The SPARC radio station will hold an Open House for members to drop in and see the major upgrades made since moving the last station. The Open House will be held Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week (April 25, 26 and 27) from 6:00 to 8:00 pm.
The Open House will coincide with three nights of training for members participating in the Florida QSO Party (FQP) who have limited experience in using the N1MM logging program, or in handling rapid paced QSOs. For more information on the Open House , or to sign up for the FQP operation, contact Tom W4CU at: tom_w4cu@yahoo.com or at 727-744-1637.
The station will be opened for the FQP this coming Saturday (April 29) at 9:00 am with operating starting at Noon and ending at 10:00 pm. Operations will continue on Sunday (April 30) with the station opening at 7:00 am and operations running from 8:00 am until 6:00 pm. Visitors are welcome.
Our club is entering the Florida QSO Party representing Pinellas County. Hams from every state in the US and every province in Canada will calling Florida stations making us the center of activity. This will be our first such operation since winning the FQP Club Plaque in 2019. This will also be our first major operating event with the new Club Station.
You are invited to join others in operating the station on Saturday April 29 from Noon to 10pm, and on Sunday April 30 from 8am to 6pm. If you are interested, please contact Tom W4CU (email: tom_w4cu@yahoo.com (Note: there is an underline dash between tom and w4cu) – mobile: 727-744-1637.
Additionally this is a training event for anyone regardless of experience or license level to learn to operate HF with the N1MM logging program while making SSB or CW contacts in a contest environment. The following is an outline of the training program that will be tailored to each individual’s needs.
Individual training sessions will last 15 to 30 minutes on the dates and times listed below. Initial training will consist of copying a recorded list of typical contest exchanges (call sign and state or province of the station you are working) and entering and logging it using the N1MM program.
This will cover one side of a contact – that of the person you are talking to. For the other side, you will be given a handout of what a “perfect” exchange might look like.(Calling CQ, passing out our contact information, ending a contact and so on.)
On the day of the contest, you will be paired with an experienced operator and learn that there are endless variations of “perfect” for successfully completing a contact. You will see variations in wording, style and pace of operating. When you are comfortable that you can operate with help by observing the operating process, you will be assigned your first operating period accompanied by a coach to assist you.
Training Session 1: Tuesday APR 25 – 6 to 8 pm Training Session 2: Wednesday APR 26 – 6 to 8 pm Training Session 3: Thursday APR 27 – 6 to 8 pm Training Session 4: Saturday APR 29 – 9:30 to 11 am Training during contest hours only when training positions and trainers are available
SPARC wants your participation in the Florida QSO Party
SPARC has registered to participate in the April 29 – 30, 2023 Florida QSO Party (FQP) using the newly relocated and updated club station. The club has earned numerous First Place FQP Awards in the past – the most recent being in 2019 just before COVID.
The club is looking for the participation of everyone who wants to improve operating skills or learn about contesting on HF. Please note that all members can operate regardless of license class since Extra class operators will be present. In fact, we have recently had an unlicensed person learn to operate and actually become proficient in making contacts during an operating event. She later earned her Technician license.
We do, of course, need as many experienced operators as we can get to carry the load in making contacts and provide a winning base while others are learning. They will also assist in training or teach by example while operating.
The club station will utilize four operating positions – one for each band allowed in the contest. There will be two seats at each operating position – one for an experienced operator and one for a trainee.
We also plan to have several training positions using audio tapes and laptop computers to allow participants to learn or refresh their knowledge of the N1MM operating interface prior to operating. These positions will be used for three nights of training prior to the contest. Everyone is encouraged to attend one of these sessions. The training aids will also be used on the day of the contest.
Sign ups started at the last club meeting. If you have not already signed up but are interested, please contact Tom W4CU (w4cu.fcg@aol.com). I will personally reply to each email received if you have questions or suggestions.
There are many details that need to be shared. I will send out further details of the QSO party, our training sessions, and operations soon.
During my research for the update to the SPARC History page, I came across the Year in Review post from our previous Club President Bob N2ESP and that inspired me to write one for this year. I feel that SPARC had a great 2022 and 2023 is looking good too.
We started out the year with Winter Field Day, collaborating with CARS and UPARC, the event was setup at the Clearwater Fire Training center. Due to forecasted low temperatures and high winds, the decision was made to move the event indoors rather than setup outside like the typical WFD setup we’ve done there previously.
In February, we had our traditional SPARC photo at noon on Satruday outside the main vendor building at Hamcation in Orlando. This meetup offers a good opportunity for club members to show off their new purchases at Florida’s biggest ham fest. This year we even got a short video. We had our after holidays party at Kristina’s Cafe which got a good turn out.
We purchased a new (to us) tower to replace the club station tower that was damaged during a tornado in early 2020. We also replaced the leaning tower that was supporting the end of the dipole with a more substantial one. In April, we attached the log periodic antenna which got us back on the air. Also in April we had our first SPARC in the Park event at Sawgrass Lake Park. This is an official Parks on the Air park K-6700 so it’s always good for a pileup. After some POTA, we did a fox hunt hosted by William Gauzens W4WYR.
In May, we moved our meetings from the church at 5th Ave N and 49th St N back to the club station location at DMI Research in Pinellas Park. We switched the live feed of the meetings from Zoom to YouTube, thanks to Billy KN4LUZ, you can watch them on his YouTube channel https://youtube.com/@kn4luz
In an effort to increase club participation, we hosted ARRL Field Day at DMI. To test the new tower and make things a little more straightforward, we operated indoors with commercial power with 3 stations in the 3-Delta category. We took 2nd place in that category and had 1,455 QSOs.
With the station tested out from Field Day, W4CU and AA2MF organized some operating events. The first was NAQP RTTY in July, then NAQP SSB in August, then CQ WW RTTY in September, which was cut short due to the approaching Hurricane Ian. Luckily we didn’t get a direct hit. November brought the ARRL Phone Sweepstakes in which the team was able to get a “Clean Sweep“, working all 84 sections of the US and Canada.
In the week leading up to SPARCfest in November we had quite a bit of rain that flooded out Freedom Lake Park. We were able to work around it by setting up on the roads around the field. Attendance was good and many deals were had.
Early morning SPARCfest 2022
SPARCfest 2022
Our final SPARC in the Park event was again at Sawgrass Lake Park in December (being a POTA park really makes the on-the-air activities exciting).
KO4CEE and W7WMS raising a 2m antenna to get some local simplex contacts
Also in December, we completed the electrical move of the station to a new room inside DMI. The station is currently off the air while the move is completed but it will be back better than ever soon enough. We had a failure of the 220m repeater which was repaired by Bob, KC4SXO, Mike, KN4LVA and Ed, NZ1Q.
Thanks to all the club members that helped make these events a success and to everyone who participated, we couldn’t do it with you. Have a Happy New Year and we’ll see you in 2023 for more radio fun!
Winter Field Day will be held in January. Mark your calendar for January 28th and 29th, 2023. SPARC plans to participate. Details will be provided as the date approaches.
The FT Roundup Operating event will be held starting the afternoon of Saturday December 3rd and running through Sunday the 4th. The club station will not be activated but you may like to participate from home. Full details on the easy setup and operation can be found at the FT Roundup Home: www.rttycontesting.com/ft-roundup
The exchange will be unusual. RST and State/Province will replace the usual Grid Square and dB report. WSJT-X has an advanced function that automatically translates db reports to an RST and sets up exchanges for you that include RST and FL (Florida)
