IARU Region 1 Fieldday – Rules

17.04.2024 – DK2OY

1. Objective

The IARU-Region-1-Field Day is an excellent opportunity for club activity in various areas, such as antenna design, construction and erection, generator maintenance and – increasingly – computer expertise without access to regular power lines and fixed antennas.

2. Contest periods

CW : first (full) weekend in June - Saturday 15.00 UTC to Sunday 14.59 UTC (2024: 01.-02. June)
SSB: first (full) weekend in September - Saturday 13.00 UTC to Sunday 12.59 UTC (2024: 07.-08. September)

3. Bands

1,8,  3,5,  7,  14,  21,  28 MHz

Contest preferred segments:

CW: 3.510 - 3.560, 7.000 - 7.040, 14.000 - 14.060 MHz
SSB: 3.600 - 3.650, 3.700 - 3.800, 7.060 - 7.100, 7.130 - 7.200, 14.125 - 14.300 MHz

4. Registration

Fieldday stations must register online at https://www.darc.de/der-club/referate/conteste/iaru-region-1-fieldday/anmeldung/. 

Successful registration is confirmed by email;  maps showing all registered stations

CW-map: https://dxhf2.darc.de/~fdcwlog/map.php?form=referat&lang=de
SSB-mape: https://www.dxhf2.darc.de/~fdssblog/map.php

(Registration deadline for CW: 25 May 2024 – SSB: 31 August 2024).

In case a registered station decides not to take part in the field day, the registration has to be cancelled by an email to the FD manager at least 24 hours before the start of the contest.

5. Working conditions for all Field Day stations

The equipment of the Field Day stations (portable) must consist of portable equipment, portable antennas and power supplies independent from the power line. Use of existing or previously installed equipment is not allowed. It is not allowed for Field Day stations to use the mains power.

The installation of the station and antenna must not start earlier than 24 hours before the beginning of the contest. It is not allowed to attach the antennas to houses or other permanent buildings. The distance to the next power line or inhabited houses must be at least 100 m.

One transceiver or – alternatively – one transmitter and one receiver may be setup for the operation. Additional built-in receivers must not be used.  Backup devices are acceptable but may be used only in case of failure. The RF power should be adjusted to the maximum power output and constantly monitored to assure it does not exceed the maximum power allowed for that section at any time.

All stations are subject to inspection by representatives of the Field Day manager who will ensure that the rules and spirit of the contest are being observed.

6. Classes of Operation

This is a portable contest as generally defined above.

• Portable, single operator, QRP, assisted
• NEW: Portable, single operator, low power, non-assisted
• Portable, multi operator, low power, non-assisted
• Portable, multi operator, low power, assisted
• Portable, multi operator, QRP, assisted
• Portable, multi operator, high power, assisted
• Fixed

Stations outside and inside Germany are participating in different categories.

Output power:
QRP = 5 watts maximum
Low Power = 100 watts maximum
High Power = more than 100 watts

Non-assisted stations are permitted to use only one antenna with a single element (vertical or dipole). The antenna height is limited to 15 meters.

Multiplier information must not be used, i.e. the use of chat-rooms, DX clusters, the RBN network, remote receivers, skimmers and other support functions are not permitted.

Receivers with spectrum scopes are fine as long as they display only the current band and no additional information, like callsigns.

Single operator stations (qrp) are permitted to operate only 18h of the 24h contest period.

The 6h of non-operation must be taken in not more than three periods and must be clearly noted in the log.

Stations not meeting the field day rules are classified as fixed stations. They are not scored for the DARC-Club-Championship and for the DARC-Short-Wave-Trophy.

7. Call

CW : CQ FD
SSB: CQ Field Day

8. Exchange

RS(T) + serial number starting from 001

If the station worked does not send a serial number, log the contact with number 000.

9. Scoring

Fixed station to fixed station: 0 points

For contacts with:

• fixed stations in Europe: 2 points
• fixed stations outside Europe: 3 points
• portable stations in Europe: 4 points
• portable stations outside Europe: 6 points

Each station may be contacted only once per band.

Portable stations only count as portable if they sign "/p", "/m", "/mm", or "/am",

10. Multipliers

ONE for each WAE country / DXCC entity worked on each band

11. Scoring

The final score is computed by multiplying the sum of the total number of QSO-points by the sum of the multipliers.

12. Logs

Upload Cabrillo logs only to 

CW: https://dxhf2.darc.de/~fdcwlog/upload.cgi?form=referat&lang=de

SSB: https://dxhf2.darc.de/~fdssblog/upload.cgi?form=referat&lang=de

Participants accept that on demand their log may be transferred to other FD managers outside of Germany.

13. Deadline for log entries

7 days after the contest; (CW FD 2024: 09 June 2024 - SSB FD 2024: 15 September 2024)

14. Awards

Certificates of Merit will be available on the DARC server for download.

15. Disqualification

Violation of the rules of the contest, un-sportsmanlike conduct, or taking credit for excessive duplicate contacts will be deemed cause for disqualification.

Actions and decisions of the DARC Contest Committee are official and final.

16. E-mail addresses

Questions: fieldday-info(at)dxhf2.darc.de