Ocala SSRC Tailgate has been ADDED to the Hamfest List below.                         
Current Date and Time
Based on Your Computer Clock Date/Time

Local (EDT) Time

Daylight Savings Time 2024 began on
Sunday, March 9th, 2025 @ 3:00 AM and will
end on Sunday, November 3rd, 2024 @ 2:00 AM
and will last for 238 days (229 more days). It will
also account for 65.21% of the days this year.

Next DST Change: 2025-03-09
Next EST Change: 2024-11-03

UTC Time

The LOCAL TIME is in Eastern Daylight Time
Time Difference from UTC is currently: -4 Hours



Saturday, June 22nd, 2024 @ 1400 (2:00 PM) EDT
and continue until
Sunday, June 23rd, 2024 @ 1700 (5:00 PM) EDT

During the 27 hours of ARRL Field Day, the object of the event is to work (contact) as many stations as possible on the 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 Meter HF bands, as well as all bands 50 MHz and above, and in doing so to learn to operate in abnormal situations and in less than optimal conditions.

A premium is placed on developing skills to meet the challenges of emergency preparedness as well as to acquaint the general public with the capabilities of Amateur Radio.

Most importantly, the goal for Field Day is for everyone in attendence to have fun and enjoy the comradery of those around you who have similar likes and interests.

This is by far one of the BIGGEST and BEST nation wide Ham Radio event of the year. Mark your calendars and make plans to attend! You will not be disappointed!! Always good people and always a good time.


You're encouraged and welcome to come out and see what ARRL Field Day is all about. You won't meet a friendlier bunch of people.

Countdown Until ARRL Field Day 2024 Begins
June 22nd, 2024 @ 1400 (2:00 PM) EDT

My countdown
ARRL Field Day Facebook Group Page
What is Field Day? (PDF format)
Rules, Entry Forms and Information Packets
Printable Field Day Log Sheet

More details about local Field Day activities will be posted as soon as they are made available.

Last Updated: Wednesday, March 13th, 2024 @ 6:56 PM EDT


Welcome to the
Sun Country
Amateur Radio Society

Website


Located in the heart of North Central Florida
Repeater: 146.970 MHz (-600) KA4WJA
Voted The Friendliest Repeater in the Southeast



The goal of this website is to provide you with a little information about the Sun Country Amateur Radio Society, our repeaters, some of the activities associated with our group and a bunch of general ham radio information.

Additionally we want to provide you with a “One Stop“ source of ham radio events and activity. Here you'll find information on hamfests, special events, contests, ham radio testing for new licensees and those upgrading and much more. We have also provided links to the ARRL search pages for all these activities. We hope that you find this information useful and look forward to making contact with you on the air.

The Goal of our Repeater is to provide all licensed hams that behave properly, operate in accordance with FCC Part 97 Rules and Regulations, who are pleasant and welcoming to all, and willing try to uphold the 5 basic purposes of the amateur radio service are welcome on KA4WJA/R, 146.970 MHz (-600khz) repeater!

Those that are rude, crude, abusive, inappropriate, etc., or racist, sexist, misogynistic, etc. are not welcome, and should find another form of communication that better suits there needs (such as CB Radio, GMRS, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.)!

Those that have differing views and opinions on this are absolutely entitled to them, however please understand it is the legal and ethical responsibility (FCC Part 97.1) for KA4WJA to uphold the purposes and principles of the amateur radio service on the KA4WJA/R, 146.970 MHz Repeater. Also please remember it is the reputation of KA4WJA for all that is broadcast on the 146.970 MHz repeater....so, should you desire to express rude/abusive ideas, please find somewhere else.

Our repeater is located in North Central Florida, Marion County, in the town of Anthony, just north of Ocala, FL. We are about 90 NNW of Orlando, about 75 miles from the east or the west coast of Florida and about 35 miles south of Gainesville. MAP

KA4WJA/R, 146.970 MHz, Voted Best (non-Linked) Repeater in 4 Call Area. Click Here to Read about more about it Needless to say, we are very proud of this recognition!

Our group is more of a social group rather than a official structured club. We get together every 2 weeks and meet at one of the local restaurants in town for some food, fun and relaxation. We start at 6:30PM and continue on until we are ready to call it quits for the evening. Our next meeting is at   - Expired -    Sam's St John's on Tuesday - March 19th, 2024 @ 6:30PM.

If you would like to learn more about ham radio, if you think you have some interest in ham radio but would like to learn more or if you are a local ham operator looking for a great group of people to socialize with, we encourage you to come and join us. Everyone is always welcome!!

Updated: March 13th, 2024



Interesting Ham Radio Software

Have you ever wanted a GeoChron type program but didn't want to spend up to $500 or even more to purchase the software. Now there are 2 alternatives that are both nice pieces of software in their own right.

Simon's World Map

Click on the image for a larger view

The first is Simon's World Map which is also an SDR software package. It runs on a PC and is highly configurable and includes features like satellite tracking (almost every satellite you can imagine), rotor control, solar weather, moon phases, Maidenhead Squares, CQ and ITU Zones, Sunrise and Sunset and a lot more.

The current release is 1.40 and was released on Sunday, February 4th, 2024. What it does not include right now are live DX Spots but they are working on it. The cost is FREE but they do ask for donations.

HamClock

Click on the image for a larger view


The second is HamClock and it runs on either Raspberry Pi or Linux. It too is highly configurable and includes DX Spots, a live contest list, visual solar spots, POTA and a lot more. The down side is that have to purchase a Raspberry Pi computer (about $125) and you need to learn the operate and install software on a Unix type of operating system. The cost for this software is also FREE.

I run both programs and like them both equally. Visually, I like the dispay on the Simon's World Map better. However, I like the features of the HamClock software because of the DX spots.

I have compiled and run the HamClock software on both Raspberry Pi 4 (4GB RAM) and a PC running Ubuntu Linux 22.04 LTS. Currently I am running HamClock on a small Celeron PC (8GB RAM) with Ubuntu Linux at 2400x1440 resolution mainly because I found the Raspberry Pi platform to be a bit sluggish especially if the app was run at the highest screen resolution (3200 x 1920). I did not try the Raspberry Pi 4 board with 8GB of RAM nor did I try the Raspberry Pi 5 board.

You decide what's best for you.

Updated: March 13th, 2024



Important and Useful Ham Radio Links

ARRL (Official Website)
Amateur Radio on Wikipedia
Vintage Amateur Radio on Wikipedia

ARRL on Wikipedia


Ham Radio YouTube Playlist

The link below provides a Youtube Playlist with some Radiowave Propagation Videos, that should be of interest to all hams, and especially useful to new hams and/or those new to HF comms.

Click Here for Link to:  Ham Radio YouTube Playlist

Provided By: John - KA4WJA
Last Updated: January 22nd, 2024


Printable Version of Good Information

ARRL Band Plan Chart (Printable)
ICOM Band Plan Chart (Printable)
ICOM US Grid Square Chart (Printable)
Kenwood Band Plan Chart (Printable)
FCC Part 97 Rules and Regualtions (PDF)



FREE Practice Ham Radio Exams
All of these have all 3 class Exams


HamExam.ORG (Free Practice Test)
QRZ Practice Amateur Radio Exams
eHam.net - Practice Ham Exams


Last Updated: January 22nd, 2024


Weather (4 days) for Ocala, FL

Updated: September 21st, 2023


Information and Links to the National Weather Service are not just for hurricane season but all year long.



Click on the above Logos
for the Link to that website


Updated: September 20th, 2023

Ham Radio Special Event Hunter on Facebook
Schedules for Special Event Stations on Facebook



Local / Nearby
Florida Hamfests

Within about 100 miles
Within 2 to 3 Months




Other Hamfests
Happening Soon
but Not Local

or a
3rd Party List
of Hamfests




Some of the Local Area Repeaters

Here are of few of the repeaters in the area. This is not a complete list but these are some of the popular ones. If you have a repeater in the area and would like to be listed, send us an email with the necessary information and we'll add it as soon as we can.

(Updated) October 24th, 2023

Sun Country Repeaters (In order by Frequency)
FrequencyOffsetToneCall SignLocation
146.970 MHz-600 kHzNo ToneKA4WJAAnthony, FL
147.165 MHz+600 kHz123N4STPFt McCoy, FL
224.100 MHz-1.6 MHzNo ToneN4TSVAnthony, FL
444.325 MHz+5 MHzNo ToneKA2MBEAnthony, FL
444.375 MHz+5 MHz123N4STPFt McCoy, FL

Other Ocala Area Repeaters (In order by Frequency)
FrequencyOffsetToneCall SignLocation
145.170 MHz-600 kHzD-StarKG4NXOOcala, FL
145.270 MHz-600 kHz123KQ4PPOcala, FL
145.430 MHz-600 kHz141.3KD4GMEOcala, FL
146.610 MHz-600 kHz123K4GSOOcala, FL
146.790 MHz-600 kHzD-StarK4GSOOcala, FL
147.210 MHz+600 kHz123KI4MTNOcala, FL

The Villages Repeaters (In order by Frequency)
FrequencyOffsetToneCall SignLocation
146.925 MHz-600 kHz123KS4EOCSummerfield, FL
147.030 MHz+600 kHz123K4HOGLk Panasofkee
443.225 MHz+5 MHz103.5K4VRCThe Villages, FL





This area is intended to provide an assortment of Technical Information that should be of Interest / Value to all ham radio operators. In general this information has been provided by fellow ham radio operators. Hope you find this information useful to you.


Rig Reference

  This link contains a wealth of information about nearly any ham radio equipment that you can think of. The list of radios is so large it's fun to just browse. One of the best compilations of information!

4287 - Rigs904 - Reviews
1665 - Manuals2936 - Prices
5304 - Images293 - Manufacturers
1011 - Shacks

Link to: Rig Reference

Provided By: Jim - KA2MBE
Last Updated: Feb 19, 2024


Schematics 4 You

  Lot's of good information including schematics, service manuals, radio mods and a lot more. This site is a lot more than just schematics.

Link to: Schematics 4 You

Thanks Fred, AE2DX
Posted - January 1, 2023


Old Books, Magazines and Other Interesting Links

 Here's a collection of old magazines, books, CallBooks and a lot of other information. The ads in the old magazines bring back a lot of memories. Hope you find some good use and enjoy them. Most of these links provided by AE2DX!

Provided By: Fred - AE2DX
First Posted: August 19, 2017
Updated: February 21, 2024


Miscellaneous Items of Interest

 Here's some sites to check out if you are in need some good information or pricing on miscellaneous hardware.

Provided By: David - N4EST
Updated February 21, 2024

On The Lighter Side


Something a Bit Different

Normally On The Lighter Side is a comic or a funny picture that came from the internet or somewhere else. This time it's a song written and performed by Steve - KE4SQR. Everyone should take the time to listen to this. It is funny but there is a lot of truth to it too!!

The Radio Song
Posted with permission from the song writer

Who knew we had all this talent among us?



There are now over 800 Pictures.
Some Funnies, Some Comics and
Some Just Ham Radio Related Pictures
available in the viewing library.
(Obviously some are NOT Ham Radio related)


Total Different Pictures Currently Available: 897
97
New Pictures Have Been Added Since The Last Update
Hope You Enjoy Them All!

HELPFUL NOTE: If you are having trouble reading
the text associated with the picture, Try Clicking on the
picture to view a larger version.
Some pictures do not have a larger version.


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