Aug 24, 2026 | CW, Events, Special Event
70th PA QSO Party – October 10 & 11, 2026 – Always the 2nd Full Weekend in October
K3ZMC is the bonus station for 2026. PAARC member are welcome to sign up to operate from the Ringing Hill Fire Company in Pottstown. We have a strong need for more CW operators. To operate SSB or CW, sign up to operate. Contact the secretary for the sign up link.
Walt Skavinsky, KB3SBC and PAARC President writes:
PAARC is celebrating 50 years of organized amateur radio in the Pottstown area. The club traces its beginnings to a group of local operators who began meeting in the early 1970s and formally organized around the installation of the WR3ACD two-meter repeater in 1975. Today, the club has 93 members and continues to support amateur radio through operating events, repeaters, licensing, mentoring, technical programs, public service, and fellowship.
K3ZMC will operate from a single location at 815 White Pine Lane in Pottstown. The planned operation will include three networked stations, with one focused on CW and two focused on SSB. The operators will use N3FJP logging software and a single coordinated serial-number sequence. Antennas will be spread across the fire company property, and the club plans to remain active across the available contest bands throughout both operating periods.
PAARC is honored to serve as the 2026 Bonus Station and looks forward to giving operators across Pennsylvania and beyond the opportunity to put K3ZMC in their logs.
Oct 8, 2024 | Board, Meeting, Special Event
Please join us on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024 at 7:00 pm at St. James Lutheran Church, 93 Kugler Rd., Limerick, PA.. Our presenter is ill, so the talk on Operation Able Archer ’83 is postponed. Instead, we will discuss information of interest to members. Refreshments will be served.
At this meeting members will offer nominations for the 2025 PAARC Board. See this blog post for details on open positions:
https://www.paarc.net/2025-paarc-board-nominations/
Jul 1, 2024 | Special Event
July 1-7 The Annual 13 Colonies Special Event
2024 Event Dates / July 1 (9AM Eastern) to July 7 (Midnight Eastern)
(July 1, 2024-1300 UTC to July 8, 2024-0400 UTC)
This year’s theme: Citizen Soldiers – State Militias – Minute Men
All HF bands will be in play, including the WARC bands, with the exception of 60 meters. Simplex on 2 meters and 6 meters is encouraged. The SE stations are on the east coast and, are very close to each other. It will be harder for these states to contact each other so, use of 40m-160m is encouraged. All modes of operation may be represented – SSB, CW, RTTY, Digital, Etc. – The mode of operation is up to the individual colony state station. The Philadelphia bonus station, WM3PEN, is managed by the Holmesburg ARC. Some PAARC members usually assist. Please refer to the State information pages for details. The 13 Colonies Special Event is a not for profit event. http://13colonies.us/
Oct 29, 2023 | Special Event
The East Penn Amateur Radio Club (W3LP) has partnered with the Allentown and Auburn Railroad to host an “Operation Toy Train” on air amateur radio special event station W3A. The main event will take place on November 18, 2023, between 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM local time. Operation will be on 20-17-10-6 and 2 meters. This will be a mobile operation from a functional train car. See the W3A QRZ page: https://www.qrz.com/db/W3A
Talk to the Operation Toy Train as it travels on the Allentown and Auburn Railroad in Kutztown Pennsylvania. The train will be at the Kutztown Train Station from 11:00 am to 2:00 to collect toys for the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots. Each year, the train collects over 30,000 donated toys for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Foundation, which redistributes them to underprivileged children within the collection area.
More information can be found here:
Submitted by Walt Skavinsky, KB3SBC
Sep 13, 2023 | ARRL, Hamfest, News, Special Event
From: https://epa-arrl.org/upcoming-epa-events-announcements/
EPA SIMULATED EMERGENCY TEST – The SET will be held in the EPA on Saturday, October 7. (Note that in Montgomery County the LGS Drill will take place on Tues., Sept. 26 beginning at 4:00 pm.) ARES units in approximately 25 of the EPA’s 34 counties will participate in an exercise supporting the American Red Cross. The drill will simulate a widespread communications outage resulting from a CME event. ARES units will support Red Cross shelter operations by relaying critical email message traffic via Winlink. Last year the SET operated under similar conditions and more than 100 operators sent hundreds of messages in a highly successful event.
PA QSO PARTY – The 67th Pennsylvania QSO Party will be held on October 14 and 15. This operating event presents an excellent chance to dust off your HF rig and make some contacts. For event information and rules, follow this link: PA QSO Party Plans & Aids – PA QSO PA.
CAPITAL TESTING GROUP – Amateur radio testing in the Harrisburg area will be conducted by a new volunteer organization, the Capital Testing Group. The group is an ARRL-accredited VE unit that will hold testing sessions on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of each month just outside Harrisburg. In addition to the regular testing sessions the group will facilitate special needs testing in an individual’s home or an assisted living facility. Information on this extremely valuable service can be found here: Capital Area Testing Group – Ham radio testing, FCC testing, Amateur radio testing, Capital area, (arrlcapitalareatestgroup.info).
EPARA HAMFEST IN STROUDSBURG – September 17 – The Eastern Pennsylvania Amateur Radio Association Hamfest will be held on Sunday, September 17 at Moose Lodge 1336. The address is 705 Stokes Mill Road in East Stroudsburg, PA. For information on EPARA, check the link: https://qsl.net/n3is/.
RED ROSE REPEATER ASSOCIATION HAMFEST IN NEW HOLLAND – October 7 – The RRR Association will hold its annual hamfest in New Holland on Saturday, October 7. The location is 339 East Main Street at the Garden Spot Fire and Rescue Station #1 in New Holland, PA. Information on the Red Rose Repeater Association can be found here: Red Rose Repeater Association – W3RRR.
RF HILL AMATEUR RADIO CLUB HAMFEST IN PERKASIE – October 22 – The RF Hill ARC Hamfest will be held on Sunday, October 22 at the Upper Bucks County Community College campus at 313 Blooming Glen Road in Perhasie, PA. Follow this link for the hamfest flyer: L:\Data\R\RF Hill\HAMFEST\HAMFEST FLYER 2022.pmd (rfhillarc.club).
