Just to make sure that everyone is on the same page, this is a quote from the Field Day rules.
2. Object: To work as many stations as possible on any and all amateur bands (excluding the 60, 30, 17, and 12- meter bands) and in doing so to learn to operate in abnormal situations in less than optimal conditions. A premium is placed on developing skills to meet the challenges of emergency preparedness as well as to acquaint the general public with the capabilities of Amateur Radio. And 6.8. No repeater contacts are allowed. Personal Observation – ARRL added the no repeaters rule in the late 70’s as an effort to keep from overwhelming 2M. This was back when many areas only had two or three repeaters and having a three field day stations hang out on the same repeater could result in a massacre. 60, 30, 17, and 12-meter bands were included in the same vein, to keep a limited use resource from becoming overwhelmed. Since the rules were implemented, the number of repeaters has blossomed dramatically and the impact of a field day operation on a repeater has been minimized. Ed WA4YIH From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Chris Fowler Sent: Monday, April 12, 2010 12:03 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [DSTAR_DIGITAL] New poll for dstar_digital On Mon, 2010-04-12 at 15:50 +0000, [email protected]<mailto:dstar_digital%40yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > > Enter your vote today! A new poll has been created for the > dstar_digital group: > > The ARRL Field Day introduction states, "Each year tens of thousands > of participants bring an element of fun with them as they combine the > public service aspects of the Amateur Service with the experimental > nature our hobby." In the rules, however, "Remember that Field Day > rules prohibit the use of repeaters." No other type of communicating > is forbidden during Field Day. Should the ARRL should include repeater > (and D-Star) QSO's as part of Field Day since repeaters are an > integral component of public service communications. I voted no. I look at Field Day as a way to test and practice our ability to communicate with minimal infrastructure. During FD we can control what we need. No power, we can use batteries or generator. Battery dead, we can crank out power with some form of manual generator or solar panels. I have no problem counting D-Star QSOs if they are radio to radio. No repeater and no dongle. This would be the same as counting 146.520 contacts or 446.000 contacts as an example. Having said all that, I think that clubs should have a D-Star station as a way to get more people involved and promote the technology. There are people that don't care about DX on HF but would enjoy "DX" on D-Star. Chris
