Clay Bartholow's (W0LED) Question for the Net
Field Day
- Details
- Last Updated on Thursday, September 14 2023 21:15
Plans
Each year the Anoka County Radio Club participates in ARRL Field Day. This tradition started in our club back in 1955, and pictures for the last decade or two are in our photo gallery.
Normally we use the club callsign, W0YFZ, although a few years we've used other callsigns (W0ANA in 2008). Scores for years since 2002 are available on the ARRL contest database.
We begin each year with a planning meeting to determine who is interested in participating, and what each person is interested in doing.
We ask that all persons be present or represented in this meeting if they plan to have a full-time presence at the field day site.
Each person should be prepared to represent
- The planned schedule and shelter for their station
- Station logging setup (N3FJP)
- Their planned power source
- Their location within the club site
- Their planned radio, modes of interest, feedline, and antenna
- RF and physical safety regarding their setup
We then try and and create a combined plan for Field Day operation that most meets the needs of everyone. We monitor for lightning and severe weather and have plans in place for disconnecting antennas and/or seeking shelter.
In the past most years we've ended up with 3 stations, (3A-MN) - one station doing voice modes, one doing CW, and one doing digital modes (FT4/FT8). The most consistent parts of the plan tend to be:
- Setup on Friday for station/logging testing
- Pot luck dinner on Saturday
- Tear down and cleanup on Sunday
Nature also tends to add a decent thunderstorm or two in there somewhere.
During the June general membership meeting, we present the overall Field Day plan to club members, as the main topic of the meeting.
If you are interested in joining our Field Day activities, feel free to reach out to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and watch the website for FD planning meetings in the April/May timeframe.
Club Repeaters
- Details
- Last Updated on Thursday, September 14 2023 20:43
The Anoka County Radio Club hosts a wide-area 2-meter repeater on 146.670 MHz. It has an input CTCSS/PL tone of 114.8 Hz. The input frequency is 146.070. It transmits off of the Blaine water tower on Paul Parkway with an ERP of about 350 watts. The antenna is about 180 feet above the ground.
We have a number of receive sites, and are working on more!
Blaine Receive Site: The antenna is about 180 feet above the ground.
Fridley Receive Site: The antenna is about 100 feet above the ground.
Centerville Receive Site: The antenna is about 170 feet above the ground.
Portable Field Link Site: On Standby
Note: Any statuses listed are not real-time and may not reflect the current status of the repeater(s).
Having trouble getting in to the repeater?
* Can you hear the repeater? Make sure frequency is 146.670.
* Does the frequency change to 146.070 when you hit PTT? If not, then the offset is not set to Minus. If another frequency comes up instead, then your offset is not correct (should be 600Khz, negative / minus offset)
* Does your radio have a "T" or "CT" on the screen when you transmit? If NOT, then your radio might have the tone selected but transmission of the tone not enabled. Check the manual for your radio regarding turning on CTCSS for transmit. Often two settings need to be configured to properly enable tone (one to select the tone, one to enable).
Still having trouble? Contact N0TJN via Email from QRZ or bring your radio to a club meeting for help.
On-Air Nets
- Details
- Last Updated on Thursday, August 13 2026 13:27
On-Air Nets
The Anoka County Radio Club hosts an on-air net every Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. on the 146.670 Repeater. If you have any ideas or questions, contact us on the net!
Any member or guest with 2M equipment may run net control. We currently schedule via Signup Genious.
The typical net control script is as follows:
ACRC Script for Wednesday Evening Net
Good evening and welcome to the Anoka County Radio Club's Wednesday Evening 2-Meter Net on the WØYFZ repeater.
This is [YOUR CALL], my name is [Your Name], and I am located in [Your QTH]. I'll be providing Net Control this evening.
The purpose of this net is to provide a forum for Anoka County Radio Club members and other hams to share their interests.
This net operates every Wednesday night beginning at 7 p.m. central time, on the 146.670 repeater with a minus 600kHz offset and a required input tone of 114.8. Our next net is scheduled for one week from tonight on Wednesday, [Next Date].
This is a directed net. It is open to all who wish to participate but all contacts should be made through net control.
When you have checked in to the net please remain on this frequency and listen in to the remainder of the net until it is closed by Net Control.
If you have emergency traffic for the net, call in by saying “EMERGENCY”. You will be recognized immediately by Net Control and then you may pass your emergency traffic.
I will now stand by for any priority or emergency traffic. This is [YOUR CALL].
Today is Wednesday [Today’s Date]
Tonight’s net agenda is as usual: first, I'll go through some announcements about upcoming Anoka Radio Club events; then I'll stand by for announcements from net participants about other events relevant to the local amateur radio community. Following the announcements portion of the net I will pose a question for net participants and then start taking general check-ins.
This evening's question: [Insert question here]
I will let you ponder that as I continue with announcements.
At the top of my announcements this evening:
-Our next general meeting will be Friday evening, [Next Meeting Date] at the Blaine City Hall. We will be in the Mark Slack Room as normal.
-VE testing next Saturday [Next Testing Date] at Blaine City Hall. Please use the East entrance. Contact The VE Team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to test. No walk-ins allowed.
-The next Board Meeting will be held on [Next Date] at 6:30 at Centerville City Hall.
-Keep your eye on our website as we have several events upcoming through the summer. These include the fishing opener in May, the Fridley and Spring Lake parades in June, the Blaine fireworks in July, Fete du Lacs in Centerville in August, and the Halloween SES in October. We are always looking for folks who want to participate in these events; you will find out more on the website and in the General Meetings.
(The above can change based on activities)
-Please consider donating to the repeater fund if you haven’t already; also, if you aren’t a member of the club we welcome your membership and participation. You can donate to the repeater fund or the general fund through the website.
The Anoka County Radio Club's “Hams Against Hunger” program is ongoing. Please direct your donations of food and cash to your local food shelves. Thank you for helping out the less fortunate in our community: your donations are sincerely appreciated.
This is [YOUR CALL] on the WØYFZ repeater with the Anoka County Radio Club's Wednesday evening 2-meter net.
If anyone else has an announcement for the net, please call Net Control now with your full call sign. Please go ahead.
Alright then, I guess that completes the announcements portion of the net so it's time to take general check-ins.
To check in, please call net control with your full call sign. I'll get back to each of you in turn for your comments and your answer to tonight's question.
This is [YOUR CALL] on the WØYFZ repeater with the Anoka County Radio Club's Wednesday evening 2-meter net.
As a reminder, this evening's question: [Insert question here]
OK, check-ins to the net please call now, one at a time, with your full call sign.
(After check-ins dwindle down you may close the net.)
This is [YOUR CALL] on the WØYFZ repeater with the Anoka County Radio Club's Wednesday evening 2-meter net.
I'd like to thank everyone who participated in this evening’s net and say 73 to everyone that checked in tonight and also to anyone out there listening in to the net but not able check in.
To learn more about the Anoka County Radio Club, or to stay up to date about what we're doing, please visit our website at WWW.ANOKARADIO.ORG.
I hope to hear you all back here next week. Invite your licensed neighbors and friends to check in! 73! from the Anoka County Radio Club!
This is [Your Name], [YOUR CALL], closing the Anoka County Radio Club Wednesday Evening Two-meter Net and returning the WØYFZ repeater back to regular amateur use at [ ] Central Daylight Time.
Good Evening Folks. 73 and take care!
On-air Special Event Stations
The Anoka County Radio club also has two long-standing Special event stations.
N0F
In May, the club operates a special event station celebrating the Minnesota Fishing Opener, often using the 1x1 callsign "N0F" which stands for "No Fish". We only fish for contacts, but maritime mobile participants are welcomed. We usually do this in Ham Lake Park, in Ham Lake, MN. Dates / times are published in QST and we send out custom QSL cards to contacts.
W0YFZ
In October, the club operates a special event station celebrating the city of Anoka being the Halloween Capital of the world. This is also typically done from a local park, different parks year to year. The location of this event will be posted on the main website, and the frequencies will be published in QST.
On-air Contests
We also participate in 1-3 contests per month, as determined by participants. We have a contest portal that is accessible on the website for all members to see each person's progress during the contest in near real time. We also have a discord chat link that is live during contests (from the contest portal link) to chat between contest participants.
