Operating

You’re invited to an Antenna Party Saturday

By Bob Wanek N2ESP on 12/11/2017

SPARC members are all welcome and encouraged to assist at the assembly, repair and erection of antennas at W4GAC. Starting at 9:00AM on Saturday 12/16, the tower will be lowered to replace the rotator. At the same time, adjustments will be made to accommodate the center support for the new 80/160 dipole. The south end of the dipole will be attached to a tree near 90^th Avenue. The north end will terminate at a new “tower” to be installed at the north end of the property. Finally, a new … Click for more

Festival Goers Exposed to CW

By Bob Wanek N2ESP on 10/22/2017

KR4U, NZ1Q, KI4UIP and N4GD Setting up the booth — Getting Ready for the Crowd [N2ESPhoto]

SPARC completed another successful day at the St. Petersburg Science festival. Situated under a big oak tree on the breezy shore of Tampa Bay, SPARC station W4GAC was again on the air.

This year we focused on CW. We noticed in prior events that the sound of Morse code emanating from our tent caused people to ask “what is this?” We set up a simple 20M CW station and put CW guru Dave KR4U behind the key. In spite of so-so propagation, Dave was … Click for more

The MAK is Back

By Bob Wanek N2ESP on 10/16/2017

SPARC contesters enjoyed entering W4TA in the newly reestablished Makrothen RTTY contest. Makrothen is a Greek word meaning distance. In spite of poor propagation, the SPARC team made 541 QSOs with a claimed score of 2,203,706 points.

Tom W4CU running while Ron KP2N watches [N2ESPhoto]

What makes the Makrothen different from the other contests we compete in is the method of scoring. Most contests are scored based on the number of QSOs times the number of “multipliers” worked in the contest. The points value awarded for each QSO varies with … Click for more

Upcoming Activities

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 09/23/2017

Besides this being the start of contest season, we also have some other events that you might want to check out.

On October 13 through October 15, there is the Makrothen RTTY contest at the club station. See here for more info….

On October 21, it’s the St. Petersburg Science Festival. Look for more info here and at the club meeting but this is a chance to spend a great day on the waterfront in St. Pete showing amateur radio to kids of all ages.

On October 28 in … Click for more

All About Batteries by Ed, NZ1Q

By Bob Wanek N2ESP on 09/18/2017

Everything you wanted to know but never got to ask. Perfect for this active storm season.

Ed will discuss the different types of batteries available to the amateur such as NiCad, Nickel metal, lead acid, Lithium based and new types like LiFePO4.

Topics to be covered include the best applications for each battery type and how to maintain and properly recharge the different battery types.

A table will be provided that summarizing the usage and care for each type of battery.

Be sure to attend our October meeting to enjoy … Click for more

One Day General Class Upgrade Workshop Forming

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 08/06/2017

Tom NY4I is forming a multi-club one-day General Workshop.

THIS IS NOT A CRAM SESSION. You must do pre-work from the book. Our goal is to work with the material you have learned by self-study, clarify some topics and teach you how to be a general. We want people to know what to do with their general class license when they get it.

We will start 6 weeks before the scheduled workshop day. Each student is REQUIRED to purchase a Gordon West General Class Study manual. The students have … Click for more

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