Amateur Radio

Long-Path 5: Hey folks, enjoying New England winter?

During the winter, everybody eats too much and hibernates in cozy warm indoors. Well, here is an idea to burn some of excess calories and to get plenty of fresh air.

The annual Winter Field Day will be held by the Arctic Amateur Radio League (AARL) in the dead of winter. This will certainly take care of the cabin fever and be an enjoyable time for polar bears like us New Englanders. Also, in this part of country, there are more weather related emergency situations in the winter than other seasons, aren't there? The Winter Field Day would be a prime opportunity for publicity. Let's participate!

The Winter FD (WFD) rules are very much like the Summer FD (SFD or "Sissy FD" called by WFD operators), such as 2 points for CW and 1 point for phone contacts. However, the WFD includes some unique rules to breed cold-blooded operators. Here are the special rules used in the WFD:

The following extra points are only applicable to each WFD station setup that must complete at least 12 hours of on-the- air time and at least 100 contacts made by radio waves longer than 6 meters. Note: A reason for disqualifying the operation of 2-meter and above is to discourage lazy operators using HTs from vehicles. However, contacts through the VHF and UHF are counted for scoring.

- Heat Shield (HS) Points:

No points for trailers, cars, or fixed-building. 100 points for tents with side walls. 200 points for snow caves or igloos. 500 points for roof without side walls. 1000 points for no roof and no side walls.

- Freezing Points (FP):

Add 100 points every 10 degree F colder, but no points for 40 degrees F and above. If the minimum wind chill temperature during the FD was: 40 F and higher, no point, 30 F to 39 F, 100 points, 20 F to 29 F, 200 points, 10 F to 19 F, 300 points, 0 F to 10 F, 400 points, -10 F to -1 F, 500 points, and so on.

If the daytime maximum temperature exceeded 40 F, do not add any Freezing Points. You must prove the wind chill temperature by National Weather Bureau, local AM/FM stations, or local papers.

- Sky (WX) Factors (Multiplier for HS Points):

X 0.5 if sunny. X 1.0 if grey sky X 1.5 if rain. X 2.0 if snowing (see note 1) or snow on the ground. X 10.0 if white-out, blizzard, or frozen rain. (Note 1: Add 100 points for each inch of accumulation.)

- Power Amplification (PA) Multiplier for Freezing Point:

This is not "RF" amplifier's power, it is thermal power! Multiply the Freezing Point by 100 if you did NOT use any space heaters including tube type linear amplifiers during the operation. This multiplier is called the "insane factor" by the WFD operators, and is a measure of macho. Use of a cooking stove is allowed for cooking time.

- Long Distance (DX) Points:

This is not a point for a rare country contact! Add 100 points for a site which is not accessible by cars (or any self-propelled vehicles such as snow mobiles) and at least 1000 feet away from the nearest parking lot or road. Also, add 100 points for each 1000 feet of additional distance (the maximum 1000 points).

- Extra Points:

Add 100 points for natural power operations such as a wind power; however, unlike the SFD, usage of solar-cell panels is excluded.

So, the bottom line of the WFD is the colder the better. The more miserable the conditions, the higher the score. I am wondering what kind of a score we could get if we operated from Dick's kitchen picnic table in bad weather, like the blizzard of '78. You see, operating next to the kitchen grill will not lose a "PA" multiplier (x100) as long as it was using for cooking. Besides the physical endurance, this will be some challenge for equipment under sub-freezing temperature operation. Will RG-8 coax cable flexible enough? If not, could RG-8 be rigid enough for a 1/4 wave vertical antenna by itself for 40-meter?

For the first step, let's find a volunteer for the WFD coordinator. Well, who was a ham during the blizzard of '78? I've heard that Dick will be taking his 12-ft picnic table on a camping tour to New Mexico this winter. Also, please don't think about using my call sign for the WFD. I'd rather be monitoring WFD from Waikiki beach.

Stay warm!

de WB1Yuki