Posts published in “Operating”

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FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANT, IF YOU REGISTERED YOURSELF BUT WERE PLANNING ON ATTENDING WITH YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER/GUEST, PLEASE ALSO REGISTER ANYONE ELSE IN YOUR PARTY. WE NEED AN ACCURATE COUNT FOR FOOD. FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU ARE BRINGING YOUR SPOUSE AND 2 KIDS, PLEASE REGISTER THEM ALL INDIVIDUALLY. You can sign others up here: https://goo.gl/forms/Tqr9kX30BNR1WJeg1

As you may be aware, the radio room is inside, but setup will of course be outside for antenna work. You may want to bring a change of clothes/shirt, etc. The facility has showers and locker rooms if you so desire but you may want to bring your own towel/toiletries. Setup starts at 8:00 AM Saturday morning. We will have coffee and doughnuts available. We will be eating inside too in another adjacent classroom.

PLEASE BRING HEADPHONES. Many of us use boom microphones and we do not share headset microphones for hygienic reasons. All operators will be using headphones for sound even if you are using a desk or hand microphone. As we are operating 3 radios in one big room, we cannot use the speakers (unless we are demonstrating the radios to a group of people). If you do not have a large set of communication headphones, at least bring earbuds. We have adapters for both 1/8” and 1/4” headphones to match the radios but please bring something as we will NOT share headphones. Also note if you have a heil headset, we have adapters to connect to the radios. For RadioSport users, we have the interface cables to the Kenwood TS-590 and the Elecraft K3. Just check with on site if you need bias on the mic element or not.

For CW ops, we will have a paddle hooked up to a WinKeyer. If you have a paddle you prefer (for sending manually), please bring it along. The computer will send CW—copying is with the software between your ears. Our paddle has a 1/8” stereo plug so please adapt accordingly. We can plug a straight key directly into the K3.

You may want to bring a more comfortable chair. The classrooms we are in have chairs that may not be that comfortable for hours of sitting. If you prefer chairs without arms or ones that have more room, definitely bring your favorite folding chair or camping/beach chair.

If you are attending dinner on Saturday evening, please bring a dish to share. We ask that this be actual food versus stopping off for a bag of chips on the way. Your dish to share can be dessert as the only desserts available will be those that people bring.

While we are operating inside, you may be outside for parts of the event. We have access to an outside pavilion. Please bring sunscreen or a hat if you are planning on helping with antennas setup. You may also want to bring insect repellent for times you are outside. Smoking is only permitted outside of course (and if you have been known to light up a cigar, by all means bring them along). A few of us have been known to partake of such after dinner.

We also have to ask that you do not plan on bringing any radios to operate independent of the main stations. We have carefully coordinated the station layout to minimize interference between stations. Another station on the site would compromise the main stations so operate our stations as long as you are able, but please; no independent HF stations. We do not need radios or computers, etc. We have all the parts planned ahead so we need you, your dish to share and your desire to have fun. The rest we have covered.

For software, we are using TR4W as it proved to be easy for new people to pickup at our last event and the networking is very solid. That program is free if you want to try it out. It is available at www.tr4w.net (Select Download link).

Please bring a handheld 2m radio (HT). It is a big site and using a radio will make it much easier for us to talk with one another. The main organizers will have HTs to be reached on a simplex frequency to be announced on site. Let the HT save you running back and forth on site to ask questions, etc.

Please ask if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you there and to make this a Field Day for the ages.

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Thanks to all that attended the meeting last night.

For those that do not recall if they signed up, here is the list of people that have signed up already.

If you are NOT on this list, please go to this link and sign up.

The presentation from the meeting is accessible via this link.

The movie with pictures is available here.

All the Field Day info is available in our original Field Day announcement.

Please let us know if you have any questions. You can always email Tom NY4I for more info.

Sign up and see you at Field Day!

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Last Day to Signup to be Guaranteed Meals: Monday June 18. Sign up now!

As Spring turns to Summer, a young ham’s fancy turns towards…Field Day! The annual ARRL Field Day emergency preparedness exercise/contest/social event is Saturday June 23rd and Sunday June 24th. As usual, SPARC is participating in this event but this year, we are building upon the success of the Winter Field Day event with a joint Field Day operation with the Clearwater Amateur Radio Society and Upper Pinellas Amateur Radio Club. The event will be held at the Clearwater Fire Training Center on Belcher Road in Clearwater.

For those that may not be familiar with Field Day, Field Day is an annual operating event sponsored by the ARRL. From the ARRL website,

“Field Day is ham radio’s open house. Every June, more than 40,000 hams throughout North America set up temporary transmitting stations in public places to demonstrate ham radio’s science, skill and service to our communities and our nation. It combines public service, emergency preparedness, community outreach, and technical skills all in a single event. Field Day has been an annual event since 1933, and remains the most popular event in ham radio.

What you can do right now is to sign-up. We need people to setup, operate, tear-down and ready to have fun. We will be running three simultaneous stations with one station dedicated to CW and the others as SSB and PSK-31. We will have a satellite station and a vast array of different antenna types. Taking advantage of the training facilities, we are setting up temporary antennas but operating from inside in the classrooms. This makes the FLorida heat a bit more comfortable. The clubs are providing meals and drinks throughout the weekend but all are asked to bring a dish to share for Saturday evening. We start setup at 8:00 AM on Saturday June 23 and start operating at 2:00 PM. We will then operate throughout the night straight through to 2:00 PM Sunday.

Field Day is always a great event to come out and make new friends and share a weekend hamming with old ones. No experience is necessary and we welcome new people and anyone interested in ham radio to enjoy a weekend of radio fun, good food and great camaraderie. Please go to this link to sign up.

We will discuss this more at our club meeting as we also need more volunteers to help with the planning stage. Field Day is a team effort and the more people that participate, the more fun it is!

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