November 17 (Tuesday) meeting to feature Red Cross speaker

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Woman giving blood
American Red Cross photo.

FWRC president Carole Burke, WB9RUS invites you to join us for the November meeting of the Fort Wayne Radio Club, Tuesday, November 17, at 7 p.m. at the Allen County Public Library, downtown branch, 900 Library Plaza, Fort Wayne.

“The downtown library branch facilities are excellent,” Carole wrote. We will use meeting Rooms 1 and 2, which will provide over 2,500 square feet to conduct our meeting in a coronavirus-compliant manner. Parking underneath the library building is available, and it’s free if you hold an Allen County Library card, otherwise they charge $1.00 per hour.

Carole said the program will feature Zachary Bernath, an information officer for the American Red Cross. He will describe the very sophisticated system and processes the Red Cross uses to collect whole blood and blood products for distribution to hospitals all around the country. Mr. Bernath will be prepared to entertain any questions from the audience regarding the Red Cross’ mission, and to discuss the importance of being a blood donor.

Hope to see you there.

FWRC holds first indoor meeting of pandemic

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The October Fort Wayne Radio Club regular meeting was held on Thursday 15 October, 2020. And, it was held indoors!  Yes, indoors at the Allen County Public Library (ACPL) in downtown Ft. Wayne to the delight of those who attended. We had a regular business meeting which included determining club officers and Board members for the 2021 club year.  Minutes from the meeting will be published shortly.

We have also obtained use of the ACPL venue for the months of November and December, and hope to be able to continue using it in 2021 for the foreseeable future until we can find another meeting location, perhaps back at the Good Shepherd United Methodist Church should they decide to open their doors to outside groups again.

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FWRC to meet at downtown library on new dates

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Allen County Public Library main branch

FWRC secretary Al Burke, WB9SSE, announced that the club has booked the main, downtown branch of the Allen County Public Library, 900 Library Plaza, for general meetings Thursday, October 15; Tuesday, November 17; and Tuesday, December 15. Note that these dates are different that those originally planned for these meetings and on different nights that the club’s traditional Friday meetings, because the space was not available on the normal dates.

The club booked Rooms A and B, which have a combined, normal seating capacity of 126 and will therefore accommodate at least 30 people with required social distancing. Members who enter the building from the Library Plaza entrance will bear to the left to find the meeting room. Those who park under the building will arise at the west entrance and will walk toward the Library Plaza entrance and turn right.

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Update on FWRC digital repeaters

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Fort Wayne Radio Club Parrot Road repeater enclosure

The Fort Wayne Radio Club provides a D-STAR repeater operating on 442.99375(+)  MHz from its Parrott Rd. site near New Haven, plus an analog FM /C4FM digital (Fusion) repeater operating on 146.940(-) also located at the Parrott Rd. site.  Both antennas are up about 270’ so both machines have pretty respectable coverage. Both machines operate with the club’s W9TE callsign.

The FM / Fusion machine gets a reasonable amount of use, predominantly in the analog mode. It has a significant footprint.  Operation in the digital (Fusion) mode seems sparse, probably because we have not yet implemented the Fusion Wires-X technology that would interface the machine to worldwide Fusion users via the internet. I note a  number of stations (8) in the Ft. Wayne area that are listed as Fusion nodes, (see www.yaesu.com/jp/en/wires-x/id/id_usa.php), but I rarely hear then talking to one another in the digital mode on the 146.940 machine.  We are just beginning to look into what it would take to interface the 146.940 machine to the internet via Wires-X. It gets down to money for the Wires-X hardware, and the time plus expertise required to work the software and network tasks the interfacing will require.

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Club election email sent

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Sep. 18, Steve Nardin, W9SAN sent email to all club members with an attached document that explains the procedure for the election of club officers this year.

If you are a current member and did not receive the message, it’s possible that club records lack your current email address. Contact Steve directly at w9san@arrl.net.

Outdoor FWRC meeting Sep. 18

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Steve Nardin, W9SAN announced via email today that the Fort Wayne Radio Club will hold its monthly general meeting Sept. 18, at 7 p.m. in the parking lot of Good Shepherd United Methodist Church, 4700 Vance Avenue. The weather might be colder than usual, so Steve encouraged members to consider bringing a sweater, sweatshirt or jacket. He also requested members to bring a chair and a mask to wear.

Steve reported that club leaders are searching for an indoor location for subsequent meetings.

He also reported that they are working on email or postal mailings to enable all members to vote in the coming election of club officers, regardless of members’ ability to attend meetings in person.

Steve wrote that club leaders plan to mail membership forms, since the club will not be able to collect dues during the Fort Wayne Hamfest this year. They still hope, however, to offer a raffle of some kind as an incentive to pay dues before the first of December. Steve encouraged members to contact a member of the club board of directors with any suggestions for raffle prizes.

NWS Plans Online-Only Autumn SKYWARN® Storm Spotter Class

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SKYWARN Spotter Training graphic with SKYWARN, WRN and NWS logos.

The northern Indiana office of the National Weather Service (IWX) will resume SKYWARN® storm spotter training this fall, but only via the internet. The office plans to teach its class via the GoToWebinar service, which supports Windows, Mac, Linux and Chrome computers, as well as iOS and Android mobile devices. As is always the case with NWS SKYWARN classes, there will be no cost to attend.

IWX plans to offer the class six times this fall:

  • Wednesday, October 14, noon – 2 p.m.
  • Thursday, October 15, 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.
  • Wednesday, October 21, noon – 2 p.m.
  • Thursday, October 22, 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.
  • Wednesday, October 28, noon – 2 p.m.
  • Thursday, October 29, 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.
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