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Posts published in “Operating”

Winter Field Day 2022 Dry Run Fun

By Jack Kinney on January 22, 2022

Some of the Field Day planning team members spent time at the Clearwater Fire Training Center today. We verified radios and laptops worked together for logging, verified the laptops could connect with the network, walked the campus for our new members and reviewed the list of items we still need for a successful event.

In attendance and in no particular order were: Jeff NE4C, Ryan KO4KGP, Alan W4UB, Jack N4KIN, Dee W4DCH, Fred W2SUB, Tom NY4I and Steve N4FOY.

Jeff Palmer NE4C took Ryan KO4KGP and Fred W2SUB to the top of the short fire training tower for a aerial view of the campus but we didn’t get any pictures of that.

Steve Foy N4FOY also provided an impromptu training … Read the rest

A Field Day For Hams

By Jack Kinney on January 8, 2022

If you worked Summer Field Day last year you may recall a woman walking around with a microphone. That was Mary Beth Toole creator of a podcast called sonic earth expeditions. A Field Day For Hams has been posted. It is 33 minutes long but worth the listen I think. It would also be good for someone who has never worked at Field Day. She only references SPARC in the podcast but you might hear yourself in there somewhere!

… Read the rest

UPARC Special Event Station – N4H

By Jason Esterline on October 20, 2021


To commemorate the hurricane, operators from the Upper Pinellas Amateur Radio Club will operate from Honeymoon Island State Park starting Friday, October 22nd to October 24th, 2021. We NEED operators, filling 24+ hours of operation will take people!

The callsign used will be N4H. Modes will be SSB and FT8. SSB frequencies are 14.265 and 7.265. Also for Parks on the Air (POTA) chasers, Honeymoon Island State Park is park K-1880.

Operating time is 10:00 AM EDT (14:00Z) to ~6:30 PM EDT (22:30Z) on each day Friday 10/22, Saturday 10/23 and Sunday 10/24. Setup will begin at 9am daily.

Operators/Local Visitors: Download Info/Instructions… Read the rest

UPARC in the Park

By Jack Kinney on July 18, 2021

We met Saturday morning, July 17th.

We were a bit rusty and didn’t have the turn out we hoped for, but all in all, we had a good time! The following were onsite to take part:

Alan W4UB
Dee W4DCH
Jack N4KIN
Ron W4RFA
Ryan KJ4FXX & his young son Freddy (future HAM we hope!)
Tim W4EKP
Tom NY4I

Three wire antennas were hoisted into the pines of John Chesnut Sr. Park (FKA Brooker Creek Park) adjacent to Shelter #11 by Alan W4UB, Dee W4DCH and Tim W4EKP. Here’s 2/3 of the antenna team doing nothing related to antennas!

Tom NY4I tried out his new Icom IC-705 making multiple SSB and CW contacts. If you’re familiar with the Elecraft KX3… Read the rest

Field Day 2021 – We’re Back!!!

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on May 21, 2021

After a long cold winter of no Field Day events, we are happy to announce that Field Day 2021 is on! As has been our mode for the last several events, we will be operating Field Day with a combined club effort with the Clearwater Amateur Radio Society and the St. Petersburg Amateur Radio Club. The event is on June 26 and 27th, 2021 at the Clearwater Fire Training Center (1716 N Belcher Rd., Clearwater, FL 33765). The operating starts at 2:00 PM local time and runs 24 hours through Sunday. Setup typically starts at 8:00 AM on Saturday morning.

In keeping with current CDC guidelines, people that are vaccinated are free to attend with no restrictions. We … Read the rest

ARRL Field Day June 27-28, 2020

By Alan Streitman on June 24, 2020

Field Day 2020 – What’s in a Name?

By Tom Schaefer NY4I

As you may know, our normal Field Day at the fire training center is not happening this year. Many members are taking advantage of the rule changes to operate class 1D or 1E from home. One of the changes the ARRL made—for this year only—is the ability to aggregate our individual scores under one club name. Please note that you still just make contacts with your own call but when it comes time to send in your Field Day entry, in the spot for club name you can add a name and everyone that uses that same club name will see a single entry in the results for

… Read the rest

Winter Field Day 2020

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on March 16, 2020

Another Winter Field Day has come and gone (more than a few weeks ago due to my belated report). The weather was mild if not just a tad cold at night (for us Floridians anyway). The now annual combined Winter Field Day effort between the Clearwater ARS, St. Petersburg ARC and Upper Pinellas ARC took place the weekend of January 25 at the Clearwater Fire Training Center.

So how did we do?

Our total numbers of contacts was above 1200 making for the most we have made from this site in a Field Day (Winter or Summer). The total points of 19788 were sent in at the end of February with the results typically released about 4 months later. We … Read the rest

Winter Field Day 2020

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on December 11, 2019

Wednesday at 7:00 PM is last chance to sign up and guarantee meals. Click here now.

Do you like operating in the field but hate dripping in sweat while setting up antennas? Does the idea of enduring another Field Day constantly fighting off every mosquito in Tampa Bay make you wish they held Field Day in January? Well, you’re in luck! Winter Field Day is an event very similar to the June ARRL Field Day except—you guessed it—it’s held in Winter. Specifically January 25 & 26, 2020. This is the third time SPARC is participating in Winter Field Day and it is a joint operation with the Clearwater Amateur Radio Society (CARS) and St. Petersburg Amateur Radio Club (SPARC). … Read the rest

Black Friday at Honeymoon Island State Park

By Alan Streitman on December 3, 2019

 

 

 

Alan W4UB, Dee W4DCH, Ken WK4KM and I arrived around 9:00 AM and began setup in the small gazebo across from Cafe Honeymoon at the main beach parking area.

Equipment

We used Alan’s Icom 7600, Ken’s Honda generator and my “Alan’s Baluns” end fed wire on a tripod and push-up pole. The antenna is approximately 60+ feet long—resonates on 20 & 40 meters—and was raised close to 40′ with the tripod & pole. A ground rod, coax and a guy line completed the antenna system.

Setup

Setup took about 20 minutes, and we were on the air checking into the SOUTHCARS net in quick order. After spotting on the Parks on the Air (POTA) website, we … Read the rest

Upper Pinellas Amateur Radio Club

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