MIRA does Winter Field Day 2026!

Winter Field Day offers a unique opportunity for radio operators to set up field operations in remote locations, enabling them to connect with other participants worldwide. The Winter Field Day event aims to help participants improve their preparedness for disasters and enhance their operational abilities in adverse conditions. Amateur radio operators have the freedom to use frequencies on the HF, VHF, or UHF bands while employing voice, CW, and digital transmissions. The event designates specific objectives to encourage a diverse range of activities, including the use of non-commercial power sources, the deployment of multiple antennas, establishing satellite contacts, and more.

Held on January 24/25th this year, this marks the fourth consecutive year that MIRA has participated in this annual event. This year however, things were a bit different in that we put aside the tents, tarps and propane heaters and held the event in one of local community centres. One of our members suggested the Meadowood area, as this was especially affected by the wildfires last summer and the community had a heightened awareness of the need for emergency preparedness and communications.

It was great to have a centrally located, warm, comfortable space to work in, and we decided to use the opportunity to show off some of the many different aspects of ham radio to the community. Members of the club brought along displays of their work in AREDN, New Packet Radio, Winlink and many others.

We set up tables in the centre of the space for the various displays. The ‘operating stations’ are located behind the camera in the views above.

It was also a great opportunity for members of the club that we don’t see all that often drop by to say hi. A significant number of the local community dropped in to ask questions and find out more about MIRA and the Oceanside Emergency Communications Team (OECT).

Someone from the community even brought in their grandfather’s old ‘Dow’ CW bug. We think it is from the 1930’s and we were able to connect it up to an oscillator and get it to work. They were so pleased!

In terms of the various ‘goals/challenges’ established for this year’s WFD, we didn’t do too badly. We were able to accomplish over half of them which put us in pretty high standing compared to other WFD locations in North America.

We certainly didn’t make any honor rolls for our total number of contacts, but that wasn’t really the objective. We were there to have fun and show off to the community a little 🙂