VHF UHF Field Days
Contest Manager
Roger Harrison VK2ZRH. Dateline: 16 December 2024.
Rules for the 2025 Summer event are posted below.
At right: Gerard VK2R, VK2IO at Mount Banks (1060m ASL) in the Blue Mountains National Park for the 2022 Spring VHF-UHF Field Day. Gerard back-packed a 3-element tape measure beam for 2m, a ZS6BKW for 6m, and a collinear whip for 70cm. Rigs were an Elecraft KX3 + 40 W amp for 2m, barefoot for 6m; Yaesu VX8R for 70cm.
STATEMENT ABOUT LOGGING PROGRAMS
The 2025 Summer event will proceed – as planned, according to the algorithm that has been used for some years now – over Saturday 18 January and Sunday 19 January.
The Rules are posted below. You will see that they remain the same as has applied previously.
As some contesters have noted, there’s been some chatter about adapting the N1MM logging application to suit the VHF-UHF Field Days. Logs from N1MM may offer advantages in automated log-checking, but there remains some way to go before that can be reliably shown.
Although work on adapting the N1MM logging application for VHF-UHF Field Day events has been proceeding with some promising success, I am not going to change the rules about submitting logs without advance notice to one and all.
I must commend and congratulate all those well-motivated souls who’ve been beavering away in the background to overcome the hiatus occasioned by the untimely passing of of Mike Subocz VK3AVV, developer of the popular VKCL contest logger and his log-checker.
So, for the 2025 Summer event – proceed as usual. Go out and have some fun in the sun and submit your log as you’ve done in the past.
Season's Greetings to all.
Meanwhile, Final Results for the 2022 Spring event are posted below. Work on outstanding results for past Field Days is continuing. Assistants may apply here: vk2zrh@wia.org.au
VK Contest Logger - VKCL, v4.15, can be downloaded from the VK Contest Club website. Mike Subocz' website is no longer online. The new URL is immediately below (and under "Logging Software"):
http://www.vkcc.com/2022/11/09/vk-contest-logger-version-4-15/
Since the untimely passing of Mike Subocz VK3AVV in January 2022, developer of the popular VKCL contest logger, who also wrote a log-checker, we've lost the facility to properly prepare results while awaiting probate on his estate.
As everyone is aware, we have been working on catching up with manually preparing results of past contests.
A number of people have made valiant efforts over the past year to find or to write suitable log-checking software to suit these unique contests that have been developed by the stakeholders over time.
It’s proven to be a herculean task and I am truly grateful to those volunteers who have taken it on. Let them rest for the moment – or so – and I urge you just get out there, enjoy the outdoors, or the indoors at home, and have fun.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not yet up to the task.
Submitting logs: Contest participants should send logs to the WIA online log uploader in the usual way. Make sure you include your callsign so that we know whose log it is.
DATES FOR UPCOMING CONTESTS: posted below.
Contest Introduction
The Field Days provide VHF-UHF operators with the opportunity to "head for the hills" and see how far distant and how many stations they can work.
The Field Days have separate sections for single and multiple operator stations. The duration of the Field Day is 24 hours, but there are also 8-hour sections for operators who may not be able to camp overnight. Notably, most club stations prefer to operate for the full 24 hours.
The Field Days also generate plenty of activity from home stations, so there is also a separate Home Station section.
All contacts must be simplex: contacts through repeaters or satellites are not allowed. There is plenty of FM activity, but one feature of the Field Days is a high level of SSB activity.
It is possible to do very well with only modest antennas if you pick a good hilltop. Another option, if your station is easily transportable, is to operate from more than one location during the contest period.
Aim Of The Contest
The overriding aim is to get away for the weekend and have fun! But next after that, the aims are:
 to encourage more activity on VHF, UHF, and microwave bands;
to encourage people to work greater distances than usual by operating portable, and
to provide opportunities for people to activate or work into new grid squares.
This Years Winners
Results of all VHF-UHF Field Days are available in the "Files for Download" section.
Previous Years Winners
Results of all VHF-UHF Field Days are available in the "Files for Download" section.
Contest History
The first VHF-UHF Field Day was run as a trial in January 1989. It was quite well received so it has continued since then. In 1998, there was a trial Spring Field Day which also proved a success. Support for the Field Days continued to increase, and a third event - the Winter VHF-UHF Field Day - was introduced in 2008.
In 2014, the WIA board decided that the contest should be run with two parallel sets of rules and scoring systems. John Martin VK3KM (now SK) departed as Contest Manager after the Winter 2014 event.
Since the Winter 2019 event, the Field Days have used a single set of Rules, using distance-based scoring, as per the previous Division 2 Rules. This resulted from the clear preference of participation and log entries moving to Division 2 over Division 1 across the prior year.
Upcoming Contest Date & Time
Summer 2025 - 0100 UTC Saturday 18 January through 0059 UTC Sunday 19 January (0400 / 0359 in VK6).
Winter 2025 - 0100 UTC Saturday 21 June through 0059 UTC Sunday 22 June (0300 / 0259 in VK6).
Contest Rules
Full details of the contest rules are available in the "Files for Download" section below.
Contest Scoring
VHF-UHF Field Days employ distance-based scoring, using your 6-character Maidenhead locator (the Sub-Square).
Full details of the scoring system are set out in the Rules.
Further Information on Maidenhead Locators
Each four-digit Maidenhead locator (Square) identifies an area which covers one degree of latitude and two degrees of longitude. Detailed explanation of the Maidenhead locator system can be found in the Download section below. Also available is a computer program that can convert latitude and longitude into grid locators, and vice versa.
To find the six digit Maidenhead locator for any location, click this Link.
Submitting Your Log
Logs should be accompanied by a cover sheet, as described in the rules.
Only electronic logs in VKCL or Cabrillo format are accepted now (no PDF or Excel, etc), unless some disability necessitates a paper log, which must be submitted as set out in the Rules. Upload your log files to the Field Day web site via this Link
Contest Results
The aim is to have results finalised approximately four weeks after the Field Day, with the results posted here, and publicised via the usual WIA channels. As explained above, a hiatus in publishing results has been brought about by the passing of Mike VK3AVV. Efforts to process and publish results are continuing, as detailed above.
Contest Award
Each top-scoring station in every Section–Sub-section will receive a colour certificate in .PDF format, sent to the contact email address on their log cover sheet.
Top-scoring Foundation stations will also receive a colour certificate.
Logging Software
Any logging software can be used so long as the necessary information is included in the log. Please refer to the rules for details about this.
The most commonly used logging program is VK Contest Log (VKCL), developed by Mike VK3AVV (SK). It is available for download from the VKCC website by clicking on this Link.
Contest Sponsors
The WIA sponsors the VHF-UHF Field Days.
Files For Download
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Software to find Maidenhead locators, distances and bearings
DXLOC30.zip
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Page Last Updated: Monday, 16 Dec 2024 at 18:35 hours by Roger Harrison
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