Fort Wayne Radio Club

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.

Echolink services have returned to the FWRC 146.91 MHz repeater, after a brief outage while Paul Prestia, KA3OPZ upgraded the Echolink PC from Windows XP to Windows 7. The node number is 519521.

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:

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:

1. 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??).
2. This is not just an FWRC thing. Hams from all clubs in the surrounding area are welcome to join us.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. New banners are in order, to get our message to the public. Suggestions are needed here. This is another part of the planning process.
7. 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

OTA MEETING FOR THE THREE RIVERS FESTIVAL PARADE
————————————————

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 11th, and
the Parade will take place between 10:00 am and 12:00 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
13th, at 7:00 pm on the FWRC 146.94 repeater. We need to begin nailing down some
of our operational details. We need the inputs of the amateur community in
putting together this operation. Please consider the following points:

1.) 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 strick 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??)

2.) This is not just a FWRC thing. Hams from all clubs in the surrounding area
are welcome to join us.

3.) 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.

4.) 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.

5.) 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’s
suits us easily.

6.) New banners are in order, to get our message to the public. Suggestions are
needed here. This is another part of the planning process.

7.) This effort will be co-ordinated 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 e-mail.

Steve Nardin, W9SAN, w9san@arrl.net 260-482-4039 (leave message)
Kim Machamer, KB9DOS, kimandjim@juno.com

——————————————————————————

The Fort Wayne Radio Club Spring Banquet will be this coming Friday, May 8th, at the Good Shepherd United Methodist Church. The church is located at 4700 Vance Ave in Fort Wayne, just south of Snider High School. We will get the Banquet started at 6:30 pm EDT.

As usual, the Banquet is a carry-in. The club will provide Chicken, both grilled and fried, plus necessary placeware and utensils, lemonade and coffee. Please bring your favorite main course, side dish, or dessert to share with the group.

We hope to see you all there! We have a lot of fun things planned for the rest of 2015, so please come join us.

The May 2015 Allen County Ham News is now on line for your download and reading pleasure! Lots of great articles, pictures, and news about the 3 FW clubs! Check it out now.

Also, if you operated in the Indiana QSO Party this past Saturday, please send in your logs before the June 1st deadline and don’t forget to list Fort Wayne Radio Club as your club affiliation! Even if your score wasn’t spectacular, all of our scores may add up to another win and plaque! Thanks for supporting the club!

How can the club get the Amateur Radio Message in front of more than 100,000 people in less than two hours?? By marching in the Three Rivers Festival Parade on July 11th, that is how! Mark your calendars for this date. We will need walkers and drivers. Please plan on helping show the fun and relevance of Ham Radio to the Public!