Author: Darrell Davis KT4WX

BIKE MS CITRUS TOUR NOW BIKE MS SUNCOAST CHALLENGE AND STILL IN NEED OF VOLUNTEERS.

The Bike MS Citrus Tour, which ran for 36 years, has been rebranded and relocated.  The BIke MS Citrus Tour is now the Bike MS Suncoast Challenge.  The 2024 Bike MS Suncoast Challenge will be held on Saturday April 20, 2024.  The ride is now a one day event instead of two days.  The starting point is now on the south end of Lakewood Ranch. The ride will still have 25, 50, 75, and 100 mile routes, that will run from the south end of Lakewood Ranch in Manatee County, to the south end of Sarasota County near the Nokomis and Englewood Area.  The ARRL West Central Florida Section is the sponsor of the amateur radio communications for the Bike MS Suncoast Challenge.

The 2024 Suncoast Challenge will be using the Verna NI4CE Analog repeaters, which are on 145.430 MHz and 442.950 MHz,as “stand alone” repeaters and will be separated from the NI4CE Analog repeater system for the duration of the Bike MS Suncoast Challenge.

The Bike MS Suncoast Challenge, due partially to its move, is still in need of several rest stop operators and SAG vehicle operators.  If you wish to volunteer, please sign up at the following website:  https://suncoastchalllenge.org.  Once you have registered, someone will get back with you on getting you assigned.

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10TH ANNUAL TECHCON SPEAKING SCHEDULE AND LIST OF PRESENTATIONS NOW AVAILABLE.

The Speakers Schedule and List of Presentations for the 10th Annual TECHCON are now available in PDF format on the TECHCON webpage at http://arrlwcf.org/wcf-special-events/wcftechconference/.  Please note that these documents could have minor updates between now and Thursday 2/22/24 and those documents will be updated and loaded to the same location.

The primary track will be streamed live on the Section YouTube channel which is located at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFA4-HEjr-lYMFisVG_Nk5A.  The second track will be recorded.  Both primary and secondary track will have post-production editing done to them by Russ Delaney N4RTD, one of our ARRL Technical Specialists, to add any slides into them, to make the video a complete product.  They will all be available in one to three weeks after the conference once the editing work is complete.

Just a reminder, that if you are planning on attending the 10th Annual TECHCON and have already done so, please register at http://arrlwcf.org/section-forms/wcftechconfregistration/.  This will allow us to prepare properly for TECHCON.

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FRIDAY AFTERNOON WORKSHOP CANCELLED.  FRIDAY EVENING SOCIAL AND SATURDAY SESSION GO ON AS PLANNED

Due to a number of circumstances the Friday Afternoon Workshop scheduled for the 10th Annual TECHCON has been cancelled.  Darrell Davis KT4WX, Technical Coordinator and Chairman of the Conference made the following statement about the cancellation, “Being we did not have someone to step forward and volunteer to pick it up, and I have been battling illness on and off since late December, I have not been healthy enough to properly prepare for it.  Therefore I had no choice but to cancel the Friday Afternoon Workshop.  My apologies to all for the cancellation.”

All other activities scheduled for TECHCON will go on as planned.  The Friday Evening Social and the Saturday General Session.

If you are planning on attending the Friday Evening Social, please fill out the Contact Form on the Section website at http://arrlwcf.org/section-forms/contact-info/.  Please include how many in your party are attending.  The location of the Friday Evening Social, and all other TECHCON information may be found on the TECHCON webpage at: http://arrlwcf.org/wcf-special-events/wcftechconference/.

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TAMPA BAY HAMFEST FORUM HIGHLIGHTS.

Coming this Friday and Saturday, will be the 48th Annual Tampa Bay Hamfest and the 23rd Annual ARRL West Central Florida Section Convention in Plant City at the Strawberry Festival Grounds TECO Expo Center.  The following are highlights from forums being offered at the Tampa Bay Hamfest on Saturday December 9, 2023:

NXDN Forum – Paul Toth NB9X:  This forum will cover the latest developments in NXDN and the NI4CE NXDN system.

Net Operations Forum  – Dave Rockwell W4PXE:  This forum will cover the basics of Net, Net Control duties, Net Liaison, and the role of the Net Manager.

World Radiosport Team Championship Forum – Lu Romero W4LT:  Come and hear about the WRTC 2022 Competition from Lu, who was there while he was on summer vacation.

ARRL Section and Division Forum – Mike Douglas W4MDD:  This forum will announce the winner of the Ellen White W1YL Award, and a discussion on the latest Section and Division happenings.

West Central Florida Group Annual Meeting:  This is annual membership meeting of the West Central Florida Group who operates and owns the NI4CE Analog and NXDN Repeater Systems.

SKYWARN Training – Dan Noah WX4DAN:  This is a full fledged, and in-person, SKWARN training session.  This will be Dan’s last session conducting SKYWARN training before his retirement from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

For the times of these forums, location of the forums at the hamfest, and other hamfest information, please go to the Tampa Bay Hamfest website at https://tampabayhamfest.org.

The ARRL West Central Florida Section will have a table at the Tampa Bay Hamfest staffed by our Section Manager and other Section staff and officials.  Also there will be ARRL QSL Card checking table at the Tampa Bay Hamfest.

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DATE AND VENUE FOR 10TH ANNUAL TECHCON IN 2024 SET

The date and venue for the 10th Annual TECHCON have been set.  The date for the 10th Annual TECHCON, the Annual Technical Conference for the ARRL West Central Florida Section, is Friday February 23, 2024 and Saturday February 24, 2024.  The venue for the 10th Annual TECHCON will once again be the Hillsborough County Public Safety Operations Complex, located at 9450 E. Columbus Dr., Tampa, FL 33519, on the east side of Tampa, just on the west side of I-75.

The 10th Annual TECHCON primary track will be available for viewing on the Section YouTube channel.  The second track, that runs simultaneously will be recorded for later viewing on the Section YouTube channel.  The Section YouTube channel is located at  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFA4-HEjr-lYMFisVG_Nk5A.

Registration for the 10th Annual TECHCON is now open.  We are looking for presenters for TECHCON.  To have a successful TECHCON, we must have those who are willing to be presenters, especially those who have not been a presenter before.  The topic of presentation is, as always, the choice of the presenter, as long as the topic is related to amateur radio.

You may register to either attend or make a presentation for TECHCON at http://arrlwcf.org/section-forms/wcftechconfregistration/.  For more information about TECHCON you may go to the TECHCON webpage on the Section website at http://arrlwcf.org/wcf-special-events/wcftechconference/.  Please note that the TECHCON

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NWS RUSKIN ACTIVATING WX4TOR FOR SKYWARN RECOGNITION DAY 2023

Coming up on Saturday December 2, 2023, will be the 2023 Skywarn Recognition Day.  Skywarn Recognition Day.  Skywarn Recognition Day was started in 1999 and has been done annually ever since. For more information about Skywarn Recognition Day you may go to the Skywarn Recognition Day information page, which is in PDF form, at https://www.weather.gov/media/tbw/skywarn/srd2023.pdf

The National Weather Service Office in Ruskin will be activating WX4TOR for Skywarn Recognition Day.  WX4TOR will be monitoring the Analog and NXDN NI4CE repeater systems if you would like a quick check-in during the event.  For information on the NI4CE Repeater Systems, either Analog and or NXDN you may go to https://www.ni4ce.org.  WX4TOR will also be trying to contact as many hams as possible HF and possibly EchoLink.  The hours of operation of WX4TOR will be on Saturday December 2, 2023 from 0800 EST until 1600 EST.

If you are interested in operating WX4TOR for a time slot, please contact Dan Noah WX4DAN, Warning Coordination Meteorologist, via email at daniel.noah@noaa.gov.

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SPECIAL SESSIONS OF THE EAGLE NET PLANNED FOR CHRISTMAS EVE 2023 AND NEW YEARS EVE 2023.

On Sunday December 24, 2023 and Sunday December 31, 2023, Darrell Davis KT4WX our Assistant Section Manager – Technology and ARRL Technical Coordinator, will continue his annual tradition of being the Net Control for the Eagle Net on the Christmas Eve and New Years Eve editions of this net.

The Eagle Net is the NTS Traffic Net for the ARRL West Central Florida Section and normally meets daily at 2030 Eastern Time on the NI4CE Repeater System, 365 days a year.  The only day(s) the Eagle Net is not held is if the NI4CE Repeater System is being used to support gathering of information for the National Weather Service office in Ruskin, in a tropical storm incident, hurricane incident, or other severe weather outbreak.  For more information on the NI4CE Repeater System, including a list of repeater frequencies go to https://www.ni4ce.org.

On Christmas Eve, those who check in will be asked to share a favorite past Christmas experience, or a favorite Christmas present which they either gave or received. On New Years Eve those who check in will be asked to share a project and or resolution completed this year.  Alternatively, those who check in could share a project and or resolution planned for the New Year. This will be the 6th year of this tradition, which Davis started in 2018.

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SECTION NET CANCELLATIONS FOR THE MONTHS OF NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER 2023

In observance of Thanksgiving, the 48th Annual Tampa Bay Hamfest, Christmas, and New Years holidays, and in keeping with tradition, the following Section nets will be cancelled during the months of November and December 2023:

For the month of November the following Section nets will be cancelled:

The ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES and Information Net on the NI4CE Repeater System scheduled for 1930 EST on Monday November 20, 2023 will be cancelled.  This net will resume normal operation on Monday November 27, 2023.

The ARRL West Central Florida Section Technical Net on the NI4CE Repeater System scheduled for 2100 EST on Thursday November 23, 2023 will be cancelled.  This net will resume normal operation on Thursday November 30, 2023.

The ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES and Information Net on 3940 KHz scheduled for 0730 EST on Saturday November 25, 2023 will be cancelled.    This net will resume normal operation on Saturday December 2, 2023.

For the month of December, the following Section Nets will be cancelled:

The ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES and Information Net on 3940 KHz scheduled for 0730 EST on Saturday December 9, 2023 will be cancelled due to the operation of the Tampa Bay Hamfest.  The net will resume normal operation on Saturday December 16, 2023, for the last time in 2023.

The ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES and Information Net on the NI4CE Repeater System scheduled for 1930 EST on Monday December 25, 2023 and Monday January 1, 2024 will be cancelled.  This net will resume normal operation on Monday January 8, 2024.

The ARRL West Central Florida Section Technical Net on the NI4CE Repeater System scheduled for 2100 EST on Thursday December 21, 2023 and Thursday December 28, 2023 will be cancelled.  This net will resume normal operation on Thursday January 4, 2024.

The ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES and Information Net on 3940 KHz scheduled for 0730 EST on Saturday December 23, 2023 and Saturday December 30, 2023 will be cancelled.  This net will resume normal operation on Saturday January 6, 2024.

The Eagle Net, the NTS traffic for the ARRL West Central Florida Section, on the NI4CE Repeater System scheduled for 2030 EST daily, will operate as scheduled throughout the holidays, as it is an NTS traffic net.  In keeping with tradition, Darrell Davis KT4WX, will be net control of the Eagle Net for the Christmas Eve and New Years Eve editions of the Eagle Net.  Look for the details of these special nets in an upcoming WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE.

The ARRL West Central Florida Section wishes everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year season.

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NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2023 ELLEN WHITE W1YL AWARD ARE NOW OPEN

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Nominations for the 2023 Ellen White W1YL Award for are now open.  Nominations for the 2023 Ellen White W1YL Award may be made via the Section website Contact and Information Form at http://arrlwcf.org/section-forms/contact-info/.  The Ellen White W1YL Award is given by the ARRL West Central Florida Section each year to honor the amateur radio operator who has made the greatest contribution to amateur radio in the ARRL West Central Florida Section for the current calendar year.  Nominations for the 2023 Ellen White W1YL award will close on Thursday November 30, 2023.  The recipient of the award will be announced on Friday December 8, 2023 at the Tampa Bay Hamfest and the award will be presented to that recipient during the ARRL forum at the Tampa Bay Hamfest on Saturday December 9, 2022.

The namesake of the award, Ellen White W1YL, became a Silent Key on Saturday November 5, 2022.  White was appointed by Darrell Davis KT4WX in 2016, Section Manager of the ARRL West Central Florida section at the time, due to her contributions to amateur radio over many years, which included being in amateur radio for 75 years and working at ARRL HQ for 25 years.

For details on the Ellen White W1YL Award, you may go to the Section website Ellen White W1YL Award page at http://arrlwcf.org/wcf-special-events/ellen-white-w1yl-award/.  For a detailed article on the life of Ellen White W1YL, please go to the ARRL News article published on November 7, 2022 at http://www.arrl.org/news/ellen-white-w1yl-silent-key-devoted-lifetime-to-amateur-radio-and-arrl.

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SECTION ARES MEETING FOR FALL 2023 DATE AND VENUE SET

The date and venue for the Fall 2023 ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES Luncheon and ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES Meeting have been set.

The ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES Luncheon will be held in conjunction with the Lake Wales Radio Amateurs (LWRA) monthly “QRP and Tailgate Tech – Ham and Beans Edition” at 1100 EDT on Saturday October 28, 2023, at Lake Shipp Park, located at 1605 Lake Shipp Dr., Winter Haven FL., 33880.  This will give those an opportunity that attend to see the QRP operation and enjoy the “Ham and Beans” meal.  For more information on the monthly Lake Wales Radio Amateurs QRP and Tailgate Tech please go to http://lwra.us/qrp.

If you plan on attending the Section ARES Luncheon “Ham and Beans” edition, please fill out the Contact Form on the Section website which is at http://arrlwcf.org/section-forms/contact-info/.  That way the club will know for how many visitors to prepare.

The ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES Meeting will be held at 1300 EDT on Saturday October 28, 2023, at the Polk County Emergency Operations Center located at 1890 Jim Keene Blvd., Winter Haven, FL 33880, which is just a few miles west of Lake Shipp.  The Polk County Emergency Operations Center is located on Jim Keene Blvd., just off of State Road 540 and east of exit 14 on the Polk County Parkway.

As is traditional, the Section ARES Meeting will be simultaneously conducted on Zoom and on the Section YouTube channel which is located at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFA4-HEjr-lYMFisVG_Nk5A .  The Zoom meeting information for the Section ARES Meeting has been published and is located on the Section ARES page located at http://arrlwcf.org/wcf-section-programs/ares/.

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