1st Annual ARESCON:
ARRL West Central Florida
Section ARES Conference
Saturday May 16, 2026
For more information: WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #26-19.
Register for ARESCON: ARESCON Registration Form.
ARESCON Webpage: 1st Annual ARESCON – 2026.
LATEST SOLAR CONDITIONS
Courtesy of Paul L. Herrman N0NBH website: http://www.hamqsl.com/solar.html
ARRL West Central Florida Section Social Media Outlets
ARRL West Central Florida Section – YouTube Channel.
ARRL West Central Florida Section – Facebook Page.
ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES Alert Status
WCF SECTION ARES ALERT LEVEL: Level 4 – No Activation.
WCF Section ARES Groups that are activated:
- None at this time.
WCF Section ARES Providing Other Services:
- None at this time.
Recent Activations: Activations Archive
- Level 2: ARRL WCF Section ARES Simulated Emergency Test –
Operation Dark Start: 2/06/26 through 2/07/26. - Level 1: Hurricane Milton: 10/06/24 through 10/10/24.
- Level 2: Hurricane Helene: 9/23/24 through 9/27/24.
- Level 2: Hurricane Debby: 8/02/24 through 8/05/24.
- Level 2: Hurricane Idalia – 8/26/23 through 8/30/23.
- Level 2: Hurricane Nicole – 11/07/22 through 11/10/22.
- Level 1: Hurricane Ian – 9/23/22 through 9/29/22.
WCF Section Alert Levels:
Level 4: Routine Operations – No standby for activation or current activations.
Level 3: One or more ARES groups on Standby for possible activation in one or more WCF Counties.
Level 2: One or more WCF Section ARES Groups are activated.
Level 1: All WCF Section ARES Groups are activated.
LATEST SECTION NEWS
The Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act
Stopping the prohibition of amateur radio antennas in Home Owners Association controlled neighborhoods. For more information on how you can help please read WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #25-30.
Three Polk County Amateur Radio Operators named the recipient of the Outstanding Volunteer Award. For more details see WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #26-21.
The May 2026 issue of THE WCF ARES COMMUNICATOR is now published. For more details see WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #26-20.
First Annual Section ARES Conference (ARESCON) date and venue set. For more details see WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #26-19.
Eric Owen KD4MZM and Tom Bentley W1HFR are Slient Keys. For more details see WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #26-18.
Duwain Hunt W8JJV recipient of the 2025 Florida CERT Distinguished Service Award. For more details see WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #26-16.
The Spring 2026 WCF Section ARES Meeting recording now available. For more details see WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #26-15.
The WCF PRESSER for March/April 2026 is now published. For more details see WCF SECTION PRESS RELEASE #26-14.
UPCOMING SPECIAL MEETINGS AND EVENTS IN THE ARRL WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA SECTION
6/27/26: 26th Annual ARRL West Central Florida Section Field Day Caravan.
10/09/26 – 10/10/26: 61st Annual Melbourne Hamfest – Melbourne Auditorium – Melbourne, FL.
12/11/26 – 12/12/26: 51st Annual Tampa Bay Hamfest – 26th Annual ARRL West Central Florida Section Convention – Strawberry Festival Grounds – Plant City, FL.
UPCOMING HAMFESTS IN THE ARRL WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA SECTION
5/09/26: EPARS Spring 2026 Hamfest – American Legion Post #15 – 37745 Church Ave, Dade City, FL 33523.
5/23/26: WORMFEST 2026 – Freedom Lake Park – 9990 46th St N., Pinellas Park, FL 33782.
8/22/26: Fall 2026 TARCFest – Tampa ARC Clubhouse – Tampa, FL.
Note: Due to plug in issues with our website the special events calendar will have to be rebuilt. Our apologies to all for this inconvenience.
For hamfests in the Northern Florida Section: http://arrl-nfl.org/
For hamfests in the Southern Florida Section: http://sflarrl.org/
WHAT IS THE ARRL WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA SECTION?
The ARRL West Central Florida Section is one of seventy-one administrative sections of the ARRL – The American Radio Relay League. The ARRL is the National Association for Amateur Radio in the USA.
The West Central Florida (WCF) Section of the ARRL Field Organization serves amateur radio operators in the following ten counties in Florida: Charlotte, Desoto, Hardee, Highlands, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, and Sarasota.
The WCF section includes the following cities and towns: Arcadia, Auburndale, Avon Park, Bartow, Bradenton, Brandon, Clearwater, Englewood, Haines City, Lakeland, Lake Placid, Lake Wales, Land O Lakes, New Port Richey, North Port, Palmetto, Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda, St. Petersburg, Riverview, Sarasota, Sebring, Sun City Center, Tampa, Venice, Wauchula, Winter Haven, and Zephyrhills.
This web page has information specific to the ARRL Field Services activities in the ARRL West Central Florida Section.