The executive committee of the Dayton Hamvention announced today that it has canceled the 2021 edition of the event. See a detailed announcement on the Hamvention website.
Al Burke, WB9SSE announced today the following dates for this year’s club fox (hidden transmitter) hunts:
February 7
March 7
April 11
May 2
June 6
July 11
August 8
September 19
October 3
November 7
The above dates will be added to this website’s calendar as time permits.
Past hunts began at 1:30 p.m. at Corbin Park, 742 N Coliseum Blvd, Fort Wayne. Al’s message did not indicate any changes to the starting time or location. For more information, contact Al directly at aburke55@comcast.net.
The January 2021 issue of Allen County HamNews is a available for download from this website, using the link below or the Newsletters menu above.
The Fort Wayne Radio Club (FWRC) received from the Hoosier DX and Contest Club (HDXCC) the “Top Indiana Club” plaque for the FWRC’s high score during the 2020 Indiana QSO Party on-air contest.
The FWRC outscored 13 other Indiana clubs during the May event to win the award. Detailed scores appear on the HDXCC website.
The HDXCC has scheduled the 2021 Indiana QSO Party for 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. EDT Saturday, May 1.
We held the raffle of the three items in the FWRC 2021 dues re-up initiative tonight. Steve Nardin dropped off the last of the inputs received this afternoon and following dinner, we had two young men (our grand-daughters boyfriend, Alex King, and his friend Alex Thomas, both young men from Garrett, do the drawings. We bribed them by having them over for dinner. Carole’s a good cook). I took video and if I can figure out how to get that video up on the club web page I will make it available.
I transferred re-up and the extra raffle chance purchase requests from one hundred persons, (yes, at this point we have one hundred folks who have renewed their club membership for 2021) and transferred these inputs to physical raffle tickets. A total of four hundred and twenty four tickets resulted that I segregated between tickets for the wireless weather station, the 50 amp linear power supply, and the 20 amp switching power supply.
We implemented three raffles, one for each item, with the results (see attached) that the winners were:
- Jim Pliett, K9OMA – won the La Crosse Technology Wireless Weather Station.
- Mike Stien, WB9NOO – won the Astron VS-50M, 50 amp, 13.8 vdc linear power supply.
- Bob Jones, KB9MEA – won the Astron SS-25, 20 amp, 13.8 vdc switching power supply.
Carole called the three winners tonight and gave them the good news. Steve Nardin has the three items and will arrange to get the items to the winners.
Brad Peterson, N9MTF, has made the Brandmeister nationwide talkgroup (3100) static on his DMR repeater, at least temporarily. It’s a very active talkgroup, so having it “always on” versus “on-demand” will make it easier for local DMR users to know if they’re within receiving range of the repeater.
The repeater’s antenna is on the roof the Parkview Hospital Randallia, 2200 Randallia Drive, in northeastern Fort Wayne. Its frequency is 442.63750 MHz, with a typical, +5 MHz offset and it uses color code 1.
Talkgroup 3100 is static on timeslot 1, which means that even when that talkgroup is in use, timeslot 2 remains available for QSOs on local talkgroup 2 and Indiana statewide talkgroup 3118, among others (DMR repeaters can support up to two, simultaneous QSOs on separate timeslots).
A few weeks ago, Brad replaced an antenna connector, which markedly improved the repeater’s receiving capability.
Although the repeater is not owned or operated by FWRC, this information is provided because it might be of interest to local hams. Direct questions about the repeater to Brad, whose email address can be found on www.qrz.com.
The 76 repeater is back on the air and the input PL tone has been removed. We still do not know what the noise was on the input over the weekend, so we are hopeful that it has gone away. If it returns, we will reinstate the tone and do some fox hunting for the noise!
Special thanks to Paul, Al, Jim and Bruce for their help in trying to fix the problem!
Earlier this week, due to some unexplained broadband noise on its input, FWRC implemented a 141.3 Hz CTCSS requirement to access the repeater.
An annual event to recognize SKYWARN storm spotters around the U.S. begins at 7 p.m. ET Friday, Dec. 4. SKYWARN Recognition Day (SRD) is traditionally at 24-hour on-the-air amateur radio special event, because hams were the first SKYWARN storm spotters. In past years, volunteer hams activated special event stations at NWS forecast offices, using club call signs assigned to those offices (e.g. WX9IWX for the Northern Indiana office). Other hams attempted to contact as many different NWS offices as possible.
This year, however, will have a slightly different look.
First, few weather office club call signs will be activated because the National Weather Service is prohibiting volunteer access to the offices.
Second, in lieu of trying to contact as many weather offices as possible, NWS is encouraging amateur radio participants to register for and exchange SRD numbers with each other.
Third, because a growing number of SKYWARN storm spotters use social media instead of ham radio to report severe weather, this year’s SRD will have a greater social media emphasis.
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The December, 2020 issue of Allen County HamNews is available for download using the link below or the the “Newsletters” link in the menu above.
The Fort Wayne Radio Club normally promotes the renewal of club membership during the Fort Wayne Hamfest in November. Typically, it received about 70 percent of each year’s membership dues during that event. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, required the cancellation of the 2020 Hamfest, so FWRC needed an alternate method of promoting membership renewal.
The club therefore mailed membership forms (see link below) with a cover letter to every person who is a member in 2020. The mailing included a stamped, self-addressed, return envelope with which members may mail their membership forms and dues to the club post office box.
The membership form is also available for download from this website, by following the link below.
The form requests each member’s email address and phone number, to keep our member database current. It also provides opportunity to update members’ postal addresses, call signs and license classes.
The club is raffling three items this year (vs. the single item in previous years) as incentive join or renew:
- La Crosse Technology S81120 wireless weather station with sensors for wind speed, wind direction, temperature and humidity.
- Astron VS-50M linear power supply, 13.8 vdc (adjustable), rated at 50 amps intermittent and 37 amps continuous duty.
- Astron SS-25 switching power supply, 13.8 vdc, rated at 25 amps intermittent and 20 amps continuous.
Everyone who submits a membership form with dues for 2021 gets one chance at one of the three items identified above. Members may also purchase additional chances at any or all three items for $1.00 per chance. For example, a member who wants 10 additional chances at the La Crosse Technology weather station would write a check for $10.00 plus membership dues. That’s pretty inexpensive, considering the cost of purchasing one of these weather stations on your own.
Mailed membership forms and dues must arrive in the club post office box by Dec. 12 to qualify for the raffle. Members may also deliver their forms and dues in person to any FWRC officer or director. To be eligible for the raffle, members who so choose may do so as late as Dec. 15, as long as the entries arrive before the drawings, which will occur during the Dec. 15 club meeting at the downtown branch of the Allen County Public Library. Members not be present to win.
Current members whose address is incorrect in club records, and anyone who is not a 2020 member will not receive a form by mail, but may download it from this website, using the link below.