THE WCF SECTION PRESSER #7 – JULY 2015

HAPPY BELATED 4TH OF JULY TO ALL AND RECOVERING FROM ARRL FIELD DAY

I would like to take the opportunity to wish all of you a belated happy 4th of July. Due to part time work, and other commitments, I am late putting out this issue of THE WCF PRESSER. I am sure that many of you spend the early part of last week recovering from Field Day and I hope you enjoyed ARRL Field Day. I got see many of you at various Field Day locations throughout the West Central Florida Section. I got to take Radiograms from some of your Field Day sites on a special session of the Eagle Net. You only have 11 months to get ready for the next Field Day.

 

THE WCF EXPERIMENTER – SUMMER 2015 – HAS BEEN PUBLISHED

Right after we went to press with the last issue of THE WCF PRESSER, the next issue of THE WCF EXPERIMENTER went to publication. Geoff Haines N1GY, our Technical Coordinator, is the editor of THE WCF EXPERIMENTER. He makes a plea for authors to contribute articles for future issues of THE WCF EXPERIMENTER. If you have built a project or have an idea that you have been working on, what a better way to let you fellow ham know what you are working upon. Any submissions for THE WCF EXPERIMENTER should go to Geoff Haines N1GY at n1gy@arrl.net.

 

STATION APPOINTEE MONTHLY REPORTS ARE DUE FOR JUNE:

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. If you still have not sent in your monthly report, please go ahead and do so anyway. 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. You can fill out te 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/ 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.

 

UPCOMING HAMFESTS IN THE SECTION:

We are out of hamfest season until November. However, we have two hamfests coming up in the Section between now and November.

  • Saturday August 22: TARCFest #34 – TARC Clubhouse – Tampa, FL
  • Saturday September 12: 8th Annual LambieFest – Tropical Gulf Acres Clubhouse – Punta Gorda, 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.

 

AMATEUR RADIO PARITY ACT OF 2015 COMPANION BILL (S 1685) INTRODUCED IN THE SENATE, 84 COSPONSORS OF THE HOUSE BILL (HR-1301):

US House Representative 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. Since the last issue of THE WCF PRESSER was published, US Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) introduced S 1685 on June 26, with Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) as the original cosponsor, into the United States Senate. HR1301, the original House bill is now up to 84 co-sponsors as of June 29. As of June 25, two Representatives with districts that are in the West Central Florida Section: Representative Daniel Webster, 10th District, that covers the north central part of Polk County and Representative Tom Rooney, 17th District, that covers Charlotte, Desoto, Hardee, Highlands, southeastern Hillsborough, eastern Manatee, and southern Polk Counties.

The ARRL has moved and expanded the webpage devoted to the Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015. The direct link is http://www.arrl.org/amateur-radio-parity-act. Look at this page for information on how to send a letter to your Representative or Senator, the current list of co-sponsors, etc. Check out the latest news article on the Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015 from Monday June 29 at http://www.arrl.org/news/senate-sponsor-of-amateur-radio-parity-act-of-2015-said-bill-promotes-regulatory-transparency-equali.

The following is a summary quote from the ARRL website, “The Amateur Radio Parity Act 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 private land-use agreements without direction from Congress.”

Writing a letter to your Representative or Senator is the best method to ask him to support the Amateur Radio Parity Act. The ARRL is recommending that you send your letter to the ARRL for two reasons: (1) Because of security concerns, it can take from six to eight weeks for a letter sent directly to a Congressional office to be delivered and (2) It can be combined with other letters to your Congressperson and hand-delivered to their office on Capitol Hill.

 

EDITORIAL: WHY HAMS GET TRAINING BY KEATING FLOYD KC4HSI – HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY EC:

The following is an email written by Keating Floyd KC4HSI, EC for Hillsborough County ARES, to his ARES members. It states well the reason why we as ARES members take training:

“Ham Radio operators have access to a wide range of ways to enjoy this wonderful and fascinating hobby, from VHF repeater communications, to microwave long-haul contesting, to surface mount soldering, and many other fun activities, as well as emergency communications.

Our hobby is governed by Title 47 CFR Part 97, and it states, in part, that the basis and purpose of the Amateur Radio Service is “providing emergency communications.”

“Old-time” hams, and most new hams, are keenly aware of the emergency communications aspect of this hobby, and many have plans to step up and help out in the aftermath of a disaster.

There are some 74,000 amateur radio operators in the state of Florida, with about 5000 licensed amateurs within the 335xx and 336xx zip code coverage areas.

The Hillsborough County ARES/RACES team consists of about 200 operators interested enough in disaster communications to receive occasional emails on various topics, and be informed about activations and other related activities.

That’s wonderful, and congratulations are in order for all of those 5000 people who have taken the time to earn their license, and to the 200 people on “the list.”

But being on the list is not enough.

Emergency communications began to be a large part of what we thought about as radio operators rather formally in 1935, when the ARRL requested that hams interested in emergency communications write to the League HQ. These were the early steps that led to the foundation of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES). Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services (RACES) started in 1952, in an effort to provide a faster and smoother transition in the event that the President invoked the War Powers Act.

Between then and now, and particularly since the tragic events of 2001 and the hurricane season of 2004/2005, emergency managers have changed the way they do business.

Gone are the days when a volunteer can just show up and be given a post as a communicator, passing and handling sensitive information. Gone are the days of strapping on a bandolier of handi-talkies, and heading for the disaster. Gone are the days, those heady days, of just “being a ham” and providing communications.

The Amateur Radio Operator in an emergency today must have earned the trust of those responsible in a disaster. Training is critical, as we must understand how those emergencies are managed. Operators must able to communicate messages for emergency management effectively and efficiently, in tune with emergency operations. It’s not that they are un-interested in our knowledge – far from it. It’s that they now have processes, policies, and procedures to follow in order to ensure the safety and security of everyone in their area of responsibility.

If you do not have the training to understand how they operate, and why theses things are important, when you volunteer (because most of you will – that’s part and parcel of who you are and why you are a ham) you are likely to be relegated to some staging area, wondering why your skills are being wasted, and frankly grumping with each other that those professionals are wasting your time and very highly sought-after skills.

But they are not wasting YOUR time – you are wasting theirs.

The modern operator is highly trained, highly skilled, knows the lingo, and, in many cases, has already participated in exercises with those emergency managers, and is thus a known quantity, fully trusted and vetted to handle situations in a sensitive environment.

Please become one of those assets. I know you want to help; it’s in the second paragraph of our governing document.

You can’t participate and be effective if you don’t get trained.”

 

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MONTH OF JUNE:

On Saturday June 27, Ben Henley KI4IGX, our Section Emergency Coordinator and I embarked on the 15th annual West Central Florida Field Day Caravan, and the first one for Ben and I. We stated the caravan at 0900 hours and finished up at 0300 on Sunday June 28th. Out of 18 Field Day sites on the itinerary, we were able to visit 15 Field Day sites. One site we could get to due road closures for a public celebration of some kind, in downtown New Port Richey, one we could not locate on roads that were unfamiliar, one the gate was locked and we could not get in, and one had terminated operations by the time we got there. All the Field Day sites we visited were very gracious and accommodating.

When we visited the Tampa Amateur Radio Club site on Field Day, we presented Bill Bode N4WEB, the new Amateur Radio Service To Scouting award. Bill is heavy involved in the Boy Scouts in addition to being President of the Tampa Amateur Radio Club. Bill is the first amateur to receive the award since in inception just this year.

 

SECTION TRAFFIC MANAGERS REPORT FOR MAY 2015
By Doug Williams N2DW:

Station Activity Reports (SAR):

N2DW: Originated 0, Received 8, Sent 7, Delivered 0, and Total 15
W8IM: Originated 0, Received 7, Sent 12, Delivered 3, and Total 22
W4PXE: Originated 4, Received 31, Sent 11, Delivered 4, and Total 49
K4EEI Originated 1, Received 58, Sent 58, Delivered 1, and Total 117

Public Service Honor Roll:

N2DW 85

W8IM 72

West Central Florida Section Net Activity Reports:

AIN: Sessions 2, Stations 15, Traffic 0, Minutes 25
Net Manager – WA4ATF

EAGLE NET: Sessions 38, Stations 1167, Traffic 38, Minutes 1008
Net Manager – W4PXE

SPARC NET: Sessions 39, Stations 616, Traffic 39, Minutes 1158
Net Manager – W4TS

 

SECTION MANAGERS CONTACT INFORMATION AND CONCLUSION:

Here is my contact information. Much of this is listed now on Page 16 of QST.

 

The Section also has a website, Facebook and Twitter pages. The URL for those are:

That is all for this issue of THE WCF PRESSER. 73 de Darrell KT4WX

WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #40 – 6/19/15

GOVERNOR RICK SCOTT PROCLAIMS JUNE 21-27 AS AMATEUR RADIO WEEK IN FLORIDA

On Thursday June 18th, Governor Rick Scott signed a proclamation designating the week of June 21-June 27 as Amateur Radio Week in the State of Florida.  The proclamation recognized the contribution of amateur radio operators to emergency communications, public service communications, SKYWARN, and in particular the upcoming ARRL Field Day.

For the PDF copy of the proclamation you may go to http://arrlwcf.org/download/WCFGENERAL/FloridaGovernorProclamation_AmateurRadioWeek_2015.pdf for download.

END OF PRESS RELEASE

WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #39 – 6/03/15

SPECIAL SESSION OF THE EAGLE NET ON SATURDAY JUNE 27 DURING ARRL FIELD DAY

The following announcement is from Dave Rockwell W4PXE, Net Manager of THE EAGLE NET, the NTS Traffic Net for the ARRL West Central Florida Section:

“THIS YEAR FOR ARRL FIELD DAY, THE WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA NATIONAL TRAFFIC NET, YOUR EAGLE NET, WILL OPERATE FROM 8 PM LOCAL UNTIL MIDNIGHT OR THE END OF TRAFFIC, WHICHEVER IS SOONER. WE WILL HAVE NET LIAISONS AND OFFICIAL RELAY STATIONS TO HANDLE YOUR OUT OF SECTION TRAFFIC. OUR SECTION MANAGER, DARRELL, KT4WX, WILL BE JOINING THE NET DURING A PORTION OF THE EVENING TO RECEIVE MESSAGES FROM THE CLUBS AND INDIVIDUALS.

SO JOIN US ON JUNE 27 ON EAGLE NET, BRING YOUR TRAFFIC, AND PLAN FOR AN EXCITING EVENING OF GOOD TIMES AND GREAT RADIO.”

Any questions concerning this special net session you may contact Dave Rockwell W4PXE at w4pxe@arrl.net.

END OF PRESS RELEASE

WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #38 – 6/03/15

THE WCF EXPERIMENTER – SUMMER 2015 – ISSUE HAS JUST BEEN PUBLISHED

The Summer 2015 edition of THE WCF EXPERIMENTER, the Official Technical Newsletter of the ARRL West Central Florida Section has just been published.  You may download the Summer 2015 edition at http://arrlwcf.org/download/wcfexperimenter/WCFExperimenter_3Q2015.pdf.

Geoff Haines N1GY, our Technical Coordinator for the West Central Florida Section is the editor of THE WCF EXPERIMENTER.  He has made a plea for those with projects or ideas to write an article for future editions of THE WCF EXPERIMENTER.  The next issue will be the Fall 2015 edition, so 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.

END OF PRESS RELEASE

WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #37 – 6/02/15

THE TAMPA BAY REACT ARC BECOMES AN ARRL AFFILIATED CLUB

On Friday 5/29/15, the Tampa Bay REACT Amateur Radio Club became the newest ARRL Affiliated Club in the ARRL West Central Florida Section.

Darrell Davis KT4WX and Jeff Bronsing KJ4NEO, Affiliated Clubs Coordinator, are planning on attending an upcoming meeting of the Tampa Bay REACT ARC to congratulate them personally on their new ARRL Affiliation.

The Tampa Bay REACT ARC meets on the 3rd Wednesday of every month.  For more info about Tampa Bay REACT ARC you may go to their website at http://www.tampabayreact.org/arc. or send them an email at info@tampabayreact.org

END OF PRESS RELEASE

 

THE WCF SECTION PRESSER #6 – JUNE 2015

THE WCF PRESSER: ARRL WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA SECTION NEWS
Issue #6 – June 2015
By Darrell Davis KT4WX
ARRL West Central Florida Section Manager

 

HURRICANE SEASON BEGINS ON MONDAY JUNE 1:
It is hard to believe another Atlantic hurricane season is upon us. The 2015 Atlantic Hurricane Season began on Monday June 1 and will run through Monday November 30. The seasonal outlook from NOAA is for the season activity to be below normal. However remember it only takes one storm for the season to be active, and the 1992 Atlantic hurricane season activity was below normal and the first storm of that season was Hurricane Andrew, which decimated Dade County. Take time now to check your equipment that you will use in an activation and your supplies (food, water, medicine, etc.). When the storm is upon you, it will be too late to prepare then.

 

AMATEUR RADIO PARITY ACT OF 2015 (H.R. 1301) INTRODUCED INTO CONGRESS:
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.

 

WCF SECTION INFORMATION NET HAS MOVED TO TUESDAY EVENING AT 1900:
The West Central Florida Section Information Net moved to a new date and time, effective on Friday May 1, 2015. The West Central Florida Section Information Net on the NI4CE Repeater System is now held on Tuesday evening at 1900 (7:00 P.M.), in order to increase attendance and reach more amateur radio operators with Section news and information.
The West Central Florida Section Information and ARES Net on 3911 KHz (or 3913 KHz if 3911 is busy) will be staying in its slot on Saturday at 0830 (8:30 A.M.). Only the net on the NI4CE Repeater System has moved to a new date and time slot.

 

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 on the ARRL website at http://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator  We are beginning work on the travel itinerary to see all the club, groups, or ARES groups that have registered with the ARRL for Field Day. If you have not registered your Field Day site with the ARRL please do so ASAP.

We will be running in the caravan vehicle voice communication on 2 Meters and 70 Centimeters and also we will running on APRS with the callsign of K4WCF-9. So if you have APRS at your Field Day location you will be able to keep track of our caravan on APRS at your Field Day site.

Also I will be available during the a special session of THE EAGLE NET on Saturday June 27, to take your Field Day messages for the Section Manager. The EAGLE NET is the NTS traffic net for the ARRL West Central Florida Section and is held daily on the NI4CE Repeater System at 2030 (8:30 P.M.) To quote from the ARRL rules, the following must be in the message, “the club name, number of participants, Field Day location, and number of ARES operators involved with your station”. We wish you success in your Field Day endeavor.

 

WCF SECTION 15TH BIRTHDAY QSO PARTY – NOW IN PROGRESS THRU JUNE 26:
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 began 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 operations 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.

 

NEXT WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA SECTION ARES MEETING AT THE HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY EOC – SATURDAY JULY 11:
After some changes in the Section calendar, 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 information about the location of the Section ARES meeting go to http://arrlwcf.org/event/wcf-section-ares-meeting-3/.

 

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.

 

UPCOMING HAMFESTS IN THE SECTION:
Hamfest season is now over until late summer and early fall. We only have two hamfests coming up in the Section between now and November.

Saturday August 22: TARCFest #34 – TARC Clubhouse – Tampa, FL
Saturday September 12: 8th Annual LambieFest – Tropical Gulf Acres Clubhouse – Punta Gorda, 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.

 

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MONTH OF MAY:
On Saturday May 2, Darrell Davis KT4WX, and 35 other amateur radio operators participated as members of the communications team for the MS Society Citrus Bike Tour. The ride had slightly over 1000 riders over two days. The only two incidents that were on Saturday. On Monday May 18, I was invited to be the guest speaker at the Highlands County Amateur Radio Club monthly membership meeting. I gave a program called “Introduction to the Arduino”. On Wednesday May 20, I was able to participate in the communications test between the various Florida County Emergency Operations Centers and the State Emergency Operations Center. My part was activating the Hardee County EOC. The State EOC had trouble with its UHF antenna but we were able to talk to EOC’s all over the State quite succesfully. On Saturday May 23, I attended Wormfest 2015 at Freedom Lake Park in Pinellas Park. Wormfest 2015 was very well attended and a good time was had by those who attended. The Wormfest is sponsored by the Glorious Society Of The Wormhole. On Saturday May 30, I was able to participate in the Hardee County Hurricane Expo at the Hardee County Health Department. Randy Payne K4EZM and Ben Henley KI4IGX participated in the Highlands County Hurricane Expo that was being held on the same day.

 

SILENT KEYS DURING THE MONTH OF MAY 2015:
I am sad to report to you the following amateur radio operator became a Silent Key during the month of May 2015: Mike Drenkhakn N2JHW.

Please remember his family in your prayers and thoughts during the difficult days ahead. Please note, we do not publish Silent Key notices until we receive confirmation of the passing from either an obituary or funeral home notice to avoid disseminating erroneous information.

 

SECTION TRAFFIC MANAGERS REPORT FOR APRIL 2015
By Doug Williams N2DW:

Station Activity Reports (SAR):
N2DW: Originated 0, Received 8, Sent 7, Delivered 0, Total 15
W8IM: Originated 0, Received 7, Sent 12, Delivered 3, and Total 22
W4PXE: Originated 4, Received 31, Sent 11, Delivered 4, and Total 49
K4EEI Originated 1, Received 58, Sent 58, Delivered 1, and Total 117

Public Service Honor Roll:
N2DW 85
W8IM 72

West Central Florida Section Net Activity Reports:
AIN (ARRL Information Net): Sessions 2, Stations 15, Traffic 0, Minutes 25
Net Manager – WA4ATF
EAGLE NET: Sessions 38, Stations 1167, Traffic 38, Minutes 1008
Net Manager – W4PXE
SPARC NET: Sessions 39, Stations 616, Traffic 39, Minutes 1158
Net Manager – W4TS

 

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.

The Section also has a website, Facebook and Twitter pages. The URL for those are:

That is all for this issue of THE WCF PRESSER. Hope to see many of you on Field Day.  73 de Darrell KT4WX

WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #36 – 5/29/15

SECTION MANAGER VISITS WORMFEST 2015

On Saturday May 23, Darrell Davis KT4WX, facilitated the ARRL table at the Wormfest 2015, the annual hamfest sponsored by The Glorious Society Of The Wormhole.  The hamfest was held at Freedom Lake Park in Pinellas Park, next to Clearwater.

The hamfest is an all outdoor tailgate and the ARRL table was setup right behind Darrell’s car, which was next to the food tent which was great.  There was many good bargains to be had and the weather was great.  Even the club mascot was present!

IMG_20150523_092451 IMG_20150523_095800 IMG_20150523_092500 IMG_20150523_092503 IMG_20150523_094423 IMG_20150523_094427

END OF PRESS RELEASE

WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #35 – 5/26/15

AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS FROM THE WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA SECTION ASSIST WITH COMMUNICATIONS FOR THE MS CITRUS BIKE TOUR

On Saturday May 2, 2015 and Sunday May 3, 2015, amateur radio operators from the West Central Florida Section, Southern Florida Section, and the Northern Florida Section came together and provided communications for the 27th Annual MS Society Citrus Bike Tour (formerly known years ago as the MS Society 150).  Jason Triolo KD4ACG was once again the amateur radio communications coordinator and had the following coordinators to assist him again this year:

  • Victoria Avalon (TJ) NQ1T:  Net Control Staton
  • Mike Breesse W2YS:  SAG Coordinator
  • Darrell Davis KT4WX: Rest Stop Coordinator
  • Craig Shapiro KJ4BYK: Logistics Coordinator

Before the start of the MS Society Citrus Bike Tour a radio programming and setup session was held at one of the hotels right off of U.S. 27 just north of I-4 to discuss safety briefings and gear overview. Participants are required to have top-notch performance and gear that means no bikes breaking down and wearing of shorts that don’t chafe to avoid unnecessary accidents or injuries.

IMG_20150501_193843IMG_20150501_195433IMG_20150501_193837

On Saturday, there were two major incidents, which had assistance rendered in minutes thanks to the amateur radio equipped SAG vehicles and no major incidents on Sunday.  Net Control was generous loaned the use of a very well equipped motor home owned by a local RV dealership.

IMG_20150502_083149IMG_20150502_095831IMG_20150502_090956

IMG_20150502_105110IMG_20150502_104923IMG_20150502_123148

Century2Setup_050215Century2Business_050215IMG_20150502_094652

The West Central Florida Section would like to extend thanks to all the radio amateurs who were excellent ambassadors for amateur radio.

END OF PRESS RELEASE

1 44 45 46 47 48 51