Welcome to the
nORTH SHORE RADIO CLUB
(NSRC) - Illinois

What’s Happening?

NEWS - Quick Bits

~~~

NEWS - Quick Bits ~~~

Our Club Auction is coming up in October

This is our one and only fund raiser which adds funds to support our repeaters, events and other activities. If you have any ham related gear you want to donate please bring it to our next club meeting or contact our vice president Eliot (K9EHG) for arrangements.

Starting on September 1st, we will have also an online auction for lower value items like cables, connectors and radio accessories. Each item will be running for a week and then the highest bidder will get it. Check our auction page for daily updates and details here ->

Join the Ham Radio Team working the Bank of America Chicago Marathon

Time to begin organizing our roster for the 2025 Bank of America Chicago Marathon, October 12, 2025. This will be our 17th year supporting the Marathon and we are proud to be part of this world-class running event. The organizers are expecting 55,000 runners, which begins to put a strain on all aspects of the event. We are hoping to recruit 160 hams (and non-hams). Read more on our public service page here -> Link to flyer ->

VE Test Session August 17th

Our VE Test Session on August 17th resulted in 3 new licenses, 1 Technicians and 2 Extra. We also had one upgrade from General to Extra. The next VE test session is on September 21st. Read all about our VE program here ->

QRP Night September 9th, 2024

Instead of our club meeting in September we are inviting everyone to our QRP night in Skokie. For details go here ->

We had a very successful Fox Hunt on July 8th. There were a lot of new faces showing up and everyone had a great time. Even the sky was smiling with a wonderful dry evening. Read all about it and see the results on our Fox Hunt page here —>

If you are interested in Pico Balloons, there is a group of ham radio operators in our area who are active in that niche of our hobby. It is amazing what they accomplish with some of their balloons circumvent the world several times. Go to their website and check it out here ->

NSRC Presidents Blog

Featured
From the Desk of AB9ZI - August 2025 Message

When people think of Amateur Radio the picture is usually of someone sitting alone in front of a radio or two.   However, that isn’t the whole picture.  Our club has many annual outdoor events where we can show off our radio skills to the public and socialize.

In June we got together at Field Day to show off our skills of stringing antennas, setting up stations and contacting other Hams.   We had a great visible location along Willow Road and the signage placed brought many visitors to whom we were able to explain about hams’ alternative form of communications. Many were unaware that during disasters that take down land lines and cell phone towers, hams could provide essential public safety communications.  I believe we have at least three new members who joined our club after visiting our Field Day event.

Read More →

Club Meetings

There is no Club meeting in September. Instead we have our QRP night in Skokie.

The next club meeting is on October 14th, 2025. It is aN In-Person only meeting and is dedicated for our club auction.

For in person meetings at Heller Nature Center, doors open at 7:00pm, meetings start promptly at 7:30pm, meetings end close to 9:00pm.

The zoom session will be available starting at 7:00pm.

The Heller Nature Center is located at 2821 Ridge Rd, Highland Park, IL 60035.

For directions follow this link —>

  • Program:

    • 2025 NSRC Auction

Find future Club Meetings on our calendar here ->

Or go to the club meeting page for more details here->

The information for the Zoom meeting is:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/5392163778?pwd=pNuDf3Z2K5iuMZbQZBdDcZ1KeIORxF.1&omn=85262844878
Meeting ID: 539 216 3778
Passcode: 9FzNuQ

A Recording of the August meeting can be watched here ->

For the Slide deck go here ->

The North Shore Radio Club annual Campfire & QRP (low power) night will be the second Tuesday in September. 7:00pm at the Emily Oaks Nature Center in Skokie. Emily Oaks is at Brummel and Kenton - just north of Howard St., two blocks east of Skokie Blvd. A map is referenced below or just use your GPS. Bring your QRP rig, battery, antenna, and some insect repellent, just in case campfire smoke isn’t enough to keep bugs at bay. Beverages and s’mores will be provided. As the days grow shorter, it’s almost dark by 7:30, so we recommend you get there early (but not before 7 when the park opens for us) to set up an antenna. 40, 30, or 20 meters are usually the bands of choice. Once again there will be “Emily” awards for QSOs that cover the greatest distance per watt, with separate categories for CW, SSB and digital. Bring a friend!. Link to the events page.

Membership

For membership information and how to join or renew your membership, go to our membership page.

NS9RC eMitter

The August 2025 edition is available now.

If you did not receive the newsletter in your e-mail, please check in your JUNK/SPAM folder or contact communications@ns9rc.org.

Back issues can be found in the eMitter Archive.

Breakfast Club

8:00 am Saturdays

Join the conversations in the long running NSRC Saturday Breakfast Club while trying some of the great food at Max’s Deli, 191 Skokie Valley Rd, Highland Park, IL 60035.

For details and pictures go here ->

Hams in the park Saturday September 13th, 2025 - 2pm to 4pm

The next Hams in the Park activity is planned for Saturday September 13th. Should the weather be not favorable I will post it here if we have to postpone.

This is the day for experimenting with your potable setup and antennas.

Hope to see you on September 13th. For more information follow this link —>

Help Wanted

The North Shore Radio Club has a lot to offer to its members. There are a lot of activities throughout the year to engage and participate. However, these things don’t just happen. These activities require volunteers to take ownership or just to help. As more volunteers we have the workload for everyone will be less.

If you read this, you should give it a serious thought if you could spare a couple of hours during the year to help your club to stay active.

There are roles for everyone regardless of your skills or if you think “I am not good for that” or “I don’t like to deal with people”. Get out of your comfort zone and try something new.

Go here for a list of open positions.

Record Turnout at our club breakfast on July 26th.

We had 24 hams show up at this week’s breakfast. We even had to extent our tables to have seating for everyone. A lot of new faces showed up and everyone had a great time with interesting discussions and good food.

For more details and pictures go here ->