THE WCF PRESSER: ARRL WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA SECTION NEWS
Issue #4 – April 2015
By Darrell Davis KT4WX
ARRL West Central Florida Section Manager
RECOVERING FROM ILLNESS:
I have been ill since the last days of February and am nearly back to good health. I have not a period of sickness like this since June 2009, when I had pneumonia. If I have failed to reply to your email or telephone call, please forgive me. Your continued prayers and thoughts are sincerely appreciated. To my knowledge, I have finally caught up on the backlog of communications. If I have not replied to your phone call or email, please resend or call again and I will be glad to communicate with you.
AMATEUR RADIO PARITY ACT OF 2015 (H.R. 1301) INTRODUCED INTO CONGRESS:
Shortly after going to press with the last issue of THE WCF PRESSER, US Rep Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) introduced the bill on March 4 with 12 original co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle — seven Republicans and five Democrats. The following I will quote from the page on the ARRL website at http://www.arrl.org/hr-1301: “HR 1301 would require the FCC to amend its Part 97 Amateur Service rules to apply the three-part test of the PRB-1 federal pre-emption policy to include homeowners’ association regulations and deed restrictions, often referred to as “covenants, conditions, and restrictions” (CC&Rs). At present, PRB-1 only applies to state and local zoning laws and ordinances. The FCC has been reluctant to extend the same legal protections to include such private land-use agreements without direction from Congress.”
Be sure to contact your representative in the House of Representatives. This issue of amateur radio operators living in Covenant, Conditions, and Restriction (CC&R) neighborhoods and not being able to have antennas at all is a major problem for many in amateur radio and in our Section. Some accommodation is better than none, so be sure to make those contacts and encourage them to support this bill. If you prefer you can send your letter of support to the ARRL and they will send it on to the House of Representatives. For specific instructions go to http://www.arrl.org/hr-1301.
THE FIRST ANNUAL WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA SECTION TECHNICAL CONFERENCE JUST AROUND THE CORNER – SATURDAY APRIL 4:
We are only a few days away from The First Annual West Central Florida Section Technical Conference that will be held on Saturday April 4, 2015 from 9:00 A.M. until 5:00 P.M. at the Bert J. Harris Jr. Agri-Civic Center, 4905 George Blvd, Sebring. Welcome and last minute registration will begin at 8:15 A.M. If you are planning on attending, please go to the WCF Section Technical Conference Registration Page at http://arrlwcf.org/wcf-special-events/wcftechconference/ and fill out the online registration form. You will receive an online and email confirmation of your successful registration. On that page you can also download the following: conference flyer, conference speakers schedule, list of conference presentations, a restaurant and lodging list, and a link to the WCF Section Technical Conference Event Page on the WCF Section Events Calendar, which has a Google Map showing the location of the Agri-Civic Center. The direct link to the Section Calendar Event Page for the WCF Section Technical Conference is at http://www.arrlwcf.org/event/first-annual-arrl-wcf-section-technical-conference/.
NEXT WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA SECTION ARES MEETING AT THE HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY EOC – SATURDAY APRIL 11:
Also coming up a week after the WCF Section Technical Conference, will be the next WCF Section ARES Meeting which will be held at the Hillsborough County EOC which is located at 2711 E. Hanna. Av., not far from Hillsborough Av. In Tampa. The meeting will begin at 1300 (1:00 P.M.). The meeting will be preceded by an WCF Section ARES Luncheon at the Taco Bus on Hillsborough Avenue at 1100 (11:00 A.M.). For specific information about the location of the luncheon go to http://arrlwcf.org/event/wcf-section-ares-luncheon-2/ and for specific information about the location of the Section ARES meeting go to http://arrlwcf.org/event/wcf-section-ares-meeting-3/.
WCF SECTION 15TH BIRTHDAY QSO PARTY:
The ARRL West Central Florida Section turned 15 years old on January 15, 2015. It seemed appropriate that we celebrate the 15th birthday of the Section. The period of the WCF Section QSO Party has been revised and will begin on April 15, 2015 and will end on June 26, 2015, the day before ARRL Field Day. The full contest rules have just been published on the Section website at http://arrlwcf.org/wcf-special-events/west-central-florida-section-qso-party/. Also we are planning to have K4WCF portable operation at least once in each of ten counties of the WCF Section. If your an amateur radio club, group, or even an individual and are interested in running K4WCF for a day in your county, please fill out the Contact Form on the Section website at http://arrlwcf.org/contact-info/. All modes and frequencies, including repeaters will be allowed. This will allow many of our new hams who do not as of yet have HF privileges to get on and make contacts during the West Central Florida Section QSO Party.
PUBLIC SERVICE OPPORTUNITY – MS CITRUS BIKE TOUR – MAY 2 AND 3:
This is one of the largest public service opportunities that we see each year in the West Central Florida Section. Forty to fifty volunteers are needed each year to make the event successful. As of the date of this publication, approximately ten to twenty volunteers are needed to the proper number of volunteers. The event starts at the Fantasy of Flight in Polk County near I-4 and go through parts of Polk, Osceola, and Orange Counties and ends at the Royal Caribe Hotel in south Orlando. This event is an excellent opportunity to sharpen your communications skills and exercise your emergency communications equipment. I will be participating in this event as the rest stop coordinator and working a rest stop. If you wish to join me and volunteer, please email Jason Triolo KD4ACG, the amateur radio coordinator for the MS Citrus Bike Tour at jtriolo@verizon.net for more information and how to register to volunteer for this event.
STATION APPOINTEE MONTHLY REPORTS – NOW FILE THEM ON LINE:
If you are serving as an ARRL Station Appointee, please be sure to file a monthly report by the 5th day of the month following the month being reported. For example for the month of January, your report would be due by February 5th. To those who have been filing their monthly reports, a sincere thank you for your effort. If you wish, you may now go to our Section website and fill out your monthly report there. Go to the section in the menu called Section Forms which is at http://arrlwcf.org/section-forms/arrl-net-manager-monthly-report-form/ or Select the appropriate report form in the Section Forms menu. Upon successful submission you will receive an on screen confirmation and almost immediately you will receive an email confirmation for your records that also goes to the Cabinet member that oversees your program. Your report is then filed and you are all done for the month. Regular reporting is an ARRL requirement to hold an ARRL Station Appointment.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MONTH OF MARCH:
On Monday March 1, Christine Duez KK4KJN (Section Youth Coordinator) and I spoke at the Lakeland Amateur Radio Club and both of us where treated very well. The folks that attended enjoyed our presentations on current youth activities in the West Central Florida Section and “Introduction to the PICAXE” respectively. On Saturday March 7, I attended the Zephyrhills Area Amateur Radio Club and East Pasco Amateur Radio Society combined hamfest at the Zephyrhills Lions Club. The folks at the hamfest were very gracious and treated me very well and I enjoyed the hamfest, even though I was not very well at this point. On Saturday March 14, I attended the Highlands County ARES Foxhunt, but was too ill by that point to participate in the foxhunt (as I dearly wanted to participate). The foxhunt was followed by a good pot-luck chicken dinner. On Saturday March 28, after having to deal with a tire replacement on my “classic” (in other words a beater which has not been restored yet) 1989 Ford Thunderbird, which delayed my departure from Polk County until almost 0900, I finally made it to the Gulf Coast Amateur Radio Club Hamfest in Hudson. That was the first time, since becoming Section Manager, doing an ARRL “table” outside at a tailgate. I will post the pictures in an upcoming WCF Section Press Release that you will really enjoy viewing. The hamfest however was well attended and the folks in the club were very gracious to me. The location and facilities were quite nice as well. I look forward to attending next year.
SECTION TRAFFIC MANAGERS REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 2015 – By Doug Williams N2DW:
Station Activity Reports (SAR):
Call Sign Originate Receive Sent Delivered TOTAL
N2DW 0 8 6 0 14
K4EEI 0 41 57 1 99
W8IM 1 20 11 0 32
Public Service Honor Roll:
N2DW 109
W8IM 82
West Central Florida Section Net Activity Reports:
Net Name Session Stations Traffic Minutes Net Manager
AIN 3 30 1 52 WA4ATF
EAGLE NET 31 1066 31 892 W4PXE
SPARC 40 580 32 1139 W4TSP
UPCOMING HAMFESTS IN THE SECTION:
Hamfest season is rapidly coming to a close. We only have two hamfest coming up in the Section for the month of April and May.
- Saturday May 23: Wormfest 2015 – Pinellas Park, FL
- Saturday April 18: TARCFEST #33 – Tampa Amateur Radio Clubhouse – Tampa, FL
For more information on hamfests and events in the Section , please visit our website Section Calendar at http://www.arrlwcf.org/events for more information.
WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA SECTION FIELD DAY 2015 CARAVAN:
Once again this year there will be a West Central Florida Section Field Day Caravan. However you will see different people on the caravan. The Field Day Caravan this year will be Ben Henley KI4IGX, our Section Emergency Coordinator, and myself. So be sure to register your Field Day operation with the ARRL as we will use that list to generate a travel itinerary and get to stop by and see your club or group Field Day operation. Look forward to seeing many of you on Field Day.
SECTION MANAGERS CONTACT INFORMATION AND CONCLUSION:
Here is my contact information. Much of this is listed now on Page 16 of QST.
- U.S. Mail: 6350 Mills Road Fort Meade, FL 33841
- Telephone: (863) 245-9923
- Email: kt4wx@arrl.org
- Website: http://www.kt4wx.org.
That is all for this issue of THE WCF PRESSER. See you all here next month and hopefully I will get to see many of you at a meeting, hamfest, or talk to you on the air.
73 de Darrell KT4WX
