04/25/2024
St. Petersburg Amateur Radio Club
Originally licensed as WN2JTL in 1968. License and interest lapsed until 1984 when relicensed as N2ESP. I currently hold an Extra class license and a BSEE from the Florida Institute of Technology.
I am past President of the St. Petersburg Amateur Radio Club (SPARC) and trustee of W4TA, the club’s contest station. I’m also a member of Florida Contest Group, an ARRL Volunteer Examiner, member of the ARRL A-1 Operator Club, frustrated DXer, 10-10 member (40586) and charter member of the Radio Shack Battery of the Month Club.
Station QTH is a small island (USi: FL285S Coquina Key) on the shores of Tampa Bay (Pinellas County / EL87qr). Station consists of an Elecraft K3/P3 (100W) into a ZeroFive GP-1040 Vertical/Ground Plane or an 80M Horizontal Loop. QSL via LoTW.
Our tower foundation has been dug, the re-bar cage has been installed, and inspected. We are ready to pour concrete. A few photos below show our progress. We will need to wait awhile while the concrete hardens. Then we get to install the tower base, the tower itself, and finally transplant our LP antenna. Thanks to all that contributed to this effort.
SPARC will again be participating in the St. Petersburg Science Festival. This event is designed to
provide children hands-on access to the wide world of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math).
If you are interested in being part of SPARC’s ham radio demonstration team, please contact Bob, N2ESP. Additional details on the festival can be found by clicking here.
.
Don’t miss a special presentation by Retired USAF Colonel Craig Hook, KE4VPK and SPARC member. Craig will tell us about military use of communications equipment used in the field and share some of his slides from his deployment in Afghanistan right after 9/11.
The US Military has developed robust satellite communications used in conjunction with more traditional HF radio communications. We will hear about communications equipment in the military, how it is deployed, used, important features, and some of Craig’s experiences, along with comment on how well it all … Click for more
The site behind the DMI Research building where the SPARC station is located is being prepared for the tower. Click on photos to enlarge.
Next step is getting the dirt out that is in the way of the concrete (a.k.a. a BIG hole is needed). White paint marks the spot! The hole will be dug near the building foundation. The tower base will be angled to allow folding over with clearance for the fence and A/C units. John, KI4UIP reports the … Click for more
SPARC member Tom, NY4I has taken responsibility for the bridge program that enables two 
popular ham radio programs to share QSO data.
“N1MM” is a popular contesting program that is configurable for competition in most international Radiosport contests. “DXKeeper” is the logging component of a suite of programs known as “DX Labs.” The “bridging” program Tom is working on transfers the QSOs entered in N1MM to DXKeeper in real time. This allows you to update your needed DXCC entities list as you are contesting. The bridge is also compatible … Click for more