Winter Field Day 2025 – by Peter VE7PAE
Winter Field Day 2025, held on January 25th and 26th, was an exceptional experience in winter contest conditions. I was offered to go with a team (VE7KPZ, VE7QH, VE7RIZ) to Larch Hills, but unfortunately, I wasn’t able to join. Instead, I decided to go somewhere closer to home, in the South Canoe area near Salmon Arm, British Columbia. I had been thinking about this contest all year, and the day had finally arrived.
I worked this event one day, January 25th. Outside, the temperature was -4°C, with mostly overcast weather. I decided to compete in the mobile class using my electric car, a Nissan Leaf. I spent six hours in the field, fully dedicated to the contest, just like in the old days when I started with amateur radio as a high school student.
For this occasion, I used mobile radio equipment Yaesu FT818, a SOTABEAMS fiberglass pole 6 meters high, installed on a satellite antenna roof tripod, and a SOTABEAMS Band Hopper III – a three-band (20m, 30m, 40m) portable dipole antenna system. I also installed a mobile antenna for the 70cm and 2m bands. As a power source, I used a Jackery 250 battery, which proved to be a reliable partner in this adventure.
I worked CW, SSB, and digital Winlink-VARA HF to send and receive emails. In total, I made 22 QSOs (9 contacts on CW and 13 contacts on SSB), all on the 20m band. I am particularly pleased that, with low-power equipment, I managed to successfully send and receive emails multiple times over HF waves using Winlink and VARA HF. Although I didn’t have many QSOs, I am satisfied with participating in this significant and important event.
Winter Field Day 2025 – Antenna used at South Canoe
