Grays Harbor Amateur Radio Club
WA Non Profit Corporation - 501(c)3
Welcome to GHARC
Grays Harbor Amateur Radio Club (GHARC) started in April 1954, is a nonprofit, IRS 501.(c).3 recognized, organization dedicated to Amateur Radio. We promote science, math, education, public service, emergency services and preparedness through HAM Radio use and provide a support network for all levels of Amateur Radio enthusiasts and interested parties. We provide technical support, training, and Volunteer Examiner (VE) for license testing at all levels for Amateur Radio enthusiasts
Latest News for Grays Harbor Amateurs
WWARA-Narrowband-09282024.pdfGrays Harbor Amateur Radio Club Membership approves Narrow Band for W7ZA System
The GHARC Membership approved narrow band for the W7ZA radio system. Details will be determined by the Repeater Committee with no timeline set. This follows a historic announcement by The Western Washington Amateur Relay Association, WWARA on September 28th that sets a timeline of 2030 where all Western Washington VHF/UHF repeater co-ordinations will be required to be narrow-band using a maximum occupied bandwidth of 12.5 kHz. Co-ordinations are for five (5) years and renewals are accepted at any time. This would set the stage for all Western Washington coordinated repeaters to be narrow band by 2035.
There have not been new repeater pairs for over a decade in the VHF 2m spectrum and this will allow for new modes, expansion of current modes and for the future. Neris WA7NJB quoted "We are doing this for the kids" and the board concurs, "we are doing this for the future of amateur radio and we are two decades behind, this is a big step forward."
This will affect two of the current W7ZA systems, more information will be provided. The 146.900 MHz repeater will only change to narrow band with the input and output frequency remaining the same. The 147.160 repeater will be changed to 147.1625 MHz with an input of 147.7625 and both input and output will be an occupied maximum bandwidth of 12.5 khz or less.
This allows Western Washington system owners ten years to replace or upgrade older equipment which should provide ample time for budgeting and planning and allow fore replacement of older equipment.
ARRL Narrow Band Report 2010
ARRL_Narrow-Band-Report.pdf
Reach The Beach 2024
Saturday September 28th, 2024
Grays Harbor Amateur Radio Club participates in the American Lung Associations, Reach The Beach annual event. We along with local ARES member's and Olympia Amateurs work together using amateur radio to provide participant and volunteer safety communications.
This year, Reach The Beach, RTB, will be Saturday September 28th, 2024. This event starts in Lacey and ends in Westport. The route is US12 to SR107 and then SR105, you will see RTB on the roadway and you would be stationed somewhere on the route. No radios are required but a dual band mobile would be ideal, we can supply a radio if you need one.
Bruce WA7BAM is the coordinator for the Amateur side, to get more information contact:
Grays Harbor Amateur Radio Club
Phone:360-777-6655
Email: info@gharc.net
Gravel Unravel Series
Why-Not-Chee 2024
Why would a group of bicycle races want to ride around Wynoochee Lake ? Why Not which is the name of the event coming up July 20th, 2025. As part of the Gravel Unravel series organized by Peninsula Adventure Sports, Why-Not-Chee is a bicycle race around the lake that has three courses.
Amateur Radio is used for safety communications as this area is know for very limited services. Cellular works in very few locations, Public Safety has had known challenges in the area for decades and even operates a seasonal radio site to improve communications.
Grays Harbor Amateur Radio Club, GHARC has been assisting with communications for the even the past three years deploying tactical repeaters at key locations and preparing for a larger event in the area
If you are an amateur radio operator in the area, you are welcome to join in our efforts to provide safety to the attendees, volunteers and our other fellow amateur radio operators
Grays Harbor DART 2024
Grays Harbor Amateur Radio Club provided communications for the 2024 regional Disaster Air Relief Transport exercise on Saturday
June 8th - Hoquiam and other locations
June 9th - Pt. Roberts and Bellingham
Here are some links and check back as this story will have more images and information
Bill W7NY - SOG Pilot YouTube - N7428R - 1966 PIPER CHEROKEE 140
Field TechOps - May 23rd 2024
Thursday May 23rd is an odd Thursday, GHARCFTO APRS Object is up and live with current information. Here is the expected schedule:
Field TechOps - 1200-1600 - The regular TechOps Meeting will be at 1430 on Google Meets
RadioMail / WinLink
#APRSThursday
Event schedules
TechOps 1430
TechOps and Repeater Committee
Other
Google Earth image with APRS.fi Live feed - try this at home
The Lewis and Clark Trail on the Air special event is an on air activity that commemorates the historic Lewis and Clark Trail. The trail covers 4900 miles through 16 states. This includes the disembarkation from Camp Dubois and what is referred to as the Eastern Legacy. The event is sponsored by the Clark County Amateur Radio Club with support and participation from clubs in all 16 states along the historic trail.
Lews and Clark Trail On the Air 2024
Date: June 1st, 2024 to June 16th, 2024 (May 31st, 5pm Pacific - June 15th, 5pm Pacific)
Time Start: 0000 UTC
Time Ends: 2400 UTC
Operating Hours: 24 hrs/day for duration of the event
Simple Rules: Contact one club in each of the 16 states on the historic Lewis and Clark Trail. Operating modes include SSB Phone, FM Phone, CW, and FT8. Any combination of modes towards working all 16 states is allowed. A schedule for planned operations for each state will be posted on this web site.
Certificate: Certificates can be requested for two classes of participation:
Expedition Partner Certificate: Any station working all 16 states is eligible for the Expedition Partner Certificate. Example
Trail Companion Certificate: Any station working 1-15 states is eligible for a Trail Companion Certificate. Example
Participants making contact with activating stations from one or more states will be able to purchase a certificate after the event. Certificates can be delivered either as an emailed PDF, or printed on high-quality paper and shipped. If you purchase a paper certificate, we will also send you the PDF version. Certificates will be available for purchase through July 31, 2024 via the Certificates page. PDF's will be emailed starting July 31st. Printed certificates will be mailed on September 19th.
On the Air Exchange: The on-air exchange will include call sign and state for CW and Phone. FT8 will be the standard exchange: call-sign, signal report, and grid square.
Logs: Only the activating stations in each of the 16 states along the trail will submit logs. Logs are not required from hunting stations. However, it is courteous to submit your personal log to Logbook of the World or other logging entity. Please submit your request for a certificate by July 31st of the activation year.
History: 2022 was the inaugural event for this activity.
Information: For more information, please send us a message at info@lctota.org.
GHARC and ARRL Field Day 2024
The ARRL Field Day is always th e last full weekend in June and this year the event is June
What are Amateurs Building in Grays Harbor
North Bay 220 Mhz Repeater
Clay KJ7ZPM has started with operating a 220 Mhz repeater on what is called the 1.25 Meter band. This is considered VHF but has the properties of both UHF and VHF 2 Meters. This repeater is currently a low level and low power reaptear and is mixed-mode
Temporary Repeater Information
224.100= 88.5hz CTCSS analog
224.100- CC1 for DMR and currently using the TED Talkgroup Deck
Coordination with WWARA will be initiated next.
Services and Programs GHARC Provides
We will be adding all three local NOAA Weather Radio, NWR systems to the streaming soon as well as some more local amateur radio
GHARC is Live on Broadcastify
Field TechOps - Odd Thursdays in 2024
If it is Thursday then GHARC likely has TechOps at 1430 on Google Meets, use the link at the top of the website to access the meeing, you do not need to login or have login information to join the meeing.
If it is an odd numbered Thursday then we will likely be having TechOps in the Field. Signup for our emails to receive advanced information as to the location of the meeting. We also are available on the W7ZA Repeater System and we usually announce the event there several times. For some holidays or weather issues if we cancel the field version of TechOps, we will continue with regular TechOps on Google Meets.
For Field TechOps, we may meet at at different time but if possible will have Google Meet active at the normal 1430 time for regular TechOps and normally we will have TechOps up as soon as we arrive in the field.
We will assign a tactical call for the event and use W7ZA as the call sign.
Cascadia Radio Olympia Meetup Sunday March 3rd
Cascade Radio is a great Pacific Northwest Amateur Radio Social Media Platform that provides a Discord server for all amateurs, you can sign-up or join the server at:
