Hoosier Lakes Club to lead SKYWARN Recognition Day

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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.

FWRC directors meet Nov. 11

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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!

FWRC elects officers, other club news

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.

Operators needed for Boy Scout event

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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.

Volunteers needed for Jamboree on the Air

OK, if you are interested in helping youth experience the fun of Amateur Radio, mark the date of October 18th on your calendar! The Fort Wayne Radio Club needs your help in supporting local Boy Scout troops in two locations, one here in Fort Wayne at the local Scout office, and another in Stueben County at Camp Chief Little Turtle. 
 
The operation will run from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm on Saturday, October 18th, the day after the club meeting. We will be helping the scouts in the following areas:
 
1.) At Camp Little Turtle, we will operate an HF station to contact other JOTA sites.
2.) At the Scout office, we will operate a VHF station to make use of Echolink or D-STAR, to connect with other JOTA sites.
3.) We will assist scouts working toward their communication merit badges.
4.) We will hold mini Fox Hunts to showcase radio Direct Finding technology.
5.) Answering questions about Amateur Radio
 
We will need plenty of volunteers to make this all happen! Please respond to one or all of the following:
 
Michael Boschet, AB9CE, at michael.boschet@gmail.com
Richard Gilson, KC9PUX, at signman359@gmail.com
Steve Nardin, W9SAN,    at W9SAN@ARRL.NET
 
Please RSVP quickly, as JOTA is only 2 weekends away!  TNX!