[FieldDay] proposed FD changes

[Greg Williams]

I couldnt agree more with what you said.

The only reason I got serious about upgrading for HR privvies was because I
got involved in FD the first year I became licensed.  I spent all but 4
hours at FD that first year, the 4 others spent seeing a friend in a
hospital.

I believe there are other aspects to consider as well:

---Bring back VHF/UHF bonus points.  I think that they were important to
field day, as it helped the club I worked with get many locals who used
simplex to come out later on during field day and get them on the air!  Now,
there is no incentive to work VHF/UHF and it may have alienated some.

---Along the same lines, we need better incentives for Microwave,
moonbounce, packet, and other forms of communications.  Gives bonus points
for RTTY, PSK31, setting up a packet gateway, etc.  Im not saying to dilute
the rules with bonus points for every little thing, however, it is the one
event where so many various forms of communication are used all at once, and
to get HAMs or non-HAMs into the activity, what better place to present
these  other avenues than Field Day, and the incentives would only present
itself to see that other HAMs can explore these other areas and enjoy them.

---Set up a CW practice location and obtain further bonus points.  There are
CW practice kits out there that MFJ and others sell.  If there was a way to
set up a table with a CW keyer, speaker, copy of the morse code letters,
numbers, and punctuation, this might also do well in bringing not only more
people to CW (I know my code is real rusty) but it could entertain those who
might not otherwise have the incentive to practice CW.  Again, the ARRL
might even consider bonus points for this as well.

---Concerning the FD msg, its too easy.  If you dont go to copy the code,
you can simply tune in later on and record the voice msg for later use in
getting points.  I think that the FD message should be trasnsmitted in CW
only, and incread the points by double as an even swap.  Play the msg two or
three times in the 24 hours on CW only.  Make these people work for their
bonus points, dont hand it to them!  ;-)

Your "training station" idea is a novel concept, but a lot of people just
sit next to the station(s) and listen for a few minutes before someone hands
them the mic and they start on their merry way.  When I first did it, I sat
and recorded the contacts onto paper, so that I could learn what to listen
for, what to report, and how to record them.  Later on that night I was the
center of a pileup and I was flying thru the contacts all on my own,
transmitting and recording them down as well as scurrying to get the dupe
sheet caught up.  It was one heck of a pileup but I was holding my own!
Perhaps the "training station" and my CW practice station can be merged
together...

Some great ideas here to consider.  73's

Greg, K4HSM






----- Original Message -----
From: "Anthony A. Luscre" <aluscre@neo.rr.com>
To: <fieldday@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 9:22 AM
Subject: [FieldDay] proposed FD changes


With 2001 being the last year of special Novice stations in ARRL FD
there has been a lot of discussion as to what would replace them in
future years. I understand that Field Day has a very long and wonderful
past as one of the seminal yearly events sponsored by the ARRL. A very
large proportion of U.S. and Canadinan hams participate in Field Day
each year, more than any other operating event.
Therefore, I am hesitant to see changes, unless they are for the
betterment of amateur radio and the ARRL. I feel that  FD has always
been a wonderful introduction for new hams. Because U.S. licensing
requirements do not require a demonstration of operating techniques or a

probationary period of operating, many new hams are very well versed in
rules, theory and Morse code but not in operating techniques. "Mic and
key fright" have often hampered many hams from using their newly acquire

privileges. FD has been a great place to make those first few shaky
contacts under the watchful eye of more experienced hams. FD has also
acted
as a great "laboratory" for learning about setting up towers and
antennas,
seeing new equipment and learning about new modes ( packet, satellites,
VHF SSB, etc.). Lastly and very important is the emergency preparedness
aspect of the FD exercise.

 I have been involved in 20 field operations including 18 with a local
club, two 1B operations when out of town, I have also been a previous
Novice/ Tech station for local club and served as FD chairperson 4 times

for our local club. In addition I have also been very active in teaching

new ham classes and elmering new hams.

I feel that three very important issues could be addressed with some
slight adjustment of the current Field Day rules-

A. Encourage new hams to be active on HF, give them a taste of "contest"

style operations and get involved in Emergency Communications

B. Focus on the Operating/Training aspect while minimizing impact on
club "scores". Clubs can then have it both ways- strong competitive
operations with a relaxed, nurturing atmosphere that is inclusive of all

hams no matter their abilities, ages or experience.

C. Make copying the ARRL message  a more important aspect of FD.

To meet the above criteria I suggest the following changes to Field Day
Rules-

1. "TRAINING STATION" to replace the Novice/Tech station- The "Training
Station" would be for newer hams and elmers. I think the easy way to
minimize the "points aspect" and stress the "training aspect" of the
training station is to follow these basic suggestions-

a. No points per QSO are given to the station operating the Training
Station(s) for the contacts they make, instead 20 points are awarded per

hour for having one or more Training Stations on the air during each one

hour segment of the 24 hours of FD (i.e. if a station is on anytime
during
18:00 to 19:00 that is 20 points). No extra points are given for more
than one
station at a time. This way of awarding points would take the focus off
the number and speed of contacts and stress the aspect of being on the
air.

b. Training Station(s) would use the call of the "Elmer" ham(s) or
"Newbie" ham(s) different than that of the call being used by regular FD

station(s). It can change hourly if new operates take over the "training
station"(this gets
around the "Dupe" situations for other stations that also work the
regular FD stations.

c. Training Station(s) can use all normal FD bands and modes (a variety
of modes would be a benefit to energizing new hams).

d. Training Station(s) cannot work its sponsor's regular FD stations.

e. Training Station(s) would not change FD classification of regular FD
operation (i.e- 5A stays 5A, even if one or more Training Stations are
on air
also).

f. Entry sent to ARRL will consist of a report of how many Training
Station(s) were on the air, calls  used and checklist of which hour
segments they were on the air and a list of all the calls of hams that
were being
trained.

g. Two other additional possibilities would also present themselves -
i. ARRL could send out a "Welcome to FD" certificate to all "newbie"
hams
listed in "f" above (along with an application to join ARRL, of course).

ii. The "Training Stations" are a great place to give tours for
visitors,
scout groups, etc.


2. FIELD DAY MESSAGE- making the message more "interactive" would
increase
emergency communications aspect of the process.

a. Message should refer to some action to be carried out during FD to
earn bonus points.

b. There are many years of different possibilities. Examples could
include but not be limited to- working a particular band or mode,
sending an additional  exchange (i.e. zip code, area code, temperature,
etc.), forwarding a special message to a community leader, taking a
photograph of  a specific aspect of your FD operations, working the same

other station on 4 or more bands, working all districts, working "x"
number of sections, etc.

If you agree with the above ideas please let your ARRL Directors,
Assistant Directors, Section Managers and Headquarters Staff know how
you feel and hopefully next year hundreds of "Training Stations" will
take to the air on that magic weekend in June.

--
|--------------------------|
     Anthony A. Luscre
            K8ZT
        Stow, Ohio
|--------------------------|


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