The ARRL Field Day - 2021...

Field Day 2021...

 

In three words: “What a Zoo”!!!!

 

As another ham said: “FD is a contest no matter what the ARRL says. Contests bring out all that type of behaviour most of us dislike.”

This Field Day was like the three stooges all trying to go through the same door at the same time.  Nobody listening out for other stations on the same frequency, nobody asking if the frequency is in use...yep, just spin the VFO, and wherever it stops start calling CQ FD right away before somebody else does.

 

The ARRL placed a power limit on the home based stations of 150w because of issues caused by the home based stations last year. Yet, there were home operators out there bragging they were using 1000w and 1500w again this year....and many of them. I heard a W4 and a K3 in particular, talking about their high power levels during one of their exchanges. If you’re not going to follow the rules, why take part?

 

There seemed to be more LIDS out there than usual causing issues this year, and the foul language on the air at times had to be heard to be believed. Perhaps it’s time the ARRL took some steps...big ones...to put an end to this bad behaviour on the bands. This isn’t the first year this has happened, it’s just that it gets worse every year.  Nobody seems to care about the bad behaviour and nobody will do something about it, so after a while it becomes acceptable because there is no penalty for flaunting the rules and the accepted behaviour standards.

This is what I wrote last year about Field Day:

"The ARRLs decision to temporarily modify the rules was, in my opinion, an absolute disaster. I'm sure the ARRL will scream that this year was the "Largest Field Day Turnout in History!" within the next couple weeks as the logs begin to roll in, and of course the numbers look good for their amateur radio publicity, but Field Day should not be a numbers game. It might just well have been any other contest weekend. 

 

The people who actually participated in the real SPIRIT of Field Day had absolutely no chance at all. They were getting completely blown away by the D and E stations running large antennas and amplifiers. That's all you heard. I'm just guessing right now without looking at my log, but I would say easily 95% of the contacts I made were Class D and E."

The ARRL did nothing about this, and this year it was even worse.  Every word I wrote last year I could write again about this year.  The spirit of Field Day is emergency preparedness, not a contest.  If you're not prepared to operate under minimal conditions and with minimum equipment, why bother taking part?

I think that after 25 years of doing them, I’m over field day. This was the last one for me.

2014 Field Day Results

YES!!!......this years Field Day results are in !!!

Frontenac Emcomm Group, operating as VE3FRG, came first in Canada and first in North America in the 5A (Commercial) category.

Well done to VE3MNE, VE3CLQ, VA3VDP, VA3TIC, VE3DZE, and VE3HRW for this great result!!  The team finished the weekend with 3556 points. 

In second place was W9CQ, the Wisconsin Amateur Radio Club of Germantown, Wisconsin.  They finished with 1970 points.  In third place was K5NEA, the Northeast Arkansas Radio Club of Truman, Arkansas, who finished with 1812 points.

Our group overcame some significant antenna issues that slowed things down for the first hour and a half until they were sorted out.  Lots of hard work to get us to this point, and we're really looking forward to Field Day 2015 to see if we can give our competition another good run for their money.

Winter Field Day

For the past 4 years the Society for the Preservation of Amateur Radio (SPAR) has sponsored an annual Winter Field Day, always held the last full weekend of January. 

Not only during Field Day in June, do the bands come alive with improvised signals proving the ability to respond to emergencies. Since emergencies and natural disasters don't always happen in the summer, during Winter Field Day, frigid winds, icy limbs and bitter cold replace the thunderstorms and blistering heat of summer. In 2007 SPAR established a Winter Field Day event and invited all Amateur Radio operators to participate. The event was repeated in 2008 and was considered a success, so it was then designated an annual event to be held the last full weekend each January. In 2007 - 2010 the event was enjoyed by many, but it is time to issue the invitation for the Fifth Annual SPAR Winter Field Day!

The 2011 Winter Field Day will be held from 1700 UCT (12:00 noon EST) Saturday January 29, 2011 through 1700 UCT (12:00 noon EST) Sunday January 30, 2011.

The object of the event is familiar to most Amateur Radio operators: set up emergency-style communications and make as many contacts as possible during the 24 hour period. The rules encourage as many contacts on as many bands and modes as possible, because during a real emergency, the most important factor is the ability to communicate, regardless of band, mode or distance.

Mark it on your calendars, it's too much fun to miss!