[FLham] Tampa Bay Hamfest, December 6th & 7th

[Chris Schwab]

All:

The Florida Gulf Coast Amateur Radio Council (FGCARC), sponsors of the =
28th
Annual Tampa Bay Hamfest, have overwhelmingly voted to donate $1.00 of =
each
admission ticket sold at this year=92s hamfest to the ARRL =96 BPL Legal =
Defense
Fund.  FGCARC is proud to issue the Tampa Bay Hamfest Challenge to every
other major Hamfest nationwide.  This December 6th and 7th, the
twenty-eighth annual Tampa Bay Hamfest will continue the celebration of
everything good that is Ham Radio.  But our celebration will be tempered =
by
a new and ominous threat to our frequencies and our operating =
privileges.  A
proposal to allow Broadband over Power Lines (BPL) is currently pending
before the Federal Communications Commission. The Florida Gulf Coast =
Amateur
Radio Council, Inc. recognizes the substantial threat BPL is to the over
eight hundred sixty thousand Amateur Radio licensees nationwide.  For =
this
reason, the 2003 Tampa Bay Hamfest will be conducted =93In Defense of =
Amateur
Radio=94.  ARRL Labs Technical Manager Ed Hare, W1RFI will present =
information
on BPL.  Ed will also be conducting a forum on Antenna Modeling

Among the other major speakers scheduled to appear:

-	Bob Bruninga, WB4APR - the "father" of APRS
-	Joe Moell, K=D8OV - author & RDF expert, homingin.com
-	April Moell - WA6OPS will be speaking on "Amateur Radio Support for
Hospitals -- Much More Than a Rooftop Antenna"
-	Icom will be on hand to demonstrate their latest offering, the
D-STAR system. This is a digital system that supports 	voice and data.
-	A hands on antenna building workshop will be held on site at 2pm on
Saturday.
-	Fox Hunt at 4pm on Saturday -- check on site for sign in details.
-	Basic and Advanced skywarn training on site Saturday
-	Testing Saturday and Sunday morning
-	Other groups represented are:
	ARRL High Speed Networking Group
	TPALAN / FADCA / SEDAN / ARES / ARRL / NTS / CAP / MARS / NWS Ruskin

There are 200 inside tables, as well as the commercial arena and the =
largest
tailgate area on Florida's west coast. The 28th Annual Tampa Bay Hamfest
will be held at the Manatee Civic Center in Palmetto, Fl, which is a few
miles south of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.


Tickets are $7 in advance, and $8 at the door. Advance tickets are =
available
at any FGCARC member club, or via US mail service.

For more information, please visit www.fgcarc.org or =
www.tampabayhamfest.org
, and click on the "hamfest info" link.

73!
Chris N4BSA
FGCARC Webmaster & Forum Chairman




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