ARRL Field Day: Is it a Contest or Not? The Contest Crew Opines

A few years ago, the club I am in (American Legion Meridian) held Field Day in the parking lot of a pie restaurant. It was awful. Hot tarmack and very few hams who wanted to operate. (I ended up logging 95% of the contacts, and I was the only operator who stayed for the entire 24 hours). Most went home to bed at sundown. The next two years, nobody even wanted to repeat that meager effort. This year, it was only a BBQ with "some" radio operation, held at a ham's house. I declined to merely eat hot dogs instead of operating.
Naturally, I never want to do Field Day with the club ever again. I prefer doing Field Day on my own. I find a park or other public lands space, and operate by myself.

 

Moved to a new area, absent mindedly remembered it was Field Day. Perfect opportunity to meet some of the local operators, and the local club. Presto - new member! (ANd plenty of help to build my new station.)

Bonus - I was able to be a relief operator for the one fella manning the CW position.

 

I agree, Jerry. Bottom line is, if you're keeping score, it's a contest. - Paul, K7IN

 

When is a contest not a contest? When it’s the Field Day contest. I am a new Ham who got a lot of good learning opportunities out of operating during Field Day without the pain of inconveniencing other operators and serious contesters with my inexperience. Operating 1D ENY, I made 29 contacts, gained a lot of confidence on the air (copying call signs through the noise!) and had a ton of fun. 73!

 

Like the blind man said after grabbing onto only one part of a large elephant: "it must be a contest".

 

Who set up for FD on 12/17/30m this year ?

 

Getting out of bed every day is a contest. Putting one foot in front of the other is a contest. Life is a contest! Just a matter of semantics ~ isn't it?

 

No, I would say it's more a matter of context.

In this thread, contest is used to describe ham radio operators participating in a competition where information is exchanged points are accumulated including bonus points and one operator in a particular category is recognized for a performance (score) that designates a winner. Not all operators are interested in submitting his/her results.

 

I think you're confusing the word contest with challenge.

 

i am new general ham , i enjoy field day a lot , but i can tell you i dislike contest, Sure give me some stats but i don't think there is anything competitive about it. just have fun. If i am on a roll making contact and someone join in i would drop everythign just to talk with other hams , also i don't enjoy people saying their call sign in 1.3 seconds .

 

CQ, CQ, I received points, there was strictly defined window of time for operation, I wasn't allowed to use the WARC bands, CONTEST!

 

FD is an event. In a contest a log submittal is adjudicated and callsigns are placed in rank by the sponsor of said contest; ARRL does not do this in the case of FD -they just take your word for it based on submission. The question I always pose that seems to shut this argument down is when a club or individual say's "We/I won Class 4AW in the southeastern section". I then ask "really, can I see your plaque for that 'win' "? ....crickets.

It is "contest-esiqe" and I agree that many who call themselves contesters now got there spark or taste of 'contesting' from a FD. I for one did not and found my spark from actually participating in contests in real-time.

To me, contests and competition is fun, FD is not, thus it must not be a contest (to me). But make what you want out of it. After all, now-a-days boys can be girls and women can identify as a cat, so who are we to say what it is!

 

Its NOT a contest and it not even close to an emergency preparedness exercise. ARRL put a nail in field day by allowing operators to stay at home and add their points to a club, what the point ??. Their staff is probably still wearing mask at their desk. ARRL pissed off every seasoned CW operator by having FT8 count for 2 points. So next year why doesn't everyone stay home and operate Field Day using FT8 in "AUTOMATIC" mode (no human required) and rack up thousands of points. Then young inexperienced hams can say "look at all the DX people I worked" Sorry kido, you didn't talk to anyone and FT8 will never be used for emergency communications because without your PC you'll never learn how to sling an antenna up in a tree, lay out some coax, connect a portable to a battery and start logging on paper.

 

Contest or not, now everyone has another year to debate the subject. Hi

 

Groundhogs day.