Political posts are not welcomed. See the club bylaws for more information Silver Springs Radio Club
by Jim Yandle, W4HTK (SK)
During the summer of 1947 three amateur radio operators and one “wannabe” decided to get together socially to discuss their favorite topic: Ham Radio. Those four were Mack Britton, N4DVR, Lloyd Lutz, W4RXL, Jim Yandle, W4HTK, and Johnny Williams, who became K4ANJ. A short time later Jim Stevens, owner of Stevens Communications, Inc., joined and was licensed as W4HCQ. There was no thought of forming a club, the informal meetings were held in the home of one of the participants and usually consisted of a cookout or some other activity. Probably the presence of a CW ham weather station on the second floor of the old fire station at the corner of Broadway and Osceola Streets operated by Mack Britton was the spark that started the meetings. As time passed other hams and interested would-be hams joined in the meetings which outgrew the home meeting places. The group was given a room on the second floor of the fire station and the Ocala Amateur Radio Club was formed. Later, the club was forced to move from this original meeting place and finding another was quite a chore for a small club with no money. Ray and Davidson, owners of Silver Springs, heard of the predicament and offered a place for the club to meet. To show its appreciation, the club changed its name to the Silver Springs Radio Club. As the little town of Ocala grew, so did the radio club and as the population increased public events were held that would be enhanced if only there were communications available. The club was right there offering its assistance and that participation continues to the present. The local club operation took an international flavor when American military forces were sent to Viet Nam. During that war, Johnny Williams was instrumental in setting up a Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) station with a rhombic antenna aimed at that distant country. He and other members of the club were able to run phone patches from that Asian nation for GIs whose homes were scattered throughout the country. With the end of hostilities, the radio station was dismantled, the huge rhombic antenna taken down, and the club reverted to peace-time activities. The American military was called on again to join allies in ousting Saddam Hussein and his army from Kuwait. Again, the hams reacted quickly and again with the help of Johnny Williams, a new MARS station, AAR4CSS, was established and a rhombic antenna aimed at the desert was put in place and the old wire used in the Viet Nam era this time sent its signals to the Middle East. During this action, members and nonmembers bonded together to handle more than 20,000 phone patches. The ever increasing population in the city-county area brought additional amateurs along with others who wanted to become a part of this interesting hobby. For the ones with no license, the club sets up classes and also conducts periodic upgrade tests under the Volunteer Examiner program. Then later when American military men were sent to play policeman in foreign locales, the Silver Springs Radio Club again provided patch service to the military personnel in places like Somalia, Haiti, Grenada, and Western Sahara. In addition to the club activities, members like Williams conducted hundreds of phone patches from his home station between aircraft going to and from the areas involved. Army 351st Military Police Detachment, stationed locally, has been called to active duty and are now receiving specialized training for that duty. Before leaving Ocala, the Silver Springs Radio Club provided the unit with a complete MARS packet station. The club’s long relationship with Army MARS has led to the Silver Springs Radio Club being designated in the Gateway station for MARS packet traffic for Florida. In celebration of the K4GSO 50th year of operation, the club operated a Special Event Station on October 4, 1997. Hours of operation were 1300 UTC October 4, 1997, until 0100 UTC October 5, 1997. NOTE: In December, 2011, the AAR4CSS station call was withdrawn by Army MARS, and AAR4CSS is no more.
