SPARC | St. Petersburg Amateur Radio Club

Tell us your “Ham Radio” story

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 03/09/2020

Do you have an interesting story of how or why you got into ham radio? We would love to feature your story on the SPARC website. You may have seen member spotlights in various radio magazines. Why not write a few paragraphs about your ham radio journey and send it to stories@sparc-club.org? You may find it featured on our website. Go ahead and brag a little—it’s ok.

Stories about what you do with ham radio (DXing, contesting, satellites, portable operation, etc) are welcome too. Don’t worry if you are not … Click for more

On The Air Magazine

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 03/08/2020

The second issue of the ARRL’s new On the Air magazine is available to all ARRL members online. Click here for more information and to access the latest issue. While you may think you are an old hand that cannot learn anything new, so far both issues have been interesting. It is also good to read to know the types of things appealing to newer hams.

If you are not an ARRL member, please consider joining. It is our national amateur radio organization that provides many services plus advocacy on … Click for more

Winter Field Day 2020

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 03/06/2020

Another Winter Field Day has come and gone (more than a few weeks ago due to my belated report). The weather was mild if not just a tad cold at night (for us Floridians anyway). The now annual combined Winter Field Day effort between the Clearwater ARS, St. Petersburg ARC and Upper Pinellas ARC took place the weekend of January 25 at the Clearwater Fire Training Center.

Antenna crew lifting the beam into place on the tall fire tower [Photo by Julie NF1T].

… Click for more

Club Station Update – Tower Removal Work Party

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 02/13/2020

As you may recall, the club experienced damage due to the tornado in Pinellas Park last week.

Dave KR4U, John KI4UIP, Pat AA0O and Billy KN4LUZ were on site to work on the project (The author arrives late so anyone was had already left, please accept my apology for the omission).

The tower was bent just above the first section nesting point. With the help of a crane secured by Pat AA0O, the tower was safely lowered on Thursday 2/13 along with the … Click for more

SPARC Tower Damage from Pinellas Park Tornado

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 02/08/2020

The recent tornado that passed through Pinellas Park on Thursday February 6th was not kind to SPARC. While this damage pales in comparison to people that had trees fall on their homes; nonetheless, the tower at the club station suffered some damage such that it will not crank down. The tower appears to have bent at the base of the joint where the sections overlap. One element on the log periodic antennas appears damaged as well.

Further behind the club station, you can see from this picture … Click for more

Homebrew Night on February 7th

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 01/27/2020

For the last few years, SPARC has held Homebrew Night in February. No, we are not talking about beer. In a long tradition, Homebrew in Amateur Radio is the things you craft yourself that you find useful in some aspect of radio. This is an evening where club members can show the projects they have built over the past year. The loose definition of homebrew equipment is something you built from scratch or a piece of gear you modified to suit your purpose. It can be an antenna project, a … Click for more