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The ARRL is making available annual Field Day pins to show your participation in the 2000 event. No minimum number of contacts to make, no score levels to achieve: just PARTICIPATE in the most popular annual operating event in the US and Canada. The cost is $5 each. Field Day groups should collect the money for the pins and send a single order stating the number of pins needed to: ARRL Contest Branch Attn. Field Day Pins, 225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111. We will ship the pins back to the club for distribution. These attractive pins are sure to become popular items. Show your Field Day spirit by displaying the Field Day participation pin. We sold out of these pins last year. Order yours early.

1. Eligibility: Field Day is open to all amateurs in the areas covered by the ARRL / RAC Field Organizations. DX stations may be contacted for credit, but are not eligible to compete.

2. Object: To work as many stations as possible on any and all amateur bands (excluding the 30, 17, and 12-meter bands) and in doing so to learn to operate in abnormal situations in less than optimal conditions. A premium is placed on developing skills to meet the challenges of emergency preparedness as well as to acquaint the general public with the capabilities of Amateur Radio.

3. Date and Time Period: Field Day is always the fourth full weekend of June, beginning at 1800 UTC Saturday and ending at 2100 UTC Sunday. Field Day 2000 will be held June 24-25, 2000.

3.1. Class A and B (see below) stations who do not begin setting up until 1800 UTC on Saturday may operate the entire Field Day period.

3.2. Stations who begin setting up before 1800 UTC Saturday may work only 24 consecutive hours, commencing when on-the-air operations begin.

3.3. No Class A or B station may begin their set-up earlier than 1800 UTC on the Friday preceding the contest period.

4. Entry Categories: Field Day entries are classified according to the maximum number of simultaneously transmitted signals, followed by a designator of the nature of their individual or group participation. Below 30 MHz, once a transmitter is used for a contact on a band, it must remain on that band for at least 15 minutes. During the period, the transmitter is considered to be transmitting, whether it is or not, for the purpose of determining transmitter classification. Switching devices are prohibited.

4.1. (Class A) Club / non-club portable: Club groups (or a non-club group with three or more licensed amateurs) set up specifically for Field Day. Such stations must be located in places that are not regular station locations and must not use facilities installed for permanent station use, nor any structure installed permanently for Field Day use. Stations must operate under one callsign (except if a dedicated Novice / Technician Plus+ station is allowed, it must be operated under a callsign as provided later in these rules), and under the control of a single licensee or trustee for the entry. All equipment (including antennas) must lie within a circle whose diameter does not exceed 300 meters (1000 feet). All contacts must be made with transmitter(s) and receiver(s) operating independent of commercial power mains. Entrants whom for any reason operate a transmitter or receiver from a commercial main for one or more contacts will be listed separately.

4.1.1. Any Class A group whose entry classification is two or more transmitters may also operate one dedicated Novice / Technician Plus operating position without changing its basic entry category. This station must be operated under a callsign issued to a Novice / Technician Plus operator and may only make contacts within the Novice / Technician Plus H.F. sub-bands. It must abide by Novice / Technician Plus power and mode restrictions. This station may only be operated by Novice / Technician Plus licensees. For Field Day purposes only, any Canadian Amateur HF licensee who has been licensed for six months or less prior to Field Day, shall be considered a "Novice" to provide a means for Canadian Field Day Class A stations to employ this rule. This station does not qualify for a 100-point bonus as an additional transmitter.

4.1.2. Any Class A group whose entry category is two or more transmitters may also operate one additional transmitter if it operates exclusively on any bands or combination of bands above 50 MHz (VHF/UHF) without changing its basic entry classification. This station does not qualify for a 100-point bonus as an additional transmitter. This station may be operated for the entire Field Day period for the club and all contacts count for QSO credit.

4.2. (Class A -- Battery) Club / non-club portable: Club groups (or non-club groups with three or more licensed amateurs) set up specifically for Field Day, all contacts must be made using an output power of 5 Watts or less and the power source must be something other than commercial power mains or motor-driven generator (e.g.: batteries, solar cells, water-driven generator). Other provisions are the same for regular Class A.

4.3. (Class B) One or two person portable: Non-club stations set up and operated for Field Day purposes by no more than two licensed amateurs. Other provisions are the same for Class A. One and two person Class B entries will be listed separately.

4.4. (Class B -- Battery) One or two person portable: Non-club stations set up and operated by no more than two licensed amateurs. All contacts must be made using an output power of 5 Watts or less and the power source must be something other than commercial mains or motor-driven generator. Other provisions are the same as Class A. One and two person Class B -- Battery entries will be listed separately.

4.5. (Class C) Mobile: Stations in vehicles capable of operating while in motion and normally operated in this manner. This includes maritime and aeronautical mobile.

4.6. (Class D) Home stations: Stations operating from permanent or licensed station locations using commercial power. Class D stations may only count contacts made with Class A, B, C and E Field Day stations.

4.7. (Class E) Home stations -- Emergency power: Same as for class D, but using emergency power for transmitters and receivers. May work stations in Class A, B, C, D, and E.

5. Exchange: Stations in ARRL / RAC sections will exchange their Field Day operating Class and ARRL / RAC section. Example: a three transmitter class A station in Connecticut which also has a Novice/Tech station and one VHF station would send "3A CT" on CW or "3 Alpha Connecticut" on phone. Foreign stations send RS(T) and QTH.

6. Miscellaneous Rules

6.1. A person who participates by making a QSO from a Field Day operation using one call sign may not subsequently work that station for QSO credit using a different callsign.

6.2. A station 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.

6.3. Each Phone, CW and Digital (non-CW) segment is considered a separate band. A station may only be worked once per band.

6.4. All voice contacts are equivalent.

6.5. Cross-band contacts are not permitted.

6.6. The use of more than one transmitter at the same time on a single band is prohibited. Exception: a dedicated Novice/Technician Plus station may operate in any Novice / Technician Plus sub-band.

6.7. No repeater contacts are allowed.

6.8. Batteries may be charged while in use. Except for Class D batteries must be charged from a power source other than commercial power mains.

7. Scoring: Scores are based on the total number of QSO points times the power multiplier corresponding to the highest power level under which any contact was made during the Field Day period plus the bonus points.

7.1. QSO Points

7.1.1. Phone contacts count one point each.

7.1.2. CW contacts count two points each.

7.1.3. Digital contacts count two points each.

7.2. Power multipliers: The power multiplier that applies is determined by the highest power output of any of the transmitters used during the Field Day operation.

7.2.1. If all contacts are made using a power of 5 Watts or less and if a power source other than commercial mains or motor-driven generator is used (batteries, solar cells, water-driven generator) the power multiplier is 5.

7.2.2. If all contacts are made using a power of 5 Watts or less, but the power source is from a commercial main or from a motor-driven generator, the power multiplier is 2.

7.2.3. If any or all contacts are made using an output power up to 150 Watts or less, the power multiplier is 2.

7.2.4. If any or all contacts are made using an output power greater than 150 Watts, the power multiplier is one.

7.2.5. Only one power multiplier may be applied to the score of any entry.

7.3. Bonus Points: The following bonus points will be added to the score, after the multiplier is applied, to determine the final Field Day score. Only Class A and B stations are eligible for bonus points. Bonus points will only be applied if the claim is made on the summary sheet and any proof required is enclosed with the entry.

7.3.1. 100% Emergency Power: 100 points per transmitter classification if all contacts are made only using an emergency power source. Free transmitters that do not count towards the group's total do not qualify for bonus point credit. All transmitting equipment at the site must operate from a power source completely independent of the commercial power mains to qualify. (Example: a club operating 3 transmitters plus a Novice station and using 100% emergency power receives 300 bonus points.)

7.3.2. Media Publicity: 100 bonus points may be earned for attempting to obtain publicity from the local media. A copy of the press release, or a copy of the actual media publicity received (newspaper article, etc) must be submitted to claim the points.

7.3.3. 100 bonus points for physically locating the Field Day operation in a public place (shopping center, community park, school campus). The intent is for amateur radio to be on display to the public.

7.3.4. 100 bonus points for a Public Information Table at the Field Day site. The purpose is to make appropriate handouts and information available to the visiting public at the site. Submission of a visitor's log, copies of club handouts or photos are sufficient evidence for claiming this bonus.

7.3.5. Message Origination: 100 bonus points for origination of a National Traffic System (NTS) style formal message to the ARRL Section Manager or Section Emergency Coordinator by your group from its site. You should include the club name, number of participants, Field Day location, and number of ARES operators involved with your station. The message must be transmitted during the Field Day period and a fully serviced copy of it must be included in your submission, in standard ARRL NTS format, or no credit will be given.

7.3.6. Message Relay: 10 points for each formal NTS style received and relayed during the Field Day period, up to a maximum of 100 points total. Properly serviced copies of each message must be included with the Field Day report.

7.3.7. Satellite QSO: 100 bonus points for successfully completing at least one QSO via an amateur radio satellite during the Field Day period. Under the "General Rules for All ARRL Contests" (rule 3.7.2.), the no-repeater QSO stipulation is waived for satellite QSOs. Groups are allowed one dedicated satellite transmitter station without increasing their entry category. Satellite QSOs also count for regular QSO credit. Show them listed separately on the summary sheet as a separate "band."

7.3.8. 100 bonus points for Field Day groups making a minimum of five QSOs without using power from commercial mains or a petroleum driven generator. This means an "alternate" energy source of power, such as solar, wind, methane or water. This includes batteries charged by natural means (not dry cells). The natural power transmitter counts as an additional transmitter. If you do not wish to it to increase your operating category, you should take one of your other transmitters off the air while the natural power transmitter is in operation. A separate list of natural power QSOs should be submitted with your entry.

7.3.9. 100 bonus points for copying the special Field Day bulletin transmitted by W1AW during its operating schedule during the Field Day weekend (listed in this rules announcement). An accurate copy of the message is required to be included in your Field Day submission. (Note: The Field Day bulletin must be copied via amateur radio. It will not be included in Internet bulletins sent out from Headquarters and will not be posted to Internet BBS sites.)

7.3.10. 100 bonus points for setting up a demonstration of a non-traditional mode of amateur radio communications. This includes modes such as APRS, ATV, and SSTV. This bonus is not available for demonstration of a mode for which regular QSO credit is available (such as packet, PSK31, or other digital modes.)

8. Reporting:

8.1. Entries must be postmarked or emailed by July 24, 2000. No late entries can be accepted. A complete entry consists of:

8.1.1. An official ARRL summary sheet (or reasonable facsimile) which is completely and accurately filled out;

8.1.2. A list of stations worked by band/mode during the Field Day period (dupe sheet or an alpha/numeric list sorted by band and mode);

8.1.3. Proofs of bonus points claimed.

8.2. Complete station logs are not required for submission. However, log files should be maintained by the club in case they are requested by ARRL HQ.

8.3. Electronic submissions should be emailed to: FieldDay@arrl.org and should include, as attachments to the email, the required summary sheet and dupe files as well as document files and/or jpg/gif files of any bonus points claimed.

8.4. Paper submissions should be mailed to: Field Day Entry, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111

9. Miscellaneous

9.1. The list of bulletin times for W1AW is included in this announcement. While W1AW does not have regular bulletins on weekends, the Field Day message will be sent according to the schedule included with this announcement.

9.2. See "General Rules for All ARRL Contests," "General Rules for All ARRL Contests on Bands Below 30 MHz," and "General Rules for All ARRL Contests on Bands Above 50 MHz" (November 1999 issue of QST) for additional rules.

9.3. Remember that the national simplex FM calling frequency of 146.52 MHz may not be used for making Field Day contacts.

9.4. The complete Field Day information package may be obtained by:

9.4.1. Sending a SASE with 4 units of postage to: Field Day Information Package, ARRL, 255 Main St, Newington, CT 06111;

9.4.2. By downloading from the Contest Branch home page at: http://www.arrl.org/contests/forms

9.5. For additional Field Day information or questions contact: contests@arrl.org or phone (860) 594-0232.