|
A SPECIAL EVENT STATION FOR
EVERYONE
Come join the members and friends of
the Park County Radio Club in a celebration of the club’s 10th
anniversary. There will be multiple special event stations operating all
over Park County, Colorado throughout the General class HF bands on May
22, 2005, 0900 – 2100 MDT (1500-0300 UTC). We will have operators on
phone, PSK-31, RTTY and CW. All stations will be using the club call (ABØPC)
with an assigned alpha suffix. See if you can find them all. Work any
station and receive a QSL card. Work FIVE stations and receive a special
certificate. To receive your card send a self addressed stamped envelope
(SASE) along with your QSL card to the Club Secretary: E. R. (Padre)
Bova, WØWPD, PO Box 16, Bailey, Colorado 80421. (See QSL info on QST
SES page).
PCRC was formed ten years ago to
combine a geographic and socioeconomic separated group of ham operators
who shared the same passion for radio and public service. Park County
does not have the tallest peak in Colorado but we do have several that
if you are on one of them and someone with an HT is on "it"
you can talk to him or her. The average elevation of Park County is well
over 7,000 feet making winter travel challenging, and reliable
commercial communications next to impossible.
Cell phone coverage in the county is
unreliable at best. Our club can boast of three repeaters with another
one on the way. We support ARES District Six and we have a VE crew that
administers tests every other month to high country amateurs. Our small
but dedicated membership gladly volunteers it’s time and communication
expertise in times of need, be it forest wildfires, extreme weather or
public service, such as the world championship Burro Races each July.
We are all looking forward to meeting
you on the air.
73, Ray de WØIVB,
Special Event/Anniversary Chair
TENTH ANNIVERSARY
by WØWPD
The Park County Radio
Club was formed at a congenial meeting of about eight area Hams in a
downtown restaurant in Bailey, Co.
From that point regular meetings were held in Fairplay, Como, and
Hartsel as well as in Bailey, Co.
Since its
foundation the PCRC has grown to include members from Jefferson, El
Paso, Arapahoe, Denver, and Teller, as well as Park County.
SOME HIGH LIGHTS
Our first repeater
(146.895) was coordinated in Sept. 1996, and since has been upgraded and
moved to Dick Mountain, in the Bailey area.
Installed coordinated
repeaters on Kenosha Range for 146.910, and 448.175 as system link, and
stand-alone repeater. Our
147.090 are waiting to be installed in South Park.
Beginning
in the fall of 1995 because we had no repeater that covered Park County
we were given permission to use MARC’s system to start the Tuesday
Night Net with most all members serving as NCS over its nine year plus
life span. MARC soon joined
in to make a combined net.
We established a two
meter and HF station at the sheriff’s Comm. Center in Fairplay.
PCRC supports
ARES® Colorado District Six system of emergency communications.
PCRC/D-6 ARES®
members have been involved in annual FIELD DAYS, and JOTA, as well as
assisting with the World Championship Burro Races in Fairplay and
Leadville, Co., and other civic events, races and walkathons.
D-6 ARES®
members have assisted at several serious wildfires during its lifetime,
which includes the Colorado Forest Service, National Forest Service,
Salvation Army, Red Cross, Search and Rescue, and even back-up
communications on the fire lines. Many
members have “RED CARDS” and extensive training in ARES®
associated involvements.
Began the annual
Christmas luncheon get together.
Established the
fourth Saturday of each month for club meetings in Bailey.
Established the
fourth Saturday of ODD months for ARRL VE testing in Bailey.
Established the
fourth Saturday of EVEN months for D-6 ARES®
meetings in Bailey.
Established club web
page http://www.ab0pc.org
with regular updating.
PCRC has been served
by four presidents: E. R.
“Padre” Bova, WØWPD 1995-1997;
Ray Thompson, WØIVB 1997-1999;
Tom Schreiner, KØUL 1999-2000;
Dutch Muetz, KØAWS 2000 –
present.
FROM THE PRESIDENTS
Our fourth and
current president, (2000 – present) P.E. Dutch Muetz, KØAWS --
Best wishes to all the PCRC members on the
Tenth anniversary of the
group. Oh how time has passed and a lot of water over the dam for PCRC,
from a small beginning to over 60 members and many are not local to Park
County. They are all ready to pitch in when help is needed, especially
with a pot luck lunch. Many thanks to all the members who supported PCRC
to get to this point.
Technology has also
grown with PCRC, as the membership has grown. Besides the 146.895,
146.910 and the 448.175 repeaters, some members would like to install
digi repeaters which would be a boon to the digital folks. At the
present time our repeater system
covers a very good portion of Park County and a little beyond. We have
been offered two other
locations for repeater sites that look very interesting. Without
mentioning all the names and they know who they are, I want to thank the
members who contributed equipment, time and effort in working on the
repeater system.
Our
third president, (1999-2000) Tom Schreiner, KØUL, wrote with
greetings to everyone, and best wishes for the future of the PCRC. Tom recalls “…that in addition to the everyday
‘nuts and bolts’ operation of the club, Ray began testing the
147.090 machine at his home while we searched for a suitable location
… in the South Park area. I
also remember that talks/negotiations were beginning on the relocation
of .895 machine to Dick
Mountain.”
Our second
“chief exec” (1997-1999) Ray Thompson, WØIVB, wrote that he and
his XYL, Judy, KØWGN (early on club secretary) send congratulations and
best wishes to all members of the club and all those who read our SES
page and or/work us on May 22. Ray
reminded us that Jeanie Myers, KGØAO, formed our first VE team, and
testing sessions were held in the more remote areas of Park County.”
Ray also wrote,
“One of my more memorable meetings was in Fairplay where each member
told of how he/she got started in Ham Radio.”
He also observed, “Some of our earlier meetings in Fairplay
were held in the county jail. Whatever it took to get together.”
Our first and
founding president
(1995-1997) E. R. Bova, WØWPD writes, “Thanks to the
leadership of our presidents and other officers
I am very pleased with the way the PCRC has caught on and grown,
not only within Park County, but many surrounding counties.
In it’s ten years Colorado ARES®
D-6 was established and served with distinction at several very serious
wild fires, as well as providing communication for many civic and
special events. We’ve
served fire departments, the sheriff’s office, the Red Cross, and the
Salvation Army. See high
lights elsewhere on this page.
Credit must be given
to those generous volunteers who have built, programmed, and installed
our four repeaters – including climbing very tall towers.
We invite you to
visit our club web page, http://www.ab0pc.org
and for lots of great pictures click on “Photo Memories” http://www.ab0pc.org/memories.htm
in the newsletter
(“QUA”) menu.
|
