PARC | Ham Radio

The Best Amateur Radio Club in Florida

PARC @ the Okaloosa County FL Hurricane EXPO!

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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

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

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

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

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!

QRP 5M/16.4FT Antenna 14M-30MHz 300W HF Antenna Multifunction Portable Stainless Steel 1/4 Wavelength

By

On April 27, 2025

In Announcement, Pile-Up, Technical

What in the Sunday is going on?! Listen, there was so much action at the Sunday Pile-Up that we didn’t get to annotate all of it. From Wires-X, Digital modes, computer center improvements, equipment testing and tuning, DX to Australia, radio programming, Elmering, and more, you couldn’t help but use a divination tool [aka water dowsing tool] but to find your way!

Puns aside, another great project at the Playground Amateur Radio Club Pile-Up came by way of Shane, KQ4YXY, who brought in an QRP Antenna! We took the opportunity to go out into the field and use an antenna analyzer to determine its performance and capabilities! This is not a plug for you to go buy one, this is an educational note that sometimes the things you see on the internet are indeed not too good to be true!

Specs:

  • HF Antenna Stainless Steel 1/4 Wavelength 
  • 300w Withstand Voltage Power
  • Frequency Range: 14m-30mhz (Very Efficient At 14.270mhz)
  • 5M/16.4FT QRP Antenna 14m-30mHz 300W
  • Easy To Use And Easy To Carry

Easy setup, easy deployable radios, and great results! This antenna does take up some overhead space and the ground plane is large enough that we suggest an area where no one is going to walk or traverse through. Otherwise performance on the meter is just wonderful for the band ranges listed above! Expect to see this in action as Shane continues to evolve his radio collection and CQ / DX in the very near future!

Australia or Bust!

By

On April 27, 2025

In Announcement, Pile-Up

Crikey Mate! More Pile-Up action?! You bet! Along with multiple projects and Elmering afoot, we took the time to hop on the Airwaves and DX! Why is that exciting, because a radio from a long time supporter of the Amateur Radio Clubs, Sean Powell, has a radio that was on the bench for testing and tuning. Wouldn’t you know that the Playground Team was just the right fit to clean it up and make it hum. But wait, there’s more! We even put it on the air. Not only did we make regional contacts, we joined in on a worldwide HF net. This net is a coordinated effort with net controllers in multiple locations that serve to facilitate the furthest out contact station and see who can hear you and reply back hoping that you can also hear them!

Well looky here, we hit Australia with the W4ZBB call and they answered right back! The sheer excitement was just exhilarating while being challenging and fun! This just goes to show if you take the time to clean up a radio and put it through its paces, you can still contact the world on a moderately priced budget! Be sure to join us at the Playground Amateur Radio Club as you never know what’s next but you can bet we are packed full of action and experience!

What’s Cooler than Cool?!

By

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

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!

 

The Fox was Found!!

By

On April 19, 2025

In Announcement, Community, Fox Hunting

KQ4YXY was the first to find the Fox!! Joins us at noon today the 19th of April for a Bbq!!

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