Class filed
20245D
Home → Portable20255A
Five home stations on commercial power became five portable battery stations at a public site. Mission shift, not a score shift.
Same five transmitters.
Different Field Day.
Ten metrics, side by side. Each row tells you what happened, by how much, and — more importantly — what it means. The big story isn't the score line, it's the class line.
Power source
2024Commercial
C → B2025Battery
100% emergency power qualified outright — a Field Day operation that actually tests emergency preparedness.
Final score
20244,150
−232 (−5.6%)20253,918
Slight regression in raw score, but the score is a leading indicator of operating throughput — not mission alignment.
Total QSOs
2024921
−126 (−13.7%)2025795
Fewer QSOs from a battery-powered portable site — expected. Throughput is the 2026 leverage point.
Bonus points
2024880
+800 (+91%)20251,680
Nearly doubled. Six new bonuses unlocked by the portable/public configuration: 100% Emergency Power, Safety Officer, Public Location, Alternate Power, Educational Activity, Message Origination.
AZ section rank
2024#6 of 107
−1 position2025#7 of 107
Still top 7% in Arizona despite a tougher class. AZ #1 by bonus points two years running.
Participants
202420
+8 (+40%)202528
Portable + public site drew more members. The site became a destination, not just an operating QTH.
CW QSOs
2024166
−166 (−100%)20250
The single biggest 2026 lever. Recruiting one dedicated CW operator unlocks +400 to +800 score points and would lift TBARC into the AZ top 3.
Digital QSOs
2024548
−224 (−41%)2025324
The 2024 6M/10M WSJTX station dominated; 2025 ran digital on HF only.
Phone QSOs
2024207
+264 (+128%)2025471
Portable HF setup leaned hard on SSB — 20m phone alone produced 438 contacts in 2025.
The takeaway
Score dipped. Mission alignment surged. Bonus column leads the state.
Anyone reading only the score line would see a small regression and call 2025 a step back. Anyone reading the rest of the page sees a club that deliberately traded raw operating throughput for a Field Day that actually tests what Field Day is for: getting on the air, away from the shack, on emergency power, and demonstrating amateur radio's utility to the public.
That trade unlocked four major new bonuses (Emergency Power, Safety Officer, Public Location, Alternate Power) that lifted TBARC to #1 in Arizona by bonus points for the second straight year. The score regression is temporary; the 2026 plan brings CW back into the operation and a skeleton overnight digital shift — math says 5,000+ is the conservative target and 6,500 puts TBARC at AZ #1 outright.