|
|
A brief history of WRC Written by Charter Member Bob Agans WA3EPA. The year was 1978. It was Springfield Twp., Montgomery County PA. A radio club was formed by four hams and soon officially affiliated with ARRL as Wyndmoor Repeater Club (WRC for short). It was named Wyndmoor because that was the name of the town in the geographic center of the four charter members. The charter members were WA3IFV (SK), KA3BNU (now also PY2ZSR ), WA3WTH and WA3EPA. It was originally intended to be a repeater club only. The first charter required building all equipment wherever possible. It was accidental that two of the members were operating crystal controlled Motorola and GE converted fire radio's on 145.350 simplex. The coincidence was that the "sub band" had just been allocated to repeater use and 145.350 was in this new sub band. WA3EPA immediately applied for and received coordination for 145.350/144.750. It may have been the first in the country. Interestingly, in those days, the coordinator was one person. WA3EPA moved to Doylestown, Bucks County PA from the Wyndmoor area in 1983 and the other three charter members became inactive. New members were added to total about thirty, in and around central Bucks county. Many of the new members were also active on HF so a change in club name was called for. The name chosen was WRC Amateur Radio Club of Doylestown (WRC for short). The repeater was moved to Doylestown and installed in the home of WA3EPA, along with a 100' tower for the antenna. After about the first year two things happened simultaneously. One, the old HB repeater was becoming very tired (all tubes except for the autopatch and Id'er). Second, the tower took a direct lightening strike which destroyed most of the repeater and a lot of other electrical appliances in the home. A completely new repeater was purchased. In 1996 WA3EPA decided to downsize which required moving the home to smaller quarters. This left no home for the repeater. At the same time, the RACES repeater system located on the Bucks County courthouse was experiencing management problems. WA3EPA re-coordinated the 145.350 repeater to take over the management and trusteeship of the county repeater. The old/new repeater was moved to a new location in Buckingham Twp. and continues in operation on a standby basis should the county repeater go down for any reason. WRC has averaged about 25 members all through the years. A monthly meeting occurs on the first Saturday of every month at the Roasted Pepper restaurant in Doylestown, for breakfast. It averages 15-20 in attendance including members, visitors and children of members. The meetings are advertised in the "Activities" section of the Intelligencer every month the Thursday before the meeting. A monthly newsletter is published for all members and sent to any prospective new applicant. WRC has two traditional events per year. A December holiday party and a summer family picnic up at the county park which includes a fox hunt. A Wednesday night "technical" session is still happening, usually at the home of WA3EPA. The tradition of building things for amateur or hobby use continues. For information about joining the club or it's activities contact the club secretary, KA3KTZ via E-mail. |