We are located in Port Richey, Florida in Pasco County, West Central Florida just Northwest of Tampa.

Everyone is welcome!!! Activities to include annual Field Day event, Club Picnics, Annual Club Ham Fest, Fox Hunts, ARRL/VEC exams, special events, local ARES/RACES support, Club HF station, VHF/UHF repeaters and more.

Please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any suggestions, good or bad, content to add (especially upcoming events), photos and what ever you like.

 

 Dear Club Members,

GCARC St. Patrick's Day Dinner

Bring a covered dish and join the fun!

6:00 PM - 8:00 PM Tuesday, March 17, 2015 

Located at the clubhouse

6909 Tierra Verde St

Port Richey, FL 34668 

GCARC Hamfest

GCARC 2014 VE Testing Summary

During 2014 the GCARC held 12 VE testing sessions.  Thirty nine individuals attended these sessions and tested for a total of 50 exams.Testing will continue on the same schedule (first Wednesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at the club house) during 2015.  An additional session will be held at the club's annual Hamfest at EZ Mini Storage in Hudson on Saturday - March 28th, 2015.During 2015 the ARRL testing fee remains unchanged at $15.00.

On July 1, 2015 a new General Class license question pool will go into effect.  Therefore, those wishing to upgrade using the current question pool will have to test before the end of June 2015.

73,

Jeff Hartman- W2JL

FCC Allows Partial Credit for Expired Licences 

From The ARRL Website:

On July 21, 2014, the FCC revised the Amateur Service Part 97 rules to grant partial written examination element credit to holders of expired General, Advanced and Extra licenses.  
Information for VEs can be found on the VE Resources web page in the section 
titled "New Exam Element Credit".  Additional information and clarification is 
located on the Exam Element Credit web page.

 ARRL Website: http://www.arrl.org/licensing-education-training

 Global 24 Radio

 Hello,

http://about.global24radio.com/about-us/join-our-newsletter/

New Lake Placid Repeater On The Air

 Proclamation

Whereas, Amateur Radio operators are celebrating over a century of the miracle of the human voice broadcast over the airwaves; and

Whereas, Amateur Radio has continued to provide a bridge between peoples, societies and countries by creating friendships and the sharing of ideas; and

Whereas, Amateur Radio Operators have also provided countless hours of community services both in emergencies and to other local organizations throughout these decades; and

Whereas, these Amateur Radio’s services are provided wholly uncompensated; and

Whereas, the State also recognizes the services Amateur Radio’s people also provide to our many Emergency Response organizations, including the American Radio Relay League, Inc., and the Northern Florida Section, the West Central Section, and South Florida Section; and the Amateur Radio Emergency Service; and

Whereas, these same individuals have further demonstrated their value in public assistance by providing free radio communications for local parades, bike-a-thons, walk-a-thons, fairs and other charitable public events; and

Whereas, the State of Florida recognizes and appreciates the diligence of these "hams" who also serve as weather spotters in the SKYWARN program of the US Government Weather Bureau; and

Whereas, Amateur Radio once again proved its undisputed relevance in the modern world in 2005 by providing emergency communications when other systems failed in the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the USA and in the Tsunami catastrophe overseas; and

Whereas, the ARRL is the leading organization for Amateur Radio in the USA; and

Whereas, the ARRL Amateur Radio Field Day exercise will take place on June 28-29, 2014 and is a 24 hour emergency preparedness exercise and demonstration of the Radio Amateurs’ skills and readiness to provide self-supporting communications without further infrastructure being required; now

Therefore, I, Rick Scott, Governor of Florida, do hereby officially recognize and designate

June 23-29, 2014 as Amateur Radio Week in Florida

Field Day  2014 June 28 - June 29th

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A Letter from our President

Dear Members,

As I sit here on New Years Eve, I'm reflecting back of the Gulf Coast Amateur Radio Club and the accomplishments the members have achieved during the year. We are becoming well known in the county because of our involvement with civic groups and Pasco County Emergency Management by providing Amateur Radio communications for their events and providing HAM radio displays and information tables at events such as the Pasco County Hurricane Expo and the Regency Park Library. Radio support was requested and provided at events such as the RAP River Run, Cotee Man Triathalon, Filthy Fun Run, Sheriff Nocco's "Jingle Bell Run", the United Cerebral Palsy, "Ride Without Limits", Boy Scouts "Jamboree On The Air".

The club members donated their time and radio equipment to provide communications with the event coordinators and Emergency Medical Services should they be needed. Also many members are certified SKYWARN weather watchers that provide severe weather information to the National Weather Service in Ruskin. Fortunately this wasn't needed this year nor was a deployment of radio operators to hurricane shelters to support the Red Cross through the ARES/RACES program in conjunction with the Pasco County Office of Emergency Management. Training and preparation did continue to stay prepared in the event we were needed. I am proud of this club and its members for their service to the community and for their tireless efforts in the spreading the word on the fascinating hobby of amateur radio. I am honored to be the club president and looking forward to even a better year in 2014.

Respectfully,

Bill Pfaff Jr  KI4QJK

President

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The Passing of Club Member John Bertoli N1BJT

Again it is with a saddened heart, that I must report the passing of another club member.

John Bertoli, N1BJT, the husband of Carol Bertoli, KG4WAZ passed away after a long fight with

a serious illness.

 John is the member that designed and built the club emblem that hangs over the officers table

at the club house.

Our thoughts, prayers and sympathy are with Carol and the family in their time of mourning.

Bill Pfaff Jr  KI4QJK

President

Public Information Officer 

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The Passing of Club Member Linda Sullivan

It is with a saddened heart, that I am making this announcement. Our friend and club member Linda Sullivan, wife of Robert "Sully" Sullivan, W4KHY has passed away in Ohio. Our sincere condolences, thoughts and prayers are with Sully and their family   All of us that know and love her will dearly miss her her smile and great attitude. God Bless you Linda and Rest in Peace.

Bill Pfaff Jr  KI4QJK

President

Public Information Officer

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Ham Radio to the Rescue

 by Dawn Randazzo KJ4ZBK

  On the night of August 3 2013,  I was Driving Northbound on us 19. My SUV started struggling and was getting no power. I was in the middle lane and couldn't get over due to traffic. No warning lights came on to let me know there was a problem.  At first I thought it was the transmission, then smoke started coming from under the hood, and I thought it was overheating. I got on the radio and said my car is on fire! As I was traveling down the road N2KNW Mike came back to my call and asked me where I was.  By the time I made it to the gas station, he told me that he was right behind me. Mike and his friend came with a container of water and filled my radiator. Mike stayed with me until my Parents arrived so I wouldn't be alone. I was thankful that he was on the frequency that night and couldn't thank him enough. Turns out the car would have gone on fire if I kept going since it was the ABS braking system.  Also, the serpentine belt had broken, and the water pump wasn't pumping water through the engine. Ham radio came to my rescue that night. Thank you to all who helped me that evening!  Dawn KJ4ZBK

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Echolink is now available for download for Android phones.  Search for Echolilnk in the Market for download or scan this image.

You'll need to be registered with Echolink prior to running this software which can be done on www.echolink.org.

Once you sign in you can do a search for your favorite station and connect.  Sounds realy good over the speaker phone.  My first contact I made with the software, the operator on the repeater said my audio was choppy which I might be overdriving our internet connection and need some tweaking on our end.  Software runs real smooth and the 15 minutes that I had it running didn't drain my battery to bad.  You can send text messages to other users that are logged in to your link.  Favorites is a nice feature just like the full program on your PC.  Settings has options to pick your type of connection as direct if using wifii or relay if using the data on the phone, like 3G.  If you use direct on your WiFii network you have to make sure your router is setup to do Port Forwarding.  Other options to include using the speakerphone (default setting) or using the earpiece, user name as reported on the connection, microphone gain settings.

The website has more indepth information at http://www.echolink.org/faq_android.htm

Now you have no reason not to check into the net on Tuesday nights.

73
Jerry
K4JHK