GARS (Gainesville Amateur Radio Society)


Veterans Day support
Where: South West 75th street and South West 41st Place
Date: Monday 11th of November
Event time: 9AM to 12:30PM
GARS set-up time: 7AM- bring your own folding chair
Duty: Will be instructed when to do group Landing Zone foreign object damage (FOD), check to insure field is clear for landing helicopters and parachutist.

GARS activities
Landing zone security:
Need HT and suggest bringing a reflective vest
Our job is to keep visitors off the field during helicopter and parachutist landing/take off.
We need to be on site about 7-7:30 am to do “FOD Checks” and make sure the landing field is clear.
The helicopters usually arrive around 9am. Jim has an aviation HT to communicate directly with aircraft. Jim will give a briefing to include HT frequencies.
This is a good time for first time amateurs to use their radios.
Jim usually brings extra HTs.

Kids Morse code:
We will have three code practice oscillators with straight keys.
Kids write their name on a form (which they can keep) and we help them key it out and broadcast via loud speaker.
(This helps draw a crowd.)

GMRS / FRS Demo: Karyn will demo GMRS and FRS to visitors, and provide brochures.
20 meter station with buddy pole demo: Dean

We encourage everyone to attend.
Any questions, comments, or suggestions please contact Mike Martell KK4KRZ, mikeham73@yahoo.com.
Please send him an email if you plan to attend.


Our Next Club meeting (open to anyone) will be held Tuesday, November 19th. See the link on the left for Meeting Schedule and Programs.

GARS club meetings are held on the third Tuesday of each month from 6:30pm - 8:00pm. The in-person meeting will be located at:
       Trinity United Methodist Church, Room 211
       4000 NW 53rd Ave
       Gainesville, FL 32653
These will be hybrid meetings so you can also attend via Zoom at: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/964853731


GARS ARRL Summer Field Day Happened 6/22-23. We were Radio-Active!
Click here to view a summary of some of what we did.

ARRL 2024 Field Day logo


We are testing simplex connectivity in Alachua County. Please see this page for more details.


Please check our Facebook page for current news, events and related stories, on the Gainesville Amateur Radio Society Page. We are updating our webpage, so check back frequently.


Other than monthly club meetings, most GARS activities take place at the Waldo City Square, located at 14450 NE 148th Avenue, Waldo - 15 minutes north of Gainesville. Google map reference: 29°47'29.5"N 82°10'10.5"W, or "29.791532, -82.169591".


We are trying to reduce/eliminate interference heard on our local VHF 146.820 repeater. As an experiment, we have activated the CTCSS tone on the repeater receiver.
Most of our radios already transmit a 123.0Hz sub-audible tone when calling the repeater, so for most of us nothing is needed and the repeater will work as expected.
However if your radio is not able to activate the repeater, then turn on the CTCSS tone when transmitting to the repeater. If in doubt as to which tone to set, set anything called CTCSS to 123.0Hz. Do not change any settings not connected with CTCSS.
Please send questions and feedback to chairman@gars.club.
Thanks for your patience while we figure all this out.


Looking for a helping hand to explain specific radio interests? Email to elmer@gars.club. You will receive a response from a volunteer.


GARS members had a great Winter Field Day at the Waldo City Square, January 27-28th. See our Facebook page for updates and photos. We made several hundred contacts using Voice and Morse Code. New Hams got on the air while our more experienced folks mentored and encouraged.


Hamcation in Orlando was February 9-11th (Friday thru Sunday). Several members went to see all that Amateur Radio has to offer - and spend their extra cash...

Website updated Oct 17, 2024 =0=


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Next GARS club monthly meeting Tuesday 11/19/2024 6:30pm. Next local FCC license testing is 1pm Saturday December 7th (see "Testing" below)