| Annual FRRL Holiday Meeting |
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| Newly elected Central Division Vice Director Kermit Carlson, W9XA talks to a full gathering of the FRRL at the December 2009 club meeting. |
| IRLP and Echolink Functioning |
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| Kermit W9XA and Dick AH6EZ at the FRRL Repeater site just after they were able to get IRLP and Echolink working. Thanks, guys!! |
| AH6EZ Demos Sparkgap |
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| A piece of radio history was demonstrated during the FRRL's October meeting. The club enjoyed Dick's presentation of a working homebrew sparkgap transmitter. |
| FRRL Radio-In-The-Park - Glen Ellyn |
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| The popular FRRL Radio-In-The-Park continues at Hidden Lake Preserve in Glen Ellyn. This gathering saw 7 FRRL Club members on a hot August afternoon, making Q's and enjoying the breeze off the lake. Be sure to send us the pictures of YOUR "Radio-In-The-Park" adventure. |
| 2009 FRRL Hamfest A Success!! |
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| Thanks to all the people and vendors who helped make this year's FRRL 80th anniversary hamfest the best ever! Visit the 2009 picture gallery, here. |
| FRRL Annual Cougars Outing |
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| The FRRL club members continue their yearly tradition of baseball and fireworks with the Kane County Cougars. Visit the 2009 picture gallery, here. |
| FRRL Features GOTA at Field Day |
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| This June, the FRRL participated in the 2009 Field Day event (more information and pictures, here). In this picture, Denny W9HI is mentoring folks new to the amateur radio hobby in the "Get-On-The-Air" station, located at Johnson's Mound. |
| FRRL Radio-In-The-Park - June 13 |
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| Radio-In-The-Park is a new FRRL Club Activity (more information and pictures, here). This first gathering saw FRRL Club members Dean KC9EOQ, Bill NF9D and John AG9D (along with several others) descend on Johnson's Mound Park for the June ARRL VHF Contest. This was an excellent tune up for the club's participation in the upcoming Field Day event which will also be held at Johnson's Mound, June 27-28. |
| FRRL Provides Communication for Canoe Race |
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| Club members Frank AA9FR and Bart KC9FQA keep a close watch on the canoe numbers at the North Aurora portage of the 48th annual Mid-American Canoe & Kayak Race. In all, 17 club members participated to provide communications for this event. More information and pictures, here. |
| Getting Ready for Field Day - June 27-28 |
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| Field Day planning is well underway. Eric AB9OS (above) is our FD Chairman and is leading the planning effort. On Thursday, April 30th he assembled the Band Captains and support staff together at Rasmussen College. He outlined the goals of the event this year by providing an interactive exercise which revealed the lessons learned from past events. Our club will use the park at Johnson's Mound this year. |
| FRRL Member At Dayton Hamvention |
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| Club member Dick AH6EZ sizes up the gear in the Collins Van at the 2009 Dayton Hamvention. Any candidates for this year's Field Day Phone stations? |
| FRRL Member Grabs 1st Prize |
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| Congratulations to Chris KC9IEQ, Grand Prize Winner! He was lucky enough to have his ticket drawn from the drum at the DeKalb Hamfest on Sunday May 3rd. The Kishwaukee Amateur Radio Club holds its annual hamfest at the Sandwich Fairgrounds in Sandwich, IL. Chris is an active member of the FRRL and serves on the Board of Directors. |
| Canoe Race - Need More Hams - June 7th |
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| Tobi K9TCD discusses Canoe Race event plans with FRRL President, Mike K9FE during the April meeting. Tobi is looking for additional help for the June 7th event. There are two starting point on the Fox River this year. Hams will need to contact Tobi to volunteer. |
| April Meeting Displays Past and Present |
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| Dick AH6EZ shows a group of members the SoftRock kit he built. Dick has been active with the SDR groups which continues to meet at Rasmussen College on selected Saturdays. The program which he presented at the April meeting highlighted the National Electronics Museum which is located in Baltimore, Maryland. On a recent work related visit to the area, Dick scheduled time to visit the Museum and took pictures which he shared with the club.
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| Denny W9HI takes a closer look at the SoftRock kit which Dick AH6EZ built in support of the on-going Software Defined Radio project the club is involved in. Several members of the club continue to meet on selected Saturdays to discuss, build and operate these exciting kits. The next SDR meeting is Saturday April 25th, 9am at Rasmussen College. |
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| Cyd N9CV and Mike KC9TVS (seated l to r) discuss current events with an FRRL member during the April meeting. Cyd has been recently named as the Kane County ARES Emergency Coordinator. She replaces Eric KC9FQV. The Kane County ARES program is active in emergency communications, weather spotting and public service events. |
| March FRRL Meeting Features "Hands On" Demonstrations |
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| Denny W9HI (right, seated) presented several VOMs for club members to use and learn with. Members compared voltage, resistance and current measurements among the many VOMs on display. Basic test equipment such as the VOM comes in handy when trying to troubleshoot an experiment, component parts or while repairing a radio or other equipment. |
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| Harry K9DXA (standing, right) presented "QRP in the Park" which featured a small QRP radio, keyer and antenna system. Club members surrounded the demonstrations tables at the March FRRL meeting. Also available was an "Elmers Corner," an area set aside for new hams to ask questions of more experienced hams. The meetings are an excellent opportunity to share ideas and knowledge about amateur radio. |
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| Cyd N9CV, Tobi K9TCD and Carol WD9CNW (l to r) are shown above displaying their 1st Place YL Club award for their efforts during the 2008 YL-OM contest. Six women from the FRRL joined forces and operated the event. For more information about their activity, please see the March 2008 Arc Over in the Newsletters section. The award was displayed to the club by Tobi during the March 2009 FRRL meeting. |
| FRRL Software Defined Radio SIG Launched |
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| The FRRL Software Defined Radio (SDR) group met for the first time on Saturday, February 28th at Rasmussen College in Aurora. Eleven FRRL members were present to discuss the framework of future group activities. SDR SIG Coordinator Harry Jones K9DXA (above) presented a project outline, including the results of a pole taken through the new Yahoo Groups message board. There is a wide range of experience each of the members brought to the group. Some members are very new to SDR while others have practical experience in the building and testing of SDR kits. |
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| Dick AH6EZ demonstrated the TAPR HPSDR boards and PowerSDR software featured at the February club meeting. Moving forward: the members of the SIG decided to individually purchase a SoftRock V9 receiver kit from Tony Parks KB9YIG, a leading developer and kit builder of SDR products. After the kits arrive, a group kit-building effort is planned. Many in the SDR group have not yet installed surface-mount components, so this will be a new and fun experience. The next SDR meeting is scheduled for Saturday, March 28th. For more information, please contact Harry K9DXA (harryj6 (at) gmail.com). |
| Justin Roess, KC9NYY FRRL Membership Coordinator |
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| The FRRL welcomes Justin KC9NYY as the 2009 Membership Coordinator. President Mike Urso, K9FE appointed Justin to this valuable position and introduced Justin to the membership at the February meeting. Justin is responsible for welcoming new members to the club, as well as recruiting additional members. If you have questions about becoming a member of the FRRL or would like to find out more about our club, please contact Justin. (Membership (at) frrl.org). Check out our membership page for additional club information. |
| Kermit Carlson, W9XA Appointed Chairman of VUAC |
| The ARRL announced January 17, 2009 that Kermit Carlson, W9XA has been appointed the new Chairman of the VHF/UHF Advisory Committee (VUAC). Kermit has been a long time member of the Fox River Radio League and has fulfilled many of the leadership positions. |
| FRRL Scores in 2008 IL QSO Party |
| Fourteen FRRL club members teamed up to achieve
2nd place in club participation, 6th in overall points. |
| AG9D FRRL 2008 "Ham of the Year" |
Photo: Eric KB9IDT
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| John AG9D (right) receives the prestigious FRRL "Ham of the Year" award from 2008 FRRL President, Greg N9CHA. Each year the club members who attend the December meeting have the chance to vote for the Ham of the Year. This secret ballot is tallied by the President and the award is announced during the Banquet. The criteria for this award includes making a significant contribution to the amateur radio hobby. John AG9D is active with the ARISS (Amateur Radio aboard the International Space Station) program and provides mentorship to schools who then contact an astronaut on the ISS. He has also started a ham radio school club (W9BHB) in his local community. |
| Rasmussen College Receives FRRL Certificate |
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| A Certificate of Appreciation was presented to Rasmussen College at the February 2008 meeting. The college is the new home of the FRRL. All meetings including VE sessions are now hosted by the college. Shown above is Tony Perez, Director of Admissions. |
