Why We Don’t Allow FT8

Bottom Line Up Front: The reason we do not allow FT8 and other "WSJT modes" is because they do not pass emergency traffic effectively.

 

If that's good enough for you, you can stop reading. The rest is for people who need more than that.

 

Our exclusion of these modes is NOT because FT8 does not support the WFD exchange. It's true that FT8 does not support the WFD exchange. There's a lengthy conversation about that in a forum archive somewhere on the Internet. The gist is there's a technological limit to how many special exchanges those modes can support. Either way, even if FT8 did support the WFD exchange, we still wouldn't allow FT8.

 

Yes, we know about TX5. I've heard every variation of the TX5 macro argument. It's an ineffective way to convey more than a few letters and numbers. 

 

There's no one watching FT8 decodes for anything other than standard exchanges. You can hammer out any message you want - send 13 characters for 15 seconds, receive for 15 seconds, send another 13 characters for 15 seconds, receive for another 15 seconds (and over and over and over) - and there's no reason to believe any of those hundreds of people on 20m FT8 will notice.

 

I've read dozens of paragraphs from people steadfastly ignoring the reality of FT8 to advocate for its use in Winter Field Day. People have accused me and other WFDA board members of having a personal beef with Joe Taylor himself. We've been accused of having a bias against digital modes in general. We've straight up been called names and told we're not real field operators. We've seen it all.

 

If you made it this far and you still disagree with us, cool. We can just disagree. Want to boycott WFD over this? That's also a completely acceptable option.

 

Check out JS8Call instead of complaining to us about FT8. It'll be a better use of your time. 

 

73 

Mike, KY4LV

Winter Field Day Association

Winter Field Day ADIF Log Example

Greetings friends! Submitting your log is how you get credit for your Winter Field Day contacts. The good news is we don't require anything special from you. The bad news is not everyone knows the basics about log formats.

 

This post will show you an example of a properly formatted ADIF log file, and where you can go to get more information about this format. First, all this comes from the ADIF specification at: https://adif.org/. You can always refer back to there for authoritative ADIF information.

 

We require seven fields. Five of them are the minimum all ADIF logs require. The other two capture the WFD exchange:

• CALL 
• QSO_DATE 
• TIME_ON 
• BAND 
• MODE 
• CLASS 
• ARRL_SECT

 

Check out the example below.The field names MUST be correct to ensure correct log processing and QSO credit. For example, if your class data is in a field called FARTS instead of CLASS, our system may read your log as missing all class data and return zero QSOs. Incorrect field names are the most common reason for ADIF log rejection.

 

You can use ADIF Master to edit and validate your logs before submitting them. 

 

That's it. If you ever have trouble with your log, you can always email us at helpdesk@winterfieldday.com

 

Downloadable Example ADIF

 

The Winter Field Day Cabrillo Log Example

Greetings friends! Submitting your log is how you get credit for your Winter Field Day contacts. The good news is we don't require anything special from you. The bad news is not everyone knows the basics about log formats.

 

This post will show you an example of a properly formatted Cabrillo log file, and where you can go to get more information about this format. First, all this comes from the Cabrillo specification at: https://wwrof.org/cabrillo/. You can always refer back to there for authoritative Cabrillo information.

 

Onto the good stuff! Check out the example below and ensure your Cabrillo log has all the same information in all the same spots. It's very important that your callsign and exchange information are in each QSO line! Missing information there is one of the most common reasons we reject logs. That's it. If you ever have trouble with your log, you can always email us at helpdesk@winterfieldday.com

 

START-OF-LOG: 3.0

LOCATION: AL (ARRL/RAC Section) or MX (Mexico) or DX (All other entities)

CALLSIGN: K4SCO 

CLUB: Jackson County Amateur Radio

CONTEST: WFD

CATEGORY-POWER: QRP (≤5W DIG/CW or ≤10W PH)  or LOW (≤100W)

CLAIMED-SCORE: 1312 (your calculated total score including multipliers)

OPERATORS: KY4LV, W4OPS, W0MET, etc.

NAME: Fred Hampton (contact person)

X-EXCHANGE: 3O

EMAIL: fred@fakemail.com

QSO: 14070 DG 2027-01-20 2131 K4SCO 3O AL N2WFD 1H WI

QSO: 28000 CW 2027-01-31 1701 K4SCO 3O AL W4NRR 2M MO

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