PCARC Business Meetings are at the Bay County EOC for Now.

We have permission to use classroom 101 at the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) for the Business Meetings at 7 PM on the 1st Wednesday of the month until further notice. The clubhouse in Millville is currently out of service. The ARES group will meet the second Thursday of the month at the Bay County EOC at 7 PM.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the Panama City Amateur Radio Club!

The story behind the video and the live version below.

ARES Net Starting in Northwest Florida

An Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) net is being established in Northwest Florida. The net will be on Thursdays at 1900 CST except for the second Thursday of the month. The net will be on the AC4QB repeater 145.330 pl 100. This will be a directed net run by Mark Cantrell KD4IMA. Note the first net will be on 12/4/2018 at 1900 CST. After that, it will be on Thursdays. This info was provided by the Bay County Emergency Coordinator Matt Kenedy W9NDN.

Panama City ARC Post Michael Update

The Panama City ARC clubhouse sustained roof damage and the tower failed during Hurricane Michael. Until further notice, meetings at the clubhouse will be limited to business meetings on the first Wednesday of the month. Checking into the Monday night 7 PM two-meter net on the W4RYZ repeater 145.210 is a good way to get the latest status on the club. Gary Bills AJ4KY says arrangements can be made for license testing on the weekends.

Thanks to the volunteers who put a tarp on the clubhouse roof, cleaned up the fallen ceiling tiles and disassembled the club tower. Bob Leasko WB8PAF, our club president, is leading the recovery. Members, please give Bob WB8PAF and the other officers your support to return the clubhouse to full service.

Have fun with Packet Radio in Bay County, Florida

Packet Radio has started up again here in Bay County, Florida. Bob KK4DIV has a Bulletin Board System BBS at his home in Lynn Haven. The frequency is 145.050 on 2 Meter FM.  Connect to KK4DIV-1 for the BBS. Also, check out the chat server at KK4DIV-2. An introduction to Packet Radio is here.

The traditional way to do packet radio is using a hardware Terminal Node Controller (TNC). They are many TNCs for sale on EBay.  Most of them have a serial interface to the computer. You will need a USB to Serial Converter. There are some new ones for sale that have a USB interface like the Timewave PK-96 TNC available ar HRO. The radio to TNC interface can be homemade or purchased from BuxComm. If you like, do research on sound card TNCs and try them out. I have not tried a KISS TNC so I am unsure how well they will work.

Packet radio is an alternative way for hams to communicate locally. The more who participate the more fun it will be. Bob KK4DIV is experimenting with forwarding messages to the WinLink system via HF. Personally, I want to use packet to send Field Day messages for the bonus points. I am on packet radio as N4KGL and my Personal Mail Drop is at N4KGL-1

73

Greg N4KGL

Study Materials for the New Technician Test Question Pool.

The Technician Class question pool has been updated and is valid for July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2022. See updated aids below.

The new Technician Class No-nonsense Study Guide is a free download at https://www.kb6nu.com/study-guides/ 

The Gordon West 2018-2022 Technician Class Book is available at Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/2018-2022-Technician-Class-Gordon-West/dp/0945053908/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1532120222&sr=8-2&keywords=gordon+west+technician+class

Technician Practice Exams: https://hamexam.org/exam/15-Technician

Technician Question Pool: https://hamexam.org/view_pool/15-Technician

Amateur radio license tests are given at Panama City ARC 130 N. Church Avenue Panama City, FL. at 6 PM on the third Wednesday of the month. The test fee is $14. Bring an ID. You can take your General Class or Extra Class test at the same session with no extra charge. Gary Bills AJ4KY is the test coordinator.

Panama City ARC is Gearing Up for the 2018 ARRL Field Day Event

The Panama City ARC will be participating in the 2018 ARRL Field Day on June 23/24th. This year the club will be at their clubhouse at 130 N, Church Ave in Panama City, FL. The club will operate Class D using the rigs in the clubhouse and outside in the park. All local hams are welcome to get involved. Marv KK4DIV is the Field Day coordinator for the club. Attend the June 20th club 7 PM meeting for more details. Field Day demonstrates an emergency capability but is also lots of fun. The club will contact as many other Field Day stations as possible in the 24 hour period starting 1 PM CDT on Saturday. The club call sign W4RYZ will be used.

Shell Island One Day Getaway Expedition, May 12th

The Panama City Amateur Radio Club W4RYZ will activate Shell Island, Florida, USI FL401S, on Saturday, May 12, 2018, from 13:30 to 1630 UTC. Operations will primarily be on 40 and 20 meters SSB using 100 watts. This is part of the US Islands One Day Getaway (1DG). See usislands.org for more info.  The Island will also count for K-1917 Parks On The Air POTA.

Previous 1DG on Shell Island

Frank KC8VKA

Sights and Sounds from the Panama City ARC Spring Tailgate

Bob Plank KK4DIV recorded some of the activity of the tailgate at the clubhouse including satellite pass, a fox hunt, and HF portable operations. The event included some tasty BBQ and social time for the participants.

Panama City ARC Spring Tailgate May 5th

The Panama City Amateur Radio Club is sponsoring a tailgate on Saturday, May 5th  9 AM until 1 PM.

• Panama City Amateur Radio Club, 130 N. Church Ave Panama City, FL
• Talk-in repeater is W4RYZ 145.210 negative offset 100 Hz tone.
• Parking is in the field behind the clubhouse.
• Buy, sell or swap ham radio gear.
• Limited tables in the clubhouse on a first come first serve basis.  
• Pulled pork will be available.  If you like, bring a side dish or dessert.
• License testing will be at 1 PM. Bring $14, picture ID and a copy of license if upgrading. 
• Questions about this event can be sent to panamacityarc@gmail.com.

Portable Operating Opportunities in April

The April weather in Northwest Florida is usually pretty good. Take advantage of the weather by operating amateur radio outdoors. Several events are coming up. 

RaDAR Challenge - April 7th  See the rules at http://radarops.co.za/index.php/radar-rules/

Florida State Parks On The Air Contest - April 7 & 8. See the rules at http://flspota.org/rules/

QRP To The Field (QTTF) - April 21st See the rules at http://www.zianet.com/qrp/qrpttf/2018/ttf.htm

Operating in our State Parks would be covered under Parks On The Air (POTA). See https://parksontheair.com/

Portable operating venues in driving distance from Panama City are covered in the Panama City Area Portable Activators Guide - See http://portableactivatorsguide.blogspot.com/

Nets of Interest

The Panama City ARC Two Meter Net is on the W4RYZ 145.210 Repeater each Monday at 7PM.

The Northern Florida Phone Net (NFPN) meets seven evenings a week on about 3950 kHz at 1930 Eastern Time (1830 Central), the year round, LSB as a regular part of ARRL's National Traffic System. Its primary purpose is to handle routine message traffic and to train net members and net control operators in message handling and net procedures.

The North Florida ARES Net that meets Wednesday 8 AM local time on the hotspot. Use the quick key method to check in as directed by the NCS. The KK4IQW hotspot is available to everyone with D-Star capability. The hot spot allows you to connect to reflectors and repeaters via the internet. Please use it and enjoy. FREQUENCY:144.9050 MHz CALL SIGN: KK4IQW

The North Florida  6M AM Net meets Sunday at 7:00 pm CST/8:00 pm EST on 50.400 MHZ from Marianna, Florida. I am on a directional antenna so please be patient, and I will get around to your direction. I start out East and work counter clockwise. We are adding the opportunity to check-in via Echo-Link for those that sometimes can't hear net control due to band conditions. The number is 438183. This is the W4BKD repeater in Marianna. K4KHV will be listening for anyone wishing to check-in during the net tonight. W4ICU Alec

The South Coast Amateur Radio Service, popularly known as "South-Cars", or "SCARS" is a service net, (recognized by the ARRL), whose purpose is to assist those seeking to contact other amateur radio stations, or areas; to provide weather and travel information when needed and when available; to assist in emergencies. All amateur radio stations with a general class license or above are welcome. We do not handle formal traffic, but can and will in the event of an emergency. South-Cars is in operation every day of the year. Net times are 8 AM until 1 PM, all times are Eastern. Net operations are conducted on 7.251mhz (40 meters).

14.300 MHz has become a very well known frequency in the Amateur Radio world. There are three major nets in the Western Hemisphere that operate on 14.300 MHz. From early morning until late evening the frequency is busy with traffic of one form or another. Begining at 0700 ET daily, The Intercon Net, formally know as The Intercontinental Amateur Traffic Net, starts out the day. Intercon runs until 1200 ET before handing the frequency over to The Maritime Mobile Service Network. The MMSN, which also runs daily, operates from 1200 ET until 9 PM EST / 10 PM EDT or 0200 UTC. After The MMSN raps up The Pacific Seafarers Net begins operation at 10 PM EST / 11PM EDT or 0300 UTC and runs various lengths of time, depending on traffic load, but usually about 2 hours or less.