About Us - Barrie Amateur Radio Club


	BARRIE AMATEUR RADIO CLUB About Us

Mission Statement \| History \| Meetings \| Membership \| Ham Courses \| Events \| Affiliations

Mission Statement

To develop and foster an interest in amateur radio in our community. To develop an independent

network of people and facilities to promote public safety and assist in times of disaster.

To provide a forum for Amateurs to congregate and exchange ideas and information.

History

The club started as a loosely knit group of hobbyists in the mid 1960's and formally organized as a club in 1968. At the time they were meeting in the basement of the old Registry Office building which was located at the site of the old County Court House building in Barrie. At that time the building was being used by the Emergency Measures Organization. Later with connections to Georgian College meetings began at the College. In 1982 with the help of 10 of the active members the organization was incorporated. The Club started meeting at Zehrs Community Room 472 Bayfield Street and now meets at the Zehrs Community Room, Big Bay Point Road at Yonge Street and provides service to the community and amateurs of central Ontario.

Meetings

The Club meets the second Tuesday of every month ( except December )
7:00 p.m. at Zehrs Community Room, Big Bay Point Road at Yonge Street.
On the Southwest corner of Yonge & Big Bay Point Road.

Membership

The fee for individual membership is $20.00 per year
- or $30.00 for a Family membership ( immediate only )

Ham Courses

For further information please contact HamRadio@barriearc.com

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Events

The club participates in community events whenever possible. It varies from things like providing communications for a Walk a Dog a Thon to having an information booth at community events.

Two events we are directly involved with are GOTA (Guides On The Air), and JOTA (Jamboree On The Air). These are international events where we set up communications gear and let Girl Guides and Scouts communicate with their counterparts in the rest of the world.
GOTA is in the early spring and JOTA is in the fall. Both are a good opportunity to see how long distance radio communication is done

Now the premier event of the year is called Field Day. Field Day is sort of a practice session for disaster communications. All over North America Amateur Radio groups, clubs, and individuals set up their equipment in a simulated disaster mode using generators for power and setting up antennas and operating gear in tents usually in a field, hence the name "Field Day". The object of the exercise is to make as many contacts as possible with other Field Day competitors over a 24 hour period. The pace is pretty hectic during daylight hours, first setting up all the gear and getting prepared, then in the wee hours of the morning you see who the truly dedicated radio operators are. It's a great opportunity to see radio communication at its finest. It also is an opportunity for unlicensed enthusiasts to try their hand at using the equipment under the guidance of a licensed operator. Field Day is on the 3rd or 4th weekend in June.
Give one of our contacts a call and try to get out to see it. All ages are welcome.

CONTACTS

Affiliations

The Barrie Amateur Radio Club along with many other clubs provide support to other public service groups. Radio Amateurs of Canada, (RAC) is our national organization which provides a voice for Amateurs with our Federal Government and internationally with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), and the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU). Two of the branches of RAC that provide public service are, (ARES) Amateur Radio Emergency Service, and (NTS) National Traffic System. ARES is an organization of licensed radio amateurs who have registered their qualifications and equipment with RAC to provide communications in times of disaster. NTS is an organization of licensed radio amateurs who provide a network of operators that can relay formal message traffic around the world. Both of these groups will usually be providing their services to the Red Cross who coordinates the distribution of information to the public. One important type of traffic for the Red Cross is the Registration and Inquiry information. That service provides information to disaster victims and their friends and families to help reunite them. Another recently formed public service group is Canadian Weather Amateur Radio Network (CANWARN). It is a joint project between Environment Canada and local amateur radio groups. It is an organization of licensed radio amateurs who are trained in the recognition of severe weather conditions. Its main purpose is to observe weather conditions at the time when tornadoes are likely to occur. When Environment Canada determines that there is a possible threat of tornadoes the group is called into action. A number of amateur repeaters in the effected area are linked together in a network. Network controllers are called into an amateur station set up at the Canada Weather office. The trained weather spotters relay information to the weather office where the Weather Specialist determines what reports go out to warn the public via TV and radio reports. It gets pretty exciting hearing all the reports of things as they happen.