Author: Darrell Davis KT4WX

THE WCF SECTION PRESSER ISSUE #9 FOR SEPTEMBER 2015 IS NOW PUBLISHED

The WCF SECTION PRESSER Issue #8 for August 2015 has just been published here on the Section website, the ARRL website, and to the ARRL Section Email List for those who are ARRL members and are signed up for Section/Division news.

For the PDF version of this newsletter and past issues go to http://arrlwcf.org/home/the-wcf-section-presser-arrl-west-central-florida-section-news/  Starting with this issue, the PDF version will contain any associated media (pictures, sound, video, etc.)

The following are headlines from Issue #9 of THE WCF EXPERIMENTER:

• THANKS TO ALL WHO WERE ON STANDBY FOR DEPLOYMENT DURING TROPICAL STORM ERIKA. STAY TUNED TO THE TROPICS.
• STATION APPOINTEE MONTHLY REPORTS ARE DUE FOR AUGUST:
• UPCOMING HAMFESTS IN THE SECTION:
• 2016 ARRL NATIONAL CONVENTION COMING TO ORLANDO HAMCATION THIS HAMFEST SEASON:
• THE WCF SECTION INFORMATION AND SECTION ARES NET HAVE MERGED. HF SECTION ARES AND INFORMATION NET CONTINUES OPERATION
• HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MONTH OF AUGUST:
• AMATEUR RADIO PARITY ACT OF 2015 COMPANION BILL (S 1685) INTRODUCED IN THE SENATE, 94 COSPONSORS OF THE HOUSE BILL (HR-1301):
• SECTION TRAFFIC MANAGERS REPORT FOR JULY 2015 By Doug Williams N2DW:
• CHECK OUT THE SECTION WEBSITE IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE SO LATELY
• SECTION MANAGERS CONTACT INFORMATION AND CONCLUSION:

END OF PRESS RELEASE

ARES GROUPS AND AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS STAND DOWN AS TROPICAL STORM ERIKA DISSIPATED

On Saturday 8/29/15 at 0930, the National Hurricane Center issued a statement saying that Tropical Storm Erika had lost its low level circulation, and had degenerated in a trough of low pressure. As a result Tropical Storm Erika no longer meet the criteria of being a tropical cyclone, and the National Hurricane Center stopped issuing advisories on Erika.  Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) Groups and amateur radio operators across the West Central Florida Section were preparing themselves for possible activation in providing shelter communications.  Also the emergency preparedness team at ARRL HQ had pledged their support if it was needed.  As a result of the dissipation of Tropical Storm Erika, ARES groups across the West Central Florida Section and amateur radio operators stood down by the end of Saturday 8/29/15.

Darrell Davis KT4WX, WCF Section Manager and Ben Henley KI4IGX, WCF Section Emergency Coordinator, wish to thank all ARES groups and amateur radio operators who had been on standby and were reading themselves to deploy if activated by their served agencies, and to thank the emergency preparedness team at ARRL HQ for their support.

The WCF Section encourages all amateur radio operators to continue routine monitoring of the latest Tropical Storm Outlooks issued by the National Hurricane Center daily, as hurricane season may be diminished but is not over until 11/30/15.

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CARL ZELICH AA4MI, AN ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF THE  ARRL SOUTHEASTERN DIVISION, TO APPEAR AT TARCFEST XXXIV ON SATURDAY 8/22/15

Carl Zelich, AA4MI, an Assistant Director for the ARRL Southeastern Division, will be at TARCFest XXXIV, Bill Bode N4WEB, the President of the Tampa Amateur Radio Club, reported.  Caril will collecting signatures for The Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015:  H.R.1301 in the US House of Representative and S 1685 in the US Senate.  Carl will also be on hand to answer any questions about Amateur Radio Parity Act and how you can help to promote passage of this very important bill.  Darrell Davis KT4WX, Section Manager of the ARRL West Central Florida Section will be putting on the ARRL table at TARCFest XXXIV as well.

LAKE WALES RADIO AMATEURS (LWRA) BECOMES AN ARRL SPECIAL SERVICE CLUB

On Friday August 7th, the Lake Wales Radio Amateurs, or LWRA as their club is often called, was approved to be an ARRL Special Service Club.

The Lake Wales Radio Amateurs, formerly and still sometimes known as the Lake Wales Repeater Association, was founded in 1974 and put on the air one of the first 2 Meter repeaters in Central Florida.  Originally it was on 146.790 MHz, but in 1976 was changed to 147.330 MHz where it has operated since that time.  The vanity call of K4LKW was obtained by the club in 2006.

The Lake Wales Radio Amateurs became an ARRL Affiliated Club in 2011 and are involved in doing the following regularly:  VE test sessions, radio expeditions, Field Day, and SPAR Winter Field Day.  The club has a weekly ragchew and traders net and has a monthly membership meeting on the 2nd Thursday of every month in downtown Lake Wales.  For more information about the club you may go to http://www.lwra.us/

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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.

For the current and all available past issues you may go to http://arrlwcf.org/home/the-wcf-experimenter-technical-newsletter/.

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

The WCF SECTION PRESSER Issue #8 for August 2015 has just been published here on the Section website, the ARRL website, and to the ARRL Section Email List for those who are ARRL members and are signed up for Section/Division news.

For the PDF version of this newsletter and past issues go to http://arrlwcf.org/home/the-wcf-section-presser-arrl-west-central-florida-section-news/  Starting with this issue, the PDF version will contain any associated media (pictures, sound, video, etc.)

The following are headlines from Issue #8 of THE WCF EXPERIMENTER:

• GET SOME RELIEF FROM THE HEAT OR EXCESSIVE RAIN – WORK ON A CONSTRUCTION PROJECT ON YOUR WORKBENCH
• STATION APPOINTEE MONTHLY REPORTS ARE DUE FOR JULY:
• UPCOMING HAMFESTS IN THE SECTION:
• 2016 ARRL NATIONAL CONVENTION COMING TO ORLANDO HAMCATION THIS HAMFEST SEASON:
• THE WCF SECTION INFORMATION AND SECTION ARES NET HAVE MERGED. HF SECTION ARES AND INFORMATION NET CONTINUES OPERATION
• BILL BODE N4WEB IS THE RECIPIENT OF THE AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE TO SCOUTING AWARD
• JONATHAN “JON” RUBIN KJ4NYD APPOINTED AS THE NEW EMERGENCY COORDINATOR FOR HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY ARES.
• HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MONTH OF JULY:
• AMATEUR RADIO PARITY ACT OF 2015 COMPANION BILL (S 1685) INTRODUCED IN THE SENATE, 94 COSPONSORS OF THE HOUSE BILL (HR-1301):
• SECTION TRAFFIC MANAGERS REPORT FOR JULY 2015 By Doug Williams N2DW:
• CHECK OUT THE SECTION WEBSITE IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE SO LATELY
• SECTION MANAGERS CONTACT INFORMATION AND CONCLUSION:

END OF PRESS RELEASE

SEVERAL NEW HAMFEST TO BE HELD IN THE ARRL WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA SECTION IN 2015 AND 2016

Two new hamfests are starting this coming hamfest season in the ARRL West Central Florida Section.

On Saturday November 7^th the first LARC Annual Hamfest 2015 will be held at the First Baptist Church At The Mall on Memorial Boulevard in Lakeland. On Saturday March 26^th 2016, the first NPARC (Northport Amateur Radio Club) Hamfest On The Green will be on the green lawn of the North Port Florida City Hall located on City Hall Boulevard in Northport, near the Sarasota and Charlotte County line.

These hamfests are now posted on the Section website special event calendar. The LARC Annual Hamfest 2015 calendar entry is located at http://arrlwcf.org/event/larc-annual-hamfest-2015/. The 1^st Annual NPARC Hamfest On The Green calendar entry is located at http://arrlwcf.org/event/1st-annual-nparc-hamfest-on-the-green/. For a look at all the upcoming hamfests that are currently planned you may go to http://arrlwcf.org/events/.

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JONATHAN “JON” RUBIN KJ4NYD APPOINTED AS THE NEW EMERGENCY COORDINATOR FOR HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY ARES.

On Saturday July 11, Jonathan “Jon” Rubin KJ4NYD was appointed as the new Emergency Coordinator for Hillsborough County ARES. Rubin was presented with his appointment at the quarterly ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES Meeting which was held at the Hillsborough County Emergency Operations Center in Tampa, by Darrell Davis KT4WX, Section Manager.

Keating Floyd KC4HSI, decided to step down as Emergency Coordinator for Hillsborough County ARES, after serving as EC since December 11, 2009. Floyd was presented with an ARRL Certificate of Merit by Davis and was accepted on Floyd’s behalf by Bill Williams AG4QX, one of the Assistant Emergency Coordinators for Hillsborough County ARES.

The ARRL West Central Florida Section wishes to thank Floyd for his five and a half years of service as EC for Hillsborough County and wishes him well in his future endeavors.

END OF PRESS RELEASE

ARRL WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA SECTION INFORMATION NET ON THE NI4CE REPEATER SYSTEM TO MERGE WITH THE ARRL WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA SECTION ARES NET.

Effective Monday July 27^th, the ARRL West Central Florida Section (WCF) Information Net on Tuesday evening will merge with the ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES Net on Monday evening at 1930 (7:30 P.M.). The last session of the ARRL West Central Florida Section Information on Tuesday will take place on Tuesday July 21^st. This move will streamline net operations for the Section and most importantly help avoid scheduling conflicts as many participants had commitments on Tuesday evenings to local radio club nets, ARES nets, local radio club meetings, and local radio club or ARES meetings.

The newly combined WCF Section ARES and Information Net will continue to meet on Monday evening at 1930 (7:30 P.M.) on the NI4CE Repeater System with J.C. Rivero K4RTC serving as Net Manager for the combined net. J.C. is looking for volunteers to serve as Net Control, so a Net Control schedule can be established.  If you wish to volunteer, please contact Darrell Davis KT4WX via email at kt4wx@arrl.net.

The WCF Section ARES and Information HF Net will continue to meet on Saturday morning at 0830 (8:30 A.M.) on 3911 KHz, which meets mostly on 3913 KHz, with Neil Lauritsen W4NHL, Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator continuing in his position as Net Manager.

END OF PRESS RELEASE