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HENDRICKS COUNTY HAMFEST

Fellow hams!

Get ready for a fantastic day of amateur radio at the 14th Annual Hendricks County Hamfest and ARRL Indiana Section Convention, happening Saturday, February 7, 2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Hendricks County 4-H Fairgrounds & Conference Center in Danville, Indiana.

This all-indoors event is centrally located with plenty of FREE parking, making it easy to escape the winter weather and spend the morning immersed in ham radio. Admission is just $7, and kids under 10 get in FREE. Attendees can enjoy an ARRL Membership Forum, educational programs, a commercial vendor area, a lively flea market, and a comfortable space to relax and catch up with friends. On-site food vendors, great door prizes, and a welcoming atmosphere make this the perfect cure for the winter blues.

The Indiana Repeater Council (IRC) will hold its annual election of officers at their meeting 12:00 noon during the Hamfest. All repeater trustees and interested amateurs are strongly encouraged to attend. This is an important opportunity to renew your membership ($8), participate in the statewide repeater coordination conversations, governance, and leadership for the coming year.

Hamfest favorites return again this year, including VE testing, an ARRL Card Checker on site for DXCC, WAS, and VUCC, and express check-in (exact change only). Choose standard $7 admission, or take advantage of the $10 package that includes three extra door prize tickets for even more chances to win.

Vendors interested in booth space can contact AE9R@arrl.net or hamfest@n9hc.org. For more information, visit www.n9hc.org or follow HCARS and Hendricks County Hamfest on Facebook.

Talk in on 147.015 MHz (PL 88.5, +600 offset) on the N9HC repeater, and come join us for a fantastic day of ham radio fun—sponsored by the Hendricks County Amateur Radio Society (HCARS)!

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SHELBY COUNTY SEVERE WEATHER SPOTTER TRAINING

The Shelby County Emergency Management Agency in partnership with the National Weather Service in Indianapolis is pleased to announce the 2026 Weather Spotter Course. Please see the attached flyer for additional information. Registration is required and can be done by scanning the QR code on the flyer or by clinking https://forms.office.com/r/qM4NhnN14b?origin=lprLink

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Things you need to know:

  • Next Regular Members Meeting  Tuesday, March 17, 2026. The Meeting will be held at the Hopes Point Baptist Church, 1703 S Miller Ave, Shelbyville, IN 46176. Meeting time is 7:00 PM.
  • Ham Breakfast with the Hams:  Breakfasts are always held on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of each month at 8:30AM at the Shelbyville Denny’s restaurant located on the East side of Shelbyville at the I-74 and SR44 interchange. See you there.
  • New Rush County DMR Repeater is located in downtown Rushville, IN. The repeater is on 441.325/446.325 MHz and is connected to the Brandmeister network. The repeater has fairly good coverage and should be workable in all of Rush County and most of surrounding Counties.
  • New DMR Net on Rush and Shelby DMR Repeaters: The Net will be held on the Rushville Local Talkgroup(see codeplug information below). This talk group is static on both repeaters and thus will work as a link to both repeaters. You can check in using either repeater, use the one that works best for you. The Net will be on Monday nights at approximately 7:15 PM(This is a new time, was 7:45 PM) just after the Rush County Net held on the 147.00 MHz repeater.
  • CODE PLUG INFORMATION:
  • Rush Shelby DMR Repeater Info
  • IDHS Auxcomm Team has two nets every Thursday as follows: 7:30 p.m. ET (19:30): HF 7.250 MHz +/- QRM, 8 p.m. ET (20:00): 147.2100 +0.6 MHz offset / Tone 88.5 Hz
  • W9ILS Indiana Link South ARES Net is held every Sunday evening at 8:00PM EST. You can participate in the Net by using a hotspot or linking to any ILS repeater. On your hotspot link to YSF Room 43844 and use DGID 11.
  • The Rush County Net is held every Monday evening at 7:00 PM on the 147.00 MHz repeater located in Rush County. The repeater has a 127.3 Hz PL tone. All check-ins are welcome.
  • The Indiana Statewide DStar Net is held every Thursday evening at 8:00 PM on Reflector 24B. The repeater is always on Reflector 24B on Thursday evenings for the net. You can also access the net through a hotspot.
  • Crossroads DMR Net is held every Monday evening at 8:00PM on Talkgroups 8710 and 3118. You can participate in the net through the Shelbyville DMR repeater on 441.4875 MHz.
  •  Indiana Statewide DMR Information Net every Tuesday at 8:00 PM EST. You can participate in this net on the Shelbyville DMR repeater on 441.4875 MHz, 3118 Talkgroup.
  • Two Day Amateur Radio Class: The classes are on 24 & 31 January, 2026, 9:00 am to about 3:00 pm on the 24th and 9:00 am to 12:00 pm on the 31h.   Then testing will be from 1:00 pm to about 4:00 pm and all three tests will be available.  The address is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 900 E. Stop 11 (just West of St. Rd. 31) on the North side. To sign up contact Bruce Enz (W9ENZ) by email:  brucenz@gmail.com or by phone (317) 201-8299
  • SSTV/CW NET You can catch up on your CW and Digital Slow Scan TV on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings at 8:50 AM on 144.36 MHz. If you are not fluent in CW, then we invite you to cheat a little and fire up FLDIGI and join on in. After CW we then fire up the Digital SSTV program EasyPal and send pictures back and forth over the airwaves.
  • To be added to our mailing list, please send you contact info to inprinter@comcast.net. You will then get email notifications and mailings concerning any future events of the Society.

INDIANA QSO Party 2025

Hello Fellow Amateur Radio Operator(s).

You are receiving this email as this email address has been identified as the contact for the local amateur radio club.

The reason for this email is to request that the members of the local amateur radio club be notified of the upcoming Indiana QSO Party- INQP to be held Saturday May 3rd from 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM EDT. Saturday May 3rd 1500 UTC to Sunday May 4th 0259 UTC.

The rules for the INQP can be found here: http://www.hdxcc.org/inqp/rules.html

The activity map showing the planned county activations can be found here: http://www.hdxcc.org/inqp/activity.php

If you have any questions, please contact Mark Musick, WB9CIF at markmusick@outlook.com

INQP Committee Member

Thank you and 73,

Mark Musick, WB9CIF

COLUMBUS HAMFEST 2025

The Columbus Hamfest will be held on April 5, 2025 from 8:00 AM until Noon. The Hamfest will be held at the Columbus North High School Cafeteria, 1400 25th Street, Columbus, IN 47201.

All-Indoor flea market, VE Testing from 9:00AM until Noon, Free Parking, Adult Admission charge $5.00, Hourly Door Prizes. Grand Prize is Icom ID-50a HT D-Star Radio. All details can be found at their website: www.carcnet.net.

Shelbyville Tailgate 2025

The Shelbyville Tailgate will be held on Saturday, October 4, 2025 at the Shelby County Fairgrounds. Hours are from 8:00 AM until Noon. We will be open for vendor access at 7:00 AM. This is a free event. No admission charge, no table space charge and you have your choice of setting up your wares for sale either indoors or out. Talk-in will be on the 145.48 MHz repeater with an 88.5 Hz PL tone.

BRVARS Member Viginia Hill Passes

Virginia “Ginny” Faye Hill, 78, passed away peacefully on April 20, 2023 surrounded by her loving family at the Franciscan Hospice House in Indianapolis. She was a resident of Shelbyville.

Ginny was born on August 31, 1944 at home in Fort Ritner, Indiana to Charley and Edna (Brown) Cook. She married Larry Hill on October 4, 1964 at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Leesville, Indiana . He lovingly survives after 58 years of marriage.

Other survivors include her children, David Hill (Beth) and Shelley Hill; grandchildren, Aaron Hill and Meagan Collier (Austin); 26 nieces and nephews; 56 grand nieces and nephews; and 43 great grand nieces and nephews.

Ginny was preceded in passing by her parents, Charley and Edna; and siblings, Henry Cook, Harry Cook, Rachel Garrison, and Ruth Ratliff.

Ginny graduated from Tunnelton High School in 1962. She later graduated from Porter Business College in downtown Indianapolis.

She worked as secretary for United Home Life for 3 years following her marriage to Larry. She was a homemaker to her family as her children aged and later went on to work as a substitute daycare worker at Johnson Memorial Hospital for many years. Ginny also was a Longaberger consultant for many years.

Ginny was a member of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Franklin and the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League. She was also a member of Indiana Good Sam and the Indiana Orchid Society. She loved orchids and wildflowers. She enjoyed reading and collecting Longaberger baskets.

The family would like to extend a special thanks to the staff at Franciscan Hospice House for their dedication in caring for Ginny in her final days.

A celebration of life service will be held on Tuesday, April 25, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 4340 Leesville Road Bedford, Indiana 47421 with visitation starting at 9:30 a.m. at the church. Visitation will also be on Monday, April 24, 2023 from 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Flinn and Maguire Funeral Home, 2898 N. Morton Street in Franklin. Burial will follow the service at Leesville Cemetery in Leesville.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church at P.O. Box 265 Franklin, Indiana 46131.

Online condolences and other expressions of kindness are appreciated at www.flinnmaguire.net

Public Service Opportunity – 500 Festival Mini Marathon

Hello Everyone –

You are receiving this message because you are an officer of an amateur radio club in the Indianapolis metro area.

Please allow me to introduce myself.  My name is Brent Walls and my amateur radio callsign is N9BA.  I am coordinating amateur radio communications support for the 2023 500 Festival Mini Marathon on Saturday May 6th.  This is one of the most iconic mini marathons in the nation and I need your help getting the word out to potential volunteers in your club.  To fully support this event, we will need 70+ amateur radio operators.

Amateur radio operators will be stationed at pit stops (medical and water), at mile markers, the finish line area and other strategic locations.  Our primary mission is to provide communications support to the medical and logistical operations for overall public safety.  This is a great opportunity to showcase our capabilities to the 500 Festival, public safety partners and the general public.

I would like to ask you to share this opportunity with your club members and encourage them to consider volunteering to support this event.  All they need is a dual band (VHF/UHF) radio capable of operating up to 6 hours (extra batteries).  Most assignments will be handheld friendly as we will use local repeaters for most communications.  The operational period for all amateur radio operators begins at 0630 and will be a staggered release no later than 1230.

Anyone interested in volunteering can use the link below to register as an amateur radio communicator for this event. 

https://forms.office.com/r/jM35QxffzD

Anyone with questions can contact me directly by e-mail at bwalls5@outlook.com and I will be glad to answer their questions.

Regards,

Brent Walls N9BA