Brainerd Area Amateur Radio Club  

Special Event  October 12, 2002

Click on the photo for a larger image.  

Click on the photo for a larger image.  

Third shift (1 PM to 3 PM CDT):  (l-r) Club Vice President Jim KCØANQ and Jim WAØAXB.  Click on the photo for a larger image.

They were joined by Ken KAØJSW

Fourth shift (3 PM to 5 PM CDT): (l-r)  Jim KBØTXT, Orcy WØQT, and Sharron KBØSQX.  Click on the photo for a larger image.  A fun time is being had by all.  

We are sending this certificate to stations making a contact.  Please send your QSL card and a SASE to: BAARC, Box 801, Brainerd, MN 56401.  The address is also listed on page 91 of the October, 2002 QST.

BAARCs eighth Special Event, a celebration of the clubs new communications trailer and its dedication to public service use in the Brainerd Lakes Area was held at the club station in the Mississippi Horizons School on Oct. 12.  The Special Event was a great success and the club should be very proud of the congratulations we received from many of the contacts we made.  The cost and difficulty of such a project was widely recognized, particularly by those involved in public service and emergency communications. 

My personal thanks to all those who contributed to the success of the communications trailer project.  The Special Event lasted for 8 hours and was staffed by 13 hams working in 2-hour shifts. During that time, we made 184 HF contacts, two 2-meter FM simplex contacts and 8-15 meter QRP contacts, a total of 194. Contacts included several cities in Canada, Hawaii (2), Alaska, Greenland, Sweden, Germany, S. Africa, Spain and most of the states beyond the states adjacent to Minnesota. Other contacts of interest included the demo station of the Smithsonian Museum of American History in DC, a decommissioned VOA station (now a museum on Ohio, an American Red Cross emergency response vehicle on duty in Slidell, LA in the aftermath of the recent hurricane, and a Special Event celebrating the rescue of baby Jessica from a well in Midland, TX 15 years ago.

A few words about the event itself: 

1. The operators did a great job. Two new control operators, Marv Holms and Jim Barry added greatly to the success of the event.

2. We used the clubs linear amplifier for the first time in a Special Event.  It worked great and generated some great signal reports. It also helped when the band started to fade. We will definitely use it next time.

3. We had a pile-up that lasted more than 7 hours. Great fun for all the operators.

I'd like to thank everyone who participated. Operators were as follows: Mark WØMH, Paula WØHA, John W3MQD, Marv WØYHE Terry KIØFW, Jim WAØAXB, Jim KCØANQ, Ken KAØJSW, Orcy WØQT, Jim KBØTXT, Sharon KBØSQX, Bob WØZPE & Bob KGØZK. Visitors included: Vi Myers, Alice Bleyhl (her sister), & Jack Gibson ABØCC.  This one was the best Special Event ever.