One of the appealing aspects of Winter Field Day was it's more "laid back" attitude and uncomplicated rules. It was basic .. simple and fun. Last year (Jan. 2016) was my first .. and it was refreshing and enjoyable. In a world controlled by computers .. it even offered paper logs. Loved it. As each year goes by, I hope it doesn't slowly morph into just another version of the ARRL Field Day .. and become too intense and too burdened with rules that become overly-complex. Unfortunately .. in things like this .. that is often the path typically followed. Basic, simple and fun slowly turns into just another contest, bogged down with too much bureaucratic hub-bub. Those of us who aren't hard-core contesters, really appreciated the easy-going atmosphere of the whole thing .. and are keeping our fingers crossed that it maintains the uncomplicated approach that it started with.
The linked rules page listed at the WA7BNM site will take you to the CORRECT rules.. be sure to read them and heed them, as the bonus pts and multipliers are listed on WA7BNM's page incorrectly... the rules were re-written last year. Evidently he hasn't updated the listing. Will contact him about that. ...And yes.. WFD has been around for a little while as contests go. As for a school group... there is no special category for special groups.. look at the rules and decide which category suits your needs.
The Fort Armstrong Wireless Ass'n. K3QY in Armstrong county,Pa. is looking forward to WFD2017. We had a blast with WFD2016...very enjoyable, very laid back time with good friends. Let's hope for plenty of snow!
This will be my first time participating in WFD. Very excited and looking forward to making lots of contacts. I'm fairly new to contest style operation with some limited experience... I do have one question regarding scoring. Is the QRP multiplier an all or nothing thing? I plan to work Phone SSB running between 50-75watt. But I also plan to try my hand at PSK31 running 5-10watt. So if I want to qualify for the QRP multiplier does that mean I must run less than 10w for the whole duration of WFD? Or, does is count for only those QSOs that are made using less than 10w? I looked over the rules and see: Claimed Score Tabulation: QSO Points x Power Output Multiplier x Bands/Mode Multiplier + Bonus Points. So to me it looks like it's an all or nothing thing? You take your total QSO points and multiply by the power muiltiplier? Or can I separate that calculation to look something like this (for how I plan to operate): ((QRP QSO Points x QRP Multiplier) + (Low Power QSO Points x 100W or Less Multiplier)) x Bands/Mode Multiplier + Bonus Points I'm probably overthinking this but I figured I would check. BTW I plan on using N1MM for logging/scoring. Thanks!
You pick a power level for the entire event, just as you would for any other. Same with bonus points... can't be both indoor and outdoor, or home and remote for some contacts and not others. If you are, you must choose the "lesser" for your log entry.
Thank you for the clarification N8KC. In that case I'll be running less than 100w for the event. Can't decide yet if I want to setup a tent and antenna in the yard or stay inside... Guess I still have a couple of weeks to think about it. Either way, it sounds like a fun time and I'm looking forward to it. Thanks again!
It's almost time for Winter Field Day 2017. Hopefully you already heard us on HamRadio360. We hope that you got our decal and some of our swag. Check us out on www.winterfieldday.com and also on Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/winterfieldday/. Hope to hear you on the air and have fun. 73 WX4ET