2025 Winter Field Day Ham Radio Event

Winter Field Day is a communications exercise. WFD is held on the last full weekend in January. WFD can be worked from the comfort of your home or in a remote location. You can participate by yourself or get your friends, family, or whole club involved. Winter Field Day is open to participants worldwide. Amateur radio operators may use frequencies on the HF, VHF, or UHF bands and are free to use any mode that can faithfully transmit the required exchange intact. Similar to the ARRL’s Field Day, bonus points are earned in several ways, including using non-commercial power sources, operating from remote locations, satellite contacts, and more.

This Winter Field Day Exercise is to encourage you to test your emergency preparedness capabilities in various conditions and push yourself to new levels. Operating out in the field, away from the comforts of home, is the best way to increase your preparedness for disasters and improve your operating skills in subpar conditions.

WFD is a learning experience, and we hope at the end of this year’s WFD exercise, you will feel more confident about your ability to adapt and overcome adverse weather conditions.

To be clear, WFD is an EMCOM exercise, so don’t get too hung up on the rules. At the end of the day, your total points don’t matter. What you learn during WFD and your ability to adapt and overcome sudden obstacles will help you during unexpected emergencies. As we continue with another year of the WFD exercise, we want to encourage participants not to chase the contacts or the points but to test their abilities and equipment. If you want to exchange signal reports, please give each other accurate information so the other station knows how well their station is working.

One thing you will notice this year is our “Bonus Points” have changed to “Objectives.” These rotating objectives will change slightly from year to year. One of your goals should be to achieve as many objectives as possible during the event.

Finally, have fun with the Winter Field Day, talk about the temperature, meet new friends, and make memories as you continue to enhance your skills as an amateur radio operator.

WFDA Presents the 2025 Winter Field Day Event!

Download the complete WFD packet by clicking here.

Notable changes for Winter Field Day 2025

·      Event times have changed, and the event has been extended beyond 24 hours.

·      Locations do not have to remain fixed during the entire event. 

·      Objectives (previously called bonuses) are now multipliers.

·      Several objectives have been added.

Event Details

Objective: WFD is a multi-objective event. The primary objective is to set up an amateur radio field station and successfully make multiple contacts. Successful participants are those who can set up their equipment and correctly log the designated exchange during the operational period explained below. All participants are encouraged to complete as many additional objectives as possible. After the event, submit a log of stations worked and any additional documentation.

Eligibility: All licensed amateur radio operators are encouraged to participate in the emergency communications exercise known as Winter Field Day.  

Operational Period: Winter Field Day is held the last full weekend in January. For 2025, it will be held on January 25th and 26th. The 30-hour operational period starts at 1600 UTC on Saturday (11 am EST), the 25th, and ends at 21:59 UTC on Sunday, the 26^th (4:59 pm EST). Stations may begin setting up no earlier than 1600 UTC (11 am EST) on the Friday before. However, cumulative set-up time shall not exceed 12 hours. 

Location Restraints: A multi-station WFD operation must ensure all stations operating under a single call sign are located in the same physical area. All station equipment, including antennas, feed lines, and accessories used, must be located within a circular area whose diameter does not exceed 1,000 feet (300m). This 1,000 ft area does not have to remain constant throughout the event¹. 

Exchange: The designated Winter Field Day exchange includes your call sign, a category number, a class identifier, and a location identifier. 

Category: A number designated by the number of transceivers (stations) at your location that are capable of transmitting simultaneously. 1, 2, 3, etc. This means you have the people needed to operate the number of transmitters you choose. Include all HF, VHF, and UHF transceivers. Don’t count a station if it must be left unattended while you make contacts on another. If you decide to operate a satellite station, the satellite station does not increase your category number.

Class: You must choose which class you will operate in. If you are operating as a group under one call sign, choose the class that applies to the majority of the stations at your field day site.

Class Options:

H – Home station: is defined as any station participating from inside their permanent livable residence.

I – Indoor station: is defined as any station operating away from Home but from inside an insulated, weather-protected building or structure on a permanent foundation. Indoor stations typically have plumbing, heating/cooling, and running water. Church, EOCs, a club shack, a cabin, and community centers are all examples of an Indoor station.

O – Outdoor station: Outdoor stations operate from a partly or fully exposed building or shelter that does not typically have plumbing, heating/cooling, or running water available. Operating from a picnic table, park pavilion, tents, or under pop-up canopies are all places that could be considered Outdoor. These are locations where you may have to provide your own heat source and/or protection from the elements. 

M – Mobile / Mobile Stationary: These stations are defined as operations from a mobile or potentially mobile structure like an RV, car, van, sailboat, cargo trailer, mobile EOC, ETC. These are operating positions that may offer some sort of built-in heating/cooling. Mobile Stations do not have to be mobile during the event. They are defined as having the ability to be mobile should it be necessary to move during the event. RVs and Cargo trailers with external antennas set up are still considered Mobile. 

Location Identifier: US and Canadian stations will use the ARRL / RAC Section as designated by those organizations. Mexico stations will use MX, and all other stations outside of the US will use DX. 

Additional Information: The goal is to accurately copy and record the full exchange. Your Category, Class, and Location Identifiers must remain the same throughout the whole event. If your location changes sections during the event, such as a long-haul trucker, your section is the first section you made a contact from. For example, if you are operating with two people using two transmitters from an RV in Arizona, your exchange would be 2M Arizona. 

Signal reports and other additional information are not a required part of the exchange; however, it is encouraged to practice exchanging additional information, which may include- signal reports, county location, grid square, temperature, weather conditions, antenna configurations, etc. In an emergency, you may be asked to relay anything from a list of supplies to GPS coordinates. Collecting and correctly copying down this information is an important skill that should be practiced during Winter Field Day.  

Bands: All Amateur bands may be used except 12, 17, 30, and 60 meters. To qualify as a band worked, at least one valid, two-way QSO must have taken place on the said band during the contest.

Modes: All modes, CW, Phone, and Digital, may be used. Phone includes SSB, AM, FM, DMR, C4FM, etc. If the end result is voice, it’s Phone. Digital includes PSK, RTTY, Olivia, Packet, SSTV, ATV, JS8Call, and other soundcard modes except for FT4 & FT8. If the end result is text or a picture, it’s digital.

QSO Points: Phone contacts count as one point each, and all CW and digital modes count as two points each. You may only contact other field day stations a maximum of three times per band but only once per mode. So K4FUN may be contacted on 20m using Phone, CW, and digital for a total of five Points (one point for Phone, two points for CW, and two points for digital).

Objectives & Multipliers

Objective & Multipliers: More than points, achieving objectives should be your primary goal during WFD, these objectives, combined with your own, should be your main focus during the exercise. As an incentive to focus on objectives, an Objective Multiplier (OM) has been assigned to each objective. To calculate an overall score, we will take your QSO Points and times them by your total OM. We will also record and track the percentage of objectives completed. A great way to see overall how you did from year to year. 

Operate 100% on alternative power: Operate exclusively on alternative power, defined as any power source not connected to the commercial power grid. You may use generators, batteries, solar power, wind power, or anything else. All batteries, whether in use or charging, should only be recharged using alternative power. WFD stations should run all station equipment, accessories, or heaters from an alternate power source. Logging-only computers or lights are the exception, and they may be connected to the power grid or any power source available. If you use a laptop for digital modes, it should not be connected to the power grid but also be plugged into an alternative power source.  OM x1

Operate away from home: Operating away from one is one of the main reasons of “Field Day”. Do you have the ability to walk into any shelter, parking garage, hospital, or community center and set up a portable Amateur radio station? Now is the time to start planning what you will do if your home location is destroyed during an emergency. For this objective, set up your field station more than a ½ mile from your home.  OM x3

Deploy multiple antennas: Deploy two or more antennas that have not been previously installed. Pre-installed antennas are defined as any antenna attached to anything that could be used day to day or was set up before the WFD set-up time. This includes home antennas, antennas installed on vehicles, cargo trailers, and RVs, or any other antenna that would be considered permanently installed. Pre-installed antennas do not count. You must deploy field antennas. This could be a dipole and a hex beam or an EFHW and a 2-meter J-pole. Any combination of antennas works. Multi-band antennas do not count as separate antennas.  OM x1

Make an FM satellite contact²: Make at least 1 FM satellite contact during the operating period. Dedicated satellite transmitters do not count toward your Category number. Satellite contacts do not count towards your total QSO points. Only the multiplier applies. See the appendix below for more information on satellite contacts. OM x2

Make a SSB or CW Satellite Contact² Make at least one contact through a satellite using SSB or CW. OM x3

Send and receive at least one Winlink email: Winlink has proven useful during emergencies and is considered a digital mode. Because time stamps may be hours apart on emails, Winlink contacts do not count for total QSO points. Only the Multiplier applies. Successfully send and receive at least one Winlink email to achieve this objective.  ON x1

Copy the Winter Field Day Special Bulletin: This year, in association with K6KPH, the WFDA board will broadcast a short bulletin during the WFD event. Accurately copy the message and submit your copy with your log submission to achieve this objective. The frequencies and times will be published on our website prior to the event. OM x1

Operate on at least six different bands: Conditions may change throughout an event. Operate at lest six different bands during the operating period. You should be able to accomplish this objective by utilizing HF, VHF, and UHF frequencies. Don’t forget about 1.25 meters (220)? It’s an excellent band for local emergencies. OM x6

Use multiple modes: Increase your versatility by using multiple modes during the event, such as phone and CW, CW and digital, or Phone and digital. OM x2

Operate the event QRP: Operating on QRP, means every station in your Winter Field Day operation is using less than 10 watts on Phone or less than 5 watts on CW or Digital for the entire time you choose to operate during the event. OM x4

Operate six continuous hours during the event: Emergencies may last days or even weeks. If you are operating alone or in shifts, you may be expected to man a radio station between 4-12 hours. Are you able to sit and operate for extended periods of time with enough backup power? This does not necessarily mean you are making contacts the whole time, but you are in front of the radio, monitoring and ready to pick up a microphone if you are called. OM x2

When you submit your log, we will ask you to select your completed objectives. For those who like to track your points, the total points formula is: Total number of QSO points X the Total Objective Multiplier.

Miscellaneous Statements:

·      All stations are limited to a maximum of 100 Watts PEP.

·      All rules governing amateur radio at your location must be observed throughout the event.

·      All participants submitting a single entry must be using one callsign.

·      Entrants may not count for QSO credit any contact with anyone who is or was a participant in their WFD operation or is present at their WFD location.

·      During the event, spotting clusters, the RBN, APRS, and Winlink will may be used as long as the originating transmission is sent out via RF.

·      QSOs may be solicited during the event only over RF.

·      Cross-band contacts are not permitted (satellite QSOs cross-band contacts are exempted).

·      No repeater contacts are allowed, including DMR or YSF-type modes that may be transmitted through a repeater or hotspot on the receiving end. 

·      Multiple transmitters are not allowed to operate on the same band-mode at the same time.

·      Any mode used must be able to fully transmit the exchange intact and must be able to pass additional information. 

Certificates & Log Submission: A downloadable certificate will be available after the event. To receive a certificate, all logs must be submitted on our website by filling in the form and uploading a Cabrillo log or ADIF file containing the proper exchange data. Logs must be submitted by 11:59 UTC on March 1st to be considered. Late entries cannot be accepted. If you find an error in your log after submitting, correct your log and resubmit. The corrected version will replace the original you submitted.

You must submit your entries, which will include your log and any supporting documents, at www.winterfieldday.org

Once you click “submit a log,” you will receive a confirmation email containing a link to download your certificate. If you participated as a club, only the call sign used during the event and submitted on the form will appear on the certificate.

Appendix

¹ Safety, weather, or other elements may require you to relocate during an emergency. We allow this during the WFD activity as well. You could, in theory, operate from one location for a set amount of time, then tear down and move the whole operation to another location, say from a state park to a school parking lot across town. Just note that your exchange must remain the same even if you are located in different ARRL/RAC sections or states. You must use the same exchange throughout the entire event!

² Satellite QSOs do not count as a regular QSOs credit. Adding a satellite transmitter station does not increase or count toward the number of transmitters used to decide your category. A simple CQ is sufficient. The designated WFD exchange does not and should not be used. Satellite QSOs follow a different protocol. You should be prepared to give a signal report and your Grid Square to the other station. The other station will likely not be a WFD participant and will want a confirmation of the contact afterward. Please be considerate and comply.

Cabrillo Formatting Example

Notes: There MUST be at LEAST one space between fields. Each line in the log must end with a carriage return and line feed. There must be at least one space following a colon in a line. The frequency for HF must be in kilohertz rounded to the nearest kilohertz. 3753 is fine, 3753.20 is not. Frequencies above 50 MHz are specified as the band. Examples: 50, 70, 144, 222, 432, 902, 1.2G, 2.3G, 3.4G, 5.7G, 10G, 24G, etc.

The mode should be one of the valid Cabrillo modes. CW, PH, FM, RY, DG. It is preferred that you use RY or DG.

If your logging software is NOT connected to your radio, any in-band frequency is fine. Date and times need to be in UTC and do not need to be exactly accurate.

Additional notes in the soapbox area are unnecessary and can be left blank. We will send you a link where you can leave comments. All comments are reviewed by the team after the event and used to improve the contest for next year.

The callsign in the file name for the log MUST be the same as the callsign USED in the contest. If your event call is N8LOG, make sure your file name is N8LOG.log or N8LOG.txt

The main body must follow this format:

START-OF-LOG: 3.0

LOCATION: WTX (Arrl Section) or MX or DX

CALLSIGN: N8LOG  

CLUB: K4ARC – Riverdale ARC

CONTEST: WFD

CATEGORY-OPERATOR: SINGLE-OP or MULTI-OP

CATEGORY-ASSISTED: ASSISTED or NON-ASSITED

CATEGORY-BAND: ALL

CATEGORY-MODE: MIXED

CATEGORY-POWER: HIGH or LOW

CATEGORY-STATION: FIXED or MOBILE

CATEGORY-TRANSMITTER: ONE or TWO or UNLIMTED

CLAIMED-SCORE: xxxx (your calculated total score including multipliers)

OPERATORS: W1CALL, W2CALL, W3CALL, etc.

NAME: Mike Smith (contact person)

ADDRESS : 123 Main Street

ADDRESS-CITY: Anytown

ADDRESS-STATE: TN

ADDRESS-POSTALCODE: 13791

ADDRESS-COUNTRY: USA

X-EXCHANGE: 2M

SOAPBOX: can be left blank

EMAIL: mike@fakemail.com

QSO: 3750 PH 2017-01-07 1911 N8LOG 1O OH WB9X  2H IL

QSO: 14070 DI 2017-01-07 2131 N8LOG 1O OH K6XXX 14I LA

 END-OF-LOG: (add a space after the colon)