Palms West Amateur Radio Club

ARRL News

Spaceweather.com reports a Cannibal Coronal Mass Ejection on April 15 sparked geomagnetic storms. On April 16, the storm became severe (G4) with Northern Lights sighted as far south as France. The storm is subsiding now to a category G1/G2, which could still produce high-latitude auroras. Although Regions AR4062 and AR4064 have been relatively quiet they are more structurally complex than ant... [...]

Former ARRL Vice Director Wayne Overbeck, N6NB, SK

Former ARRL Vice Director and Contest Advisory Committee Chairman Wayne Overbeck, N6NB, passed away Saturday April 12, 2025. He was 82 years old. Overbeck held an Amateur Extra-class license and was active in amateur radio for over 68 years. He served four terms as an elected ARRL Vice Director, from 1984 to 1993, and was also chairman of the ARRL Contest Advisory Committee during the 1970s and... [...]

Paul “Tad” Cook, K7RA, SK

Paul “Tad” Cook, K7RA, passed away on April 13, 2025. For 36 years, Cook wrote the weekly W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin and the K7RA Solar Update for the ARRL Letter. He retired in January 2025, citing a recent ALS diagnosis and on March 8, Cook received the ARRL President’s Award presented to him by ARRL Northwestern Division Director Mark Tharp, KB7HDX.Several weeks ago, Robin Amundson, ... [...]

World Amateur Radio Day – International Amateur Radio Union Formed 100 Years Ago

April 18th is honored as World Amateur Radio Day, when we celebrate the founding of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU). The organization was born out of a meeting in Paris on April 17, 1925. ARRL took a leadership role in its founding, with ARRL Founder Hiram Percy Maxim, then 1AW, serving as the first President of IARU.As reported by Kenneth B. Warner, 1BHW, in the June 1925 edition ... [...]

ARRL Videos Document Next Generation DXing Program at International DX Convention

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A short note from the President:

SPRING PICNIC

On April 19, 2025, we will hold our Spring Picnic at Okeeheelee Park in Suburban West Palm Beach.

All are invited. There is no cost for members. We do ask that non-members provide a $10.00 donation per person to cover our costs. Please RSVP to km4jwc@att.net with the number attending and your preference between burgers or hotdogs. All you need to bring is a chair. If you decide to join the club, we will have applications handy and will most likely approve you on site. We will serve lunch at Noon, feel free to arrive around 11:00 AM. The plan is to hold onto a couple of the small huts along side of the Osceola Pavilion. Keep an eye out for the PWARC Picnic APRS beacon for exact location.

Hope to see you there….. John, KM4JWC

Monthly Meetings are held on the 3^rd Saturday of the month at 2:00 PM

OR… 1:30 PM if you want to join us for lunch

Meetings are held at Hilary’s Restaurant

630 Royal Palm Beach Blvd., Royal Palm Beach, FL 33411

Dues Renewal started in January. Please use the link on the right side of this page to RENEW. Starting in April, we will purge expired memberships. Things are starting to get exciting, so please renew.

For those who desire to join the club please meet us at Hilary’s Restaurant during the monthly meetings or at Saturday Breakfast at Hilary’s. Breakfast is held at 8:30 AM.

Club Dues are $20 per year for Individuals and $30 for Families, still a great deal considering we run some of the widest area coverage repeaters in the county and the Palm Beach Radio Fest, among other things.

We really appreciate your continuing support over the past year(s) and look forward to doing some more exciting things again this year.

Hope to hear from you soon, in person or on the air.

John Clifton, KM4JWC President: Palms West Amateur Radio Club

The Palms West Amateur Radio Club Inc. is a general interest radio club affiliated with the ARRL, the National Association for Amateur Radio, and the Palm Beach Amateur Radio Council.

Our members come from all over Palm Beach County and bring a variety of interests and amateur radio experience to our club. Many of our members are affiliated with Palm Beach County ARES and participate in many public service events.

Operates several open club repeaters
- VHF on 147.045 (PL 110.9) ARES / SKYWARN
- UHF on 443.975 (PL 110.9) (Allstar coming soon!)
- In partnership with the Palm Beach Packet Group www.pbpg.org:
  - DMR- Marc – UHF 442.9375 Color Code 1. We carry all of the usual talk groups. Click here for more information
Administers free Ham license tests (contact Charlie, WB2SNN@ARRL.net)
Holds the Link McGarity WV4I Memorial Flea Market.
And much more!

If you have an interest in Radio, Electronics, or just want to find out what all the buzz is about, please join us at our monthly meetings

For more information please contact:

President, John Clifton, KM4JWC at KM4JWC@att.net

Updated membership application policy

For new memberships: Please attend one of our breakfasts or monthly meeting and receive a membership application. Please fill out this application fully and send it back either by email or to the address listed on the application or at the end of breakfast or meeting. Within the following two weeks your application will be reviewed and if approved you will be notified of the approval and become a full member. You will then be able to pay dues. If for some reason the board does not approve your application you will be notified. Should you have any questions about this please contact KM4JWC@att.net for more information.

Random Ham Stuff

The Schlockwood SW300 – An AM Field Strength and Modulation Monitor for the AM Broadcast Band and Amateur Use

I first discovered the world of legal micro-broadcasting back in 2010. The AM broadcast band was my focus, as the regulations in the US for that band are more generous than those which cover the FM broadcast band. My first transmitter was an SSTRAN AMT3000. It worked well throughout the house, but didn’t radiate much […] [...]

Micropower AM Broadcasting – A Scratch-Built SSTRAN AMT3000

14 years ago (where does the time go?) I was looking for a way to broadcast very locally, to my neighborhood, legally. The operative word was legally and, somehow, I discovered the world of Part 15 broadcasting on the AM broadcast band. FCC regulations under Part 15 allow for a wide variety of unlicensed devices […] [...]

Partial Restoration of a Vintage Tube Radio – the Westinghouse H-130

It’s not too often that I post about projects which are incomplete, but this one has reached a stage where, although I’m not sure if I will fully finish it, I feel that my progress so far is worth sharing. I appreciate the feedback I receive on my posts, so there’s always the chance that […] [...]

A Few Free Swapmeet Finds

Every year in the summer, The California Historical Radio Society (CHRS) in Alameda, CA host their annual “Radio Day by The Bay”. If you live in the area, or are visiting, it is the very best time to get a feel for all the things that CHRS do to preserve the history of radio and […] [...]

The Belka-DX and an AM BC Band High Pass Filter

My, how time flies. This is a post I have been meaning to write for nearly 3 years now. Back in late 2018, after a search for a small portable SW receiver, I purchased a C Crane Skywave SSB. It had a lot of the things I wanted in a portable radio and, at the […] [...]

The Sproutie 10 Years On, and W3BBO Builds Another Sproutie!

Next month (August) will mark 10 years since I built my little Sproutie HF Regen Receiver. I recently received an email from Bob W3BBO. A few years ago, he built a Sproutie, and he has just built another one – more on that later. Bob’s first Sproutie is shown in this post, along with a […] [...]

An Inline RF Step Attenuator for QRPp Work

I don’t need to explain the attraction of low power operation; if you’re reading this, the chances are that you are already a convert. I’ve been operating with low power ever since first being licensed in the UK in the late 70’s as G8RYQ, and then G4IFA. One of my first rigs was a homebrew […] [...]

The GM3OXX “Oxo” Transmitter

As well as the small stash of finished projects that grace my living space, I also have two small boxes containing various boards. Some of them are boards from part-finished projects that didn’t work. For whatever reason, I ran out of steam and, instead of troubleshooting them, put them carefully into a small box along […] [...]

Ugly Construction!

Here’s a little project I put together on a whim about 18 months ago. It was my tribute to the unlicensed (i.e. pirate) beacon cluster around 4096 KHz. There were several of them operating in full force, with powers ranging from around 100mW to a watt or so a few years ago. Their heyday was […] [...]

Modifying the Tut 80 for Varactor Tuning and More Power

Back in 2009/2010 the Arizona QRP Scorpions released a little kit designed by Dan N7VE, called the Fort Tuthill 80. It was a QRP CW transceiver, with a direct conversion receiver and a transmitter capable of putting out about 3W. It caught my imagination, and I just had to build it. I have never had […] [...]

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