04/30/2024
St. Petersburg Amateur Radio Club
Originally licensed as WN2JTL in 1968. License and interest lapsed until 1984 when relicensed as N2ESP. I currently hold an Extra class license and a BSEE from the Florida Institute of Technology.
I am past President of the St. Petersburg Amateur Radio Club (SPARC) and trustee of W4TA, the club’s contest station. I’m also a member of Florida Contest Group, an ARRL Volunteer Examiner, member of the ARRL A-1 Operator Club, frustrated DXer, 10-10 member (40586) and charter member of the Radio Shack Battery of the Month Club.
Station QTH is a small island (USi: FL285S Coquina Key) on the shores of Tampa Bay (Pinellas County / EL87qr). Station consists of an Elecraft K3/P3 (100W) into a ZeroFive GP-1040 Vertical/Ground Plane or an 80M Horizontal Loop. QSL via LoTW.
WHO: Open to all, but you must be 18 to receive an I.D.
WHAT: SKYWARN Basic Spotter training by the National Weather Service.
For more information on SKYWARN, click here.
WHEN: Tuesday, December 15 at 7:00 PM
WHERE: Pinellas Coty EOC 10750 Ulmerton Rd. Largo, FL 33778
Seating is limited to 100 people so sign up by clicking here.
For additional information, contact:
Clayton Parrott, KJ4RUS
Emergency Management Coordinator
Pinellas County Emergency Management
(727) 464-4526
Saturday 10/3 was spent assembling a temporary satellite station, this year’s new addition to our exhibit. It is hoped that that the shiny antennas moving above our tent along with the graphic display of satellite orbits will attract additional interest this year. Using equipment on loan from Tom, NY4I, Tom along with Dave, KR4U, John, KI4UIP, Felax KI4TWQ and Bob, N2ESP assembled and tested the station. Clayton, KJ4RUS has provided us with updated graphics for the booth. We will also be demonstrating PSK and SSB communications, and providing … Click for more
September is the middle of hurricane season. In an effort to make sure that your handheld and mobile transceivers are in good operational shape. SPARC will be available to test your HT and/or (uninstalled) mobile rig on TBD at the club station. HF, VHF & UHF radios can be accommodated.
Our radio gurus, will setup their service monitors and our spectrum analyzer to checkout your transceivers. Be sure the battery is fully charge and the rig works.
The station crew invites you to stop by the station on Saturday August 29 at 10:00AM to help reorganize (read clean) the station and storage areas. We will break for lunch and then convene the SPARC Executive Board meeting at 2:00PM. All are welcome.
This month’s meeting program by Tom Schaefer, NY4I will cover the various methods
of confirming a 2-way contact. Known as QSLing, direct, incoming and outgoing QSL bureaus (buros), as well as ARRL’s Logbook of The World (LoTW) will be covered.
For those that have had challenges with LoTW, this is the program for you. Tom will walk you through how to start and complete your LoTW registration. Experienced hams bring your interesting QSL cards and show them off.
First, I would like to thank our outgoing Field Day Chairman Dave, KR4U for his years of service and many memorable field days. Dave handed over the reins to this year to new chairman, Tom, NY4I. Thanks Tom for organizing a successful event.
In addition to a new chairman, lots of things changed this year’s field day. Our new location at DMI worked out well. While a true field day experience may not be air conditioned, our group has years of experience working under hot, humid, rainy conditions. Another year … Click for more