Category: News

FLORIDA QSO PARTY FOR 2017 ANNOUNCED

On Thursday February 9th, the ARRL West Central Florida Section received official notice from the Florida Contest Group that the Florida Contest Group is once again sponsoring the Florida QSO Party.  It will run on Saturday April 29th and Sunday April 30th.  For more information of the specifics of the contest download the PDF copy of the contest rules at http://arrlwcf.org/download/wcfevents/FloriidaQSOParty_Rules.pdf

For more information go to http://www.floridaqsoparty.org

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THE WCF PRESSER ISSUE #22 FEBRUARY 2017 IS NOW PUBLISHED

The WCF PRESSER Issue #22 for February 2017, has been published here on the Section website, the ARRL website. THE WCF PRESSER will be disseminated shortly on the ARRL Section Email List for those who are ARRL members and are signed up for Section/Division news.

MUNICIPAL PARKS ON THE AIR OPERATING EVENT COMING TO THE SECTION

Today the ARRL West Central Florida Section is announcing the “Municipal Parks On The Air” operating event for the West Central Florida Section. Due to the success of National Parks On The Air in 2016, it was felt that the hams here in the Section needed an operating event that would allow more of them to be activators and more frequently, due to the fact that most hams have a municipal park within a few miles on their home. Also it would give more opportunities for chasers to work more parks and on more bands as well. Every outdoor event is good for people in general, for people with respiratory ailments too, there is something special, in fact the word would be specials in these cases and that is that there are currently innovative inhalers to alleviate the discomfort for this kind of people.

Tentatively, the event is scheduled to begin on April 1, and run through November 30. This will allow us to get totals in and have the top category winners recognized at the ARRL forum at the Tampa Bay Hamfest. The Section Cabinet has had much preliminary discussion on how the event should operate, getting a municipal park list compiled and finalize the rules. The rules will be published on a dedicated page on the Section website. Municipal parks by definition will include all city, town, or county parks.

Stay tuned to the Section website, the WCF PRESSER, and the Section ARES and Information net on Monday evenings on the NI4CE Repeater System as details emerge.

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TECHCON CONFERENCE SCHEDULE AND PRESENTATION LIST DRAFTS NOW PUBLISHED

The drafts of the conference speakers schedule and list of presentations, with a brief description of the presentation, are now published on the TECHCON page on the Section website.  You may go to the TECHCON page at http://arrlwcf.org/wcf-special-events/wcftechconference/.  The PowerPoint slides and Papers that are produced by the various presenters will go live on the TECHCON page the morning of the conference and will be archived for any future reference just as the past conferences have been.

If you are planning on attending TECHCON please register online at the Section website at http://arrlwcf.org/section-forms/wcftechconfregistration/.  Also please check back as the final revision of these documents will be published in the next couple of weeks.

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THE WCF PRESSER ISSUE #21 JANUARY 2017 IS NOW PUBLISHED

The WCF PRESSER Issue #21 for January 2017, has been published here on the Section website, the ARRL website. THE WCF PRESSER was disseminated Thursday (1/05) on the ARRL Section Email List for those who are ARRL members and are signed up for Section/Division news.

RICH KENNEDY N4ESS APPOINTED AS SECTION ACC AND PIC

On January 2, 2017, Darrell Davis KT4WX, appointed Rich Kennedy N4ESS, of Zephyrhills, as the Section Affiliated Clubs Coordinator and Public Information Coordinator.  Kennedy, who has been a licensed radio amateur since 1965, just completed three years as President of the Lakeland Amateur Radio Club and decided not to run for re-election.  Kennedy is still active with the Lakeland Amateur Radio Club.

For ease of administration and due to overlapping responsibilities, Kennedy was appointed as the Section Affiliated Club Coordinator and the Public Information Coordinator.

For a detailed ham radio biography you may go to Kennedy’s website at http://www.n4ess.com or visit his page on QRZ.

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ANOTHER TAMPA BAY HAMFEST AND WCF SECTION CONVENTION HELD.  W1YL RECEIVES THE FIRST ANNUAL WHITE AWARD.

The 41st Annual Tampa Bay Hamfest and 16th Annual West Central Florida Section Convention was held successfully on Friday December 9th and Saturday December 10th.  The attendance on Friday was up from the year before and the Saturday attendance was good.  Sadly Sean Kutzko KX9X, who had been scheduled to attend as the representative from ARRL HQ, could not attend due to being ill right before the hamfest.

On Saturday morning at the ARRL table, Section Manager Darrell Davis KT4WX presented Ellen White W1YL, the first annual WHITE AWARD.  The WHITE AWARD was established in 2016 to give recognition to the radio amateur who makes the most significant contribution to amateur radio in the West Central Florida Section.  The WHITE AWARD is awarded once a year and will be presented at the Tampa Bay Hamfest each December.  White has served as a Section Communications Manager, the predecessor to the Section Manager position, in the San Diego in the early 1950’s and had worked at ARRL HQ for many years.

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WHITE AWARD ESTABLISHED.  ELLEN WHITE W1YL TO BE THE RECIPIENT FOR THE 2016 AWARD.

Per the suggestion of one of our Assistant Section Managers, the West Central Florida Section is establishing in 2016, the “White Award”.  The White Award will be awarded each year to one amateur radio operator who has contributed the most to amateur radio here in the West Central Florida Section.  It will be awarded at the ARRL forum at the Tampa Bay Hamfest in December.

The first recipient of the White Award will be the award’s namesake.  Ellen White W1YL, who lives in the Brandon area, will be the recipient of the 2016 White Award.  White, first licensed in 1947, was involved heavily in amateur radio often contributing much behind the scenes.  Among her achievements was becoming Section Communications Manager for the San Diego Section, a stint as a broadcast engineer, and finally along with her husband Bob White W1CW (SK), went to work at ARRL HQ and among doing other functions at ARRL HQ, became Contest Branch Manager and worked there until her and her husband both retired in 1979.  Ellen has also authored numerous articles for QST magazine over those years.  Their son Bob White K4OJ(SK) was a founder of the Florida Contest Group.  You may got to the National Contest Journal at http://ncjweb.com/features/mayjun15feat.pdf to read an excellent interview conducted by Rosalie White K1STO.

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