Author: Pete Reyes

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Everglades Radio Club Minutes – May 14, 2021

President’s Report: Steven Taylor, W1HQL
Secretary Report: Bill, KG2CS
Vice-President: Robert, W4THM
Treasurer: Pete, WB4DB

Treasurer’s Report: $3375.20 petty cash $35 $60 renewals.
Reports Motioned and passed.
Introductions/New Business:

All our Happy that we have returned!

Discussion of Field Day. The location is the Agricultural Center. We have the 440.700 repeater is working. (94.5). And is working as far North 152 Ave.

C Star is gone! The large radio/radar system by 152 Ave is gone. 2 dozen beam antennas were obtained by Steve. An open discussion on what to do with these antennas. Flea market. Other ideas. To sell. There are a couple of others items. There are some other items that have been gathered over the past few months by Steve that are in the radio room. Icom radios. A doctor in the Gables donated the WARC kit For a Mosley TA 33. Membership: Questions. $20. Family membership is still $25 a year.

Joe gave a update on SARNET. Some issues with Islemorada Repeater. FDOT is more difficult to access. it should be noted that currently the entire Sarnet is maintained by the volunteers. Thank you all. State DOT under Homeland Security.

Testing information. Going forward, FRN required for all testing. also there will be the upcoming registration fee with the FCC with an implementation date to be determined. It has to be publicly posted before they can start charging. They reduced the GMRS license from $70.00 to $35. At an amateur radio license well be $35 for a 10 year renewal period.

The 146.835 has been moved to 320 and 204th FP and L tower. it is a hard insight with battery backup power, and the tower is brand new. Great for the South. So far the coverage is decent up to 152nd Ave. Past that it is spotty. I can tell you that at least as far down his mile marker 85 in the Keys there is no problem hitting it with a mobile rig.

Robert “Show and Tell” with receiver. Tiny APRS. That technology has advanced extremely quickly, and Robert always has some of the best SDR, and equipment to show. He also showed the vector analysis tool.

Testing was completed successful. Motioned and seconded to adjourn at 8:43 PM.

Respectfully submitted,
Bill, KG2CS
Notes for tonight:

Don’t forget SouthCARS 7.251. 8 am to 1 PM every day of the year. ARES: 8:00 Saturday 3.940. Or Maritime Mobile Net 14.300. They take general check-ins.
And check in on the local 2 meter and 440 nets.

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EARC’s Winter Field Day 2021

Winter Field Day 2021 has come and gone. Once again, the EARC gang came together and had an outstanding event with good food, good friends, and good times.
In total, 5 field stations were on the air. Some where fully off grid, some were running amplifiers off a genset. HF SSB and PSK31 were modes of choice. Despite the number of wire antennas scattered around, few mishaps happened. A bright moon along with a conservative approach to ambient lighting kept everybody dark adapted and able to enjoy a beautiful view of the moonlit coastline. The weather couldn’t be better. A constant 70F 10-15mph breeze flowed all night. Bugs were non existent. This did pose a challenge to the tents though as they all had to be staked down. Every tent on the site looked like a balloon! It was a small price to pay though for excellent sleeping weather once it came time to shut off the filaments. Food wise it couldn’t be better. Dinner was churrasco, salad, pork loin, and arroz con gandules (Puerto Rican rice and beans). Plenty of beverages to choose from. If you went to bed hungry, it’s because you wanted to.


A big thanks to Steve Taylor for arranging things with the City of Homestead.

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Winter Field Day 2020 – Results

Winter Field Day 2020 has come and gone, but the long awaited results are in. Not that we are competitive in nature, but its good to know that we came IN THIRD IN THE STATE!!! Well, in South Florida's outdoor category, but either way that is very satisfying. We came in 45th overall in the country for outdoor and 8th in the whole state. I don't know if I can speak for the rest of the club, but I am super excited about WFD 2021. We have to sharpen our digital skills and try to get our CW operators out there.

With that said, I would like to send out a virtual high five and a special thanks to all who attended and made this year's WFD possible!

South Florida Entries
State Wide Entries

Courtesy of https://www.winterfieldday.com/

Stay radio ACTIVE!!

73 de

WB4DB

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Florida State Parks On The Air

CQ CQ CQ.. Calling all HAMS. This April 4-5th will be the 4th annual Florida State Parks On The Air event. A group of HAMS at the EARC has already secured a spot at the Bill Baggs Cape State Park and will be activating the park. Callsign W4SVI will be working 10 - 80 meters on SSB and digital. A beautiful location and RF quite environment, this year's activation is looking promising for making a decent amount of contacts as we spread the word on social media and POTA websites.

Space at Bill Baggs is pretty much filled up, but we encourage club and non club members alike to get outdoors and activate one of the many Florida State Parks. A list of parks and park locator utilities along with all the information on the event can be found on the FLSPOTA website.

There are plenty of parks to choose from. So get out there and get on the air! The event will be starting Saturday 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM and starts up again Sunday 9:00 Am to 10:00 PM. But there is no requirement to make it an overnight stay or even a long event. It's a great opportunity to get out with the family visit a state park and throw in some ham radio while at the same time testing your gear in a portable situation.

If you plan on activating a park please drop us a line so we can try to work each other. And remember, it's all about having fun with our hobby, spreading the word and awareness of Ham Radio.

Have Fun, stay safe and STAY RADIO ACTIVE!!

73

de

WB4DB

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EARC – 2020 Winter Field Day Video

For those braving attendance to February's EARC meeting this Friday on Valentines Day, I salute you. For if you are married or have a significant other, the wrath you can suffer for going to a "That damn Radio meeting thingy" meeting can be in my experience the likes of Biblical proportions. I have fortunately worked out a deal or better put a treaty with my wife and have been able to negotiate attendance to the meeting this Friday 14th.

For those souls that have not prepared for days like this, could not come up with the courage, or maybe even failed in negotiations, all is not lost. We have posted a video capturing the images, sounds and fun times had during our Winter Field Day activities last month in January.

Hope to see you at the meeting...

73

de

WB4DB

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New Year Greeting From The Shack of W1HQL

Well Happy New Year Almost....

This wil be the last blast to the current email list I have in the RMS System for the year 2,019 AD.....

As you well know that in the past 2,019 years alot of events have occured to shape who and what we are today. If you look at the time line, amateur radio is still in its infancy. Who knows what the future may bring to our hobby, That alone is what makes our hobby it so interesting....Somehow I think amateur radio will figure out how to communicate with the floks that will be settleing on Mars in the not so distant future....I hope I am still around to witness that!

Remember the Amatuer in Radio does not mean we are beginners.......It translates to (For the Love Of) in French.

I just wanted to send out this last email to wish all of you a Happy New Year and to divert from the traditional New Year Greeting and extend to you a heartfelt thank you for your friendship in 2019 and the past years we have been aquainted.
Looking forward to another great year that I hope is exciting and eventful for us as Amateur Radio Hobbiests.

See you all Next Year....

73 de W1HQL