Author: Darrell Davis KT4WX

BILL MOFFATT W4RVX APPOINTED AS ASSISTANT NET MANAGER FOR EAGLE NET.

On Monday June 15, 2026, Darrell Davis KT4WX, Section Manager of the ARRL West Central Florida Section appointed Bill Moffatt W4RVX as an ARRL Net Manager, as Assistant Net Manager of the Eagle Net.

Moffatt was first licensed with the callsign KO4SZT in September 2021.  Moffatt applied for and was granted his father’s callsign W4RVX, in April 2022, shortly after his father became a Silent Key, and is honored to carry on both his father’s legacy and his father’s lifelong passion for amateur radio.  Moffatt currently serves as the Wednesday net control for the Eagle Net, the ARRL NTS Traffic Net for the ARRL West Central Florida Section.

Moffatt’s professional career began in the automotive service industry, where he spent many years in mid- and upper-management positions.  In the late 1990s, Moffatt developed one of the first web-based PGP-encrypted anonymous remailers, which led to the creation of several software applications focused on security and privacy encryption.  Moffatt later transitioned into web design and hosting, a field in which he continues to work today by hosting and maintaining websites for several local businesses.  Moffatt, now semi-retired, is writing new books, narrating audiobooks for authors from his home recording studio, and continues to work part time in customer service at a family owned service garage in Bartow.

Moffatt is a licensed pilot and sports car enthusiast, I’ve always been drawn to things that move fast. Moffatt is also a published author of the book, “Life Aboard Runner – A Smuggler’s Tale”, which has been warmly received by readers.  The book is available on Amazon, and an audio edition is in the process of being produced.

Moffatt made the following statement about his current and future plans, “Whether I’m behind a microphone, at the keyboard, or on the air as W4RVX, I enjoy learning, creating, and sharing my passions with others.”

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THE WCF ARES COMMUNICATOR FOR JULY 2026 IS PUBLISHED.

The July 2026 issue of THE WCF ARES COMMUNICATOR, is now available for download on the WCF ARES COMMUNICATOR page located at https://arrlwcf.org/home/wcf-ares-communicator.  This month includes a guest column by Will Scott W7WMS, AEC Pinellas ACS/ARES, entitled “LoRa Mesh Networks: An Introduction and Discussion of Use Cases.’  Also the monthly ARES reports for May 2026 are listed as well.

All issues will be archived on this page for current and historical reference.

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SKYWARN WX ALERT ON DUTY FOR FIELD DAY

In support of ARRL Field Day sites operating out in the field, as well as the 26th Annual ARRL West Central Florida Section Field Day Caravan, the SKYWARN WX-Alert Team will be actively monitoring the weather, and will disseminate National Weather Service issued advisories, watches, and warnings as needed, on the NI4CE Analog repeater system, and the NI4CE NXDN repeater system, on talkgroup 1299.

For the frequencies of the repeaters in the NI4CE Analog repeater system go to https://ni4ce.org/ni4ce-repeater-map-frequencies/,all of which are on a CTCSS tone of 100.0 Hz.  For more information about the NI4CE NXDN repeater system, including RAN codes and talkgroups, go to https://ni4ce.org/nxdn-repeaters-on-fl-icom-gateway/.  Also watches and warnings will be posted as text messages on talkgroup 1250, for those who are setup to use the SKYWARN WXMsg2 Windows app. For more information on the WXMsg2 Windows app and how to set it up you may go to https://ni4ce.org/nxdn/nxdn-wxmsg/.

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HF SECTION ARES NET CANCELLATIONS FOR FIELD DAY AND INDEPENDENCE DAY.

The ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES and Information Net scheduled for Saturday on 3940 KHz at 0730 Eastern Time or immediately following the Florida Phone Traffic Net will have the following upcoming cancellations:

The ARRL West Central Florida Section and Information Net scheduled for Saturday June 27, 2026, will be cancelled to facilitate ARRL Field Day.  The ARRL West Central Florida Section and Information Net scheduled for Saturday July 4, 2026, will be cancelled in observance of Independence Day.

The ARRL West Central Florida Section and Information Net will resume normal operation on 3940 KHz at 0730 Eastern Time or immediately following the Florida Phone Traffic Net on Saturday July 11, 2026  All other Section nets will operate as scheduled.

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26th ANNUAL ARRL FIELD DAY CARAVAN TRAVEL ITINERARY NOW PUBLISHED.

The 26th Annual ARRL West Central Florida Section Field Day Caravan itinerary is now published on the ARRL West Central Florida Section Field Day Caravan webpage located at https://arrlwcf.org/wcf-special-events/west-central-florida-section-field-day-caravan/.   The itinerary is based upon submissions to the ARRL Field Day Locator by Saturday June 20, 2026.

Just two reminders for those operating Field Day sites:  (1) You CANNOT count a visit by the Field Day Caravan as a visit by a government official or a served agency per ARRL Field Day rules 7.3.11 and 7.3.12.  (2) If you generate an NTS message to the Section Manager or Section Emergency Coordinator, be sure it is in NTS format and includes the following criteria per rule 7.3.5: The club name, number of participants, Field Day location, and number of ARES operators involved with your station.

For more detailed information on how to send a radiogram to our Section Manager or Section Emergency Coordinator you may go to the Field Day Caravan webpage at https://arrlwcf.org/wcf-special-events/west-central-florida-section-field-day-caravan/.

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THE WCF ARES COMMUNICATOR FOR JUNE 2026 IS PUBLISHED.

The June 2026 issue of THE WCF ARES COMMUNICATOR, is now available for download on the WCF ARES COMMUNICATOR page located at https://arrlwcf.org/home/wcf-ares-communicator.  This month includes another guest column by Christine Duez K4KJN, an Assistant Section Manager and ARES Emergency Coordinator for Polk County ARES.  Also the monthly ARES reports for April 2026 are listed as well.

All issues will be archived on this page for current and historical reference.

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THE WCF PRESSER FOR MAY/JUNE 2026 IS NOW PUBLISHED

THE WCF PRESSER for May/June 2026, issue #71, has just been published and is now available for download from the Section website at https://arrlwcf.org/home/the-wcf-section-presser-arrl-west-central-florida-section-news/.  In this issue you will find several features articles, and many thanks to those authors who submitted them.

THE WCF PRESSER production team is composed of Darrell Davis KT4WX, Assistant Section Manager for Technology, as editor, and Russ Delaney N4RTD Assistant Section Manager for Digital Communications, as layout coordinator.  In order to continue to publish THE WCF PRESSER, content is needed.  The editors are not “mind readers” and your submissions are definitely needed.  If your amateur radio club or group is having an activity or event, write it up and send it to Darrell Davis KT4WX via email at kt4wx@arrl.net.  The submission format does not matter and the production team can work with any format.  Pictures being included is encouraged.

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TWO ARRL WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA SECTION HAMS RECIPIENTS OF THE ARRL CERTIFICATE OF MERIT.  FIRST ANNUAL ARESCON VIDEOS ARE NOW PUBLISHED.

On Saturday May 16, 2026, at the opening of the First Annual ARESCON, the ARES Conference for the ARRL West Central Florida Section, the Section presented the ARRL Certificate of Merit to Sanford Wyatt KM4WXX and Duwain Hunt W8JJV, for their contributions to the 2026 ARRL West Central Florida Section Simulated Emergency Test, called Operation Dark Start, which simulated a major power failure throughout much of the State of Florida.

All the presentations given at the 1st Annual ARESCON were recorded, and Russ Delaney N4RTD, Assistant Section Manager has completed the post-production editing of the recording of ARESCON into one video per each presentation. To view the opening remarks, which included the presentation of ARRL Certificate of Merit to Sanford Wyatt KM4WXX and Duwain Hunt W8JJV, and all of the other presentations you may go to the Section YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/arrlwcf. The playlist for the 1st Annual ARESCON is located at https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLurE5FicLQFXSXtfAEzHcL-8BI6QWUdFL.

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TWENTY SIXTH ANNUAL WCF SECTION FIELD DAY CARAVAN COMING THIS ARRL FIELD DAY

As is traditional here in the ARRL West Central Florida Section, the ARRL West Central Florida Section will facilitate 26th Annual ARRL West Central Florida Section Field Day Caravan on Saturday June 27, 2026.   The ARRL West Central Florida Section has facilitated the Field Day Caravan since the inception of the Section in 2000.

There will be two teams once again this year.  Team One will be composed of Darrell Davis KT4WX, Section Manager, and Russ Delaney N4RTD, Assistant Section Manager, and will cover the southern part of the Section.  Team Two will be composed of Dave Rockwell W4PXE, Section Emergency Coordinator/Section Traffic Manager, and will cover the northern part of the Section.

If you wish to have a visit from the ARRL WCF Section Field Day Caravan, please register your Field Day site at the ARRL Field Day Locator at https://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator.  You will need to be logged into the ARRL website before you can register your Field Day site.  Please register your Field Day site as soon as possible and no later than Saturday June 20, 2026.  This will give us time to complete the travel itinerary for both teams and publish them on the Field Day Caravan webpage which is located at https://arrlwcf.org/wcf-special-events/west-central-florida-section-field-day-caravan/.

A WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE will be disseminated once the travel itinerary is published on the WCF Section Field Day Caravan webpage.

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HF SECTION ARES NET CANCELLATION DUE TO ARESCON

The HF Section ARES Net scheduled for Saturday May 16, 2026 at 0730 or immediately following the Florida Phone Traffic Net on 3940 KHz is cancelled due to the 1st Annual ARESCON being held later that afternoon, and due to the SKYWARN session being planned before ARESCON that morning.

The HF Section ARES Net will resume normal operation on Saturday May 23, 2026 at 0730 or mmediately following the Florida Phone Traffic Net on 3940 KHz.

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