All amateur bands with the exception of 30, 17, and 1

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FIELD DAY 2003

• Brad Humphries, AE4VJ
• Marc Tarplee N4UFP

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1.Background
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What and When is Field Day?

• Field Day is a contest in which US and Canadian
  amateurs try to work as many stations as possible
  during the contest period.
• All amateur bands with the exception of 30, 17,
  and 12 meters may be used.
• The contest occurs from Saturday 1800Z to Sunday
  2100Z in the fourth week of June
• A premium is placed on developing skills to meet
  the challenges of emergency preparedness as well
  as to acquaint the general public with the
  capabilities of Amateur Radio.

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Field Day History

• The First Field Day
• Held 10 11 June 1933
• Merely a test of portable equipment
• Included W and VE amateurs
• Field Day as a test of emergency preparedness was
  the idea of Ed Handy, W1BDI
• From 1934 on, Field Day had a dual role
• Contest
• Test of emergency preparedness
• This year marks the 70th anniversary of that
  first Field Day

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2. The Rules
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Field Day Rules

• Complete Field Day Rules can be found through the
  following link http//www.arrl.org/contests/rules
  /2003/rules-fd-2003.html
• The rules are quite complex- the following slides
  provide a summary of the most important rules

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Operating Classes

• (Class A) Club / non-club portable Club group or
  a non-club group with three or more licensed
  amateurs set up specifically for Field Day.
• (Class A - Battery) Class A operation in which
  transmitter power must be less than or equal to 5
  W and the power source cannot be commercial
  power or a generator
• (Class B) One or two person portable Club or
  non-club stations set up and operated for Field
  Day purposes by no more than two licensed
  amateurs. Other provisions are the same for Class
  A.
• (Class B - Battery) Class B operation in which
  transmitter power must be less than or equal to 5
  W and the power source cannot be commercial
  power or a generator

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Operating Classes

• (Class C) Mobile Stations in vehicles capable
  of operating while in motion and normally
  operated in this manner.
• (Class D) Home stations using commercial power.
  Class D stations cannot count contacts made with
  other class D stations
• (Class E) Home stations - Emergency power
• (Class F) Emergency Operations Centers (EOC)
  Class F operation must take place at an
  established EOC site. Stations may utilize
  equipment and antennas temporarily or permanently
  installed at the EOC for the event.

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Contest Exchange

• Stations in ARRL / RAC sections will exchange
  their Field Day operating Class and ARRL / RAC
  section. Example a three transmitter class A
  station in Connecticut would send "3A CT" on CW
  or "3 Alpha Connecticut" on phone. DX stations
  send operating class and the term DX (i.e. 2A
  DX).
• Our exchange will be 1E SC
• Note Sections are not the same as states. For
  example, CA has 8 sections, with the following
  abbreviations
• Los Angeles LAX Orange ORG
• Santa Barbara SB Santa Clara Valley SCV
• San Diego SDG San Francisco SF
• San Joaquin Valley SJV Sacramento Valley SV

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Other Rules

• A person who participates by making a QSO from
  one Field Day operation may not subsequently work
  that same operation from which he participated to
  provide them point credit.
• A station used to contact one or more Field Day
  stations may not subsequently be used under any
  other callsign to participate in Field Day.
• Each Phone, CW and Digital (non-CW) segment is
  considered a separate band. A station may only be
  worked once per band.
• All voice contacts are equivalent and all non-CW
  digital contacts are equivalent.

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And Still More Rules

• Cross-band contacts are not permitted.
• The use of more than one transmitter at the same
  time on a single band-mode is prohibited.
• No repeater contacts are allowed.
• Batteries may be charged while in use. Except for
  class D stations, the batteries must be charged
  from a power source other than commercial power
  mains. To claim the power multiplier of five, the
  batteries must be charged from something other
  than a motor driven generator or commercial
  mains.

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Scoring QSO points

• Phone - QSO Points contacts count one point
  each.
• CW contacts count two points each.
• Digital contacts count two points each.
• Stations may use more than one mode during the
  contest

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Scoring Power Multipliers

• Power multipliers - determined by the highest
  power output of any of the transmitters used
  during the Field Day operation.
• all contacts are made using a power of 5 W or
  less and if a power source other than commercial
  mains or motor-driven generator is used, the
  power multiplier is 5.
• all contacts are made using a power of 5 W or
  less, but the power source is from a commercial
  main or from a motor-driven generator, the power
  multiplier is 2.
• If any contacts are made using an output power up
  to 150 W, the power multiplier is 2.
• If any contacts are made using an output power
  greater than 150 W, the power multiplier is one.

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Scoring Bonus Points

• Only Class A and B stations are eligible for
  bonus points.
• 100 Emergency Power 100 points per transmitter
  classification if all contacts are made only
  using an emergency power source.
• Media Publicity 100 bonus points may be earned
  for attempting to obtain publicity from the local
  media.
• Public Location 100 bonus points for physically
  locating the Field Day operation in a public
  place

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Scoring More Bonus Points

• Public Information Table 100 bonus points for a
  Public Information Table at the Field Day site.
• Message Origination to Section Manager 100 bonus
  points for origination of a National Traffic
  System (NTS) style formal message to the ARRL
  Section Manager or Section Emergency Coordinator
  by your group from its site.
• Message Handling 10 points for each formal NTS
  style originated, relayed or received and
  delivered during the Field Day period, up to a
  maximum of 100 points

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Scoring Still More Bonus Points

• Satellite QSO 100 bonus points for successfully
  completing at least one QSO via an amateur radio
  satellite during the Field Day period.
• Alternate Power 100 bonus points for Field Day
  groups making a minimum of five QSOs without
  using power from commercial mains or a petroleum
  driven generator.
• W1AW Bulletin 100 bonus points for copying the
  special Field Day bulletin transmitted by W1AW
  during its operating schedule during the Field
  Day weekend

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Scoring Even More Bonus Points

• Non-Traditional Mode Demonstrations A maximum of
  300 bonus points (100 points for each
  demonstration up to three) for setting up a
  demonstration of a non-traditional mode of
  amateur radio communications. (not PSK-31).
• Site Visitation by an elected governmental
  official
• Site Visitation by a representative of an
  agency

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Reporting the Results

• Entries must be postmarked or emailed by July 29,
  2003.
• A complete entry includes
• An official ARRL summary sheet completely and
  accurately filled out
• A list of stations worked by band/mode during the
  Field Day period
• Proofs of bonus points claimed
• Complete station logs are not required for
  submission. The club should maintain log files
  for one year in case they are requested by ARRL
  HQ.

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3.Field Day Operating Procedures
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Band Selection

• Field Day rules require that a station stay on a
  given band for at least 15 minutes.
• Prior to operating, monitor the bands from
  highest to lowest, to determine where the
  activity is.
• Start with the highest band and move to a lower
  band only when
• Propagation on the current band has disappeared
• All stations have been worked

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Mode Selection

• SSB, CW and HF digital modes are all allowed.
• Contacts made through CW and HF digital modes
  count 2 points each versus 1 point for SSB.
• SSB contacts can be made more quickly (60 140
  per hr vs 30 70 per hr for CW)
• Choice of mode is determined primarily by
  operator preference

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Operating Strategies

• Running a Frequency
• Find a vacant frequency and call CQ Field Day
• Work any stations that respond
• Produces high QSO rate
• Better suited to QRO operation
• Hunt and Pounce
• Move from one end of band to other and respond to
  CQs
• Produces lower QSO rate
• Better suited for QRP operation

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K4YTZs Strategy

• Mixed approach
• Run a single frequency until activity drops
• Then search band for additional QSOs
• Then change bands and repeat the process
• Advantages of this approach
• K4YTZ has opportunity to work more stations (an
  op has to hunt and pounce to work other runners)

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Logging Contacts

• Logging can be done on paper, but PC-based
  logging is faster and more accurate.
• K4YTZ uses WinEQF logging software
• Advantages of WinEQF over paper
• It can be set up specifically for Field Day
• It automatically checks for duplicate contacts
• It automatically computes the score
• It automatically prepares a contest entry file
  for submission to ARRL
• WinEQF Demo