SPARC members showed up at Hamcation and for the 12 Noon annual member’s picture.
Click here for the slide-show clip: February 10, 2018
Posts published in “Hamfests”
One could not have asked for better weather for the annual SPARCFest this year. The event was held at Freedom Lake Park in Pinellas Park on Saturday November 11, 2017. As usual, even though the official start is 8:00 AM people start congregating around 6:00 AM to setup and some even to grab early bargains—although sales really start at 8.
This event continues to grow in popularity due to the time of year, comfortable weather, lack of rain and free admission to buyers and sellers. This year drew the largest crown yet with many people selling gear including a great selection of HF gear. SPARC offered coffee and doughnuts, cold drinks and sausage biscuits (new this year instead of the SPARC Dogs).
SPARC had a large numbers of items for sale due to an increase in Silent Key sales for which the club was asked to help. SPARC sells silent key equipment (most on consignment for estates) to both help out the families of those recently departed hams and it also helps fund club activities for the year.
A new thing this year was a drone fly-over of the site.
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Besides this being the start of contest season, we also have some other events that you might want to check out.
On October 13 through October 15, there is the Makrothen RTTY contest at the club station. See here for more info….
On October 21, it’s the St. Petersburg Science Festival. Look for more info here and at the club meeting but this is a chance to spend a great day on the waterfront in St. Pete showing amateur radio to kids of all ages.
On October 28 in Palm Harbor, is the Upper Pinellas ARC Hamfest/tailgate. More info on that is here.
We also have the ever-popular Tampa Bay Hamfest on December 8th and 9th. More info on that hamfest is found here.
Check back on this website for upcoming contest operations from the W4GAC SPARC HF Station.
As Hurricane season winds down, amateur radio season starts up (he said optimistically…).
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Due to circumstances beyond our control, the Mini-Hamfest scheduled for July 15th has been cancelled. We will reschedule this event as well as making the equipment available at other nearby hamfests. Sorry for any inconvenience.
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This event has been cancelled due to an unavoidable conflict.
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Anyone that has been involved with amateur radio for any period of time has most likely heard tales of the Dayton Hamvention. If you have never been, it is an event unlike anything you can imagine. Rows and rows of tables in the outdoor area where you can find most anything you desire related to this wonderful hobby. Inside is crammed full of vendors with all the latest gear. Going to Dayton is something every ham should do at least once in their ham radio experience. Dayton also has extra-curricular activities such as Contest University, banquets for DX’ers, DStar, AMSAT, Contesting and on. But, what if you cannot get to Dayton? What if cramming yourself along with 25,000 others into the inside buildings to hide from the frequent Spring rains in Dayton is not your cup of tea? Whatever the reason you cannot get to Dayton, that does not mean you cannot experience some part of it.
Through the wonders of technology, there are several ways to experience Dayton from afar. While it is certainly NOT the same as being there, you can experience some of the wonder that is the Dayton Hamvention from the comforts of your own home. Read on to see how to see some of these online opportunities.
First up is Contest University. Contest University brings together some of the World’s best contesters to conduct training for everyone interested in radiosport. Thanks to Icom, you can watch most of Contest University online. Click here for a full schedule of events starting Thursday at 8:00 AM. You can use the same link for the DStar events on Friday.
As far as the actual hamfest itself, you can watch live streaming of the hamfest via W5KUB.COM. Tom W5KUB has been streaming the hamfest live for several years. He has a table inside the commercial area and does interviews and walk-a-rounds to allow folks watching at home to get a feel for the happenings in Dayton. A nice benefit is the chat room where folks can share the experience with others and win nice door prizes all donated by vendors. There is absolutely no charge for this service but you are certainly encouraged to make a donation (especially if you win a prize). You can find all the information about the live streaming event at w5kub.com.
There you have it. While it is not the same as being there, you can still experience some of what the Dayton Hamvention has to offer from the comforts of your own home.