Community – Page 8 – PARC

On May 20, 2025

In Announcement, Community, Events, Field Day

The Playground Amateur Radio Club is honored to participate in 2025 ARRL Field Day!

YOU are invited to experience Amateur Radio & communicate the world over! Come out to

enjoy field communications demonstrating public service, emergency preparedness, community outreach, technical skills and STEM!

The goal is to set up reliable communications, making contacts worldwide during simulated abnormal situations!

The Playground Amateur Radio Club of Fort Walton Beach, Florida will operate at:

Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park, 4281 State Road, Niceville, FL.

The Playground Team will be at the Pavilion nearest the boat launch on the Northwest Side of the park!

Day 1: June 28, 2025

Times: 1pm to sundown

Day 2: June 29, 2025

Times: 9am to 12pm

Talk-in/monitor: 146.790, 100hz, (-), 0.6

Mobile or Bust!

By DJ Stewart

On May 18, 2025

In Announcement, Community, Events, Hamfest/Tailgate!

PARC does not miss a beat and where else should we go to make sure we are engaged? How about a Hamfest?! That’s right! The PARC Team traveled to Mobile and participated with W4IAX for their 76th Annual Hamfest! What a great time and if you were not there, you missed out not only on great deals and awesome displays, but more importantly, the social aspect of Amateur Radio! Hamfests are great ways to engage and bolster your organizations and build relationships! Make sure you take the time to go out, interact, and most importantly, have Fun!

The SS United States!

By DJ Stewart

On May 18, 2025

In Announcement, Community

As seen on GET THE COAST, PARC travels to Mobile for the W4IAX HAMFEST! But wait!! OMG we made a pit stop! We operated APRS from the SS United States! This little detour cost us about an extra 30 min but it was well worth it! The message here is to take the opportunity that presents itself when you see it! You never know if the chance will present itself again.

PARC @ the Okaloosa County FL Hurricane EXPO!

By DJ Stewart

On May 4, 2025

In Announcement, Community, Events

What in the preparation for Hurricane Season is going on?! PARC teamed up with Okaloosa County at the County Administration Building in Shalimar Florida to convey our mission as partners in the Community!

We introduced ourselves and described where we where, what we can do, and how the communication process within Amateur Radio can directly aide to other network signal degradation or complete loss. PARC was in force with portable set ups all on battery power and showcased how easy it is to get a license and better protect your life, loved ones, and property. We talked with many and were even interviewed not only by the County, bur also by a YouTube Channel. That channel is https://www.youtube.com/@TajCam/videos ! Before you blindly click on that link, please understand he covers more categories than Ham or Hurricane Preparedness. We do not have an estimate as to when the video will be posted.

Overall, a great time was had and if you missed this event, you missed a really good one. Stay Tuned with PARC and watch the Club Calendar for more upcoming events and great times at the Playground Amateur Radio Club!

May the 4th be with you!

By DJ Stewart

On May 3, 2025

In Announcement, Community, Events, Pile-Up

Star Wars fan?! Ham Radio fan?! Stop by the Playground Amateur Radio Club Sunday at 300pm and saber your way into the Pile-Up!

Pile-Ups at the Playground Amateur Radio Club are an informal meeting each week which allow for collaboration on projects, working DX, ragchewing, Club Planning, and so much more!

17 First St SE Fort Walton Beach Florida

May 3 2025 Okaloosa County Hurricane EXPO!

By DJ Stewart

On May 2, 2025

In Announcement, Community, Events

FREE – FREE>>>Come on out on May 3, 2025 for some freebies and hurricane preparedness info!! (10 a.m.-1 p.m.) 1250 N Eglin Pkwy. See who will be there👇

Speakers:

Jason Beaman (National Weather Service)

Patrick Maddox (Public Safety)

Laura Bair (FPL)

Ryan Prince (Okaloosa EM)

Maj. Kevin Kirkpatrick (OCSO)

Chris Hiestand (Okaloosa Gas)

Mike Hackett (Okaloosa W&S)

Food trucks:

DollSnackz Food Truck

Oh So Juicy

Booths:

◼ Keep Okaloosa Beautiful – (FREE high-end tote bags for the first 100 attendees)

◼Ocean City Wright Fire Control District

◼ Stormwater demonstration from Okaloosa stormwater division

◼ Florida Fish & Wilflife Conservation Commisssion ( FWC)

◼ Playground Area Amateur Radio Club

◼ North Okaloosa CERT

◼ Destin-Fort Walton Beach Natural Resources Team

◼ C Side Roofing

◼ Okaloosa County Human Resources

◼ Extension Services

◼ Library Co-op

◼ Verizon Wireless

◼ OWMRC and Lean on Me

◼ Stormwater demonstration from Okaloosa Stormwater Division

🌀 FREE – This free event is open to the public and will feature complimentary 2025 Hurricane Guides, various vendors, food trucks, public safety discussions with first responders and interactive displays related to storms and preparedness. The first 100 participants will receive free premium branded tote bags sponsored by Keep Okaloosa Beautiful containing surprise “party” items.

Go kits & Portable Ops & Gear Oh My!

By DJ Stewart

On May 2, 2025

In Announcement, Events, Technical

Tech night last night at the Playground Amateur Radio Club was designed by Hams, for Hams! @everyone who made it out had wonderful ideas and deployment kits ready to display! Share your knowledge and expertise! You never know who you’ll inspire and what ideas you’ll exchange in the future development of Amateur Radio!

Testing Announcement!

By DJ Stewart

On April 28, 2025

In Announcement, Community, Testing

Are you or anyone you know looking for an opportunity to obtain or upgrade your Amateur Radio Liscense?

Seek no more and register for the upcoming exam session on May 10th at the Playground Amateur Radio Club!

Go to https://w4zbb.org/exams/ for all of the information you need!

What’s Cooler than Cool?!

By DJ Stewart

On April 27, 2025

In Community, Pile-Up, Technical

What’s cooler than cool? Geeking out over vintage Ham Radio Gear that’s what! Today Bryan, KB0MEE (great call sign) brought in an Instructograph! A What? An Instructograph! The Instructograph is a paper tape-based machine used for the study of Morse code. Talk about awesome! These vintage assets are still in circulation and while some are not in operational condition, this one was! And we got to play with it, inspect it and use it! The Sunday Pile-Ups at the Playground Amateur Radio Club continue to never disappoint and bring in things that you normally do not see or get to experience!

Following the time we spent drooling over cool stuff, we helped Bryan program one of his radios, teaching him how to do it, and teaching him how to operate it! While Bryan is not new to Ham, he asked for assistance with his new to him radio and wanted a hands on approach! If you are in the Fort Walton Beach area [or even nearby] (don’t be afraid to travel to us either) you are more than welcome at the Playground Amateur Radio Club and take part in this exceptionally awesome pastime! We would love to see your projects or collectible pieces and share your story. We might even posit on our website, social media or make a tech night out of the experience!

Florida QSO Party & Live Radio Demo!

By DJ Stewart

On April 26, 2025

In Announcement, Community, Events, Technical

What in the Ham Radio?! We went out to Valparaiso Florida for thier Heritage Museum event and interacted with the public while demonstrating Amateur Radio to all of the public! While there we made multiple contacts for the log over many different set ups! From portable gear to micro transmitters to satellites to aprs and WIRES-X, we surely had a ton of interest and enjoyed showing off! We even talked to Ukraine, Switzerland, France, Texas, and more!

We even had a GOTA station and had multiple people get on the air from all ages of 7 to 86! The Playground Amateur Radio Club thanks the city of Valparaiso and all that stopped by including all members that came out to support this local community communications event!