Category: News

GOVERNOR RON DESANTIS PROCLAIMS AMATEUR RADIO WEEK IN FLORIDA

On Monday June 17th, State of Florida Governor Ron Desantis, signed a proclamation declaring the week of June 17, 2019 through June 23, 2019 as Amateur Radio Week in Florida.  Governor Desantis recognized in the proclamation the value of amateur radio during times of disaster, contributions made by amateur radio to provide communications for public service events, and the service of amateur radio operators as trained SKYWARN observers of the National Weather Service in Florida.

A copy of the Governors Proclamation can be found on the ARRL West Central Florida Section website at http://arrlwcf.org/download/wcfgeneral/ProclamationofAmateurRadioWeekFlorida2019.pdf.

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SPECIAL TRAFFIC NET FOR FIELD DAY, NET CANCELLATION FOR FIELD DAY, AND INFORMATION FOR RADIOGRAMS TO THE SECTION MANAGER.

There will be an extended session of the Eagle Net, the daily NTS Traffic Net of the ARRL West Central Florida Section, for Field Day messages to the Section Manager and NTS traffic originated from Field Day sites.  The Eagle Net will meet at its customary time and place:  2030 Hours on the NI4CE Repeater System and Dave Rockwell W4PXE will be the Net Control in place of Christine Duez K4KJN, our Section Youth Coordinator, who will be participating in the West Central Florida Section Field Day Caravan.  For frequencies and site information on the NI4CE Repeater System you can go to www.ni4ce.org.

The ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES and Information Net on Saturday June 22 at 0730 on 3940 KHz will be cancelled due to everyone being involved in preparation for Field Day.  The net will resume its normal operation on Saturday June 29.  All other Section Nets will run on their normal schedules during Field Day.

As a reminder to all Field Day stations, the NTS radiogram going to our Section Manager must contain the following per the ARRL Field Day rules, “the club name, number of participants, Field Day location, and number of ARES operators involved with your station.”  The key is that the message must be ORIGINATED during the Field Day period and must leave the Field Day site on amateur radio RF.  A sample message form has been added to the West Central Florida Section Field Day Caravan web page for your use in helping you compose a message with the required information.  The West Central Florida Section Field Day Caravan web page is at http://arrlwcf.org/wcf-special-events/west-central-florida-section-field-day-caravan/.

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WCF SECTION FIELD DAY CARAVAN ITINERARY RELEASED

The travel itinerary for the 19th Annual ARRL West Central Florida Section Field Day Caravan is now published.  Please go to the West Central Florida Field Day Caravan web page to download the travel itinerary.  Starting this year, the travel itinerary is in a spreadsheet format for easier viewing.  The travel itinerary was based upon the entries in the ARRL Field Day Locator on the ARRL web site as of Saturday June 15.

There will be three teams in the West Central Florida Section Field Day Caravan again this year and all three teams will be running APRS so you can track the progress of your team as they follow your itinerary.  You may track them from your Field Day site on the APRS FI website.  Also the teams will endeavor to put pictures of their stops on the Section Facebook page.  The ARRL West Central Florida Section wishes everyone a happy, safe, and successful ARRL Field Day.

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THE WCF PRESSER ISSUE #38 JUNE 2019 IS NOW PUBLISHED

The WCF PRESSER Issue #38 June 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 newletter 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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THE WCF PRESSER ISSUE #37 MAY 2019 IS NOW PUBLISHED

The WCF PRESSER Issue #37 May 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 newletter 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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THE WCF PRESSER ISSUE #36 APRIL 2019 IS NOW PUBLISHED

The WCF PRESSER Issue #36 April 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 newletter 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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THE WCF PRESSER ISSUE #35 MARCH 2019 IS NOW PUBLISHED

The WCF PRESSER Issue #35 March 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. This is the second WCF PRESSER with a new look and a new editor.  Jim Weslager K3WR is now the editor of the WCF PRESSER.  See WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #19-04 about the new look of THE WCF PRESSER and a brief bio on Jim K3WR.

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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LAST MINUTE REMINDED, A CHANGE, AND UPDATED INFORMATION FOR TECHCON

TECHCON is almost here.  TECHCON, the annual technical conference for the ARRL West Central Florida Section, will begin this Friday February 22 and run through Saturday February 23.  If you are planning on attending, please remember to go to TECHCON registration form at http://arrlwcf.org/section-forms/wcftechconfregistration/.

The Talkin repeater for TECHCON has been changed.  The new talkin repeater for TECHCON both on Friday and Saturday will be the NI4M Repeater on 146.940 MHz with a PL tone of 146.2 Hz.  The 147.105 N4TP Repeater has a lot of activity and it was determined that it would be better to use the NI4M Repeater instead.

For those attending the “Introduction to Python” workshop there are instructions posted on how to prepare for the Seminar on the TECHCON page at http://arrlwcf.org/wcf-special-events/wcftechconference/ in the Friday Seminar section.

The PowerPoint presentations and or any papers prepared by the presenters at TECHCON will become available on the TECHCON page on Saturday morning.  This years TECHCON page will be archived for future reference following the conclusion of TECHCON so the presentations and or papers will be available for information purposes.

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NEW COUNTY PARKS ON THE AIR FACEBOOK PAGE TO LIST ACTIVATIONS

A new Facebook page has been established to support the upcoming ARRL West Central Florida Section County Parks On The Air (CPOTA) operating event.   The direct link for the new CPOTA page is https://www.facebook.com/arrlwcfcpota.  The new CPOTA Facebook page is for activators to register proposed or planned upcoming CPOTA activations and the bands, modes, and or proposed frequencies in which the activations will operate.  Activators and chasers are encouraged to post pictures and discussion of information, equipment setups, etc. that will be used in CPOTA activities.  Also activators and or chasers may publish general statistics about CPOTA operations as well.  Facebook was determined to be one of the easiest methods of disseminating information primarily about activations in a very timely manner, some of which can change very quickly.

Everyone is being asked to keep your comments and posts civil, and on topic. Any comments or posts that are not civil, obscene, indecent, profane, or of activity of an illegal nature will be removed by a page administrator. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

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TECHCON IS AROUND THE CORNER.  UPDATED SCHEDULE AND LIST OF PRESENTATIONS NOW AVAILABLE.

The 5th Annual TECHCON, the annual ARRL West Central Florida Section Technical Conference, is due to get started in a little over a week from now.  TECHCON will be on Friday February 22 and Saturday February 23.  On Friday February 22 there will be a Introduction to Python workshop/seminar by Dave Birnbaum K2LYV, one of our ARRL Technical Specialists, from 1300 until 1700.  From 1800 until 2100 will be the Friday Evening Social at the Golden Corral restaurant located at 815 Providence Road in Brandon.  On Saturday February 23, the General Presentation Tracks will start on Saturday February 23 at 0900 and run until 1630 with a break for lunch from 1200 until 1330.  The doors will open for general admission and registration and opening remarks will be given at 0845.  Coffee, tea, and snacks will be available.  Door prizes will be given away at the end of each presentation tracks and at the end of the day.

An updated list of presentations and speaking schedule is available on the TECHCON page at http://arrlwcf.org/wcf-special-events/wcftechconference/.  If you are planning on attending and have not already done so please register on the ARRL West Central Florida Section website at http://arrlwcf.org/section-forms/wcftechconfregistration/.  This will allow the staff planning TECHCON to know how many to plan for with coffee, tea, and snacks.

We look forward to seeing many of you at our 5th Annual TECHCON.

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