The Indianapolis Radio Club Newsletter

Founded 1914

”The oldest continuously meeting Amateur Radio Club in the United States”

 

Reporting news from the Indianapolis Radio Club meeting held on Friday, June 10th, 2005, and other items of possible interest to amateurs.

[A Special Thanks to Mike Henney (KE9YA) and Bob Osterhouse (W9PSE) for taking careful notes again, this time at the June club meeting while I was off enjoying myself on vacation in Florida.  This issue of the club newsletter is based largely on their notes. --Ed]

This Newsletter is avalable as a text document

 

June Meeting Highlights:

The June meeting of the Indianapolis Radio Club was held on Friday, June 10th, 2005 at the Indianapolis Training Center.  Fresh coffee was provided by the Training Center, and the club provided several boxes of donuts and dozens of cookies.  The purpose of this particular club meeting was the annual club auction.  The club president, Chuck Crist (W9IH) called the meeting to order at 7:00pm, and reminded members of the theme for the year: "Get RadioActive in 2005."  Chuck also mentioned that the club membership drive is ongoing.  Barbara Crist (KB9BSV), wife of the club president, tracked members present at the check-in table.  Attendance at the meeting was 55.

 

Our club Vice President, Dave Miller (K9RTT), who arranges the program for each club meeting, introduced the Wes Murphy (N9AJM), who served as auctioneer for the club meeting.  Wes gave the attendees many opportunities to bid on almost 10 full tables of quality equipment.  HTs, test equipment, and dual band mobile radios were some of the hot items that were successfully auctioned off.  If you missed this event, you missed one of the best-ever IRC auctions.  Thanks, Wes!

 

Board Meeting:

A Club Executive Board meeting was also held on June 10th starting about 6:15pm, with the following Board Members and volunteers in attendance:  Chuck Crist (W9IH), President; Dave Miller (K9RTT), Vice President; Mike Henney (KE9YA), Secretary; Joe Labraico (K9OOA), Director; Paul Bohrer (W9DUU), Director, Bob Osterhouse (W9PSE), Assistant Newsletter Editor and Door Prize Volunteer; and Ed Conder (N9IZN), volunteer club digital photographer.

 

Next Meeting:

The next club meeting will be held on Friday, September 9th, 2005.  The meeting will be held at the University of Indianapolis, at South Shelby Street and Hanna Avenue.  The topic is "Ham Radio Astronomy" and will be presented by Malcolm Mallette (WA9BVS).  The talkin frequency for the event is 146.67/r.  Information on parking will be announced.  For details, see the club web site at www.indyradioclub.org.

 

IRC Blind Draw Donation Fund Raiser:

A blind draw donation club fundraiser is underway.  First Prize is a Ten-Tec Jupiter amateur radio; Second Prize is an ICOM IC706-MkIIG.  The $10 Tickets are available from club officers and will also be available at the Broad Ripple Swapfest.   (See Swapfest article below).

 

Health and Welfare:

There were no new reports received this month.

 

Broad Ripple Swapfest:

Joe Labraico (K9OOA) and his wife, Betty (K9OOB), are again hosting the Broad Ripple Swapfest at their home at 7373 Westfield Blvd. on Saturday, August 6th.  We are all grateful to Joe and Betty for their hospitality and generosity.  More details will be available on the club web site at (www.indyradioclub.org), soon.

 

Renewal of Your Ham License with the FCC, Electronically!

By Bob Osterhous (W9PSE), June 18, 2005, Assistant IRC Newsletter Editor

     Remember to look at your license or QRZ.COM under your call to remember when to renew!   You cannot renew before 90 days prior to your expatriation.

     Also of note is that QRZ will show a “red” notice on your sight when you hit the 90day renewal point.   ARRL and others may remind you to renew but do not pay for any renewals. There are no fees currently.  In fact I stayed in the QRZ site and went on to renew the Ham License with the FCC, here is a summary of the steps.

     I first read the ARRL notice letter on the back which they send to members, it sounded a little confusing but basically it is saying you need a FRN number from the CORES data base and a password you determine to get the FRN number. 

     In the QRZ site I clicked on:  FRN number and it took me to the CORES site.  Fill in the info and follow the prompts.  This will get you your FRN number and you supply the password.

Be sure and print out the “FRN” registration to keep.

     After this you go to the FCC web site. (From within the FRN site)  First item.

    Going to the “File, Online Filing," you enter your FRN Number and password (you just make up to get your number).   Once logged in you see a summary of your license information.  On the left side you see some options:  Renewal, Address update etc.  Hit “Renewal” and follow the prompts.

     At one point is asks about the FEE.  There is no fee for Ham License, also there is no choice in the “BOX” is only says "NO," which seems wrong.  Keep going and go on and fill in and follow prompts, on the next screens it shows there is no fee and all is OK.   Also be sure and “click” on the left hand column bottom, where it shows your call listed, and then continue on. ( Do not hit the ADD unless you have more than one license.)  Hit “continue” and follow the prompts.  Print the Reference Copy Only of your “renewal” when prompted. (Type your name as signing)

When it says “your renewal is complete,” you can sign out of FCC site.

     After I signed out I was back to the QRZ.Com site and logged out of it.   Thus the whole thing was done thru QRZ.  You can also call up the FRN or FCC site, but this way you do not have to type any long site addresses.

     We filed on a Friday June 17th…the next day when I looked at QRZ  is showed my license had been renewed and the 10 year future expiration date from my Birthday was posted.

     Just be sure you are rested and not in a hurry when you start to do your renewal.  It takes about 10 minutes and you can go as slow as you wish.   Good luck.

     I received by Renewed License in the Mail on:  June 23, 2005…that was only 6 days after I renewed on line.  The next day I received a mail copy of my FRN number.    Just do it on line.  Also QRZ now shows my FRN number but write down your password and keep it handy for 10 years from your renewal, or if you have a change of address or other to advise the FCC.

 

Membership Drive:
The Membership Drive is continuing.    It covers the period from now through November 3rd, 2005.  Any IRC member that recruits 3 new IRC Regular Members will receive 1 Free Meal Pass for the 2005 December Annual Dinner meeting.  A New Regular Member is defined as someone who joins the IRC and who has not been an IRCmember since January of 2002.  [Extending a membership to include 'new' family members does not count.  Sorry!  --Ed.]

 

New Life Member:

-Rudy Richardson (KN9C) is the newest life member of the club.  Congratulations, Rudy! 

-Another of our new Life Members, Beurt SerVaas (W9WVO) was present at the meeting.  Dr. SerVaas has been instrumental in the Indianapolis Training Center coming to Indianapolis, and has been supportive of the Indianapolis Radio Club for several years.  Thanks, Beurt!

 

Indianapolis Symphony 75th Anniversary:

A special event station, W9O, will be operating on August 13th to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.  More details are available at eh club web site (www.indyradioclub.org).

 

Brickyard W9IMS Operation Planned:
Some operators for station W9IMS are already in place.  They plan to operate on the days leading up to and including the Brickyard 400 on August 5th , 6th , and 7th .  For more information, see http://www.qrz.com/w9ims.  Special QSL cards have been prepared and will be sent upon request to all contacts.  Volunteer opportunities still exist.

 

Club Station Report:

The Club is eager to obtain another HF rig for use at the club station.  It has been reported that Mike Fowler () may have an HF rig available.  Also, work is under way to get Ethernet into the ham shack.  More details on these two news items should be available by the next club meeting.  Our club station Chief Operator is Trevor Fulk (N9YM), who maintains the club station.  The equipment is located on the first floor of the Indianapolis Training Center, while the antennas are located on the roof of the building.  The station transceiver is a Yeasu HF unit, and the antenna is a directional beam for 10-15-20m that is mounted on a small tower and rotor on the building roof.  That makes its height about 150 feet above ground.  Tours of the club station are available following most Indianapolis Radio Club meetings.  The club station call is W9JP.

 

New Hams:

Several newly licensed amateurs were present at the June club meeting.  They were:

KC9HSZ- Jeffrey A Butler

KC9HSW- Andrew J Rodgers

KC9HSX- Richard W Ritchie

KC9HDH- Joseph W Black

KC9HSV- Mary E Rothenhauser

KI4KLY- Joshua N Wilkes

Congratulations on obtaining your tickets!

 
New Club Members:
Several new club members were introduced.  They were:
KC9HMO- Freddie D. Wade
W9ATA- Randy L. Jackson
KC9HDH- Joseph W.  Black
KF9WI- James G. Dougherty
K9LZJ- Lyman H. Wolfla, II
Congratulations on becoming club members!
 
Planning for Radio Commemorative to USS Indianapolis:

A committee has been formed to coordinate a radio tribute commemorating the 60th anniversary of the USS Indianapolis.  It will be part of a special operating event called “Warships on the Air.”  The USS Indianapolis Special Event Station will operate on Saturday and Sunday, July 16th and 17th.  This is a joint operation by the Indianapolis Radio Club, the Indianapolis Radio League, and RCA Radio Club.  Operating modes will be: CW, SSB and AM on the 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10-meter bands.  Operating slots will be 2 hours long with up to 4 hours consecutive operation permitted.  Please let us know if you can help operate the station so that the USS Indianapolis Special Event Station can be on the air the entire 48 hours of the special event.  More information is available at http://www.qrz.com/w9ims.

 

Club Webmaster:

Brian Stone (KC9GSA) is the manager of our Indianapolis Radio Club web site (www.indyradioclub.org).  If you have content ideas or suggestions for the site, please contact Brian using his email address of labradog@speakeasy.net.

 

Homebrew Award Selection Criteria:

Club Vice-President Dave Miller (K9RTT) announced that future Homebrew entries would be judged on the basis of the quality of construction and soldering, the schematic diagram, operating instructions, and for antennas, the antenna radiation pattern and SWR chart, if applicable.

 

Monthly Club Traveling Awards Presented for April:

As reported by Mike Henney (KE9YA), IRC Secretary

- Mentor –Richard Ritchie (KC9HSX)

- Homebrew –Jim Rinehart (K9RU), for an antenna switch

- QRP – Steve Wendt (KB9RDS), again, for another contact on 17m SSB.

- Digital – Steve Heiniger (N9OI) for a 20m PSK contact with Senegal

- DX – Heather Heiniger (KB9LZB) for her 6m contact with LU9AEA in Argentina

- Mobile - Mike Henney (KE9YA) for his 20m SSB contact with Montenegro

Congratulations to each of the monthly club traveling trophy award winners!

 

Club Hats Available:

In celebration of the IRC’s 90th Anniversary, club hats with an embroidered club logo are available for purchase for $20.  The articles seen by this reporter were baseball style hats in several available colors, with black lettering, and appeared to be very well made. If you wish to purchase one of these hats, be sure to come to the next club meeting and bring some extra money! You will be helping to support your club if you buy one of these hats.

 

Door Prizes:

A number of fabulous door prizes are collected by the club prize-master, Bob Osterhous (W9PSE).   These are usually distributed to randomly selected members of the IRC who are in attendance. You can learn more about the potential benefits of the door prize distribution process by attending the next IRC meeting in September!  Thanks to Bob Osterhous for doing such a great job locating interesting prizes for this exciting portion of the club meetings.

 

Amateur Radio Classes:

-An amateur radio class is being planned for no-code Tech and also for the General license.  It will be held at the ITC on July 18th, 20th, 22nd, 25th, 27th, and 29th.  That is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights, 6:30 to 9:30pm.  If you are interested, or if you know of potential students, please contact Chuck Crist (W9IH).  You can reach Chuck at his email address of indytrax@core.com.

-A small Radio Study Group is meeting at 9:00 AM on Wednesdays at the McDonalds at 116th and I-69 to discuss questions and answers on amateur radio.  All are welcome.  For more information, contact Tom Price (WB9UNG) at 849-6550, or Estel Hines (KC9GMV) at 765-289-8333.

 

Announcements:

-Summer Picnic is planned for Saturday, August 6th, 2005, at Joe and Betty Labraico’s place in along Westfield Blvd north of Broad Ripple. This is another great chance for fellowship and fun with other amateur radio enthusiasts near the end of the coming long, hot summer.

-Board Member Paul Bohrer (W9DUU) continues with his responsibilities for the Phone Committee.  Any information he receives on Health and Welfare through his Telephone Committee activities should be forwarded to Mike Henney (KE9YA) at his email address mickyh@peoplepc.com.  If you have any such announcements or information about which the Phone Committee should be made aware, please forward it to Paul.  His email address is w9duu@juno.com.  

-Volunteers are needed to help teach an express Tech no-code and General amateur radio class at the ITC.  Interested volunteers should contact the club president, Chuck Crist (W9IH).  His email is indytrax@core.com. 
-To learn of amateur radio volunteer opportunities in Marion County, go to the web site www.IndyHams.org.  To volunteer, contact Michael Palmer (N9FEB) at 317-849-3602.
-“This Week in Amateur Radio International” (TWIARi) is currently being aired on WBCQ (shortwave) each Saturday afternoon at 4:00pm EST (2100GMT) on 7.415 MHz.  WBCQ (The Planet) broadcasts 50KW and server North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean.  Their website address is http://www.triar.org/twiari.html.

 

Any Additional News Items:

If you have news that should be included in the next issue of club newsletter, please pass it on to your club newsletter editor, Tom Price (WB9UNG), at the email address pricetr@comcast.net.  The "Ama Chewer" contains date information that is out of date.  If you can help with this minor update, please contact the editor.