51 On Air Transmitters! The Record Breaking Field Day Tactics of W3AO

They never put 51 transmitters on the air at once. They had a VHF/UHF/microwave rover station come to the site and make at least one contact each on all of the bands up through 24 GHz, then counted each band/mode combination as a "transmitter." This was never done again because the ARRL took away the incentive to do it the next year, capping the number of transmitters that could be used to claim the 100% emergency power bonus at 20. The League also put in bold, italic letters "simultaneous operation" in the rule regarding entry class. I'm reasonably sure the rule already said that, so they really broke the rules, but the ARRL would have known that and apparently didn't care.
All of this was documented in Gary Pearce, KN4AQ's excellent video, The Last Big Field Day. You can skip ahead to 41:30 for the "secret" and the aftermath.

 

Again, I have absolutely no intention of going to an EOC, flooded or otherwsie, after any type of disaster. And if it's utterly and completely impossible or pointless for me to use a radio, then I won't.

But because of Field Day and similar activities, I have absolutely no doubt that, if I wanted to, I could have a radio operating (transmitting and receiving, which is just as important), with little notice. This would include if my house was damaged, and there was no external source of power.

It sounds like you worked at some point in a flooded EOC, and I commend you for your public service. But that's not what I'm talking about.

 

I have absolutely zero intention of walking to any disaster site.

The most powerful advantage we have as hams is that we are widely dispersed, mostly in residential areas. There is probably already one of us in whatever disaster area. That person ought to have the skills to put a radio on the air. He or she is not going to do it in exactly the same way that was done on Field Day, but the same general skills apply.

 

Oh, the lengths people will go to win a CONTEST, even if - it's not a contest.

 

All depends what you mean by "winning".

W3AO is normally in a category all by themselves. They "win" by default!

Note that FD rules limit the per-transmitter bonus to 20 transmitters, too.

The key to FD is to decide what YOUR particular goals are, and then do your best to attain them. "Winning" takes many forms.

For me, one of the primary goals of FD is to find out what works and what doesn't - and to learn from experience.

73 de Jim N2EY

 

Yeah, I kind of suspect that. Of course, it's in your best interest to compete in the lowest transmitter class. They were competing against all of the other stations that really had 51 transmitters, and, of course, they were at an unfair advantage because they didn't really have that many transmitters. In fact, they came in last place in the 51A category.

The rules are actually written to make sure you don't unfairly claim a lower transmitter class. As long as I've been a ham, the "octopus" rule has been in effect: "The use of switching systems that allow for lock-outs in order to use multiple transmitters (i.e., an “octopus”) in an attempt to enter a lower-number-of-transmitters class are prohibited (i.e. using 2 transmitters that can transmit simultaneously, with two operators, and a lock-out system and entering class 1A). "

Again, that rule has been around as long as I've been a ham, and undoubtedly it dates back to a time when someone used an octopus and there were complaints. Perhaps they had 51 transmitters, but used the octopus to unfairly put themselves in the 50A category.

Of course, there is that informal competition to see who can have the highest number as their exchange. I participated in that competition in a small way in 2020, when it was believed that COVID was caused by fields, and everyone decided to stay away from a field on Field Day. I predicted correctly that most A and B stations would probably only have one transmitter. Normally, I'm 1B, but I decided to fill the void and get in category 2A.

Category B is one and two person entries. I tried to talk one of my kids into coming along and providing some token assistance so that we would have three persons, and kick us into the A category. Unfortunately, I couldn't convince them, so it was just me and my wife. We were mostly on 20 meters, but at one point, I put out a CQ on 2 meters, making sure that both transmitters were operating simultaneously. (It's not in bold, but the word "simultaneous" or "simultaneously" appears four times in the rules, so they apparently take it seriously.)

So in 2020, I was one of the rare class 2B stations, and came in 17th place nationwide.*




* - out of 18 in that category.

 

And not just putting a radio on the air. The skill that some amateur radio operators acquire is the ability to communicate in an organized manner if needed ... not just doing nothing or running around yelling on top of one another. Even in (especially in) EOCs, the ability to communicate in a trained organized manner is a necessity, whether it's HF or VHF radio, FRS, GPRS, or text messages relayed over Starlink.

Putting 20+ transmitters on the air at once may not be more than a technical contesting hack, but it does require a club to have a lot of trained operators.

 

Don't worry--it sounds like the EOC got flooded, so they don't need anyone there.

 

What is Field Day? It is whatever you want it to be, and the League allows a huge amount of leeway to each and every participant, in making it so. Way more than would ever be allowed in any real contest. This year, I operated with W2MMD (9A SNJ), as I have probably two dozen times over the past 40 years, and I was very happy to see many new faces who enthusiastically participated in the fun. Our only regret is that the number of clubs doing what we do seems to be shrinking significantly. One can only work so many 1D stations before they all move to another band, and that has changed the entire on-air dynamic of FD. So next year, get yourself out of the shack and out into the field with your local club, and make Field Day great again!

 

And to think they said they weren't going to do it again, some 20 years ago

See

 

Awesome job to the Hams that set up 51 stations, my club has problems getting 3 stations on the air and have enough people to work them. And if there isn’t an air conditioned building we would probably only have 1 station. Congratulations to all the people it took to pull this off. I say this is a record that will be held for many years. 73

 

I participated with W3AO for many years before moving to Florida.

A wonderful group who put a lot of effort into Field Day.

Photos of a recent Field Day

https://photos.app.goo.gl/rD67H7pK8xL2eSqb9

73,

Bill
W3MSH

 

Field Day is not a contest, unfortunately, it has pretty much deteriorated that way.

73,
Bernd - KB7AK

 

i agree with another ham it'd take to long to set up 51 transmitters in a emergency now maybe 4-6 might not take TO......long but still 51 is way to many in my opinion

 

What's the problem in allowing the 45 other people to get some practice?