News

JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN HEAR IT …
By Paul Toth-NB9X

Back in the Eighties and Nineties, the “Cool Kids” walked around with portable two-way radios. It was a Status Symbol as much as it was a communications device. And when it worked, it was “really cool”.

Cell phones have now allowed just about everyone to be one of the “Cool Kids”. Most people don’t know what makes them work. They just know they work most of the time, indoors and in the great outdoors. By association, those same people have an expectation their portable two-way Ham radio will work the same way. Many times it does. But there are limitations.

First, let me say the West Central Florida Group, Inc. takes great pride in the NI4CE Repeater Systems (analog and NXDN digital). We put a lot of work and effort into making sure the systems are optimized to provide maximum coverage. The high-profile nature of sites like Verna, Boyette, and Holiday each give the Amateur Radio community a large coverage footprint. Link those sites together, along with the Bartow and Lake Placid analog repeaters, and you cover a lot of territory. On the digital side, there is nearly equal coverage plus signaling from the Charlotte County site that extends coverage over most of Lee County and the Fort Myers area. (..more..)
-August 1, 2022

In Case of Emergency …

We all believe that amateur radio provides a valuable public service, but most often the evidence is intangible. Last Night (June 16th) on Eagle Net was very different. During the call for Station Level Appointees, our net control, Christine Duez, K4KJN, received an emergency call from a regular check-in on Eagle Net saying he was trapped inside his house, and he needed the police immediately. Christine suspended normal net operations and engaged the station with the emergency. She called her local 911 (Polk County) and Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) and finally got the message through to Pasco County who sent police and paramedics to the ham’s home. Additionally, Ronnie Shaw, KM4NDZ, was listening and realized he was a short distance from the emergency location and proceeded there. KM4NDZ provided updates and ensured the net that emergency responders were on the scene working the situation. The ham radio operator with the emergency confirmed later that he had been rescued and was safe. He said that when he became entrapped, all he had with him was his handheld transceiver. He couldn’t reach his cell phone. Kudos to K4KJN for handling the situation calmly and effectively. Also, kudos to KM4NDZ for providing valuable situational awareness.

Who would have thought that our lowly Eagle Net would become a critical element in helping one of our regulars in an emergency? Well, now we have clear proof that what we do every night has an impact.

I thought it might be valuable to pass on some of my knowledge and experience gained from my military years and more recently supporting the Coast Guard with radio communications. Here are a few bullet points that might be valuable should any of us receive an emergency call.

• When an emergency transmission is received, the net control should suspend normal net operation and concentrate on responding to the emergency.
• The most important information needed from the emergency station includes

o Name and call sign
o Location of the station needing assistance – This really shortens the response time. If you have QRZ, you can look up the address using the call sign.
o What is the emergency – This allows the first responders to tailor their response to the specific situation.

• Note the time the emergency call was received. Make a note in your log as early as practical.
• Keep communications with the emergency station going for as long as possible. This is your first priority.
• Call for a station in the county where the emergency station is located. Ask that local station to make the 911 call. This helps in two ways. First, that local station will contact the emergency call center closest to the victim. Second, it allows the net control to maintain control of the net and keep open communications with the emergency station.
• If no one from the county answers, call for either the net manager or one of the assistant net managers to manage making the call. Our team will have access to phone numbers for the call centers in each of our WCF counties (to be distributed soon)
• All traffic associated with the emergency is PRIORITY and takes precedence over all other traffic (including routine Skywarn reports). Since the emergency station is assumed to be in imminent danger, all other traffic should cease until a response to the emergency is confirmed.
• Once a response is on scene and immediate danger is mitigated, the net controller may continue Eagle Net if time permits. You have the discretion to close the net if you feel it is warranted.

Once again, K4KJN did an absolutely outstanding job handling the emergency traffic. Hopefully, this is a very rare event, but let’s be prepared when it may happen again.

Best regards,
Dave Rockwell, W4PXE
ARRL West Central Florida National Traffic (Eagle) Net Manager

-July 17, 2022

Word Salad
By Paul Toth-NB9X

You can’t always tell a book by its cover. How many times have you heard that saying? More importantly, how many times have you found the statement to be true?

The Study Guides to help new candidates prepare for Amateur Radio exams are a great exam of this. If you are like most people, your first impression will be “Amateur Radio is all about electronics and rules”. If you can memorize a few formulas, Ohm’s Law, for example, and remember how often you are supposed to identify your station (assuming you successfully pass the exam), you will be partially correct. Ham Radio exams focus on the electronic, technical, and regulatory pre-requisites. And while having a demonstrable knowledge and retention of this subject matter is important, it is only part of the story.

You see, Amateur Radio is all about communications. It is all about conveying information that you have verbally, digitally, and visually through wireless media to others. It is also all about developing the discipline to receive the information transmitted by someone else, process it and then, if necessary, take action on that information. These are two key disciplines as the Testing process completely ignores.  (..more..)
-July 14, 2022

STAYIN’ ALIVE
By Paul Toth-NB9X

Let me start this article by saying if you are someone who believes Amateur Radio is dead, you are mistaken in that belief. Yes, the proliferation of cellular technology through every demographic, every age group, and every socio-economic level of our population may make it seems like everyone has gone over to the “dark side” and abandoned our way of communicating. After all, how many people, particularly young people, will entertain what they may see as another burden of passing a test to operate a radio?

Don’t get me wrong. I am not advocating for the abolishment of Amateur Radio Testing. It does serve a useful and meaningful purpose to help ensure adherence to critical technical standards and procedures. Most cell phone users have no idea what it takes to keep cell networks working as well as they do. A cell phone is just another throwaway appliance.

So how do you get a whole generation of young people exposed to and enthusiastic about Amateur Radio? Some Public School Educators in Polk County, FL may have come up with the answer. Several teachers and administrators in the Polk County Public School District have embarked on a mission to share their knowledge and love of Amateur Radio with their students.

They call themselves the Polk Co Schools Radio Society and have already secured an FCC license, W4PSR, to help support their efforts.  (..more..)

COMMUNICATIONS OPTIONS FOR HURRICANE SEASON
By Paul Toth-NB9X

One down. Five more months to go. We have made it through the first part of the 2022 Hurricane Season. But before you get too comfortable, June is usually (but not always) one of the quieter segments of the season. While we had an early scare from the system that eventually became Tropical Storm Alex, a large amount of dust in the upper atmosphere from the Sahara Desert has kept things quiet since then.

Come August, September, and even into October, things can and probably will heat up. As they do, what are the communications options available to you to keep you connected to family and friends near and far? Of course, if you have your Amateur Radio license, the answer is simple: Amateur Radio. It works almost everywhere. Most Ham radios can be powered with a battery. And you can operate short distances on VHF and UHF in simplex mode, no repeater required. In HF mode, the sky is the limit.

Now, time for the reality check. While we encourage everyone to become part of the Amateur Radio community, not everyone can do so. That’s OK! For those of you who are not license-holders, you have communications options, over and above your cell phones.  (..more..)
-July 4, 2022

AMERICA’S (AND YOUR PERSONAL) ENERGY CHALLENGE
By Paul Toth-NB9X

Hams are almost always up for a good challenge. It is part of who we are. We are creative, innovative, think-outside-the-box types who scoff at those who asset “That can’t be done”.

Hams eat, live and prosper “by the numbers”. We also learned a long time ago that you cannot defy the Laws of Physics. That doesn’t mean there isn’t more than one way to arrive at your destination. Sometimes, you just need to be a bit more creative in how you achieve success.

This summer, we are all going to have to be “creative thinkers” and innovators to survive the “Energy Hole” the political and bureaucratic geniuses have dug us into. We can debate the pros and cons of using fossil fuels to produce the energy we need to light our lights, heat and cool our homes, run our businesses and factories and power our transportation systems. If there is a need to change HOW we create the energy that is needed to accomplish all the above, I think most people are willing to listen. But just as it is not a good idea to sell your car or your home before you have a new or different one to move into, you cannot arbitrarily abandon energy sources without having new and equal capacity energy sources to replace them. Unfortunately, that is what is occurring in many parts of the US.  (..more..)
-July 11, 2022

IT’S A WHOLE NEW BALLGAME
By Paul Toth-NB9X

When NI4CE went on the air from Riverview in 2006, it marked a major expansion of the system. NI4CE now had a footprint in the middle of the TampaBay area. With two repeaters on a platform 805 feet above ground level, there was now solid analog and digital NXDN Amateur Radio coverage in Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties.

Like all good things, there comes a time when maintenance is required. When you have repeaters that high up the tower, you need knowledgeable people who are not only certified to climb the tower but who can perform the required work. With the recent passing of our good friend Ed Allen-WA4ISB as well as other Team Members with the skills and credentials who have moved on, getting to the repeaters became problematic. We needed a new game plan.

It has taken nearly a year to implement a solution to this dilemma. But thanks to new friends at WFLA-TV (8 On Your Side) and WFTS-TV (Your Action News Station), that solution is now on the air. This last Tuesday, May 24th at 10:23 AM, the new NI4CE Boyette repeaters took to the air. The Analog repeater remains on 442.550 MHz with a CTCSS of 100 Hz, just as it was at the nearby Riverview site. The NI4CE Boyette NXDN repeater is now on a NEW narrowband frequency, 442.0875 / 447.0875. Unlike Riverview, both Boyette repeaters are now operating from the ground, easy to access, and in a fully air-conditioned environment. They are backed up with generator-based emergency power in the event a storm or some other event causes normal commercial power to fail. I hope we never have to fall back on that emergency power to stay on the air. But it is good to know it is there if and when it is needed.

The new Boyette repeaters share two brand new antennas, nearly twenty-three hundred feet of cable, and a complex RF Filtering System with two other UHF repeaters. More than just a little Engineering has gone into this new system. As you might expect, the costs involved with bringing this project to completion were considerable. Thanks to a few generous contributions and some very savvy fiscal management from WCFG Treasurer, Paul-N4PK, Boyette is on the air and sounding great! BTW, contributions are always welcome to our 501(c)(3) organization.

Special thanks to WCFG, Inc. Board Members Richard-KQ4KX who is a technical wizard and applied that technical wizardry to the TX Combiner and RX Multi-Coupler, Matt-NC4FD for lending his technical expertise and transportation skills to move cable and equipment from where it was to where it needed to be and John-KK4LI for installing a critical antenna and cabling. It was truly a team effort!

I have written previously that having an on-the-air presence in heavily Deed Restricted Hillsborough County is critical to the future of Amateur Radio in the TampaBay area. The new NI4CE Boyette repeaters maintain that presence previously established at Riverview and allow Ham operators to remain active even when they cannot erect outdoor antennas. Thanks to those of you whose generosity and commitment are helping us continue this journey.
-May 25, 2022

CALL TO ACTION
by Paul Toth-NB9X

On April 19th, the FCC was required to begin collecting a $35.00 fee for all Amateur Radio license applications, new licenses, upgrades, and license renewals. This action was mandated by a bill passed by Congress that became law.

Since the stroke of midnight on April 19th, the FCC has accepted exactly ZERO applications for Amateur Radio licenses. That means a lot of people who did their due diligence, studied the material, took one or more Amateur Radio test, and PASSED are now out in the cold. It also means existing license holders, like you and me, who need to RENEW your license before it expires are also out in the cold! This cannot be allowed to stand!

I have written to Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott to express my displeasure with this gross failure and with a Call To Action to immediately pass new legislation that EXEMPTS the Amateur Radio Service from the collection of all fees, period. I urge you to join me and write to your Congressional representatives NOW demanding action. Go to www.house.gov and www.senate.gov to send your email messages.

Aside from the inclusion of all Amateur Radio licenses in the ULS Database System, the FCC does very little to promote and promulgate Amateur Radio. Amateur Radio Testing has been conducted by non-governmental Volunteer Examiners for decades. The VECs and the hundreds of licensed Amateur Radio operators who serve as Volunteer Examiners do all the work, including the electronic 1submission of the actual license application data into the ULS system.

There is an old saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Well, now the system is broken and needs to be fixed. Let your voice be heard loud and clear so we can welcome those who studied the rules, passed the test(s), and earned their license and keep our current Amateur Radio licensees active and contributing to their communities.