ARES DEC seeks Skywarn Recognition Day operators

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A district emergency coordinator (DEC) for the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) began soliciting licensed hams November 5 to operate a special events station at the National Weather Service (NWS) office near North Webster.

The station will participate in the annual NWS Skywarn Recognition day, an annual 24-hour event to recognize Skywarn storm spotters, especially spotters who are ham radio operators.

Station setup will begin at 4 p.m. ET Friday December 1 at the office, 7506E 850N. Syracuse. That’s at the corner of Indiana 13 and Kosciusko County Road 850N, between North Webster and Syracuse. The station will include HF, IRLP and Echolink operations.

Operations will begin at 7 p.m. ET December 1 and run continuously until 7 p.m. ET Saturday, December 2. Hams who wish to operate the station at the NWS office must reserve their shifts in advance, in two-hour blocks. Shifts may be reserved by contacting ARES DEC Brian Sexton, KD9EDR at brian.sexton89@gmail.com. The station can accommodate up to four operators per two-hour shift.

Sexton also seeks volunteers to assist with station tear-down, beginning at 7 p.m. ET Saturday, Dec. 2.

During Skywarn recognition day, ham radio special event stations will operate on HF and other bands from NWS offices around the nation. The NWS encourages hams to contact as many of those special event stations as possible within 24 hours.

Club requests reservations for November 2023 meeting

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For its November 10, 2023 meeting, the Fort Wayne Radio Club will visit a local business and the club has requested that anyone who wishes to attend make a reservation.

The FWRC will meet at R&K Digital, 3821 Superior Ridge Dr., Fort Wayne. Note that the November issue of Allen County Ham News incorrectly indicates that the address is on Superior Bridge Dr., which will not appear on navigation apps. Superior Ridge Drive connects to Hillegas Road north of Butler Road.

R&K partner Kevin Hecksher, W9KMH, will host the meeting and talk about the new generation of batteries. He will also demonstrate how to charge them and the pitfalls of incorrectly charging them. Hecksher will attempt to clear up misunderstandings about the new batteries and the new technology that surrounds them.

The club requests that anyone who wishes to attend make a reservation by contacting any club board member. All board members may be contacted via email at info@fwrc.info.

Free tailgate hamfest August 11

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Partial map of Purdue Fort Wayne campus highlighting parking structure number three

The Fort Wayne Radio Club tailgate hamfest is scheduled for Friday, August 11 in parking structure P3 on the Purdue University Fort Wayne campus.

The hamfest is free to buyers and sellers! Setup begins at 6:30 p.m. and selling starts at 7 p.m. See what’s for sale, bring your treasures to sell, or just hang out and talk to everyone. Everyone is welcome, regardless of club membership or licensure.

The tailgate hamfest will be on the second level of the parking structure to protect participants from rain, sun, mosquitoes, etc. It’s a nice location!  Limited 120-volt power is available to check out purchases.

The best way to get to the parking structure is to use the “St. Joe Entrance” to enter campus on Dean Drive from St. Joe Road, just north of Stellhorn Road (see map, above). Follow Dean Drive to parking structure P3.

K9H special event station plans change

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Sample of certificate available to stations that contact the K9H special event station.

Plans for a special event station connected with an International Harvester truck homecoming event have changed, according to Steve Nardin, W9SAN.

The FWRC no longer plans to operate at the event itself on Meyer Road, as announced earlier. Instead, all K9H operations will be from the homes of FWRC members. Members may register to use the special call sign from their home stations through August 8. To register a time to operate as K9H, contact Nardin at w9san@arrl.net.

Members may operate on any band and multiple stations may operate simultaneously on different bands (which is why registration is necessary). Members may also use the special event call sign on Echolink, D-STAR, or other ‘internet’ modes. And because K9H will not be participating in a contest, the “WARC bands” (12, 17, and 30 meters) are also OK.

K9H operators must keep a log of all stations they contact, including the date, time, band and call sign of the other station. Operators should mention that a special certificate for contacting K9H is available via email. Stations may request the certificate by sending an email message with contact information to Josh Long, drjoshlong@gmail.com. Stations may contact K9H on as many bands as they wish, but the club will send only one certificate per station. K9H operators will also receive a certificate.

July 2023 meeting to focus on Field Day review

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The Fort Wayne Radio Club plans to conduct its monthly general meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, July 14, at Good Shepherd United Methodist Church, 4700 Vance Avenue, Fort Wayne.

Enter the church building using door number 2. Late arrivals might need to call or text Steve Nardin for assistance. Once inside, proceed to Raasch Hall.

Our meeting will focus on our performance at this year’s Field Day event and discuss what went right and what could be righter in the future! Positive and negative comments are welcome as we always look to improve.

Also, we will be talking about the upcoming special event station, K9H, which we want to run during the Harvester Homecoming on the first Saturday in August. We need operators and people to help with set up and take down. Our operation will only be on Saturday, August 4th from roughly 10 am to 3 pm at the former engineering center at 2911 Meyer Road.