TARC 15 Hamfest

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Pictures From The 2015 Christmas Party

 Our Youngest Member

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Christmas 2015 Is Just Around The Corner

Once again, our Christmas dinner will be catered by Jimbos. 
It will be held on the first Monday of the month,  December 7th.
The location will be the same location as our meetings. 
Dinner will start at 6:00 PM.

Please let Richard know that you are coming, and the number in your party, so that he can order sufficient food. You can pay at the door, but you must let him know in advance so that he can order enough vittles to go round. 

You can call him, or email him, or contact him on the radio, but let him know. 

        Phone: 813-240-5614
       Email: n4ess@tampabay.rr.com
       Radio: N4ESS

Finally, in keeping with tradition I have hauled out our Martha Stewart inspired Christmas wreath. 

 

Mildred Kennedy

Mildred V. Kennedy (1/11/1934 - 11/11/2015) 81, of Zephyrhills passed away November 11, 2015. She was born January 11, 1934 in Zephyrhills to Felton and Maud (Hancock) Hill. Mrs. Kennedy was a longtime employee of Progressive Insurance Company. She is survived by a son, Richard Kennedy (Peggy) of Zephyrhills; grandson, Richard Kennedy II (Melinda) of Riverview, FL; two great grandsons, Richard Kennedy III and Josh Manning; great granddaughter, Shelby Manning; one brother, James Ira Hill (Cindy) of Shallote, NC; brother-in-law, Jim Kennedy (Lyndall) of Live Oak, FL; many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband Reuben Kennedy and a son, David Kennedy.

The family will receive friends from 12:00 - 1:00 pm Saturday, November 14, at Whitfield Funeral Home. Funeral Services will take place 1:00 pm at the funeral home.

Pictures From The First LARC Hamfest

Click on the image to see all photos of this event.

hamfestt1

Two Upcoming Hamfests

The Florida Gulf Coast Amat eur Radio Council Presents:
ARRL West Central Florida Convention Second Largest Hamfest in Florida
Location: Agricultural Center Strawberry Festival Grounds,
              2508 W. Oak Avenue Pl ant City, FL 33563
Date:       December 11-12, 2015
Times:     Friday, 1PM to 6PM—Saturday, 8AM to 4PM
Talk-in:   145.410 -, PL 131.8

For up-to-date information visit www.TampaBayHamfest.org

LARC contact person for this event is Don Jeerings. See Don for advanced ticket sales.

The Hamcation 2016 will be February 12, 13, and 14. 
The contact person for Hamcation is Bill Johnson. See bill for advanced ticket purchases, $13 each. Admission at the door will be $15.

Three New Licensees

From left to right, George, Glenn, Randy Penn, KM4NUZ, a new general, Donald Willets, KM4ORX,  new Tech, Ron, our most illustrious VE Coordinator Peggy, and Butch, KM4MJH, now a general. There is one other individual who made it into the picture. I doubt if he is interested in getting a license. My guess is he just feels comfortable hanging out with a great bunch of guys and gals.

Our Presenters This Evening Were Al and Andrew

Al,  introduced us to the latest digital mode, FSQ. His presentation along with Andrews has been posted on Yahoo Groups.

 

Andrew covered another two other digital modes, variants of VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol), of which the two most popular flavors are IRLP and Echo Link. 

And last, but not least,

     The Winner Is . . .

                              all of us!!!
    Thank you Molly for all your help. :-)

Employee Deductions and Amazon Smile

Excerpt from the LARC Board Of Directors Meeting, 2015,10,13

Mike presented his effort to date on making payroll deductions to LARC a reality. Donations of this sort are done through intermediary organizations, known as 501C3 aggregators. “Your Cause” is one example. Mike reported that his employer, AT&T, is on board with this. He is also working on the club’s participation in Amazon Smile program. It is important to note when applying for either to be sure to uses our official name. LARC’s official name is The Lakeland Repeater Association Inc. Use this name to use when contacting your employer or Amazon. Alternately, you can also use the club’s EIN number, which is 59-007638 . Finally, it is important that we keep the same bank.

Get Ready For A First

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Lakeland Police Department Open House 2015

Click here for images of the LPD 2015 Open House

Three With Bragging Rights And Another Great Performance by Daryl Davis

Left to right and pictured above are Richard, Glenn, Roger KG4GGG, a new Extra, Randy KM4NUZ a new Tech, Peggy VE Coordinator, and last but not least George. Also taking the test, but not able to make it to the beach was Austin Kline KM4DNB who passed the General.

Daryl Davis gave yet another rousing presentation, this time on the Arduino micro controller.These inexpensive devices are popular with many hams. Coupled with the right kind of sensor they can be made to display temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, distance, latitude and longitude, as well as drive servo and stepper motors. With the proper interface they can be made to turn most anything you can imagine on or off. At least one Amateur Radio on the market utilizes a micro controller from the same family as that on the Arduino Uno. This is the TenTec Rebel.

Once again, Christine Duez KK4KJN WCF Section Youth Coordinator filled us in on what she does. You can learn more about Christine and her activities with youth at CLICK HERE

September Picnic 2015

This year's fall picnic was a great success. There were lots of new faces, and plenty of old. All were invited. Some came, but because of family obligations had to eat and run.

For more photos of the even, please CLICK HERE

September 2015 General Meeting

First, we have good news.

Four new Techs. Left to right, George, Jamie Roeper KN4ENU, Robert Berganza KM4NES, Matthew Antos KM4NEV,Craig Stoizman KM4NET,  Peggy, and Richard.

Two new Extras. Left to Right, Glenn, George, Kirt KE0FHB, David KM4MJJ, Peggy, and Richard.

 Pinch hitting for Darrel who was a bit under the weather we had Christine Duez give a short talk on her mission with the ARRL.

Christine Duez KK4KJN WCF Section Youth Coordinator presented the case for her cause. You can learn more about her and her activities with youth at CLICK HERE

Keeping In Touch

 I thought it might be nice to share this. Many of you know Bob, and might enjoy learning what he is up to.


Hi Bill,

A lot has changed with LARC since our trip North to our summer home in Franklin, N.C. You now have a new meeting place, Field Day has come and gone, a Tail Gate, and now a picnic. I regret missing the meetings and all of those events. I expect to see familiar faces at the LARC meeting in November.

I have been very active with MARS ( Military Affiliate Radio System) and my interest in and proficiency with the Digital Modes is getting exercised regularly. You may recall Glen _ _ 4 K W, from Winter Haven presented PSK-31 at one of the LARC meetings two or three years ago. Since my hearing Sierra, Uniform, Xray, and my eye site is still good, I found digital modes fascinating. The list of digital modes I've used keeps growing. It all started with PSK-31, then on to MFSK, MT63, Olivia, RTTY, and THOR. Each of those modes also have a variety of parameters available. MARS has provided an opportunity to use Military developed Digital software some of which uses encryption / decryption and all kinds of 'secret' stuff. MARS operates outside of the Amateur Radio Band, but that doesn't mean you can't scan, find, and listen in. Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to provide MARS frequencies.

I participate with the local Franklin Amateur Radio Club, help out with the repeater site maintenance on the top of a mountain, serve as Net Control Station twice a month, and haven't missed but one meal. We meet to eat every week, alternating weekly breakfast and lunch at different area restaurants. If the month has a 5th Thursday, we have a dinner meeting. FYI, the trip UP to the repeater is a 7 1/2 mile drive on single lane gravel road up and around more curves than I care to count.

There are several folks in the Franklin Amateur Radio Club from Fl. The group made the XYL and I feel welcome on day one, and that was 3 years ago. If you plan a trip or vacation, don't forget to take your VHF radio along. You will meet the nicest people on the other end of the radio waves.
Thought you might want to share with the club.

73, wishing everyone good health.

Bob Van Orman / N4BVO / AFA4BV (AIR FORCE MARS)
813-713-2698
Zephyrhills, FL & Franklin, N.C.

P.S. Navy Marine Corp MARS will come to an end 30 Sept. 2015.
Air Force and Army MARS will continue to support the Department of Defense
with emergency communications if / when the need arises

Picnic This Saturday, September 19, 2015

For all you newcomers, we meet at one of the last pavilions in the park. Click the link for a map.Lake Parker Park If you are approaching the park on Granada, after turning off Lakeland Hills Blvd, take the second entrance on your left. The first leads to the soccer fields.

TARC FEST XXXIV

TARCFest Hamfest XXXIV

August 22nd, 2015

8:00am – 1:00pm

“Florida’s Friendliest Tailgate”

Set up for tailgaters begins at 7:00am

Trading opens up at 8:00am

Admission will be $4 per person children 12 and under free

Tailgating will be an additional $3

Indoor tables at $15.00 in advance

Great food and drink

W5YI VE Test Sessions after the Event

From I-4 Take the Hillsborough Avenue (US 92) exit west to 22nd Street and turn North on 22nd Street,
TARC is located at on the right at the end of 22nd Street.

From I-275 take the Sligh Avenue exit east to 22nd Street and turn North on 22nd Street, TARC is located
at on the right at the end of 22nd Street.

From I-75 take I-4 west to Hillsborough Avenue (US 92) exit west to 22nd Street and turn North on 22nd
Street, TARC is located at on the right at the end of 22nd Street.
See you there!

First Meeting At Our New Location August 2015

We have some new hams, and . . .

 Left to right George, Richard, Clifton Fussell KM4MJH, David Wilt KM4MJJ, Peggy, Al, Ringo, and Steve Munson KM4MJI.  Congratulations to all. David is now a General, Steve and Clifton are new Techs. All now have something to sing about.

were treated to a fine presentation by

Chet Carruth on the subject of antenna tuners. Chet's presentation is online on our Yahoo Group site, as are most all others. Chet is pictured below, doing his usual great job on a tough subject.

Thirty-five attended, including several first timers. That said, we still had room for more.

Wounded Warrior Walk

For more pictures of this event,

Wounded Warrior Walk 2015

LARC's New Home

Location Church in the Meadows, 2825 Winter Lake Rd., Lakeland, FL

Directions

Heads Up- Volunteers Needed For Wounded Warriors Walk

The 2015 Wounded Warrior Walk will be held on August 1, 2015 at 6AM (Yes, that is the one before breakfast.) at the First Presbyterian Church at 175 Lake Hollingsworth Drive in Lakeland.

The work and participation of the club last year was greatly appreciated. Several club members were approached by various workers from the previous year and thanked for the difference the club made to the event. As you can imagine, good radio communications put an end to much confusion, frustration, yelling, hair pulling, thrown punches and running back and forth. We were approached early on this year and asked for assistance in this most worthwhile of projects. One of the organizers has even asked to be paired up with her “awesome guy” from last year. Hmmmmmmm The folks who put it together do a great job and I personally felt honored to be a part of the project.

I guarantee that anyone who registers will have a part in this event. This year’s volunteers will all receive a T shirt if registered prior to the event. Don’t be left shirtless.

Please let me know as soon as possible by email to BillPaul@ij.net don’t forget to include a good phone number.

Wounded Warriors Needs You

LARC's White Night

Last evening we were very fortunate to have Ellen White, W1YL, share her ham radio experiences from High School to the present with us. Ham radio has been an integral part of Ellen's life, family and professional for many years.

During her presentation, Ellen passed around a memento from an era long ago when certain practices were more more acceptable. From its pristine condition, it is evident that this one has never been put into service. :-)

Here Ellen poses with Daryl Davis KT4WX, West Central Florida Section Manager.

Above are the members of the Florida Contest Group, who attended our meeting to hear Ellen speak. This group was founded by K4OJ, Ellen's son. Standing on the far left, proudly wearing the group's colors, and no stranger to the members of LARC is our very own, Bob Foxworth, K2EUH.

And the winner is... Chet Carruth! Chet AB4XK is the lucky winner of the grand prize of a radio valued at $609 dollars.

Congratulations are in order. We have a new Tech, David McQueary KM4LPR, from Sun and Fun. Dave is shaking hands with his Elmer, Don Jeerings.

Guest Speaker For July Ellen White

 

Above photo of Ellen White as a station engineer at KPOA, Honolulu (about 1948) She got that job not just because she held an FCC First Class Radiotelephone license (mandatory in those days) but also because she was a ham (KH6QI).....highly regarded technically in those early days.

Get your questions ready for Ellen. You won't have many opportunities to talk with someone with such a facinating background in ham radio.

ARRL Beginnings

One question you might have for our July guest speaker is "What was it like back then?" Ellen really wasn't around way back then, but far enough back to give you an insightful response to this and any other related questions you may have about the ARRL, and her 21 years of service there.

 Ellen was presented with a photo album on her retirement. Here are a few images from that album. Clearly, the ARRL has come a long way from its humble beginnings above the Hong Sing Laundry (second image down.)

Oh, and don't forget. The location of the July meeting will be Community Southern Bank on South Florida Avenue. Check earlier blogs for the exact location, picture of the bank, and even a map. See the sidebar on the right.--------------------------------------->

And now the pictures.

We Are Moving!

As some of you already know, the Presbyterian Church where we have been meeting for years has been sold. We were informed Monday that it is being converted into a school for the handicapped, and that we would no longer be able to use this facility.

But don’t panic. We have made arrangements to hold our meetings for the next few months at a nicer, and perhaps more convenient location for some. The new venue will be the Community Southern Bank, 3340 S. Florida Avenue. Please note, there is another bank, on the West side of the street named Community Bank of Florida. We do not meet there. Our meeting place is the Community Southern Bank on the East side about a 1,000 feet further South.

This will be our new home, at least for the interim:

There are a few things you should know, and we will remind you again, but there is no time like the present to start. First, the meeting room is accessed through a door separate from the bank entrance. Second, please use the ample parking in the rear, not the front. Third, do not block the drive through teller, ever.

Need directions? Click Here

Thursday Night Net,, July 2, 2015

Congratulations Go Out To Our Field Day Candidates

Congratulations to our new Extra, Geoffrey Carr KK4RRX.

Kevin Rought, KC4KWR is now General, and George Bartuska, KM4LNR is a new Tech

For more images taken on Field Day by Ringo Click Here