April fox hides in tree

      No Comments on April fox hides in tree

April 2018 FoxThe third foxhunt of 2018 occurred on 8 April, 2018, a beautiful sunny afternoon. Two teams arrived at the starting point at Cobin Memorial Park in anticipation of the hunt beginning at 13:30 hours. The first team included Jim Pliett, K9OMA, Carole Burke, WB9RUS and Al Burke, WB9SSE. The second team included Steve and Linda Nardin W9’s SAN & LAN and their grandson Alex.

The fox function was provided by Charles Ward, KC9MUT, Fred Gengnagel, KC9EP, Bob Dean, KC9UHU, and Kevin Loughin, KB9RLW. They chose a little patch of woods just south of Pro Bowl West (on Goshen Rd.) and north of Glen Park, to hide the microfox. It was squirreled into the cleft of a tree branch about six feet off the ground wrapped in camo and almost impossible to see, even when you were a foot or so away from it.Prior to the foxhunt, Jim, K9OMA had been trying to diagnose the cause of 30 degree error in indicated direction of signal arrival exhibited by the horizontally polarized cubical quad foxhunting antenna mounted on the roof of his van. When he changed to vertical polarization, the bearing error was eliminated so he decided to try vertical polarization for this hunt. That proved to be problematic as it turned out.

Continue reading →

The April 2018 Issue of Allen County HamNews Is Now Available

      No Comments on The April 2018 Issue of Allen County HamNews Is Now Available

HamNewsIcon 2018 04The April 2018 Issue of the Allen County HamNews newsletter is now available for download using the link below. This and previous issues are also available for download by clicking the “Files” link in the main menu and then clicking “Newsletters.”

achn_2018-04.pdf

1.95 MB 1431 Downloads
May 7, 2019
Download

General class licensing class planned in Auburn

      No Comments on General class licensing class planned in Auburn

The Northeastern Indiana Amateur Radio club plans to conduct classes in Auburn to help students prepare for the amateur radio general class license exam.

The club has scheduled the class for 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays from April 9 to April 30, with administration of the FCC exam on May 3. It will conduct the class in the Red Room of the DeKalb County Courthouse Annex, 215 E. 9th Street, Auburn.

Volunteer examiners will charge a $14 fee to students who sit for the FCC exam. In addition, students may purchase a W5YI textbook from the club for $25.

For more information or to register, contact Jeff DeLucenay at jdeluce@frontier.com or 260-357-4041. DeLucenay asks that email messages contain the words, “Ham Class.” Phone callers should leave a message.

Statewide tornado drill March 20

      No Comments on Statewide tornado drill March 20

severe weather week 2018 artwork

The annual statewide tornado warning drill is scheduled to happen at around 10:15 a.m. Tuesday, March 20.

The Allen County SKYWARN net plans to run a test net during the drill. The net will operate on its usual frequency, 146.88 MHz, unless that repeater is unavailable. In that case, the net will run on its usual back-up frequency, 146.76 MHz.

If you’re available, please check into the net with a simulated spotter report. You can make up a wall cloud, funnel cloud, tornado, whatever you choose.

Please use this opportunity to practice standard net procedures. For example, when you initally check in, transmit only your call sign (preferably in phonetics) and what you intend to report. For example, W9ABC might send “Whiskey nine alpha bravo Charlie, wall cloud.” K9XYZ might send “Kilo nine x-ray yankee zulu, tornado.”

After the net control station acknowledges you, transmit your full report in TEL (time, event, location) format, e.g. “This is Whiskey nine alpha bravo Charlie, at 10:15 a.m. I saw a rotating wall cloud in northern Allen County, Indiana, approximately five miles west of Leo.”

I realize that, because this drill occurs during a weekday morning, your work schedule might prohibit your participation. I hope, however, that you’ll participate if possible.

The drill is part of Indiana Severe Weather Prepardness Week, more information about which is avilalbe in an NWS PDF file.

March fox hides under bleachers

      No Comments on March fox hides under bleachers

Fort Wayne Radio Club March 2018 fox hunt (hidden transmitter hunt)

The second foxhunt of 2018 occurred on 4 March, 2018 on a brisk but sunny afternoon. Three teams arrived at the starting point at Cobin Memorial Park in anticipation of the hunt beginning at 13:30 hours. The first team included Charles Ward, KC9MUT, Fred Gengnagel, KC9EP and Kevin Loughin, KB9RLW. The second team included Steve and Linda Nardin W9’s SAN & LAN. And the third team consisted of Don Glick, W9LI and newcomer Rudy Wilfong.

The fox function was provided by Jim and Annie Pliett, K9OMA & KA9YYI plus Carole and Al Burke, WB9’s RUS & SSE. They located the high-power fox on the grounds of Carroll High School off Carroll Rd. just west of the Carroll High School Natatorium. It pumped about 30 watts into a cubicle quad mounted on the roof of Jim’s van.

The microfox was the standard microprocessor-driven CW transmitter producing about 10 milliwatts into a monopole. Ultimately, the microfox was hidden under one of the seats in the tennis court’s aluminum bleacher stands in such a way that it was almost impossible to see.

Continue reading →

The March 2018 Issue of Allen County HamNews Is Now Available

      No Comments on The March 2018 Issue of Allen County HamNews Is Now Available

HamNewsIcon 2018 03The March 2018 Issue of the Allen County HamNews newsletter is now available for download using the link below. This and previous issues are also available for download by clicking the “Files” link in the main menu and then clicking “Newsletters.”

achn_2018-03.pdf

1.54 MB 1428 Downloads
May 7, 2019
Download

2018 fox hunt season begins Feb. 4

      No Comments on 2018 fox hunt season begins Feb. 4

foxhunt cartoonQST, calling all hams!

Tomorrow, Sunday, Feb 4th, we defy the groundhog and launch the 2018 FWRC fox (hidden transmitter) hunting season!  Hunters will gather at 1:30 pm at the old K-Mart parking lot on Coliseum Blvd, near the Corbin Park ball diamond and trailhead, for the start of the hunt. We should be done in plenty of time for that other thing, the game  up in Minneapolis. 

The fox will be on 146.430 FM Simplex, with the 146.76 repeater as an intercom and help frequency.  If you’ve never done fox hunting, consider joining in the fun! You can even join in from the home QTH if you have a directional antenna.

We hope to see you all there!

The February 2018 issue of Allen County HamNews is now available

      No Comments on The February 2018 issue of Allen County HamNews is now available

HamNewsIcon 2018 02The February 2018 Issue of the Allen County HamNews newsletter is now available for download using the link below. This and previous issues are also available for download by clicking the “Files” link in the main menu and then clicking “Newsletters.”



achn_2018-02.pdf

1.99 MB 1376 Downloads
May 7, 2019
Download