Organizer of potential special event station seeks operators, equipment, suggestions

A California-based leader in a disaster response organization seeks local assistance as he plans a potential special event station during the organization’s conference in Fort Wayne in September.

Phil Zabell, KI6SMN wrote in an email message to FWRC president Carole Burke, WB9RUS about tentative plans for special event station W9E to operate during the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod National Disaster Response Conference. The conference is scheduled for September 28 through September 30 on the campus of Concordia Theological Seminary, 6600 N. Clinton Street, Fort Wayne.

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D-STAR repeater off network

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D-Star logo

This post is out of date. The repeater regained its internet connection August 27.

The Fort Wayne Radio Club D-STAR repeater on 442.99375 MHz lost its internet connection Friday, Aug. 5.

The club member who provided the connection from his home via a 900 MHz data link is relocating.

The club repeater committee is looking for a way to provide affordable internet service to the repeater site on Parrott Rd., according to committee member Al Burke, WB9SSE. The committee doesn’t know how long finding a solution will take.

In the interim, the FWRC D-STAR repeater remains on the air for local use but will not connect to any reflectors.

Aug. 7 Fox (hidden transmitter) hunt to feature new device

The Fort Wayne Radio Club will conduct a fox (hidden transmitter) hunt Aug. 7, 2022. The hunt begins at 1:30 p.m. EDT at the Corbin Park trailhead site near Bargain Lane (formerly K-Mart), 742 N. Coliseum Blvd. Fort Wayne.

Steve Nardin, W9SAN, LInda Nardin, W9LAN and their grandson, Alex, will hide and operate as the fox. They will transmit on high power on 146.430 MHz FM simplex for one minute every five minutes. Hunters will use the 146.76 Mhz repeater as an intercom.

The hunt will use a new “micro fox” that will transmit a weak signal to nearby hunters.

Video recording of WOWO broadcasters

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YouTube video of the July 15, 2022 FWRC meeting at which former WOWO broadcasters presented.

WOWO veterans Ron Gregory, W9RGM; Chris Roberts, WB9WXL, Art Salzburg and Rick Hughes shared stories from the glory days of WOWO radio during the July 15, 2022 meeting of the Fort Wayne Radio Club. Tom Rupp, KU8T recorded the meeting and uploaded his video to YouTube.

Volunteers urgently needed to move donated tower

Antenna tower lying on the ground.
“The moose,” a tower donated to FWRC that requires moving.

The Fort Wayne Radio Club needs a group of volunteers as soon as Saturday, July 23 to help move a heavy tower that a ham has donated to the Club. The tower lies on land that will soon have a new owner, so we must move the tower as soon as possible and before the property sale closes.

It’s a 72-foot, steel, nested crank-up tower, U.S. Towers, Inc. model TX-472. It consists of four triangular sections, nested within each other. The tower also includes hardware that allows it to be cranked over to a horizontal position if desired. We think it weighs approximately 1,000 pounds.

A ham who lived in Fort Wayne but who has become ill and now lives in Florida donated the tower, which we’ve nick named “the moose.” It’s on property in southern Fort Wayne, along Bluffton Road, near Bobick’s Golf.

We must move the moose from its current location to our repeater site on North Clinton St. near Diebold Rd. for storage until we can sell it. Proceeds from the sale of this tower will help fund the replacement of the failing collinear antenna used by our 146.91 MHz repeater.

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Former WOWO broadcasters to share experiences

Former WOWO broadcaster Ron Gregory, seen in the station's studio in 1973.
Ron Gregory in the WOWO studio, 1973. Photo from historyofwowo.com.

Friday, July 15 the Fort Wayne Radio Club will feature a unique event in Fort Wayne commercial radio history. Several past WOWO radio station celebrities will reunite to talk about their time at the famous station. The celebrities will include the following:

  • Ron Gregory, W9RGM
  • Art Saltzberg
  • Chris Roberts, WB9WXL
  • Don Chevillet

You won’t want to miss this meeting!

The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. (doors open at 6:30 p.m.) at door #2 of the Good Shepherd United Methodist Church, 4700 Vance Ave in Fort Wayne. The church is just south of Sidner High School. Remember that club leaders must monitor the door and let people into the building, so please try to be on time. If you arrive late, please use an HT to call for access on 146.430 MHz FM simplex.

New location for Field Day 2022

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The Fort Wayne Radio Club (FWRC) will conduct its 2022 ARRL Field Day operations at Jefferson Township Park, 1702 Webster Road, just east of New Haven, Indiana. Road construction near Historic Fort Wayne led the FWRC board of directors to choose a new location for this year.

On-air operations begin at 1800 UTC (2 p.m. ET) Saturday, June 25 and run through the night until 2059 UTC (4:59 p.m. ET) Sunday, June 26.

Members of the general public are always welcome to visit the club’s Field Day operation.

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