Summer is usually a time when clubs slow down and everyone takes a well-earned break. Not this year!
The July Lakeland Amateur Radio Club meeting is shaping up to be one you won’t want to miss. We’ll have a complete recap of Field Day 2026, a firsthand look at Europe’s largest amateur radio show from Buddy Morgan, WB4OMG, welcome our new Vice President, Glenn Sims, KO4MDY, and discuss an important change to the club’s email reflector.
Mark your calendar now for Monday evening, July 13th, at Parkview Baptist Church across from Lakeland Regional Health. Ham Testing begins at 5:30 PM, and the meeting starts at 7:00 PM.
Field Day 2026: A Great Weekend for LARC
Our first Field Day at the Tom Davis Educational Center on the Sun ‘n Fun campus is now in the books, and by all accounts, it was a tremendous success.
A new location always brings new challenges, but thanks to the hard work of our volunteers, operators, and setup crews, everything came together for a very successful weekend.
Here are the preliminary contact totals:
| Mode | Count |
| Phone | 169 |
| Digital | 110 |
| CW | 99 |
| Total3 | 378 |
Those numbers are only part of the story.
At the July meeting, Russ Delaney, N4RTD, will give us the complete Field Day wrap-up, including scoring, highlights, lessons learned, and plenty of stories from the weekend. If you participated–or even if you didn’t–you’ll want to hear how everything came together during LARC’s first Field Day at Sun ‘n Fun.
Buddy Morgan Visits Europe’s Largest Hamfest
While many of us were making contacts during Field Day weekend, Buddy Morgan, WB4OMG, was halfway around the world attending the Ham Radio International Expo in Friedrichshafen, Germany.
Although it isn’t the largest amateur radio gathering in the world, it is the largest in Europe, drawing thousands of amateur radio operators from across the globe each year.
Buddy has returned with plenty of photographs, stories, and observations from the show, along with pictures from several side trips into Italy.
Be sure to attend the July meeting for his presentation–you may leave with a few ideas for your own shack!
Welcome Our New Vice President
Please join us in welcoming Glenn Sims, KO4MDY, as the Lakeland Amateur Radio Club’s new Vice President.
Earlier this year, Geoff Schuck, WA4MMO, stepped down as Club President due to health concerns. Buddy Morgan, WB4OMG, assumed the role of President, leaving the Vice President’s position vacant.
At the July 6th meeting of the LARC Board of Directors, Glenn was appointed to serve as Vice President for the remainder of the 2026 term.
Glenn enjoys working amateur radio satellites and chasing DX from his Icom IC-7300 station. When he isn’t on the amateur bands, you’ll probably hear him on the commercial bands instead! Glenn is on the air at 97-Country WPCV here in Polk County and, through the magic of voice tracking, is also heard daily on WOKO in Burlington, Vermont. He also serves as IT Manager for WPCV, WONN, and WLKF.
Be sure to introduce yourself and congratulate Glenn when you see him at the July meeting.
Important: Our LARC CQ Email Reflector Is Moving
If you receive club announcements through the LARC CQ email reflector, you’ll need to make one important change this month.
According to Mike Oliver, KT2T, our current web host will discontinue support for the existing email reflector on July 21, 2026. Fortunately, Mike has already set up a replacement using groups.io.
Making the move now will ensure you continue receiving club announcements, meeting notices, and other important club information without interruption.
Getting started is easy:
- Create a free account at https://groups.io/register (if you don’t already have one).
- Visit https://groups.io/g/lakelandarc.
- Click Join Group.
That’s it!
Once you’ve joined, club messages will once again arrive directly in your email inbox. You can also install the groups.io app on your Apple or Android device if you’d like to read messages there instead.
Thanks to Mike for making the transition as painless as possible.
Join Us July 13th!
The July Lakeland Amateur Radio Club meeting will be held on Monday, July 13th, at Parkview Baptist Church, across from Lakeland Regional Health.
- Ham Testing: 5:30 PM
- Meeting: 7:00 PM
Whether you’re interested in hearing the complete Field Day report, seeing Buddy’s adventures in Germany and Italy, welcoming Glenn to his new role, or simply catching up with fellow club members, July’s meeting promises to have something for everyone.
We look forward to seeing you Monday evening!