Category: News

THE WCF PRESSER ISSUE #45 JANUARY 2020 IS NOW PUBLISHED

The WCF PRESSER Issue #45 for January 2020, has been published on the Section website.  An announcement of the publication of the WCF PRESSER will be disseminated on the ARRL remailer shortly. If anyone has any information that is amateur radio related that you would like to go into the next issue of THE WCF PRESSER, please send that to our newsletter editor, Jim Weslager K3WR via email at weslager@gmail.com.

For the PDF version of this newsletter and past issues in PDF format go to http://arrlwcf.org/home/the-wcf-section-presser-arrl-west-central-florida-section-news/.

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VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO ACTIVATE K4WCF SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS FOR 20TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION OF THE WCF SECTION.

The Section will be holding a ARRL West Central Florida Section 20th Anniversary Operating Event special operating event to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the ARRL West Central Florida Section.  As part of this celebration, K4WCF, the callsign of the West Central Florida Section, will be activated one weekend in each county of the West Central Florida Section until all ten counties are activated over a period of ten weekends.  A K4WCF operation was done in January of 2000 when the West Central Florida Section commenced operation. This will be repeated once or twice more later during the year, either in the fall and or the summer and fall, to give everyone an opportunity to work K4WC in all ten counties. This will not be a contest but simply an operating event to celebrate the anniversary of the West Central Florida Section.

The West Central Florida Section is now taking applications for ARES and or ACS groups,CERT groups, or radio clubs to apply to be authorized to activate K4WCF for a weekend at a time for each respective weekend. A special event web page on the Section website will be setup once the rules are finalized.  The following is the tentative schedule of operating weekends for the first running of K4WCF in the Winter and Spring of 2020 and the groups, clubs, or individuals who have volunteered to operate K4WCF:


• Hillsborough County: 1/11/20 and 1/12/20
• Manatee County: 1/18/20 and 1/19/20
• Sarasota County: 1/25/20 and 1/26/20
• Charlottte County: 2/01/20 and 2/02/20
• Desoto County: 2/15/20 and 2/16/20
• Highlands County 2/22/20 and 2/23/20
• Polk County: 2/29/20 and 3/01/20
• Hardee County: 3/14/20 and 3/15/20
• Pasco County: 3/21/20 and 3/22/20
• Pinellas County: 3/29/20 and 3/30/20 – St.Petersburg Amateur Radio Club.

The publication of the WCF Section 20th Anniversary Operating Event page and the schedule of who is going to operate will be announced by future WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASES and in the January WCF PRESSER.  Groups interested in operating K4WCF in a particular county please use the Contact Form on the Section website to apply.  Please state on the Contact Form the name of your organization, where you would activate K4WCF, and for what county you are volunteering to activate.  The criteria for operating K4WCF is two fold:

(1) A station operating K4WCF must be located in the county it is activating.  (2)  Have the capability to hand out contacts on VHF and UHF so that our Technician class licensees can participate by making contacts as well. K4WCF may be operated either portable, from a club station, an EOC station, or a base station.

For the full list of activation critieria, operating rules, etc., may be found on the K4WCF Special Operating Event webpage at http://arrlwcf.org/wcf-special-events/k4wcf-20th-anniversary-operating-event-2020/.

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MooWCF SECTION 20TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION ANNIVERSARY PARTY FOLLOWING THE TARCFEST

The ARRL West Central Florida Section will turn 20 years old on January 15, 2020. The Section will be holding a WCF Section 20th Anniversary Party on Saturday January 11th, 2020 at 1200, immediately following the conclusion of the Winter 2020 TARCFEST, at the Tampa Amateur Radio Clubhouse, which is located at 7801 North 22nd Street on the north side of Tampa.

If you have never been to the Tampa Amateur Radio Clubhouse, the best way to get there is to take I-275 to exit 48, which is Sligh Avenue, go east on Sligh Avenue for approximately 1-2 miles, then turn left onto 22nd Street, and take it all the way to the end.  The clubhouse will be on your right. We look forward to seeing many of you there. Stop by and share your good memories of how amateur radio is special to you.  That is a great way to celebrate the WCF Section 20th Anniversary.

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JIM WESLAGER K3WR APPOINTED AS AN ASSSISTANT SECTION MANAGER

Jim Weslager K3WR was appointed an Assistant Section Manager for Publications on January 1, 2020.  Weslager has been editor for the WCF PRESSER since February of 2019 and editor for the WCF EXPERIMENTER since its reboot in the Summer of 2019.  Weslager also designed the 20th Anniversary West Central Florida Section logo, the new TECHCON logo, and the County Parks on the Air logo. Darrell Davis KT4WX said the following about the appointment, “Jim has been doing nearly all of the work for the Section publications for the last year, so it was fitting to recognize that officially by appointing him as an Assistant Section Manager for Publications. Thank you Jim for your service to amateur radio.”

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.

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, the District of Columbia, and abroad. 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.

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SECTION 20TH ANNIVERSARY LOGO UNVEILED AND SECTION WEBSITE MAKEOVER

This year will mark the 20th Anniversary of the creation of the ARRL West Central Florida Section.  As part of the 20th Anniversary celebration, the Section will use a special 20th Anniversary Logo, in place of the regular Section Logo.  Jim Weslager K3WR, editor of the WCF PRESSER and WCF EXPERIMENTER, created the 20th Anniversary logo.  The logo is available for download from the Section website at http://arrlwcf.org. The standard Section logo was created by the late Paul Knupke N4PK, who became a Silent Key very suddenly in 2002, whose callsign is held today by Paul Knupke Sr.

The Section website has gotten a new look for the 20th Anniversary celebration as well.  This is the first new look that the Section website has had since January 2015, when the Section website got a complete overhaul, the first overhaul since the website was originally created in January 2000.  Other celebrations planned in 2020 will be the anniversary party on January 11, 2020 at the TARCFest and the K4WCF Special Event Station activation planned for several times in 2020.

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SECTION NET SCHEDULE FOR CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEARS HOLIDAYS

The following Section nets have been cancelled in observance of the Christmas and New Years holidays.

• Section ARES and Information Net – NI4CE Repeater System – Monday 12/23/19 and Monday 12/30/19.
• Section ARES and Information Net – 3940 KHz – Saturday 12/21/19 and Saturday 12/28/19.
• Section Technical Net – NI4CE Repeater System – Thursday 12/19/19 and Thursday 12/26/19.

All Section nets will resume their normal operations on Thursday 1/02/20.

The Eagle Net, the NTS traffic net for the ARRL West Central Florida Section which meets at 2030 hours daily on the NI4CE Repeater System, will operate as scheduled throughout the Christmas and New Years holidays.  On Tuesday 12/24/19 and Tuesday 12/31/19, Darrell Davis KT4WX our Section Manager, will continue his annual tradition of being the Net Control for the Eagle Net on those evenings Part of this tradition is the following.  On Christmas Eve those who check in will be asked to share a favorite past Christmas experience or other holiday experience or a favorite Christmas present received.  On New Years Eve those who check in will be asked to share project and or resolution completed and or a project and or resolution planned for the New Year.  This will be the 3rd year of this tradition.

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ARRL HEADQUARTERS GUEST SPEAKER FOR 6TH ANNUAL TECHCON

Bob Allison WB1GCM, the ARRL Lab Assistant Manager, will be our special guest speaker from ARRL Headquarters for the 6th Annual TECHCON, which will be held on Friday February 21 and Saturday February 22, 2020 at the Charlotte County Emergency Operations Center in Punta Gorda just east of I-75.

Bob resides with his wife, Kathy, KA1RWY, in Coventry, CT. As Senior Test engineer at the ARRL Laboratory, Bob tests the latest Amateur Radio related equipment for QST’s monthly Product Review Column. He also has written several Product Review articles, as well as many technical and historical articles for QST magazine. Prior to his work at the ARRL Laboratory, Bob worked at WVIT-NBCCT (Channel 30) for 28 years as a Broadcast Engineer and Studio Supervisor. Bob is a graduate of Ward Technical College at the University of Hartford. His Hobbies are Amateur Radio (43 years), antique phonographs, antique radios and enjoying his 1931 Model-A. Bob also volunteers as a tour guide at the Vintage Radio and Communications Museum in Windsor Connecticut.

The 6th Annual TECHCON is the annual technical conference for the ARRL West Central Florida Section.  Attendance is free of charge and if you plan on attending please register on the ARRL West Central Florida Section website at http://arrlwcf.org/section-forms/wcftechconfregistration/

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DAVE ROCKWELL W4PXE IS THE 2019 WHITE AWARD RECIPIENT

Dave Rockwell W4PXE, of Saint Petersburg, has been named the 2019 White Award recipient.    The White Award, established in 2016, is to name the amateur radio operator who has made the greatest contribution to amateur radio in the ARRL West Central Florida Section.

Rockwell has been fascinated with radio communications and electronics since the 1960s.  In 2011, Rockwell became active in the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, earning certification as a Telecommunication Operator providing land-based radio communications for Auxiliary vessels.  This rekindled his interest in radio leading him to test for and pass both the Technician and General Class exams on first try in March of 2013.  He later earned his Extra Class in September 2014.  Rockwell was drawn to traffic handling and public service communications, both through his association with the Coast Guard and his prior experience in the United States Air Force radio in the 1970s.  He became first a net control station for the Eagle Net, the NTS Traffic Net for the ARRL West Central Florida Section and later was chosen as the Net Manager for the Eagle Net.

Rockwell is an active member of the Pinellas County Auxiliary Communications Service and Pinellas Amateur Radio Emergency Services (Pinellas County ACS/ARES) and is the night shift lead in the Pinellas County Emergency Operations Center radio room.  Rockwell is a member of the Saint Petersburg Amateur Radio Club (SPARC), the Glorious Society of the Wormhole, and is a volunteer examiner for ARRL, W5YI, and Laurel VECs.  Rockwell is also currently an ARRL Technical Specialist and serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the West Central Florida Group Inc., who owns and operates the NI4CE repeater system.  Rockwell is a life member of the ARRL and has served as ARRL Public Information Coordinator for the ARRL West Central Florida Section in 2015.  Rockwell also holds a General Radiotelephone Operators License.  Rockwell has qualified as a Lead Instructor for the Incident Command System and actively supports Pinellas and Hillsborough county ICS training programs.  Rockwell has taught two training sessions in Traffic Handling for the ARRL West Central Florida Section and participates in the Florida Phone Traffic Net, often serving as liaison to Eagle Net.

Rockwell’s other interests serving with the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary and serves as the Branch Chief, Contingency Communications on the U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary National Staff and holds positions of Division and Assistant District Communications Officer in the Auxiliary.

Rockwell’s professional career included serving in the United States Air Force as a Ground Radio Repairman, Augmentee Radiotelephone operator, and served 14 years as a Communications Computer Systems Engineer working on communications and computer security systems.  Rockwell attended Strayer University and New Mexico State University graduating with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering.  Rockwell also did a time as Chief Engineer of a college radio station and WPEP in Tauton, Massachusetts.  After retiring from the United States Air Force, Rockwell went on to serve as a Principle Systems Security Engineer supporting contracts with the Department of Defense, U. S. Treasury, and the FBI, culminating in a position as Chief Scientist with Federal Data Systems. Rockwell was an adjunct instructor for Strayer University and Hawaii Pacific University, specializing in object-oriented programming.   Rockwell and his family now reside permanently in Saint Petersburg, Florida.

The ARRL West Central Florida Section congratulates Dave Rockwell W4PXE on being named the 2019 White Award Recipient.  The 2019 White Award will be presented at the ARRL forum during the Tampa Bay Hamfest on Saturday December 14, 2019

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THE WCF PRESSER ISSUE #44 DECEMBER 2019 IS NOW PUBLISHED

The WCF PRESSER Issue #44 December 2019, has been published on the Section website.  An announcement of the publication of the WCF PRESSER will be disseminated on the ARRL remailer shortly. If anyone has any information that is amateur radio related that you would like to go into the next issue of THE WCF PRESSER, please send that to our newsletter editor, Jim Weslager K3WR via email at weslager@gmail.com.

For the PDF version of this newsletter and past issues in PDF format go to http://arrlwcf.org/home/the-wcf-section-presser-arrl-west-central-florida-section-news/.

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N1GY RETIRING AS TECHNICAL COORDINATOR.  K2LYV TO SUCCEED N1GY AS THE NEW TECHNICAL COORDINATOR.

Geoff Haines, N1GY, retired as the ARRL Technical Coordinator  and as an Assistant Section Manager for the West Central Florida Section at the end of November.  Geoff had been the ARRL Technical Coordinator, for 15 years, since 2004, and authored numerous articles for QST magazine and the WCF Experimenter.   Geoff had also served as an Assistant Section Manager since 2015.

The ARRL West Central Florida Section extends its sincere thanks to Geoff for his 15 years of service to the ARRL West Central Florida Section, to amateur radio, and wish him well in his future endeavors.

 

Dave Birnbaum, K2LYV, will be our new ARRL Technical Coordinator effective Monday December 2nd.  Dave has written several articles for QEX Magazine and has been a returning presenter at TECHCON.  A brief bio is available in an article he wrote for the November/December 2018 issue of QEX, about Calculating Losses in an Antenna Tuner, of which he did a presentation at TECHCON as well.

Dave’s life experience begins with an extensive education in Engineering and Physics. He has a BEngr in Engineering Physics, MS and PhD in physics and an MBA.  He taught Physics on the university level and then on to the corporate world. He worked on digital imaging for color xerography and ink jet printing, holding 15 patents,  and retired from Xerox as an Engineering Fellow in 2003.  Dave is a member of the Tampa Amateur radio Club, and also enjoys the trombone which he plays in local concert bands.  Dave holds several amateur radio awards and is a ARRL Technical Specialist in the West Central Florida Section.

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