HBFF Rules v10.7 , 20230110

R U L E S

v.10.08 by PH0NO & HB9TZA; August 25th, 2023

1) HBFF: The HBFF, Switzerland and Liechtenstein Natural Parks Award has been founded in partnership with the WWFF (WorldWide Flora & Fauna, http://www.wwff.co/ award program). The award will be be issued to YL, OM and SWL when the applicant has activated or

has had complete QSOs with (or heard as SWL), at least 10 different valid HBFF References.

2) Rules: The HBFF adopts the general WWFF Rules, as published on the WWFF official website, for the National Award of the Switzerland and Liechtenstein Parks, with two activation exceptions as detailed below under point 3 and 10.

3) References: As per WWFF rules, but with the following exception that is a tradition that you are kindly requested to respect: When a new reference is added to the HBFF program, the ham operator that proposed to add this reference is reserved the pleasure of its first activation

(in a reasonable time after publication of the new reference). To respect it, it is recommended that Activators, before activating a new reference, ask the HBFF national coordinator if there are any restrictions on activation.

4) Bands and Modes: As per WWFF rules.

5) Validity: As per WWFF rules, only the contacts with amateur stations operating from inside the parks acknowledged by WWFF in Switzerland and Liechtenstein and identified as HBFF-nnnn are valid.

6) Award issuing: awards can be requested through the WWFF Log Search functionality on http://wwff.co/logsearch/. Your request for HBFF awards is then automatically sent to the HBFF award manager complete with your name and callsign.

Please make sure you are registered in WWFF Log Search, with the correct information like name and callsign.
The request from WWFF Logsearch is checked against the HBFF log database. This data is the source for the award credits. QSL cards or other QSO confirmation is not necessary.
In case of doubt, the HBFF management may ask for QSLs or for other relevant information.

7) Awards: Awards are in the form of a printable .pdf file, coloured, personalized; if sent by email they will be provided at no cost.

8) Award levels: An HBFF award will be issued to YL, OM, or SWL, at different levels of accomplishment: 10, 25, 50, 75, 100 valid different HBFF references activated, contacted or heard; Above 100 there will be a new award available for every 50 references added.

9) HBFF Honour Roll: Not available.

10) Activations: As per WWFF rules with a few HBFF specific additions

The Activation will only be accepted if the operator follows these rules, including the HBFF specific additions.

It is preferable to announce your activation to the official HBFF email address staff@hbff.ch from where it will be communicated to hunters and SWLs; this also helps the activator to reach the activation quorum.

v Exceptions to the WWFF Rules:

· It is mandatory to use at least two different bands (use of 20m band is recommended).

· The minimum operating time in a reference is one hour from the 1^st QSO.

· Troubles Waiver: if an activator runs into trouble while operating, exceptions to these rules might be made depending on the situation. If you find this is the case, contact the HBFF national coordinator with all the details.

v Log and documentation:

· To validate the activation, the activator must send both an ADIF log file and a clear self-made digital photo (Min.800x600 px) of the activation showing the station and surroundings.

· Any permit that was necessary to activate the reference should be included (usually not required).

· Operators that live inside an HBFF Reference must send the geographical coordinates of their stations with the first log they send in.

· In case of a multi-operator or club call activation, make sure to fill both the Station_Callsign and the Operator fields in each QSO record of the ADIF log file.

· Documentation and logs are to be submitted to the HBFF national coordinator to his email address or to log@hbff.ch

· If information is missing it will be requested; if the correct info is not supplied upon request, the QSOs may be considered valid for the hunters, but the activation will not be credited to the activating operator(s).

· The HBFF national coordinator will check the logs, and will take care of uploading each log, if validated, into the WWFF database.

· Optionally we would like to receive pictures of the nature reserve for our website, especially if you are the first activator. Please note that we expect the pictures you share to be free of copyright.

11) Acceptance: Participants in this award program are understood to have read and accepted these HBFF Rules, and must comply with the rules, customs, laws and codes in force in the country where the activity takes place, referring in particular to the “Ethic and

operating procedures for Radio Amateur” edited by IARU Region 1.

12) Final decisions: the decisions made by the HBFF National Coordinator, regarding the compliance with HBFF and WWFF Rules, are final.

Every correspondence, concerning the HBFF Award or its Activations and activities, will be by email to the HBFF national coordinator, preferably through the official email address staff@hbff.ch.

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