Fort Wayne Radio Club

The final Fox Hunt for 2019 started with a search for a good hiding place. On our way back from Toledo Julie and I came across the Blue Cast Springs Environmental Preserve, a part of the Acres Land Trust system, and is about 3 miles from Ohio on the East side of Allen County (basically at the corner of Bluecast Rd. and Old US 24 East). It looked promising, but we were concerned that we would not be heard from the starting point. A bit of scrounging and head scratching led us to construct a flimsy 28 foot support on which to put our homemade 4 element yagi to serve at the high power fox. We tried it out 9 days prior to the 3 November hunt , and our Sniffer pulled it right in from the Cobin Memorial Park starting point.

On the day of the hunt, 3 vehicles were ready. One vehicle had Jim, Annie, Al, and Carole, K9OMA, KA9YYI, WB9SSE and WB9RUS; the second vehicle included Steve and Linda, W9SAN and W9LAN, and their grandson Alex, and the third had Spencer, KD9NRS. Missing were regulars Charles, Fred, and Bill, KC9MUT, KC9EZP and K9WEH.

Minutes of the October, 2019 general meeting of the Fort Wayne Radio Club are available for download.

At its general meeting October 18, 2019, the Fort Wayne Radio Club elected the following slate of officers for calendar year 2020:

President – Carole Burke, WB9RUS
Vice President – Paul Prestia, KA3OPZ
Secretary – Al Burke, WB9SSE
Treasurer – Debbie Jenks, KB9DEB
Communications Manager – Charles Ward, KC9MUT
Board of Directors:
Steve Nardin – W9SAN
Clarke Derbyshire – KG9FM
Brian Jenks – W9BGJ
Spencer Cassady – KD9NRS

The October foxhunt occurred on Sunday the 6th of October, which again turned out to be a beautiful early Fall day in Indiana, temperatures in the mid 70’s, and a mostly blue sky with a pleasant breeze to make things comfortable following early morning showers.

Three teams were arrayed for this hunt. The first consisted of Charles Ward, KC9MUT and Bill Hopkins, K9WEH. The second team was formed by Steve & Linda Nardin, W9’s SAN & LAN plus their grandson Alex. And the third team included Don Glick, K9LI, his wife Julie, and her dad, Ed.

Jim and Annie Pliett, K9OMA & KA9YYI plus Carole & Al Burke, WB9’s RUS & SSE were the fox for this contest. They decided to check out the just recently opened Promenade Park complex downtown where the Wells St. and the Harrison St. bridges cross the St. Mary’s river. It is a very nice facility; the Parks Department did a nice job on this one.

Minutes of the September 2019 general meeting of the Fort Wayne Radio Club are available for download, using the link below.

The September foxhunt occurred on Sunday the 15^th of September, which turned out to be a beautiful early fall day in Indiana, temperatures in the mid 80’s and a overcast sky with a pleasant breeze to make things comfortable following early morning showers.

There were three hunter teams for this one. The first consisted of Jim & Annie Pliett, K9OMA and KA9YYI, plus Carole and Al Burke, WB9’s RUS & SSE.  The second team included Steve and Linda Nardin, W9’s SAN & LAN plus their grandson Alex.   And the third team included Don Glick, K9LI and his wife Julie.

Charles Ward, KC9MUT and Fred Gengnagel, KC9EZP served as the fox. They very effectively hid out at the Leo Junior/Senior High School complex where the school buses park, on the south side of the property.  They hid the microfox in a piece of grey plastic tubing plastered up against a chain-link fence and surrounded by a bunch of vegetation. It was in plain sight yet very difficult to see.

The fox went on the air right on time at 13:30 hours and produced a very weak signal at the Cobin Memorial Park fox hunter starting point.  But it was strong enough for the three teams to get an initial bearing and peel rubber as they took off to the north-east.