Field Day 2020
Given the worldwide Coronavirus pandemic VOMARC is not holding a large gathering to operate out in the field in order to ensure the safety of our members and visitors. Instead as many of us as possible will be operating from home and aggregating our scores to comply with the new rules implemented by the ARRL for this year's event.
Prepare
Rules
Check out the ARRL Field Day site for official rules. This year's event takes place between June 27 at 11:00 AM and June 28 at 2:00 PM local time.
Rules Waivers
The ARRL added two rules waivers this year to encourage club participation since large scale events are impractical. These include:
- Category “D” stations (home stations with commercial power) can work all other category stations.
- Individual log entries will have club name associated with it and club aggregate scores will be published.
Logging Software
We've crafted up a short article on how to use the free N1MM logger to keep track of stations worked during Field Day. It will also make submitting a log to the ARRL easier after the event.
N1MM even allows for the tight integration with WSJT-X so you can make FT8 contacts in WSJT-X and have the relevant info sent to N1MM for logging automatically. There is a webpage that details configuration for this and also a YouTube video.
Participate
Making Local Contacts
Even if you don't have an HF station we'd like to encourage all members with radios to participate. To do this we are encouraging everyone to gather on Saturday, June 27th at 5:00 PM local time on 146.52 MHz simplex. We'll try and let everyone work everyone here and can even move to other bands, such as 440 MHz or 50 MHz if there is interest.
Post Field Day
Submitting Logs
When submitting entries to the ARRL please be sure to include "Valley of the Moon ARC" as your club. The ARRL will aggregate the scores of such entries to come up with a club score. Every little bit helps, so we encourage everyone to submit a log. The deadline to submit your entry is Tuesday, July 28, 2020.
Submitting your entry through the ARRL website adds an additional 50 points to your score, so it's highly recommended.
Spread The Word
Let everyone know how you did on our Twitter or Facebook pages.
Dave (KD6FIL) showed us how to do Field Day, Sonoma style.
Contact us if you have any questions or need help!