Author: Darrell Davis KT4WX

MUNICIPAL PARKS ON THE AIR RE-BRANDED AS COUNTY PARKS ON THE AIR.  WCF PRESSER MAKEOVER TO PREMIER WITH FEBRUARY ISSUE.

COUNTY PARKS ON THE AIR UPDATE:  The West Central Florida Section operating event Municipal Parks On The Air is to be re-branded County Parks On The Air.  This is due to the large number of County Parks that have been identified and that city and or town parks would take many more months to identify them all, which would require a personal visit and or an email or phone call.  The event after a considerable delay will finally commence on March 1, 2019 and run through the end of 2019.  The parks list, their designators, and event rules will be posted on the Count Parks On The Air web page at http://arrlwcf.org/wcf-special-events/county-parks-on-the-air/ on the Section website.

WCF PRESSER GOING THROUGH A MAKEOVER:  The WCF PRESSER will not be published for the month of January to make way for the makeover of the WCF PRESSER.  Jim Weslager K3WR is the new editor for the WCF PRESSER and is now in the process of putting together the February issue of the WCF PRESSER.  It will be available as usual on the Section website at http://arrlwcf.org/home/the-wcf-section-presser-arrl-west-central-florida-section-news/ on February 1, 2019.  If you have any announcements or news items you would like to be included in the WCF PRESSER, please send them to Jim Weslager K3WR at weslager@gmail.com.

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THE WCF PRESSER AND WCF EXPERIMENTER HAS A NEW EDITOR.

Starting with the February 2019 the WCF PRESSER will have a new look and a new editor.  Also starting in the Spring of 2019, the WCF EXPERIMENTER will be coming out of hiatus.  Jim Weslager K3WR, who lives in Sebring in Highlands County, will be the new editor for the  WCF PRESSER and the WCF EXPERIMENTER.

Weslager, first licensed as a novice in early 1976, currently enjoys various HF digital modes, including RTTY, SSB voice, satellites, and APRS.  Besides amateur radio, Weslager’s current interests include motorcycling, photography, videography, and competitive firearms shooting, including handguns or rifles, using a vortex scope for ar 10 which are great for competitive sports.

Weslager was professionally employed in the public safety sector prior to transitioning to and retiring as the corporate security director for one of the top-10 largest banks in the U.S. doing business in 20 states using great resources like online networking events uk so he can manage all the clients he have.  Weslager’s career activities included employing various cutting-edge technologies, many still unknown to the general public, which were used to apprehend bank robbers, burglars, and fraudsters, and included working with with various federal law enforcement agencies (FBI, USSS, BATF), Interpol, and many other law enforcement agencies with respect to criminal investigations, arrests, and convictions.

Weslager will be taking over as editor of the WCF PRESSER with the February issue and will restart the WCF EXPERIMENTER with the Spring issue.  Darrell Davis KT4WX, Section Manager, said the following, “Jim came to me at the first of the new year and volunteered to help publish the WCF PRESSER with new and improved graphics and layout.  After seeing some samples of his work, I took him up on his offer.  I also want to publicly thank Jim for being willing to do the editing and layout of the WCF PRESSER and the WCF EXPERIMENTER”.  It is requested that anyone submitting content for the WCF PRESSER or WCF EXPERIMENTER please do so one week prior to the publication date.   The scheduled publication date for the WCF PRESSER is the first day of the month of the date of publication or the first Monday of the month, if the first day of the month falls on a weekend.  The scheduled publication date for the WCF EXPERIMENTER is the 15th of the month, preceding the first month of the new quarter.  Anyone wishing to send news related content for publication in the WCF PRESSER or technical articles for publication in the WCF EXPERIMENTER please send that content to Weslager via email at weslager@gmail.com.

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KAI SIWIAK KE4PT TO BE THE ARRL GUEST FOR THE 5TH ANNUAL TECHCON

Kai Siwiak (pronounced “She-viak”) KE4PT, is the guest from the ARRL for the 5th Annual TECHCON being held on Friday February 22 and Saturday February 23.  Siwiak will be our featured guest speaker for TECHCON on Saturday afternoon and is interested in meeting possible future contributors to QEX or QST.  Siwiak is the editor of QEX magazine, the ARRL technical journal which is published bi-monthly and a contributing editor to QST magazine.

Siwiak was first licensed in Brooklyn in 1964, at age 15 as WN2PGH.  Kai holds a BSEE, MSEE, and a PhD and has worked for Raytheon and later for Motorola in Plantation, FL as an engineer.  Siwiak currently in addition to being editor of QEX runs his own a wireless consulting and Ultra-Wideband radio technology buisness called TimeDerivative.

Siwiak currently resides in Broward County, Florida and is interested in CW and digital modes on HF and QRP.  Siwiak was interviewed in Episode 204 of QSO Today and you may listen to that interview at http://traffic.libsyn.com/qsotoday/Episode_204_Kai_Siwiak_KE4PT_Final.mp3

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CHANGES TO ARES IN CHARLOTTE AND HILLSBOROUGH COUNTIES

On Saturday December 1, 2018, per the request of the Charlotte County Emergency Management, Charlotte County ARES is being reorganized and is now a part of the Charlotte County CERT Program. Also per the request of Charlotte County Emergency Management, Jon Pellant W1JP was appointed the new Emergency Coordinator of Charlotte County ARES. Pellant has been part of Charlotte County CERT and Charlotte County ARES since 2016 and has had previous experience in ARES in the cities of Boston and New Your City.

On Saturday December 8, 2018, Roy Drury K4DCT, was appointed the interim EC for Hillsborough County ARES. Drury has been involved in Hillsborough County ARES for the last several years, was the Senior Assistant Emergency Coordinator, and was recently appointed to be an Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator for planning.

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MIKE BRESSE W2YS RECIPIENT OF THE 2018 WHITE AWARD

Mike Bresse W2YS talking about the Bike MS Citrus Tour at the Tampa Bay Hamfest during the ARRL forum.

On Saturday December 8th, 2018 at the Tampa Bay Hamfest and during the ARRL forum, the 2018 White Award was presented to Mike Bresse W2YS.  Bresse received a 2018 ARRL Handbook from the ARRL West Central Florida Section and one year paid ARRL membership from the West Central Florida Group, the owners of the NI4CE repeater system.  Bresse was appointed an Assistant Section Manager of the ARRL West Central Florida Section on February 1, 2018, to be the amateur radio coordinator of the Bike MS Citrus Tour amateur radio communications upon the ARRL West Central Florida Section assuming the sponsorship of amateur radio communications for the Bike MS Citrus Tour in January of 2018.  Bresse took over as the amateur radio coordinator for the Bike MS Citrus Tour in 2018 succeeding Jason Triolo KD4ACG who had been the amateur radio coordinator for a number of years and had decided to step down to transition to coordinating the Bike Marshall program for the Multiple Sclerosis Society.  Bresse had previously been the SAG vehicle coordinator for a number of years and in 2017 became the amateur radio co-coordinator.

Bresse developed the amateur radio support website for the Bike MS Citrus Tour at http://www.citrustour.org in 2016, which provided a “one stop place” for all Bike MS Citrus Tour volunteer registration, related support documentation such as SOP’s, assignment rosters, printable placards, etc.  Bresse also implemented two nets, Logistics and Operations, to improve radio communications, and computer logging for the net control stations in 2018.  Bresse has developed and plans to implement in 2019 an online form that can be filled out easily on a smartphone that riders on the route can simply fill out, which will pull their GPS coordinates, if they need to be sagged into another rest stop or the finish line, which will hopefully improve dispatch response time to render assistance to riders.

Darrell Davis KT4WX, Section Manager, said, “Mike W2YS is deserving of the White Award as he tirelessly spends a lot of his personal time and money, particularly in the months of March and April, in preparation for the Bike MS Citrus Tour.  Mike does all the top level coordination for the ride, coordination of road stripping and route signage, has made tremendous improvement to the Logistics to support the Bike MS Citrus Tour, and is working on the new self-reporting form for SAG pickup by rider for 2019.”

The White Award is annual award instituted in 2016 by the ARRL West Central Florida Section to recognize the amateur radio operator who has made the most significant contribution to amateur radio in the ARRL West Central Florida Section in the year of the award.  It is awarded at the Tampa Bay Hamfest every December.

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NEW EMERGENCY COORDINATOR APPOINTED FOR POLK COUNTY ARES

On Saturday December 1st, Mike Green AG4LT, stepped down as the Emergency Coordinator for Polk County ARES, due to personal reasons and time constraints.   Green had served as Emergency Coordinator for Polk County ARES since January 1, 2016.  Jim Stewart W4XDS, Polk County ARES Assistant Emergency Coordinator for Operations, has been appointed as the new Emergency Coordinator for Polk County ARES effective on Saturday December 1st.

Stewart was first licensed in 2002, but did not really become active until 2011 after joining the Lakeland Amateur Radio Club, then upgrading from Technician to Extra in only a few months.  Stewart has since served as a board member of the Lakeland Amateur Radio Club since 2016.  In 2012, Stewart joined Polk County ARES, first volunteering to be a net control, then became net manager for the Polk County ARES Net, and finally became Assistant Emergency Coordinator for Operations which Stewart has been for several years.  Professionally, Stewart was a Data Systems Technician in the U.S. Navy.  Following 8 years in the U.S. Navy, Stewart worked for Publix as a COBOL programmer and finished his career with Publix as an Infrastructure Architect.

The ARRL West Central Florida Section extends his sincere thanks to Mike Green AG4LT for his three years of service as Emergency Coordinator of Polk County ARES and welcomes aboard Jim Stewart W4XDS as the new Emergency Coordinator for Polk County ARES.

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SECTION NET CANCELLATIONS FOR DECEMBER

As is traditional in the month of December, the following Section Nets will be canceled due to the following events and holidays:

TAMPA BAY HAMFEST:  The Section ARES Net on 3940 KHz at 0730 on Saturday December 8th will be canceled due to the ARRL West Central Florida Section Convention and Tampa Bay Hamfest which is being held on Friday December 7th and Saturday December 8th.

CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEARS:   The Section ARES Net on 3940 KHz at 0730 hours on Saturday December 22nd and Saturday December 29th will be canceled in observance of Christmas Day and New Years Day.  The Section ARES and Information Net on the NI4CE Repeater System at 1930 hours on Monday December 24th and Monday December 31st will be canceled in observance of Christmas Day and New Years Day.

The only sessions of the Section HF ARES Net, that will be held in December will be Saturday December 1st and Saturday December 15th.  This Section HF ARES net will resume normal operation on Saturday January 5th, 2019.  The last session of the Section ARES and Information Net for 2018 will be Monday December 17th and this net will resume operation on Monday January 7th, 2019.

The Eagle Net, which is conducted daily at 2030 hours on the NI4CE repeater system, will run as scheduled, including Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Years Eve, and New Years Day.  The Section Technical Net, which is conducted every Thursday evening at 2100 hours on the NI4CE repeater system, will also run as scheduled.

The ARRL West Central Florida Section wishes everyone a safe and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

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WV1X TO BE ARRL GUEST AT THE TAMPA BAY HAMFEST

Steve Ewald WV1X, the ARRL Field Organization Supervisor, will be our guest from ARRL Headquarters for the 18th Annual ARRL West Central Florida Section Convention, which is being held in conjunction with the Tampa Bay Hamfest.  Steve has been with ARRL Headquarters for quite a number of years.  Originally working as an assistant to Rick Palm K1CE, Steve assumed Rick’s position at ARRL Headquarters, when Rick retired from ARRL Headquarters.   Steve’s role as ARRL Field Organization Supervisor, is oversight of the ARRL Field Organization, including coordination with the ARRL Section Managers and the ARES organization.

Steve will be our guest speaker at the ARRL forum and is scheduled to do a presentation on ARES Connect, the new ARES members system for doing monthly ARES activity reports.

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