Happy New Year!

Good news! Thanks to Ernie KG4YNI becoming a SysOp we now have an EchoLink connection to our repeater. Echolink is very flexible and opens the world to Hams, even if all you have is a Tech license. With EchoLink you can literally go from your PC, smart phone, or tablet to any other EchoLink site in the world. If you happen to be traveling, or are a snowbird interested in keeping touch via the LARC repeater, EchoLink opens the door for you as well. Simply click on KG4YNI's node (781052), and you will be patched into the Lakeland repeater as if you were a local user.

You can learn more by clicking on the following link.  EchoLink Site

As far as EchoLink is concerned we are in North America, United States, Area 4. Following the links to this location you will see all the EchoLink sites in Area 4. Searching for the key word Lakeland will show all the sites for Lakeland. KG4YNI will be one of them. Simply click on it to open the Lakeland Repeater. 

So why not make a New Year's Resolution to add EchoLink to your Ham Radio Experience?

Happy New Year!

Tampa Bay Hamfest 2016

The Tampa Bay Hamfest was a great success. The new venue was much nicer that last year, and there was no shortage of vendors.
During this event, Ellen White became the first to receive the "Ellen White Award" for outstanding contributions to ham radio over the years. Ellen will tell you that it was her invitation to speak at LARC last year that got her back into ham radio, along with the support of several friends. Ellen, you are an inspiration to all of us.

And the winner is:
Bill KI4ZMV, LARC's secretary and blogmaster, who won grand prize in the drawing. Bill is a happy camper, and will make good use of this new tool to insure the next club build project, 2 meter, 70 centimeter j-poles are tuned properly after assembly.

Thankyou Rich For all You Have Done For LARC

 Rich N4ESS, outgoing president, now current board member, is presented with a token of appreciation on behalf of the board and members by the incoming president, Matthew KK4FEM.

The 2016 Christmas party is history. This was our first event in the new location. Like anything new, there is always a bit of trepidation.  Things went smoothly, due in no small part to a lot of planning and a dose of good luck. Please click here for more pictures.

Tampa Bay Hamfest December 9 &10, 2016

For more information, please go to Tampa Bay Hamfest

Our New Location Starting December 5th, 2016

The club will move its meeting place from Church In The Meadows to the Beaconhill Fellowship located at 220 West Beacon Road, Lakeland Fl  Link to the Beaconhill Fellowship

If  you are traveling South on Florida, turn right at the corner of Florida and West Beacon. The church will be about 300 feet down West Beacon and on your left.


This is a view going West on West Beacon.

Christmas Is Just Around The Corner

Each year we celebrate Christmas as a club on the first Monday of December, our regular meeting night. This year that would be December 5th. As in years past, Jimbo's will cater the event. There will be pulled pork, chicken, hush puppies, and beans. Bring a desert to pass. Ice tea will be provided, but if you prefer a different beverage, please feel free to BYO soft drinks.

If you have not already done so, please contact either Richard or me if you plan to attend.  Rich has to have an accurate count for Jimbo's. 

     Rich's email is:n4ess@tampabay.rr.com
     My email is: billkodak@verizon.net

The event will begin at six PM at our new meeting location "The  Beaconhill Fellowship 220 West Beacon Road, Lakeland Fl.Google Maps

November 7, 2016 Meeting

 Election LARC 2016

The ballots have been counted and we have a new President and Vice President. All other names on the ballot were reelected to serve another year. Congratulations to our new President and Vice President elect, Matthew Stevens and Bob Doherty.

 

And we have a new Extra, who tested with a perfect score no less!

Congratulations  Sam, N7CUC. Fine job.

Does Anyone Know Who This Woman Is?

If you have any information on the identity of this young lady, please contact Glenn Goodale.

October Picnic 2016

See more images of the picnic by clicking on this link October 2016 picnic

October 22nd

Thanksgiving Is A Time To Be Thankful and Helpfull Too

Picture Perfect Day for LPD Open House

As in the past years, LARC was there to support the LPD Open House. The day started with some rain, but that didn't dampen anyone's spirit. At the end of the rainbow there was a silver lining.

More images from the same event follow:

All Bags Look Alike

Don't Lose That Grandkid!

Silver Springs Radio Club Hamfest

J-Pole Project

J-Pole project

Rich mentioned the J-pole project at the last meeting. The design we will use is the Arrow 2 meter 70 cm dual band J-pole. I have used one of these for years, and found it to be a great performer.

You can find full instructions along with performance data for this antenna at:
http://www.arrowantennas.com/osj/j-pole.html
 http://www.arrowantennas.com/inst/OSJ146440.pdf
 http://www.arrowantennas.com/inst/igif/ijpole3.gif

Arrow sells this antenna for  $49 dollars, ready to assemble. We think we can put together a package for club members costing less than half that amount.

All the cutting, drilling, threading and tapping will be done for you. All you will have to do is assemble the pieces. Of course you will want to check your work before taking it home. There will be someone with an antenna analyzer at the meeting to help you with this.

Here is a photo of the base. Note, the element to the right is quite tall, 57 inches, and only a portion is shown.

We will have to purchase aluminum stock well in advance, and have lead-time to do the cutting, drilling, tapping, and threading that needs to be done to make your assembly easy. So, if you are interested, you must let me know who you are ahead of time.

Please email billkodak@verizon.net  with  j-pole in the subject, and a short note stating who you are, and that you want to purchase a kit. Again, our goal is to keep the price in the $20 to $25 dollar range.

October's Meeting Was A Success

Dr. Bob Chapman gave an enthusiastic lecture on the subject of Savantism to a packed house of members and guests. All toll, there were forty-nine attendees. Though the subject did not involve radio, it clearly was of general interest to the group.

Our October Speaker, Dr. Bob Chapman with Al, W4ZSC, chatting about his topic, “Savants”.


Congratulations - Job Well Done! The world now has four new Techs, and one, soon to be be reinstated, General. Five candidates took tests, and all five passed. Congratulations to all. You deserve a break, after all the hard work that goes into preparing for the exams.

 From left to right Ron, Tim, Gary, Peggy, Bob, Philip, Rich, Justin, George, and Glenn

October Meeting Guest Speaker Dr. Robert “Bob” Chapman On Savants

Savants can be defined as persons who, despite significant mental disability, demonstrate exceptional mental capabilities in limited areas. Perhaps you have seen the movie Rain Man, or have been exposed to savants on several of the 60 Minute programs. At the October meeting, Dr. Robert “Bob” Chapman will discuss the history of recognition of the disorder and focus on three "megasavants" who show extraordinary abilities. He will also discuss acquired savantism in persons who sustain brain injury. This is a rare opportunity for us, and you won't want to miss this meeting.

In Keeping With Our Mission Of Service

Your contributions of food, plastic bags, and folding stuff will be put to good use.

Roy Bucher's Wife, Mary, Passed Away August 1, 2016

Mary L. Bucher, 83, Berlin PA

• Aug 1, 2016

BUCHER
Mary L. Bucher, 83, Berlin, died August 1, 2016 at Memorial Medical Center, Johnstown. Born April 17, 1933 in Washington, daughter of the late William and Amelia (Carter) Lash. Survived by her husband of almost 60 years, Roy C., whom she married on Nov. 23, 1956; and cousins: Larry Carter, Jamestown, NY, and Rob Adamson, Sandy Lake. She was a graduate of Bethlehem Center High School and a 1955 graduate of California University of Pa. She taught school for 31 years in the Berlin Brothersvalley School District and was a substitute for many years. Member of Trinity United Church of Christ, Berlin, Pius Spring Woman’s Club, and the Berlin Lutheran Church needlepoint group. Life member of the National Education Assoc. and the Pennsylvania State Education Assoc. Family will receive friends from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday atDeaner Funeral Home, Berlin, where service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday. the Rev. Tom Sprowls officiating. Interment Berlin I.O.O.F. Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be given to the Berlin Lions Club, P.O. Box 255, Berlin, PA 15530 with a notation for the Berlin Leo Club Scholarship Fund. DeanerFuneralsAndCremations.com

August 1, 2016 General Meeting

This Meeting Was All About Digital

Left to right, we have Jeff Goldensoph, K4JEW, and our guest speaker Chris Bloxsom, AA4CB. The topic for this evenings program was digital communications world wide using hand held, mobile and base stations.

Liam and his dad Leon, KM4STU look at one of the new digital capable radios from Yaesu. Ilam, KM4STS just earned his General License. He is very proud of this accomplishment, and that he will be entering the third grade next year. :-) Mom, Aimee KM4STT is equally proud of her son's accomplishment.

And People
Happy Birthdays to Norma and Don

For more images taken at this meeting Click Here

August Meeting - All About Digital Past, Present, And Future

The August 1st 2016 LARC meeting will have guest speaker Chris Bloxsom, AA4CB. Chris is a member of EPARS, East Pasco Amateur Radio Society, GCARC, Gulf Coast Amateur Radio Club, and ZAARC, Zephyrhills Area Amateur Radio Club. He will have several rigs on display for you to look at and ask questions about at the end of his presentation as well as some information directly from Yaesu. Chris is one of the EPARS people that have a great understanding of digital modes,C4FM, Wires X, and many more. A DV4Mini operating regularly from his tablet that affords him operation on several different types of digital repeaters C4FM, D-Star, and DMR. 

We will be exposed and enlightened to all of these and more with the ability to ask questions of a fellow ham that can answer your questions about several modes available to all of us. The new hams with Technicians will find a wealth of information that will allow them to communicate around the world on just their handheld.

Please come out to the August meeting and take part in this interesting presentation. If all of that is not enough, then look no further, there will be cake too.

Rich Kennedy - N4ESS

President

Lakeland Amateur Radio Club

LARC Supports The Lakeland Warrior Walk

Once again, LARC supported a charitable Lakeland event. This time it was the Lakeland Warrior Walk. LARC members and Amateur Radio proved to be a valuable asset. We helped insure an orderly parking of cars, and were able to assist an injured walker while patrolling the route. Service is one of the three legs of the stool our club rests on.

Wounded Warrior Walk Saturday July 23, 2016

7th Annual Warrior Walk Lakeland

Saturday  23 July  2016  8:00 AM    Saturday  23 July  2016 3:00 PM 

First Presbyterian Church of Lakeland, Florida

175 Lake Hollingsworth Dr, Lakeland, FL, 33801, United States

7th Annual Warrior Walk Lakeland. The purpose of this event is to honor our U.S. Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines who have been killed in action while serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

All proceeds this year will be going to the Global War on Terrorism Freedom Memoiral.

LARC Hamfest II Coming UP!

July 4, 2016 QRP And More

 Badges
All new members get a name tag. If your wife is a ham, or would occasionally like to attend meetings, and would like a badge, we will have one made for her as well. In the picture below, Rich is handing a badge to new club member, Sam Shaver.

John Leahy On QRP
We had two presenters this evening. The first, John Leahy, spoke on his approach to QRP. John demonstrated his QRP Go Kit, which included radio, tuner, power/swr meter, battery, a rather unique pair of antennas, and an unusual Morse Code key.

The power source for John's radio is a small emergency battery located at the bottom this innovative adaptation of an ammo case. 

 

 John uses three different techniques for matching the the impedance of the various antennas he uses, to his radio's impedance. There is an MFJ tuner inside the case. This is used for a simple dipole and for for some experimental antennas like the loop he demonstrated. The vertical John demoed has a built in adjustable loading coil at its base. I works much like the motorized versions found on many mobile rigs, except it is manual. The third matching device is the matching transformer shown below. This is used in combination with an end-fed long wire antenna. You can find instructions for winding one of these at http://www.zaarc.org/Endfed6_40.pdf

 

It might be worth you time to give John's site a visit. It contains lots of interesting information. 

ZAARC

 Don Jeerings On Electromagnitism

Our second speaker of the evening was Don Jeerings. Don needs no introduction. Tonight's demonstration was the magnetic field generated around a conductor. The thing that made Don's demonstration unique is that he chose a carbon filament light bulb as his conductor. By placing a strong magnet near the current carrying filament, he was able to demonstrate the interaction between the magnetic field of the filament, and a strong external magnet. Sure enough, when the magnet was brought close to the lit bulb, the filament started to oscillate at 60 cycles per second.  

As will all Don's presentations, they are great photo ops. Here George is recording for posterity the the effects of electromagnetism in action.

Message From The President July, 2016

Hello to all,

The July meeting of LARC was especially good. We had John Leahy, KK4ITX, give a talk on portable operations to include a great “Go Kit”, and a couple of great antennas for portable use. See more on the equipment on John’s page at: http://zaarc.org/ There is lots of great information there to be had.

Secondly we had Don Jeering, KI4EFL, talk on magnetism with an interesting visual presently. Thanks to both of our speakers for these information presentations. 

The rest of the year is upon us with the months just flying by. 23 July 2016 presents us with a couple of events. First we have the LARC tailgate at The Revolution Church, at the intersection of Kathleen Rd and Duff Rd. Lakeland. It starts at 7am and should be over by 1pm. There will be tailgating and inside tables. Contact Kevin Rought, N4KWR, for information and tables. ALSO, that same day will be the 7th Annual WARRIOR WALK Sat. July 23rd 2016 / Time: 8am* First Presbyterian Church lawn. Volunteers will be needed for the event communications. 

The next few months will feature a picnic, date to be decided. Some great presentations, and then November will arrive with elections for the next group of individuals to lead our club in the coming year. There will be some old faces return and a new President to elect. The past three years have gone by quickly and it is time for a new person to guide this club on its future endeavors. I will be sitting in the audience and taking part in events but listening to the new ideas that will inspire and entertain us. I may even do a presentation or two in the coming years. We will also be looking for a hospitality person to take care of refreshments, coffee, cookies, and the like. Your charge is that of the coffee pot and its accessories, the picnic box with paper plates, fork, spoon, and the like. The coffee pot to each meeting and the picnic box to Field Day and the picnics about 3 a year. There you have it. 

To answer your question: No I am not leaving. I am just passing along the activities of the club to those that may do it better than me. I will be sitting in the audience and taking part in the activities as so many of our past officers do at this time. 

If you desire one of these positions let me know. Now is the time to start thinking about running for an office. You have a whole board to help you on your way. The past officers will always lend a hand.

See you at the tailgate or Warrior Walk or both.

Rich Kennedy - N4ESS

President

Lakeland Amateur Radio Club

Field Day 2016 Photos

Click Here For Photos 

I Cant Believe It Is That Time Of Year Again!

Our plans for this year are very similar to the past few years. We plan
on having food available from setup on Saturday to breakfast on Sunday.

As we have in the past, we request that all members bring a dish to share
with everyone for our Saturday dinner at 6pm. In the past few years, we have shared a
wonderful "spread" from salads to cakes, baked beans to cookies! The Club will be
providing the hamburgers and hot dogs and all of the condiments.

Please remember to furnish your own drinks. The Club will provide water
and coffee.

Reminders and updates will be sent out during the week.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact me at
ki4cdy@arrl.net.

Thank you and see you there!

Patrick O'Neil
KI4CDY

For all you new members, the location will be the same as in years past. We will start setting up early Saturday morning at Hunt Fountain Park. Directions

June 2016 Meeting

And we have a new Tech, and a new Extra! Left to right, George, John (our newest VE), Giovanni KM4UOZ a new Tech, Peggy VE Coordinator, Mitchell KM4SHD Extra, and Richard.

 

Our fearless leader introducing the main speaker for the evening, Bog Siegel.

In spite of the bad weather we had an excellent turnout. 

Can anyone identify these two love birds in the corner?

Bob giving his presentation.

Last but not least,  Fred reminded us that Field Day is coming up. We did well last year, and expect to do even better this year.

Congratulations Andrew

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Stevens

are pleased to announce the

 graduation of their son

Andrew Michael Stevens

with Highest Honors

from Cornerstone Christian Academy

Auburndale, Florida

Class of 2016

Congratulations Andrew from all the LARC members. We wish you the best of luck with your future plans.  We have seen you in operation, and have every confidence that you will choose well, and will do well at whatever you choose to do in life.

Lakeland Amateur Radio Club invites you to

attend our “2016 ARRL Field Day" event!

Field Day is an annual event sponsored by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). Every year, Hams from all over the country set up radios and spend a full 24 hours operating them.   Visitors are encouraged to watch and learn. A special station will be available for "non-HAMS" so they can learn how easy it is to "Get on the Air".

 This is a great way to see what "Amateur Radio" is all about...

Refreshments will be served provided by our local sponsors and the Lakeland Amateur Radio Club We will be operation round the clock contacting hundreds of stations around the world! Our operators will be using the following types of stations: High Frequency (HF) Radio, Very High Frequency (VHF) Radio, Morse Code, Automatic Position Reporting System (APRS), Echo Link (A digital Mode using the internet and VOIP) and various Digital modes!

Visitors are Welcome - FREE Admission - Door Prizes - Food!

When? Saturday, June 25th 2016 and Sunday, June 26th 2016   Open 2:00PM Sat thru 2:00 PM on Sun.

Setup for the event will begin at day break Saturday June 25^th somewhere around 6am.

Where? Hunt Fountain Park, located at Duff and Green Roads in North Lakeland

For More Information visit our Web Site at www.LakelandARC.org

Pat Morris Told Me About This Event At Monday's Meeting

The web site will tell you that the event is full, but Pat will ask that they set out a few more chairs for us. Chapter Meeting and IT Events View this email in your browser

(ISC)2 Tampa Chapter Meeting Reminder The upcoming quarterly meeting is scheduled for Saturday, June 18th at South University of Tampa. The meeting is from 10:00 AM till 1:00 PM. 10:00 - 11:30 : Chapter Meeting 11:30 - 12:00 : Lunch 12:00 - 1:00 : Tech Presentation Guest Presenter Joe Blankenship - Software Defined Radio Chapter meeting are open to anyone with a interest in IT security. No (ISC)2 credential required to attend meeting. Please RSVP by clicking the link below: REGISTRATION

Joe Blankenship : Founder and president of the Cyber Geography Research Institute International. CGRII is an all-volunteer, 501c3 nonprofit organization which aims to explore and define cyberspace via geographic principles.

May 2016 Meeting

 A Note From The President

Hello to all,

I want to thank everyone that came out last night to our LARC club meeting. We had a group of 53 show up for the meeting. A check of the records show that we now have 83 dues paying members in our club. We had one person test and pass the extra class exam and that was John Leahy, KK4ITX. Congratulations to our new extra class. 

The March for Babies, March of Dimes event on April 30 had a good turnout and we were able to man the stations around Lake Hollingsworth with no problems. Our youngest member Liam Holzer, KM4STS, 8 years old, got his parents Aimee, KM4STT, and Leon, KM4STU, out to assist him. Liam manned his post and reported in on his HT. I asked if he drove to the meeting but he let Mom and Dad take care of the transportation. 

We had the pleasure of having several visitors to the club. We welcomed Duane Archibald, N4WDH, of Wesley Chapel, president of the East Pasco Amateur Radio Society, EPARS. Thanks for coming Duane. We were also fortunate to have a couple of visitors that are getting interested in amateur radio and stopped by to see what they could learn about our hobby. We will see them back in the next few months for their technician tests.

Fred Delaney, K1DU, is getting us ready for field day and is getting the signup sheets filled with operators. Please contact Fred and get ready to support LARC field day. Fred does a great job of organizing this event each year and takes great pride in making sure that we are successful. Thanks Fred.

Matthew Stevens spoke on the use of Log Book of the World, LOTW, and how to get started in using this useful tool. 

Next meeting Bob Siegel, WA4YFN, will be speaking on generators and emergency power. Bob has years of business experience in this a rea and will bring some great information to the meeting. I look forward to hearing his presentation.

Al Sheppard, W4ZSC, was with us in spirit as he is in India at this time having just traveled from Dubai and will be back later this week.

Thanks to all and see you soon,

Rich Kennedy - N4ESS

President

Lakeland Amateur Radio Club

813-240-5614

n4ess@tampabay.rr.com

Congratulations John, KK4ITX now Extra!

Matthew did an outstanding job, and on very short notice, on the Log Book Of The World.

Kevin updated the group on his and Matthew's experience working Florida State Parks.

The room was packed. I counted over 54 attendees.

 Request for Assistance
During the meeting Mike Shreve offered the group an opportunity to help out at an upcoming event. The event is called the Citrus Tour and will take place on May 21-22.

There are a number of volunteer openings, both for fixed positions and mobile volunteers (drivers or passengers). Anyone interested in volunteering, should register at www.citrustourradio.org. Your name will be added to the roster from there. 

There is also a  Facebook page, at Citrus Tour Radio Support.

Michael Shreve