K1KI Field Day 2021 Grand Tour
Former New England Division Director Tom Frenaye, K1KI, has penned his Field Day notes in the article, “K1KI Field Day 2021 Grand Tour.”
a field organization of the National Association for Amateur Radio®
All things Field Day
Former New England Division Director Tom Frenaye, K1KI, has penned his Field Day notes in the article, “K1KI Field Day 2021 Grand Tour.”
ARRL Eastern MA Section Manager Tom Walsh, K1TW, writes on the ARRL Members Only list:
Field Day begins Saturday June 26, at 1800 UTC, and runs until Sunday, June 27. Ending times depend on when you start setting up so check the rules carefully.
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CORRECTION FROM LAST BULLETIN
The correct call sign for the Whitman ARC Field Day is NI1X. My apology to Whitman ARC for the error.
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UPDATED LIST OF CLUBS DOING EMA FIELD DAY (AND ONE CORRECTION)
Here are 11 Eastern Massachusetts club locations that I found. Many of these may be near you and most welcome your visit and support.
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Section Staff Tours
EMA Section Manager, K1TW, usually makes a tour of EMA section Field Day clubs. K1TW is unable this year. K1TW will be there in spirit rooting for your club FD operation in EMA.
Phil, K9HI, Eastern Massachusetts (ASM) and NE Division Vice Director, will be visiting some EMA clubs as well as other clubs throughout the NE Division.
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MORE BONUS POINTS
– Send a Field Day radiogram to your Section Manager (K1TW) or SEC (KD1CY). A list of the EMA Traffic nets can be found at
https://ema.arrl.org/national-
– Copy and submit the W1AW Field Message with your entry.
Again, read the rules carefully to gather as many bonus points as you can.
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RULES
Get the full rules in the ARRL Field Day packet at http://www.arrl.org/files/file
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Field Day Locators
You can find a club and help them at a nearby Field Day site by checking either:
– the ARRL Field Day Locator at http://www.arrl.org/field-day-
– the EMA Field Day Locator at https://fd.ema.arrl.org/field_
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Stay safe and have fun!
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ARRL Eastern Massachusetts Section
Section Manager: Thomas D Walsh, K1TW
k1tw@arrl.org
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– SPECIAL NEWS BULLETIN –
Field Day begins Saturday, June 26, 2021 at 1800 UTC and runs until Sunday, June 27. Ending times depend on when you start setting up.
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What are your Field Day Plans?
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There are several options for each person:
* Try “Field Day at Home”
When you submit results at the end just list your local club so they will get credit in the QST results. Note that again this year home stations running class D may work everyone including other class D stations.
* Try Field Day with another club
You can find a club and help them at a nearby Field Day site by checking either:
– the ARRL Field Day Locator at http://www.arrl.org/field-d
– the EMA Field Day Locator at https://fd.ema.arrl.org/fie
Again, this year, our thanks go to Bill Ricker, N1VUX for the outstanding EMA FD Locator which is packed full of extra news and information.
* Try doing Field Day with your friends
– create a non-club group like a 1- or 2-person portable in a park or campsite.
* Try Field Day at someone else’s home station
Just remember to let them know you are coming first.
Whichever you choose, try to spend some time operating in Field Day this year.
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CLUBS
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Here are nine of the Eastern Massachusetts club locations I found on the Field Day locators. Many of these may be nearby your home should you want to help them out.
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BONUS POINTS
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Don’t forget the Bonus Points.
Remember to send a radiogram to your Section Manager (K1TW) or SEC (KD1CY) during the event for an extra bonus. A list of the EMA Traffic nets for this purpose can be found at https://ema.arrl.org/national-
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RULES
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Get the full rules in the ARRL Field Day packet at http://www.arrl.org/files/file
And finally, I usually make a tour of EMA section Field Day sites but am unable this year. On Monday, I had eye surgery and while the recovery is going well, I don’t want to risk the outcome by driving the usual several hundred miles. I will be there in spirit rooting for each and every club and FD operation is EMA. Stay safe and have fun!
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ARRL Eastern Massachusetts Section
Section Manager: Thomas D Walsh, K1TW
k1tw@arrl.org
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From ARRL Special Bulletin 006:
International Space Station to be in Cross-Band Repeater Mode for Field Day
The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) cross-band repeater will be available for ARRL Field Day, June 26 – 27. Contacts will count toward Field Day bonus points as satellite contacts and Field Day contacts.
Field Day rules limit stations to one contact on any single-channel FM satellite. Note that contacts made during Field Day by ISS crew would only count for contact credit, but not for satellite bonus points. ISS cross-band repeater contacts are also valid AMSAT Field Day satellite contacts.
The ARISS cross-band repeater uplink is 145.990 MHz (67 Hz tone), with a downlink of 437.800 MHz.
ARISS suggests that those unfamiliar with the ISS repeater may want to practice with it prior to Field Day. ARISS had planned to switch modes to the Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) during the second week of June, but this won’t happen until after the first ARISS school contact following ARRL Field Day.
The ARISS ham station will be off-air during spacewalks on June 16 and June 20.
From ARRL Web:
The COVID-19 pandemic-modified ARRL Field Day rules from 2020 will continue this June with the addition of a power limit imposed on Class D (Home Stations) and Class E (Home Stations-Emergency Power) participants. The news from the ARRL Board’s Programs and Services Committee comes as many clubs and groups are starting preparations for Field Day in earnest. Field Day 2021 will take place June 26 – 27.
“This early decision should alleviate any hesitancy that radio clubs and individual Field Day participants may have with their planning for the event,” said ARRL Contest Program Manager Paul Bourque, N1SFE. [More]
Deadline for FD logs is as usual one month, so 7/28. Clubs can check for members’ logs via Contest Branch Logs Received.
As of today, there are 150+ FD logs citing EMA as the section, with 19 clubs with 2+ entries (total 117 stations), plus a handful of single club home stations and representing clubs spanning multiple sections, and a couple dozen 28 claiming no club affiliation. Compared to 39 station logs in 2019, this is a very successful COVID-19 Field Day @Home for EMA.
Status (as of 7/19)
140 Complete
17 Pending documents
count Club
28 (blank)
1 3730 GROUP
6 Algonquin Amateur Radio Club
1 ARASNE
5+1 Barnstable Amateur Radio Club; Barnstable ARC
6 Billerica Amateur Radio Society
2 Blackstone Valley ARC
3 Boston ARC
3+1 Cape Ann ARA, Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association (W1GLO)
1 Charlotte Amateur Radio Society, Inc.
18 FALMOUTH AMATEUR RADIO ASSOCIATION
8+1 Framingham Amateur Radio Association, 1 Framingham ARA
4 K1USN Radio Club
1 Long Island CW Club
1 Montachusett ARA
6 Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club
2 Nashua Area Radio Society
2 Providence RA
1 QRP Amateur Radio Club International
1 Quannapowitt Radio Association – W1EKT
1 Ski Country ARC
1 Southborough Rod & Gun ARC
1 Southeastern Massachusetts Amateur Radio Association (SEMARA)
5+1 Sturdy Mem Hospital ARC, STURDY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL ARC
3 The Whitman Amateur Radio Club
4 “W1HP”
5 Waltham ARA
17 WB1GOF
6+1 WELLESLEY AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY, Wellesley ARS
7+1 Whitman Amateur Radio Club, Whitman ARC
1 Yankee Clipper Contest Club
Stations needing to adjust Club spelling by 7/28 to roll up cleanly –
AK1MD Complete Wellesley ARS 1D EMA
K1UR Complete Framingham ARA 1D EMA
KD0IHJ Pending documents STURDY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL ARC 1D EMA
N1STV Complete Whitman ARC 1D EMA
W4RIG Complete Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association (W1GLO) 1D EMA
W1LEM Pending documents Barnstable ARC 1D EMA
(That’s remarkably good conformity in spelling. I’m guessing the fullcaps vs lowercase is a result of using different logging software ?? )
count Class/Category
1 3A
5 1B1
5 1B1B
1 1B2B
106 1D
5 2D
1 3D
31 1E
1 4E
The proportion of 1E, 1B stations on emergency or battery power at home is gratifying, keeping the spirit of Field Day alive.
EMA Stations with Transmitters > 1 (while safely social distancing, we hope) –
K1IR 3D Billerica Amateur Radio Society
K1WMC 2D Blackstone Valley ARC
KA1YQC 2D
KC1KZB 2D
N1EM 3A Algonquin Amateur Radio Club
W1FM 2D Yankee Clipper Contest Club
W1SRG 2D Southborough Rod & Gun ARC
WA1QZK 4E
Kudos to Ron WA1QZK who forwarded his 4E social distancing plan that included hand-sanitizer station at cellar exterior door and dispersed operating desks.
Joe Thomas, WB1EMS, reports a group of 20 hams from the South Shore area participated in Field Day at Great Hill in Weymouth overlooking Boston Harbor. Many of this group have been regular participants on the East Mass Two Meter Net on the Boston 145.23 repeater. Mike, K1UVH, was the event coordinator putting much of the setup together along with Peter, KC1HHO and Scott, N1KMX. Other EM2MN regulars included: Bernie, KC1MSN; Chet, KB1NZZ; and Alex, KC1NBT.
The group operated simplex, repeaters, two-meters, HF, six-meters, digital, packet, and APRS. Joe reports that N1KMX made 45 contacts via simplex contacting local stations and stations in Maine, New Hampshire, the Blue Hill Weather Observatory, and several mobile contacts, including a mobile aeronautical station aboard a US Coast Guard helicopter!
Joe says a fun day was had by all and they hope to do it again soon. –Marcia Forde, KW1U
PART of Westford will hold a fun competition to recognize members who operated in the 2020 Field Day and who finish first in several categories:
Club president George Allison, K1IG, asks applicants to email him once they receive confirmation from ARRL Headquarters that their logs have been received. He adds, “this is all on the honor system.”
Winners will be announced at the August PART meeting.
The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has placed much of New England in a marginal risk for severe weather for Sunday afternoon and evening. Strong to damaging winds, hail, and torrential rainfall leading to urban and poor drainage flooding are the main threats. Model trends indicate a greater potential for severe weather on Sunday than today with strong instability, forcing from a cold front and marginally sufficient wind fields. [Full story]
National Weather Service Boston/Norton, MA
46 Commerce Way
Bill Ricker, N1VUX, writes:
I have created a non-place Site for FD@Home cumulative scoring in the FD Directory (geographic coordinates in Boston Harbor but not on an island; county=mixed, same as “Nowhere”; it will get the Harbor forecast, oops).
Club | Plans |
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BARC:Boston ARC | Confirmed |
Fal:Falmouth FARA Inc | Confirmed |
Fram:Framingham Amateur Radio Assn Fara.org | Confirmed |
K1USN:K1USN Club | Probable |
MARA:Massasoit ARA Inc | Confirmed |
MITLL:MIT Lincoln Labs | Confirmed |
Msex:Middlesex-Zola ARC | Probable |
NEAR:New England Amateur Radio, Inc. | Confirmed |
PARC:Philips Amateur Radio Club (PARC) | Confirmed |
PART:Police Amateur Radio Team of Westford | Confirmed |
PRA:Pentucket RA | Confirmed |
STARS:Sci-Tech Amateur Radio Society | Confirmed |
Sturdy:Sturdy Memorial Hospital ARC | Confirmed |
WARA64:Waltham ARA | Confirmed |
WARS:Wellesley ARS | Probable |
WhARC:Whitman ARC | Confirmed |
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Eliot Mayer, W1MJ, writes on the Waltham ARA mailing list:
In preparation for “[Waltham Amateur Radio Association] Field Day 2020 – Alone Together”, the club will hold two online training sessions.
Wednesday, June 17, 2020, 7:30 – 830 PM: N1MM Logger
Wednesday, June 24, 2020, 7:30 – 8:30 PM: FD 2020 Q&A
It would be helpful if you install the latest version of N1MM Logger Plus from https://n1mmwp.hamdocs.com/ before the June 17 session, or at least try, so that you will know what you don’t know. If you are new to N1MM, be sure do the “Full Install” and then the “Latest Update”.
Prior to the June 24 meeting, check out official FD site http://www.arrl.org/field-day and K8GT’s excellent presentation about FD 2020: http://tiny.cc/fdsd
The Algonquin Amateur Radio Club will operate Field Day from Crow Island in Stow on June 27 or the evening of June 26.
“Please email the activities chair for more information,” writes Joe Reynolds, KA1GDQ. (ka1gdq -at- arrl -dot- net.) “We will have to social distance and can’t have any more than ten people at a time at the location.”
Joe requests those wishing to help out with set up/break down or operating to provide him with the following information:
Bruce Blain, K1BG, will present, “Field Day Single Operator – What can you do when social distancing prevents traditional Field Day operations” at the June 18 meeting of the Falmouth Amateur Radio Association online meeting via Zoom. For meeting details, contact Henry Brown, K1WCC, at k1wcc -at- comcast -dot- net.
The ARRL Contest Program has released some Frequently Asked Questions related to the Field Day temporary rule waivers. On May 28, the ARRL Programs and Services Committee (PSC) adopted these provisions only for the June 27 – 28, 2020, event: (1) Class D stations may work all other Field Day stations, including other Class D stations, for points, and (2) an aggregate club score will be published, which will be the sum of all individual entries that indicate a specific club. Contact the ARRL Contest Program with any questions related to Field Day 2020.
Q: Several of our club members are going to operate independently and wish to attribute their scores to the aggregate club score. What call sign should they use?
A: Participants should use their own call signs. Except for Class C (mobile) entries, all transmitters, receivers, and antennas must be located within a 1,000-foot-diameter circle may operate using a single call sign. This prohibits the use of a single call sign from more than one location. Under the 2020 waiver, those operating from home, including backyard operations, must use their own station call signs. Multiple home stations operating with a club call sign or modified club call sign, such as W1AW-1, W1AW-2, W1AW-3, etc, are not allowed.
Q: How does my club submit an aggregate club score? Does the club need to add up each participating member’s scores and submit a club entry with the aggregate score under the club call sign?
A: Each participant will submit his or her own independent entry under his or her call sign. ARRL will calculate the aggregate score based upon the club name entered on the official Field Day entry form via the web applet (preferred method) or on the paper Field Day entry form. In order for results to be tabulated correctly, all club participants must enter the club’s official name exactly the same, avoiding abbreviations or acronyms. This is important!
Q: Our group is still planning to operate at the usual Field Day site, but some members do not feel comfortable gathering in a large group this year. Can we still submit an entry using the club call sign, as well as have members operating from home using their own call signs?
A: Yes. If your club is still hosting a group Field Day effort, it will submit an entry as usual, using the club call sign. Club members operating at home will submit separate entries with their own call signs and will enter the club name on the entry form for club aggregate scoring.
Q: Can a club member operate from home using the club call sign?
A: Yes, but the call sign may only be used in one location. The member must receive permission from the trustee of the club call sign.
Q: Our club normally enters Field Day in Class A. If we operate from our home stations, in which class should individual members enter in order to be included in the aggregate club score?
A: Each member will operate independently and will submit the entry using whatever class that applies to their operation. Typically, home stations running on commercial ac power are Class D, while home stations running on battery, solar, generator, or the like (i.e., not from ac mains) are Class E. When the results are published, each club member will be listed in the results under the class in which they operated. For 2020 only, aggregate club scores will be listed by the club name in a separate listing.
Q: Our club will have 10 members operating from home as Class D stations. Should they worry about working the same station on the same band and mode (duplicates)?
A: Because members are operating as separate entries using their own call signs, the contacts are not considered duplicates.
Q: Does the club need to be an ARRL-affiliated club to participate in Field Day?
A: No. All clubs and groups are welcome to participate in ARRL Field Day.
Q: How will bonus points be calculated for the aggregate club scores? Can individual club members still earn bonus points?
A: All individual scores, including bonus points, will be added together to determine the aggregate club score. Refer to the complete rules to determine eligibility for bonus points. — Thanks to Paul Bourque, N1SFE, ARRL Contest Program Manager
From ARRL Web:
With one month to go before 2020 ARRL Field Day, June 27 – 28, the ARRL Programs and Services Committee (PSC) has adopted two temporary rule waivers for the event:
1) For Field Day 2020 only, Class D stations may work all other Field Day stations, including other Class D stations, for points.
Field Day rule 4.6 defines Class D stations as “Home stations,” including stations operating from permanent or licensed station locations using commercial power. Class D stations ordinarily may only count contacts made with Class A, B, C, E, and F Field Day stations, but the temporary rule waiver for 2020 allows Class D stations to count contacts with other Class D stations for QSO credit.
2) In addition, for 2020 only, an aggregate club score will be published, which will be the sum of all individual entries indicating a specific club (similar to the aggregate score totals used in ARRL affiliated club competitions).
Ordinarily, club names are only published in the results for Class A and Class F entries, but the temporary rule waiver for 2020 allows participants from any Class to optionally include a single club name with their submitted results following Field Day.
For example, if Podunk Hollow Radio Club members Becky, W1BXY, and Hiram, W1AW, both participate in 2020 Field Day — Hiram from his Class D home station, and Becky from her Class C mobile station — both can include the radio club’s name when reporting their individual results. The published results listing will include individual scores for Hiram and Becky, plus a combined score for all entries identified as Podunk Hollow Radio Club.
The temporary rule waivers were adopted by the PSC on May 27, 2020.
ARRL Field Day is one of the biggest events on the amateur radio calendar, with over 36,000 participants in 2019, including entries from 3,113 radio clubs and emergency operations centers. In most years, Field Day is also the largest annual demonstration of ham radio, because many radio clubs organize their participation in public places such as parks and schools.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many radio clubs have made decisions to cancel their group participation in ARRL Field Day this year due to public health recommendations and/or requirements, or to significantly modify their participation for safe social distancing practices. The temporary rule waivers allow greater flexibility in recognizing the value of individual and club participation regardless of entry class.
ARRL is contacting logging program developers about the temporary rule waivers so developers can release updated versions of their software prior to Field Day weekend. Participants are reminded that the preferred method of submitting entries after Field Day is via the web applet. The ARRL Field Day rules include instructions for submitting entries after the event. Entries must be submitted or postmarked by Tuesday, July 28, 2020.
The ARRL Field Day web page includes a series of articles with ideas and advice for adapting participation this year.
This presentation by Eliot Mayer, W1MJ, will include contesting basics, the age-old question about whether ARRL Field Day is a contest, some training for popular logging program N1MM Logger Plus, and some thoughts on goals for FD 2020.
Monthly meeting are now being held online. In order to receive emails with the meeting links, do one of the following:
[Source: Waltham Amateur Radio Association website]