West Valley Amateur Radio Association

a.. 2007 Field Day Forms and Rules
a.. Order Field Day t-shirts, pins, supplies
a.. ARRL/Canada Section Abbreviations
a.. 2007 Field Day Press Kit
a.. US Amateur Bands
a.. ARRL Band Plans
a.. W1AW Frequencies
a.. W1AW/K6KPH Field Day Bulletin Schedule

Go to http://www.arrl.org/contests/announcements/fd/

The package has all the info about Field Day 2007 (622,308 bytes) as an Adobe
PDF file

Field Day June 23-24, 2007

Always The Fourth Full Weekend In June

The web page also has links for:

Field Day is less than 2 months away. Yee-Haw!

Current plans include the following:

We'll be operating QRP from Moran Hill in the Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve (same location as last year). This is a hilltop site above Los Altos Hills with excellent line-of-sight coverage of the Bay Area.

This year we'll have five HF stations on the air -- a digital HF station, a CW HF station, a GOTA station (for beginners in HF SSB operating), along with TWO other SSB HF stations. Antennas will include a tower-mounted yagi, a 20m quad, and a balloon-supported 80m loop. We'll also have dedicated stations on 2m, 6m and 10m, and whatever other stations are needed to get us up to 8A.

So mark your calendars -- Field Day is June 22-24. And feel free to send me an email if you'd like to get involved in the preparations.

- Jim, K6EI
Field Day Coordinator

Latest FD News, 2006

Awesome Field Day Results

The results are in and can be viewed at the ARRL website. The bottom line: WVARA did fantastic!!! Here's a quick run-down of the results:

W6PIY scored 9,190 points in the 9AB category (i.e. 9A running battery)

Of all 113 stations in Pacific Division, W6PIY was #6 -- in the top 5%, very excellent!

Of the 32 stations in Santa Clara Valley, W6PIY was #3. (The W6YX station at Stanford came in #1 but was operating from a permanent site with fixed towers, etc -- hardly a fair comparison.

And we would have set an all-time new record score for 9A, except that VE3MA ran up an amazing score of 19,841 -- but I'm happy to have the second-highest 9A score in history!

Field Day Photos - Slide Show

Band Captains

The official band captain list as of May 30, 2006
80m-15m CW K6EI
80m-15m Digital WB6TQG
80m-15m SSB AD6RY
80m-15m GOTA AD6RE
10m SSB W6ESL
6m SSB/FM N6FFC
2m SSB/FM N6FFC
220 MHz SSB/FM N6FFC
440 MHz SSB/FM N6FFC
1.2 GHz SSB/FM N6FFC
Satellite W6ESL

Field Day site walk on Saturday June 3 at 9 AM.
Meet at the gate at the end of Mora Drive.

If you missed the WVARA meeting on Wednesday Jim K6EI has posted his map
handout from the meeting.

Or go directly to the following map links:

Topo Map -
http://topozone.com/map.asp?lat=37.3358&lon=-122.0993&datum=nad83&u=5

Map - look for the "water tank" halfway to the right of the middle
http://www.sccgov.org/SCC/docs%2FParks%20and%20Recreation%2C%20Department%20of%20%28DEP%29%2Fattachments%2F40501ranchspm.pdf

Picture - the flattest area is just East of the water tank
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=37.3358+-122.0993&ll=37.335796,-122.099304&spn=0.007328,0.016758&t=h

Date - June 23-25
(setup starts Friday 11AM, operation is 11AM Saturday to 11AM Sunday)
Rules - http://www.arrl.org/contests/forms/06-fd-packet.pdf
Call - W6PIY
Category - ?AB battery/QRP (number of simultaneous transmitters, see Note 2)
Location - Mora Hill, Rancho San Antonia Open Space Preserve (access is Mora Drive)
Lat/Long - 37.3358 -122.0993
FD Chair - Jim K6EI
Committee - Scott AD6RY, Bill N6FFC, Marc W6ZZZ, Phil WB6TQG
----------

Bonus Points (sections 7.3.1 - 7.3.15 of the Field Day Info Package)
100 points for each item unless noted otherwise

1. 100% Emergency Power (petrol) - ? (100 points/station, free VHF, GOTA and Sat excluded)
2. Media Publicity (invited) - N6FFC done (only need to invite them to get the bonus)
3. Public Location - K6EI done (MROSD Mora Hill)
4. Public Info Table - ?
5. NTS message to Section Mgr - ?
6. Formal NTS Messages (10+) - ? (10 points each with a max of 10 messages)
7. Satellite QSO (only need 1) - ?
8. Alternate power (5+ QSOs) - ? (minimum 5 QSOs made using natural power)
9. Copy W1AW Bulletin - WB6TQG (RTTY Friday at 6:00 PM)
10. Non-traditional Mode Demonstrations (maximum of 3 x 100 points each)
a. APRS - ?
b. Packet - ? (needs to be a complete portable packet network)
c. SSTV - ?
d. ATV - ?
11. Site Visit, Elected Govt Off - N6FFC (they have to visit the site to get this bonus)
12. Site Visit, Served Agency - W6ZZZ, Loma Prieta MERC (Red Cross), served by ARES
(they have to visit the site to get this bonus)
13. GOTA Station Max (5 x 100) - ? (additional 2x bonus if a full time mentor/coach)
14. Web Submission of Results - K6EI (this is a 50 point bonus)
15. Youth (<18 age) Participation - ?, (20 points each, max of 5 youths making a QSO)

Site Operations
Reminder #1 - no open flames at Mora Hill (no campstoves, Coleman-type lanterns, etc.)
Reminder #2 - no generator running after sunset or before 7 AM (quiet time)

Site cleanup coord - ?, everyone needs to take a garbage bag home
(leave the site cleaner than when we arrived,
check the grounds before leaving for tape, cable ties, etc.)
Safety Officer - ?
Food, Drinks, Etc* - ?
Guest Greeters - ?
Digital Photos - ?
Video Camera - ?

*Club provided food, drinks, etc.
Plates - 50?
Utensil sets - 50?
Napkins/towels - ?
Cups (hot/cold) - 100?
Ice - x lbs
Sodas (assorted) - xx regular, yy diet
Bottled water - ?
Lemonade mix - 2 cans, regular and sugar free
Iced tea mix - 2 cans, regular and sugar free
Coffee - x lbs
Other things? - ?

Note 1:

Plan is to switch HF antenna sets between a single CW, Digital (PSK-31 and RTTY), SSB and GOTA station on a rotating basis. GOTA always gets the "lesser" antenna in the rotation if there are two antennas available for that particular band.

Station captains
CW - K6EI
Digital - ?
SSB - ?
GOTA - AD6RY

Note 2: (free stations)

Rule 4.1.1. Get-On-The-Air (GOTA) Station. Any Class A or F entry whose transmitter classification is two or more transmitters may also operate one additional HF station without changing its base entry category, known as the GET ON THE AIR (GOTA) station.

Rule 4.1.2. Extra VHF Station: Any Class A entry whose category is two or more transmitters may also operate one additional transmitter if it operates exclusively on any bands or combination of bands above 50 MHz (VHF/UHF) without changing its basic entry classification. This station does not qualify for a 100-point bonus as an additional transmitter.

Rule 7.3.7. Satellite QSO: .... Groups are allowed one dedicated satellite transmitter station without increasing their entry category.

Subscribing to WVARA's Field Day Email List:

It's time to start "building momentum" to another all-time Field Day record!

If you would like to subscribe to our Field Day email list, please email your request to postmaster@wvara.org.

Contents

WVARA FD Quick Links
Introduction to Field Day
What is Field Day?
How to Contest
What Can You Do?
What to Bring
Radio Stations at Field Day
Clubs Participating With Us
Previous Field Days
For More Information

Introduction to Field Day

Field Day is the biggest event on the USA ham radio calendar each year. More than 2,200 ham radio clubs and 35,000 hams will participate in this one weekend of activities (for more information about Field Day, see the What is Field Day sidebar).

Radio Stations at Field Day

One other important aspect of Field Day is that hams can operate on modes and bands that they can't normally use. Hams that have HF privledges often act as control operators at their stations allowing those without HF privledges to operate on the HF bands. Many a new ham has gotten their first taste of HF operating at Field Day. For more information, see the How to Contest sidebar.

Here is a list of who are the Field Day Band Captains (station coordinators). If you wish to volunteer to help with their station, please send e-mail to "Their Call"@WVARA.ORG or contact the Field Day Coordinators. We are always looking for more volunteers.

Previous Field Days

Follow the links below for information and pictures from past WVARA Field Day sites:

2002
2005

For more information

For rules and more information see the ARRL Field Day web page.

For an overview of the 1994-2002 Field Day efforts see WVARA Field Day Through the Years.

WVARA FD Quick Links WVARA Field Day Band Captain's Handbook
WVARA Field Day Station Checklist (54K PDF)
WVARA's FD mail list
WVARA Field Day History What is Field Day?

That's a good question, and if you asked ten hams, you would probably get ten different answers. Some would say that Field Day is a contest, others would say that it is an emergency preparedness exercise, still others would say that it is a party and yet others would say that it is a public relations exercise. Who is right? They all are! Field Day is all of those things and more. The best description anyone can find is that Field Day is all of ham radio in one weekend!

During Field Day, ham radio clubs, groups and individuals take to the field in simulated emergency conditions (living in tents and running on generators and batteries). They are given 24 hours to set up as many stations as they are able. In the next 24 hours they are try to make as many contacts as they can with those stations. All aspects of ham radio are used in this pursuit. More than a million contacts will be made on HF and VHF, CW, SSB and digital modes this weekend. Bonus points are awarded for making an extra effort such as making contacts via satellites or sending and receiving message traffic.

Field Day isn't just about radio though. Clubs use this biggest of all yearly events for many other activities. With much of the clubs membership assembled it is a natural time for BBQ's and other gatherings. Also with all of ham radio on display this weekend it is a choice time to show off what we do best. The media and government officials are invited to attend to view what ham radio can do.

As you can see, Field Day is indeed all of ham radio in one weekend and anyone that attends their first Field Day rarely misses one again!

How to Contest

While Field Day isn't strictly a contest, that is how the entrants are rated and why not? A contest is a great way to evaluate a stations performance. It is also a great way to simulate message handling which will be a big part of any response to an emergency.

So what is a contest? Put most simply, in a contest the objective is to make as many contacts in as many places as possible in a prescribed ammount of time. For Field Day, the objective is simply to make as many contacts as possible in the 24 hours you are alloted. To make those contacts valid, you have to exchange a certain ammount of information. The "exchange" for Field Day is your entry class (number of transmitters) and your ARRL section.

So how do you go about making these contacts? Just as you would for any other QSO in amateur radio, there are only two ways to initiate a conversation. You either have to answer someone who is calling CQ or call CQ yourself and wait for someone to answer you. Which method is better? It is generally accepted that staying in one place, calling CQ and letting the other stations come to you is quicker and less tiring. However, this only works if you have a signal that is loud enough to attract other stations. If you aren't making any contacts or aren't making them fast enough, you are forced to switch to the search and pounce method. Excelent operators can rack up the QSOs almost as fast this way. Which ever method you employ, a Field Day contact sounds like this:

CQ Field Day CQ Field Day this is W6PIY Whiskey Six Papa India Yankee calling CQ Field Day and listening.
Whiskey One Alfa Whiskey.
W1AW thank you, we are Eleven Alfa, Santa Clara Valley, over.
Thank you, we are Six Delta, Connecticut, over.
Thank you, this is W6PIY Whiskey Six Papa India Yankee, QRZ?

All that is left is to record the contact on your log sheet and get ready for the next contact.

Obviously because of the variability of radio propagation and other factors, many contacts aren't this neat and clean. This is especially true when multiple people are calling you or you are getting interference from another station, but learning to deal with these conditions are part of the lure and purpose of Field Day!

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