Category: Uncategorized

The next meeting for the TCARC will be Tuesday, September 12, 2023 at 6:30 pm in the upstairs meeting room at the Dwight Foster Public Library, located at 209 Merchants Avenue in Fort Atkinson (map and directions).

For those of you who can’t make the meeting in person, we’ll also be on Zoom. Drop an email to TCARC@W9MQB.org to get the link, minutes of the last meeting, and the agenda for what we’ll cover during the meeting.

Also, please update your contact information for mailings to the Club. Our new address is PO Box 321, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538-0321, effective immediately.

See you Tuesday!

Got any plans for Tuesday evening, June 13, 2023? Of course, you do! Planning for Field Day!

Join us for the Field Day Prep meeting at the Watertown Municipal Airport, 1741 River Drive, located, of course, in Watertown WI. Maps and directions are here.

We’ll discuss the actions, equipment, and people needed to make Field Day 2023 happen June 24-25. Come to figure out how you fit into the plan and bring your suggestions to make that plan better. If you can’t make the Tuesday meeting, we’ll send out another email with the schedule (and the food that we’ll be serving!!!), so keep your eye on your inbox next week.

Questions? Add a comment belowor email the club email at TCARC (at) W9MQB.org

See you Tuesday night at the airport!

Every amateur radio club is required to have a trustee for an FCC issued club license/call sign. The person designated the license/call sign trustee has ultimate responsibility for the proper operation and content of communication of the club station and repeaters. This club station license allows the members of the Tri-County Amateur Radio Club to operate our station operating under the club call sign, W9MQB.

At our May meeting, the club unanimously voted to accept Tim Smillie (NT9S) as our new trustee. Tim holds an Amateur Extra class ham license and we want to publicly thank him for taking on this vital role for the club.

We’d also like to thank John Pickhard (AB9KL) for the many years that he held this role, and for his service to the both Club and to Amateur Radio. Thank you, John!

The next meeting for the TCARC will be Tuesday, May 9th, 2023 at 6:30 pm in the upstairs meeting room at the Dwight Foster Public Library, located at 209 Merchants Avenue in Fort Atkinson (map and directions). For those of you who can’t make the meeting in person, we’ll also be on Zoom (Meeting ID: 468 502 4089, Passcode: 36061741) with a link to the meeting here: Link to Join Zoom Meeting.

Our website has been getting some updates, so we’re please to announce the addition of the Tri-County Amateur Radio Club Online Library, providing access to club documents including minutes of our club meetings. Over the next couple of months, we’ll be digging back into Club history to share some of the fun things we’ve unearthed, but for now, we’re starting more recently, with current club information, such as the minutes for last month’s club meeting is available at: https://www.W9MQB.org/files/Minutes/2023-04.pdf. If you find any errors or omissions in the minutes, please add a comment below, email them to the club email (TCARC (at) W9MQB.org), or bring them along to the meeting. Reading through the minutes is a great way to keep informed if you can’t make a particular meeting, either in person or via Zoom.

This month, join us to hear updates on Tour de Fort, the project to upgrade our repeater, Field Day updates, welcome our new Trustee, and other club news.

The Ozaukee Radio Club will hold their 43rd annual SwapFest on Saturday. May 6th at the Columbia St. Mary’s Center, located within the Ozaukee County Fairgrounds in Cedarburg, WI. The Center, at at W67N890 Washington Ave., is about a mile south of Hwy 60 and Washington Avenue, just east of Washington and Cambridge Ave.

Doors open at 8 AM, with general admission for $7. 6 foot tables can be purchased in advance for $12; any that remain on the day of the event will sell for $15. Enjoy food provided by Cub Scout Pack 586. For Advance Tickets and Tables, or more information, check out the Fest flyer at: https://www.ozaukeeradioclub.org/

Have information about your club event that you’d like us to list here? Drop us a comment below or send an email and we’ll pass the word along!

The next meeting for the TCARC will be Tuesday, April 11, 2023 at 6:30 pm in the upstairs meeting room at the Dwight Foster Public Library, located at 209 Merchants Avenue in Fort Atkinson (map and directions).

For those of you who can’t make the meeting in person, we’ll also be on Zoom (Meeting ID: 468 502 4089, Passcode: 36061741) with a link to the meeting here: Link to Join Zoom Meeting.

Among the topics on the agenda will be a review of HamFest 2023, and planning for HamFest 2024. Join into the meeting to give your perspective on what went well and what we should change for next year.

A special thanks to all of you that gave up your time on a brisk Wisconsin Sunday morning to support Amateur Radio in south central Wisconsin by attending HamFest 2023. Our official numbers have just been confirmed by our Fest Audit: our final tally indicated that we sold 86 tables with 396 people attending the Fest. I’m gathering numbers on testing but, when I popped my head at the window, there looked to a good group of you working to level up or become a new ham, which I find totally encouraging. While about 80 people less than the record-setting attendance for 2022, this is above average for our pre-Covid years so we are VERY pleased by the turnout.

We’re interested to hear what your experience at the Fest was like, so we’ve set up a Survey to hear from you. If you’d like to give us your view of what was good and what we should work to improve next year, use this link: https://www.W9MQB.com/Survey/?id=HamFest2023.

We are grateful beyond words for your partnership, and are looking forward to applying what we learned to make 2024 even better. Block out the date on your calendar– March 17th, 2024 — and start the count down until we’re back to do this once more!!!

The Madison Area Repeater Association will be hosting its annual Ham
Fest on Saturday April 15th in Stoughton, WI at the Mandt Community
Center. Event details, general admission tickets and vendor
registration may be found on the club’s web site… https://w9hsy.org/hamfest-2023/

Have information about another area Fest? Forward it to us at least 4 weeks before the event, by emailing us at TCARC@w9mqb.org and we’ll publish the information to help other ham groups succeed!

After sludging our way through a Midwestern winter, an dreaming of better SWR days to come, even the sturdiest Ham will need some encouragement and fun… and the Tri-County Ham Fest starts tomorrow to give you just that!

We’re selling out the last tables online right now, so expect to find table after table after table of ham radios to cover every band, antennas, connectors, tuners, books, vintage equipment… heck I don’t have the space to describe everything, since we’re filling 12,000 square feet of the Activity Center with vendors bringing in even the stuff you didn’t remember you needed! On our new SwapFest page (https://www.W9MQB.org/SwapFest/), you can point to a table in your favorite browser and find out what they’ve announced they are bringing!

Want to learn about becoming a ham? Are you already licensed, but is it time to jump onto the upgrade path? Local clubs will have information out about Club meetings and opportunities to increase your knowledge and bring your amateur radio craft. to new heights.

Doors open at 8 AM. Visit the club food area and we’ll greet you with hot coffee and donuts to power up your treasure hunt.

Still need tickets? Avoid the line!! Purchase tickets online at https://www.W9MQB.org/SwapFest/, bring the email message with your ticket (or a printout), and you can skip the line and head right into the Fest. You want fast and easy? It doesn’t get much better than this.

And, just to thank you for supporting Amateur Radio in the Jefferson, Walworth, and Rock County WI area, we’ve assembled a MASSIVE list of door prizes. We have nearly $1,000 worth of prizes we’ll be giving out including: $25 HRO gift certificates, five $100 gift certificates for Alpha Antenna, an HT, books, and tons more.

If you purchase your ticket online, you’re already entered. If you but your ticket at the Fest, make sure you stop at Table 93, just inside the entry doors, with your ticket to get entered into the hourly drawings! Keep an ear open for the hourly announcements or drop by Table 99 to check out all of the goodies. We’ll be giving out this cool stuff between 8 AM and noon, so hang around to increase your chances of winning something very cool!

The next TCARC meeting will be Tuesday, March 14, 2023 in the upstairs meeting Room at the Dwight Foster Public Library, located at 209 Merchants Avenue in Fort Atkinson (map and directions). Our meeting will start at 6:30 PM and should run through 8:00 PM. Our primary topic will be to work through the final arrangements for the Tri-County Ham Fest coming up on Match 19th. Check your email for a reminder that will be sent out on Friday, which will include the February meeting minutes .

Aren’t getting those minutes? Drop us an email at TCARC@w9mqb.org and we willmake sure you’re on the list! You can also update your membership data using our Online Membership form link at https://www.w9mqb.org/MembershipForm/ to apply to become a member, check your current membership status, update your information, or even renew your membership later this year.

For those of you who can’t make the meeting in person, we’ll also be on Zoom (Meeting ID: 468 502 4089, Passcode: 36061741) with a link to the meeting here: Link to Join Zoom Meeting.

See you on Tuesday, March 14th!