By LOIS KINDLE
The Kings Point Amateur Radio Club has been a vital part of emergency preparedness in the community for decades. Now, through a new partnership with Retevis, it’s expanding and enhancing its communication capabilities even further.
The collaborations with Retevis enables the KPARC to source small, handheld radios in support of its Disaster Radio Service, enabling the club to supply a radio to anyone who joins the program. Membership is a one-time $15 fee. The only requirement is you must participate in a brief Wednesday radio test four times annually to maintain membership.
Eric Nisenfeld, KPARC VP, scans Worldwide HF radio communications at the club’s radio room in the Kings Point North Clubhouse in Sun City Center.
Dick Bishop, a 25-year member of the KPARC who’s been in ham radio 65 years, records the signal strength of members checking in during a Wednesday Disaster Radio Service TestNet check-in.
Due to the KPARC Disaster Radio Service’s exponential growth over the past seven years, the Kings Point Master Association donated $40,000 to the club for infrastructure upgrades.
Additionally, Retevis will provide enhanced repeater systems, advanced communication capabilities and technical support.
“Reliable communication is the backbone of effective emergency response,” said Eric Nisenfeld, WA4EMN, KPARC vice president. “Our partnership with Retevis allows us to modernize and expand our infrastructure, ensuring that Sun City Center residents have a dependable line of communication when they need it most.”
KPARC members provide volunteer communication services during disasters like severe weather events and public safety drills where power, internet and cell phone services are interrupted.
Every person who signs up as a DRS member gets a handheld, two-way radio, like the one pictured here, after paying a one-time $15 fee.
The club is participating in an annual Amateur Radio Relay Link Field Day for 24 hours, taking place throughout the country June 28-29. The event gives amateur radio operators the opportunity to set up temporary stations, conduct technical demonstrations, test equipment and connect with other operators worldwide.
The public is invited to drop by the KPARC radio room in the Kings Point North Clubhouse, 1900 Clubhouse Drive, Sun City Center, between 3 and 6 p.m., Saturday afternoon (June 28) to engage with members and see firsthand what the club is about.
Eric Nisenfeld, KPARC vice president, is seen here discussing the KPARC’s weather tracking systems. Behind him is one of the club’s two ways of monitoring what’s happening in real time.
Disaster Radio Service membership has grown from 100 members since its founding in 2018 to just shy of 800 today. In light of this growth, the KPARC received $40,000 to upgrade its infrastructure from the Kings Point Management Association.
The Interfaith Social Action Council of Sun City Center awarded the club $10,000 in grants to replace antennas damaged during last year’s storm season and to enhance the emergency power systems in the club’s radio room.
LOIS KINDLE PHOTOS
Longtime Kings Point Amateur Radio Club member Eileen Bishop conducts Wednesday Disaster Radio Service TestNet check-ins. She’s shown here listening to a DRS member responding during her call.
More about the KPARC
The Kings Point Amateur Radio Club was founded in a closet at Kings Point in 1983 and became a 501(c) 3 nonprofit charity in the early 2020s.
“We’re the predominant testing center for FCC amateur radio license testing in Hillsborough County,” said Nisenfeld, who started in ham radio in 2017. “We’re very into emergency communications, educating and learning.”
Nisenfeld said the club maintains the repeaters and radios of the SCC Emergency Squad and SCC Security Patrol and is in the process of working with Scouting America to develop curriculum for scouts to acquire a radio merit badge.
“We do what we do out of love for the community and our love of technology,” Nisenfeld said.
To become a DRS member, stop by the radio room on Thursday or Saturday between 9 and 11 a.m. For more information, call 813-944-4913, then select option 1.