Charlotte Amateur Radio Society Inc.

Not too long ago, a local hospital was in a dire emergency. It's phones and the phones in the area were not working -- and wouldn't be for a while -- and the hospital needed to contact a hospital in Tampa.

There was a desperately ill child who needed to be flown to Tampa, but without phones, precious minutes would be lost while other means of contact were found.

That's where the HAM radio operator who works with the hospital came in. The HAM radio operator contacted another operator in Tampa. That operator, in turn, called the Tampa hospital and connected the two hospitals over the radio waves.

Often, people think of HAM radio operators as only being key figures at major disasters, such as earthquakes and hurricanes. But HAM radio operators, including those of the Charlotte Amateur Radio Society, are often working behind the scenes at many local events.

The Charlotte County group is usually at the county's major parades, stationed along the route, ready to contact medical personnel at the first sign of somebody in trouble. And they can be found at many other community events, offering their help.

In addition, the group puts on a show of it's own for the community when it and other amateur radio groups participate in the annual American Radio Relay League Field Day. Field Day is a two day event when hams all over the United States set up and operate under field conditions. Field conditions basicly means no commercial electricity and no fixed antennas. The object is to contact as many other hams as possible and each group is classified by the type of equipment used and is awarded points for each contact.

The Charlotte Amateur Radio Society -- or CARS, as they are called -- has approximately 50 members and has been a part of the community for decades. CARS was incorporated in 1974 in Punta Gorda and is dedicated to the advancement of amateur radio and support of the local community. CARS also is an American Radio Relay League Affiliated Club.

The Charlotte Amateur Radio Society meets at 7:30 p.m. the second Thursday of the month at the Royal Palm Center, 2500 Aaron Street. Parking is available across the street in the Promenades Mall parking lot.

CARS operated a repeater, WX4E on 146.745 Mhz with -600 Khz offset.

The Sunshine Net operates daily at 8:30 a.m. on 146.745 Mhz.

CARS repeaters and nets are open to all licensed HAM operators. For further information, contact Roger Weatherly, W4IGM at 941-575-7169.

CARS
P.O. Box 510415
Punta Gorda, FL 33951-0415

The Charlotte Amateur Radio Society officers for 2008 are:

President:  Virginia Kadansky, KG4NKN
Vice President:  Vacant
Secretary:  Al Romanosky, KB3U
Treasurer:  Kenneth Johnson, KG4KQW

Directors:
Dennis Lazar, W4DNN
Al Zaboronek, WB4TEX
Ray Okley, KB0UDY

Past President:
Roger Weatherly, W3IGM

CARS Spring Picnic

CARS Fall Picnic

Lou Nagy (N1MAH), Mac McDaniel (W8HTD), Rienhold Swieg (KS4ST) at the CARS Picnic

CARS Members at the Okeechobee Hamfest

Hams that are interested in satellite tracking can get up-to-date Keplarian data from ARRL, AMSAT or NASA web sites.