Development of the core software for the WWFF award program started back in 2012 by Andrew M0YMA. Andrew has been keeping the application alive on his own all these years, for which we are grateful.
With an ever growing user base and new ideas to improve the program, the time Andrew had available became a bottleneck.
We are happy that other software developers stepped forward this year to help WWFF out and relieve Andrew. At the moment we have a team consisting of Hugo CT7AOV and Jouni OH3CUF with the IT support of PD0SOT that is already working on the software. Recently three more volunteers have stepped forward from VK to expand the IT development team further.
It is great to see these skilled people spend part of their spare time helping our program move forward. The new team has already implemented the first changes to the WWFF software with bug fixes and new award levels.
There is an existing backlog of items the team is working on but we are also looking at ways to make it easy for users to propose changes that – if we find them valuable – will end up on the development backlog. Watch this space!
WWFF Annual Summary Jan – September 2024. Published by Kim OH6KZP.
Here’s the overview of WWFF ‘s year 2024 so far (Jan – Sep). The idea is to publish these cumulative summaries in about quartely fashion, and to make some of these statistics searchable on the WWFF website.
WWFF activity tends to follow a seasonal pattern, with this year’s peak (so far) in August, aided by the August Activity Month. The >100kQOSs by CY9C are excluded here in order to make months more comparable to each other.
The total tally is over one million QSOs (>21 million QSOs in our database) with almost 1200 activators and over 7000 references (this is nearly 20% from our total >36000 references) QRV from about 50 national programs. It’s also fun to see how the most active hunters make thousand of QSOs over the course of the year. Super FB!
The seventh annual operating event, Get your Park On! Celebrating Earth Science Week will occur October 12-20, 2024. The event is open to all WWFF Activators and Hunters and is sponsored by the U.S. (KFF) affiliate of World Wide Flora and Fauna (WWFF).
This year again will be an International event inviting all Activators through the world to participate. Hunters everywhere are invited to search out and contact Activators everywhere, making this truly a worldwide, DX event.
The list of Special Event Stations (SESs)that will be active during year’s event is shown below. This year will include SESs from VKFF, VEFF, and KFF. KFF SESs will be operating with 1×1 callsigns, e.g., N5G as they have been during previous events. VKs will be using their normal Callsigns. Stuart VE9CF will be using a special callsign VE9PARKS. Hunters are encouraged to work as many of these Special Event Stations as possible, with special recognition given to those working five or more. For a Clean Sweep, activators can work all SESs within VKFF or KFF/VEFF. A bonus recognition will be offered for those working all SESs from VKFF, VEFF, and KFF.
Since October 1998, the American Geosciences Institute has organized Earth Science Week, a national and international event. They do this to help the public gain a better understanding and appreciation for the Earth sciences and to encourage stewardship of the Earth, a common goal shared by World Wide Flora and Fauna. Both programs encourage their participants to get outside and enjoy nature.
GENERAL RULES: Operators are required to follow rules of their countries, within restrictions of their licenses, and to follow rules set forth by WWFF and its national organizations.
ELIGIBILITY: Get Your Park ON! Celebrating Earth Science Week is open to all WWFF Activators and Hunters worldwide.
VALID QSOs: Activators and Hunters throughout the World can exchange QSOs with each other. Park-to-Park QSOs are encouraged between Activators.
BANDS: All authorized Amateur frequencies; however, activity should center on frequencies suggested in WWFF program rules. (https://wwff.co Section 14.5)
MODES: All amateur modes are permitted.
EXCHANGE: Only signal report is required. WWFF Reference ID (e.g., KFF-1234, ONFF-1234, VKFF-1234) may be included by Activators optionally.
LOGS: All Activators are expected to submit their logs to their assigned person (may vary by country) for upload to the WWFF system. Credit for all Hunters and Activators will accrue as normal WWFF QSOs.
ACHIEVEMENT CERTIFICATES: A special achievement certificate will be available for all Hunters working at least 25 different WWFF References and to Activators with successful activations (44 QSOs) from at least 5 different WWFF References. And as is normally permitted, multiple visits can be made to reach 44 QSOs for a successful activation. A special endorsement will be available for those working at least 5 Special Event Stations. Endorsements are available for each increment of 5 SESs and 25 references. Request a certificate by email to n9mm@arrl.net
