The Presidents Corner
Hello all, This will be my last Presidents Corner as I wish the very best to all of you, your families
and our new slate of Club Officers in 2012. 2011 has been another fun and exciting year for the Jupiter Tequesta Repeater Group. At our 2011 Field Day we are very proud of the JTRG’s accomplishments. We came in
just under our 2010 Field Day results at 3102 points, a statistic you should all be very
proud of. My thanks to all of you who helped make our 2011 Field Day event so successful. Another great accomplishment in 2011 was all the New Hams who we helped to achieve
their goals in becoming Licensed Amateur Radio Operators thanks to our Instructors and
an outstanding VE Team. We also held a General class which helped to 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 be there to assist our communities when
we are needed to respond to emergencies and disasters. In 2012 we will continue our
commitment to bring more Hams into the hobby by holding regularly scheduled classes
and exam sessions. Our JTRG website continues to be upgraded by Kevin W4JKJ our new club President in 2012
who has done an outstanding job of keeping it current and easy to navigate. Congratulations to Kevin Jackson W4JKJ our new club President, Mike Stowe KV4MS VP,
Tim Siegert AK4IR Treasurer and Kathy Lucas KA4JTO who will continue to be the Jupiter
Tequesta Repeater Group’s Secretary in 2012. 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 at www.usislands.org .
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 of all times to remember. We are planning on
being there again in 2012 for our third trip to the Island. In 2011, 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 which any Ham
Radio operator can join. Our repeater upgrades continue with the use of the Motorola Quantar for our primary
146.625 VHF site in Hobe Sound. We have acquired the Marriot Hotel at PGA and I-95
for our Motorola MSR 2000 VHF back up 146.625 repeater and the donated Motorola
MTR 2000 UHF 444.225 repeater. The 146.715 Motorola MSF 5000 at PGA and Military Trail
has been moved to the Clear Channel 400’ tower at 45th Street and Jog Rd with coverage
from Ft. Lauderdale to St Lucie County. 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 owned by Bert AG4BV 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. Huge thanks to Tom Pledger for allowing the repeater on his property.
The antenna is 100’ up on a Rohn tower. The repeater is a GE Master II. Improvements coming
in 2012 We are extremely grateful for all of the generous donations made by many individuals to
the Jupiter Tequesta Repeater Group in 2011. Those donations go a long way in helping
The Jupiter Tequesta Repeater Group will have a diverse amount of activities going on
throughout 2012 with events such as Amateur Radio Classes, Amateur Radio Exams, the
Jupiter Jubilee, Field Day, Adopt A Highway program, Club Picnics, Peanut Island, Jupiter
Lighthouse 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 other month, workshops every other 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.
Our club has over 100 members and there is something for everyone to enjoy including
Joshua’s Slow Scan Net on Thursdays at 8:00pm on the 146.715 repeater Pl 110.9. In 2012 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. In 2011 we were able to get Robert Molleda from the NWS to
come to Jupiter and teach a Skywarn Class. There were 56 students in attendance. Other groups
that you may want to consider joining are the PBDARES 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. As always, my sincere thanks to all of our club members for your contributions at our
events, helping to promote the Jupiter Tequesta Repeater Group and helping to ensure the
success in the future for our club and this fun hobby. A special thanks to Bonnie at 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 good folks at the Jupiter Lighthouse, the
Palm Beach Historical Society, Clear Channel Communications, Marriott Hotels, 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, the News Media, the ARRL, all of our
sponsors, our supporters and especially all of our club members. As I retire as the JTRG Club President the accomplishments we have made over the years
have been met and exceeded. Our goals could not have been achieved without your help. We have been through many tests and have passed them all with flying colors. Thanks
to your dedicated commitment and desire to be the best. Our success can not be measured by where we are, but rather, how we got there! In 2012, our Club President will be Kevin Jackson, VP Mike Stowe, Treasurer Tim Siegert
and Secretary Kathy Lucas. I am certain that 2012 Club Officers will receive the same outstanding support from our
members as our previous officers have been given. I have had a good five year run as the
Jupiter Tequesta Repeater Group President and could not have enjoyed it as much as I did
without all of your support. I salute you! 73 To All of you and God Bless, |
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