Fort Wayne Radio Club

Mike Powell of Tower Erection and Maintenance, Inc. replaces the antenna for the FWRC 146.91 MHz EchoLink repeater on the campus of IPFW. (WB9SSE photo)

The 20-foot long Cellwave PD-220 antenna atop the tower on Kettler Hall at IPFW was replaced on Wednesday, 22 January. The antenna does its thing launching and absorbing photons for the Fort Wayne Radio Club’s 146.910/.310 MHz EchoLink repeater. The existing antenna had been defective for over a year thus limiting the performance of the EchoLink machine.

It was COLD up there on the roof of Kettler Hall when Mike Powell and his crew of two from Tower Erection and Maintenance, Inc. started work around 10 a.m. They finished at 2:30 p.m. The task had been scheduled on numerous dates starting from right after Christmas until it was finally accomplished on the 22nd. It had to be rescheduled numerous times because of the less than moderate weather we have been experiencing here in Ft. Wayne for the last month or so. The temperature Wednesday morning was around 10 degrees F, but the wind was fairly low and there was no precipitation (at least not until 2 p.m. when we started getting some flurries).

Despite the best laid plans of mice and men (specifically Jim Pliett, K9OMA, and myself), ole Murphy struck. We had planned that the tower climbing task would consist of climbing the tower, removing the existing antenna from the tower leg, lowering it to the ground, removing the PL-259 to type N jumper cable from the base of old antenna, reinstalling it on the replacement antenna, hauling the replacement antenna back up the tower, reinstalling it on the tower leg, reconnecting the jumper to the transmission line at the top of the tower, and then climbing back down the tower. The intent being to minimize the time expended by Tower Erection Maintenance, Inc. since they charge at an hourly rate. Easy-peasy, ehh?

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Bidders at the January, 2014 FWRC auction. Photo by KU8T. See more photos.

This year the annual Fort Wayne Radio Club auction was held on Friday, January 17, 2013. There were 31 attendees who signed for an identifying number for the auction. The seven folks who came to watch and not participate in the auction activity did not need to take an identifying number.

The best news is that the club gained 8 new/renewing members during the auction. This resulted in an income of $130 for the club and $12 for ACARTS. One of those members used a one year free membership for taking a class sponsored by FWRC and passing the ham license test.

A father-son pair came to observe the auction, and left their contact information. They were seeking possible equipment (and ham radio information) for the son.

The auction benefit to the Fort Wayne Radio Club was a miserly $56.25 compared to past years. One of the participants (Dave Van Doorn, W9WEL) owes the club $20, and when that income is received the auction will have provided $76.25. The sum includes donations of $6.00 total from participants Tammy Preble, Scott Badders, and Jack Shutt.

However….

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The next Whitley County W5YI amateur radio test session will be held on Saturday, January 25, from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m. in Community Rooms A and B of the Peabody Library, 1160 E. State Rd. 205, Columbia City, Ind. For additional information (or to confirm that the exams have not been cancled), contact Roger McEntarfer via email at n9qcl@arrl.net or via telephone at 260-503-9008.

Please be advised that the January 2014 Board Of Directors meeting will not be held at Good Shepherd Church on Tuesday, but instead will be conducted OTA (On The Air) at 7:00 pm EST on the 146.76 repeater in Fort Wayne. Due to the instense cold and travel difficulties, we will meet in our ham shacks to discuss the following topics:

1.) The annual FWRC January Auction, on Friday, at the church.

2.) The Indiana Repeater Council (and surrounding states repeater councils) effort to have ALL co-ordinated repeaters to adopt PL input tones. This would require additional hardware on most of FWRC’s repeaters. This is bound to be a contensious subject!

3.) We need a subject for the February FWRC meeting.

4.) A new Fox Hunt starting point (the OTB site may be closing)

Well, it’s getting to be that time of the year again. Yes, it’s January, that month where the temperatures tend to keep us indoors for the most part. But that gives us the perfect opportunity to root through our basements, attics, ham shacks and other cubby-holes to un-earth all of those gizmos, widgets and gadgets that we no longer have use for, or that she will no longer tolerate cluttering up available living spaces in the house. So it’s time to remove them and trade them for other stuff we don’t really need either. Yes, it’s time to attend the FWRC auction for the annual transfer of “stuff”.

This time honored event, i.e., the auction, will occur on Friday, 17 January at the Good Shepherd United Methodist Church, corner of Vance Ave. and Reed Rd. where the FWRC conducts its monthly meetings. In fact, the auction serves as the January meeting.

Set-up will commence at 5:30 pm and the auction will start promptly at 6:30 pm and will continue till around 9:00 pm. Folks planning to bring items for auction, or those planning to purchase goodies should arrive early enough before the auction starts to place and display their offerings on the auction tables and obtain their buy/seller ID numbers from Treasurer, Bob Streeter or one of his helpers. In that regard a few notes on the conduct of the auction are found below.

The rules are simple:

1) Come prepared to sell or buy.

Sellers are encouraged to group small items together as one “lot” to be auctioned. The auction will move more smoothly if you group your items before you bring them to the auction. If there is a minimum price you will accept, that should be clearly marked on the item.

Buyers should have adequate funds available (no credit extended). Please do not sell items privately during the auction, since this is a club fund raising activity.

2) Sign out an auction ID number card from Bob or Donna Streeter if you are buying or selling.

You do not need an auction ID number if you are just watching the fun. Please return your ID number card when you leave the auction, since they can be used next year. In case you have a lucky number, you may sign out any ID number that is still available from the ID card stack when you sign in. The club has ID #1.

3) Keep track of your activities.

Sellers are advised to keep track of the buyers auction ID and amount of bid accepted for each item auctioned. Buyers are advised to keep track of their purchases (seller ID & Item) and the amount of money they have spent. The club will attempt to tag each item successfully auctioned with the seller and buyer ID numbers to help identify the auctioned items.

The treasurer will keep records of the auction activities, and all accounts must be settled with the club treasurer the night of the auction. The treasurer always welcomes assistance in keeping track of the auction activities!

4) Check out with the treasurer when you leave the auction or remove equipment.

Buyers must pay in full the night of the auction. Sellers will be paid by the treasurer following the auction of their items, less a 10% fee that goes to the club. Buyers may leave at any time after paying for their purchases and removing them. Sellers may leave at any time, but any unsold items must be removed.

5) Do not leave anything behind in the meeting room after the auction.

Please make sure that the buyers pick up the items they bought. Sellers must remove items that did not sell at the auction.

6) Spend money. Have fun. Take the opportunity to pay your dues for the year 2014 if you have not already done so.

Bob, W8ST
Treasurer, FWRC

The January 2014 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.”

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The club roster on this website has been updated to list all members who have paid their dues for 2014. If you’re not on it, the club secretary does not have record of your dues payment. Check it out.

Members of the Fort Wayne Radio Club may recall that the club applied for reinstatement of the club’s federal tax-exempt status in November of 2012. The Internal Revenue Service has just notified us that the club tax-exempt status has been reinstated and is retroactive to the date the club had no longer been considered tax-exempt by the IRS.

The club is incorporated in the State of Indiana as a not-for-profit organization. Indiana honors the federal tax exempt status provided by the IRS. Thus, the club does not, will not, and never did owe income tax to either the federal or state governments. (This only applies to the income tax. The club still must pay sales tax for purchases when sales tax is due).

The tax-exempt status is derived from the club registering with the IRS as a social club under Section 501 (c) – 7 of the IRS code. The club must file regular reports with the IRS to maintain this tax exempt status.

This registration does not make dues payments or donations to the club deductible for federal or state income tax purposes. Donations to the club by businesses might be deductible for the business under certain circumstances.

Although the December meeting of FWRC was the annual Christmas dinner, the club did conduct some official business. Read about it by usign the link below to download the meeting minutes.

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Al Burke, WB9SSE and Tom Rupp, KU8T have uploaded to this website’s photo gallery photos they took at the 2013 FWRC Christmas party. Check them out!