Wheaton Hamfest returns to Kane County Fairgrounds Jan. 20
The Wheaton Community Radio Amateurs will hold its 52nd annual Midwinter Wheaton Hamfest from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 20, in the Prairie Events Center, Wing B, at the Kane County Fairgrounds, 525 S. Randall Road in St. Charles.
This is a ham radio, computer and hobby electronics flea market. There will be amateur radio exams from 8 to 11:30 a.m.
A Yaesu FT-991A will be raffled for $10 a ticket. Only 300 raffle tickets will be sold.
There will be a food vendor on site.
Admission is $10; free for children under age 12 or all Scouts under age 18 in uniform. For information, contact Kelsey Schroeder at (630) 923-5447 or visit w9ccu.org/Hamfest.html.
Three forums will be held during the 2019 Hamfest.
At 8:30 a.m., Bob Van Valzah, KE9YQ: Electronic trading companies using high frequencies to send trading signals from Aurora to Europe.
At 9:30 a.m., Jennifer Van Zieleghem, KD9FMJ: "Portable, Parks, and Picnic Tables" Have you ever wanted to take your amateur radio hobby to the great outdoors? In the event of an emergency do you have the right stuff? Do you like the idea of SOTA (Summits on the Air) or IOTA (Islands on the Air) but you don't want to climb a mountain or travel to an island? "Portable, Parks, and Picnic Tables" is the answer to all of those questions!
At 10:30 a.m., Jim Hull, W9JGH & Ron Delpiere-Smith, KD9IPO will discuss distracted driving laws and the impact on amateur radio.
Wheaton Community Radio Amateurs Inc. was founded in 1948. It is a group of amateur radio operators who promote the advancement of the hobby and science of amateur radio by training and testing new amateur operators; providing local communications infrastructure via repeaters; supporting local emergency services with secondary communications; and offering communications support for many local charitable and social groups.
Its mission is to further the art of radio communications and electronics by mentoring anyone with like interests, participating in community events, preparedness in assisting in the event of a disaster where other communication modes can fail, while promoting social camaraderie among its members.
The monthly membership meeting will be 7:30 p.m. Fridays, Feb. 1 and March 1, at First Presbyterian Church, 715 N. Carlton St. in Wheaton.
The group offers "Fox Hunting," a fun activity where the "hunters" use radio direction finding techniques to locate a transmitter within a fixed geographical boundary. Attendees gather about a half-hour before the hunt. Everyone is invited to participate or ride along; call in advance. All hunts start at 8 p.m. Saturdays around DuPage County. For the schedule, visit www.w9ccu.org.