W9TE finished third among Indiana section entrants in the 2014 ARRL Field Day event, behind Lake County and Indianapolis clubs. The FWRC entry finished eighth nationally in the 6A category. Complete results are on ARRL webpage.
Ken Ledgerwood, KC9NWM sent an email message to several recipients Nov. 10 announcing that the Hoosier Lakes Radio Club will coordinate the 2014 SKYWARN Recognition Day special event station at the northern Indiana National Weather Service (NWS) office near North Webster. The event runs from 0000Z Dec. 6 (7 p.m. EST Friday, Dec. 5) to 2400Z (7 p.m. EST) Saturday, Dec. 6.
SKYWARN Recognition Day (SRD) provides an opportunity for NWS offices to recognize Amateur Radio operators for their commitment in helping keep their communities safe. Information about SRD is available online at http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mtr/hamradio/.
The Hoosier Lakes club plans two HF antennas (One 10/60 meter vertical and one 80 meter loop). It also plans to make use of VHF and UHF antennas permanently installed at the NWS office.
Ledgerwood indicated that operators are needed. Any amateur who wishes to participate should make a reservation by contacting Ledgerwood at KC9NWM@embarqmail.com. He asks that operators provide the following information when they contact him:
- Name
- Call sign
- Planned arrival date and time
- Times available to operate (operators are welcome to make reservations even if they can only operate for one hour … time slots are available throughout Friday evening, Friday night and Saturday).
As with last year’s event, operators are not welcome to “drop in” without making prior arrangements. As a secure federal government facility, the National Weather Service office is unable to accommodate unexpected guests.
The November Fort Wayne Radio Club Board Of Directors meeting will be tomorrow night, Tuesday, November 11th, at 7:00 at the Good Shepherd United Methodist Church, 4700 Vance Ave in Fort Wayne. Not sure which room just yet, probably the “PIT”. All are welcome. We will discuss the upcoming FWRC meeting on the 21st, and plans for us during the Hamfest, plus the December Christmas Banquet.
HAMFEST:
Remember that the club has two tables for the Hamfest, which is this coming weekend, November 15th and 16th. Saturday hours are 9 am to 4 pm. Sunday hours are 9 am to Noon. For the FWRC, the highlight will be the “Raffle Radio” drawing around 11:45 am on Sunday. The radio is a Kenwood TS-440 with PS-50 power supply, a straight key and hand mic. Everyone that pays their 2015 dues, or joins the club for 2015 is automatically entered in the drawing. For additional tickets, you can buy them for a $5 charge, assuming you are or have become a member of the club for 2015. This is a nice older radio, good for 160 to 10 meters, with supply and built in automatic tuner. A great second radio or for your “go kit”, or a good starter radio for a newbie. This should be fun!
The FWRC October meeting was Friday night, October 17th. October is our typical election month, and the BOD for 2015 was chosen that night. Results were very close, but the following won the day, and will serve for next year:
Office | Winner |
President | Steve, W9SAN |
VP | Carole, WB9RUS |
Secretary | Al, WB9SSE |
Treasurer | Bob, W8ST |
Communications Manager | Charles, KC9MUT |
Director | Linda, W9LAN |
Director | Tom, N9TB |
Director | Tom, KU8T |
Director | Terry, K9FMX |
You know how they say that your vote counts? Well, some posts were decided by one vote! This was a very close election for the contested positions. Thank you to all that threw their names onto the ballot!
JOTA
The annual Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) is held the middle weekend of October for world wide connection between Girl Scouts and Guides and Boy Scouts. This year the Fort Wayne Radio Club put together two demonstrations for local scouts. At the Boy Scout office on West Jefferson in Fort Wayne, we did a short demo of ham radio using Echolink technology for Cub Scouts. This ran from 10:00 to Noon. Also, we did a much more extensive station and fox hunt setup at Camp Chief Little Turtle in Steuben County. The camp operation consisted of two HF stations, one on 40 meter CW and SSB, and a second on 20 meter SSB. It also had three hidden “foxes” and three direction-finding radio receivers for scouts to practice their skills. The operation ran from approximately 9:00 am to 4:00 pm on Saturday. There was a break for some really good camp food at lunch time.
The operation was a great success, and roughly 100 scouts passed through the communication table and the fox hunt section. I want to thank all that were involved in making this run so smoothly for the scouts:
- Charles, KC9MUT
- Mike, AC9BE
- Rich, KC9PUX
- Al, WB9SSE
- Terry, K9FMX
- Robert, KC9UHU
- Jim, K9OMA
This was a great effort by the FWRC in showing off Amateur Radio Technology to a new generation! Also, it was a “shakedown” of the recently donated transceiver, the Yaesu FT-1000 Mark V, from W9INA, and it did not disappoint! What a sweet rig to operate!
October fox hunt
The October FWRC Fox Hunt was held on Sunday, Oct 19th, starting from the Public Safety Academy and using 146.430 FM simplex. The winners were Charles, KC9MUT, and Fred, KC9EZP.
See the Fox Hunt Chronicles for a full story on the hunt.
We still could use a few more operators for this coming Saturday’s JOTA (Jamboree On The Air) event to link scouts worldwide via Amateur Radio. We will be meeting before 9:00am to start setup at Camp Chief Little Turtle in Stueben County, and we will be running till around 4:00pm. Breakfast and Lunch will be provided by the scouts.
If you are interested in helping out, please contact Steve, W9SAN at w9san@arrl.net, or Mike Boschet, AC9BE at michael.boschet@gmail.com, or Rich Gilson, KC9PUX, at signman359@grmail.com.
If you can help out at the Boy Scout office on West Jefferson, let us know ASAP, as it looks like we will not be able to support this other JOTA location.
Thanks!!
Also remember: FWRC meeting this Friday night at 7:00 pm. Program is by Jim Boyer, KB9IH, on Arduino applications for Amateur Radio
This Sunday: FWRC October Foxhunt. Starting point and frequencies to be announced.
At the September, 2014 FWRC meeting, Jim Pliet, K9OMA, presented a home-brew, portable, 434 MHz beacon transmitter and receiver system. A PDF version of Jim’s slide deck is available via the link below. Photos from the meeting are available in our photo gallery.
{jd_file file==138}