Wednesday, February 26, 2020

LARC Will Participate In First Friday Activities

First Friday


Every month, Downtown Lakeland shuts down the streets for First Friday events. Thousands of visitors every month enjoy a Classy Car Show, a Makers Market with crafters and artisans, and over 60 First Friday Exhibitors with goodies, giveaways, and special deals.

The LARC station will be in front of Palace Pizza, and directly across the street from Molly's . The event starts at 6:00 PM and goes until 9:00 PM. 

LARC will participate for four months, starting March 6th. All club members are encouraged to join in. We will have several working stations on site. Bill Paul will head up a Special Events Net for the occasion. ARES and CERT members will be there to showcase some of the club's activities that benefit the community. So bring your HT and join in the fun. If nothing else, call in just to keep Bill Paul busy.

Friday, February 14, 2020

Friday Breakfast February 14th 2020

Happy Valentine's Day Boys!

Thursday, February 13, 2020

Fitting 19th Century technology into 21st Century warfighting

CAMP LEJEUNE, NC, UNITED STATES

02.07.2020

Story by Cpl. Stephen Campbell 

II MEF Information Group


CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Feb. 7, 2020)— U.S. Marines with Information Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MIG) participated in a HAM Amateur Radio General Licensing Course as part of the group’s High Frequency Auxiliary Initiative on base, Jan. 27-31, 2020.

The course, taught by members of the Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club, out of Greenville, N.C., helps Marines learn the principles of high frequency radio operations as a contingency against a peer-to-peer adversary in real-world operations.

Throughout the duration of the course, Marines learned HAM radio frequency and propagation theory, frequency band allocation, conventional and field-expedient antenna theory in addition to HAM radio operations and control.

U.S. Marine Corps Col. Jordan Walzer, commanding officer of II MIG, created the High Frequency Auxiliary Initiative after recognizing the need for utilizing more options in a combat environment. He wanted the Marines to familiarize themselves with older technology to ensure their lethality in any situation.

“Embracing technology is great but overreliance leaves us vulnerable,” Walzer said. “In a peer-to-peer conflict, our space-based capabilities will be attacked. The next war will look less like ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and a lot more like ‘Ghost Fleet’.”

Contrary to Saving Private Ryan, which was fought utilizing traditional land-based maneuver warfare, Ghost Fleet is a book set in the near future and includes the addition of space and cyber warfare.

So wars of the past were fought in the air, on land and at sea, whereas future wars will likely include the addition of space warfare, explained Walzer. U.S. forces need to create a cohesion of modern technology and analog throwbacks to mitigate hackers and drones.

HAM radios make effective alternate communication because they do not rely on satellites or internet, but instead, radio waves. They can travel directly or indirectly, along the ground or by bouncing the radio waves off of the ionosphere or troposphere layers of the atmosphere to communicate.

“Right now, our adversaries are aggressively pursuing counter-space weapons to target our satellites and ground stations,” Walzer said. “If our satellites get knocked out, what do we do then? [High Frequency] radio has been around for well over a century and is still used today. Why? Because it’s a reliable, low-cost alternative to satellite communications. With the right training and education, a Marine with a radio and some slash wire can communicate over-the-horizon for long distances, even between continents.”

HAM radios, also known as amateur radios, are communication devices created in the late 1800s. Depending how much an individual is willing to spend on equipment, someone can talk to others across town or across the world, all without the need for an internet connection. Although most people use HAM radios as a hobby, II MIG views them as potential lifelines in a highly contested environment.

There are three courses taught on HAM radios by the Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club. The entry level class is called the technicians course, which gives people frequency privileges in very high frequency (VHF) and ultra-high frequency (UHF) bands and some privileges in the high frequency range. A frequency privilege is just another meaning for permission to use a specific frequency. The HAM Amateur Radio General Licensing Course is the intermediate level course, which allows spectrum privileges on almost all spectrums that the government gives amateur radio operators. The expert class license, also called Extra Class, gives users full privilege on any frequencies allocated to HAM radios.

“I think the course was very informative,” said Sgt. Matthew Griffith, an intelligence surveillance reconnaissance systems engineer with 2nd Radio Battalion, II MIG. “It’s good to learn the things that make our equipment work. In my area of this field we use the equipment but don’t [always] know how the equipment works on the inside, which sometimes makes it harder to troubleshoot if a problem arises. Leaving the course with this knowledge will be invaluable for my Marines and me in the future.”

Dave Wood, the president of the Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club and instructor of the course, plans to conduct the first expert level course in the future after enough Marines have graduated from the intermediate course. The club plans to host the next entry level course during the summer of 2020 and train more Marines.

“The volunteers who make up our High Frequency Auxiliary are absolutely vital to us building a world-class capability,” Walzer said. “We’re drastically improving our skill by pairing experts with Marines who have a passion for HAM radio. They may not wear the uniform, but they’re American patriots serving our country in a different way.”

Whether the next conflict is fought in air, on land, at sea, or in space, one thing is clear; Marines will adapt to face those threats whether it is with the technology of today or equipment of the past.

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

February 2020 Meeting

Eight Tested, And Eight Passed!

Congratulations Stacey KO4BOC and Jaimie KO4BMY
Left to right Stacey KO4BOA new Tech  VE Al, Jaimie KO4BNY new Tech, Vlad KX4TH, Florida Polytechnic's Radio Club President, and friend Peter.


Donald, KC3OUZ 
Standing outside his new Ham Shack with John, Donald proudly displays his certificate for passing the Technician Test.



Congratulations David KO4BNZ, AndonKO4BOC, Bob W3ERP and Chris KO4AWN
Two things are clear from this billboard. First, Ham radio is popular with all ages. Second, what's not to like about a team like this? From left to right, VE Al, David KO4BNZ new Tech, Andon KO4BOC new Tech, Bob W3ERP new Extra, Chris KO4AWN new General, and VE/VP John


Congratulations Gary KG4CYY new General
Left to right, VE Al, Gary KG4CYY new General, and Eleanor, LARC board member .


Young Republicans for Trump?


Mike Bresse And The MS Bike Tour

VP John Stanton discusses plans for this year's MS bike race with Mike Bresse.

Attendance Was High

Opening remarks by our President Mike

CALL FIRST LAST CLASS ARRL ARES SKYWARN CERT
AE4RM Roger Meadows '' Extra YES NO YES
K0ZD John Stanford '' Extra YES NO NO YES
K1DU Frederick Delaney '' Extra YES NO

K1OPQ David Perrin '' Extra YES NO NO
K2OU Gary Perkins '' Extra LIFE NO NO
K4EMT Sarah Clark '' Extra NO NO NO
K4JZ William Aten '' Extra LIFE YES YES
KB0QMN George Rezac General NO NO

KB4BDQ Judith Bukoski General LIFE NO NO
KB4FHP Joseph Lunsford General YES YES YES
KE4IPE Russell Gunter General NO NO

KG2G Bert Onachila '' Extra YES NO

KG4CYY Gary Davis Technician NO NO NO
KG4YNI Ernest Haynes '' Extra YES NO YES
KI4WRX David Zdanowicz '' Extra YES YES YES
KI4ZMV William Johnson '' Extra YES NO YES YES
KJ4UW George Mann '' Extra YES NO YES
KK4LYQ William Paul '' Extra YES YES YES
KK4OGM Ronald Herring '' Extra NO NO NO
KK4TSG Ronald Herring General NO NO NO
KK4VCN Eleanor Marshall General NO NO YES YES
KM4BAO Robert Doherty General YES NO YES YES
KM4STS Liam Holzer General NO NO NO
KM4STT Aimee Holzer '' Extra NO NO NO
KM4STU Leon Holzer General NO NO

KM4UYX Kenneth Kozla General NO NO NO
KN4FBD John McCullough General YES NO

KN4OTS Harley Leavitt General NO NO

KN4PIH Richard Lennon Technician NO NO
YES
KN4SAU John Beatty General NO NO NO
KN4UJI Larry Collins Technician NO NO YES
KN4VII Robert Sanchez Technician NO NO NO
KO4AWJ Glenn Smith Technician NO NO NO
KO4AWJ Glenn Smith Technician NO NO NO
KO4AWN Christopher Scott Technician NO NO NO
KT2T Michael Oliver '' Extra LIFE YES YES
N4ESS Richard Kennedy '' Extra LIFE NO YES
N4HCZ Robert Griggs '' Extra NO NO

N6MRS Michael Shreve '' Extra YES YES YES
N7CUC Samuel Shaver '' Extra NO NO NO
NC8I Robert Berquist '' Extra YES NO NO
NJ4Y Matthew Stevens '' Extra YES YES YES
W4EMT Eric Clark '' Extra NO NO NO
W4JFS John Sherwood Technician NO NO YES
W7STR Springer Rush '' Extra YES YES YES YES
WA4MMO Geoffrey Schuck '' Extra YES YES NO YES
WB6ZEQ Herman Smith '' Extra YES YES NO
WB8QQR Norman Nissen Advanced YES NO NO
WX4NEX Norman Xanders Technician NO YES YES








Guests






KA2BVC Al Pogue Extra



KA4NDY? Andy





KC3OUZ Donald Oliver Technician



KG4CYY Gary Davis General



KI4NBE George Gafford Extra



KM4YGW Gary Workman General



KN4YVE Kenneth Brock Technician



KN4ZOV? Byron





KO4ADY Orbin Lopez Technician



KO4AWN Christopher Scott General



KO4BNY Jaimie Davis Technician



KO4BNZ David Simon Technician



KO4BOA Stacey Carpender Technician



KO4BOC Andon Redman Technician



KR4R John Ritter Extra



KX4TH Vlad Fomitchev Extra



W2YS Michael Bresse Extra



W3ERP Robert Baltos Extra



W4MQB Barbara Ritter Technician




Aiden






Bob Kagel





Jami Rezac





Joan Haynes





Kathy Schuck