Field Day Rules
1) Eligibility: Field Day is opened competitively to all
amateurs in the ARRL/CRRL Field Organization (plus Yukon and
NWT). Foreign stations may be contacted for credit, but are not
eligible to compete.
2) Object: To work as many stations as possible on any or
all amateur bands (except 10 MHz) and, in doing so, to learn to
operate in abnormal situations under less-than-optimum
conditions. A premium is placed on skills and equipment developed
to meet the challenge of emergency preparedness and to acquaint
the public with the capabilities of Amateur Radio.
3) Dates: June 27-28, 1992.
4) Field Day Period: From 1800 UTC Saturday until 2100 UTC
Sunday. Class A and Class B (see below) stations who do not begin
setting up until 1800 UTC Saturday may operate the entire Field
Day period of 27 hours. Others must begin their setup no earlier
that 1800 UTC Friday, and may operate no more than 24 consecutive
hours; ie, once on-the-air Field Day operation has started, it
must end 24 hours from that point.
5) Entry Categories: Field Day entries are classified
according to the maximum number of simultaneous transmitted
signals, followed by the designation of the nature of the
individual or group participation. Below 30 MHz, once a
transmitter is used for a contact on a band, it must remain on
that band for at least 15 minutes. During this 15-minute period,
the transmitter is considered to be transmitting a signal,
whether it is or not, for purpose of determining transmitter
class. Switching devices prohibited.
(Class A) Club/nonclub portable: Club groups (or
nonclub groups with three or more licensed amateurs) set up
specifically for Field Day. Such stations must be located in
places that are not regular station locations, and must use no
facilities installed for permanent station use, nor any
structures installed permanently for Field Day use. Stations must
be operated under one call sign (except when the
Novice/Technician position is used) and under the control of a
single licensee or trustee for each entry. All equipment
(including antennas) must lie within a circle whose diameter does
not exceed 300 meters (1000 feet). All contacts must be made with
transmitter(s) and receiver(s) operating independent of
commercial mains. Entrants who, for one reason of another,
operate a transmitter or receiver from commercial mains for one
or more contacts will be listed separately at the end of their
class.
Any Class A group whose entry classification is two or more
transmitters (non-Novice) may also use one Novice/Technician
operating position (Novice bands only) without changing its basic
entry classification. For Field Day purposes only, any Canadian
"Amateur" licensee, who has been licensed for less than six
months prior to Field Day, shall be considered a "Novice" to
provide a means for Canadian Field Day Class A stations with two
or more transmitters to participate with a "Novice/Technician"
operating position. This "Canadian Novice station" is restricted
to the US Novice sub-bands and power/mode restrictions. The
Novice/Technician station (including antennas) should be set up
and operated by Novice and Technician licensees and should use
the call sign of one of the Novice/Technician operators.
(Class A--Battery) Club/nonclub portable: Club groups
(or non club groups with three or more licensed amateurs) set up
specifically for Field Day and all contacts are made using an
output power of 5 W or less and the power source is other than
commercial mains or motor-driven generator (eg, batteries, solar
cells, water-driven generators). Other provisions are the same as
for class A.
(Class B) One- or two-person portable: Nonclub stations
set up and operated by not more than two licensed amateurs will
be placed in Class B. Other provisions are the same as for Class
A. One- and two-person Class B entries will be listed separately
in the results.
(Class B--Battery) One- or two-person portable: Nonclub
stations set up and operated by not more than two licensed
amateurs and all contacts are made using an output power of 5 W
or less and the power source is other than commercial mains or
motor-driven generator (eg, batteries, solar cells, water-driven
generators). Other provisions are the same as for Class A. One-
and two-person Class B--Battery entries will be listed separately
in the results.
(Class C) Mobile: Stations in vehicles capable of
operating while in motion and normally operated in this manner,
including antenna. This includes maritime and aeronautical
mobiles.
(Class D) Home stations: Stations operating from
permanent or licensed station locations using commercial power.
Class D stations may count contacts only with Class A, B, C and E
Field Day groups for points.
(Class E) Home stations--emergency power: Same as Class
D, but using emergency power for transmitters and receivers. Work
stations in Class A, B, C, D and E.
6) Exchange: Stations in any ARRL/CRRL Section will exchange
their Field Day operating class and ARRL/CRRL Section (see page 8
in any QST). For example, if your club group was planning to
operate in the three-transmitter, Class A category from Missouri,
you would send "3 A Missouri". Foreign stations send RS(T) and
QTH.
7) Miscellaneous Rules:
A) Operators participating in Field Day may not, from
any other station, contact for point credit the Field Day
portable station of a group with which they participated.
B) A station used to contact one or more Field Day
stations may not subsequently be used under any other call during
the Field Day period. Family stations are exempted.
C) Each phone and each CW segment is considered as a
separate band. All voice communication contacts are equivalent,
and Packet/RTTY/ASCII/AMTOR is counted as CW. A station may be
worked once on each band. Crossband contacts are not allowed. The
use of more than one transmitter at the same time in a single
band is prohibited, except that a Novice/Technician position may
operate on any Novice band segment at any time. No repeater
contacts.
8) Scoring: Scores are based on the number of valid contact
points times the multiplier corresponding to the highest power
used at any time during the Field Day period, plus bonus points.
Phone contacts count one point each, and CW contacts count two
points each. Power multipliers: If all contacts are made using an
output power of 5 W or less and if a power source other than
commercial mains or motor-driven generator is used (eg,
batteries, solar cells, water-driven generators), multiply by 5.
If any or all contacts are made using an output power of 150 W or
less, multiply by 2. Multiply by 1 if any or all contacts are
made using an output power over 150 watts. Batteries may be
charged while in use for Class C entries only. For other classes,
batteries charged during the Field Day period must be charged
from a power source independent of the commercial mains.
A) Bonus points: The following bonus points will be
added to the score (after the multiplier is applied) to determine
the final score. Only Class A and B stations are eligible for
bonuses. Just check the box on the Field Day summary sheet to
indicate that you qualify for the bonus, and attach the necessary
proof.
1) 100% emergency power: 100 points per
transmitter for 100% emergency power. All equipment and
facilities at the Field Day site must be operated from a source
independent of the commercial mains. Example: A club operating
3A, using 100% emergency power may claim 300 bonus points.
2) Public relations:
A) 100 points for media publicity. Publicity
must be obtained or a bona fide attempt to obtain publicity must
be made. Evidence must be submitted in the form of a newspaper
clipping, a memo from a BC/TV station stating that publicity was
given or a copy of the material that was sent to the news media
for publicity purposes.
B) 100 points for physically locating in a
public place (eg shopping center, parks, etc) with significant
access by the public. The intent here is for Amateur Radio to be
on display to the public.
C) An additional 100 points can be earned by
such display stations in public places actively conducting an
information booth for the visiting public, and dispensing
information handouts, maintaining visitor's log, etc, as an
information/recruiting tool for Amateur Radio. Evidence submitted
for both (B) and (C) may consist of copies of handouts, visitor's
log, brief report on activities conducted, photos, etc.
3) Message origination: 100 points for origination
of a message by the club president or other Field Day leader,
addressed to the SM or SEC, stating the club name (or nonclub
group), number of operators, field location and number of ARES
members participating. The message must be transmitted during the
Field Day period, and a fully serviced copy of it must be in
standard ARRL message form or no credit will be given.
4) Message relay: 10 points for each message
received and relayed during the Field Day period, up to a maximum
of 100 points. Copies of each message, properly service, must be
included with the Field Day report.
5) Satellite QSO: 100 points can be earned by
completing at least one QSO via satellite during the Field Day
period. The repeater provision of Rule 7C is waived for satellite
QSOs. A satellite station (one) does not count as an additional
transmitter. On the summary sheet, show satellite QSOs as a
separate "band".
6) Natural Power: Field Day groups making a
minimum of five QSOs without using power from commercial mains or
petroleum derivatives can earn 100 points. Intuitively, this
means an "alternate" energy source of power such as solar, wind,
methane or grain alcohol. This includes batteries charged by
natural means (not dry cells). The natural-power station counts
as an additional transmitter. If you do not wish to change your
entry class, take one of your other transmitters off the air
while making the natural-power QSOs. A separate list of natural-
power QSOs should be enclosed with your entry.
7) W1AW message: A bonus of 100 points will be
earned by copying a special ARRL Field Day bulletin sent over
W1AW on its regularly announced frequencies just before and
during Field Day. This message can be received directly from W1AW
or by any relay method. An accurate copy of the received message
should be included in your Field Day report.
8) Packet Radio: 100 points can be earned by
completing at least one QSO on packet radio during the Field Day
period. The repeater provision of Rule 7C is waived for packet
radio QSOs. A packet station (one) does not count as an
additional transmitter. On the summary sheet, show packet radio
QSOs as a separate "band".
9) Reporting: Entries must be postmarked by July 28, 1992.
No late entries can be accepted. A complete entry consists of an
official ARRL summary sheet (or reasonable facsimile) and a list
of stations worked on each band/mode during Field Day, plus bonus
proof. The list of stations worked on each band or mode may take
the form of official ARRL dupe sheets or an alphanumeric listing
of call signs worked per band and mode. This list may be
computer-generated. Incomplete or illegible entries will be
classified as checklogs. A copy of Field Day logs should be kept
by your Field Day group, but should not be sent in unless
specifically requested later by ARRL.
10) Condition of Entry: Each entrant agrees to be bound by
the provisions, as well as the intent, of this announcement, the
regulations of his or her licensing authority and the decisions
of the ARRL Awards Committee.
11) Disqualifications: See January 1992 QST, page 108.
[Box 1] ** BOX AND 10% SCREEN **
Send for Your Field Day Package
Send to HQ a 9- x 12-inch self-addressed envelope with 4 units of
First Class US postage or 4 IRCs for the official Field Day Entry
Package. This package includes 1 Publicity Kit, 1 Field Day
Summary Sheet, 1 large dupe sheet with instructions and a check
list to ensure that your entry is complete. If you require more
dupe sheets, indicate so in your request and affix 1 unit of
additional First Class postage to your SASE for each two
additional dupe sheets requested.
[Box 2] ** BOX AND 10% SCREEN **
W1AW Field Day Bulletin Schedule
In addition to the regular schedule detailed on page 00 of
April QST, extra CW bulletins will be run at 1400 UTC (10 AM
EDT), and extra phone bulletins at 1500 UTC (11 AM EDT) both
Saturday and Sunday mornings.
*eof
|