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The Gold Coast Amateur Radio Association will sponsor its ARRL Field Day event on June 28-29, 2025 at Quiet Waters Park (401 S Powerline Rd, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442)
Note from Joe NX4T:
Planning has begun for Summer Field Day / Ham Helpers Free Flea Market to be held at Quiet Waters Park in Deerfield Beach on June 28/29.
We have decided to have a joint event (again) with Ham helpers, due to a number of expressions of interest and our desire to draw as many participants (and possible future club members) as possible. Kenny H. asks that we use this opportunity to bring any equipment we have to offer to supplement his inventory
We are scheduled and all set to meet again at the Bald Eagle Pavilion, with setup beginning at 8 AM.
Click here to view the ARRL Rules
If you are in a position to help in any of the areas specified in the rules, or in other areas such as food, equipment/personnel transportation, outreach (invitations, publicity), etc, please call or text me at 965-782-3543. Do keep in mind that one or two cannot do it all. Pitch in and help us !).
Regards, 73,
Joe, NX4T
GCARA Field Day Co-Chairman
Quiet Waters Park is a 430-acre Broward County Park in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Quiet Waters Park is known locally for its annual Renaissance Festival, mountain bike trails, and it’s Ski Rixen cable water-skiing system.
Get Ready for ARRL Field Day 2025: “Radio Connects”
The annual ARRL Field Day, a popular on-air event for amateur radio enthusiasts across North America, is set for Saturday, June 28, and Sunday, June 29, 2025. This year’s theme, “Radio Connects,” highlights the multifaceted ways wireless technology fosters connections across distances, generations, and during times of need.
ARRL Field Day serves as a unique blend of a public service demonstration, emergency preparedness exercise, and an exciting operating event. For 24 hours, participants aim to contact as many other stations as possible using a variety of frequency bands and operating modes. The event officially kicks off at 18:00 UTC on Saturday and concludes at 20:59 UTC on Sunday.
Key Objectives and Activities:
- Emergency Preparedness: A core tenet of Field Day is to practice operating in less-than-optimal conditions, often utilizing temporary antennas and emergency power sources like generators or batteries. This simulates how amateur radio can provide vital communication links when traditional infrastructure fails.
- Public Awareness: Many local amateur radio clubs set up their Field Day sites in public locations, offering a chance for the community to witness ham radio in action and learn about its capabilities and importance in public service.
- Operating Skills: Participants hone their on-air operating skills, experimenting with different modes (voice, Morse code, digital) and bands (HF, VHF, and above).
- Community and Fun: Beyond the technical aspects, Field Day is a social event. It’s an opportunity for camaraderie, often involving picnics, campouts, and a chance for seasoned hams to mentor newcomers. Many sites will feature a “Get On The Air” (GOTA) station, allowing unlicensed individuals or newly licensed hams to experience operating with the guidance of an experienced operator.
How to Participate:
Amateur radio operators can participate in various ways:
- Join a Local Club: Many clubs organize group efforts, often setting up elaborate multi-transmitter stations.
- Form a Group: Friends or like-minded individuals can team up to operate from a portable location.
- Operate Individually: Hams can also participate from their home stations, especially if they are operating under emergency power.
Rules and Reporting:
The ARRL provides detailed rules and guidelines for Field Day, covering aspects like station classifications, power limits, and bonus points for various achievements (e.g., using emergency power, youth participation, public outreach). Participants are encouraged to submit their logs and summaries to the ARRL for scoring and recognition. The deadline for submitting entries for the 2025 event is Tuesday, July 29, 2025.
Whether you’re a seasoned amateur radio operator or simply curious about the hobby, ARRL Field Day 2025 offers a fantastic opportunity to get involved, learn, and celebrate the power of radio to connect us all. More information, including the complete rules, can typically be found on the ARRL website (arrl.org/field-day) as the event approaches.
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
GCARA SPRING PICNIC
at VISTA VIEW PARK
10 AM TO 4 PM
4001 SW 142 Ave
Davie, FL 33330
Join us for a HAM Spring FLING
FOX HUNT, TO GO KITS
And your friends
CHILI and Hot Dogs
SUGGESTED DONATION FOR FOOD $10.00
PLEASE RSVP!
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.
