WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #25-19

SECTION ARES NEWSLETTER GETS A NEW NAME AND THE JUNE ISSUE IS PUBLISHED.

Staring with the June 2025 issue, Dave Rockwell W4PXE our Section Emergency Coordinator has given the ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES Newsletter, a new and permanent name:  THE ARES COMMUNICATOR.

The June 2025 issue of THE ARES COMMUNICATOR, is now available for download on the new ARES COMMUNICATOR page located at https://arrlwcf.org/home/wcf-ares-communicator.  All issues will be archived on this page for current and historical reference.

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WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #25-18

SETTING UP WSJT-X FOR FT8/FT4 OPERATION FOR ARRL FIELD DAY

ARRL HQ has requested the following information to be passed on to radio amateurs in their respective ARRL Field Organization.

On Tuesday May 27, 2025 at 2000 EDT, “ARRL On The Air Live” will air a presentation on how to implement WSJT-X for FT8 and FT4 along with homebrew 10 and 15 meter antennas to participate in this year’s ARRL Field Day.  This will be very useful to newcomers to amateur radio operators and veteran operators alike.  To access the presentation please go to https://learn.arrl.org/webinars/82925#.

The ARRL OTA Live was started in February 2025 as a monthly video broadcast to new amateur radio operators, primarily.  However, all radio amateurs will find the material presented to be informative.  Past editions of “ARRL On The Air Live” can be viewed at https://learn.arrl.org/courses/96737#.

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WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #25-17

THE WCF PRESSER AND THE WCF EXPERIMENTER ARE BEING REBOOTED

After being out of publication for over two years, the ARRL West Central Florida Section Newsletter, “THE WCF PRESSER” has just been rebooted as a bi-monthly newsletter and starts with the May/June 2025 issue.  It is now available for download from the Section website at https://arrlwcf.org/home/the-wcf-section-presser-arrl-west-central-florida-section-news/.

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.  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.

THE WCF EXPERIMENTER, the ARRL West Central Florida Section Technical Newsletter, is being rebooted as well in the very near future as a quarterly newsletter, and will start with the Summer 2025 edition.  The same production team that does THE WCF PRESSER will be producing THE WCF EXPERIMENTER.  We will be going to press with that issue in the next one to two weeks, so if you have any articles that you would like to publish send it via email to Darrell Davis KT4WX via email at kt4wx@arrl.net.

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WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #25-16

SKYWARN BECOMES “SKYWARN® WX-ALERT”

There is a new, fresh look coming to Amateur Radio severe weather operations in West Central and Southwest Florida. “SKYWARN® WX-Alert” will launch June 1st, 2025 on the NI4CE Repeater System with some significant changes and additions.

For the first time, severe weather operations will incorporate a unified Amateur Radio communications platform. Ham radio operators who are trained SKYWARN severe weather spotters will be able to share their reports on the NI4CE Analog and NXDN Digital systems whenever severe weather threatens their neighborhood. This unified radio platform will also be used to conduct a weekly SKYWARN WX-Alert Information Net each Tuesday evening at a new time, 7:30 PM ET. This new Net time will allow more people to fully participate.

“Ham Radio has always been an important part of the SKYWARN program”, according to Paul Toth-NB9X, President of the West Central Florida Group, Inc. “SKYWARN WX-Alert is all about keeping our neighbors safe. Severe weather knows no boundaries. Neither should the communications tools we use. That’s why an expanded, unified regional platform will now be used.”

The Tuesday evening Net, at its new time, will provide all Ham operators an upfront, advanced severe weather forecast for the week ahead. This will include storm timing and location information to help spotters prepare for possible activations. The new, earlier Net will also feature weather insights and training information to help spotters be more efficient and accurate.

The refreshed SKYWARN WX-Alert effort will employ an expanded team of Net Control operators. Each operator will be tethered to the National Weather Service staff in Ruskin via NWSChat, an advanced information tool the Weather Service uses to issue critical warnings and support information, which Net Controllers will use to file spotter reports in real time. During major weather events, including hurricanes, tropical storms and tornadic outbreaks, SKYWARN WX-Alert Team members will be geographically dispersed to optimize connectivity.

The Team is currently working on adding unified repeater coverage in Citrus and Levy Counties for all Nets and an Internet-accessible audio stream which anyone interested in current weather information will be able to access.

The SKYWARN WX-Alert effort is being led by Dan Noah WX4DAN, retired NWS-Ruskin Warning Coordination Meteorologist, Russ Delaney N4RTD and Paul Toth NB9X.

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WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #25-15

25TH ANNUAL ARRL WCF SECTION FIELD DAY CARAVAN TO TAKE PLACE FOR ARRL FIELD DAY

On Saturday June 28, 2025, the 25th Annual ARRL West Central Florida Section Field Day Caravan is set to go on the road of the ARRL West Central Florida Section for ARRL Field Day once again.  As has been done in recent years it is planned to send out two teams to cover the ARRL West Central Florida Section.  The ARRL West Central Florida Section Field Day Caravan webpage has been tenatively updated for ARRL Field Day 2025.  As plans are finalized for the ARRL West Central Florida Section Field Day Caravan, the ARRL West Central Florida Section Field Day Caravan webpage will be updated.

If you wish a visit by the ARRL West Central Florida Section Field Day Caravan, be sure to enter your Field Day operation on the ARRL Field Day Locator:  https://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator.  NOTE:  You will need to be logged in on the ARRL website to complete an entry on the ARRL Field Day Locator.  We are asking everyone to have their Field Day operation entered on the ARRL Field Day Locator by no later than Saturday June 21, 2025, so our Section Manager Mike Douglas W4MDD will have the proper time to plan the Field Day Caravan routes.

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WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #25-14

TAMIAMI ARC FOSTERS CONTACT FROM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WITH INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

In a momentous achievement for Pine View School for the Gifted (PVS) in Osprey, students and faculty made a successful live contact with astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday, January 28, 2025. This historic event marks a significant milestone in the school’s ongoing commitment to inspiring the next generation of scientists, engineers, and explorers. It is the first time that any Sarasota County school has been selected for this honor

The Tamiami Amateur Radio Club (TARC) in Venice partnered with PVS to provide radios, antennas, and skilled amateur radio operators to facilitate this contact with the ISS. Steve Phillips NS4P ran the radio making timely doppler shift frequency changes as the ISS passed overhead and Brain Darley KM4YHZ from the Fort Myers Amateur Radio Club operated the ground station antenna tracking system that he provided for making the contact.  Paul Nienaber KN4BAR and Roger McEntarfer N9RM put in a lot of preparation to make this operation a success.

The students, along with their STEM teachers had the rare opportunity to speak directly with astronaut Sunita Lyn “Suni” Williams in a live, two-way conversation. Each of the sixteen selected students had an opportunity to ask Suni a question via an amateur radio connection to the ISS and receive her answer in real time.

The event was not open to the public and took place in the school auditorium. It was attended by fellow students, faculty, parents, and invited guests. The Sarasota County School District did a live stream of the event on their YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@SarasotaSchools). Video of the contact can be viewed on the school’s YouTube channel.

The school now has a dozen students and one faculty member with Technician Class Amateur Radio Operator licenses from the FCC thanks to the efforts of TARC’s VE Team. During the month of February, TARC will be working with the school to install mast poles for supporting an assortment of wire antennas. Using funds received from an ARRL Club Grant, TARC will also provide the long term loan of a complete HF station with accessories for use by the newly formed school amateur radio club, call sign W4PVS!

The information used in this press release was provided courtesy of Paul Nienaber KN4BAR.

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WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #25-13

FLORIDA QSO PARTY SCHEDULED FOR THIS WEEKEND

The Florida Contest Group is facilitating the 27th Annual Florida QSO Party this comign weekend.  27th Annual Florida QSO Party will be held on Saturday April 26, 2025 from 1600Z (Noon EDT) through 0159Z (9:59 PM EDT) and on Sunday April 27, 2025 from 1200Z (8:00 AM EDT) and 2159Z (5:59 PM EDT), which is a 20 hour total operating period.   The 40, 20, 15, and 10 Meter bands will be used.  All 67 Florida Counties will be eligible for activation.

For all the details on the Florida QSO Party, including the Florida QSO Spelling Bee, please go to their Florida QSO Party website at https://www.floridaqsoparty.org.  For the Florida QSO Party 2025 Flyer, please go to https://floridaqsoparty.org/wp-content/uploads/CQ-FL-HAMS-FQP-2025-Announcement-REV-A-1-21-25.pdf.

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WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #25-12

NEW VIRTUAL NTS TRAINING NET

Many Technician class amateurs miss out on fun and skills of learning NTS traffic handling.  The Virtual NTS Training Net (VNTN) seeks to address this problem with the creation of a Zoom-based local traffic net that can be accessed by anyone with an internet connection.
VNTN will accept check-ins and radiogram traffic utilizing standard phonetics and pro-signs; in short, participants will enjoy the same experiences as those who check into conventional “RF” traffic nets.  The net will incorporate a “hands-on” training approach in traffic procedures, radiogram creation, and relay.  The goal of participation in VNTN is to motive these new licensees to join section and region nets on HF after upgrading to a higher license class.
The Net meets Wednesdays at 1900 Eastern Time.  Plans are underway to move the time to 2000 Eastern Time in May. The VNTN URL is: <https://bitl.to/3xj4>.
For updated information, please subscribe to the VNTN Groups IO list at vntn+subscribe@groups.io.

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WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #25-11

NEW SECTION ARES NEWSLETTER DEBUTS IN MAY 2025

Staring in May 2025, Dave Rockwell W4PXE our Section Emergency Coordinator and Section Traffic Manager, will debut “THE WCF SEC LETTER” a monthly Section ARES Newsletter for the ARRL West Central Florida Section.  There will be WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE to notify everyone when the latest issue is available for download.

The inaugural issue, for May 2025, is now available for download on the new WCF SEC LETTER page located at https://arrlwcf.org/home/wcf-sec-letter/.  All issues will be archived on this page for current and historical reference.

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WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #25-10

NEW ARRL WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA SECTION ARES PLAN PUBLISHED.

Dave Rockwell W4PXE, our Section Emergency Coordinator, released this week the new  ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES Plan.  It is recommended that all ARES personnel familiarize themselves with the new plan.  The plan is now available on the Section website on the Section ARES Page at https://arrlwcf.org/download/wcfares/WCFSection_ARESPlan_040125.pdf

For any questions concerning the new Section ARES Plan, you may contact our Section Emergency Coordinator Dave Rockwell W4PXE via email at w4pxe@arrl.net.

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