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[CQ-Contest] Major Changes to Field Day Rules

Subject: [CQ-Contest] Major Changes to Field Day Rules
From: garyk9gs@netwurx.net (K9GS Gary Schwartz)
Date: Wed Mar 25 05:01:49 1998
I found this on the ARRL WWW site.  I hope this answers any questions.  I
also wonder if this is the latest set of rules??  We may want to wait til
May to confirm........

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                           Rules, ARRL Field Day
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               Contests · General Rules · Field Day Package

1. Eligibility: Field Day is opened competitively to all amateurs in the
ARRL/RAC Field Organization (plus Yukon and Northwest Territories). 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
(excluding the 30, 17, and 12-Meter bands) 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. Date and Field Day Period: Always held on the fourth full weekend of
June. Begins 1800 UTC Saturday, ends 2100 UTC Sunday (June 27-28, 1998).

     3.1. 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.

     3.2. 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.

4. 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 the purpose of determining transmitter class. Switching devices
are prohibited.

     4.1. (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 Plus 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 or another, operate a transmitter or receiver from
     commercial mains for one or more contacts will be listed separately at
     the end of their class.

          4.1.1. Any Class A group whose entry classification is two or
          more transmitters (non-Novice) may also use one Novice/Technician
          Plus operating position (Novice bands only) without changing its
          basic entry classification. For Field Day purposes only, any
          Canadian Amateur HF 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
          Plus" operating position. This "Canadian Novice station" is
          restricted to the US Novice sub-bands and power/mode
          restrictions. The Novice/Technician Plus station (including
          antennas) should be set up and operated by Novice and Technician
          Plus licensees and should use the call sign of one of the
          Novice/Technician Plus operators.

          4.1.2. Any Class A group whose entry classification is two or
          more transmitters may also use one station that operates
          exclusively on any band or combination of bands above 50 MHz
          (VHF/UHF bands) without changing its basic entry classification.
          This station may be operated for the entire Field Day period, and
          all contacts count for QSO points credit.

     4.2. (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.

     4.3. (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.

     4.4. (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.

     4.5. (Class C) Mobile: Stations in vehicles capable of operating while
     in motion and normally operated in this manner, including antenna.
     This includes marine and aeronautical mobiles.

     4.6. (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.

     4.7. (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.

5. Exchange: Stations in any ARRL/RAC Section will exchange their Field Day
operating class and ARRL/RAC Section. 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.

6. Miscellaneous Rules:

     6.1. 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.

     6.2. 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.

     6.3. Each phone, each CW, and each digital (non-CW) segment is
     considered as a separate band. (A station may be worked once on each
     band.)

     6.4. All voice communication contacts are equivalent.

     6.5. Crossband contacts are not allowed.

     6.6. The use of more than one transmitter at the same time on a single
     band is prohibited, except that a Novice/Technician Plus position may
     operate on any Novice band segment at any time. No repeater contacts.

     6.7. 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.

7. Scoring: Scores are based on the total 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.

     7.1. Phone contacts count one point each.

     7.2. CW and digital contacts count two points each.

     7.3. Power multipliers:

          7.3.1. 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.

          7.3.2. If any or all contacts are made using an output power of
          150 W or less, multiply by 2.

          7.3.3. If any or all contacts are made using an output power more
          than 150 watts, multiply by 1.

     7.4. 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.

          7.4.1. 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.

          7.4.2. Public relations:

               7.4.2.1. 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.

               7.4.2.2. 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.

               7.4.2.3. 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.

          7.4.3. 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.

          7.4.4. 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 serviced, must be
          included with the Field Day report.

          7.4.5. 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".

          7.4.6. 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.

          7.4.7. 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. Reporting: Entries must be postmarked by July 28, 1998. 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.

9. Other: See rules for All ARRL Contests.

12/19/97

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Page last modified: 10:24 AM, 11 Mar 1998 ET
Page author: blunt@arrl.org
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73, 
Gary K9GS


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