Hamfests

SPARC Members attend West Central Florida Section TECHCON

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 02/26/2017

Section Manager Darrell KT4WX discussing PICAXE Microcontrollers.

On Saturday, February 25, several members of SPARC made the trip to Sarasota for the 3rd annual WCF section TECHCON. This is a free technical conference put on by the WCF ARRL section technical staff. The location changes to various places around the section to allow the most section members to attend.

This year, there were two conference tracks. One focused on more introductory topics such as station design, antenna building, APRS and programable microcontrollers such as the PICAXE and the Arduino. Another track discussed more technical topics including the Amateur Radio Emergency Digital Network (AREDN) and HamWAN—both which allow creating high-speed data networks similar to WiFi but over greater distances and utilizing amateur radio frequencies (HamWAN was presented by SPARC member Bryan Fields W9CR.

NY4I, W4OQM by NZ1Q — Tom NY4I and Charlie W4OQM – Photo by Ed NZ1Q

One of the benefits of these meetings besides the technical content is the chance to discuss the technical aspects with other hams. During breaks, it is common to hear hams discussing how they are applying the things learned in unique ways that you would not learn just reading the material from a magazine article in QST. For example, the two networking topics might seem competitive but during the Q&A sessions, we discussed how to couple the mesh capabilities of AREDN for emergency data networks wth the long distance networking backbone capabilities of HamWAN can complement each other to serve the widest area.

If you missed it, make plans to attend next year’s TECHCON (around the same time in February tentatively planned for somewhere in Polk county.

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HAMCATION 2017

By Bob Wanek N2ESP on 02/12/2017

The trip over to the big Hamfest in Orlando was easy and the weather was great. I chatted with Ed NZ1Q, Bob N2ESP and Bob KC4SXO mobile to mobile on the way. I think we all got there just before the gates opened. All the usual factory vendors were there and you could see all the new stuff. It was a little odd not to see AES there but HRO and the other main radio suppliers were there. HRO had Gordon West signing autographs and promoting educational supplies.

Moving outside to the tailgate area was nice with the great weather and it covered a huge area. The middle building had more venders in it and the drum where you dropped your ticket stub with hopes of winning the prize. I’m sure they will be calling me Monday. There was a nice display of old telegraph keys and telegraph station set up like what might be in the old train depots. I took some pictures and sent them to my friend Frank K7GSE in Seattle. He is a key fanatic with a great collection of keys.

We met for the annual photo (above) of the SPARC group in the food court area and after that we pretty much broke up to head our different ways. It was a great Hamfest and hope to see you next year. If you missed it put it down for next year.

de Tom, AI4QP

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Some New Toys Released at Dayton

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 05/20/2016

Here are some pictures I collected from Twitter feeds of the Hamvention in Dayton.

New Kenwood APRS and DStar HT (in the flesh)

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2015 SPARCFest Review

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 11/28/2015

It was a crisp morning, but it was a welcome respite from a summer in Florida that decided to overstay its welcome. Start time was 8:00 AM but as usual, that means folks were lines up at 6:30 to get the best spots. The SPARCFest at Freedom Lake Park in Pinellas Park is in its 3rd year now. This is an extension of the hamfest the club used to do at Lake Maggiore in St. Petersburg. The SPARCFest had the usual assortment of people selling treasures from their attic to yours. VE Testing was there as well as the now famous “SPARC Dogs” on the grill. As it was a cold morning, the club sold all its coffee so clearly the club treasurer has an “in with the weather”.

Attached you will find some pictures taken by various folks. If you missed it, we hope you will plan now to attend next year. It’s generally the first or second weekend in November (more to come on an exact date for next year).