Come help the Beaver Valley Amateur Radio Association celebrate its 100th anniversary

The Beaver County Times
·2 min read

BRIGHTON TWP. – The Beaver Valley Amateur Radio Association will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a week-long series of events and celebrations to respect and commemorate the founders of the organization.

The BVARA, the oldest amateur radio club in western Pennsylvania, has a long, proud heritage of helping the community in times of emergency including floods, tornadoes, power failures, and many special situations.

For the anniversary event, the BVARA will erect and operate a remote, fully functional ham radio station at the softball fields in Bradys Run Park on April 15-16. All amateurs and any interested persons are encouraged to attend, observe and possibly participate in the activity, and learn what a great hobby amateur radio is.

Learn about ham radio at a public event where the Beaver Valley Amateur Radio Association celebrates its 100th anniversary.
Learn about ham radio at a public event where the Beaver Valley Amateur Radio Association celebrates its 100th anniversary.

The seven-day-long observation commences at 9 a.m. April 15 and 6 p.m. April 16 on the 80-, 40-, 20-, 15- and 10-meter bands.

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At the ball fields, many styles of antennas will be deployed for optimum performance. Club members expect to receive many on-air calls from other hams throughout the United States and Canada. If atmospheric conditions are favorable, they expect to receive hundreds of calls of congratulations from around the world.

Jack Spencer, and his wife, Pam, with David Covalt, observing their operating skills at Field Day in June 2015 at the Old Economy County Park. Jack is seen his rapid-deployment transportable transceiver to make contacts with other hams across the US and Canada. David had recently passed his ham radio exam and was intently observing the 'ritual' of contesting.

The usual club call sign of W3SGJ will be swapped to the “special event station” callsign of W3S.

The Beaver Valley Amateur Radio Association encourages all amateur radio operators to contact the Special Event station. Those who do will receive a commemorative “QSL card”, a special postcard that signifies a confirmed radio contact. A special certificate is available to those who make multiple contacts with the club. Additionally, there will be operations from members' “shacks” (home stations) during the week as well as dinners and other get-togethers. The observance will be concluded on April 22 with another club operating session.

"As we move well into the 21st century, with all of the newer digital and satellite technology, we can easily note that it's not your grandfather's old ham radio anymore," BVARA's Rich Soltesz (K3SOM) said.

A BVARA Field Day activity at Bradys Run Park during the late 1940s.
A BVARA Field Day activity at Bradys Run Park during the late 1940s.

For additional information, visit W3SGJ.org.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Beaver Valley Amateur Radio Association celebrates 100th anniversary