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Recent NI4CE Repeater System News, Events and Information
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Planned Verna Site Maintenance Shutdown Notice
Cox Radio is planning some major electrical work at VERNA this Saturday, January 28th, beginning at approximately 9:00 AM. Everything at VERNA, including our NI4CE repeaters will be offline for the duration of the electrical work. The rest of the NI4CE repeater network will not be affected.
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NWWS Severe Weather Awareness Week
The National Weather Service is running Severe
Weather Awareness Week January 30-February 4 throughout the State of Florida.
This week-long education campaign will include tips for the general public on
how to avoid the dangers of severe weather and stay safe. SKYWARN severe weather
spotters are encouraged to participate in the SKYWARN INFORMATION NET held on
Tuesday, January 31st at 9:00 PM on the NI4CE Amateur Repeater Network.
For more information about severe weather, go to
http://www.srh.weather.gov/tbw/
and click on the link(s) for Severe Weather Awareness Week information.
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Under Construction
Work on the new 443.450 MHz Holiday Repeater continues. The repeater is operating at reduced power awaiting delivery of a new RF Amplifier and Pre-Amp. We hope to have these components in place and on the air by Mid-February.
At the same time, our technical crew will be installing new Repeater Linking equipment during the next few weeks. This will include a new linking radio for the NI4CE IRLP/Echolink node, which is currently offline.
We appreciate your patience as this work is proceeding.
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Make A Wish Event
The West Central Florida Group, Inc. is proud to be a part of the upcoming Make
A Wish Foundation Bike 100 Tour. This 100 mile bicycle event through Pinellas
and Pasco Counties will be help on Sunday, February 19, 2012. Amateur Radio
operators from Pinellas County ARES and Pasco County ARES will provide
coordination through the NI4CE-Holiday Repeater on 443.450 MHz.
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NI4CE-NXDN-Users Group
Get your questions answered about the NI4CE System’;s new digital mode, NXDN, by
signing up for the NICE-NXDN-Users Group forum on Google Group. It’s Fun! It’s
Informational! And it’s FREE! To find out more about NXDN digital Talk, Text and
Track, join now. Send an email to subscribe-ni4ce-nxdn-users@googlegroups.com
and get answers to your NXDN questions on the ARRL West Central Florida Section
Tech Net, every Thursday evening at 9:00 PM ET on the NI4CE Amateur Repeater
Network.
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NI4CE D-Star Announcement
For several months, the West Central Florida Group, Inc. has been looking to
reestablish the NI4CE D-Star Repeater at a new, more environmentally-friendly
site. Its previous home on the 805' platform at Riverview did not provide
suitable operating conditions for this technology. As a result of these
conditions the D-Star system had exhibited very unreliable performance.
After months of unsuccessfully searching for another suitable location, the WCFG
Board of Directors unanimously decided at its January 15th meeting to cease
D-Star operations and to liquidate the D-Star repeater and controller. The
proceeds from this sale will be used to improve the existing NI4CE system's
linking infrastructure and to continue exploring the newer NXDN digital
technology. The Board fully realizes that this decision will be met with some
resistance by the former users of the D-Star repeater. But in the best interest
of the overall wide-area repeater system, this step was considered to be the
most prudent course of action. Any West Central Florida operator who would like
to obtain the NI4CE D-Star Repeater and Controller will be given preferential
consideration.
We thank those operators who used the NI4CE D-Star Repeater. A list of other
area D-Star Repeaters can be found on the Florida Repeater Council website.
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PayPal Account reopened!
You can either use this link or the link from the contribute funds link above.
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A non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization to promote Amateur Radio and Emergency Communications on Florida's West Coast