Jock White Memorial Field Day Contest Rules

Update 16 Dec 2013

Saturday/Sunday February 23/24 2013

This annual contest is named to honour Jock White ZL2GX, NZART Contest and Awards Manager for over 40 years, for the service that he gave to NZART during that time. This contest is primarily to test Branch organisation and weld a team of workers together. Your team can aim to be as competitive or as social as it likes, or all points in between. There is work for all: spouses/partners, prospective members etc.

Of Note

Rule 12 relating to the branch number of field stations has been altered to allow more flexibility.
The minimum number of CW contacts per band operated needed to gain branch point status remains at 20, see rule 15.2.4 below.
Entries must be scored and submitted on the correct sheets, see rule 17. The contest managers job is made much easier if all entries are scored on the same sheets.
The single station 80 and 40 metres section has been trialled over the last two years and will remain.
Splatter and distortion is still a cause of significant QRM and must be avoided. (See rule 7)

There are two main causes of splatter with modern equipment:

Insufficient DC supply voltage at the transceiver terminals. Make sure your DC supply is up to the job, which means checking the voltage at the set while transmitting a carrier or on voice peaks.
Overdriven Tx. Check ALC readings, giving attention to the correct use of the microphone gain control. This is particularly important if a different microphone from usual is in use. When operating under Field Day conditions it is best to turn your power down a little, not to run at maximum.

Rules:

1. WHEN: The last weekend in February each year: In the event that the Saturday falls on the last day of February, then the second day (Sunday) will be conducted the following day (i.e. Sunday 1st March)
Saturday 1500 -2400 NZT
Sunday 0600 - 1500 NZT.

2. Bands: 40 and 80 metres:
2.1 Simultaneous operation on 80 and 40 metres is permitted provided that only one receiver/transmitter is operational on any one band at any one time. Single receiver/transmitters may be used on one or both bands. The exception is the 80 metres only section, and the single station 80/40 m section.

3. Modes and Contacts:
3.1 Modes to be used are phone and CW. Phone to CW contacts is not permissible.
3.2 Home stations will identify themselves as such and field stations will identify themselves as such.

4. Sites/Shelter: All equipment (except generators) to be under the same shelter. For field stations the shelter to be a tent (one or more tents within 10 metres of each other) erected on the weekend of the contest, mobile home or other vehicle (moved on to the site on the weekend of contest).

5. Antennae: for field stations to be raised no earlier than 2300 UTC on the Friday (1200 NZT on the Saturday). This takes into account that some may chose to erect antennae supports while others may use natural or standing supports. e.g. hills, trees, towers, buildings etc.

6. Power Supply: for field stations must be from a source independent of the AC or DC mains, i.e. all power must be from batteries/engine alternator/solar source/wind generator etc.

7. Operating Standards: Verifiable complaints of poor operating standards, which impede the ability of other Field Day stations to participate in Field Day, will result in the offender either being penalised, or disqualified. This will be at the discretion of the Field Day Manager

8. Contest Sections: Only one section of the contest may be entered by any one station although that station's entry may qualify for entry into more than one section.
8.1 Open Section: Field Stations with final power amplifier output not exceeding 100 watts. The use of linear amplifiers is restricted to increasing the power output of lower powered transceivers (e.g. a K2 or FT817) to the 100 watt level. The trophies stated (detailed in Rules 8.1.1 to 8.1.4 incl. will be awarded to the highest scoring stations in their respective Regional Section. Certificates of Achievement will be issued to all place getters, as warranted by entry numbers.

8.1.1. Northern Region Section (Montgomery Cup)
8.1.2. Central Region Section (Patea Shield)
8.1.3. Midlands Region Section (ZL3/4 Trophy)
8.1.4. Southern Region Section ('4' Trophy)
8.1.5. Single Operator Section -operation unaided by any other person.
8.1.6. CW Only Section -operation on either band or both bands CW only.
8.1.7. Phone Only Section -operation on either band or both bands Phone only.
8.1.8. Single Station 80 and 40 metres- operation on both bands alternately, no simultaneous operation. Alternate operation is permitted throughout each hour period. Only one receiver can be in active use at any one time i.e. another operator cannot hunt for stations on the other band. Use a separate log for each band.
8.1.9. 80 metres Only Section -operation on 80 metres only.
8.1.10. QRP Field Station Section (W M Hall Memorial Cup): The maximum output power from the final amplifier of the field station must not exceed 5 watts.

8.2 A certificate will be awarded to the overall highest scoring home station. Due to the variability of entrants in this section other certificates will be awarded at the discretion of the field day manager e.g. region, QRP, phone or CW only etc.

9. Operators: The station should be operated by members of NZART except that operators being introduced to NZART and helpers need not be members. Indicate accordingly on the summary sheet.

10. Mobile Stations: are eligible for contest purposes as field stations for contacts made from within one branch area only. The branch number used will be that of the area where the station is operated.

11. Cipher Exchanges:
11.1 The ciphers given will consist of report and serial number/branch number. e.g. 59001/11 on phone and 599001/11 on CW.
11.2 Serial numbers will commence at 001 and increment by one for each contact.
11.3 Where simultaneous operation is used a separate serial number series will be used for each band.
11.4 Phone and CW numbers on one band are from the same number series.

12. Branch Number:

12.1 Field stations will usually operate in the area of their Branch. They will use the NZART Branch number in their cypher.

12.2 It is recognised that for various reasons some field teams may need to venture beyond their ‘normal branch area’ to operate.

12.3 Some teams may not have affiliation to a particular branch but wish to operate as a field station. To provide a branch number in this case nearby branches not active in field day should be approached for permission to use their number. (see 12.5 below)

12.4 If the field station chosen location is within another Branch area care must be taken not to clash with the other Branch station. The onus is on the 'moved' station to ensure that there is no clash.

12.5 The Branch number of Branches in recess may be used.

12.6 The field day manager should be contacted well before the event if there is any potential difficulty with the use of branch numbers.

12.7 Home stations will use the Branch number 00

13. Contest Periods:
13.1 There will be 18 periods between the even hours. eg. 1500-1600, 1600-1700, etc.
13.2 Contacts may be made with any field, ZL home or 'overseas' (refer rule 13) station once each period on each mode on each band. i.e. on 80 m: once on phone and once on CW, and on 40 m: once on phone and once on CW, each period.
13.3 The contacts with any one station on phone and CW on one band in a period, or on one mode at the end of one period and commencement of the next, may not be sequential except where 5 minutes have elapsed between those contacts.

14. 'Overseas' Stations: are those located outside the New Zealand mainland, and in the South Pacific region. The prefixes that are eligible are: all VK, ZL5, 7, 8, 9, ZK2, ZK3, A3, E5, FK, FO, FW, H4, P2, YJ, 3D2, 5W.

15. Scoring: The final score will be the total of contact points (80 m + 40 m) x total Branch Points.
15.1 Contact points:
* ZL phone 3 per contact
* ZL CW 5 per contact
* Overseas phone or CW 10 per contact
15.2 Branch Points (multiplier):
15.2.1 One Branch point is claimed for each Branch contacted on each band and mode. e.g. one Branch point for contacting Branch 01 on 80 m phone, two Branch points for contacting Branch 01 on 80 m Phone and 40 m Phone or 4 Branch Points for contacting Branch 01 on 80 m Phone and CW plus 40 m Phone and CW, etc. Enter the callsigns claimed for the branch point contacts above in the appropriate columns in summary sheets two and three. Then total the columns to get the number of Branch points for summary sheet one.15.2.2 Only one station from a branch may be claimed as a Branch point for a mode on one band. However, where a Branch has more than one station active different stations contacted may be claimed for the other band or mode.
15.2.3 Stations using the same Branch number may contact each other for contact points but not for Branch points.
15.2.4 To qualify as Branch points for other stations, a field station must have a minimum of 50 contacts on Phone or 20 contacts on CW on each band that the station is active on. e.g. if active on 80 m Phone, must have 50 contacts to count as one Branch point, if active on 80 m Phone and CW, must have 50 contacts on phone and 20 contacts on CW to count as two Branch points, etc.

16. Logs
16.1 One log per station in order of time, except that where simultaneous operation is used one log per band is required.
16.2 Head each page with the call, Branch or HS for home station and the page number.
16.3 Log sheet layout order: date/time/station contacted/CW or PH/band/cipher sent/cipher received. NZART logsheets are preferred. Entry in the point's column is not required as totals are done from a summary, but the point's column can be used for checking purposes. A total of PH/CW/DX contacts on each page is useful for counting purposes.
16.4 Use a separate log-sheet per period except that where there are very few contacts per period, several periods (ruled off between periods) can be on one sheet. The operator (not log-keeper) must check the log.
16.5 Highlight or underline each contact claimed as a multiplier.
16.6 Check for accuracy and rule through any duplicate contacts in a period.

17. Scoring Sheets:
17.1 The summary and final score details are to be on the 'Jock White Memorial Field Day' summary sheets provided to Branch secretaries each year and also available from NZART HQ and the NZART website
http://www.nzart.org.nz/activities/contest-rules/rules-jw-field-day/
17.2 Summary Sheet 1 contains:
17.2.1 Callsign used Branch name & number or HS for home station
17.2.2 Postal address for certificates and email address for results
17.2.3 Section entered (one only)
17.2.4 Names & Calls of operators/assistants
17.2.5 No. of 80 m phone contacts, No. of 80 m CW contacts, No. of 80 m overseas contacts
17.2.6 No. of 40 m phone contacts, No. of 40 m CW contacts, No. of 40 m overseas contacts
17.2.7 Calculation of contact points
17.2.8 Branch points claimed for 80 m phone, Branch points claimed for 80 m CW, Branch points claimed for 40 m phone, Branch points claimed for 40 m CW, Total Branch points
17.2.9 Total points claimed (contact points x total Branch points)
17.2.10 List transceivers/generator etc/power output
17.2.11 Certification of power output and rule observance by two operators (except for single operator stations)
17.3 Summary Sheets 2 and 3 contain a table for listing the CALLSIGN of the station claimed as a Branch point for each branch on each band and mode. Count the number in each column and transfer the figure to summary sheet 1.

18. Closing Date: Logs should be posted to reach Stuart Watchman, 33 Brooklyn Drive, Blenheim, by the Saturday which is 4 weeks after field day Saturday. e.g. If Field Day is held February 23/24, logs to be received by 24 March (in a non-leap year). Late logs will not be eligible.
Manager e-mail: clareandstuart@xtra.co.nz

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