Amateur Radio Stack Exchange
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Questions tagged [field-day]

Field Day is an emergency preparedness/ contest run by ARRL in the United States and Canada the last full weekend of June each year.

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Emergency/battery power rules for Field Day: do they include computer equipment?

There are some contests such as ARRL's Field Day that provide special categories or points for contestants who operate using emergency or battery power. The 2016 FD rules for "Class A - Battery" stations include this text: All contacts must be…
Jack Twilley
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What exactly is field day, and do I need equipment?

I have been a ham not quite long enough to experience field day. I have been excited for the weekend ever since I heard about it. I looked at the ARRL site for field days in my location, and found a few I could visit. I currently don't have HF…
Skyler 440
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Is Field Day a contest?

Is the ARRL Field Day a contest, or is it not a contest? Kindly explain the reasoning behind your answer. A non-ham could not tell the difference.
Mike Waters
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What does "THREE ALPHA in Virginia" mean?

I'm listening to the 40m band during Field Day and I keep hearing things like "You are THREE ALPHA in Virginia," or "do you hold me ONE ALPHA in Eastern Pennsylvania?", or "you are TWO ALPHA Maine." I have no idea what they're talking about, can…
SandPiper
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How do Field Day participants protect from lightning?

I'm planning to attend Field Day this weekend, and the forecast calls for thunderstorms. I can picture a serious issue with a bunch of temporary antennas set up in an open area when a thunderstorm sweeps through. This seems to have the potential…
Zeiss Ikon
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Can a 1A Field Day station qualify for the "Alternate Power" bonus?

We just finished our Field Day operations, and we're having a disagreement on whether we qualify for the Alternate Power bonus. Our 1A (single transmitter, emergency power) station was completely solar powered for the duration of Field Day, which…
W5VO
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How can I operate in the rain safely?

For Field Day this year, most stations on the East Coast received a large amount of rain. I've heard our reports at around 2 inches of rain. Being Field Day, we were operating outdoors inside tents, but we still had a few issues with the radios,…
PearsonArtPhoto
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How is a "Generally Inactive" ham determined for Field Day GOTA?

ARRL Field Day Rules allow a GOTA station to be operated by "a generally inactive licensee. " There are members of my club which started to become active again after a long term of inactivity a few months before Field Day. Are they allowed to use…
PearsonArtPhoto
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What are the qualities of a good field day site?

What are the qualities of a good field day site? Specifically what do you or your clubs look for or use as criteria for site selection?
Mark S.
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Is a club call sign with a suffix (i.e. /GOTA) permissible for a Field Day GOTA station?

The 2017 Field Day GOTA Station FAQ states "The GOTA station uses a callsign different from the call used by the group’s main Field Day operation. The GOTA station must use the same, single callsign for the duration of Field Day." Would that mean…
Aurelia Peters
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FD Battery Stations... How Do You Log?

I'm part of a small team that runs 3AB with a few Kx3 radios. We've been struggling a bit with logging. First year was all paper and that was messy. Next couple of years one of the guys put together something that runs on RaspPi and the operators…
Kevin d.
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How can I speed up my QSO rate for Field Day

I've just finished Field Day, and my 4 hours of operating my club's station resulted in about 70 qsos/ hour, no more than 80. Some of the other operators topped 120. How can I improve my QSO rate to get to the level that these other operators…
PearsonArtPhoto
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Digital modes on Field Day

My club is considering doing digital modes next year for Field Day. There are a few issues that we are discussing, including: What modes are most commonly used? How many contacts could be made? What is the best set up for a digital station?…
PearsonArtPhoto
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Contesting dialog

I have noticed that participants in an HF exchange will often give number and a letter followed by a state, e.g. 1E Wisconsin. What does this mean?
John
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