2015 Field Day location confirmed — same as last year

field day map 2011

FWRC officers have confirmed that our annual ARRL Field Day operation will take place on the IPFW north campus, near the Dolnick Learning Center (DLC, building 31 on the map above), northeast of the intersection of Stellhorn Road and St. Joe Road.

For visitors unfamiliar with the location, the DLC has no address to plug into a GPS unit. The best option for GPS users is probably to enter 3210 Stellhorn Road (the address of the Northeast Indiana Innovation Center, building 17 on the map above) and then follow the map above to travel the remainder of the way to the Field Day site.

Alternatively, the GPS coordinates of the DLC are >41.126104, -85.092767.

Field Day Flyer thumbnailFred Gengnagel, KC9EZP has prepared a Field Day poster in PDF form that’s suitable for downloading and printing. Use the link below to get your copy:

field_day_flyer.pdf

375.76 KB 908 Downloads

June fox played by subs

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foxhunt cartoonThe June foxhunt occurred as scheduled on 7 June after a little suspense regarding its actual date. The suspense occurred because, as it worked out on that date, neither the Pliett/Burke team, who were to be the Fox, nor the Nardin team, could participate in the hunt on the 7th. This meant that one of the other foxhunt teams would need to act as the Fox, and likely only two remaining teams would be available to hunt. So the alternative of moving the hunt to the following Sunday was considered.

Ultimately it was decided to carry on with the hunt on the 7th. Jason Eicholtz, KC9UOQ & Debbie Romine, KK4QXC graciously agreed to serve as the Fox in place of the Pliett/Burke team, which left the crew of Charles Ward, KC9MUT, Fred Gengnagle, KC9EZP & Robert Dean, KC9UHU, and the team of Jim & Kim Machamer, KB9’s DOS & DOT as the two hunting groups for the June event.

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The June 2015 Issue of Allen County HamNews Is Now Available

HamNewsIcon 2015 06The June 2015 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.”

allen_county_hamnews_2015-06.pdf

1.30 MB 967 Downloads

146.76 MHz repeater gets new duplexer, firmware

Paul Prestia, KA3OPZ reports that he and Steve Nardin, W9SAN have installed a replacement duplexer on the FWRC 146.76 MHz repeater.

This allowed the crew to reconnect the repeater to the highest available antenna and reactivate the repeater’s external amplifier. Paul reported that some changes to connectors, etc. remain necessary, a task that he expects to perform soon.

In addition, Paul reported that he has updated the firmware in the controllers for the 146.76 MHz and 444.875 MHz repeaters. He changed the Morse code ID on both to W9TE/R. He also enabled transmit audio per-emphasis, which improved the transmission of high audio frequencies.

 

Tone squelch set to 141.3 Hz on 146.91 MHz repeater output

Paul Prestia, KA3OPZ informed the FWRC websmaster that he has configured a continuous tone-coded squelch system (CTCSS) tone of 141.3 Hz on the output of the FWRC repeater on 146.91 MHz, located on the campus of IPFW.

The repeater’s input continues to operate on carrier squelch, which means CTCSS is not required to use the repeater. The tone on the output, however, will allow users to optionally configure their radios to remain silent except when the repeater is transmitting, thus preventing the reception of intermodulation interference, distant repeaters on the same frequency, etc.

The table below reflects the current CTCSS status of all FWRC repeaters as of today:

Repeater (MHz) Repeater input CTCSS (Hz) & status Repeater output CTCSS (Hz) & status
444.875 141.3, required 141.3, present
146.76 141.3, optional 141.3, present
146.94 None 141.3, present
146.91 None 141.3, present

Revised: May fox hides along river downtown

foxhunt cartoonWebmaster’s note: After we published an article about the May, 2015 fox hunt, author Al Burke, WB9SSE submitted a revised version, which appears below.

This month’s hunt, which occurred on the third of May, was held on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon in shirt-sleeve weather. The hunters included the team of Linda & Steve Nardin, K9’s LAN & SAN and their grandson Alex, the team of Jim & Annie Pliett, K9OMA & KA9YYI plus Carole & Al Burke, WB9’s RUS & SSE, the team of Jim & Kim Machamer, KB9’s DOS & DOT, and the team of Jason Eicholtz, KC9UOQ & Debbie Romine, KK4QXC.

The duties of the fox were provided by Charles Ward, KC9MUT, Fred Gengnagle, KC9EZP, and Robert Dean, KC9UHU. They chose a shady location in Guildin Park along the south bank of the St. Mary’s river northeast of the Van Buren St. Bridge to hide the microfox. It was cleverly emplaced and camouflaged in a tree branch about 6′ off the deck. They employed three high power foxes located around the hide area, including one, in Fred’s truck, parked between two semi-trailers with the evil intent of creating a quasi waveguide aimed towards downtown Ft. Wayne. As usual, the microfox would transmit a cw signal at about 50 milliwatts for one minute followed by the high power fox who would transmit for one minute, this sequence repeated every five minutes.

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