Category: News

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WINTER 2023 SECTION ARES LUNCHEON AND MEETING, DATE AND VENUE SET

The date and venue for the Winter 2023 ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES Luncheon and ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES Meeting have been set.  The ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES Luncheon will be held at 1100 EDT on Saturday January 28, 2023, at the Golden Corral located at 815 Providence Road, Brandon, FL 33511.  The Golden Corral is on the west side of Brandon, very close to the east side of I-75.   The ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES Meeting will be held at 1300 EDT on Saturday January 28, 2023, at the Hillsborough County Public Safety Operations Complex located at 9450 E. Columbus Dr., Tampa, FL 33619. The Hillsborough County Public Safety Operations Complex is home to the Hillsborough County Emergency Operations Center and is located on the east side of Tampa, very close to the west side of I-75.

As is traditional, the Section ARES Meeting will be simultaneously conducted on Zoom and on the Section YouTube channel which is located at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFA4-HEjr-lYMFisVG_Nk5A .  The Zoom meeting information for the Section ARES Meeting has been published and is located on the Section ARES page located at http://arrlwcf.org/wcf-section-programs/ares/.

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NEW AFFILIATED CLUB COORDINATOR AND TWO EAGLE NET ASSISTANT NET MANAGERS APPOINTED.

(Left to Right:  Jim Schilling KG4JSZ, Ron Balaze KE8B, and Jack Harris W4AXE.)

On Tuesday January 3, 2022, Mike Douglas W4MDD, Section Manager of the ARRL West Central Florida Section, made the final round of appointments to start the year 2023.

Jim Schilling KG4JSZ, has been appointed as the ARRL Affiliated Club Coordinator and an Assistant Section Manager.  Schilling was first licensed in 2000, and has served in a number of capacities in amateur radio clubs and organizations.  Schilling served as President of the Florida Gulf Coast Amateur Radio Council, which sponsors the Tampa Bay Hamfest, from 2004 through 2007, and then served as President of the Lockheed Martin Amateur Radio Association from 2008 through 2010.  Schilling was then elected in 2019 to be ARRL Vice Director for the ARRL Southeastern Division, which includes all three ARRL Florida sections.  Schilling also currently serves as Secretary and Director of Special Ops for the Mid Florida DX Association: http://www.w4fdx.com/.  In his professional career, Schilling works as a mechanical engineer for Lockheed Martin in Orlando.

Ron Balaze KE8B, has been appointed as an ARRL Net Manager to serve as an Assistant Net Manager for the Eagle Net, the NTS Traffic Net for the ARRL West Central Florida Section.  Balaze currently serves as the net control for the Eagle Net on Sunday evening.  Balaze was first licensed in 1978, and upgraded to General class in 1979.  Balaze was inactive for a number of years, before retiring and subsequently moving to Florida.  Balaze began his return to amateur radio with a Yaesu FT-60R handheld, and has now expanded into a full fledged HF, VHF, and UHF station.  Balaze is a member of the Sarasota Emergency Radio Club (SERC) and a supporter of the West Central Florida Group, the owners of the NI4CE Repeater System.  In his professional career, Balaze worked as a weigh-master, weights and measures inspector, meteorologist, and concluded his career as the laboratory manager of the state meteorology lab where they calibrated mass, volume, length and temperature standards.

Jack Harris W4AXE, has been appointed as an ARRL Net Manager to serve as an Assistant Net Manager for the Eagle Net, the NTS Traffic Net for the ARRL West Central Florida Section.  Harris currently serves as the net control for the Eagle Net on Wednesday evening.  Harris was first licensed as a Technician class licensee in 1995, and upgraded to General class in 2005, and then upgraded to Extra class in 2021.  In his professional career of over 40 years, Harris has worked in the IT industry, specifically in the area of cybersecurity.  Harris is currently working on his Ph.D. in Technology.

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NEW SECTION TRAFFIC MANAGER, ASSISTANT SECTION MANAGER, AND EAGLE NET MANAGER APPOINTED.

Pictured from left to right:  Dave Rockwell W4PXE, Doug Williams N2DW, and Sanford Wyatt KM4WXX.

On January 1, 2023, Mike Douglas W4MDD, Section Manager of the ARRL West Central Florida Section, made the following appointments effective:

Dave Rockwell W4PXE was appointed to be the new Section Traffic Manager.  Rockwell succeeds Doug Williams N2DW, who had been Section Traffic Manager since 2005.  Rockwell had previously served as Net Manager of the Eagle Net, the NTS traffic net for the ARRL West Central Florida Section since April 2014, and as ARRL Public Information Coordinator from January 2015 through early January 2016.  Rockwell was the Ellen White W1YL Award recipient for 2019.  Rockwell is active in Pinellas County ARES/ACS, serves as an ARRL Technical Specialist, and also provides communications as a volunteer for the Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Doug Williams N2DW, was appointed to be an Assistant Section Manager, as Traffic Net Liaison.  Williams had previously served as Section Traffic Manager since 2005, is active on many NTS traffic nets on HF and VHF, and in Pinellas County ARES/ACS as an Assistant Emergency Coordinator.

Sanford Wyatt KM4WXX, was appointed to be the new Net Manager of the Eagle Net, the NTS traffic net for the ARRL West Central Florida Section.  Wyatt succeeds Dave Rockwell W4PXE, who had served as Net Manager for the Eagle Net since April 2014, and stepped down on December 31, 2022 to assume his new appointment as Section Traffic Manager.  Wyatt also serves as the Net Manager of the ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES and Information Net on VHF/UHF, since February 2021.  Wyatt is active in the Sarasota Agricultural Recovery Group.  Wyatt was the Ellen White W1YL Award recipient for 2021.

All the above appointments were previously announced at the ARRL forum held during the Tampa Bay Hamfest on Saturday December 10, 2022, by Mike Douglas W4MDD, Section Manager of the ARRL West Central Florida Section.   All these appointments became effective on January 1, 2023.

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NEW EMERGENCY COORDINATOR FOR SARASOTA COUNTY ARES APPOINTED

Mike Douglas W4MDD, Section Manager of the ARRL West Central Florida Section, has appointed Chuck Cooper K1CHC to be the ARRL Emergency Coordinator for Sarasota County ARES, also known as SRQARES, effective on Tuesday December 13, 2022.  Cooper succeeds Gary Wells WB9AYD, who recently stepped down as ARRL Emergency Coordinator for Sarasota County ARES due to his moving out of area in the near future.  Wells had served as ARRL Emergency Coordinator for Sarasota County ARES since September 2019.

Cooper, originally from Ipswitch, Massachusetts, has had a lifelong interest in radios and electronics, beginning with listening to shortwave radio on his grandmother’s wood cabinet floor model vacuum tube radio.  Cooper progressed into being in Citizens Band radio, then obtained his first amateur radio license in the late 1970’s with the callsign KA1GKY, and currently holds a General class license with the callsign K1CHC.   Cooper started an ARES group in his local area to support emergency communications for his local police department, and for his work with this ARES group, Cooper received an ARRL Emergency Communications Commendation from the ARRL Eastern Massachusetts Section for “Extraordinary Performance and Integration of ARES into Public Safety Operations”.

Cooper in his professional career, served in the Ipswich Police Department from 1973 until 2006, as a police officer, detective, and Director of Emergency Management for the last five years of his career.

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SPECIAL SESSIONS OF THE EAGLE NET PLANNED FOR CHRISTMAS EVE 2022 AND NEW YEARS EVE 2022.

On Saturday December 24, 2022 and Saturday December 31, 2022, Darrell Davis KT4WX our Assistant Section Manager – Technology and ARRL Technical Coordinator, will continue his annual tradition of being the Net Control for the Eagle Net on the Christmas Eve and New Years Eve editions of this net.

The Eagle Net is the NTS Traffic Net for the ARRL West Central Florida Section and normally meets daily at 2030 Eastern Time on the NI4CE Repeater System, 365 days a year.  The only day(s) the Eagle Net is not held is if the NI4CE Repeater System is being used to support gathering of information for the National Weather Service office in Ruskin, in a tropical storm incident, hurricane incident, or other severe weather outbreak.  For more information on the NI4CE Repeater System, including a list of repeater frequencies go to https://www.ni4ce.org.

On Christmas Eve, those who check in will be asked to share a favorite past Christmas experience, or a favorite Christmas present which they either gave or 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 6th year of this tradition, which Davis started in 2018.

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SECTION MANAGER ANNOUNCES CABINET LEVEL CHANGES AT TAMPA BAY HAMFEST

At the ARRL forum on Saturday December 10, 2022, Mike Douglas W4MDD, Section Manager of the ARRL West Central Florida Section, announced the following changes to his cabinet, which involves many current cabinet members changing to different cabinet positions.  The following changes, became effective on Tuesday December 13, 2022:

Bill Johnson N4NOA, who lives in Brandon in Hillsborough County, has been appointed to be the new Section Emergency Coordinator.  Johnson was previously the Section Emergency Coordinator for the ARRL Southern Florida Section in the early to mid 1980’s.  At that time, nine of the ten counties of the ARRL West Central Florida Section was part of the ARRL Southern Florida Section.  Johnson succeeds Christine Duez K4KJN who had been Section Emergency Coordinator since August 2021.

Christine Duez K4KJN, who lives near Lake Wales in Polk County, was appointed to be the new Public Information Coordinator.  Duez succeeds Mike Lunsford KB4FHP, who had been Public Information Coordinator since early 2021.

Mike Lunsford KB4FHP, who also lives near Lake Wales in Polk County, was appointed to be an Assistant Section Manager as Public Safety Liaison.  Lunsford in addition to having served as Public Information Coordinator since 2021, has also served as the President of the Lake Wales Radio Amateurs since January 2022, and was just re-elected to a second term for 2023.

A few more changes, announced during the ARRL forum at the Tampa Bay Hamfest on Saturday December 10, 2022, will be released when they take effect on January 1, 2023.

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K9VX AND W4CWJ ARE THE 2022 ELLEN WHITE W1YL AWARD RECIPIENTS

For the first time in the history of the Ellen White W1YL Award, there are two recipients of the award.  The Ellen White W1YL Award was established in 2016 in memory of Ellen White W1YL, who recently became a Silent Key in November of 2022.  The Ellen White W1YL Award is to name the amateur radio operator who has made the greatest contribution to amateur radio in the ARRL West Central Florida Section.

The 2022 Ellen White W1YL Award recipients are Tom Chance K9XV and Chuck Johnston W4CWJ. Tom Chance K9XV, being active in Charlotte County ARES since he moved here following retirement in 2015, has been the ARRL Emergency Coordinator for Charlotte County since April 2021.  Chance led Charlotte County ARES in its response to the landfall of Hurricane Ian in late September of 2021 and early October of 2022, which occurred in Charlotte County.  Charlotte County ARES remained in service for two weeks following landfall.  Chuck Johnston W4CWJ, Assistant Section Manager for Rural Communities since February 2021, is the coordinator for the Sarasota Agricultural Recovery Group (SARG) since its inception in 2010, obtained his amateur radio license in 2015, and successfully integrated amateur radio into SARG.  In addition, Johnston led SARG in the recovery following the landfall of Hurricane Ian, and planned the exercises “High and Dry” in 2021 and “High and Dry – Part 2”, earlier in 2022.  For detailed biographies of Chance please go to http://arrlwcf.org/news/2021/07/29/wcf-section-press-release-21-35/ and for Johnston please go to http://arrlwcf.org/news/2021/03/15/wcf-section-press-release-21-12/.

Mike Douglas W4MDD, Section Manager of the ARRL West Central Florida Section, made the following comments about Chance and Johnston receiving the 2022 Ellen White W1YL Award, “This year we had three nominees for this annual award. They were Thomas Chance, K9XV, Charles Johnston, W4CWJ and Paul Toth, NB9X. Paul Toth had sent a glowing and heart felt letter in support of Tom Chance.  As this was a very challenging Hurricane season and the three candidates were all deserving of the Ellen White Award. It was a tough call as who should receive the award. As Section Manager I have made the decision to award both Charles Johnston and Thomas Chance the Ellen White Award for 2022. I and on behalf, I’m sure, most if not all Amateurs in West Central Florida Section owe a very large thanks to Paul, Chuck and Tom for their yeoman efforts, this extreme year.”

The ARRL West Central Florida Section congratulates Tom Chance K9XV and Chuck Johnston W4CWJ on being named the 2022 Ellen White W1YL Award recipients.  The 2022 Ellen White W1YL Award will be presented at the ARRL forum during the Tampa Bay Hamfest on Saturday December 10, 2022.  The West Central Florida Group, the owners and operators of the NI4CE Repeater System, have sponsored a one year ARRL membership for one of the recipients, and an anonymous donor has sponsored a one year ARRL membership for the other recipient.

For all the details and history of the Ellen White W1YL Award you may go to http://arrlwcf.org/wcf-special-events/white-award/.

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SECTION NET CANCELLATIONS FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER

In observance of the Tampa Bay Hamfest, Christmas, New Years holidays, and in keeping with tradition, the following Section nets will be cancelled during the month of December:

The ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES and Information Net on 3940 KHz scheduled for 0730 EST on Saturday December 10, 2022 will be cancelled due to the operation of the Tampa Bay Hamfest.  The net will resume normal operation on Saturday December 17, 2022 for the last time in 2022.

The ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES and Information Net on the NI4CE Repeater System scheduled for 1930 EST on Monday December 19, 2022 and Monday December 26, 2022 will be cancelled.  This net will resume normal operation on Monday January 2, 2023.

The ARRL West Central Florida Section Technical Net on the NI4CE Repeater System scheduled for 2100 EST on Thursday December 22, 2022 and Thursday December 29, 2022 will be cancelled.  This net will resume normal operation on Thursday January 5, 2023.

The ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES and Information Net on 3940 KHz scheduled for 0730 EST on Saturday December 24, 2022 and Saturday December 31, 2022 will be cancelled.    This net will resume normal operation on Saturday January 7, 2023.

The Eagle Net, the NTS traffic for the ARRL West Central Florida Section, on the NI4CE Repeater System scheduled for 2030 EST daily, will operate as scheduled throughout the holidays, as it is an NTS traffic net.

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

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NWS RUSKIN ACTIVATING WX4TOR FOR SKYWARN RECOGNITION DAY 2022

(Note: This is the corrected version, with the correct link for the Skywarn Recognition Day page that was received after the original bulletin was disseminated. Our apologies to all for any confusion.)

Coming up on Saturday December 3, 2022, will be the 2022 Skywarn Recognition Day.  Skywarn Recognition Day will run from 0000 UTC til 2400 UTC on Saturday December 3, 2022, which works out to be from 1900 EST on Friday December 2, 2000 until 1900 EST on Saturday December 3, 2022.  Skywarn Recognition Day was started in 1999 and has been done annually ever since.  The following is an excerpt from the NWS Skywarn page as to the reason for Skywarn Recognition Day:

“Amateur radio operators comprise a large percentage of the Skywarn™ volunteers across the country. The Amateur radio operators also provide vital communication between the NWS and emergency management if normal communications become inoperative.

All Skywarn™ spotters provide critical weather information before, during and after adverse weather strikes. This includes reports of rain and snow, ice and wind, storms and tornadoes, flooding and fire. This is our 24 hours to recognize all of the Skywarn™ spotters serving our nation!“

For more information about Skywarn Recognition Day you may go to the Skywarn Recognition Day page at https://www.weather.gov/tbw/srd2022

As part of Skywarn Recognition Day, you can add your ‘dot’ to the Skywarn Recognition Day Spotter Map, that is being hosted on the national Skywarn Recognition Day website. The link to do so is on the Skywarn Recognition Day page, in a bulleted point underneath the ARRL Operating Instructions link. This link will take you to a registration form where the town of your address will then be pinned on the map.  The National Weather Service is requesting that as many Skywarn spotters check in via this method as possible.  This will be open for registrations through December, 3, 2022.

The National Weather Service Office in Ruskin will be activating WX4TOR for Skywarn Recognition Day.  WX4TOR will be monitoring the NI4CE repeater system if you would like a quick check-in during the event.  For information on the NI4CE Repeater System you may go to https://www.ni4ce.org.  WX4TOR will also be trying to contact as many hams as possible on VHF, UHF, HF, and a few on EchoLink.  The hours of operation of WX4TOR will be on Friday, December 2, 2022 from 1900 EST until 2200 EST and on Saturday December 3, 2022 from 0800 EST until 1600 EST.

If you are interested in operating WX4TOR for a time slot, please contact Dan Noah WX4DAN, Warning Coordination Meteorologist, via email at daniel.noah@noaa.gov.

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