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
