Our Next Fox Hunt: Mar 18 & 19

Rocky, Bullwinkle, and Boris, those wily White Rock Lake radio foxes, will be released again on March 18 & 19 from 9 AM to 5 PM!

These fox hunts are always held in the White Rock Lake area, on pubic land and within a mile of the lake. Rocky transmits on 146.565 MHz FM, and a very low powered Bullwinkle is close by on 146.545 MHz. Boris is also close by on 146.580 MHz. Many club members are able to hear Rocky at their home QTH, so hunt for Rocky first, and then for Bullwinkle and lastly for Boris.

Listen for a distinctive set of warbling tones followed by a CW ID. Each transmission is about 20 seconds long and repeats each minute.

Radio fox hunts are scheduled at the lake on the first and third Saturday of each month.

Many thanks to Dave, K5YR, and David, KG5VSR, for hosting these fun events on behalf of the club for area hams to enjoy and to practice radio direction finding skills.

For more info, check out the fox hunt web site, https://k5yr.com/foxhunt

Our Next Fox Hunt: Mar 4 & 5

Rocky and Bullwinkle, that wily pair of White Rock Lake radio foxes, will be released again on March 4 & 5 from 9 AM to 5 PM!

As an additional feature for this next hunt, we are adding in another transmitter: Boris Badenov, the Bad Boy of Radio Foxes. Boris is another low power fox, with a shorter antenna and has a propensity for being harder to find. Boris will be able to be heard from Bullwinkle but probably not from Rocky.

These fox hunts are always held in the White Rock Lake area, on pubic land and within a mile of the lake. Rocky transmits on 146.565 MHz FM, and a very low powered Bullwinkle is close by on 146.545 MHz. Boris is also close by on 146.580 MHz. Many club members are able to hear Rocky at their home QTH, so hunt for Rocky first, and then for Bullwinkle and lastly for Boris.

Listen for a distinctive set of warbling tones followed by a CW ID. Each transmission is about 20 seconds long and repeats each minute.

Radio fox hunts are scheduled at the lake on the first and third Saturday of each month.

Many thanks to Dave, K5YR, and David, KG5VSR, for hosting these fun events on behalf of the club for area hams to enjoy and to practice radio direction finding skills.

For more info, check out Rocky’s web site, https://k5yr.com/foxhunt

Our Next Fox Hunt: Feb 18 & 19

Rocky and Bullwinkle, that wily pair of White Rock Lake radio foxes, will be released again on February 18 and 19 from 9 AM to 5 PM!

These fox hunts are always held in the White Rock Lake area, on pubic land and within a mile of the lake. Rocky transmits on 146.565 MHz FM, and a very low powered Bullwinkle was close by on 146.545 MHz. Many club members are able to hear Rocky at their home QTH, so hunt for him first. If you find Rocky, then search for Bullwinkle.

Listen for a distinctive set of warbling tones followed by a CW ID. Each transmission is about 20 seconds long and repeats each minute.

Radio fox hunts are scheduled at the lake on the first and third Saturday of each month.

Many thanks to Dave, K5YR, and David, KG5VSR, for hosting these fun events on behalf of the club for area hams to enjoy and to practice radio direction finding skills.

For more info, check out Rocky’s web site, https://k5yr.com/foxhunt

HOUNDS WHO FOUND ROCKY DURING THE FEB 4 & 5 HUNT:

• KI5KTZ, Phillippe Lewis, 2023-02-04 17:27:53Z
• WB8QZM, Brian Murphy, 2023-02-04 20:27:04Z
• KN5EEE, Al Alexander , 2023-02-04 20:27:54Z
• NT5TM, Anthony Mendina, 2023-02-04 21:55:14Z
• KI5WZZ, Alberto Boisse, 2023-02-05 22:31:02Z
• W5WXY, Randy Durham, 2023-02-06 17:51:05Z

HOUNDS WHO FOUND BULLWINKLE:

• KN5EEE, Al Alexander, 2023-02-04 19:35:33Z
• WB8QZM, Brian Murphy, 2023-02-04 19:35:55Z
• NT5TM, Anthony Mendina, 2023-02-04 20:38:09Z
• KI5KTZ, Phillipe Lewis, 2023-02-04 23:23:22Z
• KI5WZZ, Alberto Boisse, 2023-02-05 22:53:03Z
• W5WXY, Randy Durham, 2023-02-06 17:52:41Z

Next fox hunt is scheduled for Feb 18 at 9AM through Feb 19 at 5PM.

“Wires in the Park” Spring Event March 25

NOTE: date changed from March 18 to March 25 due to COLD weather!

Dave K5YR has created an innovative concept called “Wires in the Park” and is hosting our third WRLARC event at Dreyfuss Point at White Rock Lake on Saturday March 25, 2023.

Prior WITP held at White Rock Lake and the Spring Creek Forest Preserve were a lot of fun and this one could be even better. Activities will include a demonstration of simple antenna techniques, QSOs with other clubs in the North Texas area, a demonstration of Radio Fox Hunting and more.

For a full list of activities, visit the Wires in the Park website, witp.info 

White Rock Simplex Nets Continue

Each Wednesday at 7 PM, hams from White Rock Lake neighborhoods and throughout the Metroplex check in to our simplex net. “Simplex” means there is no repeater used to boost a ham’s signal across the city; each signal has to “stand on its own.” Since some members use low powered hand held transceivers whose signals may not reach all participants, net members are encouraged to relay in the callsigns of any weak signals.

All D/FW area hams are welcome to check in via radio. If outside of the Dallas area, hams can also check in to the net via Echolink at WA5WRL-L.

Winter Field Day January 28, 2023

Winter in Dallas is always interesting, with temps somewhere between 20 and 75 degrees. Unless the weather is REALLY bad, we will again head out to Dreyfuss Club Point at White Rock Lake Saturday January 28 to operate portable ham radio equipment. David, KG5VSR, and Dave K5YR will be our event chairs, and begin setup late morning, with on the air activities beginning at 1 PM until late afternoon. Several HF stations are planned.

While the ARRL Field Day weekend in June is the “official” event, a more casual Winter Field Day has grown in popularity since it was first held in 2007. The purpose of Field Day is to test our readiness (and our equipment) and have some fun!

This would be a great time to meet the folks behind the voices you hear on our simplex net each week. Bring your radios to test, or just come on out and say hi!

More info on Winter Field Day is online.

Virtual Club Meeting Wednesday November 16

The WRLARC will hold its 4th quarter meeting virtually this Wednesday Nov 16 at 7 PM. This is an important meeting since we will hold elections for club office.

We are lucky to have a great slate of candidates that have volunteered to serve next year. We will open the floor for other nominations; if there are none, we can accept the nominations and then move on for another of our great round table discussions.

We’ll use Jitsi again as it has worked well for our past meetings. You can use your computer, iPad, tablet, cell phone, or even a landline.  For example, you can use a computer which doesn’t have a camera or microphone but allows you to see the video, and use your landline for the audio (special phone numbers and ID number are provided below).

When using your computer browser, there are only 4 things to do:

1. Click on (or copy and paste) this link: https://meet.jit.si/WA5WRLake

2. IMPORTANT: when prompted, click “ALLOW” to use your microphone and camera.

3. Type in your name & call sign.

4.  click on the “X” in the upper right corner of the box to remove it from asking you to install an extension (if you are using Chrome). 

When using your phone (or cell phone to avoid using data) to join the meeting and be able to listen and talk (without video): Dial (512) 647-1431 You also have to enter the following ID (including the pound sign): 4210548946#

Our Next Virtual Meeting Nov 16

Hi all! Our nominating committee of one, Randy W5WXY, has recruited an excellent officer slate for next year! The current officers enthusiastically approve the following nominees:
President: Dave K5YR
Vice-President: Ron N5SQA
Secretary: Dave KG5VSR
Treasurer: Randy W5WXY 

We’ll hold our 4th quarter club meeting virtually Wednesday November 16, 2022 at 7 PM using jit.si. We will open the floor for other nominations, and vote on these offices. The new officers take over January 1. Then we’ll have our usual fun roundtable meeting…

Thanks so much to our volunteers and to Randy for his work on this.

Radio Comms for Native Plants and Prairies Day

The WRLARC provided communications support for the Native Plants and Prairies Day held at the White Rock Lake Bath House Cultural Center on Saturday May 7, 2022.

Radio operations were held on VHF simplex, 147.52 MHz. Since all support was within 1/2 mile of the Bath House, 5 watt HTs worked great for portable operations. An Event Operations Center (EOC) was established in front of the Bath House building using a 10 watt transceiver and vertical antenna. Club members provided shadow comms and rovers for the staff that managed the event.

Thanks to all the club members that participated!

“Wires in the Park” Saturday April 2, 2022

Dave K5YR has created an innovative concept called “Wires in the Park” and is hosting his first event at Dreyfuss Point in White Rock Lake Park this Saturday.

It looks to be a great event that could become a nationwide ham radio movement! Please plan on stopping by and participating… to find out more, visit witp.info