RWK Winter Field Day 2024 – Cancelled

By Chip Coker KD4C

*** RWK POTA Winter Field Day is Cancelled ***

We had planned on a POTA-style Winter Field Day 2024 at our POTA Park-of-choice – Spring Creek Forest Preserve (in Garland – about 6 miles east of Richardson City Hall), but the weather forecast has not turned in our favor.  Initially the forecast was for high 50s on Saturday (similar to last year), but the latest forecast is for a cloudy day with 46-47 degrees during the afternoon, with heavy winds out of the north.  Since we hadn’t planned on using tents or shelters, that’s just a bit too chilly and we don’t want to risk anyone’s health. 

So we are officially cancelling our POTA-WFD outing for tomorrow.  Last year we rolled the dice and won on the weather, this year not so much.

Winter Field Day is not cancelled, and you are still free to operate on your own from your QTH or another location.  Please check the full rules at https://winterfieldday.org

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RWK had a POTA-style Winter Field Day 2023 at our POTA Park-of-choice – Spring Creek Forest Preserve (in Garland – about 6 miles east of Richardson City Hall), and we’re planning something similar again this year.

Winter Field Day is always the last full weekend in January – this year from 1pm Saturday January 27 to 1pm Sunday January 28. Please RSVP to the HCOL invite if you are planning to participate.

We’re planning on operating for 4-6 hours in the Spring Creek Forest Preserve (weather permitting!), which means that operators can work stations for WFD and POTA activations at the same time! Weather is expected to be high 50s with a breeze from the North, so you should dress appropriately. You should bring a portable seat (and maybe a table if you want to be away from the picnic tables). You can bring a shelter if you have one.

Please bring yourself (and your POTA station if you want to operate your own equipment) – RWK will have two stations available for use. We will set up starting at noon and can operate POTA until 1PM. At 1PM WFD starts and we will operate until it gets cold or dark.

There have been a few changes to the Winter Field Day rules that we should cover:

1. Operators are able to work stations under their own callsign and then aggregate the logs for WFD credit for K5RWK. But this also means that operators are able to submit their own logs to the POTA website for POTA Activation credit.
2. Individual stations are also allowed to work from home for the balance of the 24 hour period (after we leave the park).
3. You can use any mode that supports the WFD exchange (Callsign, Station Class, ARRL Section). The most popular of course are CW and SSB. FT-8/4 modes DO NOT support the WFD exchange so they are not allowed, but JS8Call does, so it is a possible digital mode.

For more information check the WFD Website – https://winterfieldday.org