ARRL West Central Florida Section

NEW SECTION EMERGENCY COORDINATOR APPOINTED

On Tuesday May 4, 2021, Mike Douglas W4MDD, Section Manager of the ARRL West Central Florida Section, appointed Norman Xanders WX4NEX to be the new Section Emergency Coordinator for the ARRL West Central Florida Section.  Xanders succeeds Ben Henley KI4IGX, who had been Section Emergency Coordinator since January 2015 and has been in poor health recently.

Xanders was originally licensed in late 2016. Xanders has been a storm chaser for over 20 years here in central Florida, specifically in Polk County. One day Xanders got the RadarScope app for his smartphone and was looking at other Spotters on the map and saw some with call signs, inquired into it, and found out they were part of a Skywarn Net. This is where Xanders began his amateur radio journey. Since becoming licensed, Xanders has volunteered extensively for Polk County ARES as a net control operator. Xanders then became an Assistant Net Manager, and then Net Manager for the Polk County ARES Net. In 2019, Xanders became the Assistant Emergency Coordinator for Operations for Polk County ARES. Xanders also serves as a net control station for the National Weather Service SKYWARN Information Net, which is held on the NI4CE Repeater System every Tuesday at 2100 hours.  Recently, Xanders had been appointed and was serving as an Assistant Section Manager as Liaison to the National Weather Service Office in Ruskin.

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NTS RADIOGRAM OVER THE AIR TRAINING CLASS FOR 2021 COMING UP SOON

The following press release was disseminated by Dave Rockwell W4PXE, Net Manager for the Eagle Net concerning an upcoming NTS radiogram training class:

“The Eagle Net, the National Traffic System net for the West Central Florida Section, will be holding a radiogram traffic training net on four consecutive Wednesdays beginning on May 26. The training net will be held at 9:00 P.M. local time or after the conclusion of the Eagle Net. The net roster will be open to 15 stations only. Other stations may listen in and log in as visitors. Roster stations completing the sessions will receive ARRL certificates for the training. If you are interested send your name and call sign to w4pxe@arrl.net. Stevie, W4INK, will be the net control and Dave, W4PXE, will conduct the training.

This is an excellent chance to learn more about traffic handling and participate in a formal roll call net.”

As of press time, most of the training slots had already been filled.  However, anyone is free to listen in on the training nets for new or refresher training.  The Eagle Net is conducted daily at 2030 on the NI4CE Repeater System to handle NTS traffic within, into and out of the ARRL West Central Florida Section.

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CHARLOTTE AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY TO HOLD A COMMUNICATIONS DEMONSTRATION AND GO BOX EXPO

The Charlotte Amateur Radio Society, in conjunction with the Burnt Store Lakes Homeowners Association Community Emergency Response Team, will be presenting a Emergency Communications Demonstration and Go Box Day on Saturday May 15th, 2021 from 0900 through 1300 at the Burnt Store Lakes Community Park located at 24484 Rio Togas Road, Punta Gorda, FL 33955.

There will be a demonstration on how amateur radio operators can communicate, including sending emails, using just their amateur radio equipment. If there is no electricity, cell phone service or wifi an amateur radio operator can get the message out!

The following statement was issued by the Charlotte Amateur Radio Society in their press release, “We will demonstrate how we can set up at just about any site with our ‘Go Box’ and a portable antenna. We can do this before and after an emergency and get the word out about the need for emergency services and assistance at a site. We can also send health and welfare messages to family out of the area.  Hurricane Season is coming. Please Join us you will be AMAZED! Public is invited.”

For more information on this event, please contact Angelo Drammissi K3YUN via email at adramis164@gmail.com.

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FORMER SECTION TRAFFIC MANAGER AND LAKELAND ARC VICE PRESIDENT SK

Wilbur “Chet” Carruth AB4XK became a Silent Key on Monday March 29, 2021, following complications from COVID-19 and heart failure.  Carruth was 78 years old.

Carruth had been an avid CW operator and traffic handler in the National Traffic System and was originally licensed as an amateur radio operator in the early 1960’s.  Carruth served as the first Section Traffic Manager for the ARRL West Central Florida Section from 2000 through 2004.  Carruth also founded the Eagle Net, the NTS Traffic Net for the ARRL West Central Florida Section in 2001.  Carruth started the Eagle Net on the NI4CE Repeater System, owned and operated by the West Central Florida Group Inc., right after their first repeaters on 145.430 MHz and 442.950 MHz went on the air in 2001, where it still operates today.

Carruth was a veteran of the United States Navy where he served aboard the USS Newport News CA-148 during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.  Carruth operated his own business, Precision Petroleum, installing and serving fuel pumping stations for fuel stations and in the latter part of his career worked for Precision Petroleum until his retirement.  Carruth was a member of the Inman Park Church of Christ.

A celebration of life memorial is being planned and will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers anyone wishing to make a donation, should send it to Inman Park Church of Christ 1750 6th Street Winter Haven, FL 33881.

Herman “Top” Smith WB6ZEQ became a Silent Key on Friday April 2, 2021, following complications from contracting COVID-19.  Smith was 83 years old.

Smith was originally licensed as an amateur radio operator in the 1960’s while serving in the U.S. Marines.  Smith was serving as Vice President of the Lakeland Amateur Radio Club, was a member of Polk County ARES, and participated in multiple public service events that used amateur radio communications every year.

Smith retired from the U.S. Marines in 1976 after having served since 1956, including service in Vietnam.  Following his retirement from the U.S. Marines, Smith worked for and retired from Raytheon Service Company.  Smith was a member of the Turkey Creek Baptist Church, and sang for the Florida Worship Choir.

A memorial service will be held, Thursday April 15, 2021 at 1600 at Turkey Creek First Baptist Church, 4915 W. Trapnell Rd. Plant City, FL 33566. Condolences may be sent to the family at Gentry-Morrison Funeral Homes.

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SPRING 2021 QUARTERLY ARRL WCF SECTION ARES MEETING TO BE HELD VIA ZOOM

The Spring 2021 ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES Meeting will be held on Saturday April 24, 2021 at 1400 EDT, as a Zoom meeting, instead of a “face to face” meeting due to the continuing COVID-19 situation.  The information to log into the Zoom meeting is located the Section ARES page at : http://arrlwcf.org/wcf-section-programs/ares/

The Zoom meeting will be open for attendees to check in 15 minutes before the meeting is scheduled to start at 1400, to allow participants time to log in and be sure their video and or audio is functioning.  Everyone is welcome to attend the Zoom meeting, but due to the terms of our Zoom account we are limited to a seating of 100.

We will also be live streaming our meeting via the Section YouTube Channel and the meeting will be recorded on our YouTube Channel to be available for future viewing.  The ARRL West Central Florida Section YouTube Channel is located at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFA4-HEjr-lYMFisVG_Nk5A.

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CHARLOTTE AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY PLAN ANOTHER EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS DRILL

The Charlotte Amateur Radio Society is planning another simulated emergency communications test on Saturday April 24, 2021 from 1000 through 1300 hours.  The following information below was submitted as a press release by Doug Young KM4LKC:

“This exercise is part of the Charlotte Amateur Radio Society’s long-term multipart educational program to ensure that radio amateurs in our area have a way to grow the skills that may be used in a variety of emergency communications situations. Our April 24th, 2021 exercise is the second in a three-part series that involves a simulated emergency.   This simulated emergency includes a loss of regular emergency communications through telephone, cell phones, and internet services.

The primary objective in this training phase is to quickly establish communication facilities across the County, using no services from any outside organization, and demonstrate that our members can communicate to each other and pass messages between operators county-wide.

The parameters of the drill specify that radio communications may not utilize any repeater services nor any internet services, instead strictly relying on radio-to-radio communications. This amateur radio exercise is designed to test the capabilities of portable stations and to evaluate the usage of specific forms of digital communications as well as voice communications for passing traffic.

We will work primarily on HF frequencies with some operations testing on VHF and UHF communications. The Charlotte Amateur Radio Society will have portable stations located across Charlotte County Florida with stations in Englewood, Murdock, Punta Gorda, and Babcock Ranch Community. Operations begin at 10:00 local time and will conclude at 13:00 local time.

Setting up the four(4) stations will include radios, power systems, antennas, and shelter for the operators at remote locations selected for radio coverage across the county.  Licensed Amateur radio operators from Charlotte County and the directly surrounding counties that are not members of CARS are encouraged to visit the CARS website for information about how they can help on the day of the event from their own radios.  See www.carsfl.org.

If news organizations wish to observe the stations during setup and operations please contact Douglas Young, KM4LKC email to: km4lkc@arrl.net“

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THE 24th ANNUAL FLORIDA QSO PARTY SET FOR LAST WEEKEND OF APRIL

The Florida Contest Group has recently announced the 24th Annual Florida QSO Party will be held on Saturday April 24, 2021 from 1600Z (Noon EDT) through 0159Z (9:59 PM EDT) and on Sunday April 25, 2021 from 1200Z (8:00 AM EDT) and 2159Z (5:59 PM EDT), which is a 20 hour total operating period.   The 40, 20, 15, and 10 Meter bands will be used.  All 67 Florida Counties will be eligible for activation, the Florida QSO Spelling Bee will be featured again this year, and mobile operation will resume this year after being curtailed last year due to COVID-19 limited shutdown that was in effect at this time last year.

For all the details on the Florida QSO Party, please go to their website at http://www.floridaqsoparty.org

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LAKELAND ARC DOING COMMUNICATIONS AT SUN N FUN FLY INN

The following is a press release generated by the Lakeland Amateur Radio Club concerning their activation of a special event station with the callsign W4S at the Sun N Fun Fly Inn to be held at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport from Tuesday April 13, 2021 through Sunday April 18, 2021:

“The Lakeland Amateur Radio Club (LARC) is pleased to announce that we have been selected as the host amateur radio station club for the 2021 Sun-N-Fun Fly-In – W4S, April 13-18. Jeff Schuck – WA4MMO has been selected as Committee Chair Person for the event and Todd Rush – W7STR as Assistant Chair. The Lakeland Amateur Radio Club will be erecting a temporary tented radio station on site at Sun-N-Fun with both HF and VHF/UHF radio stations. LARC would like to offer a daily operating position to all licensed amateurs for this event. You may request either an 8AM-12PM or 1PM-5PM operating time. Please contact Todd Rush at 307-250-3706 or w7str@yahoo.com to make your request. Each operator will receive 1 event pass and parking pass for the day of operating. We look forward to seeing you there and supporting a great event.”

For more information about this event as it becomes available, you may go to the Lakeland Amateur Radio Club website at http://lakelandarc.org or the club news blog at http://blog.lakelandarc.org.

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