Fort Wayne Radio Club

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.

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The 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.”

QST, 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 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.”

This week’s annual FWRC auction will include the Huster mobile antenna system shown above, with resonators for the 10-, 15-, 20-, 40- and 75-meter HF bands. Everything you need to know to participate in the auction appears elsewhere on this website

Friday’s annual FWRC auction is starting to generate some real interest! Items will include the two Kenwood HF rigs below, both in excellent condition. Everything you need to know to participate in the auction appears elsewhere on this website.

It’s once more time to dust off our roof-mounted mobile and hand-held direction-finding (DF) Yagis, check our DF receivers, and upgrade our maps of Allen County in preparation of the 2018 fox (hidden transmitter) hunting season. The first hunt of the season will occur in early February with hunts planned for the following dates through November:

Fox hunters gather near Daryl B. Cobin Memorial Park (in the former K-Mart parking lot) off Coliseum near the Lakeside Golf Course. 

Each hunt starts at 1330, with whoever is serving as the fox transmitting a high power fox signal, strong enough to be heard at Corbin Park, on 146.430 MHz, for one minute.  After that, the fox transmits a high-power signal every five minutes, immediately followed by a low-power (microprocessor-controlled) hidden fox transmission, also on 146.430 MHz, for one minute. The low-power fox transmission is a cw signal. Generally speaking, the low-power fox is camouflaged to make it difficult to detect visually.

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