SPARC | St. Petersburg Amateur Radio Club

Dues to increase in 2019

By Bob Wanek N2ESP on 11/24/2018

At the November meeting of the SPARC Executive Board, members of the board voted to increase annual dues by $5.00 for each membership category required to pay dues. This makes an individual membership $20.00 and a family membership $25.00. SPARC has not had a dues increase in many years. As costs increase, so do the club’s financial obligations. In order to be fiscally responsible, a slight dues increase will keep our club in good financial shape.

The dues increase is effective January 1^st, 2019. Dues may be paid … Click for more

SPARC Contesters Operating ARRL Sweepstakes SSB Right Now!

By Tom Schaefer NY4I on 11/17/2018

Bob N2ESP, Rex KB8ESY, Tom NY4I and Frank KN4PZY so far have been operating the ARRL Sweepstakes at the newly relocated SPARC club station. This contest runs until Sunday night at 10:00 PM, but we usually break at night. The best way to ensure we are here is to check the camera where you can view the station in operating. You can always find that on the Upcoming HF Operating Events page. If you want to come down and operate or just hang around talking radio, stop by.

You … Click for more

SPARC Fest 2018 – a big hit!

By Ed NZ1Q on 11/13/2018

SPARC Fest was a once again a great success. The open field at Freedom Lake Park was packed with sellers and buyers. This Free Ham Fest is becoming more popular every year. It was great to see many Hams from all over the region attend. See you next November!

Video clip details here.

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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

… Click for more

Nov 2 club meeting pictures & video presentation posted

By Ed NZ1Q on 11/07/2018

The November meeting at SPARC’s new meeting place (Hobson Fellowship Hall at the Fifth Ave Baptist Church) was attended by over 40 members and guests. Billy, KN4LUZ captured the presentation on video and took a number of still photos. These have been posted on the Resource Page. Check out the pictures from the meeting, you will see a lot of familiar faces.

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FT8 Nov meeting program file posted

By Ed NZ1Q on 11/04/2018

The presentation and QSO video clip has been posted on SPARC-club.org, resource page. Check the presentation file for the links that were discussed during the presentation. The sample QSO demo is also there.