Ham radio club to celebrate 40th anniversary. Fast forward about 14 years to 1977. On April 17 that year 22 local “hams,” or ham radio operators, including Levo, met at the Hillsboro Farm Bureau Conference Room to form the Highland Amateur Radio Association (HARA) with Gary Harris as its first president. Today, there are nearly 100 HARA members and more than 150 ham radio operators in Highland County, according to Levo.
Powell River Amateur Radio Club provides community service. A dozen hams, or amateur radio enthusiasts, met at their usual headquarters, a clubhouse filled with aviation memorabilia, for Powell River Amateur Radio Club’s annual general meeting on Wednesday, March 8. “For a long time, Powell River didn’t have a place to train with ham radio,” said longtime member Russell Storry. According to Storry, the club originally acquired a space at a local fire hall, but access was difficult due to security concerns. Storry said relocating to a shared space in the Westview Flying Club (WFC) clubhouse was a big step up for the radio club. Since moving to its current headquarters, the club has installed radio antennas on the roof and acquired a communications trailer.
Hamming it up: Whether used for hobby or emergency, ham radio is a booming form of communication. They are considered the last line of communication. When everything else fails, they can bridge the communication gap and connect people. Doug Nelson and Dave Miller are just two of the 750,000 registered amatuer radio, better known as ham radio, users. “I wanted to be available to help people,” Miller said is why he got involved in ham radio. “That was my main interest.” He is now the Douglas County emergency coordinator.
‘Hotbed’ amateur radio waves getting bigger: Richmond club getting set to host its first ever swap meet. A “hotbed” of activity and “growth” membership are not the two words that roll off the tongue when you think of amateur radio. That is, however, exactly how the president of the Richmond Amateur Radio Club (RARC), Urey Chan, describes the surprising movement taking place within the confines of organizations across the Lower Mainland and Canada. According to Chan, 40 per cent of the national growth in amateur radio licenses is here in the Lower Mainland, where the interest in the activity is matching pace with the increase in population.
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