Come Join SCRA at Winter Field Day 2026 !!!
Weekend of January 24/25, 2026 @ the Sugarloaf Ridge State Park
Pre-pay for Saturday dinner here.
Why Winter Field Day??
Winter Field Day (WFD) is held in January, the depth of winter, versus ARRL Field Day (FD) which is held in June during nice weather. FD began in the 1930s as a test of amateur radio operators’ ability to work “in the field” under emergency-like conditions. In 2007, the Winter Field Day event was originated by dedicated radio operators who believed that hams should be equally prepared for a disaster that occurs during winter. In 2015, the Winter Field Day Association (WFDA) was formed to oversee the annual WFD event. See its website for further history: www.winterfieldday.com .
SCRA first participated in WFD in January 2019 and in all subsequent years, albeit virtually in year 2021. WFD-2026 is now only a few months away.
Unlike FD, WFD does not offer bonus points for engaging with the public and getting media attention. Therefore, it is not as important that we set up in public place and have a public information booth. Still, we should be prepared to answer any questions from passers-by about what we are up to (when they see our setup, they will know we are not your normal park users!).
The Plan for Winter Field Day 2026
The location for WFD 2026 will be the group campsite adjacent to the Robert Ferguson Observatory (RFO) in the Sugarloaf Ridge State Park.
We will setup, operate, and teardown per the following schedule (all times PST):
- Setup: Start noon Friday, January 23rd. Break by nightfall.
- Operate: 8am Saturday to 12 noon Sunday
- Teardown: 12 noon – 3pm
Note that the 2026 rules allow longer hours:
- Rules Setup: 8am Friday to 8am Saturday, 12 hours maximum
- Rules Operation: 8am Saturday through 1:59pm Sunday, 30 hours
We will be running five stations:
- Phone – located in Jack, K6ROW’s RV – Station Captain: Jack, K6ROW
- CW – located in a tent (trailer) – Station Captain: KA6R, Bradley
- Digital – located in Rick, WW6RC’s travel trailer – Station Captain: Rick, WW6RC
- Satellite – Station Captain: N1CKA, Nick A.
- GOTA – Station Captain: Nicholas K6NMB (no points but we may have to attract new/old members)
If you have an interest in operating any of these stations, please contact me and the appropriate station captain.
The operating period is from 11am on Saturday to 2pm on Sunday. We will begin tearing down at 2pm on Sunday and should be ready to leave by about 4pm or shortly thereafter.
Power will be supplied by batteries and generators.
For antennas, we will probably be using the following:
- Zero-5 – covering 40m, 20m, 15m and 10m (from SCRA)
- Off-Center Fed Dipole – covering 75/80m, 40m, 20m, 10m (not 15m, from SCRA)
- Spider 4-Band Antenna – covering 80m, 40m, 20m, 15m (from WW6RC)
- 15m Loop (from N6IIY)
- We will also have a couple Buddipole’s available
WFD has four Entry Categories, Home, Indoor, Mobile, and Outdoor. We will be in the Mobile category since at two of the four stations will be in an RV where we will be weather-protected.
Satellite Contacts
Nick N1CKA, will be coordinating several attempts to make a satellite contact. The times on Saturday/Sunday are as follows:
- TBA
Come on by and see how it’s done!
Rules ( https://winterfieldday.org/downloads/2026-rules-v2.pdf )
Notable Guidelines for Winter Field Day 2026
- Operational Period (EST converted to PST): Winter Field Day is held the last full weekend in January. For 2026, it will be held on January 24th and 25th. The 30-hour operational period starts at 1600 UTC on Saturday (8 am PST), the 24th, and ends at 21:59 UTC on Sunday, the 25th (1:59 pm PST). Stations may begin setting up no earlier than 16:00 UTC (8 am PST) on the Friday before. However, cumulative set-up time shall not exceed 12 hours.
- Locations do not have to remain fixed during the entire event. All equipment, antennas, feedlines and appurtenances shall be located within a 1000’ diameter circle. It’s okay to pick up and relocate.
- Objectives (previously called bonuses) are now multipliers.
- Several objectives have been added.
Scoring and Allowed Bands/Mode
Bands: All Amateur bands may be used except 12, 17, 30, and 60 meters. To qualify as a band worked, at least 1 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. CW and Phone include 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 2 points each. Logging incorrect data will be penalized by two points for each missed exchange or call sign. Duplicate contacts (same call, band, and mode) will not be counted nor penalized.
Point Multipliers:
The total number of points will be multiplied by two numbers. The first number is the Power Output Multiplier of 1 or 2 and the second number will be the Band / Mode Multiplier.
Power Output Multipliers: QRP stations are defined by transmitting less than 5 watts on CW or 10 watts on phone and will get a multiplier of 2. All other stations have a multiplier of 1. The maximum permitted power is 100 watts measured from the output of the final amplifier.
Band / Mode Multipliers: Each mode worked on each band counts as 1 multiplier. If you worked both CW and Phone on 20 & 40 meters, your total multiplier would be 4. If you operated CW and Phone on 80, 40, 15, and 10 meters, CW and PSK31 on 20m, FM on 2 meters & 440 you would have a total multiplier of 12x.
Calculating Points: Scores are based on the total number of QSO points x Power Output Multiplier x Band / Mode Multiplier.
Total Score = (# of QSOs x POM x B/MM)
Logging Contacts
As in years past, we will be using the N3FJP Winter Field Day Contest Log program, version 2.9.0. This is a different application than the ARRL Field Day Contest log. SCRA has a license for this program. Paper logs are no longer permitted for WFD, so we will need to collate all the data from the logging computers into one file for the submission. For those supplying laptops for logging, contact me if you need a license for the N3FJP Winter Field Day Contest Log program.
Food
We will have coffee and donuts available Saturday and Sunday mornings. There will be pizza for dinner on Saturday late afternoon (probably around 4pm, so we can be finished before dark).
We need a head count by Thursday (23rd) afternoon for the dinner on Saturday. Please contact me at k6nmb@sonic.net if you intend to be there for dinner on Saturday. You may pre-pay for dinner here.
Parking
Parking at the group campsite is somewhat limited (the operating positions and the Breadbox, Jack’s RV and Rick’s Trailer will be taking up about 8 spaces), so if you can carpool with others that would be great, especially if they have a State Park pass.
For more information please contact me:
Nicholas Barber
Winter Field Day Chair
(707) 849-2409 (mobile)