2013 Winter WonderLand Special Event

January 26, 2013 Our Annual Winter Wonderland Special Event activities took place at the Harris Nature Center facility located in Meridian Township, Ingham County, Okemos, MI. The event was another successful event for those in attendance and those via Ham Radio.

The event ran from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. This years attendance was estimated at 600+ participants. The snow came on time again this year to provide a platform for the winter activities. The cookies and Pizza were excellent as usual.

Of course our amateur radio demonstration took place Indoors at the center where conditions were wonderful.

Here�s a brief summary of the Ham Radio potation of the event:

- Again this year Bruce K2BET obtained Special Event Call Sign: W8W. The W8W coincides with the Winter Wonderland Event..

We had our usual cast of characters (Ham Operators) again this year for setup, operation and of course the tear down.

Bill Blick - W8EB

Bob Maron - K8RLM

Paul Streng - N8PBS

Doug Kilner - KD8CLV

Dave Metzger - K8GVK

Ed Oxer - W8EO in Florida for Echo Link

Joe Levine - W8JRK

Ralph Steinberger - KW8G

Bruce Tanner - K2BET

And the partisipation of several future HAMS.

- The antenna erection party was held on Friday as we got to stomp around in the snow to erect the antennas.

- Saturday morning, two independent HF stations were in operation. Operational modes of CW, SSB and Echo Link were utilized throughout the event. Dave K8GVK and Bruce K2BET ran the CW station and made several contacts in Europe. Bob K8RLM ran the SSB station mostly on 40meters. Bruce K2BET setup up the Echo Link stations after acquiring a new battery for the laptop computer.

- Ralph conducted Morse Code training on the CW practice oscillators and generated a lot of interest for the hoby.

- Special Event QSL cards W8W were sent out all contacting stations.

All in all we had a great day.

Below is our QSL card used for this years specail event. W8W, Special Events Amateur Radio Station participated in the Winder Wonderland Activites presented by the Harris Nature Center and Meridian Township Parks and Recreation program.

W8W 2013 Call Log

Photos from this years event - Enjoy!

Link to the Harris Nature Center Site