January 23 (setup), 24 & 25
NCRC will be participating in Winter Field Day again this year at Glen Park, in Portsmouth RI. The decision to be a one or two transmitter outdoor station will be made based on participation.
The primary emphasis this year will be to have as many station operators as possible. To this end, a high performance station that can be operated on 10/6 meters with a beam antenna will be available. Mentors will also be available to train operators and assist them with logging. Should 10m & 6m not be open for contacts, the mentor will act as a Control Operator, allowing the Technician license holder to operate on 15 or 20 meters. Unlicensed operators are also invited, and the mentors will operate as control operators.
This station will also be available to General or higher class license operators for all other bands. Depending on participation we may set up a 2nd, separate station.
There have been changes made to the Winter Field Day rules for 2026. New objectives have been added. The most significant change is that you must make a minimum of 3 contacts on a band for it to count toward the 6-band multiplier. Attention will be given to completing as many bonus multipliers as possible during the contest. See the Objectives & Multipliers Responsibility list below.
The 30-hour operational period starts at 1600 UTC on Saturday (11 am EST), the 24th, and ends at 21:59 UTC on Sunday, the 25th (4:59 pm EST) – we will shut down a bit earlier so we can do tear down in the light. Stations may begin setting up no earlier than 1600 UTC (11 am EST) on the Friday before.
Winter Field Day – Operator’s Schedule (as of 1/15/2026)
Objectives & Multipliers Responsibilities
| Objective | Multiplier Value | Responsible Person |
| 100% Alternative Power | 1 | |
| Away From Home | 3 | |
| Multiple Antennas | 1 | |
| FM Satellite Contact | 2 | ? |
| CW/SSB Satellite Contact | 3 | ? |
| Send & Receive WinLink Message | 1 | Mike Rousseau |
| Copy WFD Special Bulletin | 1 | Bob/Bruce/Jeff |
| Operate on 6 bands (3 contact) | 6 | |
| Multiple Modes (SSB/CW/DIGITAL) | 2 | Team |
| Six Continuous Hours | 2 | Team |
If the team completes ALL the above objectives, then our QSO point total (1 point for SSB/FM, 2 points for CW/Digital) will be multiplied by 22 to achieve our final score.
Satellite Contact Schedule
The contest begins at 11 AM local time on Saturday and ends at 4:59 PM on Sunday (however the main stations will be off the air before 5 pm so take-down can happen during daylight hours). All times below are in local time EST FM Birds in Yellow
Bulletin Information
At Home Winter Field Day
If you would rather participate on your own and not worry about venturing to the club WFD station, you can do that. See the rules about participating as a stand-alone station either at home, mobile, or outside. Please note that many RI stations will be monitoring 147.420 Simplex during the contest. Calling CQ on that frequency will not only net you some contacts for your individual effort, but it will also be an opportunity to get your HT or other rig programmed for the RI-ARES frequency.
Winter Field Day 2026 Wrap Up!
Cold. Bitter, bitter cold weather this past weekend (as you know). But that didn’t stop the NCRC crew from erecting the five or so antennas that were going to be needed for the event.
Then, the equipment needed to be checked out before the event started at 11:00am, Saturday. All good!
And with the weather being so frightful we attempted to operate two differents stations, CW and SSB/Phone in the same cabin. (So we could avoid setting up a tent outside.)
It worked! It worked just fine, with the assistance of headphones. Operators were able to stay out of each other’s way and score big points.
Ever compliant with WFD rules, we had plenty of off-the-grid power and heat.
Additional points earned after making Satellite contact with the International Space Station (ISS).
Several newer members got to experience Field Day for the very first time.
Into the night and early morning hours, operations continued.
At dawn, with heavy, heavy snow in the immediate forecast, the decision was wisely made to cease operations and safely pack it up.
And just as the last cable was coiled, the record breaking storm hit while everybody safely headed for home!
WFD Video featuring satellite contact with the ISS! Click Here
See you at Summer Field Day!