10/14/2023 ããBy Todd Emmert, W9TWEããIndiana State University[1]ÿAmateur Radio Club, W9ISU, had a successfulÿARRLãCollegiate QSO Party[2], held October 7 - 8, thanks to the support of localãhams.ããThe club has faced challenges in recent months, including being displaced dueãto campus renovations and having minimal student involvement; they didn't evenãhave a multimode, multiband transceiver. In an effort to boost interest andãattention to amateur radio, Faculty Advisor Dr. Robert Girod, N9RNV, offeredã10% extra credit to students who earned their Technician-class amateur radioãlicense. That incentive, along with efforts from student leader and W9ISUãPresident Rowan Eggert, WO1P, helped turn things around. The club received aãgrant from the school that allowed them to purchase three stations, IcomãIC-7300s with Heil Pro 7 headsets, foot switches, and antennas. The gear madeãit possible for them to set a goal of having everything up and running for theã48 hours of the ARRL Collegiate QSO Party.ããEggert listed the event on the local radio club's social media pages to get theãword out to any alumni that would be interested in helping or getting on theãair.ããShe also got with the local Boy Scouts and set up a public demonstration duringãthe QSO party for them. Eggert also invited other faculty to stop by and seeãwhat W9ISU was all about.ããThere was hurdle after hurdle during the week leading up to the event. Afterãfinding out the newly ordered antennas were not shipped, and there weren't anyãsolid answers on when they would ship, Rowan went into crisis management modeãand reached out to local hams and clubs --the amateur community rallied. Localãradio amateurs provided use of a Yagi for satellite contacts, and threeãmultiband, portable verticals and coax for the HF stations.ããFriday night, as the operating event neared, Eggert; Seth Byas, KI5QHD, and Dr.ãGirod were unable to get the SWR correct on the antennas, so they reached outãon a local repeater for assistance.ããIt just so happened that one of their supporting clubs and ARRL AffiliatedãClub, Wabash Valley Amateur Radio Association (WVARA), W9UUU, was having aãdinner and meeting a few blocks away. After WVARA tended to their own clubãbusiness, a calvary of hams showed up with an antenna analyzer and over aãcentury of cumulative expertise to help get all three W9ISU stations on the airãin less than 45 minutes. (They complied with the event rules, which statedãoperating only one transmitter at a time.)ããThe W9ISU club went on to stay up day and night making contacts, eating food,ãtalking radio, and hosting guests and alumni for the next 46 hours.ããFaculty Advisor David Barber, KB9YDX, brought technical expertise and donuts onãSaturday and Sunday.ããThe club members were anxious to get the logs compiled and see how they rankedãin points. Regardless, they learned a lot and felt the support of their amateurãcommunity.ããARRL has resources for collegiate amateur radio clubs. The ARRL CollegiateãAmateur Radio Program (CARP) was established to support and promote AmateurãRadio among students and ham radio clubs at colleges and universities. Moreãinformation can be found atÿwww.arrl.org/collegiate-amateur-radio[3].ããã[1] https://www.indstate.edu/ã[2] https://collegiateqsoparty.com/ã[3] http://www.arrl.org/collegiate-amateur-radioãã---ã þ Synchronet þ Whiskey Lover's Amateur Radio BBSã