Gold Coast Amateur Radio Association, Inc.

Click BELOW to download and print the PDF version NOTE: Meeting minutes are posted online as a draft for review until approved at the following meeting. Corrections can be sent to the Secretary, currently rickiwitte4@gmail.com.

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE FOR MARCH 2025

CQ, CQ, CQ CALLING ALL HAMS…………..

Luck of the Irish to you in the month of March!!

May the wind be at your back and the sun on your path as you travel through your lives.

I hope that this note finds everyone doing well and what they want to do. The GCARA club is healthy and growing at a continual pace. Our testing program will be stepped up and we will offer testees twelve months free membership in our club so they can get a taste of what we offer them. There are so many wonderful clubs around, each offering a different HAM flavor.

Our club offers interpersonal relationships with mentors, and we serve to point to areas of interest that may be savored by the hobbyist. We engage in education, service opportunities to the community and we practice in the ARRL Field Day in June and WFD in January. We love to maintain the original practices of our predecessors. There is little more rewarding in life than to pave the way for someone’s edification, education and proficiency in a chosen hobby or field. We strive to keep our eyes looking forward while remembering how we got here. Welcome everyone to our vastly unique community of hams.

This month we had our March 29, 2025 Spring Picnic at Vista View park in Davie. We featured RICKI’S Chili and Dogs with our show and tell this picnic to rave reviews.

There were 22 attendees and a lot of gabbing between everyone as they examined Kenny’s Russian radios and other equipment, he is so often able to bring. Ben Echavarria N7BBE brought his go kit to the delight of a youngster in attendance. It was so neat to see the child twirl the knobs through the frequencies and being fascinated by hearing conversation at some spots. We think we may have a ham in training soon.

Our March meeting was absolutely fascinating and we will have speaker Patrick Bolan, owner of Geochron back early next year to show the further development of his Ham Package for the Geochron clock. He has the manual version, and a digital one now and will be enhancing the programs you can run on the clock. There are so many options one can choose from, whether the weather or maritime shipping or aircraft fights or satellites positions etc. There are interactive features which make this item worth obtaining.

We auctioned off a Geochron device worth $450.00 to our attendees and Marty Falk’s wife, Edna, bought it for her husband. Now, they can be tuned in to many different programs on their HD Smart TV. Patrick is offering the kit at a show special of $75.00 off the kit for members of GCARA. The talk was well worth it.

Click BELOW to download and print the PDF version NOTE: Meeting minutes are posted online as a draft for review until approved at the following meeting. Corrections can be sent to the Secretary, currently rickiwitte4@gmail.com.

A slightly used Geochron device is being auctioned off on Tuesday, March 25, 2025 at our General Meeting.

It will be described by Geochron owner Patrick Bolan, our speaker, which should make it interesting.

Bids by Zoom or in person. 

BIDS START AT  $200.00

PLEASE JOIN US. MEETING STARTS AT 7:30 PM.

GCARA MEETING @IMPERIAL POINT HOSPITAL
6401 N FEDERAL HWY.
FT LAUDERDALE FL 33308

If in person, come into Main Entrance by 7 PM. After 7 PM, must enter through the Emergency entrance with security check in.

Zoom Meeting Link: https://us02web.zoom.us

Meeting ID: 823 3968 9781
Passcode: 565513

By Special Invitation from BRARA

BART JAHNKE W9JJ
ARRL LEAD PERSON FOR Logbook of The World (LoTW)

TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2025
6:30 PM (SPEAKER AT 7PM)

Henry Seidner WA2ROA has invited GCARA to attend in person or on ZOOM, their monthly meetings.

Here is a link for a new user guide for LoTW  https://www.g4ifb.com/LoTW_New_User_Guide.pdf

BRARA meets at:
WEST BOCA BRANCH LIBRARY
18685 STATE RD 7
BOCA RATON, FL 33498

ZOOM INFO: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86552555294?pwd=Q0FWTFhXT3NMbXhkSzVaRzJNYUlrdz09#success

Meeting ID: 865 5255 5294
Passcode: 123456

Bart Jahnke, W9JJ, started Amateur Radio in his late teens in 1978, becoming a Novice as KA9DLH in January 1979. Taking all the remaining license exam levels at the FCC Field Office in St Paul Minnesota, he upgraded to Tech, Tech Plus, General, Advanced (with call sign change to KB9NM), and to Extra by late 1980. Perusing the Callbooks for unassigned 1×2 calls (didn’t everyone back then?), he later became W9JJ in FCC Vanity Gate 2 in November 1996. W9JJ was the secondary call of local club friend, Bob Baird, W9NN.

Bart grew up on a Dairy Farm in Wausau WI, from a high perch on the hills outside of town. Finding that VHF Weak Signal operating was an exciting challenge and finding that the farm hilltop location afforded extraordinary line of sight, tropo, meteor scatter, aurora and EME opportunities on the horizon, Bart was hooked on VHF/UHF and above DXing. Bart worked many states on VHF on 6, 2, 220 and 432 MHz back then – with 43 states worked on 2 meters in just a couple years from the farm.

My HF’ing was reserved for Field Day, Sweepstakes. But HF and VHF operations continued as guest op visits to the Wisconsin W0AIH/9 & W0AA Farm, as well as the K9IMM and AD9W VHF Multiop Teams.  

In 1985, after graduating from Tech School with an ASEE, Bart saw an ad in QST for the position of Repeater Directory Editor which paved a road to his future at ARRL.  During his early days at ARRL Bart traveled with the W1XX VHF Hill-topping Team (including operating from the roof at 4U1UN) and he has participated in several VHF/UHF Hilltop Contests with W2SZ/1 FN32 Mt Greylock Team  (www.mgef.org), as well as operations from W1AW.

Since these earlier years, building a home station at 3 different locations over time never got me to the station configuration I desired. BUT with the advent of more automations, even remote operations are available to me today.  Consider remote operations for your own station challenges (from HF to low microwaves).

Bart has been with ARRL in several different roles. Primarily:

• 1985-1989 Repeater Directory Editor and Contest/Regulatory Assistant
• 1989-2005 ARRL VEC Manager
• 2016-2019 Contest Program Manager
• 2019-present, Radiosport and Regulatory Information Manager (interim Field Services Manager), then more recently Radiosport and Regulatory Information Manager. My present role also includes extensive lead LoTW support.

Bart has been a presenter at several VHF Conferences, Hamfests and Conventions discussing Contesting, Regulatory Information (Volunteer Monitoring) and Radiosport, and enjoys working the Hamfest Booths to assist ARRL Members (and prospective members) in their enjoyment of Amateur Radio.

Bart W9JJ, and his wife Sabrina (KC1JMW), live near Willimantic, CT

Click BELOW to download and print the PDF version NOTE: Meeting minutes are posted online as a draft for review until approved at the following meeting. Corrections can be sent to the Secretary, currently rickiwitte4@gmail.com.

Happy New Year !!!!  CQ, CQ, CQ, Calling All Hams!!

Our new year 2025 promises to be the best yet! Our new Board is busy at work keeping the club operational and looking for ways to enrich the lives of our fellow hams.

We are currently checking to make sure everyone gets their emails through Mail Chimp so they know what the club is doing and how to get on the Zoom programs if they cannot make the live presentations at Imperial Point Hospital. If you do not receive our weekly emails, kindly contact Melanie Fernandez KJ4VCT @ 954-560-3706 and let her know.

Before I get into the Winter Field Day talk, I would like to inform you that our President Elect David Pomerantz KO4DKN withdrew his bid for Presidency due to other obligations he was made aware of for this year. He sincerely regrets not being able to lead us but will look forward to a time in the future when he possibly can.

I want to encourage everyone who has a desire for leadership to contact me ANYTIME to discuss the many possibilities. We are currently in search of President and Secretary positions. We are an amiable group on the Board and fun to work with.

Winter Field Day is upon us with new rules and times so please pay attention to the bulletins sent by Joe McGee NX4T, this year’s co- sponsor with Rick Eaton K2HDR. NOW is the time to get onboard for training on how to do a Field Day and to volunteer your help with the project. Please contact Joe McGee NX4T for ways to help him as soon as possible. His phone number is 954-782-3543 and he is waiting to hear from you.

The Hospitality Committee needs help as soon as possible for this Field Day and other events the club will provide for its membership. It includes opportunities to help with shopping, serving or storing the Field Day Hospitality paraphernalia i.e. coolers, plastic bins of supplies and other miscellaneous stuff.

Please contact Melanie if you can see clear to help us with one or many tasks.

This January’s meeting will be Zoom only. See announcements on website W4BUG.org for details. The auditorium at Imperial Point was not available this month and rather than change the week we meet, it was thought better to just do ZOOM. I hope to see all there for Gino Morello’s talk on the Veritium HF Clock.

I would like to remind people that many dues expired in December and this month of January. If you have any questions about your membership dues, please contact Melanie. Being proactive in this matter is both helpful and appreciated. Thank you.

I hope that everyone enjoys a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year this year and that we see a change for the better in all events and circumstances in the world. May God Bless Us All.

Melanie Fernandez KJ4VCT

President Pro Temp