SPARC | St. Petersburg Amateur Radio Club

Field Day Results are In

By Tom Schaeffer W4CU on 06/23/2023

AA2MF - Operating 5 Positions — Rich AA2MF operating all 5 FT8 positions on 5 different bands early Sunday Morning

Field Day produced good results for SPARC. The group of operators listed below worked a total of 1643 QSOs. Of those 759 were made by CW, 702 by FT8/4 , and 182 by SSB. Our score based on QSOs alone was 6,208. Dave KR4U added 100 points to that total by copying the ARRL Field Day Message. Another 50 points was added by submitting our results on ARRL’s submission page.

FD rules allow any club member … Click for more

Jack – W1BBU SK, June 13, 2023

By Ed NZ1Q on 06/21/2023

From Jack’s QRZ page:

“I was first licensed in 1957 as a Novice as KN1EJT. Upgraded to Tech and later Conditional as K1EJT. In 1969 and 1970 was YB0AAC, one of the first two foreign amateurs legally licensed in Indonesia. In 1971 was authorized to use KR6JH by US authorities in Okinawa (Ryukyu Islands). Upgraded to Advanced class KF4SX in 1985. After the death of my father, who was licensed as W1BBU circa 1927, I applied for and received his call – W1BBU.

Member of ARRL, St Petersburg Amateur

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SPARC Field Day 2023 Signup

By Pat AAØO on 06/03/2023

SPARC Field Day will be on June 24-25th at our club station location, DMI Research, 6699 90th Ave N, Pinellas Park, FL. We’ll start at 12pm Saturday with station familiarization and a little practice, the on-the-air operating event starts at 2pm Saturday and runs through 2pm Sunday.

We’ll be operating as 4-Delta with stations on SSB, CW, and Digital(FT8, etc). We’ll be using Yaesu FT-1000 radios and N1MM logging software. Operation will be indoors with Air Conditioning.

If you are planning to attend, please fill out the form using the … Click for more

Is CW dead? Not for Dan AI4RJ

By Tom Schaeffer W4CU on 05/12/2023

During the SPARC operation in the Florida QSO Party Dan AI4RJ made the vast majority of all CW contacts. He operated on all bands and during one 95 minute stretch on 20 meters his QSO rate was 104 contacts per hour. His call sign was omitted from the original FQP article.

Related Images:

SPARC’s FQP results and station video.

By Ed NZ1Q on 05/11/2023

SPARC Station and Operators Performed Well Despite the Conditions.

The SPARC team represented Pinellas County well during the Florida QSO Party (FQP).

During the event stations throughout the US and Canada strive to work as many counties in Florida as possible. Florida stations are essentially the “DX” and call CQ. Propagation during the contest was fair to poor. Local noise on 40 and 10 meters was a constant S9.

The weather was threatening over the weekend, and 9 of the 18 operators were in training. Nevertheless, the following excellent

… Click for more

New Club Station Holds Open House

By Tom Schaeffer W4CU on 04/23/2023

The SPARC radio station will hold an Open House for members to drop in and see the major upgrades made since moving the last station. The Open House will be held Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week (April 25, 26 and 27) from 6:00 to 8:00 pm.

The Open House will coincide with three nights of training for members participating in the Florida QSO Party (FQP) who have limited experience in using the N1MM logging program, or in handling rapid paced QSOs. For more information on the Open House … Click for more