Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness
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I'm not participating in Winter Field Day 2019

  • By Cory Klumper
  • •
  • 14 Jan, 2019
  • •

Same story, different year.

UPDATE!
SPAR is back! The available members of the SPAR board of directors have decided to take log submissions this year and will fully host the 2020 event. I'll be out in the cold again after all.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/696773087001012/?ref=group_browse_new

I don't know how to say this without going on a total rant. The WFDA continues to alienate their participants and it's time for them to face some consequences. I do not plan to participate at all this year.
I was a member of SPAR, the group that started Winter Field Day. It was a fun event that gave us a reason to get out of the house in the middle of a cold and dark part of the year in northern latitudes. SPAR was a group of mostly older hams. The scoring was slow every spring, so a few of us younger participants joined up and volunteered to help. The main scoring was done by one guy, and he had a stroke. During his recovery a guy named Tom Phelps came into the SPAR forum and started demanding that the scoring be completed or he would take over the contest himself. Since then the WFDA has changed the rules of the contest and portrays SPAR as a group that was fading and WFD as an event that was about to end. Tom completely ignored the efforts of the younger SPAR members to maintain the event and has blocked all of us from the Facebook group.
I'd love to just link to the SPAR web site or forum, but they have both disappeared from the internet. You can check the wayback machine for the main site, but the forum is possibly gone forever. Some communication has happened via email and the QRZ forums as we continue to try to keep the group alive.
I'll keep my criticism of the current state of WFD short:
1. The WFDA bans dissent from their only method of communication. After being blocked from the Facebook group I tried to email the members to have an adult conversation on three separate occasions. Those emails were met with no response. Several participants have been banned this year during the discussion of operating with the FT8 mode. The same thing happened in years past with JT-65 advocates.
2. The WFDA has changed the SPAR rules in ways that remove most of the incentive to operate outdoors. The exchange no longer contains the local temperature, which used to be a great talking point for contacts to be more than just a contest exchange. The bonus points for operating outside used to automatically put those stations in the top ranks of SPAR participants, now it's a pittance compared to the top indoor scores.
I also heard many home stations calling CQ and holding frequencies. This can't happen with the ARRL FD rules because that class of station doesn't getting any points for contacting another home station. I understand the desire to have home stations participate, but they shouldn't be running weaker portable stations off frequencies so they can "run".
WFDA is not interested in the contest aspects of the event.
3. Since the SPAR days I have suggested that using band/mode as a method of multipliers was out of line with the rest of the contesting world. Contacting more entities (states, countries, zones) is almost universal as a way to gather multipliers. After the takeover, my suggestion put the WFDA rules master on the defensive instead of seriously considering any modification. Last year, to prove a point, I operated from about two miles away from the "main" operation and made sure we both got every multiplier. All it takes is a couple hamsticks and a tuner on my end and an OCFD with a tuner on the other end. There's also no rule against operating in two different stations during the event as there is in the ARRL rules. 
Every rules suggestion is met with "this is an emergency communication exercise, not a contest" while the definition of "outdoor" has been tweaked numerous times.

This site and these events were my polite attempt to create the event that my friends and I wanted WFD to be without stepping on any toes. Even though we have legitimate grievances against the WFDA, we followed their suggestion to "create your own event if you don't like the rules". After hearing secondhand about the FT8 users being banned from the Facebook group I thought I'd welcome them here. We're about having fun with radio, not being pretentious dictators after stealing an event from a group of old men.

Spring Field Day 2018

By Cory Klumper • April 27, 2018
The picture above is from April 15, 2018 at my home in Russell, MN. It may be hard to tell, but there's about four feet of snow covering everything from the back bumper of the pickup to the street. There's also the "plow pile" at the end which is heavier snow and at least twice as deep in places. But in just a week of average temperatures the snow is melted almost completely. I've retrieved my camper from the winter storage barn and I'm ready to go for Spring Field Day.
The thought of cancelling my operation crossed my mind, but then I remembered that we were listed in QST as a special event station.
One of my co-conspirators found out that he has to work this weekend, but that will not deter me.
It's supposed to be chilly on Saturday, as if 57 degrees can feel chilly only a week after that snowstorm. Bring it on!
No matter who else participates, I'll be on the air. But I think it might be a good idea to make things a bit easier. Here are a few last-minute clarifications:

1. Self-Spotting is just fine. Until this event gets bigger, we need to be able to find each other. Go ahead and spot yourself. Spot others. Just don't make a spot on the carpet.

2. Skip the exchange if you need to. I know it kinda goes against the "contest" part, but at this point we're not big enough to care. If you want to make a quick ragchew contact or DX contact, you don't have to bug them with the contest exchange. Don't skip it for EVERY contact, we do want people to know we exist.

3. Submit your log. The only required fields are Call Used, Category, Section, and Claimed Score. If you use the Field Day logger built into HamLog for iOS or Android you can keep track on your phone. You were probably going to spend a good chunk of the time on your phone anyway. (maybe that's just me)

4. Have fun. Seriously, this isn't supposed to be so damned stuffy. There are a lot of things out there that have sucked the fun out of ham radio for me, let's put some back into it by taking a radio somewhere and throwing a wire in a tree. (Wire in a tree is only one of several antenna options. Choose your antenna wisely. Always be safe around power lines)

Now get out there and try however hard you feel like trying. It's just like ARRL field day without any pressure.
73
N0ECK

Rules

Submit Logs

2017 Fall Field Day Results

By Cory Klumper • November 26, 2017
The first event was a lot of fun, but very few people submitted logs. In fact, no operators outside of the Unreal Radio Club submitted a log. Maybe we'll have better luck in the spring.

ARRL Rules, with a few exceptions.

By Cory Klumper • September 5, 2017
Here are a few minor modifications to the ARRL rules for our operating events.

Why do we need another Field Day?

By Cory Klumper • July 6, 2017

When the idea for more field events popped into my head I was sitting in an ice shack running some PSK 31 contacts for Winter Field Day. At the time the exchange included the outside temperature. It didn’t count for points or anything, but it was fun to hear what the people at the other end were dealing with. This lead me to think about why were we doing this craziness in the middle of winter.

The original group that created Winter Field Day said “emergencies can happen at any time, in any weather.” I agreed that it was a good idea. Places with harsh climates require unique solutions to weather related issues. When the idea of having more events came up, I took that into account and decided it would be good to do events when weather could be a real wild card. In Minnesota the spring and fall are rarely predictable. We could have 60F high temps, or we could be dealing with a few inches of snow. Sometimes “mud season” comes in March, sometimes we wait until late April for the ground to thaw and liquefy.

Since Field Day is, on its face, an emergency communication exercise I also thought about how few times teams really get to practice. Many groups get some practice with public service events, but their only real HF emergency communication exercise is Field Day. Why not make a couple more events? The October event is within a month of the ARES Simulated Emergency Test. We can put those skills to use.

Some groups treat ARRL Field Day like any other contest. These operating events will allow those operators to practice and optimize their field setups to get the most points. It’s an opportunity to try new antennas, practice setting up faster, and otherwise polish their setup without taking a chance during the “big dance”.

Along that same vein it’s a great opportunity for individuals to step out of their club’s social obligation and go their own way. QRP operations get bonus points and it’s a lot easier to run one station on alternative power than it is to run a 4A operation with GOTA station. Maybe a subset of your regular group would like to try being more competitive or less competitive than the rest of the club.

All in all, the events I envision are just two more times “at bat” for field operations with the same rules as ARRL Field Day. The weather is different, possibly more friendly, and you can try new things that may not meet with the approval of your normal Field Day group. Let’s give it a try.

73,

N0ECK

Site Update

By Cory Klumper • June 29, 2017
I added a Frequently Asked Questions page. If you have any questions about the events, the website, or anything else ham radio related, feel free to ask via social media or email.
73,
-N0ECK

PortableRadio.org is on the air!

By Cory Klumper • June 27, 2017
This is pretty much where everything is going to happen.
Announcements, Scores, Links to awesome podcasts that interview us, and whatever else requires a public update.
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