Congratulations James Finnegan KN4UWK!

James Finnegan, center, surrounded by a plethora of VE’s congratulating him on his new Tech license.

Happy Birthday Glenn!

Peggy and wife Lois congratulate Glenn on his birthday. Unfortunately, church fire regulations prevented the number of candles it would take to accurately mark the event. 🙂

Our Main Speaker Kraig KA2LHO On The WWFF

Our speaker this evening was Kraig Pritts, KA2LHO.  Kraig introduced our club to The World Wide Flora and Fauna In Amateur Radio Program. This program is similar to Florida Parks on the air, but much broader in scope.

The World Wide Flora and Fauna (WWFF) program wants to draw attention to the importance of protecting nature, flora and fauna. In this spirit amateur radio operators set up and operate their radio stations from designated nature parks and protected nature areas-generating attention for these areas whilst givng the ham radio community an interesting activity to contact. WWFF is an international and non-commercial program run by the National coordinators of a large number of national Flora and Fauna programs including the United States (KFF) program.

It is all about teamwork!

In order to insure continuity as well as support for major club activities, the board decided that we will have committees to oversee major club functions. Each committee will be chaired by a board member, but will also include at least one member from the general membership. 

One such team will oversee Service events like the March for Babies, Warrior Walk, and the Citrus Bike Tour. For these events the board contact will be Glenn. Glenn will work very closely with Bob Doherty coordinating these events. Bob has had years of experience arranging club participation in these events and will continue to do so.

Other coordinators and team members will be introduced in the future. So far, the board has identified David Zdanowicz as coordinator of hospitality. David will work with volunteers like Sam Shaver and others to make sure club functions have snacks and coffee. 

Several other positions are open. We need a coordinator for picnics and special events, as well as a coordinator for Field Day. 

The driving force behind the committee concept is to encourage and give others the opportunity to take responsibility for club functions. The goal is to tap into the club’s talent pool to make us even better.


Attendance for May

Robert Young AG4E Net Control for this evening.

1. Stealth antennas. Two mentioned this topic. (I like to think of stealth as inconspicuous. A 30 foot tower topped with a 20 meter Yagi is out of the question, but many antennas are very difficult to see from the roadway, or can easily be disguised. My brother, who is not a ham, told me about his ham friend who installed a humming bird habitat in his back yard that doubles as a support for his wire antenna.)
2. Antennas in general – dipoles, quads, yagis, end feds, verticals
3. Satellite operation on a budget. I personally watched my son make several satellite contacts from his back porch with antennas made from coat hangers.
4. ARES its function and activities

From time to time we are asked to help out when a spouse and former ham becomes a silent key. We may be approached at an event, or by someone who knows us, or somehow knows we are in amateur radio. This usually results in a team effort to dispose of ham equipment. Some hams are sought out for their knowledge of the value of used equipment. Others for their ability to be the go-betweens to make things happen. It is a service we happy to perform. The following note from Sandra was given to me by Sam. He told me that several others were involved in the pricing and other help. The good news is that the equipment is sold, and everyone is happy. (click on the body of the note for a more readable image.)

Some of us are a bit shy about getting on the air. Good news! The club offers two low risk opportunities, especially for new hams, to practice radio. First there is the Wednesday afternoon Rag Chew. This is held every Wednesday at 11:00 AM. Then there is the LARC Net, held every Thursday at 7:30 PM. These are only a two of the many opportunities to get on the air. Anytime you have a moment, and your radio handy, you can always push the button and say your call sign slowly and phonetically followed by “listening.” If that doesn’t work, try your call sign followed by “radio check.” Finally, if you happen to be on the air and hear a couple hams chatting, and would like to join in, listen for a while to get the gist of who and what, then toss out your call sign. Hopefully the other parties will pause between transmissions to let you pop in. If nothing else it is always nice to get a signal report.

This is the log for Thursday May 30th provided  by Robert. 

N6MRS Mike

K1OPQ Dave also has a Kenwood TS570D for sale 275.00 and needs help changing channels on a Kenwood TH 22AT

Robert Young AG4E

We have several new Hams and Ham upgrades!

LARC had a very busy testing day. There were seven successful candidates: five Techs, one General and one Extra.Congratulations to all.

From left to right VE John, Ed KN4SAV Extra, Justin KN4UJJ Tech, Gabriel KN4UJK Tech, Larry KN4UJI Tech, Steve KM4QBT General, VE Richard, and VE Bill

From left to right VE Richard, VE/coordinator  Rich, Nate KN4UJM  Tech, Brenda KN4UJL Tech, VE John

Show And Tell

This months Show and Tell featured two mini exhibits. The first was a demonstration of reading barcodes using the same hardware and software the club uses to take attendance every month. The second exhibit was Darrell Davis’s Go Kit pictured below.

Can anyone out there hear me?

We have all asked this question from time to time, especially with band conditions being what they are these days. Our main speaker for the evening, John Leahy KK4ITX, has an answer. John spoke at length on WSPR Net, the tool he uses to determine both band conditions as well as antenna effectiveness. WSPR Net, is a series of listening stations dispersed through out the world. By sending a signal packaged in a specific way and using special software it is possible to determine which of the WSPR stations received your signal. From their location you can then determine both band conditions and the effectiveness of your equipment. Because the system updates frequently it is possible to make meaningful comparisons, for example between two antennas tested minutes apart.

A graphic from John’s presentation demonstrates what is possible. His presentation in entirety can be found on the club’s website at .LARC General Meeting Notes

Attendance

For many years the Lakeland Amateur Radio Club has been supporting the Lakeland March For Babies. Yes, everyone has a cell phone, but with ham radio you only need one number to contact everyone or anyone on the team. In past years we have helped with scratched knees, twisted ankles, and even tired toddlers. This year, we were ready, but the March went on without incident. That’s a good thing.

Most of the members pose before dispersing to their stations.

One of the functions we perform at this event is that of determining the last of the marchers and reporting back their location. This year the marchers holding up the rear were my good neighbors, Jim and Frances Robinson. They are the two in the rear pushing the baby carriage.

 A few photos follow as evidence of all the hard work our club puts into this event.

The following was provided by Don Jeerings.

The Fred’s Friday morning breakfast club is intended to be a complementary (not a replacement) for the club the club’s Tuesday breakfast at the BrunchBox. It features, quieter environment, better food selection, more comfortable seating, and better atmosphere. Their blue plate special consists of all you can stack on your plate, plus coffee for $6.71, but you have to be there before 8:30 AM.
At Fred’s we are able to meet and discuss (among us) the real subjects of Ham Radio. There is a meeting room available if we have enough attending.

Don Jeerings KI4EFL 

Kn4Lew  Dan, KN4SAU John, KI4CRI Charlie, Bob Shanchez, Call not renewed, Dian Dian Shanchez,  XYL wife of Bob, AG4E  Robert, K4ZVU, KI4EFl  Don, N7CUC SAM.