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. 




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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. 


 


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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. 





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