Allen County Skywarn plans winter storm operations

      No Comments on Allen County Skywarn plans winter storm operations

The National Weather Service forecasts a major winter storm for Allen County, Indiana and surrounding areas, beginning Wednesday morning, Feb. 2, 2022.

The Allen County Skywarn ham radio net plans special operations beginning at noon that day on the W9INX 146.88 MHz repeater.

This will not be a normal Skywarn net, because impacts of the winter storm develop more slowly than do impacts from severe weather like thunderstorms or tornadoes.

Instead, a net control station will conduct brief nets every hour on the hour. The net encourages all stations to participate by reporting any significant impacts of the storm, including power or communication outages, major road closures, and snowfall measurements (see this web page for instructions on taking snow measurements that will be useful to NWS). The net control station will use NWSChat, an internal, internet chat service, to relay impact reports to the Northern Indiana NWS office.

Allen County ARES does not expect to be needed to provide communications support during this week’s event. ARES leaders still encourage all members to prepare for possible activation. Should ARES activation be needed, relevant announcements will be made during the hourly Skywarn net, as well as via other ARES communication tools.

The hourly nets will continue as needed and as net control stations are available. It is likely that the hourly nets will pause during the overnight hours Wednesday and possibly resume Thursday morning. Contact net manager Jay Farlow, W9LW, arsw9lw@gmail.com with any questions.

2020 FWRC dates announced

      No Comments on 2020 FWRC dates announced

Al Burke, WB9SSE provided the list below of dates of FWRC events for 2022:

FOXHUNT 1BOD MEETING 2 FWRC CLUB MEETING 3
–1/11/20221/21/2022
2/6/20222/8/20222/18/2022
3/6/20223/8/20223/18/2022
4/3/20223/29/20224/8/2022
5/1/20225/3/20225/13/2022
6/12/20226/7/20226/17/2022
7/10/20227/5/20227/15/2022
8/7/20228/9/20228/19/2022
9/18/20229/6/20229/16/2022
10/2/202210/11/202210/21/2022
11/6/202211/8/202211/18/2022
–11/29/202212/9/2022 3

1 Foxhunt starts from Colbin Memorial Park at 1:30 pm local time.

2BOD meetings start at 7:00 pm. Contact the club president for location.

3Club meetings held at Good Shepherd United Methodist Church at 7:00 p.m. local time. (Christmas banquet starts at 6:30 p.m.).

Two-Meter Classic Sprint – November/December results

      No Comments on Two-Meter Classic Sprint – November/December results

The Two-Meter Classic Sprint series wrapped up with two final sprints held in November and December. Several familiar calls appeared in both sprints, with both base stations and rover stations participating. As December marked the final sprint in the series, these results will include the final placement scores for all participants. The winners of each category will receive a certificate which will be emailed in January 2022. Congratulations to all our certificate winners!

Continue reading →

Two-Meter Classic Sprint – September and October results

      No Comments on Two-Meter Classic Sprint – September and October results

The Two-Meter Classic Sprint series continued with sprints held the first Saturdays of October and November. Several familiar call signs appear in the results of both sprints, and with only two more sprints to go, opportunities for overtaking the leaders in each category are fast disappearing! The November and December sprint will finish up this year’s sprints and final results will be published following the December sprint.

Continue reading →

KJ9R becomes silent key

      No Comments on KJ9R becomes silent key

We regret to report that FWRC member Joseph Randall, KJ9R became a silent key November 21, 2021.

According to an obituary published on Facebook by the Midwest Funeral Home and Cremation Society (link below), a funeral service will take place at noon ET Tuesday, November 30 at the funeral home, 1415 West Coliseum Blvd., with viewing and visitation two hours prior.

Raffle winners announced

      No Comments on Raffle winners announced

During the 2021 Fort Wayne Hamfest the Fort Wayne Radio Club conducted three raffles. Two of these were for a club membership renewal promotion. Renewing or new members had a choice of entering drawings for a small spectrum analyzer or a dual-band, handheld transceiver. The third raffle was a complete HF station intended for a new ham (someone who has had a license for two years for less and did not have an HF station already).

The winners are:

  • Dual-band, handheld transceiver: Tony Vining, KD1MTI, a new FWRC member.
  • Tiny spectrum analyzer: Bill Lamb KD9HWH, a renewing club member.
  • HF station: Grace Shollenberger, KD9QXX, a new ham and club member who is attending Trine University.

Congratulations to all the winners!

FWRC to give HF station to new ham

      No Comments on FWRC to give HF station to new ham
Icom HF transceiver and accessories to be given away to a new ham in a drawing.

One lucky, new ham radio operator will win an Icom HF transceiver and accessories during the 2021 Fort Wayne Hamfest.

Any person who meets the criteria listed below may enter the drawing at no charge.

To qualify for the drawing, a person must:

  • Hold a valid U.S. Technician, General or Extra Class amateur radio license or have passed an official exam (e.g., during the hamfest) for a Technician, General or Extra Class amateur radio license that the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has not yet issued, and
  • Have never held an amateur radio license issued by the FCC prior to November 17, 2019, and  
  • Not currently own any device that transmits on any amateur radio HF bands (10 meters through and including 160 meters), including a transmitter or transceiver. Ownership of a stand-alone HF receiver that lacks the ability to transmit does not disqualify an entrant.

The widow of a deceased ham radio operator donated the following equipment (pictured above) for the drawing. It is her wish to help a new ham get started on the HF bands.

  • An Icom IC-745, 10 thru 160-meter, 100-watt, multi-mode transceiver with matching ICOM SP-3 speaker.
  • An Icom SM-10 compressor and graphic equalizer with microphone.
  • An MFJ 949E Versatuner antenna tuner.

In other words, the prize is a complete HF starter station, except for antenna and feedline.

The FWRC will draw the winning name November 14 at the end of the Fort Wayne Hamfest, so all entries must arrive before then.

Qualifying persons (see above) may enter the drawing at the FWRC table at the 2021 Fort Wayne Hamfest or by contacting by telephone or email any of the FWRC officers or directors listed below. Entrants should be prepared to demonstrate that they meet the qualifications described above.