When the leaves begin to change color in picturesque Bucks County, Pennsylvania that is a sure sign that RF Hill Amateur Radio Club soon will holding its annual hamfest.

For years this hamfest has been one that signals the end of the fall season and where many local radio amateurs come to find that last widget that they need to complete their projects or to find something to restore during the winter months ahead. Some come to take advantage of volunteer examination sessions to upgrade or get their first Amateur Radio license. And others come just to share a hot cup of coffee with friends or get to eyeball some of the folks that they may have contacted over the air.

ARRL EPA SM, Eric Olena, WB3FPL, talks with members at RF Hill hamfest. [Joe Rauchut, N3CRP, photos]

For the club, this hamfest represents a lot of hard work by its members and the culmination of a fun-filled year of activity. RF Hill uses the proceeds from the hamfest to fund the club's activities for the year and also to support the 145.31 repeater in Perkasie, Pennsylvania.

For many years--until her recent move to Florida--Linda Erdman, KA3TJZ, chaired this hamfest that is integral to the Upper Bucks County ham community. It was Linda's military precision that has made this fall event a great social gathering for many hams. From "oh dark hundred," as she liked to say, until the last piece of paper was cleared from the firehouse parking lot, club members performed many duties to ensure that all the people attending the hamfest had a good time.

This spirit is still carried on as this year's event had more volunteers than ever. "We had so many people volunteer this year that we actually doubled up on some of the duties," said 2004 Hamfest Chair Charles Schmell, KB3CEZ. "This made it more of a fun thing rather than a chore."

The club also runs a special event station from the Pennridge Community Days fair and also provides communication for many community events, such as Tour de Cure for diabetes and several walk-a-thons. John Morrell, KB3EWV, who coordinates these events for the club says turnout has been very good.

"I find that people are more responsive when I call them and personally invite them to participate in an event," he says. "Just passing around a sign up sheet or putting a paragraph in the newsletter doesn't do it. People want to be asked to help out."

Since being formed in 1965, RF Hill has been a general-purpose club, where hams get together to have fun with a variety of activities. Most organizations that have been around for some time will experience a rise and fall in activity, and RF Hill has been no exception. For the past several years RF Hill's activity has been on the upswing, however, and it has a membership that gets involved.

No one person can take credit for this increased activity. As with most things, they seem to just happen, but when you look at it in retrospect you will see that there was really a spark that ignited the fire. As was the case with RF Hill' expansion, it was a group of newer hams that decided that they wanted to have some fun and participate in ARRL Field Day.

One of the silent igniters of the fire has been Bob Nice, N3TZW. He has been organizing club events such as ARRL Field Day for several years. Bob is reported to be the club's Jack of all trades and a great behind-the-scenes guy. Although he gets plenty of help from the members, it is Bob's planning and organizing that make Field Day a fun event for everyone.

Operating in the 5A category there are always plenty of opportunities for members and guests to operate on the air and of course they are never short on food.

Bob currently edits The MHz Times, RF Hill's monthly newsletter. He's also served several terms as club secretary. His camera is always capturing club members in action at the various events. He has also been incorporating APRS into some of the community service activities that the club gets involved with.

RF Hill has boosted its membership over the years by sponsoring Amateur Radio licensing classes at the Technician and General level. This has proved to be a real benefit for the club, because the new members that have joined the club following completion of these classes have turned out to be very active participants in the organization. Over the past six years, half of the club's board positions have been filled by hams who went through RF Hill's licensing classes.

Jim Cottrell, KB3DEN, discusses traffic handling procedures at club meeting.

Providing volunteer examination sessions is another major activity of RF Hill. The club sponsors a session every month as well as an additional session at the hamfest. One of the club's original founders and its first president, Joe Burgess, W3PNL, is still active in the club and acts as a VE and also contributes to the licensing classes. An avid QRP operator who likes to build some of his own equipment, Joe has always been eager to help the new ham and show them some of the tricks of the trade when it comes to building projects.

Joe tells the story of how the club came upon its name. Back in January 1965 the club held its first meeting and they elected the officers. He was elected president.

"One of the members lived on the ridge near a Western Union tower site that was for sale," he recounted. "The club had high aspirations of buying the large tower and the land around it."

According to W3PNL, the tower was a large one--120 feet tall with a stairway inside and a 12-foot platform with a metal equipment house on top.

"We got permission and gained access to the site one cold night in February, and after climbing to the top and looking around someone in the group remarked that this place was 'RF hill.' And that is how the club got its name."

ARRL is committed to support Affiliated Clubs in their efforts to mentor new hams. [Full Story]

One of the first things that Joe did as president was to establish the March meeting to be an auction. This tradition continues, and over the years it has had some colorful auctioneers at the podium. Hams come from all over for this fun and exciting event.

The club never managed to purchase the tower on "RF Hill," but Joe goes on to say that the following January, Lamar Heckler, K3UCI, and a small group of VHF contesters went to the top of the tower to operate the ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes. They soon realized that it gets very cold when you are on top of a tower on a ridge in January.

With both indoor and outdoor venues, the RF Hill Hamfest is a big attraction.

Another problem the group encountered was low transmitted audio. It seems that the moisture from the operator's breath was collecting in the microphones and then freezing--effectively stifling their voices.

Lamar is still active in the club, and, at one time, he housed the club repeater at his home until it was moved to the municipal water tower where it serves the upper Bucks County area. Twice a week the club holds the Southeastern Pennsylvania Practice and Training net (SEPATN) on its repeater. This net serves as a training ground for those that wish to learn how to send and receive messages through the ARRL National Traffic System as well as an informal meeting place for members. Many proficient net control operators have come through SEPATN.

Jim Cottrell, KB3DEN, one of the net control operators for SEPATN has developed a great program for training operators in the art of sending and receiving messages through the NTS. These training exercises help make this net a very popular one in the area.

Fun is the focus of the RF Hill Club's activities, according to Schmell, who's also the club's president. "It doesn't matter if you're a big gun contester or a new ham. We want everyone to have fun." Whether it's the hamfest or Field Day or the club picnic or the auction, RF Hill has plenty of activities for everyone to have fun.

Hamfest Survey We are asking our readers for their input about hamfests. Please e-mail your responses to clubs@arrl.org and feel free to add any comments you feel may help those who organize these events. 1. How many hamfest do you attend in a year? A) None B) 1 or 2 C) 3 or 4 D) 5 or more 2. Do you tailgate? A) Regularly B) Occasionally C) Not at all 3. What are you looking for at a hamfest? A) New equipment B) Used gear C) Parts 4. Does the size of the door prize influence your decision to attend a hamfest? A) Yes B) No 5. Please rank your reasons for going to a hamfest? A) Supporting the local club B) New equipment dealers C) New & used parts and equipment D) Forums and workshops E) VE testing F) Door Prizes G) Socializing with friends H) Food 1._____ 2._____ 3._____ 4._____ 5._____ 6._____ 7._____ 8._____

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