Ahhh! Portable Operations! A tropical beach, a comfy chair, a tropical drink in one hand, and a logbook in the other. Sounds like paradise, right? Well, maybe. But hold on–do you have everything you need for a successful operation? Is your setup lightweight enough to carry?

Meet Dan Gagnon, WZ1P. You may know him as our regular net control for the Thursday night “Trader’s Net” on the club’s K4LKL repeater. Dan’s also well-versed in portable operations. He is a member of “Buddies in the Caribbean” DXpedition team. If you want to see what he keeps in his portable backpack, come to the March LARC Club meeting. Dan will speak to us about his trips and why he carries what he has in his backpack.

Next Club Meeting
When: Monday, March 10th. Ham exams at 5:30pm. Meeting starts at 7:00pm.
Where: Parkview Baptist Church across from Lakeland Regional Health hospital.

Don’t forget to check-in at the entrance table.

Spring Club Picnic
We have our annual spring picnic coming up very soon. It’s set for Saturday, March 15th at Colt Creek State Park’s Blue Heron Pavilion. The park opens at 8:00am and that’s when the fun starts. Bring a dish to share and drinks, too. Lunch is around 11:00am. Several radios will be set up if you want to try your hand at POTA or just have some fun on the HF bands. This picnic is a LOT of fun. It’s also a good opportunity to learn more about radios of different types, working HF, or to introduce Ham radio to a friend.