1999 ARRL Field Day Rules

• 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 26-27, 1999).
  • 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 all classes except class D. Batteries 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 6.6 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 27, 1999. 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 (Adobe Acrobat file, 83,828 bytes) 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. Miscellaneous:
  • 9.1 The list of bulletin times for W1AW is included in this announcement. While W1AW does not have regular bulletins on weekends, the Field Day message will broadcast according to the accompanying schedule.
  • 9.2 See General Rules for All ARRL Contests and General Rules for ARRL Contests on bands below 30 MHz (HF) at the Contest Web Page or the November 1998 issue of QST.
  • 9.3 The complete Field Day packet, including forms, may be obtained by:
    • 9.3.1 Sending a 9 by 12 SASE with four units of postage to: Field Day Packet, ARRL, 225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111;
    • 9.3.2 Downloading from the Contest Home Page.
  • 9.4 Electronic entries should be submitted to: FieldDay@arrl.org
  • 9.5 Paper entries should be sent to Field Day Entries, ARRL, 225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111

Page last modified: 3:45 PM, 23 Mar 1999 ET
Page author: n1nd@arrl.org
Copyright 1999, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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