Blog Articles

Since I will be participating in the St. Joe's Food Pantry 5k on Saturday, October 5th, the fox hunt will be moved to the following Saturday.
We could still use more volunteers for the St Joe's event.
If the weather holds, we will do one more hunt in November.  That is To Be Determined and is up to Mother Nature.

 

We have two opportunities in the next month to support our communities and raise awareness about our hobby.
The Otto Grunski Runski, September 28th, to benefit the Menasha Parks and Recreation Family Assistance Fund.
St. Joe's 5K/10K, October 5th, to benefit the St Joseph Food Pantry.

Otto Grunski is a new event for us. They estimate needing our help from 7:45am to 9:45am.
St Joe's has been from 7:30am to 9:30-ish. They did add "10K" - so the runners may wind up doing two laps. I expect that they will still finish before many of the walkers.

The FCARC VEs will be conducting Ham Exams Saturday, September 14, at Maplewood Middle School,1600 Midway Road, Menasha 54952.

 

Registration starts at 8 am and ends at 9 am. Preregistration is encouraged.

 

A government issued picture ID is required. Please see the ARRL.org website, license information, for other forms of acceptable ID.

 

The FCC application form requires an FCC registration number and will not be accepted without one. You can obtain a FRN free of charge on the FCC.gov website. Apply for it as soon as possible so you have it available for the exam.

 

After a successful exam the FCC will contact you through email. Make sure your email address is legible on the forms.

 

Cost of the exams are set by our VEC, the ARRL, at $15. If you fail an exam, you may take a different version, time permitting, but you will be charged another $15. If you are successful, you may take the next element during the

session at no extra charge.

 

If you have any questions concerning FCARC Exams or to preregister contact Rick Kosiorek

at (920) 809-1010 or WJ9K.mail@gmail.com

Saturday, September 7th. 0730 - 1630 - or until the batteries run out.

147.555MHz Somewhere in the Fox Cities. See Map.

The fox can be heard from the 41/441 loop with a handheld radio - confirmed.

Since Fox Hunting is a receive only activity, all future and current Hams are welcome to participate.

PLEASE DO NOT post where it is when you find it. A simple "Found it!" on our Facebook page is enough. Allow others the thrill of the hunt.

There are NO prizes.

Use your best judgement on what information you share. After noon... hints can be blatant.

This year's annual picnic is Saturday, August 17th, starting at 11am.

This is a family event so bring the folks you hold dear.

It's a potluck so please bring a dish to pass. The club will provide brats, burgers, hot dogs and soda/water. We'll have corn if I can find it.

Sunset Park, Kimberly, Pavilion #1.

We should have a fox hunt and you are encouraged to bring some radio gear to show off. Sorry, no raffle.

If you have questions, please use the Contact Us page and we'll try to get them answered.

We will be doing the monthly fox hunt at the annual picnic this month instead of on Social Saturday. See everyone at the picnic.

It's that time of year already!

 

The 146.760 repeater will be used by those supporting Race the Lake again this year. The repeater will be used for RtL support between 5:30am and 3pm on August 18th.

 

Please consider using another club or member repeater for non-event traffic, leaving the 146.760 repeater for the event support during this time:

 

145.330 (-0.6MHz) located in Neenah - Yaesu digital only

443.650 (+5MHz, 100Hz) located in Appleton - Analog and Yaesu digital

 

Member repeaters:

 

224.500 (-1.6Mhz, 100Hz) WJ9K repeater

442.175 (+5MHz, 100Hz) WJ9K repeater

442.475 (+5MHz, 146.2Hz)AJ9L repeater

Deadline is fast approaching! (Aug 1)

 

To register.send email to wayne@mueller1.com

Certificates are available by sending a QSL & SASE (certificate size 8-1/2x11, certificates are printed on premium 90# stock) to:

 

W9ZL Special Event

PO Box 2346

Appleton, WI 54912

 

Please note the change in print stock from past years. These are heavy bond stock and it's a pity to have to fold them up! Please use a certificate sized envelope.

 

Jon Oldenburg AB9AH

W9ZL Special Event Chairman

When: Saturday & Sunday, August 17 & 18, 2024, 8am – 5pm
Where: Maplewood Middle School, 1600 Midway Rd., Menasha, WI
Tuition: $25.00 payable at the door first day
Textbook: ARRL Ham Radio License Manual 5th ed. (red cover) $25.00 at the door
VE proctored exam at end of 2nd day. Cost $15.00. Pay separately
Bring a pencil or pen; you will be writing a lot.

To sign-up: email wayne@mueller1.com State if you want to buy the book.
Deadline: August 1

To take the test, you will need an FCC FRN number
Go to: apps.fcc.gov/cores to get your registration number.

Sponsored by FCARC

The list below is everyone I have who signed in at Field Day this past June. If there is someone I missed please text me you information. Need, Name, Call (if you have one), which station you operated (WA9TT KB9YUC or the GOTA Station) and email address. You can text to my phone at 920-572-2937. The raffle will be held next Monday during the club meeting. I will need this information no later then this coming Sunday evening.

Jon AB9AH
Rod K6ROD
Joel WI4WD
Max W9GFL
Roy KC9VLP
Mike W9NUE
Carl N9NAV
Carol W9pio
Laurel KD9AJT
Mike KD9QHQ
Scott KB9YUC
Mike WI9MMM
Larry WA9TT
Evan N9DU
Dan N9LVS
Theresa Staeven
Michael KE9AEJ
Eric ND0L
Bob KD9HZB
John K9KI
Neil KC9MLD
Paul KA9GOU
Steve KD9WYC
Matt KD9WAW

When: Saturday & Sunday, August 17 & 18, 2024, 8am – 5pm
Where: Maplewood Middle School, 1600 Midway Rd., Menasha, WI
Tuition: $25.00 payable at the door first day
Textbook: ARRL Ham Radio License Manual 5th ed. (red cover) $25.00 at the door
VE proctored exam at end of 2nd day. Cost $15.00 pay separately
Bring a pencil or pen; you will be writing a lot.

To sign-up: email wayne@mueller1.com State if you want to buy the book.

Sponsored by FCARC

Radio is about experimenting. Well... we are going to try a new, lower power fox. The "normal" fox is 700mW. The July fox will be 53mW.
46mW on WSPR made it to Antartica. I guess we'll all see how far 53mW goes in the Fox Valley. We may have to work together on this hunt. :-)

Saturday, July 6th. 0730 - 1630 - or until the batteries run out. The fox manufacturer says it should last until about 3:30pm. We'll see.
147.555MHz Somewhere in the Fox Cities. See Map.
Since Fox Hunting is a receive only activity, all future and current Hams are welcome to participate.
PLEASE DO NOT post where it is when you find it. A simple "Found it!" on our Facebook page is enough. Allow others the thrill of the hunt.
There are NO prizes.
Depending on the difficulty hearing the new fox, sharing a grid square might be in order.
Use your best judgement on what information you share. After noon... hints can be blatant.

The FCARC VEs will be conducting Ham Exams Saturday, July, 20 at Maplewood Middle School,1600 Midway Road, Menasha 54952.

Registration starts at 8 am and ends at 9 am. Preregistration is encouraged. A government issued picture ID is required. Please see the ARRL.org website, license information, for other forms of acceptable ID. The application requires a Federal Registration Number and a valid email address. FRN's can be obtained free of charge on the FCC.gov website in the ULS section.

If you will be upgrading, please provide a copy of your current license. Cell phones must be silenced and put away during exams. Non cell phone calculators are permitted. Programmable calculator memories must be cleared and are subject to examination by a VE.

Cost of the exams are set by our VEC, the ARRL, at $15. If you fail an exam, you may take a different version, time permitting, but you will be charged another $15. If you are successful, you may take the next element during the
session at no extra charge.

If you have any questions concerning FCARC Exams or to preregister contact Rick Kosiorek
at (920) 809-1010 or WJ9K.mail@gmail.com

The list below are the current signers for Field Day:

Terry N9AOT
Jon AB9AH
Gary KB9AIT
Rod K6ROD
Joel WI4WD
Max W9GFL
Chris N9CVR
Mike W9NUE
Carl N9NAV
Laurel KD9AJT
Cody KD9QXL
Mike KD9QHQ
Scott KB9YUC
Mike WI9MMM
Larry WA9TT
Evan N9DU
Dan N9LVS
Michael KE9AEJ
Bob KD9HZB
Eric ND0L
John K9KI
Neil KC9MLD
Paul KA9GOU

If we missed anyone please contact Terry N9AOT at terryaot@live.com or leave a text at 920=572-2937.
I will have a sign up sheet at the club meeting. We need overnight operators and Sunday operators.

June’s 50/50 raffle is for a Gerchron Atlas 2 4K
The Geochron allows any observer to determine what time it is anywhere in the world. Physically the Geochron looks like a framed world map, about 2×3 ft. in size. The colorful map itself is an endless belt that is driven slowly from left to right by an electric clock motor in synchronism with the rotation of the earth. All known legal time zone boundaries are delineated on the map by dark blue lines which in most cases, converge on lettered pointers on the top edge of the map. These letters identify the standard time zones and also represent the short wave radio prefix for that zone.
Specifically, the Geochron illustrates:
• Legal time zones
• Greenwich Mean time
• Greenwich Apparent time
• Local Apparent time (in 12 or 24 hour)
• Moment of sunrise
• Moment of sunset
• Duration of daylight
• Sun’s meridian passage
• Sun’s equation of time
• Degrees of latitude and longitude



In 2018, the first digital Geochron was just a visual copy of our mechanical clock, but in the digital realm we’ve been able to add many Live Layers atop the Mercator projection map to create a visually intricate representation of movement of people and weather on the Earth in real-time. As of 2021, the Geochron Atlas displays:
• Live satellite weather
• Live commercial aviation
• Live satellite positions
• Live Earthquakes and Volcanoes
• Live Air Quality data and graphics
• Live Amateur Radio transmissions and data
• Multiple Mapsets
• Customizable Time and Dates
• All in 4K resolution

Saturday, June 1st. 0730 - 1630 - or until the batteries run out.
147.555MHz Somewhere in the Fox Cities. See Map.
Since Fox Hunting is a receive only activity, all future and current Hams are welcome to participate.
PLEASE DO NOT post where it is when you find it. A simple "Found it!" is enough. Allow others the thrill of the hunt.
There are NO prizes.
Later in the day if someone needs a few hints... go for it.
You will be able to hear the fox from the 41/441 loop with a HT in the car. That's how I verify that it is getting out.
Have fun!

The FCARC VEs will be conducting Ham Exams Saturday, June 1, at Maplewood Middle School,1600 Midway Road, Menasha 54952.

Registration starts at 8 am and ends at 9 am. Preregistration is encouraged. A government issued picture ID is required. Please see the ARRL.org website, license information, for other forms of acceptable ID. The application requires a Federal Registration Number and a valid email address. FRN's can be obtained free of charge on the FCC.gov website in the ULS section.

If you will be upgrading, please provide a copy of your current license. Cell phones must be silenced and put away during exams. Non cell phone calculators are permitted. Programmable calculator memories must be cleared and are subject to examination by a VE.

Cost of the exams are set by our VEC, the ARRL, at $15. If you fail an exam, you may take a different version, time permitting, but you will be charged another $15. If you are successful, you may take the next element during the
session at no extra charge.

If you have any questions concerning FCARC Exams or to preregister contact Rick Kosiorek
at (920) 809-1010 or WJ9K.mail@gmail.com

Terry, N9AOT, and Gary, KB9AIT, of Wolf River Coils have graciously donated a sBitx v3 Software Defined Radio for the Field Day 2024 Operating Prize.
If you would like details on how you can be entered to possibly win this SDR, read Terry's FIELD DAY SIGN UP article. All the details are there.
Good luck!

CQ CQ CQ Field Day, this is W9ZL

Field Day 2024 is fast approaching. This year Field Day will be held the weekend of June 22nd and June 23rd. And as last year, we will hold field day and the Bay Lake Scouting Council Headquarters.
The address is 2555 Northern Road Appleton WI. This location allows us to have a kitchen dining area, bathrooms, plus shelter if we have inclement weather. It also gives us an area to introduce amateur radio to the public.
Setup for Field Day will be Friday afternoon beginning at 4pm after the council closes. Field Day contest starts on Saturday at 1pm local time till Sunday 1pm. There is parking both on the north side, behind the council building as well as the main parking south of the building.
We plan on operating 2 Alpha along with our GOTA station.
Being at the scouting council headquarters Larry WA9TT and Laurel KD9AJT along with FCARC will be hosting scouting radio merit badge sessions. The scouts will have great opportunities to get on the air as part of their merit badge requirement. Gary again has agreed to bring his satellite station, after he verifies it’s operational. The field day stations will operate SSB, CW, FT8 as well as VHF along with the GOTA station. Any non-ham or a ham less than a year license or inactive are allowed to operate the GOTA station. Mike will be holding a fox hunt for those earning their radio merit badge, but I am sure he will work with anyone showing interest.
Of course, like last year Wolf River Coils will donate a prize to be given away to someone who operates at least one hour on one of the available stations. Prize will be announced when Wolf River Coils purchases it at Hamvention this May. There is a sign up sheet for anyone who wishes to schedule when they want to operate on the FCARC website. Go to the clubs website fcarc.club, click on the “Event Sign Up Tab” and click on Field Day. We will attempt to schedule everyone as close as possible to the time they request, but first come first server, so get signed up now. Walk ins may be accepted if there is an opening in the schedule. A local scouting troop will be holding a Brat Fry sometime during the Field Day exercise.
If you wish to set up a tent or RV there is plenty of room to do so. Field Day is a great opportunity to get into contesting and logging if you have not had the chance in the past or even a seasoned ham loves to operate during Field Day. It is also a great time to meet and talk so some of the hams you may have heard but do not know. If have any questions feel free to contact Terry N9AOT at terryaot@live.com or call/text 920 572 2937. Terry will be on the Field Day site from Friday afternoon till take down on Sunday afternoon.

After MUCH discussion, the FCARC Board of Directors has decided to auction off the Ham Van mast assembly. The mast includes the cable and the air compressor.

The FCARC Board of Directors will accept written sealed bids through the end of Field Day, June 23, 2024. What ever time we finish tearing down is when we stop accepting bids. Bids that are mailed must be received in our P.O. Box by Friday, June 21st. Bids will be for a specific monetary amount. No contingencies, escalators or other modifiers will be honored.
There is ample time to submit bids so all late bids will be destroyed without review.

The mast and its accessories are being sold “as is” with no expressed or implied warranty. Any person submitting a bid agrees to hold harmless the Fox Cities Amateur Radio Club for any and all current or future events related to the mast and/or its assemblies. Again, the winning bidder assumes and accepts all liability for everything related to the mast once it is theirs.

The winning bidder must submit payment and take possession of the mast upon notification of the winning bid. The winner will have no more than 15 calendar days to make payment and take possession lest their bid be deemed null and void and a subsequent bidder selected.
We WILL NOT ship the mast or its accessories. Currently, the mast is being stored in De Pere, Wisconsin.

The sealed bids will be opened by the Board of Directors when there is quorum, but not later than July 14th. Should the winning bid result in a tie, the winner will be determined by the earliest postmark or timestamp. Sealed bids handed to a Board of Directors member will be marked with the date and time of the submission. If the timestamps of the equal winning bids are the same, the winner will be selected by a random drawing.

Please direct any questions to the FCARC Board of Directors by using the Contact Us page on the club website, fcarc.club.
https://www.willburt.com/support/support-center/resources/pneumatic-mast-finder/
https://www.willburt.com/wp-content/uploads/filebase/customer_drawings/8.5-52-HDNL-Customer-Drawing.pdf
https://www.willburt.com/wp-content/uploads/Telecommunications%20Elevation%20Solutions_WEB.pdf PAGE 5 Weight Approx 266 lbs.

Sorry, kids. This site doesn't allow me to add the assembly instructions.
Check out our Facebook page. :-)

The sign-up for this year's EAA Special Event Station is now open to
all FCARC members. Sign up will be opening to all ARRL members
later in April 2024. Sign up will be drawing to a close on
May 28 2024. This has to be done so the EAA can finalize their
planning to accommodate us during the event.

This year we will operate on 7 days -- Monday through Sunday,
during the show (July 22 thru July 28,20234. This operating event
is open to all license classes. We will operate 2 HF stations, one
on 20m, one on 40m, 6-meter SSB, plus local communications on
2-meters. The club call, W9ZL, will be used throughout the event.

We are looking for both "AM" and "PM" operators covering each of the 7
days. You can sign up for one shift or more if you so desire. The event
is open to all of the amateur community. If operators sign up for a 4
hour shift, they will be given a daily wristband that will allow them
to go and wander around the Fly-in.

For further information and to sign up to operate the event go to:
http://fcarc.club
The sign up form is available at the Event Sign-ups tab on the W9ZL website
home page.

Or you may contact Jon Oldenburg AB9AH at:
AB9AH@arrl.net

Hope to see you all soon!

Jon Oldenburg AB9AH
W9ZL Special Event Coordinator
EAA AirVenture 2024

C. Crane CC WiFi 3 Internet Radio With Skytune, Bluetooth Receiver, Clock and Alarm with Remote Control, Access to Thousands of Radio Stations Worldwide

Listen to Thousands of Radio Stations from Around the World With Clear Reception - More than 25,000+ internet radio stations categorized by Location, Genre and Most Popular. Discover radio shows you love. Thousands of free rock, jazz, news and talk shows to choose from! All you need is an internet connection. Add your own favorite stations by submitting a valid URL to Skytune.


Bluetooth receiving included so that you can send audio from a smartphone or tablet to the CC WiFi 3 Internet Radio. A 5dBi long-range external antenna is included for long distance Wi-Fi reception within your home.


Great Audio With Full Voice Clarity – Includes a line-out which can be used for remarkable results with an amplified speaker system or any AM, FM stereo receiver for superior audio. An adjustable equalizer (Line Out and Headphone) for advance users centered at 105, 300, 850, 2400 and 6800 Hz plus an adjustable 3D setting for depth. Settings can be adjusted to your ear.


Great Bedside Radio – It's small and easy to use. Comes with a clock, dual alarm, sleep timer (15, 30, 45, 60, 120, 150, and 180 minutes) and stereo headphone jack. The included large sized remote control gives you quick access to preset stations. Presets: first 10 presets using the remote buttons, 100+ in sequence list.


Additional Features – Adjustable Backlight, 5-volt AC adapter and USB to radio power cord included. Weight: 1 lbs. 2.6 oz. Size: 6.5" W x 3.9" H x 3.9" D. 2 Year limited warranty. U.S. based tech support.

Appleton Walk MS Details:
Date: Saturday, April 27, 2024
Location: Fox Cities Stadium 2400 N Casaloma Dr. Appleton WI 54913
When: 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Sign up here: https://wipota.com/walk-ms-appleton/