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.
