Author Archives: Jimmy Russ

“LWRA QRP & Tech Tailgate” on Saturday, 7/30

On Saturday, July 30 our friends at the Lake Wales Repeater Association are hosting their monthly QRP Saturday and adding DMR to the mix. This month it will be at Lake Shipp park in Winter Haven from 9:00 a.m. until noon. If you’re interested in portable QRP operation, DMR or just want to enjoy the company of some fellow hams, come on out!

Are You Covered?

One of the greatest benefits of ARRL membership is the ability to purchase insurance on your amateur radio equipment. The premium is $1.40/$100 value (minimum premium $20) and covers your equipment for various losses with either a $25 deductible to repair or $50 to replace. For example, your resident blogger was able to cover his station equipment for $32/year! Considering we live in the lightning capital of the world, it’s definitely worth looking into.

Go to the website at https://www.arrlinsurance.com/ and check it out!

That’s a wrap!

And just like that, Field Day 2022 is over. Many thanks to all who participated and help make Field Day the excellent emergency preparation exercise (not to mention ham radio tradition) that it is. If you didn’t participate, it’s never too early to start planning for next year!

Field Day is almost here!

The biggest day of the Ham Radio year (at least the day when the largest number of operators are on the air) is almost here!

Field Day is this coming weekend, and the Lakeland Amateur Radio Club will be operating K4LKL from the grounds of the Kathleen Historical Society, 8950 N Campbell Rd, Lakeland Florida.

Work begins Friday afternoon, June 24 with getting antennas ready and start of set up. The real work begins Saturday morning, and at 2:00 p.m. the station hits the air.

For more Field Day details, see the Field Day section of ARRL.org at https://www.arrl.org/field-day

See you there!

If you’re interested in Field Day, don’t miss this month’s LARC meeting!

Field Day is rapidly approaching (June 25-26 if you haven’t been paying attention), and this month’s meeting is where we’ll be finalizing plans and discussing details. If you’re at all interested in Field Day, don’t miss it!

As always, the LARC club meeting is held on the second Monday of the month (so June 13th this month) at the Parkview Baptist Church, 509 Parkview Place at 7:00 p.m.

See you there!

Hurricane season is upon us, and starting with a bang!

It seems that for the past few years the authorities always predict an “active” hurricane season, and by the looks of it they could be right this year.

The remnants of Pacific hurricane Agatha have moved into the gulf and by the looks of it will be bringing some heavy weather to parts of Florida this weekend. Even though it’s projected to go south of us, this would be a great opportunity to treat this as a drill…are your hurricane supplies in order? Got plenty of batteries? Radios in good working order? Do you know where you’d go if you had to bug out?

Now’s the time to think about it. If you wait until a storm is bearing down on us, it could be too late.

Memorial Day 2022

As we enjoy this Memorial Day weekend, many of us will busy taking road trips, having picnics picnics, extra time off work and time with families…but let’s not forget the reason we have the freedom to enjoy those things, and lets all be sure to pause to remember the sacrifices of those who gave all.

Have a good weekend!

Hurricane season is coming…have you thought about joining ARES?

For our newer hams out there, one of the ways that hams can contribute and be of service to our respective communities is through ARES…the Amateur Radio Emergency Service.

ARES volunteers can provide communication at shelters in the case of an evacuation as well as provide other valuable services.

Check out the Polk County ARES website at http://polkares.org/ and learn about ARES in the West Central Florida section of the ARRL by visiting http://arrlwcf.org/wcf-section-programs/ares/

Don’t Miss This Meeting!

It’s time for the May LARC meeting and you don’t want to miss this one. Fred Delaney will be speaking to us about Field Day as we being to make preparations for the club station (Field Day is next month so it will be here before you know it!), and our special speaker will be ARRL Southeast Division Vice-Director Jim Schilling, KG4JSZ.

The meeting will be tomorrow, Monday May 9th at 7:00 p.m. at our usual spot, Parkview Baptist Church at 509 Parkview Place in Lakeland.

See you there!