Membership

Obituary of Richard Niendorf

By Ed NZ1Q on 03/13/2023

Richard “Rick” Niendorf Jr. (69) of St. Pete passed away on February 28th, 2023.

Rick at the piano, SPARC club meeting Oct 2019

Rick was born in St. Petersburg, Florida, on July 8th, 1953, to Lois and Richard Niendorf. He graduated from Boca Ciega High School in Gulfport in 1971. Rick served honorably in the US Army as an engineman, spending time abroad in Germany. He obtained multiple automotive mechanical, operation, and technician licenses, working for many years at Florida Power. Rick enjoyed playing the piano, loved fishing and boating,

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Membership Cards and Certificates

By Pat AAØO on 12/14/2022

We had a request from a member paying dues for a membership card. Looking at the automated certificates on the ARRL contest website, I got the idea that we could do the same thing. You can now download your Membership Card or Certificate from the Members List. Find your callsign and click on it. Scroll down to the bottom to find the links for Certificate or Card, for this year or next(if you’ve paid next year’s dues). This will generate a PDF that you can print at home.

If … Click for more

PayPal available for dues payments

By Pat AAØO on 12/21/2020

We’ve setup a PayPal for the club to make it easier to collect dues. Dues are $20 for single or $25 for household membership per year.

PayPal payments can be sent to treasurer@sparc-club.org. Clicking on the email link will take you to the PayPal payment website. Please include your callsign in the note. If you send a payment to the email without using the link please select the “Send to someone you trust” (Friends and Family) option so the club doesn’t pay fees. If you need to select the … Click for more

Tell us your “Ham Radio” story

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 03/09/2020

Do you have an interesting story of how or why you got into ham radio? We would love to feature your story on the SPARC website. You may have seen member spotlights in various radio magazines. Why not write a few paragraphs about your ham radio journey and send it to stories@sparc-club.org? You may find it featured on our website. Go ahead and brag a little—it’s ok.

Stories about what you do with ham radio (DXing, contesting, satellites, portable operation, etc) are welcome too. Don’t worry if you are not … Click for more

SPARC’s Own Lisa, KC1YL – ARRL’s “Member Spotlight” Sept QST

By Ed NZ1Q on 08/13/2019

SPARC salutes one of our members for being highlighted in QST for Ham Radio Accomplishments in Connecticut as well as Florida. Don’t miss the full page article in QST where Lisa is in the ARRL Spotlight – Volunteer operating, E-Coms support, CERT, club participation and VE testing, new ham promotion and more.

On the ARRL web site page 13 (login required) or read the article here.

Pat KX4HL and Friends Activate Egmont Key State Park

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 04/11/2018

Panoramic view of the Battery on Egmont Key State Park

I noticed a tweet describing how SPARC member Pat Connelly KX4HL and a few others participated in the State Parks On the Air this past weekend. I asked Pat if he could pass along some pictures and a summary of their activities. This is Pat’s report:

I saw a post in the Amateur Radio section of Reddit about the Florida State Parks on the Air operating event/contest. This was the first I’d heard of it, but the second year of