SPARC | St. Petersburg Amateur Radio Club

Upcoming SPARC Operating Events

By Tom Schaeffer W4CU on 02/14/2024

These events are for all SPARC members. Also invited are operators from other area clubs, Hams visiting the area and anyone interested in learning more about Amateur Radio

MARCH
Name: ARRL International DX Contest, SSB
Date/Time: 7:00pm Mar 1 to 7:00pm Mar 3
Note: Work DX with your own call.
We will set up a log for you.

If you are interested in participating in operating, training or just observing operations, notify Tom W4CU (tom_w4cu@yahoo.com) to register and obtain additional details.

If there is sufficient interest, the operating events will … Click for more

Friday, Feb 2 is Home Brew Night!

By Ed NZ1Q on 01/20/2024

SPARC members! Friday, Feb 2 is Home Brew Night! Let Carol – AB4YI, SPARC VP know what you have for the Show-and-Tell. Any radio project is acceptable – radio mods, antennas, go boxes, solar & batteries, rare QSL cards, etc.

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“Fill up your propagation toolbox” by Glenn, N4GRC, presented at the Jan 5th, 2024 SPARC meeting.

By Zack KO4WPO on 01/06/2024

This presentation given by Glenn, N4GRC followed last month’s presentation by NZ1Q on “The Sun and HF Propagation”, this presentation discusses tools to use that can help us with solar weather, propagation and DX predictions

Download the PowerPoint slides here: Propagation Tools Slides

Watch the video here

Tune in to the SPARC nightly net for the latest numbers on our repeater (Nightly SPARC Net 6:30 pm, SPARC Repeater 147.060, pre-net @ 6 pm), via EchoLink (NZ1Q-L), or on Broadcastify.com as WA4AKH https://www.broadcastify.com/webPlayer/35028

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“The Sun and HF Radio Propagation” by Ed, NZ1Q, presented at the Dec 1, 2023 SPARC meeting.

By Ed NZ1Q on 12/06/2023

This second presentation given by Ed, NZ1Q followed last month’s presentation by KC4SXO on “What the Numbers Mean.” The Dec presentation discusses how the sun’s activity affects radio wave propagation on Earth.

View Ed’s presentation on the SPARC YouTube page: HERE

Download the PowerPoint slides: The Sun & HF Propagation

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“What do the Numbers Mean” by Bob, KC4SXO. Presented at the Nov 3, 2023 SPARC meeting.

By Ed NZ1Q on 11/05/2023

On the nightly SPARC net (6:30 pm SPARC Repeater 147.060, St Petersburg, FL) Bob presents the Solar forecast for the day. He runs through the published numbers for the sun’s activity and subsequent radio conditions on Earth. This presentation describes what the numbers really mean.

View Bob’s presentation HERE

Download the PowerPoint slides: What Do The Numbers Mean title page (1)

Tune in to the SPARC net on the repeater, or via EchoLink (NZ1Q-L), or on Broadcastify.com as WA4AKH https://www.broadcastify.com/webPlayer/35028

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Cancelled: October SPARC Operating Event: Makrothen RTTY Contest

By Tom Schaeffer W4CU on 10/02/2023

Unfortunately SPARC will not participate in theMakrothen RTTY event and the club station will not be open October 14 and 15

Makrothen RTTY is a favorite operating event of SPARC and other RTTY operators because the score for a contact is the distance from you to the contact. Scores in the millions of points are routine. In fact, in 2017 SPARC placed Second World Wide with a score of 2,023,660. This year’s contest will take place October 14 & 15.