The ARRL National Convention, aka Orlando Hamcation® was the destination of many SPARC members in February. There were lots of goodies for everyone, and our traditional lunch time photos appear in this issue. I bet I purchased the only antique bottle of Edison Battery Oil in the place.
Our April Fool’s Day meeting sure fooled me. Usually our attendance falls off after Easter, as our snow birds begin their migration north. We must have set a new record. A standing room only crowd, three dozen donuts consumed, three packages of cookies annihilated, and nearly 50 cups of coffee enjoyed. I can only assume it was the excellent program on PSK given by Dave, KR4U that was the star attraction.
The tower permit has been issued. The station engineering team is finalizing construction plans. Work has begun on refurbishing the tower base and accessories. Shortly the foundation will be in place. Look for announcements for an antenna party. Our primary HF operating position now features a P3 Panadaptor. We should see our average contest scores begin to rise soon.
This year’s Field Day was one for the books. We had the usual technical issues which were quickly resolved. The food was plentiful and good. Enough rain to make things interesting. And a nearby lightning strike that took out the 7.2KV primary feed to our FD site. No problems…we’re on emergency power. Read all the exciting details in this issue.
We’re also looking for some direction in setting up our weather station. We would like to cast our data to multiple web sites. If you have some expertise with these systems, give me a shout.
Finally we note the passing of members Pete Secrist, WB2SUN; Bruce Roggenkamp WD9FMI; and Ernest Gregorie, AA1IK. RIP OM.
73,
Bob – N2ESP
• P.S. A funny for this issue: I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me.
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