GCARA Members and friends, we have an exciting announcement. Thanks to the diligence of Board Members, Joe McGee NX4T and Tom Savoca K9TJS, we have an online booking system for guaranteeing your time on the radio at this Winter field Day, Jan 27/28th, 2024.
BOOKING THE STATION OR REGISTERING FOR THE EVENT IS OVER.
PLEASE SHOW UP AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ANY AVAILABLE SLOT.
We are asking for reservations, so we know how much food to purchase. If you could mention the times you are interested going, it would be greatly appreciated. Also, this is the first time we hope to hear that a lot of people worked the radio at Field Day!
Our Field Day Coordinator, Joe McGee NX4T, has done a lot of planning and making arrangements for a good time for all on Winter Field Day and it would be a downright shame to miss it. We (Joe McGee NX4T and Aurora Figueiredo WD4AGF) worked on getting out 454 hand addressed post card WFD invitations to the hams in areas surrounding the QUIET WATERS PARK and Ft. Lauderdale. It was a fantastic idea of Joe McGee’s and we gave it a try to see if we can get a large group of hams there.
While most of you were celebrating the holidays in your favorite way, Tom Savoca and Joe McGee were steadily at work getting the forms ready for
the W4BUG.org website. Thank you, gentlemen, for your time and talents on our behalf……
Please come and join us. It just won’t be a success without you there to share it with.
Warmest regards,
Melanie KJ4VCT and your Board of Directors
Planning continues for our 2024 Winter Field Day activities, which will occur on January 27/28 at Quiet Waters Park, Bald Eagle Pavilion in Deerfield Beach. Setup will commence Saturday at 8 AM and the on-air contest will extend from 2 PM Saturday to 2 PM Sunday.
As outlined in the previous announcement, we will host 3 HF stations (phone, CW, & digital) in addition to a UHF/VHF station. There will be operational demonstrations of various antenna systems including magnetic loops, dipoles, and two band Yagis for satellite contacts. In addition a fox hunt will be conducted, and a demonstration of our remote HF station will be available. The remote station and magnetic loop antennas should be of special interest for those who live with limited or restricted antenna space.
We seek volunteers to support this event, both with setup/teardown and SSB operation. Something new this year is a provision for reserving operating time on the SSB station. This will ensure that you will be able to get on the air at a specific time, and you may reserve your time prior to the event on our website.
Click here for the SSB registration form to reserve an operating time on the SSB station.
Food and drink will be available for a modest fee (largely subsidized by the club). That will be described in our next announcement There will be rest rooms available, and we encourage those who can to stay with us overnight to support our late night efforts on the air.
There is a fee of $1.50 per person for admission to the park.
Contact Joe, NX4T at mcgee3543@bellsouth.net if you have questions, comments, or
suggestions.
Please do join us.
73, Joe, NX4T, Event Chairman
Saturday morning ” ham” breakfast.
From 7 to 9 AM interested Hams meet since 1994 at JJs Cafe for breakfast.
Everyone is welcome to join.
JJs Cafe
6051 NW 31st Ave,
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309
http://jjcafefood.com/
Click 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.
GCARA-General-Meeting-Minutes-20231128.docxClick to download and print the PDF version
GCARA_Board_Minutes_20231126NOTE: 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.
Planning and preparations for Winter Field Day are now underway.
We will again meet at Quiet Waters Park in Deerfield Beach, Bald Eagle Pavilion, for this annual event. This is one of the two largest and most popular nation-wide events in Amateur Radio. We hope for a large turnout for this event—both club members and interested non-members alike are cordially invited.
This event will begin at 8 AM Saturday January 27 with the setup of our 3 HF operating stations (SSB, CW, and digital) and antennas. In addition, we will have a UHF/VHF station and we hope to have an active satellite station as well. The event will continue uninterrupted through mid afternoon Sunday, January 28. Actual radio communications will occur for 24 hours, from 2 PM Saturday through 2 PM Sunday.
Attendees will be given opportunities to get on the air during the contest on our SSB station, and if well acquainted with CW and/or
PSK-31/RTTY, on those stations as well.
Additionally we plan to have one or more VHF Fox hunts on site. Bring your handheld radio to participate. If you don’t have one available, we may be able to provide a loaner or two.
For demonstrations we will have an active, hands-on magnetic loop antenna display which should be of great interest to those who wish to operate on HF from HOV residences, etc., with limited antenna possibilities. There will also be additional displays, such as a live monitor of our QSO activity and a working demonstration of our remote HF station.
Those who wish can stay overnight and take advantage of increased radio availability in the wee hours. You must provide your own camping-style accommodations for this , whether with a tent, camper (parking should be ample), or on the pavilion floor (air mattress or cot highly recommended).
Restrooms will be available, and food/drinks will be available upon registration. We will provide the details for that on a future announcement and on our website at www.w4bug.org .
Questions/comments/suggestions will be welcomed by Joe, NX4T at mcgee3543@bellsouth.net .
Hope to see you there.
Joe McGee, NX4T
GCARA Vice President, Field Day Chairman.
NO RSVP is Needed!
You do not have to be a member or a ham operator to join our monthly club dinner!
Check back for any updated news regarding DINNER!
If you have any questions about ham radio operator, any of the activities we do or our involvement in the community please come and ask!
Location:
Wings Plus
9880 W Sample Rd
Coral Springs, FL 33065
Click to download and print the PDF version
GCARA-General-Meeting-Minutes-20231024.doc
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