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The 32nd FOC Florida Dinner, December 2, 3 and 4, 2022

(last updated November 19, 2022)

The 32nd FOC Florida Dinner will be held at the Holiday Inn Orlando Airport December 2, 3 and 4, 2022.  The hotel is a familiar venue for this event, and we are working with the management team at this now completely renovated hotel to make this event a memorable occasion.   The hotel is conveniently located less than a mile from Orlando International Airport.

Please note: The Holiday Inn suffered no damage from hurricane Ian.

Rooms, which include a continental breakfast for 2, can be booked on-line at  First Class CW Operators Club.  The First Class CW Operators Club group code is FC1 for rooms over the December 1-5, 2022 period.  The rate is $119 per night, plus tax.  If you want to arrive earlier or stay longer, you can obtain the group rate by calling the hotel at 833-425-0905 and ask for the FC1 group rate for the length of your planned stay.

A hospitality room on December 2, 3 and 4 will provide a place for attendees to relax and visit with others.  There will be remote station in room called The Board Room on the main floor. 

The 2021 Dinner

Many things have made the Florida Dinner a great event.  These scenes from 2021 show some of the reasons.
Early attendees gather Friday night at High Tide Harry's restaurant.
Bonnie WB4FSF, Lee W4EDE and Dave W4CI provide music.
Puck W4PM discusses the Windle program.
Armin DK9PY and Lu W4LT operate the W4FOC event station.
Everyone enjoys the banquet.
These are but a few of the prizes from the raffle; some gifts come from vendors.
Schedule

Thursday December 1:
  • 5:45 p.m. - meet in the hotel lobby for a short walk to the nearby Sonny's Barbeque.

Friday December 2:
  • 9:00 a.m.; set up the station in a separate room on the main floor of the hotel; see The Florida Dinner Station section later on this page for details about the station and the call to use;
  • 1:00 p.m. or earlier, if possible -- the hospitality and station rooms become available;
  • 5:00 p.m. - the hospitality and station rooms close;
  • 5:30 p.m. - meet in the lobby, proceed via hotel shuttle or private car to the nearby High Tide Harry's Restaurant.

Saturday December 3:
  • 9:00 a.m. - hospitality and station rooms open; bring your raffle items to the hospitality room any time during the day; visit the station room for some operating;
  • 10:00 a.m. - the day's programs begin in the hospitality room;
    • 10:00 a.m.: Armin DK9PY will talk about his underground atom-bomb-proof hamshack;
    • 11:00 a.m.: George K5KG will describe his recent DXpedition to Iceland;
    • 12:00 p.m.: lunch break;
    • 1,00 p.m.: Musical Jam Session by Dave W4CI, Bonnie WB4FSF and Lee W4EDE;
    • 2:00 p.m.; Dave W1DV will discuss his submarine warfare experiences as a skipper of a U.S. Navy Submarine;
    • 3:00 p.m.: Video and description of a February 2020 ISS QSO with Kittredge Magnet School, Atlanta, GA 5th grade science class by teacher Charamie DeMarco W5FRM (Charamie is K5TF's daughter and she is custodian of the school's amateur radio club KQ4KMS);
    • 4.00 p.m.: Ed KR3E will discuss FOC Committee modifications to the Marathon and other Committee items.
  • 6:00 p.m - hospitality and station rooms close;
  • 6:30 p.m. - cocktails at the Holiday Inn Bar;
  • 7:00 p.m. - banquet in a Holiday Inn main floor private dining room; raffle tickets will be distributed;
  • After dinner - raffle in the hospitality room, conducted by Jerry KC4YDP, using the tickets distributed during the banquet;
  • After raffle - announcements, presentations and a closing meeting; the hospitality  room will open for informal gathering; the station room will open for operating.


Banquet and Registration Fee

The fee for the Saturday night banquet and hospitality room is $100 per person.  Please pay it to Dick Baxter with a check made out to the First Class Cw Operators Club and send it to:

    Dick Baxter, K5TF
    1416 Stratfield Circle
    Brookhaven, GA  30319  USA

The banquet will be on the ground floor and it will be the hotel's "Surf & Turf" buffet.  The choices will be:
  • Caesar or House salad;
  • Grilled Sirloin Steak, or London Broiled Steak, or Herb Roasted Salmon;
  • Fingerling Potatoes, or Garlic Mashed Potatoes, or Seasonal Vegetables;
  • Chef-Choice Chocolate Cake, or Chef-Choice Cheesecake;
  • Bakery rolls with sweet cream butter;
  • Freshly brewed coffee, and hot or iced tea.

The Florida Dinner Station

The station radio is a Flex 6400 with a remote Maestro located in a separate main floor room called The Board Room.  The station will have Internet connectivity. The Flex 6400 is at K5KG's station in Sarasota, FL, where it takes advantage of his antennas. George and Lu Romero, W4LT, collaborated in its setup.

Two FOC call signs are available for use, KM4FOC of the Southern members of FOC, whose trustee is K2SX; and the traditional W4FOC Florida Dinner station call, whose trustee is W8KJP.

Please exercise care and use your own call sign when operating in the ARRL 160 meter contest so that others, operating in the same contest, can work the same stations you did. Use NFL as your ARRL section in the contest.

K5KG has provide a laptop PC for computer logging of either FOC call sign -- N1MM+ will log for KM4FOC during the 160 meter contest and for W4FOC at all other times. Paper log forms are available for you to log your own QSOs as well.

Raffle

The traditional Florida Dinner Raffle will be held Saturday night after the banquet in the hospitality room, Jerry, KC4YDP, presiding.

Jerry makes these suggestions about gifts:
  • Attendees should bring a gift for each attendee. This means if you are alone, bring one gift.  If you are accompanied by someone else, bring two gifts.
  • Bring gifts suitable for men or women.
  • Gifts may be left in the hospitality room where Jerry will arrange them for the raffle.
  • During or slightly before the banquet, Jerry will pass out numbered raffle tickets.  Their matches will be drawn to manage the awarding of raffle gifts and prizes from vendors.