Sunday, April 18 is World Amateur Radio Day

World Amateur Radio Day, held on April 18 each year, is celebrated worldwide by radio amateurs and their national associations which are organized as member-societies of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU). It was on this day in 1925 that the IARU was formed in Paris. American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Co-Founder Hiram Percy Maxim was its first president.

Amateur radio experimenters were the first to discover that the short-wave spectrum?could support long-distance radio signal propagation. In the rush to use these shorter wavelengths, amateur radio was “in grave danger of being pushed aside,” the IARU’s history has noted. Amateur Radio pioneers met in Paris in 1925 and created the IARU to promote the interests of amateur radio worldwide and to protect and enhance its spectrum privileges. Today, the IARU is a federation consisting of more than 160 national amateur radio organizations in as many countries and separate territories. The International Secretariat of the IARU is ARRL, the national association for amateur radio® in the United States.

On World Amateur Radio Day, all radio amateurs are invited to take to the airwaves to enjoy our global friendship with other amateurs, and to show our skills and capabilities to the public.

IARU has chosen “Amateur Radio: Home but Never Alone” as the theme for World Amateur Radio Day, Sunday, April 18, 2021. The theme acknowledges that during our physical distancing to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus, amateur radio stands out as welcome respite for its variety of activities and opportunities – even helping overcome online fatigue and social isolation. The amateur radio community has organized “wellness nets” to keep amateurs in touch and check on those who may be higher risk or elderly, “stay safe” special event stations across the globe, and has encouraged generally higher levels of on air activity.

(Courtesy ARRL)

All About Digital Radio

The Lakeland Amateur Radio Club held it’s April meeting last night, April 12. The meeting was well attended with 41 present. The keynote speaker for the meeting was Mike Lunsford, KB4FHP, Public Information Coordinator for the ARRL West Central Florida Section. Mike did an informative presentation on the Digital Voice Modes of Amateur Radio, including DMR, D-Star, Fusion and more. Thanks, Mike for an excellent presentation!

The next meeting will take place on Monday, May 10.

2021 April LARC Meeting
2021 April LARC Meeting
2021 April LARC Meeting
Club President Mike Shreve, N6MRS
Todd Rush, W7STR
2021 April LARC Meeting
2021 April LARC Meeting
Mike Lunsford, KB4FHP

LARC Club Meeting Tonight

It’s the second Monday of the month, which means it’s time for the LARC monthly club meeting. It’s at 7:00 p.m. at Parkview Baptist Church, 501 Parkview Pl, Lakeland FL 33805. As previously posted, there will be no exams tonight.

W4S Special Event Station at Sun ‘N Fun

The Lakeland Amateur Radio Club is pleased to announce that we have been selected as the host amateur radio station club for the 2021 Sun ‘N Fun Aerospace Expo.

W4S will be in operation April 13-18. The event will be headed up by Geoff Schuck, WA4MMO and Todd Rush, W7STR. The station will be set up by the education building, west of the museum and will have both HF and VHF/UHF radio stations. Please note that due to COVID restrictions, only those operating will be able to access the station. Visitors will not be permitted.

Have fun!

No exams on Monday, April 12

While we will be having our next regularly scheduled LARC club meeting at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, April 12, please be advised that there will be no amateur radio license exams that night. See you at the meeting!

Herman “Top” Smith, WB6ZEQ and Wilbur “Chet” Carruth, AB4XK, SK

Herman “Top” Smith, WB6ZEQ became a Silent Key on Friday, April 2, 2021. “Top” was retired from the United States Marine Corps. He was active in his church as well as the Lakeland Amateur Radio Club, most recently serving as the club’s vice president.

Also, Wilbur “Chet” Carruth, AB4XK became a Silent Key on Monday, March 29, 2021. “Chet” served in the United States Navy, and was also active in his church as well as he was a member of the Lakeland Amateur Radio Club.

Both of these gentlemen will be missed.

Want to work lots of stations on HF? This weekend is for you!

The CQ WPX SSB weekend is upon us, and it’s an easy contest…the object is to work as many different prefixes as you can, both stateside and DX. Essentially, work everyone! The exchange is easy as it’s the signal report and the sequential serial number starting with 001.

For complete rules and to learn more about it, go to https://cqwpx.com/index.htm

Happy hunting!

$35 Application Fee does NOT take effect yet

According to the ARRL, even though the document has an effective date of March 19, the Amateur Radio fees will not yet be required.
The fee changes outlined in this order will not take effect until the requisite notice has been provided to Congress, the FCC’s information technology systems and internal procedures have been updated, and the Commission publishes notice(s) in the Federal Register announcing the effective date. This will most likely be in the summer.

So, if you are considering upgrading your license, changing your callsign or renewing your license (which can be done within 90 days of expiration), now is the time!