Season's Greetings from PCARC

 PCARC,

I want to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your families.

Have a safe and joyous holiday season!

Marv

KK4DKT

President PCARC

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

 

Earth-Moon-Earth on a Budget by VA3ECO

Chris VA3ECO gives an update on his moon bounce project. This was recorded during our Nov 25th, 2024, Beginner's Academy Zoom. Check out our other talks at https://www.youtube.com/@W4RYZ/playlists

Panama City Fall Tailgate, Oct 12th

Hello, Fellow Ham Operators:

We would like to inform you that the Panama City Amateur Radio Club is celebrating its semi-annual Fall Tailgate Gathering and Sale on the 12th of October from 9am to 1pm, or until everyone has had their fill. We will have old and semi-new electronic equipment and parts on the block for barter by the deserving. AND... you can bring your own Ham or electronic equipment to sell or trade.

Bring a table to set up and clear out that basement stockpile of your no longer-needed shack equipment. Our clubhouse is overflowing with goodies and/or boat anchors to the point that our members need more places to rest during our meetings. See what bargains you can find that will perfectly complement your shack.

Here is a link to our Facebook Event Page that tells you all about it:

https://www.facebook.com/share/hRMcb7A1VAh2oEKH/

Then, dig into the Discussion tab to see more pictures.

Go to the site, look, and be amazed, then plan to come. That's October 12, 2024, from 9 a.m. to whenever everyone leaves with smiles on their faces.

130 N. Church Ave.

Panama City, Florida 32401-4900

We'll be expecting you,

73

Don Bowers,   NX4O

Two Meter FM Frequencies for Bay County Weather Events

Doug KN4PFZ  suggests most amateurs make contact on the calling channel 146.520 or the 145.210 repeater.   In its new location, the .210 will be resilient.   If we run a Skywarn net, it would be on the 145.210.

The N4KGL-R Echolink node is on the 145.210 repeater. It depends on the mains power and the internet.

146.565 is another Bay County simplex frequency.

Greg N4KGL

Heads Up for the RaDAR Rally

RaDAR is Rapid Deployment Amateur Radio. The next RaDAR Rally is Nov 2nd, 2024. We cover how you can participate in our Beginner's Academy Zoom Meeting recorded on Sept 9th, 2024. Visit www.radarrally.info and join the RaDAR group on groups.io for more info.

Northern Lights and Meteors in the Ontario Sky

Chris VA3ECO shows us videos of the northern lights and meteors from his vantage point at Lake Of The Woods, Ontario. These amazing videos were captured with inexpensive security cameras. Chris uses these events for scatter propagation on his ham radio. This is a recording of our August 12th, 2024, Beginner's Academy Zoom.

Beginner's Guide for Echolink

EchoLink® software allows licensed Amateur Radio stations to communicate with one another over the Internet using streaming audio technology. The program allows worldwide connections between stations or from computer to station, greatly enhancing Amateur Radio's communications capabilities. There are over 350,000 validated users worldwide—in 159 of the world's 193 nations—with about 6,000 online at any given time.
You can use N4KGL-R to access the Panama City ARC repeater and W4DHN-R to access the Dothan, AL repeater. This talk was recorded from the Aug 6th, 2024, Beginner's Academy Zoom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZESxPsVj3ZA&t=51s

FYI,

Greg N4KGL

N4KGL's 2024 ARRL Field Day

For the 2024 ARRL Field Day, Rick NZ2I of Panama City and I operated from Eastbank Campground in Southwest Georgia on the East side of Lake Seminole. We were a two-operator, two-transmitter Class B Battery entry. We got 350 contacts for 3500 points plus 450 bonus points. The heat was brutal, but we still had fun. Here are some photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/nfWibga1dUe8SRLh8. I listed Panama City ARC as my club to help the aggregate score.

Enjoy,

Greg N4KGL

Bay County, FL Field Day June 22/23, 2024

The Bay County ARES Group will operate ARRL Field Day at the Alternate EOC at the Majette Community Center. A planning/info meeting will be at the Community Center at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 20th, 2024. The setup for Field Day will be from 8 am until noon on June 22nd. Field Day will start at 1 pm CDT and continue for 24 hours. All interested in ham radio are welcome to visit/participate. For more info on ARES, see https://www.baycountyares.org/home.

Field Day is ham radio's open house. Every June, more than 40,000 hams throughout North America set up temporary transmitting stations in public places to demonstrate ham radio's science, skill and service to our communities and our nation. It combines public service, emergency preparedness, community outreach, and technical skills all in a single event. Field Day has been an annual event since 1933, and remains the most popular event in ham radio.

2024 ARRL Field Day Beginner's Guide

ARRL Field Day is the single most popular on-the-air event held annually in the US and Canada. On the fourth weekend of June of each year, thousands of radio amateurs gather with their clubs, groups, or simply with friends to operate from remote locations. Check out your local club's plans or camp out with a few friends.

Beginner's Guide to Radio Propagation Indexes

Propagation indexes help determine the reliability of high-frequency amateur radio bands for long-distance communications. This was the topic of our May 20th Beginner's Academy Zoom.

Beginner's Guide to the Florida QSO Party 2024

The Florida QSO Party is April 27/28. Don't miss it.  See FQP details at https://floridaqsoparty.org/. This was the topic of our April 22nd, 2024, Beginner's Academy Zoom.

Florida QSO Party coming on April 27 & 28, 2024

 

The 2024 Florida QSO Party is *this weekend*; we sure hope you'll join us.  All 67 counties will be active.

Please check out the 2023 FQP results and much more at our Web Site: http://www.floridaqsoparty.org/

The Florida QSO Party
Object: Everyone works Florida, Florida works Everyone
Activate and work ALL Florida counties
Have as much FUN as possible!

When: April 27 & 28, 2024
Two ten hour operating periods, with a ten hour break:
Saturday, April 27 1600Z (Noon EDT) – April 28 0159Z (9:59 PM EDT)
Sunday, April 28 1200Z (8 AM EDT) - 2159Z (5:59 PM EDT)
20 Hours total

Exchange: RST and County (Florida stations)
RST and QTH (State, Province or Country for non-FL)

Where: 10, 15, 20 and 40 Meters

SUGGESTED OPERATING FREQUENCIES:

CW:       7.020-7.045, 14.025-14.055, 21.030-21.050, 28.030-28.050 MHz

Phone:  7.185-7.245, 14.240-14.295, 21.320-21.350, and 28.450-28.480 MHz
Contacts outside these frequency ranges are still valid; see rules for details.

MOBILE WINDOW:
We expect several Mobile stations will be on and most can be found here:
CW:  7.025-7.035, 14.040-14.050, 21.040-21.050, 28.040-28.050 MHz
If you are not mobile, *please* refrain from calling CQ in these windows.

Categories:
Single Op, Multi Op, Multi-Multi, Mobile, Expedition, Technician and School.
Three power levels: QRP, Low, and High Power.
Use CW, SSB or both.

 

Special Event Award- 2024 FQP Spelling Bee! 

We will have a total of 12 special 1x1 stations whose suffixes spell KEYS.  There will be three stations per suffix.  Contact at least one station of each suffix letter spelling KEYS to earn this award.  These stations will be on both modes and should be very accessible. QSL these 1x1 calls active in FQP via KU9C direct or via Logbook of The World (LoTW).    

The call signs and hosts are: 

CALL    HOST    CTY      

K4K       AI4WW  BRO

N4K       N4WW  ORA

W4K      N4OX    ESC

K4E       K4EJ     PAS

N4E       N1TO    IDR

W4E      NF4A     BAY

K4Y       K3QH    PAL

N4Y       N4UU    ALC

W4Y      WO4O   LAK

K4S       K2SG    HER

N4S       N4SVC SUW

W4S      NN7CW LAK

 

PRIZES: Beautiful color Certificates for top participants
Plaques for top finishing entrants.

Web Site: http://www.floridaqsoparty.org/
Detailed rules, past results, plaques, county maps and much more! 

 Be sure to check out the links under the Counties tab to two terrific county-tracking tools by Bob K0RC and Chuck NO5W (thanks guys!).

In addition, Chip N3IW runs a FQP spotting website at http://qsopartyhub.com/fqp-spots.php. Please remember that self-spotting or requesting to be spotted is not allowed (exception for spelling bee 1x1 stations only).

 

ACTION REQUIRED!!!

Florida Stations of all types – please go to the FQP website and register your fixed, mobile, rover and 1x1 Spelling Bee operations; just click on the “Counties" link and then the Activation Forms to get started – thanks!

Saturday Registration Form:  https://floridaqsoparty.org/counties/saturday-route/

Sunday Registration Form:  https://floridaqsoparty.org/counties/sunday-route/

*PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU REVIEW YOUR ENTRY FOR ACCURACY BEFORE SUBMITTING*

Logs in Cabrillo format can be uploaded (preferred) at: https://fqp.contesting.com/fqpsubmitlog.php

or emailed to logs@floridaqsoparty.org; Paper logs via US mail to: Florida QSO Party, c/o Ron Harps, K8NZ, 1997 Willow Glen Ln Columbus, OH 43229-1550.

Any questions or feedback? Please feel free to reply to me via email:

cqdenx4n@gmail.com

We highly encourage you to sign up to the FQP email Group fqp@groups.io. Anyone wishing to subscribe to the FQP email reflector may go to this link to sign up:  https://groups.io/g/FQP - Just click on the blue "Join this group" button below and follow the directions.

 

THANK YOU in advance for making the 2024 FQP another terrific event – see you then!

FQP - So Bright, you gotta wear Shades! 

73,
Chris, NX4N, on behalf of:

Chris, W4WF and Dan, K1TO – President and Past President
Florida Contest Group, proud sponsors of the FQP since 1998

Countdown to the April 6th, 2024 RaDAR Rally

RaDAR is Rapid Deployment Amateur Radio. The next RaDAR Rally is April 6th, 2024. See the details at www.radarrally.info. All ham radio operators are welcome to participate.

PCARC Spring Tailgate April 13th, 2024

The Panama City Amateur Radio Club Spring Tailgate is coming on April 13th. Mark your calendars and come out to the club. The start time will be 9 am and should go through lunchtime. Bring that old radio gear sitting around collecting dust to sell, or look for that item that will fill out your ham shack. 

The PCARC clubhouse is located at:
130 N Church Ave
Panama City, FL 32404

W4RYZ DMR Repeater Update

 W4RYZ DMR Repeater

147.210 MHz +600 offset

Color Code: 1

Connected to TGIF DMR network

Timeslot(TS) 1: For linked talk groups. 

Timeslot (TS) 2: TG9 local-only traffic (TG 9 is not passed to the network)

Please keep all networked traffic on TS1 so we can keep TS2 for local traffic (TG9) for those who do not want to talk on the linked network.

On Timeslot 1, check out TG850 for our local group. We have a net Mondays at 7:30pm central time on TG850, feel free to join us.

Another popular talk group is TG31665, the TGIF talk group. The Friday net is on TG31665 at 7:30 pm central time.  

info via KK4DIV

Amateur Radio Nets Beginner's Guide

This was the topic of our Beginner's Academy, March 18th Zoom. There are nets on ham radio for almost every interest.

A New Bay County Repeater is On-The-Air

Bay County has a new two-meter repeater on the EOC tower at 637 Hwy 2300, Southport, FL 32409

• Downlink: 146.94000
• Uplink: 146.34000
• Offset: -0.600 MHz
• Uplink Tone: 100.0
• Downlink Tone: 100.0
• County: Bay
• Grid: EM70EH
• Call: W4RYZ
• Use: OPEN
• Op Status: On-Air
• FM: Yes, analog capable and Fusion

The Bay County 145.210 repeater is on the Bennet tower at 7300 FL-20, Youngstown, FL 32466

• Downlink: 145.21000
• Uplink: 144.61000
• Offset: -0.600 MHz
• Uplink Tone: 100.0
• Downlink Tone: 100.0
• County: Bay
• Grid: EM70FK
• Call: W4RYZ
• Use: OPEN
• Op Status: On-Air 
• FM: Yes, analog capable and Fusion

Get Ready for the Spring 2024 RaDAR Rally

RaDAR is Rapid Deployment Amateur Radio. Eddie Leighton ZS6BNE in South Africa conceived the RaDAR concept. The RaDAR Rally adds movement to portable operating with a time constraint. The objective: Use your ham radio knowledge, portable equipment, and physical skills to challenge yourself during an unforgettable four-hour experience. The four-hour duration creates an urgency that demands optimized equipment and operating strategies. When: The first Saturday of April and November. Choose four hours during the UTC day. The following Sunday is a backup date if Saturday doesn't work for you. The next RaDAR Rally is April 6th, 2024. Register at www.radarrally.info.

Portable Antenna Shootout with WSPR

We compared some portable antennas using Zachtek WSPR transmitters, including a 1/4 wave vertical, dipole, and magnetic loop. This talk was recorded at our Feb 5th, 2024 Beginner's Academy Zoom.

Andy's Ham Radio Linux

Andy (KB1OIQ) Stewart is the creator of the software collection called "Andy's Ham Radio Linux", which consists entirely of Free Software and Open Source Software based on Ubuntu. The talk will be a high-level introduction to the available programs, how to download and install the software, and the many customizations designed to make life easier. This talk was recorded during the Jan 22, 2024 Beginner's Academy Zoom.

QSO Today Episode 484 Richard Gutknecht NZ2I

Richard Gutknecht NZ2I is a second-generation amateur radio operator who caught the bug early and got a novice license at age 15. Answering his country’s call to duty, Rick joined the Air Force and became an active ham stationed in Germany. Now retired, Rick enjoys getting on the air, volunteering for his amateur radio club, and producing and co-hosting a podcast on current events and American history. NZ2I is my QSO Today. https://www.qsotoday.com/podcasts/NZ2I