SPARC | St. Petersburg Amateur Radio Club

After the Holidays Party

By Bob Wanek N2ESP on 11/03/2018

Thanks to efforts by Rich AA2MF, we will again expand our collective culinary diversity at our annual After the Holidays Party. We’ll be dining Italian at the Brooklyn Pizza company located at 10785 Park Blvd in Seminole. The festivities will start at 3:00PM on Sunday, January 13, 2019. Members will order off the menu, and are responsible for their own bill. Rumor has it that Santa may stop by on his way to his timeshare on St. Pete Beach. Dress is casual. For those … Click for more

New to the nightly SPARC Net question – “The rest of the Story”

By Ed NZ1Q on 10/30/2018

Every night SPARC holds a 2m traffic net on the SPARC 2m repeater. We have also had a question each night, which those who have checked-in can take a shot at the multiple choice answer. We answer the question just for fun, we don’t keep score.

Please join us each night at 6:30. Now you can enjoy more detail, i.e. “The rest of the Story.”

Thanks to Billy, KN4LUZ who has just started up a web page where he is posting more detail behind the trivia Q&A. He often has … Click for more

FT8 program at SPARC’s new meeting location Friday, Nov 2

By Ed NZ1Q on 10/25/2018

FT8 will be presented at the Nov 2 SPARC meeting. We’ll cover what it is, why it was created, what it’s used for and how to use/operate FT8.

The picture is an example of FT8 software, available for Free. FT8 has captured a large portion of the data/digital modes being used today on HF. There is always someone on FT8 on some band some where. FT8 is a development based on earlier generations of WSJT modes such as JT-65 and JT-9.

FT-8 is now being used for DXpeditions (VP6D, Ducie … Click for more

New Meeting Location

By Bob Wanek N2ESP on 10/24/2018

Starting on November 2^nd (with the exception of this December’s meeting) the SPARC monthly meetings will be held the first Friday of every month in Hobson Fellowship Hall at the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church. The church is located on the northwest corner of 5^th Avenue North and 49^th Street in St. Petersburg. Please park in the large lot at the rear of the church, which is accessible from 6^th Avenue North. Enter through the doors labeled “Hobson Fellowship Hall.”

Our thanks to Johnnie W4TSP … Click for more

Video of “Lightning and Amateur Radio” presentation is posted.

By Ed NZ1Q on 10/09/2018

The video of last weeks SPARC presentation about Lightning and Amateur Radio is now available on our resource page at https://www.sparc-club.org/test-page-pdf-links/

Many thanks to Glenn, N4GRC for doing the presentation and to Billy, KN4LUZ for creating the video.

Related Images:

Recent Presentations added to the SPARC Resource Page

By Ed NZ1Q on 10/07/2018

To access any of the SPARC past presentations go to the Resource Page on SPARC-Club.org

This page has recent presentations and other information files. Just added is a link to Ron’s presentation on Heathkit and Glenn’s presentation on Grounding.

On the main page look in the lower left column for the SPARC Resource page as shown below.

Also, bookmark the SPARC YouTube page for other videos.