Fort Wayne Radio Club

The Fort Wayne Radio Club would like to extend an apology to recent 2014 paid members W9GT, K9DMA, and KC9CVI. These members paid in advance their 2014 dues, but due to a mixup with the tickets, did not get entered into the Club’s drawing for the BaoFeng HT.

We are very sorry for this mixup. In any future drawings, we will strive to make sure that everyone who pays early dues to be included in a drawing, does indeed get entered properly. The club is looking into ways to properly compensate these hams, and will be deciding on a path at the December BOD meeting on the 10th. We are pretty sure that only these three hams were not entered in the drawing.

Please plan on attending the Fort Wayne Radio Club’s annual Christmas Carry-in Pot Luck Banquet on December 20th from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at the Good Shepherd United Methodist Church. We will be meeting in the large meeting room, Raasch Hall. This is always a well attended event, and very tasty, too! It is a good way to finish out a fun year of Amateur Radio operation. As in the past, the club will provide coffee, lemonade, plates, and silverware. There is also the Christmas Gift exchange for those who wish to participate. Bring a wrapped gift marked for either a man or woman (approx $10 or less in value) and include your call sign inside so the receipiant can thank you after receiving. All hams are invited, especially 2013 and 2014 members!

If you have some photos of this year’s activities, please send an electronic copy to me, Steve, W9SAN, at my e-mail, W9SAN@ARRL.NET. I would like to put together a slide show for the Banquet.

The club is going forward with plans to support the National Weather Service Skywarn Recognition Day operating event on December 6th through the 7th (Friday night and Saturday) at the NWS office in North Webster, along with other operators from around NorthEast Indiana. If you can help, please contact myself, W9SAN, Jim, KB9WWM, Joseph, K9RFZ, or Jay, W9LW.

Thanks for everything you do for Amateur Radio and the club! Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday!

Photos from the 2013 Fort Wayne Hamfest are available in our photo gallery. Take a look!

FWRC President Steve Nardin, W9SAN, draws the winning ticket

At this year’s Fort Wayne Hamfest we used a new “Incentive” idea to get people to pay next year’s dues ahead of time. We held a drawing for a dual band BaoFeng HT with programming cable and software, speaker mic, and charging base. Tickets for the drawing were distributed as one “free” ticket for an individual or family membership, either renewal or new, and extra
tickets for $1 each (no limit).

The result was fantastic: we have now 59 memberships already paid for next year! Plus the extra tickets sales have actually paid for the transceiver itself, so for the club it was all positive
cash flow! Wow! With a result like this, we are already planning something even nicer for next year!

SPECIAL THANKS:

Special thanks to the following for their help with this incentive:

Continue reading →

Thanks to all who participated in today’s severe weather activity. Please send any reports and photographs of damage to the National Weather Service as soon as possible, to help the NWS detemine where to send survey teams tomorrow. Send reports and photos the the following address:

w-iwx.webmaster@noaa.gov

Thanks again!

ARRL Indiana Section Manager Lou Everett, WA5LOU sent out the information below via email to Indiana ARRL members.

The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette ran a 928-word feature story about ham radio in its November 15, 2013 issue. The story, including two photos, took up most of the front page of the the newspaper’s, “Weekender” feature section.

The story features interviews with Jim Boyer, KB9IH, who is chairman of the Fort Wayne Hamfest. It quotes Boyer talking about the continuted relevance of ham radio in today’s digital age and about the hamfest.

It also quotes Carole Burke, WB9RUS, on the role of girls and women in amateur radio.

And the article contains extensive information about the role of ham radio in emergencies, including references to the Amateur Radio Emergency Service and SKYWARN.

The entire article appears on the Journal Gazette website.

Fox hunters search among briars for a hidden radio transmitter. More photos in this website’s photo gallery.

Sunday, November 10, 2013 marked the last foxhunt of the (2013) season. It was a crisp late Fall day with a bit of a breeze, but the sun was more or less out. The day attracted foxhunters Steve Nardin, W9SAN, Linda Nardin, W9LAN, and their grandson Alex, the team of Charles Ward, KC9MUT, Fred Gengnagel, KC9EZP and Phil Hooper, AB9IZ, the team of Jim & Kim Machamer, KB9’s DOS & DOT, and lone hunter Robert Dean, KC9UHU. This motley crew were hole-up in the Off-Track Betting Parlor parking lot, as usual, anxiously awaiting the bleating voice of the fox.

For this hunt the role of the fox was played by Jim Pliett, K9OMA and Al Burke, WB9SSE. Their usual partners, Annie, KA9YYI and Carole, WB9RUS were at Jim & Annie’s QTH preparing goodies for the after-foxhunt cookout & bonfire that routinely caps-off the end of the foxhunting season, but they were with us in spirit.

Jim & Al were located deep within the Mengerson Nature Preserve about a half mile north of Stellhorn Rd. just off Schmucker Dr.

Continue reading →

FWRC Members:

We have been asked to participate as operators for the annual Skywarn Recognition Day event that is coming up on Friday, December 6th to Saturday, December 7th from 0000 UTC to 2359 UTC at the National Weather Service site in North Webster, Indiana. This is a special event station for the WX9IWX station at the NWS, and will join other Skywarn SE stations around the country.

In the past, other Northeast Indiana clubs have helped to activate this Special Event, but now we are being asked if we can help out. If you can run one of the VHF stations on that Friday evening, please let us know. On Saturday, we can set up HF stations and run most of the day, if possible. The NWS has plenty of room inside, so we would probably not need to run in the trailer, or any outside location.

If we are going to help support this effort, I need to hear from all of you that are interested in the next week or so. This is not an event you can decide to help on Saturday morning and just jump in the car and head up there! We will be interested in phone, CW, and digital operators for the HF bands, 80 to 10, and also VHF operators for FM and internet based modes as well. We can use the call sign W9TE or WX9IWX.

Sound like something you might want to help with? Want to show the NWS that we support the Skywarn program at all levels? Please reply to W9SAN@ARRL.NET, and let me know, but please don’t drag your feet on this one!

The November 2013 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.”

{jd_file file==54}

For a limited time, when you either renew your FWRC membership or create a new Membership, you will be automatically entered into a drawing for a new Baofeng model UV-5RE ‘PLUS’ dual band HT with USB programming cable. Each new member or renewal, either individual or family, will receive one entry ticket. Additional tickets can be purchased for $1 each. People who have renewed early for 2014 are automatically entered. student memberships for 2014 do not include a free ticket, but they may purchase them for the $1 charge.

The entry time period is from the FWRC Nov meeting, on Nov 8th, to the drawing at 11:00 am on Nov 17th, at the Fort Wayne Hamfest. You need not be present to win. The HT will be on display at the FWRC tables at the Hamfest, across from the ACARTS main table setup. Early renewals will start at the club meeting on November 8th, or you can send in your application to our PO box and be eligible as long as it is received by November 16th.

This is offered to encourage all to renew or join for 2014 NOW! Why not get’r done right away, you won’t have to worry about it later, and you could start the new year with a new dual band HT!