[HCARC] Winter Field Day

[Gary Johnson]

Purpose: To encourage emergency operating preparedness in the winter.

When: The contest runs for 24 hours during the last full weekend in January each year from 1700 UTC (12:00 noon EST) Saturday to 1700 UTC (12:00 noon EST) Sunday. For 2016, the dates are January 30 and 31, 2016. Station set up may begin no earlier than 1300 UTC (8:00 AM EST) on January 30, 2016.

Bands: All bands, except 12, 17, 30 and 60 meters.

Modes: Any mode.

Categories:
a) Number of operators: 1, 2, Multi
b) Site: Indoor, Outdoor, Home

  For example, 2 operators at a remote campground would be 2O, 1 person at home would be 1H, 5 club members operating from a community center would be MI.

Exchange: Callsign, Category, ARRL or RAC Section (or DX outside of US and Canada). For example 1 person from a North Texas campground would send "KX5XYZ 1O NTX"

QSO Points: 1 point per QSO, regardless of band and mode. The object is to be able to communicate and in an emergency it doesn't matter what band and mode is used. Busted exchanges will be penalized by 1 additional point for each missed exchange or callsign. Duplicate contacts (same station, band and mode) will not be counted, but will not be penalized.

Multiplier: Count 1 multiplier for each mode operated per band. For example, operating CW and Phone on 80, 40, 15 and 10 meters, CW and PSK31 on 20m, FM on 2meters and satellite on 1.2 GHz would be a total multiplier of 12.

Bonus: Count 1000 points if commercial power is not used, 1000 points if outdoors and 1000 points if not at home. For example, operating outdoors in your backyard without commercial power would be 1000 + 1000 = 2000 points (outdoors, no commercial power), while operating from a campground tent using commercial power would be 1000 + 1000 = 2000 points (outdoors and not home). Note: There must have been at least 1 valid QSO in order to count bonus points. This is to ensure that someone claiming bonus points without actually making any contacts cannot win a category!

Final Score: QSO Points x Multiplier + Bonus Points.

Logs: Logs should be submitted to wfda at winterfieldday.com before 0000 UTC March 1st to be considered. All logs must be in Cabrillo format and should contain the following information:
Frequency (kHz)
Mode (CW = CW, AM SSB FM = PH, Digital = RY, SSTV = TV, Satellite = SA)
Date and time (UTC)
Callsign, ARRL/RAC Section and Exchange sent
Callsign, ARRL/RAC Section and Exchange received
The Cabrillo QSO template is as follows. Please enter BONUS points in the Cabrillo Soapbox comments as shown.
SOAPBOX: BONUS 2000

--------info sent-------- -------info rcvd---------
QSO:freq  mo  date               time  call         ct      sec ,     call             ct    sec   
QSO:3799  PH  1999-03-06  0711  K8XXX  2O     STX ,    WB5XXX  1O  LA    

Results will be posted on the Winter Field Day Association website. Pictures, description of operations and logistics are encouraged and welcome.

Definitions:
Location - the place where an amateur station is setup for the contest.

Home - operating from the place where an amateur station is normally established. If the station used in the contest is setup before 8AM local time, it should be considered a home operation.

Indoor - operating from inside a building at a temporary location where amateur radio is not normally available, including community centers, etc. If it has a both a permanent roof and walls, it's indoors.

Outdoor - operating from remote locations with no permanent building, including campgrounds, tents, RV's, etc. An open-air pavillion with no walls would be considered Outdoor.

Band - the normal amateur band allocations recognized by the ITU, i.e. 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6, and 2 meters, plus the UHF bands. To be counted as a band, at least 1 valid QSO must have taken place on the band during the contest. 75 meters counts as part of 80 meters.

Mode - CW, Phone (including SSB, AM, FM), Digital (including PSK, RTTY, and other soundcard modes), SSTV, satellite.

Operator - Any person that operates the radio, keyboard, microphone or CW key, including logging assistance. This does not include non-operators, such as someone who brings food, but does not participate in operating.

Miscellaneous:
Cabrillo Logs V3 is preferred
All rules governing amateur radio must be observed throughout.
Bonus Points: The more details by you will help with scoring.
Although not required, we recommend the WFD Logging program by N3FJP. www.n3fjp.com
W3KM also has excellent logging software www.qsl.net/w3km/