Saturday, December 15, 2012

A Ham's Night Before Christmas

Panama City ARC 2013 Officers

Congratulations to —the 2013 club officers that were elected at the December business meeting.

President: Addison Marvin "Marv" KK4DKT
Vice President: Bob Dunkin WB4BLX
Treasurer: Don Cornelius KK4DWC
Secretary Bob Leasko WB8PAF

The new Sgt At Arms is John W "Goat" Nienstedt KK4LUZ

Please give them your support and look for a great 2013.

Thanks to Marv KK4DKT VP, Don KK4DWC Treasurer , Greg KG4LFS Secretary for serving in 2013. Also Charlie KF4JR for serving as Sgt At Arms for several years..

It has been a pleasure being your president for the last two years. Thanks for the support. I have had fun. See you at the club and on the net.

Thanks,

Greg Lane N4KGL

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Jamboree On The Air 2012

The Panama City ARC supported the scouts in the 2012 Jamboree On The Air or JOTA on October 20th.. JOTA is an annual event in which Scouts and Guides all over the world speak to each other by means of amateur radio contacts. Scouting experiences are exchanged and ideas are shared, via the radio waves.

This years JOTA had activities at the clubhouse and also included a scout troop at Sparkleberry Lake area just North of Bay County. Chris K4COZ guided his troop in building a VHF two meter antenna. The scouts erected the antenna on a mast and communicated with other scouts at the clubhouse and several hams in the area.

The clubhouse activities included facilitating scout to scout conversations via HF frequencies. The locations reached included Georgia and Texas. In addition to the clubhouse station, four portable stations were setup on the club grounds.

There were several hands on activities for the scouts; setting up an antenna mast, experimenting with solar power and learning some Morse Code.

Thanks to all the scouts, guides and participating ham radio operators and Rick Gutknecht this years JOTA Chairman for the club.





More photos are available at JOTA 2012 Album

Sunday, September 23, 2012

September 2012 Technician Class & Portable Ops Demo

Our September two day Technician License class concluded on the 22nd. I am happy to report the entire class passed their test. The students were John Nienstedt, Jacque Carte', Carl Dunkin and Henry Lasher. They are also joining the club. The instructors were Don Cornelius KK4DWC, Greg Morrison KG4LFS, Gary Bills AJ4KY and Greg Lane N4KGL. The VEs were Jerry Rego KE7YG, Don Cornelius KK4DWC, Greg Lane N4KGL and test coordinator Gary Bills AJ4KY.The class also included a portable ops demo near the club house. Bob WB4BLX, Jim K4LIX, Marv KK4DKT and Greg N4KGL setup rigs. Thanks to all participants and looking forward to having four new hams in the club.

 John Nienstedt, Jacque Carte', Carl Dunkin and Henry Lasher pass Tech exam 

Portable ops outside clubhouse

Friday, September 21, 2012

JOTA Scout Event at Panama City ARC October 20 2012


Jamboree-on-the-Air (JOTA) 2012
JOTA 2012:  October 20 and 21
The JOTA is an annual event in which Scouts and Guides all over the world speak to each other by means of amateur radio contacts. Scouting experiences are exchanged and ideas are shared, via the radio waves.

When Scouts want to meet young people from another country they usually think of attending a World Jamboree or another international gathering. But few people realize that each year about half-a-million Scouts and Guides "get together" over the airwaves for the annual Jamboree-on-the--Air (JOTA). Modern communication technology offers Scouts the exciting opportunity to make friends in other countries without even leaving home.....

Scouts of any age can participate, from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts and Venturers. Once at the ham radio station, the communication typically requires speaking into a microphone and listening on the station speakers. However, many forms of specialized communication can also take place, such as video communication, digital communication using typed words on the computer screen transmitted by radio, communication through a satellite relay or an earth-based relay (called a repeater), and many others. The exchanges include such information as name, location (called QTH in ham speak), Scout rank, age, and hobbies. The stations you’ll be communicating with can be other Scouts across town, across the country, or even around the world! The World Scout Bureau reported that the 2010 JOTA had just over 700,000 Scout participants from nearly 6,000 amateur radio stations! A participant patch is available, as is a certificate/log sheet that can also be used to fulfill a Radio merit badge requirement.

Date:  October 20 2012 9 am - Noon
Location: Panama City Amateur Radio Club 130 N. Church Ave Panama City, FL
Cost: None other than patch $4
Scheduling:  Scoutmasters, please provide an arrival time and number of scouts.  Expect about an hour per group of 12.
Amateur Radio Contact:  Rick Gutknecht NZ2I     email rick.gutknecht@gmail.com
Amateur Radio Web sites: www.W4RYZ.org and http://www.arrl.org/what-is-ham-radio

Friday, July 20, 2012

Register for Technician License Class Sept 15 and 22


The Technician license is your gateway to the world-wide excitement of Amateur Radio    
  • Earn your ham radio Technician class radio privileges
  • Pass your FCC amateur radio license exam right in class on the second day
  • Multiple-choice exam, *No Morse Code Required*
  • Live equipment demonstrations
  • Learn to operate on the ham bands, 10 Meters and higher
  • Learn to use the many VHF/UHF FM repeaters in Florida
  • Find out how to participate in emergency communications
  • Find out how to communicate with astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS)
There is no cost for the class (donations accepted) However, students must have the required study guide: Gordon West Technician Class 2010-2014 guide, 7th Edition $20.95 And pay the FCC Exam Fee: $14.00  The text book is available on Amazon.

The two day class will be held on September 15th and September 22nd 2012 at the Panama City ARC Club House. Advance registration is required (no later than September 1st, earlier is better!) To register for the class, contact: Dave Clark W1EVG at n7734E@gmail.com  

Class Location: Panama City ARC Club House 130 N. Church Ave Panama City, FL. 

Preparation for first class: Read pages 1 through 125 of the Gordon West Technician Class Book Optional: Read the entire book and start taking online practice exams Bring a sack lunch to class

For more information on amateur (ham) radio visit www.w4ryz.org,  www.arrl.org or www.wedothat-radio.org

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Amateur Radio Week June 18-24 Proclaimed


The plaque was presented by Commissioner Guy Tunnell at the Bay County Board of Commissioners meeting today. The plaque was accepted by the club represented by Helen KI4OLP, Dave W1EVG, Don KK4DWC, Chuck W4CWS, Vic K4GXV, Bob WB4BLX, Bob KK4CVU, Joby KK4CVT and Greg  N4KGL. My remarks were as follows:
On behalf of the Panama City Amateur Radio Club and all the hams in Bay county we are honored that ham radio is being recognized. There are about 400 hams in Bay County. Many of those hams prepare for emergency operations if needed. If all else fails amateur radio works. This Saturday we will have a 24 hour Field Day operation at The Bay County EOC starting at 1PM. We invite the commissioners and the public to visit our operations, We value our continued relationship with the county via Chief Bowen and Joby Smith at the EOC.

I encourage all hams and the public to visit Panama City ARC Field Day Operations this weekend!

The Panama City Amateur Radio Club will participate in Field Day on June 23/24 at the Bay County Emergency Operations Center 700 Highway 2300 Southport, FL. We will be having fun contacting as many Hams as possible operating with similar setups around the United States. However, this will also demonstrate a capability to support emergency communications should normal systems be unavailable. The operating hours are 1 PM Saturday to 1 PM Sunday. A good time for visitors is between 2PM and 6PM Saturday but you can come at anytime. We will have various radios and antennas to operate voice, digital and morse code. The general public is welcome and youth groups are encouraged to attend.

We thank Mark Bowen and Joby Smith of the EOC for giving us an opportunity to operate at this venue. The Bay County Emergency Operations Center is 4.9 miles North on Highway 77 from the intersection of  Highway 77 and 390 and then West on Highway 2300 2.3 miles.

Greg Lane
Panama City ARC President

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Amateur Radio Field Day June 23 and 24 at the Bay County EOC

The Panama City Amateur Radio Club will participate in Field Day on June 23/24 at the Bay County Emergency Operations Center 700 Highway 2300 Southport, FL. We will be having fun contacting as many Hams as possible operating with similar setups around the United States. However, this will also demonstrate a capability to support emergency communications should normal systems be unavailable. The operating hours are 1 PM Saturday to 1 PM Sunday. A good time for visitors is between 2PM and 6PM Saturday but you can come at anytime. We will have various radios and antennas to operate voice, digital and morse code. The general public is welcome and youth groups are encouraged to attend.

We thank Mark Bowen and Joby Smith of the EOC for giving us an opportunity to operate at this venue. The Bay County Emergency Operations Center is 4.9 miles North on Highway 77 from the intersection of  Highway 77 and 390 and then West on Highway 2300 2.3 miles.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

D-Star Brief


—Vic Johnson K4GXV updated the club on the —Panhandle Digital Group, —K4GXV Hot Spot and
—KK4IQW Repeater. See the brief at this link.








Sunday, May 20, 2012

General Class License Class is offered


 The only cost is the study materials and $14 for the test. The class presumes pre-study of the book. The classes will be held on 6/16/12 and 6/30/12, from 08:00 to 17:00 with the test at 2:30 on 6/30/12. Please contact Dave Clark N7734E@gmail.com if you are interested.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Alabama QSO Party June 2-3


The Alabama QSO Party is sponsored by the Alabama Contest Group


See how many Alabama counties you can work!


1. Object:  For Alabama amateurs to make contact with amateur radio stations 
throughout the world.  Stations outside of Alabama make contact with Alabama 
amateur radio stations and as many Alabama counties as possible. 


2. Contest Period:  1600 UTC (11:00AM CDST), Jun 2th, 2012 to 0400 UTC 
(11:00PM CDST), Jun 3th, 2012.  All stations may operate the full 12 hours 
contest period.  


Links:


http://www.alabamaqsoparty.org/AQPFlyer.pdf
http://www.alabamaqsoparty.org/2012/2012Rules.pdf 
http://www.alabamaqsoparty.org/2012_AQP_Presentation.pps


Jim Johnson is the AQP chairman email kc4hw@alabamaqsoparty.org





Sunday, April 29, 2012

Panama City ARC Open House and Florida QSO Party Report

Our Open House had a QRP radio and a key display by Jim K4LIX see photos.  Our main focus was on operating and we kicked off the Florida QSO Party at 11 AM. We operated under the call sign K6JSS Saturday and Sunday which is a special call of the QRP Amateur Radio International Club. We operated QRP only at only 5 watts CW and SSB. We broke in some new loggers Tom KK4TLC and  Don, KK4DKT. Dale AJ4TM kept us company. The operators were Greg N4KGL, Marv KK4DKT and Ron KK4DWE.  The FQP summary is

40 meters CW  13 QSOs 78 pts 2 SPCs
40 meters LSB  6 QSOs 18 pts 2 SPCs 
20 meters CW  40 QSOs 240 pts 20 SPCs 
20 meters USB  29 QSOs 87 pts 15 SPCs 
15 meters CW   9 QSOs 54 pts 5 SPCs
15 meters USB 3 QSOs 9 pts 1 SPC
Total CW and SSB 100 QSOs 486 pts 45 SPCs
Score : 21,870

It is notable that most of the QSOs on 15 meters were Italians and we worked one Italian on USB and then also on CW.  Marv had a nice string of ten contacts in a row. Ron did a good job as well. We ran into some other Bay county operators including K4MTI, N4JTC, KN4Y and NK4A. We exercised the N1MM logger. All in all this was a great warm up for Field Day. Come out and support us on Field day June 23/24 at the Bay County EOC.

See photos here.

Greg N4KGL


Friday, April 27, 2012

Panama City ARC Open House Saturday April 28

The Panama City ARC club house will be open 10 AM to 3 PM Saturday. We will be glad to talk with any new hams or anyone interested about on the air operations .Also we can introduce any ham to contest/event operating as the Florida QSO party will be on-going. If you already know all about this come down and share your expertise.

Note:  I have volunteered to operate as a special QRP ARCI station K6JSS during the Florida QSO party. So I plan to take advantage of the antenna at the club house. I'll see how many of the twenty hours I can operate. If you would like to operate, log or just provide moral support, call on the145.210 repeater and see what is going on.

The Florida QSO Party
April 28th and April 29th, 2012
Two - 10 hour operating periods (20 Hours total):
Saturday April 28th 16:00z (11:00 CDT) - 01:59 (8:59pm CDT)
April 29th 2012
Sunday April 29th 12:00z (7am CDT) - 21:59z (4:59pm CDT) April 29st
2012 


Greg N4KGL

Sunday, April 15, 2012

The Panama City ARC April 14th Tailgate was a Fun Event


Enjoyed by many, the Tailgate was a success this year! It had good combination of seller, buyers, newcomers and old timers. Congratulations to Bob Jurgonski KK4CVU. He was the winner of the $150 HRO Gift Certificate.  Don Cornelius KK4DWC was the winner of The Bounty Hunter $50 gift certificate also from HRO. We picked up new members and renewals. We also managed to exchange many of the donated items for cash. A test session was held at 1 PM headed up by Gary Bills AJ4KY. The food service was outstanding thanks to Jenny and Tom Cothern KK4TLC. Don Cornelius the Treasurer handled lots of money and memberships. Thanks many who helped out in various ways including Addison Marvin KK4DKT and Charlie Lewis KF4JR. More detailed information will be available at the next club business meeting.

A special thanks to Jim Johnson KC4HW and James Nelson KE4GWW from the Wiregrass ARC for attending. The WARC Spring Tailgate is on the square in Headland, AL on April 28th.


Monday, March 19, 2012

Panama City ARC Tailgate April 14th

The Panama City Amateur Radio Club is sponsoring a tailgate on Saturday April 14th, 9 AM until 1 PM. Buy, sell or swap ham radio gear. Limited tables are available for $5 on a first come first serve basis. There will be raffle prizes and food is available. License testing at 1PM. Bring $14, picture ID and copy of license if upgrading. The location is the Panama City Amateur Radio Club, 130 N. Church Ave Panama City, FL. The talk-in repeater is W4RYZ 145.210 minus no tone. Questions about this event can be sent to panamacityarc@gmail.com.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

March 10th 2012 Lynn Haven FL Portable Ops

The Panama City ARC had a nice turn out for portable ops today a bay side park in Lynn Haven FL. Marv KK4DKT had his brand new FT-897 hooked to his Buddipole. Marv's Daughter Syndney make her first contact. It was to WB0YYE out of Nebraska. Marv  worked W9VCL out of Wisconsin. The 20 meter band was not in very good shape. Greg N4KGL worked QRP to three stations in Florida on 40 meters and then worked Texas and North Carolina on 20 meters. Bob Dunkin WB4BLX brought his Icom 706 and Icom AH-4 tuner and tested it out on Greg's Portable Inverted U antenna. He was able to transmit an email to Marv who had left via a Pactor gateway on 30 meters. Marv got the email. We were also joined by Kenn KG4VQI, Don KK4DWC, Ron KK4DWE, Tom KK4TLC, Dave W1EVG, and Travis AK4PP. We all enjoyed the sunshine. Enjoy the photos!



Monday, February 13, 2012

Bounty Hunter Contest

The Panama City Amateur Radio Club is sponsoring a BountyHunter Contest. It is open to all licensed hams. The goal to encourage local activity and to allow new hams to get familiar with operating practices.

The bounty hunter will make a two way 2 meter or 70 cm FM QSO with any ham and ask them for the year they were first licensed. If the ham is unsure of the year first licensed, the ham can provide a best guess and be consistent thereafter. For each ham worked the hunter will claim a bounty in dollars equal to the year the ham was first licensed. The bounty can be claimed once per band via simplex and once per band via repeater. Echolink QSOs will count as repeater but one end of the QSO must be on RF.  The hunterwill log:
Call worked, Year first licensed, Band, Simplex or Repeater.

QSOs can be at random or scheduled. The hunter can take advantage of the Panama City 2 Meter Net to schedule QSOs. QSOs for credit must occur prior to or after the close of the the Panama City ARC 2 meter net. When the hunter accumulates the first $20,000 send the log to panmacityarc@gmail.com. You will be issued a certificate. You can keep sending in logs for $20,000 endorsements.  All hunters will get one chance per $20,000 of bounty in a drawing at the April 14th 2012 Panama City ARC Tailgate. The prize is a $50 gift certificate for ham radio supplies. You do not have to be present to win.

Start: Feb 13 2012 at the close of the Panama City ARC 2 Meter Net.

End: April 9 2012 at the start of the Panama City ARC 2 Meter Net.

The Panama City ARC 2 Meter Net meets Mondays 7 PM 145.210 minus offset no tone.

Send any questions you may have to Greg N4KGL LaneKG@gmail.com

Saturday, January 28, 2012

St Andrews State Park Portable Ops

The St Andrews State Park was a beautiful venue for portable ops. There was a chilly wind but staying in the sun helped. Our setup was on picnic tables under a roof. We were constrained with antennas a bit because we could not venture out on the dunes per the rules. Mike Rutherford KJ4QVR joined us. He worked Ireland on 10 meters from his mobile. Marv KK4DKT made some contacts between 20 and 10 meters. Greg N4KGL did some 40 and 20 meter QRP CW contacts. He also ventured on the pier with his pedestrian mobile QRP rig. He worked PA and Toronto while on the pier. We had a troop of scouts come by and they asked lots of question. In addition we had Marv's wife Melissa, the Dunkins Bob WB4BLX and Linda KG4TJL, the Johnsons and Vic K4GXV and Sally KD4UUN. We also had a Ian a Canadian Ham visitor. Enjoy the photos.

Monday, January 2, 2012

Portable Ops at Mr. Grumpy's Ranch

We had a good portable operations gathering at Mr. Grumpy's Crooked Fence Ranch near SouthPort, FL Monday January 2nd. The portable ops included testing Ron Downs new MFJ 6 band vertical antenna which worked on first try. Addison Marvin helped Dave Clark test out his new Yaesu 857 rig on a portable 20 meter dipole. Jim Mc Quagge checked out some QRP radios on a portable antenna. Greg Lane's new Solar panel was demonstrated for battery charging. Greg also did some QRP pedestrian mobile ops. There were a number of club members that joined in. Of course the horses were very curious about our goings on. See the pictures. A big thanks to Don Cornelius AKA Mr. Grumpy who was our host.