Three days of activities planned in January to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Orange Area Radio Club
Released at 12:10 am on Sunday, January 8, 2023
- ARES Coordinator Rocky Wilson walks into the emergency operations center radio room at the Orange County Convention and Expo Center on FM 1442. Background equipment includes various high frequency radios, laptops for digital, and FM radios. (photo courtesy)
VIDOR — A 12-hour event celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Orange Area Radio Club’s membership in the American Radio Relay League will be held on January 27 at Claiborne West Park-Shelter No. 2 in Vidor.
A local amateur radio operator will be stationed at a special event station open to the public from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM.
Mike Manschak, AD5OG, assistant coordinator of local Amaetours, said the club will be hosting its Double the time.Radio emergency services.
The January 27th anniversary event will primarily focus on club members contacting other wireless operators around the world to confirm contact or receipt of communications through the collection and transmission of QSL cards.
These postcard-sized cards, often colorful and collectible, contain station and contact information for amateur radio operators. The use of a “Q” code such as “QSL” is confirmation of a voice or Morse code transmission.
“The winter sports day is a friendly competition with other clubs in the United States and around the world to make as much contact as possible,” said Manshak. “Both events are meant to demonstrate to local government officials and the general public how to communicate during disasters. There is also an undokai event in June.”
Both annual events are open to the public.
Manshak, who spends 16 to 20 hours a week on the radio, said he keeps in touch with people in faraway European and African countries.
But that round-the-world distance pales in comparison to what ARES coordinator Rocky Wilson (N5MTX) described as his longest contact.
“My most memorable experience was in 1989 as a radio operator operating a KC4USV station at McMurdo Station in Antarctica, about 8,885 miles from Denton, Texas, where I lived at the time,” Wilson said. Told.
The club’s affiliation with ARLL, which boasts 161,000 members in the United States, began on January 27, 1948, but the club is a bit dated, says Benny Rose, a Little Cypress resident and ARES member. W5TYZ) said.
According to Rhoads, a ham operator of 55 years, the club was formed nearly a decade ago, between 1938 and 1940.
“It’s going to be a big thing for us,” he said of the anniversary event. ”
When asked if technology has changed for the better or worse for hams in the last 50 years, Rhoads said “both.”
“It gives you more choice in what mode it works in,” says Rhoads, which operates in CW (Morse code) and AM modes at low band frequencies.
The January event is just one of more than 20 events planned for this year.
Events attended by OARC and other clubs include:
January 07-08 122nd Anniversary – Lucas Gusher Gladys City
TBA JCARC Tailgate Sale, VE Test, Fox Hunt
January 21-22 Winter Support Your Parks on the Air (POTA)
January 27 Orange Amateur Radio Club 75th Anniversary Special Venue W5ND
January 28 Mission Possible 5K
January 28-29 Winter sports day
Jan 30 Traffic Handling Class with JoAnn Keith – BARC
February 10-11 Crisis Expo and Sustainable Living Event – Little Cypress Baptist Church
February 24-25, Orange HamFest @ Orange Co. Convention and Expo Center
On Air at Texas State Parks April 15-16
April 22-23 (15-16) Spring Support Your Parks On The Air (POTA)
May 7-8 Tour du Rouge
U.S. ISLANDS ON AIR ON MAY 13
May 20 Don Allen Sports Day, Wildwood
June TBA Cops and Kids Picnic, Claiborne Park West 10A-2P
ARRL Field Days, June 24-25
July 22-23 (15-16) Summer Support Your Parks On The Air (POTA)
October 21-22 BSA Jamboree on the Air
October 21-22 Fall Support Your Parks on the Air (POTA)
October TBA Tour de Globe
December 1-2 SkyWarn Certification Day 6:00 PM – 6:00 PM (12-1 00:00 – 24:00 UTC)
December 12 HAM Christmas party
— By Dan Bledsoe