Welcome to the Frederick Amateur Radio Club!

Join us for an Amateur Radio Fox Hunt at the Catoctin Creek Park & Nature Center on May 13, 2023 starting at 10:30 AM – immediately after the monthly club breakfast. Rain date is May 20, 2023. Weather changes and talk-in via W3FDK 146.73MHz repeater. The park is located at 2929 Sumantown Road, Middletown, MD 21769. We will meet in the parking lot near Shelter 2, unless the park is very busy, then we will meet in the overflow parking area. Just look for the fox hunt signs and vehicles with antennas!

An Amateur Radio Fox Hunt is a practice drill to find hidden radio transmitters using RF direction finding techniques. Since this is a receive only drill so you do not have to be licensed to participate in this event. All our transmitters will be on the two meter band, and we will have loaner equipment, if you just want to give it a try.

We’ll have two fox hunts set up.
1. One fox hunt with one transmitter near the shelter (less than 100 yards level walking). This is a training hunt where experienced fox hunters will be happy to assist you by showing different techniques to do radio direction finding.
2. The second hunt for the more seasoned fox hunters will have four transmitters (foxes) hidden in the park, along the trails. This one will require some walking. When you find your first fox, it will have a tag on it with the frequency of your next fox. You can then repeat to find the rest, or just come back to sit and talk with other HAMs!  A .pdf flyer for the event is here: Foxhunt-5_13_23.pdf

If you’ve never been to the Catoctin Creek Park & Nature Center you will find this a hidden gem of Frederick County. There are lots of walking trails through the woods, a playground, water access and a Nature Center with wildlife displays inside. More info on the park is here:  Catoctin-Creek-Nature-Center

The Tour de Frederick 2023 bicycle extravaganza is on for June 10 and we’ll need volunteer amateur radio operators to ride in Support and Gear (SAG) vehicles, staff rest stops and assist at Net Control.  This is a great opportunity to get out and use our service in support of the local community.  If you can help, please go here to sign up:  https://forms.gle/eP7bTdyxHiBbnhsM6

Please let me know if you have questions – you can email me at my address found on qrz.com

73!
Mike Forrence K3MMM

Come one, come all to the April Frederick Amateur Radio Club meeting on Monday April 17th at 7pm.  We meet at the Independent Hose Company Social Hall at 310 Baughmans Lane in Frederick.  The entrance is at the rear of the building.  In our continuing series of presentations, Sandy KB3EOF will discuss software antenna modeling.  Please join us in person or via Zoom at: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85487265741?pwd=VFErODAzeUVVVVkwQytLN2NrbVJrZz09

Club meetings are a great way to meet other local ham operators.  Meetings are open to anyone who is interested – we encourage visitors to stop in.

The Frederick Amateur Radio Club will be hosting a Parks on the Air (POTA) club activation on Saturday April 8th, beginning at 10am. Please join us at one of these locations:

• Gathland State Park
  Kerri KB3WAV/Ray KC3RW
• Catoctin Mountain Park (Chestnut Picnic Area on Park Central Rd)
  Mike K3MMM/Justin AB3E
  ** Due to “increased security”, Chestnut Picnic Area is only accessible from the west, as Park Central Rd is temporarily closed from Thurmont Vista to Camp Greentop.  From MD 77, turn north on Foxville-Deerfield Rd, right on Monahan Rd, right on Park Central Rd. **
• Gambrill State Park (near the Tea Room at High Knob)
  Sandy KB3EOF