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The second episode of the ARRL’s new podcast, “On the Air,” includes an interview with FWRC member Brenda Plummer, KD9GDX. Brenda talks about her experiences volunteering at ARES public service events. Give it a listen!
Allen County Amateur Radio Technical Society (ACARTS) president Dave Lindquist, W9LKH recently announced that it will conduct the Northeast Indiana VHF/UHF FM Simplex Contest, Saturday, April 4 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The format will be essentially the same as in previous years. Official rules, logs, and maps are posted on the ACARTS website. It has been a fun little contest in the past, and gives operators an idea of the capabilities of their stations for simplex operation in an emergency situation. Plan to join in for an evening of fun!
Josh Long, W9HT volunteered to succeed the late Ken Helms as editor of the monthly Allen County HamNews newsletter. The February, 2020 issue is available for download, using the link below.
So, here it is February, 2020, the centennial year of the Fort Wayne Radio Club. And February marks the start of another season of Foxhunting. One initiative worth taking on this year is to grow the ranks of foxhunters in and around Allen County, and we hope to accomplish this as the year goes on.
We hunt the wily fox on the first Sunday of the month, February through November. (We take December and January off to get the blood flowing again in our frozen fingers and toes). Each hunt starts from Cobin Memorial Park on south Coliseum Blvd next to Lakeside Golf Course. The fox itself can be ensconced anywhere in Allen County. The fox actually consists of a foxhunting team serving as (high power) fox for that particular month plus a microfox that they have cleverly hidden (usually) close to the location of the high power fox. The high power fox typically transmits about a 30 watt fm signal using a yagi on 146.430 MHz for one minute every five minutes, while the microfox transmits about a 40 milliwatt frequency modulated cw signal for one minute every 2 ½ minutes. Once the foxhunters identify the general location of the fox using the high power fox signal, they dismount and track down the microfox with hand held DF equipment.
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Ken Rogner, N8KR, will host a multi-operator special event station in his shack Jan. 11 as part of an annual activity organized by the Straight Key Century Club (SKCC).
For the fourth year in a row, three stations in Ken’s shack will simultaneously sign K3Y/9, SKCC’s special event call sign for the month of January.
Ken welcomes SKCC members and other members of FWRC to bring their favorite straight keys and/or bugs or use one of the many keys, bugs and cooties already in the shack.
Pop, coffee, and water and snacks will be there and all operators are welcome to add to the feast! Last year, operators enjoyed sloppy joes for lunch and pizza for supper.
Hams who are nervous about operating a CW special event station may watch, assist, or allow a “helping hand” to sit with them. Ken hopes operators will make a few hundred contacts and have a great time visiting with each other.
Stations will operate on the 160, 80, 40, 30, and 20 meter bands, with 15 and 10 meters available if propagation supports those bands.
Operators are also welcome to find K3Y/9 on the air and work the station, even if they also plan to operate at Ken’s shack. The official QSO exchange is signal report, state, name and SKCC number. Operators who don’t have an SKCC number may send, “none”.
Operations will take place from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. at 8526 Fox Home Drive, New Haven, which is in the area of Maysville and Long Roads.
Send questions to Ken at n8kr@arrl.net or contact Ed Zobac, WA9BBN; Jim Plummer, KD9GDY, or Josh Long, W9HT on a local repeater.
Allen County ARES and Allen County Office of Homeland Security announced they will co-host the Allen County Severe Weather Seminar, Saturday, Mach 28, 2020, at the downtown Allen County Public Library. The co-hosts will announce speakers and registration in Saturday. The plan two sessions; a morning basic storm spotter course and an afternoon session of advanced presentations. See the flyer below.
The FWRC repeater on 146.91 MHz has been disconnected from the Echolink network. Paul Prestia, KA3OPZ reports that Purdue Fort Wayne, on whose campus the repeater is located, disconnected the repeater’s internet connection, because university staff believed our Echolink computer was hacked. Paul reports that the FWRC is working with Purdue Fort Wayne to resolve the issue and return Echolink services as soon as possible.
(Click any image to see larger versions.)
Friday evening, December 13 saw a great turn-out at the annual FWRC Christmas Banquet held at Good Shepherd United Methodist Church. Forty six club members attended and participated in much good food, drink, comradeship and an exchange of presents. No one went away hungry. The club provided both fried and baked chicken plus beverages and cutlery. Attendees provided a plethora of carry-in dishes including meatballs, deviled eggs (of course), baked beans, various casserole dishes and (thanks to some artful prodding of Carole, WB9RUS, by Paul Prestia) even mostaccioli, the Field Day pasta dish said to be favored by Guglielmo Marconi himself. (Hopefully the mostaccioli showing up will establish an on-going FWRC Field Day and banquet tradition, along with the meatballs and deviled eggs). In addition, many yummy deserts made the way to the serving tables. It was scrumptious, and a good time was had by all.
Kenneth Allen Helms, K9ZT, who for years served as editor of Allen County HamNews, even after moving from Fort Wayne to Tennessee, became a silent key Nov. 20. 2019. He was 69. A brief obituary appears on a funeral home website.
The Fort Wayne Radio Club, Allen County Amateur Radio Technical Society and Fort Wayne DX Association are seeking a new volunteer to edit Allen County HamNews, which serves as the official organ for all three clubs.
Minutes of the November, 2019 general meeting of the Fort Wayne Radio Club are avilable for download.