Winter field day sounds like a great training opportunity to try out your equipment!

 

Information from the SPAR website:

Not only during Field Day in June, do the bands come alive with improvised signals proving the ability to respond to emergencies. Since emergencies and natural disasters don’t always happen in the summer, during Winter Field Day, frigid winds, icy limbs and bitter cold replace the thunderstorms and blistering heat of summer. In 2007 SPAR established a Winter Field Day event and invited all Amateur Radio operators to participate. The event was repeated in 2008 and was considered a success, so it was then designated an annual event to be held the last full weekend each January. In 2007 – 2014 the event was enjoyed by many, but it is time to issue the invitation for the Ninth Annual SPAR Winter Field Day!

The 2015 Winter Field Day will be held from 1700 UTC (12:00 noon EST) Saturday January 24, 2015 through 1700 UTC (12:00 noon EST) Sunday January 25, 2015. The object of the event is familiar to most Amateur Radio operators: set up emergency-style communications and make as many contacts as possible during the 24 hour period. The rules encourage as many contacts on as many bands and modes as possible, because during a real emergency, the most important factor is the ability to communicate, regardless of band, mode or distance.

More details and the official rules can be found at the SPAR web site.  Note: This is not an AmRRON sponsored event.

Thank you, Juliet-59 for letting us know about this event!