April 26, 2018

Greetings North Florida Hams!  Welcome to the GREATEST HOBBY IN THE WORLD!

Summer has arrived in Daytona Beach.  How do I know?  Because I have antenna work to do and the daily temps are in the mid-80s already.  While the humidity is still “down” (only 65%), outdoor laboring makes for some profuse perspiration!  Shame on me for waiting so long!

The election voting for the NFL Section Manager position ends May 20th– I hope you voted!!!

As I write this, the upcoming weekend is the Florida QSO Party.  Some of my comrades (henchmen?) will be with me as we traverse the “wilds of the Florida interior”.  We operate a multi-operator (4 of us), multi-transmitter (2), mixed mode (SSB and CW), mobile (we travel through 8 counties in 2 days) operation.  The purpose of the operation?  We have fun – we pick on each other and use the event as an excuse to have dinner at the Blackwater Inn in Astor (Lake County) Saturday night!  Frank KB4T, Bob W2EJG, Kevin KK4BFN and myself have completed this adventure for many years, and each year is more fun than the last!  Great laughs and great food.  I hope you participate in our home state contest!

Dayton (Xenia?) Hamvention is in a few weeks.  My brother John KI4LOL and I will attend both the Hamvention and the Four Days in May (FDIM) events in the area. We’re driving but making a two day up and back trip so we’re not worn out for the festivities.  Wednesday night I’ll be in the NAQCC Sprint from Cleveland, TN; Thursday night is the CWOps dinner; Saturday the FDIM Banquet.  Not sure where Friday will lead us, but I’m thinking of joining my good friends from the Orlando ARC for dinner maybe!  Friday and Saturday morning look for me at the ARRL RadioSport Booth performing “card checking” for awards.  The rest of the time I’ll be visiting ham friends from all over the US and the rest of the world.  Always nice to have an “eyeball” with someone you work on the radio! Sunday, we head back to Cleveland, TN stopping in Corbin, KY to visit “Where It All Began” ……the home of Colonel Sanders and Kentucky Fried Chicken!  Monday, we finish the ride home. 

Please continue to send in the EC Monthly Reports to the NFL Web Page http://arrl-nfl.org/?page_id=4787 unless otherwise notified by me.  It’s important to document our activities.

Check out our fabulous NFL Section Web Page http://arrl-nfl.org/ - our spectacular Newsletter is here for all to enjoy!

Get involved, get active, get happy!  Stay safe, get on the air, and have fun!!

EVERYONE COUNTS!

73, Steve WB4OMM

Steve Szabo WB4OMM

NFL Section Manager 

ARRL, The National Association for Amateur Radio™

386-566-2085

wb4omm@arrl.org