As Field Day approaches, the Rochester Amateur Radio Club is adapting to the situation!
Field Day this year will focus heavily on individual operators, but we will have a club station at our regular meeting place, the EOC in the basement of the Rochester Fire Station #2 off of Viola Road. The ARES trailer will be available on Saturday (while observing safe social distancing of course), and we may activate the EOC Radio Room as well. Operators are encouraged to bring their own equipment and set up field-deplorable stations and exercise their go-kits under the club callsign (K0T) as well!
Below is a Sign-Up and Coordination sheet. If you would like to operate under K0T as a 1F operator, please sign up under the 1F column. 1F operators may use the ARES trailer setup, or may bring their own equipment! We can also use the ARES trailer as a GOTA station, so if you are interested in operating as a GOTA station (or know someone who is), please sign up under the GOTA column to reserve a slot. Non-Hams, Technicians, and those who are not active on HF are encouraged to sign up for GOTA!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xbP5muxKdIrBYmP3f6FGU-oystjW-f87RZzD3D1Pe98/edit?usp=sharing
Goals for this year:
- Get as many home stations on the air as possible (HF as well as VHF/UHF, under your own callsign and submitted individually using club name “Rochester (MN) ARC” for scoring)
- Provide opportunity for technicians, non-Hams, and interested members to operate at K0T club station
- Provide opportunities for members to exercise their portable and field-deployable setups at the EOC
- Practice safe social-distancing by distributing operators throughout the day, and avoid having too many people at K0T at one time
- Have fun!
The Club Stations will be cleaned between each operator shift by the outgoing operator (instructions/supplies will be provided)
Masks are required at all times while not operating (still highly recommended for operating), gloves are optional but not required
Attempt to maintain 6′ separation
Only one person per station at a time (must operate and log), GOTA will be coached with acceptable social distance
Operators MUST bring their own:
- Pens or pencils and note pads (Log sheets will be provided for individuals)
- Keyboard (USB) for computer logging/Digital (if you prefer)
- Headphones, if desired (2.5mm or 1/4″ jack)
Operators are REQUESTED to bring their own:
- ICOM-compatible Microphones or headsets
- Keys, bugs, or paddles
- Chairs, Water, Snacks
We will also be advocating the use of VHF and UHF for local contacts! This will give all license classes a way to participate, and we are considering intra-club competitions on VHF/UHF as well.
We will be holding the following informal contests within our club. Please e-mail your logs to AA0CN or participate in the Scoring Net to participate:
– Most VHF/UHF contacts made (all modes count, all radios)
– Most simplex contacts made on an HT, VHF/UHF Voice (stock or handheld-portable antennas, no mounted/fixed antennas!)
– Highest individual score for each class and license level
– NTS Traffic Scavenger Hunt: Whoever copies the most NTS traffic sent between club members (Using ARRL RadioGram Format)
Good VHF frequencies to use would be 146.520, 146.550, and 146.580. Good times would be on the hour (top, or bottom of the hour), specifically hours divisible by 3 (12pm, 3pm, 6pm, 9pm, 12am, etc.).
We will have a persistent Field Day Coordination Net on the Rochester 147.255 repeater (P.L. Tone 100 Hz) throughout the event, yielding to any severe weather/SKYWARN events or ARES activations.
People may participate as individuals under their own callsign, at the club station under the club callsign K0T, or both! Just make sure to keep the logs separate, and that transmitter restrictions are in place (see rule snippet below). We will have a scoring help net/session afterwards to make sure all individual scores are submitted correctly for those who have never done it before.
Other items of note:
For Field Day 2020, operators from their home stations (Class D) will be able to work other home stations for points!
For scoring, individual operators can operate under their own callsigns, but list a club affiliation for an additional collective club score. We will be encouraging all RARC members who operate individually to enlist with our club score!
6. Miscellaneous Rules:
6.1. A person may not contact for QSO credit any station from which they also participate.
6.2. A transmitter/receiver/transceiver used to contact one or more Field Day stations may not subsequently be used under any other callsign to participate in Field Day. Family stations are exempt provided the subsequent callsign used is issued to and used by a different family member.
See here for details on rule changes for 2020: http://www.arrl.org/news/temporary-rule-waivers-announced-for-2020-arrl-field-day
