Quick start

For operators. You have a join code and a radio, and somebody else is running the server. This covers the five things you'll actually do: get in, log a contact, change band, cope with a dropped network, and sign off.

If you're the one setting the event up, Getting started covers that end — installing the server, creating the event, and closing it out afterwards.

1. Get in

Open the site, type the join code, and press Join Event.

Then type your own callsign — not the club's. That's the whole sign-in; there are no accounts and no password. Your callsign is what records who worked each contact.

Signing in as an operator: your callsign, and which station you're at

Two things you may also be asked for:

Which station you're at, on a multi-transmitter Field Day entry (2A and up). Pick the radio you're sitting at. It matters: that number becomes the transmitter number when the club submits.
Your grid and state, on a special event. Each operator has their own location, so this can't come from the event.

2. Log a contact

The cursor is already in the callsign box. Type, press Tab or Space between fields, press Enter to log.

The logging screen mid-event

For Field Day that's three things: callsign, class (like 2A), and section (like MN). The app fills in what it can and tells you what it can't.

You'll notice as you type:

A known callsign may prefill the class and section from past events. Check it against what you actually heard — it's a guess, not a log entry.
A duplicate is flagged before you log it. Dupes still count as logged contacts; they just don't score.
An unrecognised section gets a warning, and logs anyway. The exchange is stored exactly as you typed it, so a real-but-unusual section is never lost — and a typo is easy to find later.

3. Change band

Press the QSY button, pick a band, pick a mode. If you have rig control running, this follows the radio and you never touch it.

The band buttons show who else is on what. A red row means another operator is already on the band and mode you're about to use.

4. If the network drops

Keep logging. Every contact is written to your own browser before it's sent anywhere, so nothing is lost — not to a flaky link, and not to the server restarting.

A counter appears in the header showing how many contacts are waiting. It clears itself when things recover; you don't have to do anything. If you're impatient, clicking it retries immediately.

The one thing worth knowing: a contact that syncs late is timestamped when the server accepts it, not when you logged it. A long outage shifts those times.

5. Finish up

Go QRT in the operators panel when you step away, so nobody thinks your band is still busy. On a special event, Release your band and mode so someone else can take it.

That's the whole job. Operating covers the same screen in detail — duplicate handling, the band conflict panel, night mode, and why the offline queue behaves the way it does.

When something looks wrong

What you see	What it means
`OFFLINE` in the header	Your browser has lost its network. Keep logging.
`3 pending ↑`	Contacts waiting to sync. It clears on its own.
A red operator row	Someone else is on your band and mode.
`Queued — syncing…` on a contact	It's saved locally, on its way to the server.
A clock warning banner	The server's clock disagrees with yours — tell whoever runs it.

Anything stranger is in Troubleshooting.