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The Boulder Amateur Radio Club, a 501c4 corporation in it's 47th year of operation, is still in a growth mode, currently boasting close to 200 members. One of the reasons we are growing is because we have invested in our own future. BARC boasts a youth amateur radio auxiliary club called BARC Junior (a 501c3 organization) for children from ages 6 to 18. This youth program meets weekly eleven months per year and through the efforts of the Elmers involved has licensed 130 new young hams in the past 8 years of its existence. BARC Juniors are known worldwide and their young representatives regularly appear at the Dayton Youth Forum. It is arguably the premier youth amateur radio club in the country.
BARC provides academic scholarship awards to any licensed ham in Boulder County under the age of 25 in any accredited institute in an undergraduate course of study. The scholarship fund is an endowment fund and is made possible by a gift from the BARC Club and additional donations presented by individual members and outside benefactors.
We have two separate class Field Day entries each year. One for BARC Juniors (the largest entrity) and the other for BARC Seniors, with an ATV link between the two, which are several miles apart.
BARC Junior Field Day Site -- June -- 2000 |
BARC Juniors powering and operating their 2-meter bicycle powered radio at Field Day |
A BARC VE Exam session -- everybody is filling out their preliminary paperwork |
We host VE sessions the 2nd Monday of each month, administering 30-35 tests per session. To ensure a steady stream of license testing, we host 3 classes per year at the Mormon Church in Louisville, CO.
Our 2-meter repeater with phone patch access to members, is located high in the foothills of the Rockies at 8,300 feet above sea level and housed in the NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research) facility on Table Mesa. The 146.700 WØDK repeater can be accessed from the Wyoming border in the north to Monument Hill to the south near Colorado Springs. Its coverage is primarily to the east of the Rockies as the repeater is blocked to the west by the even higher Rocky Mountain peaks of 14,000 feet.
BARC members also participate by providing the bulk of the membership to BCARES, the local ARES group comprised of the combined member/volunteers of the three radio clubs in Boulder County, participating in forest fires, floods, and civil situations providing packet, ATV and radio links.
The BARC Repeater site at the NCAR Facility on Table Mesa near Boulder -- W0DK -- 146.700 |
"BARC's Bark" is the 12-page award-winning newsletter that is published monthly to keep the membership informed as to our many activities and accomplishments. It is exchanged with over 40 other organizations both here and abroad and is available to our members and to other ham radio organizations via email as a portable document file (.pdf) in full color.
BARC's home page is found at http://www.thisistrue.com/barc.html. There you will find information on the club and links to Boulder area sites.
BARCfest is an annual event held by BARC. It is always held on the last Sunday in September and is very well attended. It is now also in it's 47th year. There are plenty of forums, activities, demonstrations, a VE exam session and the usual tables of vendors of new and used gear including the BARC Junior tables which has the best prices for used and new ham gear that has been donated to them for resale. Held at the Boulder County Fairgrounds, 95th and Hover Roads, Longmont, CO. Don't miss this year's event on Sunday, September 24th from 8AM until 2 PM. For further information log on to http://www.thisistrue.com/barcfest.html for the BARCfest 2000 table reservation form and the detailed information page.
Phone: 303-380-6540
Email: BARC50@arrl.net
Web page http://www.thisistrue.com/barc.html
Contact: Jack Ciaccia -- WM0G
"BARC's Bark" Newsletter Editor