Piglet News

April 11, 2024

We have pink ballcaps, customized with your callsign, just in time for Hamvention! Just $20.  Visit our new Members Merch Shop page for ordering details.

Sat. May 4, 2024 (11:00 AM - 11:00 PM)
Boone County Fairgrounds, Lebanon IN

Join the Piglets for a fun day on the air during the Indiana QSO Party. It's an all-day casual HF contest where Indiana is the focus! The goal is for everyone outside Indiana to work as many Indiana stations as they can, while Indiana stations focus on working as many states, Canadian provinces and Indiana counties we can.  It's a great opportunity for members (and guests!) who are new to HF or contesting to learn how to get on the air and help us kick off outdoor radio season!  We score extra points for activating "rare" counties with few past participants (like Boone Co.), so that's where we'll be!

Learn more on our INQP 2024 page. If you're interested in running a radio, logging, helping set up, or simply observing, let us know on our Discord #inqp-planning channel or via email.

Rescheduled to Sunday May 5, 2024... ¡¡CINCO DE MAYO!!
2:00-4:30 PM
*** CANCELLED FOR MARCH 3RD! ***

Starting Location: TBD (Suggestions welcome; Simon Moon Park is under construction.)
Use Hortonville UHF repeater (443.95) for talk-in.

Usually held on first Sundays of the month

Get your 2 meter Yagis, handheld radios, attenuators and mapping apps ready... spring is almost here... and that means FOXHUNTS!! If you've never done a "fox" radio transmitter hunt before, no problem... Come out to the park and pair up with a seasoned fox hunting member to learn how!

We hide a 2m handheld (and controller transmitting Morse Code) somewhere in Hamilton County, and see how fast we can find it using direction-finding antennas, maps and plotted radio bearings. (There may be a second MicroFox hidden within a few blocks of the first fox location!) It's a fun time developing a skill that can be used to track down interference sources, rogue operators or locate lost people and downed aircraft.

Some external links:
- Intro to Foxhunting: http://homingin.com/SCalStyle.html
- Equipment Overview: http://homingin.com/equipment.html
- Tons more info on the Homing In site: http://homingin.com/

NOTE: Our regular starting location, Simon Moon Park, is closed for construction. We are seeking ideas for another public high-elevation starting point!

Sat. March 2, 2024 (9:00 - 11:30 AM)
Riverside Junior High School Auditorium, Fishers

[This event is not organized by Piglet Radio.]

Live storm spotter training from the National Weather Service is crucial to reporting severe weather accurately and efficiently during storm monitoring nets as a SkyWarn Spotter.

Event is open to the public, ages 10+, ham license not needed. This event is being hosted by Hamilton County Emergency Management (HCEM).  

Learn more and sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4AABAF2CA2F4C25-44690379-03022024#/

Other live and virtual training dates at https://www.weather.gov/ind/spotter_talks.

Feb. 9-10, 2024

At home!

Piglets celebrated Chinese New Year by grabbing their favorite Chinese-made transceiver (or two!) to see how many contacts they could made within a two hour window. HF, VHF/UHF, and even IRLP/Echolink contacts were all fair game!  

Learn More...

Saturday, February 03, 2024
1-3pm, Carmel-Clay Library, Community Room A

Many Piglets use 3D printers to enhance our hobby or solve problems around the house. This workshop introduces creating and modifying 3D designs with Autodesk Fusion 360 software using sketches, dimensions, parameters, and constraints to allow for easy design changes. [Workshop video archived on Past Workshops page.]

Jan. 27-28, 2024
Sat/Sun 2pm-2pm (24 hrs)
Osprey Pointe Pavilion, Morse Park, Noblesville IN

Winter Field Day is a 24 hour radio contest and cold weather portable station deployment event, with some fun and learning tossed in! 

Learn More...

Piglet Radio made the cover of Current In Carmel Magazine! 

The feature article [PDF] in the January 9th edition highlighted what aspects of amateur radio excite our members and explored the unique aspects of our growing club.