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FFMA

FFMA

  • FFMA Overview

    The Fred Fish Memorial Award was created in honor of Fred Fish, W5FF (SK), who is the first amateur to have worked and confirmed all 488 Maidenhead grid squares in the 48 contiguous United States on 6 Meters. The award will be given to any amateur who can duplicate W5FF's accomplishment.
     

    This award also encourages operation on the VHF bands from rare grid squares (known as Grid DXpedtitions) to help activate all 488 grids. For a list of which grids are considered rare, please follow the link to the Most Wanted Grids Survey on this page.
     

    The rules of FFMA closely follow the VUCC rules. Please read the rules carefully.

     

    FFMA Leader Board - Most Wanted Grids etc - are maintained courtesy Francis Inman, KV5W - contact: francisinman@gmail.com
     

    Questions about the FFMA may be directed to ARRL Radiosport Manager: Bart Jahnke, W9JJ (w9jj@arrl.org)

  • FFMA QST Announcement

  • The 488 Required Grid Squares

    The following is the list of all 488 grid squares that must be confirmed on 6 meters to qualify for the FFMA:

    CM FIELD: 12 grid squares

    CM79

    CM86 - CM89

    CM93 - CM99

    CN FIELD: 27 grid squares

    CN70 - CN78

    CN80 - CN88

    CN90 - CN98

    DL FIELD 5 grid squares

    DL79

    DL88 - DL89

    DL98 - DL99

    DM FIELD: 90 grid squares

    DM02 - DM09

    DM12 - DM19

    DM22 - DM29

    DM31 - DM39

    DM41 - DM49

    DM51 - DM59

    DM61 - DM99

    DN FIELD: 90 grid squares

    DN00 - DN08

    DN10 - DN18

    DN20 - DN28

    DN30 - DN38

    DN40 - DN48

    DN50 - DN58

    DN60 - DN68

    DN70 - DN78

    DN80 - DN88

    DN90 - DN98

    EL FIELD: 27 grid squares

    EL06 - EL09

    EL15 - EL19

    EL28 - EL29

    EL39

    EL49

    EL58 – EL59

    EL79

    EL84

    EL86 - EL89

    EL94 - EL99

    EM FIELD: 100 grid squares

    EM00 - EM99

    EN FIELD: 80 grid squares

    EN00 - EN08

    EN10 - EN18

    EN20 - EN29

    EN30 - EN38

    EN40 - EN48

    EN50 - EN58

    EN60 - EN67

    EN70 - EN76

    EN80 - EN86

    EN90 - EN92

    FM FIELD: 20 grid squares

    FM02 - FM09

    FM13 - FM19

    FM25 - FM29

    FN FIELD: 37 grid squares

    FN00 - FN03

    FN10 - FN14

    FN20 - FN25

    FN30 - FN35

    FN41 - FN46

    FN51

    FN53 - FN57

    FN64 - FN67

  • FFMA Rules

    1. Overview. The Fred Fish Memorial Award (FFMA) is awarded for confirming contact with all 488 Maidenhead grid squares in the 48 contiguous United States on the 6 meter (50 MHz) band. Grid locators are designated by a combination of two letters and two numbers. More information on grid locators can be found in January 1983 QST, pp 49-51 (reprint available upon request. Send a 9 × 12-inch SASE with 3 units of postage). The ARRL World Grid Locator Atlas and the ARRL Grid Locator for North America are available from the ARRL Publication Sales Department.

    The FFMA award is available to all amateurs worldwide; however, ARRL membership is required for hams in the US, its possessions and Puerto Rico.

    2. Dates. Only those contacts dated January 1, 1983 or later are creditable for FFMA purposes.

    3. Endorsements. The FFMA does not offer any endorsements based on specific modes, nor does it offer any recognition of progress towards the end goal. An Amateur does not qualify for the FFMA until all 488 required grids are confirmed.

    4. General Rules

       (a) No contacts through active repeaters or satellites are permitted.

       (b) Contacts with aeronautical mobiles (in the air) do NOT count.

       (c) Any portion of an FFMA grid may be worked for FFMA credit. It is not necessary for an FFMA operation to be on US soil; operations from Canadian or Mexican territory or from water within an FFMA-required grid are acceptable.

       (d) Stations who claim to operate from more than one grid locator simultaneously (i.e., from the boundary between two grid locators or from the intersection of four grid locators) must be physically present in all locators to give multiple locator credit with a single contact. These stations should be prepared to validate their claim. For a mobile station, this means parking the vehicle exactly on the line or corner. For a portable station, this means that the total area occupied by the station's physical setup, including operating position(s), power source(s), and antenna(s), must occupy some portion of each of the two/four grid squares simultaneously. Operators of boundary/corner stations should be prepared to provide evidence of meeting the simultaneous occupation test if called upon to do so. Two photographs -- one showing the placement of the GPS receiver in the station setup, and a close-up legibly showing the GPS reading -- are typically needed as evidence of compliance. Video footage showing an overview of the operating site and then, uncut and in real time, zooming in on the GPS display coordinates is even better.

       (e) Grid boundary lines and grid corners must be established using a GPS receiver whose map datum is set to WGS84, the global default for current GPS receivers. The GPS receiver should be set to use WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) if so equipped, since this improves the error figure to as little as 5 feet. In no case may the GPS receiver show an error figure in excess of 20 feet. Any modern GPS receiver equipped with WAAS will easily meet this requirement, as will most older units without WAAS.

       (f). Each claimed contact must include contemporaneous direct initiation by the operator on both sides of the contact. Initiation of a contact may be either locally or by remote.

    5. Applicant's Operating Location. All contacts applied to an applicant’s FFMA award must be made by the applicant from locations no more than 200km apart.

    6. Application Procedure (please follow carefully):

       (a) Confirmations (QSLs) and application forms must be submitted to an approved VHF Awards Manager for certification. ARRL Special Services Clubs appoint VHF Awards Managers whose names are on file at HQ. If you do not know of an awards manager in your area, HQ will give you the name of the closest manager. (Also located on the Web at: http:\\www.arrl.org/awards/vucc.) Foreign VUCC applications should be checked by the Awards Manager for their IARU Member Society in their respective country. Do not send cards to HQ, unless asked to do so.

       (b) For the convenience of the Awards Manager in checking cards, applicants may indicate in pencil (pencil ONLY) the grid locator on the address side of the cards that DO NOT clearly indicate the grid locator. The applicant affirms that he/she has accurately determined the proper location from the address information given on the card by signing the affirmation statement on the application.

       (c) Cards must be sorted:

          (1) Alphabetically by field

          (2) Numerically from 00 to 99 within that field 

       (d) Where it is necessary to mail cards for certification, sufficient postage for proper return of all cards and paperwork, in addition to appropriate fees as noted in #8, must be included along with a separate self-addressed mailing label. ARRL accepts no responsibility for cards handled by mail to and from VHF Awards Managers and will not honor any claims.

       (e) A numbered plaque will be awarded to each person who qualifies for the FFMA.

    7. Fees.  There is no fee for the FFMA Award; however, ARRL membership is required for hams in the US, its possessions and Puerto Rico to apply.

    8. Disqualification.

       (a) Altered/forged confirmations or fraudulent applications submitted may result in disqualification of the applicant from FFMA and VUCC participation by action of the ARRL Awards Committee.

       (b) The applicant affirms he/she has abided by all the rules of membership in the FFMA program and agrees to be bound by the decisions of the ARRL Awards Committee.

    9. Rules Decisions. Decisions of the ARRL Awards Committee regarding interpretation of the rules here printed or later amended shall be final.

    10. Operating Ethics. Fair play and good sportsmanship in operating are required of all FFMA members.

  • Official ARRL FFMA Confirmed totals (Updated Daily)

    This is a status of all FFMA grids officially confirmed by the ARRL Awards Branch. this list is updated automatically every day.

     

    Click here to view the list.

     

    FFMA is the second list from the top.

  • FFMA Leader Board

    See

     

    FFMA Leader Board V7.xlsm

     

    Courtesy Francis Inman, KV5W.  Contact:  francisinman@gmail.com

    There are TABs at bottom for "Leader Board" - "Most Needed Map" - "Grid Data" - "Leader Maps" - "Grid Trends" - "Inactives" - "Change Log"

     

  • Rare Grids Survey & Map (updated 5 December 2020)

    FFMA Rare Grids Survey and Map (Excel Spreadsheet)  - maintained by Bill Ockert, ND0B  updated 5 December 2020.


    Future updates courtesy Francis Inman, KV5W - contact: francisinman@gmail.com

     

    There are 4 worksheets - see "Maps" TAB at bottom

  • FFMA Grid Tracker Map by NZ3M

    The FFMA Grid Tracker Map spreadsheet was developed by Dave Clouser, NZ3M, and is available here at arrl.org with his permission.

     

    All required FFMA grids are listed in a drop-down menu by grid field (CM, CN, DN, etc). Manually enter your worked and confirmed grids, and the spreadsheet will automatically keep track of your grid totals. The spreadsheet will even display your totals in a color-coded map. Manually update your spreadsheet when you work a new grid.

     

    Latest version: 2.1 (February 28, 2011)

     

    Download the NZ3M FFMA Grid Tracker Map here

  • Online Grid Tracker by Johan Reinalda, WG7J

    WG7J has created a web application that allows you to upload an ADIF log and have it filtered by band. It will show you grids worked and confirmed based on the uploaded data.
    Go Now

  • FFMA Recipients

     

    FFMA # Call Name QTH Last Grid Award Date
    1 W5FF (SK) Fred Fish DM64 (NM) FN64 2008-Oct-25*
    2 W5OZI Pat Rose EM00 (TX) CM79 2010-Jul-08
    3 K5UR Rick Roderick EM35 (AR) FN57 2010-Jul-29
    4 KMØA Mark Ammann EM48 (MO) CM93 2011-Jun-29
    5 WD5K Thomas Johnson EM12 (TX) CN77 2011-Jul-28
    6 NØLL Larry Lambert EM09 (KS) FN67 2015-Oct-12
    7 W7GJ Lance Collister DN27 (MT) FN67 2015-Oct-13
    8 AA5AM Scott Armstrong EM13 (TX) CN81 2019-Jul-10
    9 W4UDH Ralph Smith EM52 (MS) DN24 2019-Jul-17
    10 NDØB Bill Ockert EN07 (ND) CM93 2020-Jun-10
    11 WØFY Joseph Fleagle EM48 (MO) CM93 2020-Jun-25
    12 K9CT Craig A. Thompson EN50 (IL) DM02 2020-Jul-09
    13 K7CW Paul Kiesel CN87 (WA) EN48 2021-Jun-01
    14 W9FF Roger Schneider EN40 (IL) CM79 2021-Jun-08
    15 K5WE Jeff Martin EM25 (OK) FN57 2021-Jun-15
    16 W9RM Keith "Jay" Morehouse DM58 (CO) FN66 2021-Jun-25
    17 W7MEM Mark McMillan DN17 (ID) DL89 2021-Jun-25
    18 WQ5S Brad Fuller EM13 (TX) FN57 2021-Jun-29
    19 KA9CFD Jay T. Hainline EN40 (IL) DM08 2021-Jun-29
    20 WØLGQ Greg Clausen EN21 (IA) FN66 2021-Jul-07
    21 W9JN John E. Feltz EN54 (WI) DM46 2021-Jul-08
    22 W7KNT John D. Vugteveen DN26 (MT) FM13 2021-Jul-20
    23 KO9A James M. Spence EN52 (IL) DN16 2021-Jul-27
    24 KØGU James "Jay" Kesterson DN70 (CO) EM06 2021-Sep-04
    25 AI5I Bill Junor DM65 (NM) DM71 2021-Sep-21
    26 W5AFY Dan L. Osborne EM04 (TX) DM77 2021-Oct-21
    27 WS9V James Riba EM59 (IL) DN24 2022-Jan-18
    28 AAØMZ James G. Klingler EM29 (KS) CN93 2022-May-19
    29 NØLWF Lyle Fisher EN10 (NE) CN71 2022-Jun-09
    30 KR7O Robert Brown DM07 (CA) EN15 2022-Jun-11
    31 AA7A Ned Stearns DM43 (AZ) FN45 2022-Jun-22
    32 W5KI Steve Norris EM36 (AZ) EL84 2022-Jun-24
    33 N6JV Norman Wilson CM98 (CA) EL84 2022-Jun-27 
    34 K4PI Mike Greenway EM73 (GA) DM47 2022-Jul-06
    35 N3XX Timothy Heger EM73 (GA) DN68 2022-Jul-08
    36 K5RK Larry Burke EL29 (TX) DN02 2022-Jul-18
    37 N5DG Ed Stallman EM20 (TX) DN02 2022-Jul-26
    38 N1AV Jay Baack DM43 (AZ) EL58 2022-Jul-26
    39 KA9FOX Scott E. Neader EN43 (WI) EL58 2022-Jul-26
    40 W5ADD Parker Dinkins EM40 (LA) CM79 2022-Nov-04
    41 N9LB Lloyd Berg EN52 (WI) CN76 2023-Jun-02
    42 NØTB Tim Blank EN34 (MN) DN47 2023-Jun-05
    43 W7JW Jeffrey Wheeler EN82 (MI) DM53 2023-Jun-14
    44 N3SL Steve Larson EN12 (IA) DN87 2023-Jun-20
    45 KG5CCI David Swanson EM36 (AR) DN05 2023-Jul-06
    46 KD5M Edward Seeliger EM60 (FL) DN67 2023-Jul-07
    47 KV5W Francis Inman EM22 (TX) CM97 2023-Jul-09
    48 N5OMG Daniel Cristina Sr EL49 (LA) DN57 2023-Jul-11
    49 W3CP Bryan Dunn EM74 (GA) DN02 2023-Jul-14
    50 N9UM Mark Thomas EN52 (IL) CN91 2023-Jul-14
    51 K1TOL Lefty Clement FN44 (ME) DM02 2023-Jul-20
    52 WØJW John Fickes EN31 (IA) DN87 2023-Jul-20
               
    *awarded posthumously        

     

  • FFMA Application Forms

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