February 7, 2026 - Vernon, BC
Another Carnival Parade Successfully Delivered!
Big thanks to all the NORAC members who turned out today to support the Vernon Winter Carnival parade. It was a great event and the NORAC team pulled off another successful parade organization with great support from the VWC executive.
This is a very important event to serve our community while creating awareness of the club and amateur radio service.
Team members included:
Alex VE7NOC
John VE7JWS
Doug VA7CPS
Howard VA7PWF
Colin VA7EEH
Mike VE7KPZ
Paul VE7PDE
Jake VE7WEA
Richard VE7NT
Felix VA7VOL
Bud VE7KBK
Mike VA7XDM
A special thanks goes out to Felix VA7VOL who did most of advanced planning, and Wilf VE7OHM for providing the mobile VHF repeater setup used for the event.
In total, with pre-event planning plus on-the-day efforts, the club provided approximately 12+(12*4)=60 hours of service to our community.
Check out the 2026 Winter Carnival Parade gallery for event pics by contributing photographers Wilf VE7OHM and David VA7SZ.
On a chilly -10C Saturday morning, three brave souls set out to Kin Park in Vernon to set up for Winter Field Day 2026. At 9am, Howard VA7PWF, Colin VA7EEH and Warren VA7WPX began the process of setting up the tents and arranging the radio equipment. Wilf VE7OHM and Alex VE7NOC arrived shortly after to erect the Cushcraft R5 which would be our main antenna. The new arrangement of putting two pop-up tents together and completely closing them in, then combined with a couple of heaters offered by Jerome VE7JAR and Paul VE7PDE, did the trick to keeping us warm and toasty. It wasn't long before all of us started peeling off our heavy winter coats allowing us to operate comfortably in hoodies and sweaters.
The turnout from our members was great with even a visit from the City of Vernon Councilor Teresa Ann Durning Harker who stopped in to see what NORAC was all about. The beautiful clear skies also brought out lots of passersby, many who stopped to ask what on earth are were doing!
Although band conditions started off poorly, they gradually improved as the day went on. Operating under VE7NOR, we managed to make 113 contacts.
For more images of the event, please check out the 2026 Winter Field Day gallery.
NORAC member Peter VE7PAE did this year's Winter Field Day on his own and wrote a report to document the exercise.
Please check out the report published on Peter's other radio club's website: https://sarc.ca/winter-field-day-wfd-january-24-25-2026/
