power
- Notes - antennas to be used, radio, software, modem etc. (optional, requires for the ETPA News)
Please note that any expedition carried without ARC number do not count on the ETPA Award Series.
7. When you come back from the expedition you have to upload your log(s) under your ARC(s) at the EPC Member Center. If it was a club station expedition with a few operators, then each operator has to upload his own log separately. All call signs and AICs of the Activators with their results will be listed on the EPC website in the ETPA Achievement List separately from the EPC Award Ranking List. ETPA Award Series does not count on the EPC Award Master Series.
8. The submission for credit of any altered or forged log extractions or, equally, bad behaviour on or off the air which is judged by the European PSK Club to bring a particular programme into disrepute may result in disqualification of the applicant from the Award Programme. Each Activator must be ready to provide evidence (such as photographs, GPS scans, tickets, receipts, copy of the licence, etc.) in support of his operation from certain EU Area if requested. The award manager reserves the right to spot call sign for inspection of applied contacts or to ask for evidence in support of the activation. The purpose of this is not to call into question the integrity of any individual, but rather to ensure the overall integrity of the EPC award program. Failure of the applicant to respond to such spot/evidence check will result in non-issuance of the ETPA award. The decision of the award manager on this and other matters of dispute will be finals.
9. All awards are issued free of charge in a high quality PDF format and sent via email to the applicants. Awards can be printed with the highest quality and with optimal performance by applicants themselves. The ETPA award series is issued to the EPC members only. The ETPA Excellence Plaque is issued free of charge also. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the award manager.
