10/14/2023

By Todd Emmert, W9TWE

Indiana State University[1] Amateur Radio Club, W9ISU, had a successful ARRL
Collegiate QSO Party[2], held October 7 - 8, thanks to the support of local
hams.

The club has faced challenges in recent months, including being displaced due
to campus renovations and having minimal student involvement; they didn't even
have a multimode, multiband transceiver. In an effort to boost interest and
attention to amateur radio, Faculty Advisor Dr. Robert Girod, N9RNV, offered
10% extra credit to students who earned their Technician-class amateur radio
license. That incentive, along with efforts from student leader and W9ISU
President Rowan Eggert, WO1P, helped turn things around. The club received a
grant from the school that allowed them to purchase three stations, Icom
IC-7300s with Heil Pro 7 headsets, foot switches, and antennas. The gear made
it possible for them to set a goal of having everything up and running for the
48 hours of the ARRL Collegiate QSO Party.

Eggert listed the event on the local radio club's social media pages to get the
word out to any alumni that would be interested in helping or getting on the
air.

She also got with the local Boy Scouts and set up a public demonstration during
the QSO party for them. Eggert also invited other faculty to stop by and see
what W9ISU was all about.

There was hurdle after hurdle during the week leading up to the event. After
finding out the newly ordered antennas were not shipped, and there weren't any
solid answers on when they would ship, Rowan went into crisis management mode
and reached out to local hams and clubs --the amateur community rallied. Local
radio amateurs provided use of a Yagi for satellite contacts, and three
multiband, portable verticals and coax for the HF stations.

Friday night, as the operating event neared, Eggert; Seth Byas, KI5QHD, and Dr.
Girod were unable to get the SWR correct on the antennas, so they reached out
on a local repeater for assistance.

It just so happened that one of their supporting clubs and ARRL Affiliated
Club, Wabash Valley Amateur Radio Association (WVARA), W9UUU, was having a
dinner and meeting a few blocks away. After WVARA tended to their own club
business, a calvary of hams showed up with an antenna analyzer and over a
century of cumulative expertise to help get all three W9ISU stations on the air
in less than 45 minutes. (They complied with the event rules, which stated
operating only one transmitter at a time.)

The W9ISU club went on to stay up day and night making contacts, eating food,
talking radio, and hosting guests and alumni for the next 46 hours.

Faculty Advisor David Barber, KB9YDX, brought technical expertise and donuts on
Saturday and Sunday.

The club members were anxious to get the logs compiled and see how they ranked
in points. Regardless, they learned a lot and felt the support of their amateur
community.

ARRL has resources for collegiate amateur radio clubs. The ARRL Collegiate
Amateur Radio Program (CARP) was established to support and promote Amateur
Radio among students and ham radio clubs at colleges and universities. More
information can be found at www.arrl.org/collegiate-amateur-radio[3].

[1] https://www.indstate.edu/
[2] https://collegiateqsoparty.com/
[3] http://www.arrl.org/collegiate-amateur-radio

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Re: Local Amateur Community Rallies to Support Collegiate Club for QSO Par
By: ARRL de WD1CKS to QST on Fri Oct 13 2023 07:53 pm

> By Todd Emmert, W9TWE
>
> Indiana State University[...]

Glad the Sycamores could get it together!

The local club is facing similar challenges and pushback from the university,
and it would be a shame to see such an old and distinguished institution fall apart.

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