West Central Florida Section of the ARRL

Dee Turner, N4GD - Section Manager

Section News....that used to be in QST!

Dennis Griffin, W4DG - Assistant Section Manager & Webmaster

Section Manager's Column

Past Section News | News | WCF Bulletins | WCF Web Site update information

This content of this page mirrors the WCF Section Web Page at the www.arrl.org

Please submit news and information to Section Manager Dee Turner, N4GD or the Section Webmaster !

News last updated: Friday, June 06, 2008

Section News

June, 2005

Things are again moving in WCF Country!!

The new web site is constantly being updated. It can be found at www.arrlwcf.org. You can also hear the most current information on the Section nets. The VHF/UHF net is held in Sunday evenings at 7:30PM on the NI4CE repeater system. 145.43/442.95 pl 100. The HF net has changed for band conditions. Now on Saturday morning with a new Frequency of 3.911 MHz, alternative of 7.281 MHz. at 8:30 AM.

On 23 May, ASM Dennis, W4DG and myself got to visit the Sheriffs Tactical Radio Club to present Steve Buchanan, W3DDC with his 50^th year plaque as a member of the ARRL. It was an honor to do so!

The club visits have slowed down do to other meeting requirements. I will be visiting all the Field Day sites we are aware of, so send the information so we can visit. Lately, ARES meetings have been taking precedent, with the beginnings of hurricane season.

News last updated: Tue, June 28, 2005 at 9:41 PM ET

Things are again moving in WCF Country!!

Neil, W4NHL, Geoff, N1GY, and I started on a field day road trip that covered 23 field day sites. Neil and I visited 22 sites; Geoff was with us for the first 7 sites. We saw people having fun, contacts being made and many variations of antennas and shelters at every field day site we visited. I took an impartial survey of the food along the way and found that at every location the food was excellent.

Below are some of the field day pictures I took on Saturday. Go to the club page at www.arrlwcf.org and visit their websites. I'm sure most will have their field day photos for your viewing.

I want to thank the many people, hams, wives, friends and others that helped to make this field day in West Central Florida a success. It demonstrates to ourselves and the public that we are ready and willing to help in time of need.

The new web site is constantly being updated. It can be found at www.arrlwcf.org. You can also hear the most current information on the Section nets. The VHF/UHF net is held on Sunday evenings at 7:30PM on the NI4CE repeater system. 145.43/442.95 pl 100. The HF net has changed for band conditions. Now on Saturday morning with a new Frequency of 3.911 MHz, alternative of 7.281 MHz. at 8:30 AM.

Please keep everyone updated on your Club's activities by sending your club's monthly news items to me, N4GD@arrlwcf.org, or to Assistant Section Manager & Webmaster, W4DG@ARRLWCF.ORG.

Your WCF Section Leadership wants to keep everyone informed and up to date!

73 de Dee, N4GD

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Section happenings

Sarasota County ARES/RACES members participated in Sarasota County's Tactical Search & Rescue Drill, on Tuesday, June 7th.

Amateurs played a key role in providing communications from the "Task Forces" to the "Command Post", using repeaters while en route to the drill site, and simplex on scene. 800 simplex and FRS radios allowed Task Force members to communicate with each other.

The Task Forces staged at 6 locations in Sarasota County - 3 in Sarasota, 2 in the Venice area, and one in North Port. Once the "deploy" order was given, teams set out to the drill site at the Sarasota County landfill, east of I-75 in Venice.

As the teams arrived on the scene, they received a briefing, and set out to handle their tasks ... which included trees and power poles in the roadway, downed power lines, a collapsed structure with trapped people inside, walking wounded, and fatalities. A Sheriff's Department helicopter was used to help search for additional victims.

Because of the work done by the Highlands County ARES group during the 2004 hurricanes, they were asked to have an exhibit at the Highlands County Hurricane Seminar, on June 1. The below pictures show the exhibit and some of the ARES members. The poster for the exhibit was prepared by Suzanne Willbanks, KA6AFK. The exhibit included an APRS weather tracking station prepared by John Payne, AI4JH. Several radios were placed in the exhibit by Randy Payne, K4EZM, one of the Assistant ECs for Highlands County ARES. They also included brochures about ARES, Ham radio, and the Highlands County Amateur Radio Club. A number of these were picked up by the general public, who visited the exhibit.

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West central Florida SAR and PSHR Report for APR 2005