WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #63

NEXT ANNUAL WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA SECTION TECHNICAL CONFERENCE SCHEDULED

The time, date, and venue for the 2nd Annual ARRL West Central Florida Section Technical Conference has been set. The 2nd Annual West Central Florida Section Technical Conference will be held on Saturday February 27th from 0900 (9:00 A.M.) until 1700 (5:00 P.M.) at the Hillsborough County Emergency Operations Center located at 2711 E. Hanna Av. In Tampa.

You may checkout the most up to date Technical Conference information on the West Central Florida Section Technical Conference page at http://arrlwcf.org/wcf-special-events/wcftechconference/. More information will be posted as the conference date draws closer. Registration is now open and if you are planning on attending or wish to be presenter at the conference please fill out the online registration form at

We are also calling for anyone who wishes to be a presenter at our conference please fill out the online registration as soon as possible. That way work can begin work on the speakers schedule. Many of our presenters from the first conference have expressed a desire to return in 2016, but we still have room open for new presenters as well.

We will have a special guest speaker once again from the ARRL Lab at ARRL headquarters. That information will be revealed as soon as it is verified by ARRL headquarters. Make plans to attend.

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WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #62

SECTION MANAGER GOES BACK TO SCHOOL, VISITS ARRL HEADQUARTERS FOR WORKSHOP

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On Thursday September 17th Darrell Davis KT4WX, went to ARRL Headquarters in Newington, CT for a Section Managers workshop that all new Section Managers are required to attend following their election or appointment. Davis attended the Section Managers workshop on Friday September 18 through Sunday morning September 20th, which included many good presentations about the programs of the ARRL, a very nice tour of ARRL Headquarters, and time to operate from W1AW. Davis attended the workshop with eighteen other recently elected or appointed Section Managers, including the Steve Szabo WB4OMM, Northern Florida Section Manager and Jeff Beals WA4AW, Southern Florida Section Manager.

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Davis said, ” I would like to thank Steve Ewald WV1X, his staff, and all the staff at ARRL Headquarters for all the work they did in providing this conference for all the new Section Managers who attended”.

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WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #61

THE AMATEUR RADIO PARITY ACT PASSED BY THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON 11/18/15

On Wednesday November 18th, Senate Bill 1685 (the Amateur Radio Parity Act in the Senate) was passed by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.  Both Florida Senators are on the committee.  Senator Marco Rubio was not present for the vote and Senator Bill Nelson voted AGAINST the bill.  The only other no vote on the committee against the bill was from the Senator from Hawaii on the committee.  Listed below are Senator Nelson’s comments as taken from a transcript provided by an ARRL member from the Southern Florida Section:

“While I have great respect for Senators Blumenthal and Wicker, I must
oppose this bill today.  Amateur radio plays an important role in enhancing public safety communication, and I encourage communities to work with amateur radio
operators to find ways to further these services.  This bill before us, though, would effectively repeal parts of millions of private contracts and agreements relied upon by homeowners around the country.  This committee would be overriding guidelines that were established – and agreed to – by residents of a community when they voluntarily choose to live in that community. This is a step too far.”

Doug Rehman K4AC, ARRL Southeastern Division Director, when sharing the above listed information on the ARRL Members Only email list concluded with the following:

“If you live in Florida, you might want to POLITELY advise Senator
Nelson of your disappointment with both his vote and his statement and
urge him to reconsider his position.  We still have a long battle in both the House and Senate. If you haven’t already contacted your Representative and Senators to ask for their support of the Amateur Radio Parity Act, please do so immediately.”

Thanks to Doug Rehman K4AC, ARRL Southeastern Division Director for the information used in this WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE.

For more information on how to contact our two Florida Senators, please see WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #57 at http://arrlwcf.org/news/2015/11/16/wcf-section-press-release-57/

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WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #60

MIKE GRUBER W1MG FROM ARRL LAB TO BE AT THE TAMPA BAY HAMFEST IN DECEMBER

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Mike Gruber W1MG, the Electromagnetic Compatibility Specialist from the ARRL Laboratory will be our special guest speaker at the Tampa Bay Hamfest on Saturday December 12th. The Tampa Bay Hamfest is the annual host for the ARRL West Central Florida Section Convention.  Gruber will be doing a forum at the Tampa Bay Hamfest and will be at the ARRL Forum as well.

Gruber is the ARRL liaison to the FCC cooperative agreement on power line noise and his areas of expertise include: Locating Power Line Noise, RFI Abatement, and Antique Radio

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WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #59

SECTION MANAGER VISITS TARCFEST, LAMBIEFEST, AND PASCO COUNTY HAMFESTS IN SEPTEMBER

On Saturday August 22nd, Darrell Davis KT4WX, Section Manager, attended and help to facilitate the ARRL table at the August edition of the TARCFest, at the Tampa Amateur Radio Club clubhouse in north Tampa and the last one in 2015. Steve Elliott KS4WA, DXCC Card Checker, and Carl Zelich AA4MI, Assistant Director ARRL Southeastern Division, assisted Davis with the ARRL table. Zelich was collecting signatures for the Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015 and Elliott was available to check any QSL cards for DXCC credit.

 

On Saturday September 12th, Darrell Davis KT4WX attended and facilitated the ARRL table at the 8th Annual Lambiefest at the Tropical Gulf Acres Clubhouse just south of Punta Gorda. The hamfest was well attended and had sold out all their tables inside the clubhouse and the tailgating area was almost completely filled. A good time was had by most that attended, except for a few that got their vehicles stuck trying to leave at the end of the Lambiefest following an approximate ½ hour downpour near the end of the Lambiefest. The downpour worsened the soil saturation from all the rain in July and August.

 

On Saturday September 26th, Darrell Davis KT4WX attended and facilitated the ARRL table at the Pasco County Hamfest which was held on the grounds of the Gunn Highway Flea Market in Odessa. Gary Mentro N3OS helped Davis with the ARRL table, while promoting Pasco County ARES.

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WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #58

GEOFF HAINES N1GY REAPPOINTED AS AN ASSISTANT SECTION MANAGER

On Friday September 18th, Geoff Haines N1GY was reappointed as an Assistant Section Manager for the ARRL West Central Florida Section. Haines has served as Technical Coordinator since 2005 and served previously as an Assistant Section Manager from 2005-2014 and stepped down due to health issues, which recently have alieviated.  Haines has been licensed since 1992 and has written numerous articles for QST over the last few years.  He maintains an extensive project website at http://www.n1gy.com

The ARRL West Central Florida Section welcomes Geoff’s return to service as an Assistant Section Manager.

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WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #57

SENATE COMMITTEE TO TAKE UP THE AMATEUR RADIO PARITY ACT THIS WEEK

The Senate version of the Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015, S. 1685, most likely will come up in committee for a vote next week. Both of our Florida Senators are on the committee and we need to have as many emails or phone calls made to them requesting their support for the Bill as possible. Please contact Senator Nelson and Senator Rubio today by telephone or e-mail with the following simple message: “I’m a constituent and an amateur radio operator. I am calling to urge the Senator to support S. 1685, the Amateur Radio Parity Act, when it comes up for a vote in committee on November 18th. Thank you.”

Here is the contact information for Senator Bill Nelson and Senator Marco Rubio:

Senator Nelson: https://www.billnelson.senate.gov/contact-bill (Select “Telecommunications” for the issue and type “S. 1685, the Amateur Radio Parity Act” for the subject).  Phone Number if you prefer to call: 202-224-5274

Senator Rubio: http://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact (Select “Telecommunications” for the topic and type “S. 1685, the Amateur Radio Parity Act” for the subject).  Phone Number if you prefer to call: 202-224-3041

Please forward this to ALL Florida amateurs ASAP, including club reflectors.  Let Doug Rehman K4AC, our Division Director know if you send an email or call by emailing Doug K4AC at congress@arrlse.org. Copying your comments to the Senators on the form and pasting them into the email to congress@arrlse.org would be especially appreciated.

For the latest information on the Amateur Radio Parity Act you may go to http://arrl.org/amateur-radio-parity-act.  Thanks to Doug Rehman K4AC for the contents of this press release

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WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #56

THE WCF EXPERIMENTER – WINTER 2016 – ISSUE HAS JUST BEEN PUBLISHED

The Winter 2016 edition of THE WCF EXPERIMENTER, the Official Technical Newsletter of the ARRL West Central Florida Section has just been published.  You may download the Winter 2016 edition at http://arrlwcf.org/download/wcfexperimenter/WCFExperimenter_1Q2016.pdf.

This issue is one of the largest issues published recently thanks to the contribution of some articles by amateur radio operators who reside in the West Central Florida Section.  Geoff Haines N1GY, our Technical Coordinator for the West Central Florida Section is the editor of THE WCF EXPERIMENTER.  The next issue will be the Spring 2016 so now is the time to get busy writing an article for the next issue if you have a project or idea you would like to write about.  Send any submissions for THE WCF EXPERIMENTER to Geoff Haines N1GY at n1gy@arrl.net.

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WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #55

THE WCF PRESSER ISSUE #11 NOVEMBER 2015 IS NOW PUBLISHED

The WCF PRESSER Issue #11 for November 2015 has just been published here on the Section website, the ARRL website, and to the ARRL Section Email List for those who are ARRL members and are signed up for Section/Division news.

For the PDF version of this newsletter and past issues go to http://arrlwcf.org/home/the-wcf-section-presser-arrl-west-central-florida-section-news/  Starting with this issue, the PDF version will contain any associated media (pictures, sound, video, etc.)

The following are headlines from Issue #11 of THE WCF PRESSER:

  • HURRICANE SEASON COMES TO A CLOSE IN NOVEMBER. STAY TUNED AND PREPARE FOR THE WINTER STORM SEASON:
  • 2ND ANNUAL WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA SECTION TECHNICAL CONFERENCE – HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY EOC:
  • ARRL WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA SECTION CONVENTION TO BE HELD AT THE 40TH ANNUAL TAMPA BAY HAMFEST:
  • 2016 ARRL NATIONAL CONVENTION COMING TO ORLANDO HAMCATION THIS HAMFEST SEASON.
  • UPCOMING HAMFESTS IN THE SECTION:
  • THE SECTION ARES AND INFORMATION NET COMPILING AN NCS ROSTER:
  • HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MONTH OF OCTOBER:
  • AMATEUR RADIO PARITY ACT OF 2015 COMPANION BILL (S 1685) INTRODUCED IN THE SENATE, 112 COSPONSORS OF THE HOUSE BILL (HR-1301):
  • SECTION TRAFFIC MANAGERS REPORT FOR SEPTEMBER 2015 By Doug Williams N2DW:
  • CHECK OUT THE SECTION WEBSITE IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE SO LATELY:
  • RUNNING A LITTLE BEHIND SCHEDULE ON WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASES:
  • HURRICANE SEASON COMES TO A CLOSE IN NOVEMBER. STAY TUNED AND PREPARE FOR THE WINTER STORM SEASON:
  • SECTION MANAGERS CONTACT INFORMATION AND CONCLUSION:

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WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #54

THE WCF SECTION PRESSER ISSUE #10 OCTOBER 2015 IS NOW PUBLISHED

The WCF SECTION PRESSER Issue #10 for October 2015 has just been published here on the Section website, the ARRL website, and to the ARRL Section Email List for those who are ARRL members and are signed up for Section/Division news.

For the PDF version of this newsletter and past issues go to http://arrlwcf.org/home/the-wcf-section-presser-arrl-west-central-florida-section-news/  Starting with this issue, the PDF version will contain any associated media (pictures, sound, video, etc.)

The following are headlines from Issue #10 of THE WCF EXPERIMENTER:

  • THE TROPICS ARE STILL ACTIVE. STAY TUNED TO THE TROPICS AND PREPARE FOR THE WINTER SEASON.
  • STATION APPOINTEE MONTHLY REPORTS ARE DUE FOR SEPTEMBER:
  • WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA SECTION ARES MEETING – SATURDAY OCTOBER 24TH – CHARLOTTE COUNTY EOC.
  • ARRL WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA SECTION CONVENTION TO BE HELD AT THE 40TH ANNUAL TAMPA BAY HAMFEST:
  • 2016 ARRL NATIONAL CONVENTION COMING TO ORLANDO HAMCATION THIS HAMFEST SEASON:
  • UPCOMING HAMFESTS IN THE SECTION:
  • GEOFF HAINES N1GY REAPPOINTED AS AN ASSISTANT SECTION MANAGER.
  • SARASOTA COUNTY EOC RADIO ROOM NAMED AFTER AMATEUR RADIO OPERATOR
  • THE WCF SECTION INFORMATION AND SECTION ARES NET HAVE MERGED. HF SECTION ARES AND INFORMATION NET CONTINUES OPERATION
  • HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER:
  • AMATEUR RADIO PARITY ACT OF 2015 COMPANION BILL (S 1685) INTRODUCED IN THE SENATE, 99 COSPONSORS OF THE HOUSE BILL (HR-1301):
  • SECTION TRAFFIC MANAGERS REPORT FOR JULY 2015 By Doug Williams N2DW:
  • CHECK OUT THE SECTION WEBSITE IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE SO LATELY
  • SECTION MANAGERS CONTACT INFORMATION AND CONCLUSION:

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