Well this was a first for me!
Most any Ham you talk to have heard or taken part in Field day that takes place each year in the summer. Over the years I have read blog posts regarding Winter Field Day but had not paid too much attention to it. I am not one to spend time outdoors in the winter on the radio. Winter is nice but not that nice, but this year I did some reading and there is a category for working this event from home! Now my wife did give me some advice telling me to at least open the window and rough it a bit with some cold air. Sorry, not for me I am a summer/warm-weather guy!
I entered CW only as my category and I found the event well attended and very relaxed compared to major CW contests. It is an event that I will add to my contest calendar for next year.
What I like about this contest is that it is only 24 hours in length, and operators are typically sending Morse at fairly relaxed speeds of around 20 wpm or below. The exchange is straightforward and does not rely on serial numbers.
This year some of the Canadian geographical sections were revised. Mine changed from GTA to GH causing a bit of confusion. One SSB operator asked me where GH was, so I explained.
This is also a contest that tries to compensate for power in the QRP class: Maximum 5 Watts for CW, but allowing 10 Watts for SSB. The maximum power allowed is 100 Watts – that evens the playing field.
Well designed competition and well attended, but not overwhelming.
Good morning David and very nice to hear from you, yes compared to the major contests this was more relaxed and gave the chance for those with mid-CW skills an opening to operate CW. Our section here was revised as well from MAR to NB and NS. I did notice that when I uploaded my score to the Winter Field Day site they still had our section as MAR.
I have only been down in NB for 4 years now (retired) I was living in Ontario in the Cambridge area and my old call was VE3WDM.
Have a good week David
73,
Mike
VE9KK