Bradd Davidson, KA9LCF informed our club webmaster that his repeater on 442.45 MHz, Auburn now requires a 141.3 Hz continuous tone-coded squelch system tone. The KA9LCF repeater also transmits the 141.3 Hz tone. Previously, the repeater’s receiver operated on carrier squelch only and the transmitter sent a tone of 131.8 Hz.
The 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.
The 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.”
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.
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 |
Webmaster’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.
The Fort Wayne Radio Club is proposing that we (Amateur Radio operators of the Fort Wayne and surrounding area) should participate in the upcoming parade on the opening day of this year’s Three Rivers Festival. The date is July 11, and the parade will take place between 10 a.m. and noon on that Saturday.
The reason for participating is to put Amateur Radio in the spotlight at a venue where over 100,000 people will see it. It is a lot of publicity in a small amount of time. Our plan is to showcase several different aspects of our hobby and service.
There will be an initial on-the-air planning meeting on Wednesday night, May 13, at 7 p.m. on the FWRC 146.94 MHz repeater. We need to begin nailing down some of our operational details. We need the input of the amateur community in putting together this operation. Please consider the following points:
- The theme of the parade this year is “Here’s to Zoo”. This is a reference to the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo 50th anniversary. We need to somehow tie our parade theme into this is some way, although not necessarily a strict tie. We need ideas, here. We have proposed something like “Safari World Wide via Radio”, or “Wild Adventure on the Air Waves,” etc. (got any ideas??).
- This is not just an FWRC thing. Hams from all clubs in the surrounding area are welcome to join us.
- We want to showcase all the different aspects of the hobby. So we will want to show off Community Service, DXing, ARES, SKYWARN, fox hunting, contesting, technology, STEM, you get the general idea.
- We are thinking of a combination of walking and vehicles. The parade is about 1.75 miles in length, so it is not a difficult walk, but we would like to have vehicles, cars and trucks and vans, with amateur equipment; antennas; etc. We also need these vehicles to take care if someone cannot complete the walk for whatever reason.
- We are allowed to hand out printed material about Amateur Radio. The parade requires that material not be commercial or political in nature, and that suits us easily.
- New banners are in order, to get our message to the public. Suggestions are needed here. This is another part of the planning process.
- This effort will be coordinated by Kim Machamer, KB9DOS, and Steve Nardin, W9SAN. We need others to step forward and help with the planning process and coordination of effort. We don’t have a lot of time, and there is another big event to plan: Field Day on June 26, 27, and 28.
Please consider these proposals and volunteer to help any way you can. If you can’t make the on-the-air meeting, but would like to help, please contact Kim or Steve via the following:
- Steve Nardin, W9SAN, w9san@arrl.net, 260-482-4039 (leave message)
- Kim Machamer, KB9DOS, kimandjim@juno.com