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Posts published in “Antennas”

July meeting POTA presentation.

At the July club meeting Lisa, KC1YL, presented her POTA Operation, Setup, and Techniques. Learn about the many options for setting up and parks to work from.  Check out the video link below.

Watch video

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The SPARC Tower has a new Power Winch

The SPARC team finished the installation of the power winch on the club tower replacing the old hand crank.  Those who have cranked the tower up in the past using the old hand crank can appreciate the improvement.

Watch the video Here

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Spare Arc-Plugs for Alpha Delta Switches

Many of us use Alpha Delta coax switches in our stations for antenna selection. These switches use Arc-Plug gas discharge tubes as lightening protection. Spare Arc-Plug elements sell for $10 – $12 from the traditional ham retailers. Mouser Electronics  sells them for $2.37 each in quantities of 10. P/N 576-CG21000.

Thanks to Richard K2UPS for this tip.

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SPARC in the Park Big Success

SPARC in the Park [Photo by Gerry WR6N].

Members of SPARC, UPARC and CARS came out to Lake Seminole on Saturday March 14 to enjoy the sunshine as well as operating HF and satellite portable. Patterned after other “in the Park” events put on by our clubs in the past, approximately 15 people came out to enjoy a day in the fresh air. Unlike Field Day, everyone is encouraged to bring their own radios and test their portable setup in the field. It also gives members a chance to see different portable HF setups. Given that many people cannot operate stations at home, operating in a park allows hams to still get on the air. Pat AA0O borough his gear which he uses in many parks around the state to make HF contacts.

Dee W4DCH and Lisa KC1YL [Photo by Gerry WR6N].

Dee W4DCH from UPARC brought his Icom 7300 and wire antenna system.

Portable wire antennas setup of Dee W4DCH [Photo by Gerry WR6N].
Icom AH-4 tuner for Dee’s Antenna [Photo by Gerry WR6N].
Tom at the Icom 9700 satellite station [Photo by Gerry WR6N].
Arrow antennas Satellite Beam [Photo by Gerry WR6N].

Tom NY4I operated his satellite station to make 5 QSOs on 3 different satellites. Lisa KC1YL operated as well even making a satellite contact with KP3A in Puerto Rico. All told we had around 15 people come out to play radio in a great day in the park.

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Club Station Update – Tower Removal Work Party

As you may recall, the club experienced damage due to the tornado in Pinellas Park last week.

Club tower bent over from the tornado
Club tower bent over from the tornado

Dave KR4U, John KI4UIP, Pat AA0O and Billy KN4LUZ were on site to work on the project (The author arrives late so anyone was had already left, please accept my apology for the omission).

The tower was bent just above the first section nesting point. With the help of a crane secured by Pat AA0O, the tower was safely lowered on Thursday 2/13 along with the log periodic antenna. This is only the take down stage. The 40m antenna on the shipping container appears to be ok but the wire antennas that used the tower as a center support are also down. Click the video below to see the crane in action (video by Pat AA0O).

Billy KN4LUZ overlooking the Log Periodic [Photo by Pay AA0O]
Billy KN4LUZ overlooking the Log Periodic [Photo by Pay AA0O]
Crane getting setup to lift the tower.
Crane getting setup to lift the tower. [Photo by Pay AA0O]
The tower on the ground sans antenna. [Photo by Pay AA0O]
The tower on the ground sans antenna. [Photo by Pay AA0O]
You may have also heard that the DMI roof suffered some damage. Fortunately, that was not in the rear of the building so the club station did not experience any direct damage other than the tower. The server room did not experience any damage either.

As we are still in the dismantling stage, no plans have been made yet on repairing the equipment. No doubt the club officers will share that information. Stay tuned to the normal SPARC information channels (Web site, Daily Nets, etc).

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