W0S Special Event

Unless you've been living under a rock and not had access to any media you've probably heard about the 100th Anniversary of the Titanic Disaster.  A couple Saturdays ago I was listening to 40 meter CW on my ham radio and I noticed this station with a short callsign calling CQ and taking calls from other ham stations.  I waited for an opening and jumped in and made contact.  Later that day I sent out my QSL card and a SASE to confirm the contact and a short nine days later I found the above special event QSL in my mailbox.  Talk about running a tight ship that's about the quickest return I've ever seen from a special event station. 

The cool thing about this contact is we used the same mode of wireless communication -radio and Morse Code keying that was used on that fateful night 100 years ago.  A great tribute to those wireless operators aboard the Titanic, Carpathia and American shore stations without whose valiant efforts many more souls would have surely been lost.



Special Event Station W0CS

Special event stations on amateur radio all have one thing in common and that is to celebrate a unique person, place or thing.  A special event station can be a single operator working low power (QRP) or a club station working multiple bands and modes.  Events can be a one day affair or month long or longer marathons.  I like making contact with special event stations and always enjoy reading about the event's purpose.  Working these stations is yet another way to learn something new using amateur radio besides the usual name, QTH and signal report exchanged between hams over the air.
I received this QSL card the other day from a successful CW contact on the 7th of January.  The 28th Annual Bald Eagle Watch was presented by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Clinton Community College of Clinton Iowa.  Naturalists and volunteers set up at Lock #13 along the Upper Mississippi River complete with spotting scopes to aid the public in viewing the bald eagles.  The Clinton Amateur Radio Club ran their event in tandem with the viewing as a great way to spread the word.

From the information page included with my QSL card:

"The American Bald Eagle visits the Upper Mississippi River and National Wildlife & Fish Refuge lands each year from late fall through early spring.  As many as 2500 bald eagles winter along the Upper Mississippi River from St. Paul, MN to St. Louis, MO.
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Did you Know?

That our national emblem was threatened with extinction in the lower 48 states because of DDT (a type of pesticide) poisoning.  Protection under the endangered Species Act, together with reintroduction programs, brought populations up, and the species was reclassified as Threatened in 1995 and they were delisted in June 2007- a true conservation success story.

There are eagles all over the world, but the American Bald Eagle only lives on the North American Continent.  The Bald Eagle is not bald it develops white head and tail feathers around the age of four or five.  They stand a height of 2-1/2 to 3 feet tall and weight about 10-14 pounds.  Their wingspan is 6-8 feet. 

Opportunistic feeder, but prefers fish.  Eats large birds, mammals, and carrion.

Engages in spectacular flight displays.  In the Cartwheel Display, a courting pair flies to high altitude, locks feet together, and then tumbles and cartwheels toward the ground, breaking off at the last moment."

Special Event QSL Card



K2H 13 Colonies Special Event

While I was having coffee this morning and listening to 40 meters CW I heard this station calling "CQ CQ de K2H 13 COL" at a comfortable 18 wpm.  Usually short 1 x 1 call signs are assigned to special event stations.  I worked the station and then looked up the call on qrz.com and confirmed that the station was indeed part of a 4th of July Special Event celebrating the independence of the original 13 colonies.

I like making contact with special event stations and enjoy collecting these one of a kind QSL cards.  

more info at:  http://www.13colonies.info/



SKCC K3Y 2011 -- Special Event

These images are scans of two QSL cards I received this week confirming contacts I made participating in the SKCC's 5th anniversary special event.  Each January club members from the various U.S. call sign districts (see map below) can volunteer to operate under a special club call sign issued specifically for the month long event.  The object of the K3Y event is to work one unique station from each of the ten call sign districts.

Below are the back sides of the two cards listing the contacts I made and a brief history of the club.  I missed a full sweep of all call sign districts by one QSO.  Had I netted a contact with a California or Alaska K3Y station I could have received a certificate for my accomplishment.  I remember hearing a K3Y/6 calling from California and tried to reach him but evidently my signal was not reaching his antenna.  I'll look to nail it down next January and maybe consider even applying to operate as a special event station myself.

The design for the front of the QSL card is chosen by vote from examples submitted by club members.  This year's card featuring an old school drafting style drawing of the NT9K club key is my favorite and was the design I voted for.  My NT9K Pro Pump is the key I rendered in black and white and use as the header photo for many of my amateur radio posts. 

(Map attributed to Chris Ruvolo, Wikimedia Commons)