April Meeting

These are times of change. The most obvious is our new meeting location. It is much more comfortable than the last location from the point of view of space and acoustics. It is easy to be heard and understood, even without a microphone.

Field Day
The venue for Field Day 2017 has changed. Plans are to hold this year’s event at the Kathleen Historical Society grounds. This facility is air conditioned, making it more comfortable for participants. For those not familiar with this location, you can visit their website at http://www.kahsatsocrum.com/#

Deadline for MIGS
The deadline for Member In Good Standing status was April 1. If you have not paid your dues, and still wish to be a club member you should contact Patrick to pay your dues.

Club Records Update
April is also the time of year when we look at club records. Mike Oliver and Bill Johnson will be making a push to make sure club records are up-to-date. If you have not made changes to the paper that was circulated during the meeting, you will be contacted by phone. If the phone number we have for you is not current, then we will contact you by email. If neither phone nor email is current you will simply be unreachable. This could be disadvantageous, so unless you chose to be a Stealth Member, you should contact the Secretary to update your records. 🙂

Sign-in Sheets
As secretary I soon became aware that from day one, LARC has always had sign-in sheets at meetings and some events. No one ever questioned this, and to my knowledge no one has ever made use of them. I suppose on the outside chance you need an alibi for where you were on the first Monday of the month they might come in handy, but only if they are accurate. This is one reason we are considering the bar-code approach to attendance records, but there are others.

Generating bar-codes is not a big deal. If you wife is not also a ham, I created a bar-code with the suffix XYL for her. I also created a bar-code for you if you bring your son, YM or YL if you bring your daughter.

Other than being rather cool looking, and related to amateur radio in the sense that they were inspired by the Morse Code,bar-codes are a very practical and efficient way of generating attendance reports. A marked up sheet of bar-codes can be scanned into a worksheet in less than two minutes. But then what? For those interested, here is the workflow:

  1. Members circle their call sign
  2. Scan bar-codes into a spreadsheet – less than two minutes
  3. Port data to a table in a data base – about a minute
  4. Marry the scanned data with other information in the database, print out a hard copy, and generate a soft copy for publication. about five minutes. 

    We are going to try this for a while. There have been suggestions made to affix a bar-code to the back of your membership card. This is very doable, but it requires that you carry your membership card in your wallet. The concept of bar-coded tattoos on the forehead was rejected out of hand. However, judging from the amount of ink we see these days, maybe sometime in the future. 🙂

    So what does a hard copy look like: (Please keep in mind that we are in the process of updating our records so if you paid your dues, or your information is not accurate, please be patient. Feel free to contact me with any updates and corrections.)

    Membership
    Call Sign Name LARC ARRL ARE SKYWARN
    AA4HT Roberet (Rip) H. Van Winkle YES YES NO NO
    AA4HTXYL Carolyn YES
    AB1DX Oliver L. Richards NO NO NO NO
    AE4RM Roger O. Meadows YES NO NO NO
    K1DU Fredrick (Fred) A. Delaney, III NO NO NO NO
    K2EUH Robert F. Foxworth YES YES NO YES
    KA2BVC Alwin (AL) E. Pogue YES YES NO NO
    KC2RMZ Brian Volz NO NO NO NO
    KF4Q William R. Busbin YES YES NO NO
    KG4PWF James (Jim) O Scott YES NO NO NO
    KG4YNI Ernest (Ernie) H. Haynes, III YES YES NO YES
    KG4YNIXYL Joan Haynes YES
    KI4DNO Larry R. Walker YES NO YES YES
    KI4ZMV William (Bill) Johnson YES YES NO YES
    KJ4AFB Patricia E. Morris YES NO NO NO
    KJ4AYU Victoria L. Walker YES NO NO NO
    KJ4DSQ Roger D. Land NO NO YES NO
    KJ4MJ Joy Gafford NO NO NO NO
    KK4FEM Matthew R, Stevens YES YES YES YES
    KK4YXR Franklin F. Fitzgerald NO NO NO NO
    KM4BAO Robert Doherty YES NO NO NO
    KM4CUG Debra (Debbie) M. Leahy YES YES NO NO
    KM4STU Leon T. Holzer YES NO NO NO
    KR4R Johnnie M. Ritter, Jr. NO YES NO NO
    KT2T Michael (Mike) Wayne Oliver YES LIFE YES YES
    N2TE R. Edward Marchese YES NO NO NO
    N4ESS Richard (Rich) Kennedy YES LIFE NO YES
    N4KWR Kevin W. Rought YES NO NO NO
    N4PEG Margret (Peggy) Lang YES YES NO YES
    N7CUC Samuel (Sam) H. Shaver YES NO NO NO
    W4MQB Barbara S. Ritter NO YES NO NO
    W4XDS James (Jim) Stewart YES NO YES NO
    W4ZSC Albert (Al) P. Sheppard, Jr. YES YES NO YES
    WX4AMS Andrew Stevens YES NO NO YE

    What? You were there but you did not circle your name. Guess you will just have to make a point to do it next time. 🙁

    Guest Book
     In the past we have asked guests to sign in at the bottom of the sign in sheet. There wasn’t much space to do this and we did not ask for their email. That has changed. We now have a sign-in book, with a place for email so that those who visit can keep up with club activities, and maybe even become members someday.

    Testing Testing 1,2,3 Testing
      

    Left to right, George, Thomas KN4BOE, Joh, KM4MTQ, Mark Tech, Duain TECH, A, and Richard. Jon Byrd is now Extra, Thomas Conner General, Mark Welch General, and Dwain Hoffman is a new Tech. Brandon Dye also tested, and is a new Tech.

     Below, Paul Pippin KG4EPU proudly holds his graduation certificate. He is now a General and free to roam the HF bands.Directly to Paul’s right, and also in the picture above is Chris AA4CB a visiting VE from the East Pasco Amateur Radio Society.

    Congratulations to all

    Don’t Forget -March For Babies Is Coming Up. 
    See Bob To Volunteer

    Bob presenting a first contact award to Thomas Connor. Congratulations Thomas.

    Our Guest Speaker – Ben Henley
      Digital or analog? Itt all depends. The choice is yours.

     

    LARC Participation at Kathleen Historical Society A Great Success

    Interest in Amateur Radio was high at the Kathleen Historical Society Event this year. Rich, Bob and Bill chatted with a total of  fifty-one attendees during the day. Some were interested in becoming Hams, others just curious, and one gentleman was writing a book and wanted to check some facts about EMP, or Electro-Magnetic Pulse, for a fictional novel he is writing. When all else fails, tube radios still work! Of particular note was a middle-schooler named Hunter who was sending code with an electronic paddle after only a few minutes of practice.

    Besides the three Hams manning the booth, several others stopped by to show support.  A very special  thank you goes to Chris AA4CB for taking the pictures at this event. 

    Bob, Bill, and Rich fielding questions at the same time.  
    Bob our VP and George Rezac conferring.
    Rich handing out information about our club and our new meeting location.
    Bill extolling the benefits of  Ham Radio to a father and son. What  a great way to keep in contact.

     

    On The Outside Chance That You Missed The Announcment

    There has been concern among some of the club members that a few members will show up at the wrong location for the April meeting. Not to worry. We have this eventuality covered. I have hired this man, and he is a professional, to station himself by the old meeting place. He has already been paid; so don’t let him con you into asking for more money to give directions!

    LARC IS MOVING IN APRIL

    A message from Herman A Munster to all members of LARC:

    Starting April 3, 2017 LARC monthly club meetings will be held at the Seventh Day Adventist Church School building located at 1435 Gilmore Ave, Lakeland, FL 33805. This facility is located one street East of Lakeland Hills Blvd. Turn onto Parkview Place,  in the direction opposite to the Lakeland Hospital Emergency Entrance.

     Click Here For Directions

    Compared to our previous location, the new facility is quite spacious. The board members are looking forward to seeing you at the new location starting in April. The times for testing and the meeting are the same.

    Congratulations Tom Connor

    An event deserving of a pint of the black stuff!

    Tom Conner passed the Technicians Exam on Monday. Due to the marvels of technology, the team was able to present him with his new call sign within minutes of reporting his score to the FCC. Welcome to the ranks, KN4BOE!

    LARC Represented At The Winston Academey Of Engineering

    LARC had a presence at the Winston Academy Of Engineering Open House. At the request of Mrs. Pope the club demonstrated CW along with some of the more modern digital formats.

    Staffing the LARC exhibit were Rich N4ESS, Peggy N4PEG, and Bill KI4ZMV.

    Rich and Bill chatting with a future engineer. The future looks bright!

    Winston Academy Of Engineering’s Vision and Mission statements below tell it all.

    Our Mission:

    Our mission is to collaborate and use creative thinking to solve real-world problems, build and achieve dreams, embrace diverse cultures, and cultivate competitive engineers by preparing them for a diverse global society.

    Our Vision:

    Winston Academy of Engineering will ensure the highest standards of intellectual development through a stimulating and comprehensive STEM program with an emphasis on Engineering.  The learning community is actively involved to instill within students the courage to take appropriate risks, and have the confidence to accept challenges.  Together we will give rise to students who are resilient and adaptable, equipped with knowledge and a 21st century skill set to achieve their greatest potential in an ever changing, diverse society.

    LARC was both honored and pleased to have been asked to participate.

    March 6, 2017 Meeting Location

    The March 6th meeting will be held at the Polk EOC instead of the normal meeting location. There we, along with several other clubs, will receive SKYWARN training. Training will start promptly at 6:30 PM. Be sure to arrive early.

    For directions Click Here

    Obituary for Edward Falcon

    Edward Frank Falcon, Jr.
    September 19, 1946 – February 08, 2017

    Edward Frank Falcon, Jr., 70 years old of Zephyrhills, FL passed away on Feb. 8, 2017 after a long battle with cancer. He was born in Tampa, FL to Edward and Annie Falcon. He was predeceased by his parents, grand-daughter: Michelle Booker, and daughter-in-law: Jenny Booker. He is survived by his wife: Janice Falcon; children: Jane Booker-Scrivens (Larry), David Booker, Jr. (Shirley), Mike Booker (Bonnie), Kenny Booker; 7 grandchildren; 3 great-grandchildren; and several cousins. There will be no service per his request. A memorial service may take place at a later date to be determined. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Moffitt Cancer Center. Arrangements were made by Hodges Family Funeral Home.

    Janice Falcon – KM4IEY
    39848 Pretty Pond Rd
    Zephyrhills, FL 33540

    Obituary for Calvin Edward Reames

    The Reams family announces the celebration of the completed life of Calvin Edward Reams who was born on September 11th 1924 and passed away on February 10th 2017 He is now with his late wife Idalee Brouillette to whom he was married for 51 years.

    They had two children Calvin Edward Jr. and Mary Jeanne plus three grand children and one great grand child.

    He was a WWII Veteran and fought at the Battle of the Bulge.

    After the war he worked for General Telephone first as line man and later in management. He was a life long Mason and a ham Radio operator.

    To send flowers or a remembrance gift to the family of Calvin Edward Reames, please visit our Tribute Store.