Welcome to the Frederick Amateur Radio Club!

We hope you can join us for an Amateur Radio Fox Hunt at Middletown Park on May 10, 2025 starting at 11:00AM (weather permitting). We will have both walking and driving foxes (hidden transmitters) in place for you to use your radio Direction Finding (DFing) skills to find. The park is located at 7628 Coblentz Rd. Middletown, MD 21769. (https://www.recreater.com/240/Middletown-Park). We will meet near Shelter 5. Just look for the fox hunt signs and look for vehicles with antennas!

An Amateur Radio Fox Hunt is a practice drill to find hidden or lost radio transmitters using RF Direction Finding techniques. This is a receive only drill, so you do not have to be licensed to participate in thisevent. All you need to participate is a receiver or scanner capable of listening to signals between 144MHz and 148MHz, and an antenna. There will be extra equipment at the site for you to use. All our foxes will be on the 2M band (144 to 148MHz). We’ll have multiple fox hunts set up and running at the same time.

1. For the walking hunt, we’ll have a few low power (10mw) foxes located around the park for you to find while honing your DFing skills and enjoying a walk in the park! If you are a “DF expert” you might hop in the car to find the fox located a few miles away. At the walking hunt there will be assistance for those new to fox hunting. 
2. For the more skilled fox hunters, there will be a driving hunt using a 1W fox located within five miles of the park for you to find. The 146.730M repeater will be used to coordinate this hunt. At the beginning we’ll announce the fox frequency and take check-ins on the repeater so we know who is hunting. When you find the fox don’t tell everyone where you are, in case you are the first. Just let us know you found it.

Hope you can join us for the walk in the beautiful Frederick County Park!  You can find the .pdf flyer for the event here: Flyer 

Please join our neighboring club at the Great Hagerstown Hamfest, scheduled for Saturday, May 3rd from 7am until 12:30.  The event is held at the Maugansville Bible Church located at 17904 Binkley Av in Maugansville, MD, which is just west of Interstate 81 at the Maugans Avenue exit.  The Frederick club will have a table at this event – stop by and say hello!

Find all of the details on the Antietam Club website here: The Great Hagerstown Hamfest 2025 Details :: Antietam Radio Association

Please join us at 7:00pm on Monday March 17^th for the March meeting of the Frederick Amateur Radio Club. We meet in the social room of the Independent Hose Company, located at 310 Baughmans Lane in Frederick. Parking and entrance are in rear of the building. ALL members of the local community are invited to join us.

The topic of discussion this month is antenna analyzers. During the meeting, several members will show how to analyze antenna properties using traditional and “new tech” (aka Nano VNA) equipment. If you have an analyzer, and need some help understanding how it works, bring it along.

Also, new this month from 6:20 to 6:55 we’ll have our first “Elmer Time”. Since many of us arrive around 6:00 to set up the room and chat, this is an opportune time for folks to get one-on-one assistance with any radio issue – so bring your questions and relevant equipment (if possible). Of course, if you want to just join in the chat, please do. Elmer Time will be a regular feature of future meetings.

*** Our normal Zoom session will NOT be available for the March meeting. ***

Upcoming Events:

• Saturday March 22^nd : FredFest25 – the great amateur radio yard sale from 8am until noon. See details here: FredFest25
• Saturday April 19^th: Red Cross Regional Radio Drill at 9am. Details soon.
• Sunday April 27^th: Pedal for the Promise Lymphoma research ride from 8am until 1pm. We’ll need radio operators for three rest stops, three support vehicles, plus net control.
• Saturday May 3^rd: Great Hagerstown Hamfest. Please support our neighbors, details here: GHHamfest
• Saturday May 10^th: local hidden transmitter foxhunt. Details closer to the event.
• Saturday June 7^th: Tour de Frederick from early until ~7pm. We’ll provide communication support for ten rest stops and a dozen support vehicles, plus net control.
• Saturday & Sunday June 28 & 29: Field Day! This is the biggest weekend in all of amateur radio. Details as the event draws closer.
• July: club Parks on the Air activation. Details as date draws closer.
• Saturday October 4^th: Half Hike Across Maryland. We’ll provide radio support for hikers as they travel the Appalachian Trail from the Mason-Dixon line to Washington Monument Park near Boonsboro. Details as the event draws closer.

By popular demand, the club Facebook page has been revitalized. So, if you’re a Facebook fan, please join the group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/902554613191219  and join the conversation.