SPARC’s Winter Field Day Plans

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 12/13/2019

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Do you like operating in the field but hate dripping in sweat while setting up antennas? Does the idea of enduring another Field Day constantly fighting off every mosquito in Tampa Bay make you wish they held Field Day in January? Well, you’re in luck! Winter Field Day is an event very similar to the June ARRL Field Day except—you guessed it—it’s held in Winter. Specifically January 25 & 26, 2020. This is the third time SPARC is participating in … Click for more

Radio Clubs in the Park

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 08/21/2019

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Our friends in the north, the Upper Pinellas Amateur Radio Club, have for a long time done a monthly foray into a local park called UPARC in the Park. This is to setup radios/antennas and just get together for some outdoor fun. Since we all enjoy getting together at the “Field Days” with UPARC and CARS, we decided to do a joint Radio Clubs in the Park. On September 21, 2019, at Eagle Lake Park in Largo, we invite everyone to

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Field Day 2019 Wrapup

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 07/03/2019

One could not have asked for better weather. An old standard is that ARRL Field Day is the fourth full weekend of rain in June. This year, that axiom proved false as there was not any rain in site the entire weekend. Of course, this being Florida, no rain at the tail end of June means heat—and it was HOT!

The three club banners on the big fire tower stairs [N2ESPhoto]

Antennas

Therefore, the antenna crew got an early start on Saturday June 22, raising the … Click for more

Information about Attending Field Day

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 06/18/2019

The following information may be useful for those attending the 2019 Field Day at the Clearwater Fire training Center, especially if this is your first Field Day.

As you may be aware, the radio room is inside, but setup will of course be outside for antenna work. You may want to bring a change of clothes/shirt, etc. The facility has showers and locker rooms if you so desire but you may want to bring your own towel/toiletries. Setup starts at 8:00 AM Saturday morning. We will have coffee and … Click for more

What is this Field Day Thing I Keep Hearing about and Why Do I Care?

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 05/22/2019

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Hang around any group of hams in the springtime and eventually the subject of Field Day will come up. New people must be absolutely bewildered trying to understand this thing others speak of so fondly. So for those that may be new, or even those that know about Field Day but have not made it out to one in awhile, here is an overview.

Just Announced

We will be conducting an education … Click for more

2018 Field Day Results

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 11/09/2018

While Field Day “isn’t a contest”, for those that like to keep score, the December 2018 issue of QST has the 2018 Field Day results. The combined CARS/SPARC/UPARC event racked up a score as submitted with 1253 total contacts and a total score of 5180 in the 3A class (3 transmitters, club-portable). By way of comparison, among the other 3A class participants, that placed us 42nd in the country out of 304 entrants, 1st in WCF, 2nd in Florida and 5th in the ARRL Southeastern division.

They even managed