Category: News

5TH ANNUAL MAKERCON SCHEDULED FOR APRIL 9, 2016, NOT MARCH 19, 2016

The 5th Annual MakerCon, the annual Makers Faire in the Tampa Bay Area, was erroneously listed on the West Central Florida Section website as being on Saturday March 19, 2016.  The correct date for the MakerCon is Saturday April 9, 2016, the same date as the upcoming TARCFEST XXXVI.  The time and venue was listed correctly.  Hillsborough County ARES/RACES will have a booth at the MakerCon.

The West Central Florida Section wishes to apologize for any inconvenience this error may have caused anyone.

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THE MS CITRUS BIKE TOUR 2016 NOW JUST TWO MONTHS AWAY

The annual MS Citrus Bike Tour will be coming up on Saturday May 21, 2016 and Sunday May 22, 2016.  This is one of the largest events that amateur radio provides communications for in the West Central Florida Section.  This date is several weeks later than it has been in years past.  Also the finish line on Saturday and the Start line for Sunday will be at Champions Gate just inside of Osceola County off of I-4 at Exit 58, instead of the Caribe Royale in Orlando as it has been for the past several years.  As a result, approximately 98 percent of the ride will be inside of Polk County and the West Central Florida Section.

The amateur radio coordinator for this event again this year is Jason Triolo KD4ACG.  Triolo has indicated that around 70 volunteers will be needed for this event.  There are assignments available for rest stops, sag vehicles, etc.  If you wish to volunteer you will need to register online at http://www.citrustourradio.org.  For more information you may contact Jason via email at jtriolo@verizon.net or by cellphone at (425) 200-4516.  If Jason does not answer, please leave a voicemail so he can return your call.

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SETH “BIFF” CRAINE K4LAW RE-APPOINTED AN ASSISTANT SECTION MANAGER

Seth “Biff” Craine K4LAW, one of the founders of the West Central Florida Section, has been re-appointed as an Assistant Section Manager for Legal Affairs effective Tuesday March 1, 2016 . Craine, after suffering from renal failure in 2011, several years of poor health, and having a kidney transplant in the summer of 2015, has now regained his health. Craine is a practicing civil attorney in the area of real estate in Tampa and is an ARRL Volunteer Counsel.

The West Central Florida Section would like to thank Biff for his many years of service as an ARRL Volunteer Counsel and an Assistant Section Manager and welcome him back to the Section Cabinet

There is also another very important person in the law area, he is Brian J Clark, he practices labor and employment law, with extensive experience representing management in both the private and the public sectors.

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SATURDAY MARCH 19 A BUSY DAY FOR AMATEUR RADIO IN THE WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA SECTION

Coming up on Saturday March 19, 2016, there will be four events simultaneously going on here in the West Central Florida Section.  Catch your breath and pick one to go to:

(1) Gulf Coast Hamfest for 2016 – located at E-Z mini storage in Hudson.  For more details go to http://arrlwcf.org/event/gulf-coast-amateur-radio-club-2016-annual-hamfest/.

(2) Hillsborough County MS Walk – communications being provided by Hillsborough County ARES/RACES.  For more details go to http://arrlwcf.org/event/ms-walk-hillsborough-county/.

(3) 5th Annual Gulf Coast MakersCon – Hillsborough County ARES / RACES will have a table and doing a forum at this Makers Faire.  For more details go to http://arrlwcf.org/event/5th-annual-gulf-coast-makercon/.

(4) National Parks On The Air Activation by four amateurs – For more information go to http://arrlwcf.org/wcf-special-events/npota-wcf/.  This page contains the known activations of Desoto National Memorial for ARRL National Parks On The Air.

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2016 NATIONAL HURRICANE CONFERENCE AMATEUR RADIO WORKSHOP AGENDA ANNOUNCED

Amateur Radio will again be represented at the annual National Hurricane Conference.  The conference theme is to improve hurricane preparedness as it has been in past years. The amateur radio workshop for the 2016 National Hurricane Conference will be held on Tuesday March 22, 2016 from 1330-1700 at the Hilton Orlando, 6001 Destination Parkway, Orlando, FL 32819.  All amateur radio sessions are free of charge. There will be two sessions during the workshop.

Session #1 – 1300-1500: Presentations from Dr. Rick Knabb, Director of the National Hurricane Center on the importance of Amateur Radio surface reporting, Bob Robichaud-VE1MBR of the Canadian Hurricane Centre will present on Hurricane Meteorological topics and a brief overview of Canadian Hurricane Centre Operations and Julio Ripoll-WD4R will present WX4NHC Operations.

Session #2: 1515-1700: Presentations from Bobby Graves-KB5HAV on the Hurricane Watch Net Overview, Personal Weather Stations and Backup Power and Antenna Overview, Rob Macedo-KD1CY on the VoIP Hurricane Net and a best practices in SKYWARN Tropical Systems presentation and Ken Bailey-K1FUG on an ARRL Beginner’s Course in Ham Radio Hurricane Preparedness.

To conclude the workshop a question and answer session and door raffle prizes will be offered.  Amateur Radio presentations will be recorded and live streamed. The livestream for 2016 will utilize YouTube for livestreaming purposes.  The livestream links will be as follows: http://www.nsradio.org/stream and http://www.voipwx.net/files/stream.htm

For more information about the National Hurricane Conference you may go to http://hurricanemeeting.com/.  Thanks to Steve Szabo WB4OMM for the information that went into this press release.

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2016 STATE OF FLORIDA HURRICANE EXERCISE ANNOUNCED

The 2016 Florida Statewide Hurricane Exercise is tentatively scheduled for May 16-19, 2016.  Information on this exercise will be provided through the three Florida Section ARES Section Manager’s and Section Emergency Coordinator’s – and your local served agencies.

The Amateur Radio participation in this Statewide exercise will be passing various pieces of “traffic” to the State EOC via HF or SARNET (UHF).  More will be provided as the State’s exercise development is finalized.  As soon as practical, the Amateur Radio part of the exercise will be provided to you so you can plan and participate.

All ARES members should contact their local ARES program Emergency Coordinator on how to participate.  The State EOC has requested that individual amateurs are not to contact the State EOC or State Department of Emergency Management concerning the exercise.

Information in this press release was provided by Steve Szabo WB4OMM, Section Manager, Northern Florida Section.

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BEN HENLEY KI4IGX, SECTION EMERGENCY COORDINATOR IN HOSPITAL, INTERIM SEC APPOINTED

 

Ben Henley KI4IGX, our Section Emergency Coordinator, is in the hospital in Orlando, following a period of illness.  Until Henley can recover, Randy Payne K4EZM, and Assistant Section Manager and an Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator, has been appointed Interim Section Emergency Coordinator.  You may contact Randy at (863) 446-0913 or by email at k4ezm@arrl.net.

 

Please remember Ben, his wife, and daughter, in your prayers and thoughts, during this difficult time.

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