Local Events/Repeaters

Updated 07/14/2024

08/12/24 – 7:00pm – Lakeland Amateur Radio Club (LARC) monthly meeting -Parkview Baptist Church, 509 Parkview Pl, Lakeland, FL 33805.   VE Testing is available at 5:30pm with no pre-registration required.  For more information on this and other local VE testing, please visit https://tinyurl.com/radioexams.  The Lakeland Amateur Radio Club meets monthly on the second Monday of each month.  More information can be found at https://lakelandarc.org/events/monthly_meetings.htm

08/15/24 – 7:00 pm – Lake Wales Radio Amateurs (LWRA) monthly meeting – Lake Wales City Fire Department Station 1, 253 W Central Ave, Lake Wales, FL 33853.  Meetings are held monthly on the second Thursday of each month.  More information can be found at https://lwra.us/meeting/

08/24/24 – 08:00 – 13:00 – TarcFest – Tampa, FL – 7801 North 22nd Street, Tampa, Florida 33610 – Admission $5 (children 12 and under are FREE).  Visit https://hamclub.org for more information.


10/11/24 – 10/12/24: 59th Annual Melbourne Hamfest – ARRL Florida State Convention – Melbourne Auditorium – Melbourne, FL.  More information at https://pcars.org/wp/


10/19/24 – MARCIFEST 2024 – Location: Bible Baptist Church of Bradenton, 2113 Morgan Johnson Rd., Bradenton, FL 34201 – Sponsor: Manatee Amateur Radio Club, Inc. – Talk-In: 146.820 (-) PL 100 Hz

12/13/24 and 12/14/24 – 08:00 – 15:00 – Tampa Bay Hamfest, ARRL West Central Florida Section Convention – 303 Berrryfest Place, Plant City, FL 33564.  For more information visit https://fgcarc.org/

 

Repeaters (new/changes)

Updated 07/17/2024

Analog
Lakeland Highlands – 146.655/- repeater was previously being used for DMR.  It has been returned back to Narrow FM/P25 dual mode operations.  This repeater uses a tone of 127.3

The WC4PEM network of four linked analog repeaters, now has it’s Echolink connection back online.  On Echolink, search for WC4PEM-R.

D-Star
Although the Bartow D-Star Gateway on 444.4875/+ has been on the air now for a few years, the repeater itself has been swapped out to a newer Icom ID-RP4010V  repeater.  The original is now a backup unit and the Gateway is now running on the newer unit since December of 2023. 

DMR
Indian Lake Estates W4VCO repeater – Joining the other Polk City and Welcome DMR repeaters is the 444.6875/+  DMR repeaters.  This is linked with the other W4VCO repeaters, as well as supporting popular talkgroups such as Florida Statewide 3112.  

Fusion/Wires-X
Bartow 145.270/-     The Bartow Fusion/Wires-X repeater, a collaboration between the Polk County Schools Radio Society, the Lakeland Amateur Radio Club, and Lake Wales Radio Amateurs, is on the air.  It’s current status is that it has been operating as a Fusion repeater for some time, is now registered on the Wires-X system for room ID number 04102, as WC4PEM/R.  The Internet ports for this repeater are in the process of being setup and it should be available as a new Wires-X Gateway soon!  

NXDN

The NI4CE NXDN linked repeater system has once again had an upgrade.  The ever growing NXDN network, which during one stretch in 2023 put three new repeaters on the air in nine days, has a new upgraded Villages (Sumter) repeater on the network.  The Sumter/Villages repeater on 442.0625 will be up and running on a new tower location site and coverage has greatly improved.  So, if you’re traveling to the north end of the NI4CE NXDN network, give the new 442.0625 repeater a try.  The antennas will be hoisted along with hard line on June 26th.  The new system should be completely online by July 11th as there is a slight delay on equipment connections in the building and power. *** Update – the Sumter/Villages repeater went on the air on Friday, July 12th.  There are still some commercial power issues being worked out but there were hams on the repeater and testing of mobile/HT ranges were occurring.  It was taken back off of the air until the electrical work is completed and that will hopefully be soon.  Watch this posting for updates.

The Lakeland Highlands 442.025/+ stand-alone NXDN repeater is offline as of June 25th.  This is the W4CLL repeater on the N4KEG tower.  It is used locally, has great coverage, and hosts a Monday night net at 8pm.  It is unknown as to the issue.  *** Update as of 05/28/24 *** The 442.025/+ NXDN repeater is back online.

NXDN

I was  advised on 07/16/2024 that the 147.375/+ repeater, which has supported mix mode (analog or P25) traffic, is now analog only at this time.  Those in the area wishing to do P25 should use the 146.655/- repeater located in Lakeland Highlands.

SARNET

The Lakeland SARNET repeater on 442.275/+ with a tone of 82.5 is operational, however, the connection to the SARNET system from the Lakeland  (FX1 site)  is poor.  Since some time in April, the repeater is receiving signals from SARNET, albeit weak and noisy.  Transmissions from the SARNET Lakeland repeater were being heard on SARNET, but reception of SARNET is noisy.  This could just be conditions but we have had times when our transmissions were not being heard on SARNET.

Thanks to Polk County Emergency Management, an alternative radio and antenna to access the SARNET system from the Polk County EOC has been provided.   While SARNET in Lakeland is down, our current plan until the link is repaired is to use the Tampa SARNET repeater on 442.850/+ with a tone of 146.2. 

The Sarasota SARNET repeater on 444.800/+ with a tone of 100.0 is currently operational, but within a few months of July 2023, will be decommissioned.  FDOT is rebuilding the Fruitville Rd. interchange, and the current tower will be removed.  This could easily be a year or more.  There is no guarantee that there will be space to relocate a new tower.  They are looking for someone who has an existing high repeater site that may be able to get it on the network, but there are no guarantees.

Did You Know?

Many are aware of FCC Part 97.101(D), General Standards, which states “no amateur operator shall willfully or maliciously interfere with or cause interference to any radio communication or signal.”  You’ll hear this rule mentioned in some net preambles.

But… did you know that Florida itself has a rule regarding interfering with radio communications?  You can click here for a link to Florida Statute Chapter 877, Section 27, which states unauthorized transmissions to, or interference with, a public or commercial radio station licensed by the Federal Communications Commission is prohibited.

This is a video on research being done on how the two meter band is utilized in Florida.

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