Go from a fresh install to a fully configured Field Day event, ready for operators.
You've deployed FD Commander and can reach it in a browser. Now what? This guide walks through everything between "the server is running" and "operators are logging contacts." The whole process takes about 20 minutes if you have your event details handy.
The first time you open FD Commander in a browser, it launches a three-step setup wizard. The deploy script already created a System Administrator account for you (callsign: SYSTEM, email: admin@localhost). The wizard walks you through configuring it.
Set a secure password for the admin account. The password must be at least 12 characters with uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols. FD Commander checks it against known data breaches and will reject passwords that have appeared in public leaks.
This is the only account with full system access. If you lose it and email isn't configured, there's no self-service recovery. Store it somewhere safe before Field Day.
Customize how FD Commander looks for your club:
Fill in your organization details and system-wide settings:
Click Complete Setup. FD Commander saves your settings and redirects you to the login page. Sign in with the email admin@localhost and the password you just created. You'll land on the main dashboard.
Everything from the setup wizard is editable under Administration > Settings. You can update your admin password under your profile, and change branding and preferences any time.
From the dashboard, click + Create Event (or go to Administration > Events and click it there). The form is split into four sections.
The form shows the power multiplier rules as you fill it in: 5× for ≤5W with natural power only, 2× for ≤5W with commercial/generator or 6–100W with any power, and 1× for >100W.
Optionally enable the Guestbook, which lets visitors sign in when physically at your event location. See the Visitor Guestbook section of the docs for details on location verification, visitor categories, and bonus tracking.
Click Create Event to save. You'll land on the Events list page, where you can see your new event with its status, countdown timer, and current score.
The operating class, power source, and maximum wattage directly affect your score multiplier. Double-check these against your club's plan before moving on. You can change them later, but it's easier to get them right now.
Before you can create stations, you need radios in the system. Go to Equipment > My Catalog — this is where your personal gear lives. There are two ways to add equipment:
Click + Add Equipment to catalog gear you own. The form asks for make and model (required), equipment type (Radio, Antenna, Amplifier, Computer, Power Supply, Accessory, Tool, Furniture, or Other), serial number, a description, power output in watts, supported bands, tags, and a photo. As an admin you'll also see an Owner dropdown to assign the equipment to any registered user; operators creating their own equipment won't see this — their gear is automatically assigned to them.
As admin, click Add Club Equipment for gear that belongs to the club rather than any individual. The form is the same except there's no owner — instead there's an optional Managed By field where you can assign someone to be responsible for it. Club equipment has its own dedicated listing under Equipment > Club Equipment. Only admins and event managers can add club equipment; operators won't see this button.
Once equipment is in the system, it needs to be committed to the event. There are two ways this happens:
You don't need to add every cable and adapter. Focus on radios, antennas, and power supplies — the gear that actually gets assigned to stations. Operators can add their own equipment after they register if they want a more complete inventory.
Stations represent individual operating positions. Go to Event Management > Stations and click + Add Station.
For each station, you'll configure:
After creating the station, switch to the Equipment tab to assign additional gear beyond the primary radio: antennas, power supplies, tuners, and so on.
Click Clone from Event on the main Stations page to copy all station definitions from a previous event. This brings over names, types, and power configurations so you don't have to rebuild from scratch.
Go to Administration > Manage Schedule. There are two tabs: Roles and Shifts.
FD Commander ships with sample roles for common Field Day positions: Safety Officer, Public Information Table, Public Greeter, GOTA Coach, Message Handler, Event Manager, and Station Captain. Each role has a description and an optional bonus point value.
Review the defaults and tweak them for your club. You can rename them, delete ones you don't need, or click + Add Custom Role to create your own (e.g., "Antenna Setup Crew" or "Food Coordinator").
Two settings on each role matter for scoring:
Switch to the Shifts tab and click + Add Shift. Each shift needs a role, a start and end time, a capacity (how many people can fill the slot), and optionally notes. The Open for Sign-ups toggle controls whether operators can self-assign or whether you assign them manually.
For a 24-hour Field Day, you'll probably want shift blocks of 2 to 4 hours per station. Use the Bulk Create button to generate multiple blocks at once instead of creating them one by one.
Shift times are stored in UTC but displayed to operators in their local timezone. ARRL Field Day starts at 1800 UTC Saturday, which is 2:00 PM Eastern, 11:00 AM Pacific. Make sure your shift blocks line up with the official start.
Go to Event Management > Site Safety. FD Commander ships with the 15-item ARRL Field Day safety checklist covering fire extinguishers, first aid, weather monitoring, grounding, and other field site essentials. Completing it earns the Safety Officer bonus (100 points).
You won't complete it now, obviously. But review the items so you know what to bring and what to check off when you arrive at the site. If your club has additional safety requirements, you can add custom items under Administration > Manage Safety Checklist.
The dashboard shows a registration link that you can share with your club. By default this is a local network address (e.g., http://fd.local/register) — operators need to be on the same LAN or Wi-Fi network as the server to reach it. If you've configured DNS and TLS (see the DNS & TLS guide), operators can register remotely using your public hostname. Send the link out via your club's email list, group chat, or repeater net. Operators visit it, register with their callsign, and they're in the system with the default Operator role.
1 Copy the registration link from the dashboard.
2 Share it with your club members.
3 Once they register, they can browse the schedule and sign up for shifts.
If you've set up email (see the Email Setup guide), you can also create accounts manually and send invitation emails with a link to set their password. Otherwise, just share the registration URL and let people sign themselves up.
After your station captains and event manager register, go to Administration > Users and change their role. Station Captains can manage their operating position. Event Managers can handle stations, equipment, schedules, bonuses, and reports. Keep the admin role for yourself.
The dashboard tracks five setup milestones. Once all five are checked, your event is ready for Field Day:
If you followed this guide in order, all five should be checked. You're ready.
Set up the event at least a month before Field Day and have a few club members register, sign up for shifts, and commit their equipment. This catches configuration problems while there's still time to fix them, and it gets operators familiar with the interface before the event.