The Presidents Corner2010 has been a fun and exciting year for the Jupiter Tequesta Repeater Group. At our 2010 Field Day, we are very proud of JTRG’s accomplishments and once again, surpassed the previous year’s record of points for the event, a statistic you should all be very proud of. My thanks to all of you who helped make our 2009 Field Day event so successful. Another great accomplishment in 2010 was all the New Hams who we helped to achieve their goals in becoming licensed Amateur Radio Operators. Thanks to our Instructors and outstanding VE Team. We also held a General class which helped upgrade those Technician Class operators seeking to use much more of the HF bands. This is all part of our commitment to help promote, educate and assist our communities when we are needed to respond to emergencies and disasters. In 2011 we will continue our commitment to bring more Hams into the hobby by holding more classes and exam sessions. Our JTRG website continues to be upgraded by Kevin Jackson-W4JKJ, our clubs new Vice President for 2011. He's done an outstanding job of keeping it current and easy to navigate. Congratulations to Kevin and also to Kathy Lucas-KA4JTO, who will be the Jupiter Tequesta Repeater Groups new Secretary for 2011. The very best to both of you on your new endeavors. In 2009, we qualified Peanut Island in preparation for our 2010 Dxpedition on Memorial Day weekend. Peanut Island can now be found under US Islands. We had many Hams around the world making contact with us. Many thanks to the Dxpedition Committee for all of the time and efforts in making it a very successful event. It will definitely be one of our special events to remember. We are planning on being there again in 2011. Our repeater upgrades are currently under way with the use of the Motorola Quantar for our primary 146.625 VHF site in Hobe Sound. We are looking for a good location for our Motorola MSR 2000 VHF back up 146.625 repeater and the 444.225 Motorola MSF 5000 UHF repeater. The 146.715 Motorola MSF 5000 at PGA and Military Trail will be moving to a new location with the help of Clear Channel. These continuous upgrades will provide us with the best repeaters for our area and will insure reliable communications equipment to be used for many years to come. A new VHF repeater is now operational in Jupiter Farms. The frequency is 145.170 Pl 110.9. It is located on Jupiter Farms Road just south of the decommissioned Fire Station#14. The antenna is 100’ on a Rohn tower. The repeater is a GE Master II. Also in 2010, Scott W0JSF and Glenn AJ4OK, continued their efforts with our JTRG sponsored International Ham Radio Club. There will be more clubs around the world who will be joining and sharing their experiences and correspondence with us. There is also a Yahoo group email address for this effort and it is helloradio@yahoogroups.com. Another part of our Group which was founded by Chuck Mulligan N4SDW/SK, has now been deactivated with the loss of Chuck, one of our finest members. The link was: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/jtrgphotography/ The Jupiter Tequesta Repeater Group will have many different activities going on throughout 2011 with events such as Amateur Radio Classes, Amateur Radio Exams, the Jupiter Jubilee, Field Day, Adopt A Highway program, Club Picnics, Special Events, Food For Families drive, working communications for the Jupiter Farms Parade and the Jupiter Tequesta Parade, our new Annual Holiday Party, Club Meetings every month, some with special guests, and our regularly scheduled weekly Rag Chew Net on Tuesday evenings at 8:00pm on the 146.625 repeater Pl 110.9. Now that our club has grown to over 125 members, there is something for everyone to enjoy including a Slow Scan Net on Thursdays at 7:30pm on the 146.715 repeater Pl 110.9. In 2011 we will build on our strengths which have been to help promote Amateur Radio in a positive way in and around our communities, continue to educate those individuals seeking to join this hobby, demonstrate our skills at public events, enjoying the hobby and helping others when called upon. For those interested in helping out during disasters you will need to take the FEMA on line courses; IS-100, 200,700 and 800, the ARECC Courses; Levels I, II, and III and one other educational opportunity is the Skywarn Beginner and Advanced class which is usually held at the PBC EOC. Other groups that you may want to consider joining is the PBC ARES and the ARRL. When you join the ARRL you will receive the QST magazine and the ARRL assists you when your license is about to expire or if you change your address. These are just a few of the many benefits available to you when you join the ARRL. We are extremely grateful for all of the generous donations made by many individuals to the Jupiter Tequesta Repeater Group in 2010. Not only monetarily, but the personal commitments and time investment as well. A special thanks to the Town of Jupiter for allowing us to use their facilities, the American Red Cross, the United States Coast Guard who helped transport equipment back and forth from Peanut Island, the Palm Beach Maritime Museum for allowing us to use their facilities for the Peanut Island Dxpedition, the Palm Beach Historical Society, Clear Channel, Palm Beach Gardens Fire Rescue, PBC Fire Chiefs Association for allowing us use of the emergency trailer at Field Day, all of our Committee Groups, Net Control Operators, the leadership skills of our Club Officers, JTRG Board of Directors and all of our sponsors. As always, my sincere thanks to all of our club members for all of your contributions at all of our events, helping to promote the Jupiter Tequesta Repeater Group for our success and the future of our fun and exciting hobby.
Albert “Bert” Moreschi |
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