We Will Be Testing Saturday, October 4

Posted on By Michael M
Testing

Now is the opportunity to sit for your technician or upgrade your current license. We are excited to announce there is no longer a cost to to sit for the exam. We will be absorbing all costs incurred in administering the FCC Radio Exams.

We are accredited to administer all elements of the FCC Amateur Radio exams, and we do so every OTHER month, on the first Saturday of the month, at the Cox Science Center in West Palm Beach.

Testing begins at 10:00 a.m. Below are links on what to bring Saturday with an FAQ.

Candidates must have an FRN number before sitting for the exam. See here – https://larc-vec.org/frn.php

More information on the exam is here – https://larc-vec.org/faq.php

Walk-ins are welcome. Any questions, register and post on our forms here – Click here

Contact us directly here – Click here

Cox Science Center
4801 Dreher Trail N, West Palm Beach, FL 33405

We will be testing at the STEM Center, which is across from the Science Center’s main entrance. The STEM Center now has its own parking lot right in front of the building.

Note: Due to the government shutdown, the FCC has stopped processing  license applications. Our testing will continue, and we encourage candidates not to wait as the FCC will be processing applications on a first come first serve. The sooner you are in the queue the sooner you will be processed. We are testing this Saturday on schedule.

Monthly Meeting – September 24

Posted on By Michael M
Meetings

Our monthly meeting, held on the fourth Wednesday of the month, is Wednesday, September 24, 2025, at 7:00 p.m.

As the weather will soon begin cooling off and we look towards doing more outdoor activities, including ham radio, we will be turning our attention to portable operations. That also includes next month’s annual start of Saturday in the Park, which we will be kicking off with a BBQ. Look for more information coming soon on that. That brings us to this week’s presentation.

This week’s presentation will be on the Delta Loop, what it is, how it works, and how to build and deploy it. The subject matter will focus its application in portable operations. Randy, who is an accomplished orator and educator, will also show us how he uses it in portable operations, including last month’s annual International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend (ILLW). If portable operations interest you – whether it’s POTA, contesting, or just getting outdoors and operating – and you’re looking for an antenna project, this presentation is especially for you! And of course, expect the usual fare of fun, friendship, and camaraderie.

As always, we welcome everyone to our meetings and activities, members and non-members, whether licensed or not! If you’re a new ham or thinking about getting your license, come on out and meet us! We can help you in all aspects of getting your license and getting started in amateur radio.

Location:
STEM Center
Cox Science Center and Aquarium
4801 Dreher Trail North, West Palm Beach, FL 33405
https://www.coxsciencecenter.org

For the remainder of the year we will be holding our meetings at the STEM Center. That building is on the North East corner of the general parking area. If you’re standing at the Cox Science Center looking out into the parking lot, it is straight ahead to your right. The stem center now has its own parking right in front of the building. 

Stay up to date with what we’re doing, local community events, and amateur radio related news and events in our Forums here – https://wpbarg.com/phpbb/

Monthly Meeting – August 27

Posted on By Michael M
Meetings

Our monthly meeting, held on the fourth Wednesday of the month, is Wednesday, August 27, 2025, at 7:00 p.m.

This is going to be another exciting meeting! We’re going to have a very interesting and enlightening presentation on the NanoVNA. If you have been thinking about getting one, or you already have one and you’d like to get more use out of it, this is the presentation for you! As a bonus, bring your aftermarket HT antennas. It will be one of the things you will learn how to test using the NanoVNA, and if you don’t have a NanoVNA, we can test yours for you. Chances are, you’re going to be very surprised at the results! And of course, expect the usual fare of fun, friendship, and camaraderie… along with no shortage of goodies from our very own Tabletop Titan, the Snack Sorcerer, Jo!

As always, we welcome everyone to our meetings and activities, members and non-members, whether licensed or not! If you’re a new ham or thinking about getting your license, come on out and meet us! We can help you in all aspects of getting your license and getting started in amateur radio.

Location:
STEM Center
Cox Science Center and Aquarium
4801 Dreher Trail North, West Palm Beach, FL 33405
https://www.coxsciencecenter.org

For the remainder of the year we will be holding our meetings at the STEM Center. That building is on the North East corner of the general parking area. If you’re standing at the Cox Science Center looking out into the parking lot, it is straight ahead to your right. The stem center now has its own parking right in front of the building. 

Stay up to date with what we’re doing, local community events, and amateur radio related news and events in our Forums here – https://wpbarg.com/phpbb/

We Will Be Testing Saturday, August 2

Posted on By Michael M
Testing

Now is the opportunity to sit for your technician or upgrade your current license. We are excited to announce there is no longer a cost to to sit for the exam. We will be absorbing all costs incurred in administering the FCC Radio Exams.

We are accredited to administer all elements of the FCC Amateur Radio exams, and we do so every OTHER month, on the first Saturday of the month, at the Cox Science Center in West Palm Beach.

Testing begins at 10:00 a.m. Below are links on what to bring Saturday with an FAQ.

Candidates must have an FRN number before sitting for the exam. See here – https://larc-vec.org/frn.php

More information on the exam is here – https://larc-vec.org/faq.php

Walk-ins are welcome. Any questions, register and post on our forms here – Click here

Contact us directly here – Click here

Cox Science Center
4801 Dreher Trail N, West Palm Beach, FL 33405

We will be testing at the STEM Center, which is across from the Science Center’s main entrance. For more information on the location, please click here – https://wpbarg.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=771

Monthly Meeting – July 23

Posted on By Michael M
Meetings

Our monthly meeting, held on the fourth Wednesday of the month, is Wednesday, July 23, 2025, at 7:00 p.m.

This is going to be another exciting meeting! We will have a recap of Field Day from last month, with an awards ceremony, and then we are in for a treat as Ed and Bruce, our satellite subject matter experts, will be doing a presentation of a software application called ISS Detector, which is also available now for Windows. I have used it on my phone when working the birds, and it is an invaluable piece of software. Despite being familiar with it, I am looking forward to learning new things from these two pros. And of course, expect the usual fare of fun, friendship, and camaraderie… along with no shortage of goodies from our very own Tabletop Titan, the Snack Sorcerer, Jo!

As always, we welcome everyone to our meetings and activities, members and non-members, whether licensed or not! If you’re a new ham or thinking about getting your license, come on out and meet us! We can help you in all aspects of getting your license and getting started in amateur radio.

Location:
STEM Center
Cox Science Center and Aquarium
4801 Dreher Trail North, West Palm Beach, FL 33405
https://www.coxsciencecenter.org

For the remainder of the year we will be holding our meetings at the STEM Center. That building is on the North East corner of the general parking area. If you’re standing at the Cox Science Center looking out into the parking lot, it is straight ahead to your right. There are privacy walls and the construction is dynamic, so instructions cannot be specific, but the Cox Science Center has always made it easy.

Stay up to date with what we’re doing, local community events, and amateur radio related news and events in our Forums here – https://wpbarg.com/phpbb/

Monthly Meeting – June 25

Posted on By Michael M
Meetings

Our monthly meeting, held on the fourth Wednesday of the month, is Wednesday, June 25, 2025, at 7:00 p.m.

Marcos will be doing a presentation on logging for Field Day. We use N3FJP, so it will be focused, but not exclusive, on that. If you’re planning on operating at Field Day, this will be very useful. N3FJP is one of the two of the most popular Field Day logging applications. We will also be reviewing our Field Day event, which begins that weekend on the 28th. Even if you’re unable to attend our Field Day event, there will be a lot of useful information.

As always, we welcome everyone to our meetings and activities, members and non-members, whether licensed or not! If you’re a new ham or thinking about getting your license, come on out and meet us! We can help you in all aspects of getting your license and getting started in amateur radio.

Location:
STEM Center
Cox Science Center and Aquarium
4801 Dreher Trail North, West Palm Beach, FL 33405
https://www.coxsciencecenter.org

For the remainder of the year we will be holding our meetings at the STEM Center. That building is on the North East corner of the general parking area. If you’re standing at the Cox Science Center looking out into the parking lot, it is straight ahead to your right. There are privacy walls and the construction is dynamic, so instructions cannot be specific, but the Cox Science Center has always made it easy.

Note: We will host Field Day at the American Legion post 47 in Lake Worth again this year. We had a great turnout last year, and we expect even more this year!

Stay up to date with what we’re doing, local community events, and amateur radio related news and events in our Forums here – https://wpbarg.com/phpbb/

Field Day 2025 – Here we Come!

Posted on By Michael M
Activities

As we’ve done for the previous two years, we will be conducting our Field Day operations at The American Legion Post 47, located at 2315 North Dixie Highway, Lake Worth, FL 33460. The event begins at 1800 UTC (2 p.m.) on June 28, and we will wrap it up around noon on Sunday, June 29.

Everyone is welcome! If you’d like to come by to observe, just to see what we’re doing and what Field Day is like, we welcome you! If you’d like to sit at one of our stations and operate, we welcome you! 

This is a great opportunity for people to observe and socialize, and even get on the air, licensed or not. While we will be operating off the main grid, The American Legion will have full power and air conditioning. Food and drinks will be available, with the pricing for that set by Post 47. No invitation is necessary, just come on over!

Field Day Chair, Jeff KM4UBL said, “The official purpose is emergency preparedness. The operational purpose is a chance to play radio, have fun, learn from other hams and of course safety, too! We’ll be on the air from 1:00pm Saturday until about noon on Sunday. If you haven’t been on the air very much, are new to the hobby or like a lot of us at first, you’re microphone shy, this is your chance. We’ll plop you in front of the radio and give you instruction and encouragement. You’ll love it!”

Jeff went on to say, “We’re also happy to have the seasoned operators join us as well. If you’re a night owl, we can take care of you, too. We can use your help overnight.”

We will do our best to monitor the 146.67 repeater for the talk-in. For more information on that repeater, please go here – The AREC Repeater Group, Inc.

For more information on our Field Day operations, or if you have any questions, please go here – https://wpbarg.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=878

Everyone is invited… members, non-members, participants and observers, come one, come all!

As in the past, we are all very excited to be doing Field Day this year, and we hope to see YOU!

https://g.co/kgs/qQgQLF9

We Will Be Testing Saturday, June 7

Posted on By Michael M
Testing

Now is the opportunity to sit for your technician or upgrade your current license. We are excited to announce there is no longer a cost to to sit for the exam. We will be absorbing all costs incurred in administering the FCC Radio Exams.

We are accredited to administer all elements of the FCC Amateur Radio exams, and we do so every OTHER month, on the first Saturday of the month, at the Cox Science Center in West Palm Beach.

Testing begins at 10:00 a.m. Below are links on what to bring Saturday with an FAQ.

Candidates must have an FRN number before sitting for the exam. See here – https://larc-vec.org/frn.php

More information on the exam is here – https://larc-vec.org/faq.php

Walk-ins are welcome. Any questions, register and post on our forms here – Click here

Contact us directly here – Click here

Cox Science Center
4801 Dreher Trail N, West Palm Beach, FL 33405

We will be testing at the STEM Center, which is across from the Science Center’s main entrance. For more information on the location, please click here – https://wpbarg.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=771

Saturday in The Park – May 31

Posted on By Michael M
Activities

This is where we get together for laughs and fun, while we play radio. Come on out and join us!

Set-up starts at 10:00 a.m. Some folks like to get there a little earlier, while others like to get there a few hours early to do some fishing.

Directions can be found here – Saturday in The Park & Directions – WPBARG Forums

If you’re thinking about getting involved in amateur radio, this is a great opportunity to meet us and get some info. If you’re just curious on what this is all about, come on out!

This is the premiere monthly amateur radio event in Palm Beach County, and this will be our last one until the cooler weather in the fall. In June we will host Field Day at the American Legion post 47 in Lake Worth again this year. Look for more information on that to follow.

As always, everyone is invited… members, non-members, participants and observers, come one, come all!

Stay up to date with what we’re doing, local community events, and amateur radio related news and events in our Forums here – https://wpbarg.com/phpbb/

Monthly Meeting – May 28

Posted on By Michael M
Meetings

Our monthly meeting, held on the fourth Wednesday of the month, is Wednesday, May 28, 2025, at 7:00 p.m.

Randy will be doing a presentation on POTA QRP/QRO at John D. MacArthur Beach State Park. As an educator, Randy is a great orator, and he always has just the right amount of visual aids, including photographs and equipment, to accompany him. I don’t know the details, but I’m excited to see what he has in store for us!

As always, we welcome everyone to our meetings and activities, members and non-members, whether licensed or not!

Location:
STEM Center
Cox Science Center and Aquarium
4801 Dreher Trail North, West Palm Beach, FL 33405
https://www.coxsciencecenter.org

For the remainder of the year we will be holding our meetings at the STEM Center. That building is on the North East corner of the general parking area. If you’re standing at the Cox Science Center looking out into the parking lot, it is straight ahead to your right. There are privacy walls and the construction is dynamic, so instructions cannot be specific, but the Cox Science Center has always made it easy.

Note: Our Saturday in the Park is the Saturday after our monthly meeting. May is our last Saturday in the Park until the cooler weather in the fall. In June we will host Field Day at the American Legion post 47 in Lake Worth again this year. Look for more information on that to follow.

Stay up to date with what we’re doing, local community events, and amateur radio related news and events in our Forums here – https://wpbarg.com/phpbb/