Over the weekend of March 20th – March 23rd, 2024, Ryan AF4O, Jeff NE4C and Tom NY4I traveled to Crooked River State Park in Georgia for a RISK Tournament (yes, RISK the board game). The tournament is in the park in rented cottages. Besides the tournament, there is plenty of time for other activities so Ryan brought his Icom 7300 and the Elecraft amplifier along with wire antennas to activate the park for POTA with 500 watts of power. Jeff NE4C and Tom NY4I were also able to operate the station setup in the kitchen table of a cabin. The pile-ups were really big as the power and park attracted lots of stations wanting to work the park. All three … Read the rest
UPARC
Yesterday we had our monthly UPARC-CARS breakfast at Another Broken Egg Cafe in Clearwater. We believe we had the largest turnout every with 21 people. If this keeps happening (which we’d love) we’ll need to find another place to meet! If you haven’t join us before, feel free to come out. Details about our next breakfast can be found at Monthly Breakfast with CARS – UPARC… Read the rest
On Saturday February 24 after the club breakfast and under a clear-blue sky, several club members stopped by Olev KO4WUB’s place (QTH) to do some antenna work. The team included the following UPARC members:
- Bob K1NLS
- Jack N4KIN
- Olev KO4WUB
- Ryan AF4O
- Rob WD4IFT
On the docket was to install a 6 meter beam as well as move a 2 meter/70cm vertical to a new mast.
The club has many great members always willing to help with antenna projects so let’s Get On the Air!… Read the rest
For Winter Field Day 2024, UPARC returned to the Clearwater Fire Training Center with our friends at the Clearwater Amateur Radio Society. This year was surprisingly warm enough to host the event outside (all evidence to the contrary given our current temperatures).
We had the usual assortment of HF stations with the three Elecraft K3 transceivers and the Hex Beam with the triplexer. Two wire antennas rounded things out on HF for low bands. Both clubs were well-represented with approximately 40 people attending.
So how did we do? In total, we made 1149 QSOs. You can see a breakdown of the contacts including the actual log on our website here.
We only missed one section in the US and a … Read the rest
It was an absolutely beautiful day for Hamcation on February 10, 2024 at the Central Florida Fairgrounds in Orlando, FL.… Read the rest
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 27 & 28, 2024. This is a joint operation with the Clearwater Amateur Radio Society (CARS). The event will be held at the Clearwater Fire Training Facility on Belcher Road south of Sunset Point Road in Clearwater. Prior efforts were a great success.
Winter Field Day is a 24 hour operating exercise where … Read the rest
It was chilly when I met Ryan AF4O for breakfast at the Sunset Grill restaurant in Clearwater. We needed to fuel up before tackling our next project, swapping out a 10M vertical antenna for Olev KO4WUB.… Read the rest
The 2023 Award for the most weekly net check-ins goes to…… Read the rest
The Upper Pinellas Amateur Radio Club was well represented at this year’s 2023 Tampa Bay Hamfest. Some of the usual suspects made an appearance and posed for a group photo.
There were plenty of vendors and fellow hams selling their wares.
Surprisingly some people actually made it out of the event without spending anything! I know, right? Hard to believe. A strike team is still trying to figure out how Ryan AF4O didn’t buy a single thing. A supercomputer in an undisclosed location is still trying to calculate the cause of this event.
This seems like a good time for the new Webmaster’s Award. The inaugural award goes to Fred W2SUB for the most un-amateur radio purchase at a … Read the rest
Congratulations to the 2024 UPARC Board of Directors. They assume office on January 1, 2024.… Read the rest