Central Alberta Amateur Radio Club
General News
Bonuses Available to Class C Stations
Jun 11th
CAARC Participation in 2020 ARRL Field Day
Available to Class C Mobile Stations
You may participate in any or none of the following activities:
2020 Field Day
Jun 10th
Hams from all over Central Alberta are gearing up for Field Day 2020! It will be unlike any previous Field Day due to the relaxing/changing of rules due to Covid 19. There are so many ways to be a part of Field Day this year. Be sure to check out Field Day info posted on our website. Please note that the group score of each participating station may contribute to this year by specifying “Central Alberta Amateur Radio Club” as their club affiliation in their submission to the ARRL. Good luck to everyone, however you choose to participate! ….Sandy Jacobs, VE6SND, President CAARC
Bonuses Available to Class B Stations
Jun 10th
CAARC Participation in 2020 ARRL Field Day
Bonuses available to Class B one or two-person portable stations
You may participate in any of the following, or none:
ARRL Contest Program Issues Field Day 2020 FAQ
Jun 10th
CAARC Participation in 2020 ARRL Field Day
some Frequently Asked Questions related to the Field Day temporary rule waivers .
http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-contest-program-issues-field-day-2020-faq .
Bonuses (The Field Day Kind)
Jun 10th
CAARC Participation in 2020 ARRL Field Day
There is another aspect to Field Day besides counting your QSO score and applying multipliers. Many of these bonuses are for activities that will project the excitement of amateur radio into our community. Others are to demonstrate and develop the robustness of amateur radio. Some of these items require preparation before Field Day.
You can claim bonus points depending on your entry class, here we will concentrate on Class B, C, D and E stations. They also are also available to Class A and Class F stations. Bonuses available to only one class will be described in the coming up post for the bonuses for that class along with other available bonuses with short descriptions. The descriptions here include extensive quoting from the ARRL Field Day Rules.
There will be a separate post for each of Classes B. C, D, and E showing all available bonuses.
Participation in these activities is optional. The point values are equivalent to those for making several QSOs, which In part makes up for the time that you would have to take away from talking on the radio.
Bonuses to more than one of Classes B, C, D and E which need a little explanation
Field Day in Social Distancing and Correction about Class B
Jun 4th
CAARC Participation in 2020 ARRL Field Day
Field Day in Social Distancing and Correction about Class B
The evening of June 3rd, I watched an IARU workshop entitled “Field Day in Social Distancing,” presented by Anthony Luscre K8ZT. Anthony has done a Class B Field Day in various locations across the United States for many years. The presentation dealt with many ways of participating in Field Day while preserving distancing rules. You can watch it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLk5_BIpF6s . It is 90 minutes long, with comments and questions taking up the last 25 minutes.
As I watched it, I noticed a mistake that I made in trying to guide you. Specifically, about Class B stations. From “Field Day Frequently Asked Questions” at http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Field-Day/2019/2019-FD-FAQ-RevA.pdf :
“Convenient access across one’s backyard to their home station facilities is not in keeping with the spirit of Class A or Class B portable operations. Such convenient backyard operations on property of home stations remain either Class D (commercial power) or Class E (emergency power), even if home antenna structures are not used. If the station will be a ‘good hike’ away from a home station (eg, at the rear of a several acre lot, or perhaps operating from a farmers field down the road) – clearly away from home conveniences (away from home utilities, or home restrooms/bedrooms, or even eating facilities/refrigerator/kitchen) – then Class A (3 or more persons portable) or Class B (1 or 2 person portable) is appropriate.”
So, it appears that the idea is that not only is your station portable, but your sustenance and upkeep should be self-contained as well. Anthony stated his feeling that if you take everything that you will need — power, apparatus, tools, food, sleeping arrangements, etc. — out of your house and plan not to go back, it doesn’t matter that much how far you go.
Background, official rules, and many hints can be found at http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Field-Day/2020/2020%20Field%20Day%20Packet(1).pdf .
ARRL’s official Field Day site is http://www.arrl.org/field-day .
Comments or questions to John VA6SJA, va6sja@rac.ca
John VA6SJA
Counting Your QSO Score
Jun 4th
CAARC Participation in 2020 ARRL Field Day
Counting Your QSO Score
We, as representatives of CAARC, encourage your participation in the 2020 ARRL Field Day on June 27 and 28, and your submission of your station score to the ARRL.
Which QSOs can you count?
Field Day QSOs take place on the 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 Meter HF bands, as well as all authorized amateur radio bands 50 MHz and above. Field Day QSOs made using amateur radio satellites are also counted, record these as a separate “Satellite” band. These must be between two amateur stations on the earth. Only one contact may be counted on any single channel FM satellite. There is some more information about using satellites on Field Day at https://www.amsat.org/field-day/ . AMSAT is hosting a complementary Field Day during the same Field Day period.
QSOs are separately counted in each band for each of the three modes of voice, CW and data (AMTOR, D-STAR (Digital Data) point-to-point., Hellschreiber, MT63, FSK441, JT6M, JT65, .FT8, Olivia MFSK, Packet Radio if used point-to-point , PACTOR if used point-to-point, PSK31, QPSK31, PSK63, QPSK63, RTTY are a few examples of data).
Only one contact with any other amateur station is counted for each band-mode. Find another station, change your mode, or change your band.
Temporary Rule Waivers Announced for 2020 ARRL Field Day
Jun 1st
CAARC Participation in 2020 ARRL Field Day
We are interrupting the flow of our series about how to participate in Field Day because the ARRL has made an announcement specific to 2020 Field Day that effectively changes some of the rules. The original may be found at:
http://www.arrl.org/news/temporary-rule-waivers-announced-for-2020-arrl-field-day
We have repeated it here with permission of the ARRL:
<begin quote>
Temporary Rule Waivers Announced for 2020 ARRL Field Day
05/28/2020
Making a Field Day QSO that counts
May 26th
CAARC Participation in 2020 ARRL Field Day
First an amendment to the last post, the second participant in a Class B station would not have to be an amateur as long as he or she is supervised while making QSOs by the licensed amateur and the amateur is ready to take over to check for the existence of a third party agreement in case there is an answer to a CQ from beyond Canada and the United States. So, an interested family member could be your partner.
Making a Field Day QSO that counts
SOTA Activations and Outdoor Operations
May 22nd
For those interested in SOTA or outdoor portable operations, I am attaching some recent photos of recent operating locations from which I have been working. In addition to SOTA activations, I do some maintenance and custodial work for the Alpine Club of Canada so I have been operating from the ACC back-country huts. The video link below is a short tour of one of the huts I visit frequently which has a short clip of my operation within the hut.
Sota set-up on Allstones Ridge
sota activation in Japan as JJ1TLL
With Troy (VA6TNA) on a SOTA activation of Corkscrew Mountain
Great Cairn Hut, Selkirks.
Elizabeth Parker Hut, Yoho
Fryatt Hut, Jasper
