Category: News

SECTION ARES HF NET CANCELLATION FOR OCTOBER 30 DUE TO SECTION ARES LUNCHEON AND MEETING.

The Section ARES Net, HF edition, scheduled for Saturday October 30, 2021, at 0730 or immediately following the Florida Phone Traffic Net has been cancelled, due to the ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES Luncheon and Meeting being scheduled for later that morning and early afternoon on that same day, which is also normal practice.  The net will resume its normal operation on Saturday November 6, 2021 at 0730 or immediately following the Florida Phone Traffic Net.  All other Section Nets will continue to operate as scheduled during this period.

The ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES Luncheon will be held on Saturday October 30, 2021 at 1100 at the Golden Corral in Brandon and the ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES Meeting will be held on Saturday October 30, 2021 at 1300, immediately following the ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES Luncheon.  For more information, including location addresses and links to maps for those locations, please visit the ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES webpage at http://arrlwcf.org/wcf-section-programs/ares/.

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GULF COAST AMATEUR RADIO CLUB TAILGATE FALL 2021 CANCELED.  RESCHEDULED FOR JANUARY 2022

On September 27, 2021, Carl Ekblad AJ4JA, Chairman of the Gulf Coast Amateur Radio Club Fall 2021 Tailgate Hamfest, announced that the Gulf Coast Amateur Radio Club Fall 2021 Tailgate Hamfest has been cancelled due to concerns from COVID-19.

The hamfest is being rescheduled for January 15, 2022.  The location will still be the Millennium Academy at 10005 Ridge Road in New Port Richey and the time will still be from 0800 through 1200 EDT.  For hamfest information as it becomes available you may go to the Gulf Coast Amateur Radio Club website at http://gulfcoastarc.com.

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ARRL WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA SECTION ARES PARTICIPATING IN ARRL SIMULATED EMERGENCY TEST.

The ARRL Simulated Emergency Test is set for this coming weekend, Saturday October 2, 2021 and Sunday October 3, 2021.   The ARRL West Central Florida Section is planning a the ARRL West Central Florida Section Simulated Emergency Test to run in conjunction with the national ARRL Simulated Emergency Test (SET) on Saturday October 2, 2021 from 0900 through 1200 EDT.  The purpose of this SET as stated in the SET planning document is “To test HF and VHF/UHF communications between the Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) in the above listed counties and any others wishing to participate in the exercise.  We also welcome any amateurs operating from home or portable/mobile stations.”

To view the planning document and any other related documents to the SET, you may go to the West Central Florida Section Simulated Emergency Test webpage, located on the Section website at http://arrlwcf.org/wcf-special-events/west-central-florida-section-ares-simulated-emergency-test/.

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UPCOMING SKYWARN TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR FALL 2021

The National Weather Service Office in Ruskin has announced on the NWS Ruskin SKYWARN a couple of SKYWARN training opportunities for the Fall of 2021.  At the present time, the National Weather Service Office in Ruskin is only conducting SKYWARN training classes in virtual format.  The following virtual SKYWARN training classes have been scheduled:

Wednesday, September 29th, 2021 from 1300-1400 EDT.  Please register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8917568584034608144.

Wednesday, October 20th, 2021 from 1300-1400 EDT.  Please register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3217792664681561867.

There is available on the National Weather Service Office Ruskin SKYWARN page, a pre-recorded one hour SKYWARN training class, and links to other SKYWARN training classes that are administered by Spotter Network and Met-Ed.  The hyperlink to the National Weather Service Office SKYWARN page is https://www.weather.gov/tbw/skywarn.

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TAMIAMI AMATEUR RADIO CLUB FOXHUNT 2021 CANCELLED

The Tamiami Amateur Radio Club Foxhunt 2021 that was scheduled for Saturday October 23, 2021, has been cancelled.  The following statement was issued by Paul Nienaber

KN4BAR Event Director for the Tamiami Amateur Radio Club concerning the cancellation, “It is with great regret that we have decided to cancel the October 23rd first annual Tamiami Fox Hunt. A number of factors, not the least of which are lingering concerns over Covid-19, have contributed to this decision. All advance registration fees will be returned in full. If you do not receive your refund by September 24, 2021 please contact the undersigned immediately. We hope to try this event again when conditions are more conducive to having a successful and fun event.

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BIKE MS CITRUS TOUR 2022 DATE SET.  BIKE MS CITRUS TOUR VOLUNTEERS HELPING OUT WITH BIKE MS PGA CYCLE TO THE SHORE IN OCTOBER.

The date for the Bike MS Citrus Tour 2022 has been set for Saturday March 5, 2022 and Sunday March 6, 2022.  The Bike MS Citrus Tour will start and finish both days at the Omni Resort at Champions Gate which is near the Osceola/Polk County line, with over 95 percent of the ride in the northern and eastern portions of Polk County.  The ARRL West Central Florida Section has sponsored the amateur radio communications for the Bike MS Citrus Tour since 2018.  The Bike MS Citrus Tour for 2021 was cancelled due to concerns from COVID-19.  For more information on the Bike MS Citrus Tour or to sign up to volunteer to help with communications, please go to the amateur radio Bike MS Citrus Tour page at https://www.citrustour.org/

A group of veteran Bike MS Citrus Tour volunteers have accepted the invitation to go up to the Northern Florida Section to assist with communications for the Bike MS PGA Tour Cycle To The Shore on Saturday October 23, 2021 and Sunday October 24, 2021. that will run this year from St. Augustine to Daytona Beach near or along the Florida east coast.

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NEW EMERGENCY COORDINATOR APPOINTED FOR PASCO COUNTY

On Tuesday July 27, 2021, Mike Douglas W4MDD, Section Manager of the ARRL West Central Florida Section, appointed Tim Cunningham KM4YGV, to be the new ARRL Emergency Coordinator for Pasco County.  Cunningham succeeds Bill Fetta N7CGC who stepped down as ARRL Emergency Coordinator due to personal reasons.  Fetta had served as ARRL Emergency Coordinator since June 2021.  Fetta has stayed on as an Assistant Emergency Coordinator for Pasco County ARES.

Cunningham was first licensed in the middle of 2016 but had been interested in amateur radio since he was a shortwave listener in the 1970’s.  Cunningham brings experience to the position he had obtained in his professional career as a Firefighter, having been out in the field for many weather events all over the State of Florida.

Cunningham made the following statement about his appointment as ARRL Emergency Coordinator, “My years in the Fire dept offered me boots on the ground experience during most of the big weather events all over Florida and many major fires throughout but as a worker bee, I was never invited into the air-conditioned comfort of the EOC, ICP.  At Pasco County ARES/RACES, I’ve met a strong core of “retired” ARES former ECs and EOC managers that are mentoring me and assisting in building Pasco County ARES/RACES into a premier organization.”

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NEW TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK EMAIL NOTIFICATION LIST UNVEILED

Joe Tomasone AB2M, an ARRL Technical Specialist here in the ARRL West Central Florida Section who created the ARESDB database in 2001 in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, recently announced a new email list to which ARES, ACS, and CERT personnel may subscribe, to receive the National Hurricane Center Tropical Weather Outlook when it is issued four times a day during the Atlantic hurricane season and at other times as warranted.

To subscribe to this new Tropical Weather Outlook email dissemination list, you may sign up at http://lists.aresdb.com/mailman/listinfo/tropicaloutlook.  The ARRL West Central Florida Section extends its sincere thanks to Joe Tomasone AB2M for creating this new service to amateur radio operators and for the continuous service of the ARESDB database for the past 20 years.

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EMERGENCY COORDINATOR REAPPOINTED AND NEW SECTION EMERGENCY COORDINATOR APPOINTED

Christine Duez K4KJN was reappointed as ARRL Emergency Coordinator for Polk County ARES on Wednesday August 4th, 2021.  Duez was reappointed as ARRL Emergency Coordinator due to Mike Shreve N6MRS stepping down as the ARRL Emergency Coordinator due to personal reasons.  Duez had previously served as ARRL Emergency Coordinator for Polk County ARES from July 2020 through May 2021.

Duez was also appointed as Section Emergency Coordinator on Thursday August 5th, 2021, succeeding Norman Xanders WX4NEX, who had been Section Emergency Coordinator since early May 2021.

Mike Douglas W4MDD, Section Manager of the ARRL West Central Florida Section made the following statement concerning this reappointment and appointment, “I reappointed Christine Duez K4KJN, as ARRL Emergency Coordinator of Polk County.  I also appointed Christine as Section Emergency Coordinator to replace Norman Xanders WX4NEX.  I take full responsibility for the way Christine was abruptly removed from the post of EC Polk County and for that I apologize. Christine’s removal should have never happened.  Going forward I will not be pressured into making decisions I have not looked at first.”

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