Mar 7, 2020 | Amateur Radio, Club event, Club Meeting, License Exams, News, Repeater
Our Friday, April 3rd meeting and amateur radio license test session at the church have been canceled due to COVID-19 concerns. We hope to reschedule the presentation on attic antennas for a later date. Please note the May 1st meeting has a high likelihood of cancelation as well.
Instead of a face-to-face meeting, PAARC will have a First Friday Repeater Net with Ed, K3BVQ as Net Control. Repeater info: 147.21 / 147.81 MHz PL 131.8
The board meeting scheduled for 3/20 is also in flux. We will either move it online or postpone it to a later date.
PAARC is doing what we can to keep our community safe. Thank you for your understanding.
Feb 10, 2020 | ARRL, News
Join us on Friday, March 6, at 7:00 pm at St. James Lutheran Church in Limerick, PA for a presentation by the ARRL EPA Section Mgr., George Miller, W3GWM, via a Zoom videoconference. Refreshments served. All are welcome to attend.
There will also be an amateur radio license exam at 5:00 pm at this location. See the License Exams page to learn how to sign up, and for more details.
Jan 27, 2020 | Amateur Radio, ARES, News, Public Service
ARRL EPA Section Manager, George Miller, W3GWM, and Atlantic Division Vice-Director, Bob Famiglio, K3RF urge Pennsylvania amateurs to write to their PA State Senators about House Bill 37.
On HB 37, now in the Transportation Committee:
1. There is a serious flaw in the draft as it now stands. By omission, it prohibits the operation of VHF or HF amateur radios in Pennsylvania moving vehicles.
2. Amateur Radio, using ARES-RACES, has provided Disaster Communications to millions of citizens since the 1930s. Ham Operators have provided reliable communications out of the affected areas during Hurricane Agnes in 1972, the Johnstown Flood in 1977, Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant meltdown, 1999, Flight 93 Crash, Shanksville, 2001, Tropical Storm Henri, 2002, the Quecreek Mine Disaster in 2002, Campbelltown Tornado 2004, dozens of weather and natural disasters on I-80, I-376, I-81, I-95, I-476, I-99, I-76 and the 2017 PA Turnpike Snow event, where Ham Operators assisted PEMA in maintaining communications to WPA.
3. In order to perform this function, it is imperative that these trained and FCC-licensed radio operators are permitted to communicate by radio while operating their vehicles.
4. Oftentimes, during an incident, cars, and trucks provide the only power and antenna platforms available. These volunteers, who act as operators and repair technicians, can provide both voice and digital communications completely devoid of any commercial infrastructure such as cell phone towers or the Internet.
5. Amateur Radio has mutual aid agreements with dozens of Fire Companies, PA County Departments of Emergency Services as well as PEMA, CAP, FEMA, and the PA State Police, who rely on the back-up communications provided by amateur radio ARES-RACES operators.
6. For over 20 years, ARES-RACES operators have contributed to the bi-annual drills of the Peach Bottom and Limerick Nuclear Power Plants, plus the drills at the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia International Airports. These points should provide information for your State Senators. I can’t stress enough how important it is for us all to take action on this. As this bill is written you will be forced to remove all radio equipment from your vehicles, including handheld radios.
If you have any questions, please contact George, W3GWM. You may refer your State Senators to him.
Dec 13, 2019 | Club event, Club Meeting, License Exams, News
Join PAARC members on Friday, Jan. 3rd, 2020 at 7:00 pm at St. James Lutheran Church, 93 Kugler Rd., Limerick, PA for a presentation by Walt, KB3SBC, and area author Ed, WA3WSJ, on their many travels in pursuit of amateur radio contacts. See WA3WSJ’s webpage for his adventures with Pedestrian Mobile.
An Amateur Radio license exam will take place at 5:00 pm prior to the meeting. Visit the License Exam webpage for details on how to sign up.
Nov 8, 2019 | Club event, Club Meeting, News
Join PAARC members on Friday, Dec. 6, 2019 at 7:00 pm for a pleasant evening with a discussion of callsigns and what your callsign means to you. This is an informal meeting without a presenter, but with an open mic. Here the the types of things you may choose to speak about: your name and call, when you were first licensed and your call then, what class of license you now have, what phonetics you use, who was your first contact, what strange or best looking QSL Card did you ever receive, and what mode of transmission do you prefer.
The 2020 Board was nominated at the Nov. meeting and since there were only single members nominated for each office, we will have a meet and greet of the new board. Holiday refreshments will be served. We meet at St. James Lutheran Church, 93 Kugler Rd., Limerick, PA.
An Amateur Radio license exam will take place at 5:00 pm prior to the meeting. Visit the License Exam webpage for details on how to sign up.
