PARA - Philipsburg Amateur Radio Association

PARA Site Pages

PARA Officers

Pres.	Filip AB3HK
Vice Pres.	Scott W3EOD
Sec.	John N3SPW
Treas.	Jim N3ONE
VE Leader	Joe KB3CBN
Club Liaison	Dick K3BIE
Net Manager	Filip AB3HK

Amateur's Code
The Radio Amateur Is:
Considerate... never knowingly operates in such a way as to lessen the pleasure of others.
Loyal... offers loyalty, encouragement, and support to other amateurs, local clubs, and the ARRL, through which Amateur Radio in the US is represented nationally and internationally.
Progressive... with knowledge abreast of science, a well-built and efficient station and operation above reproach.
Friendly... slow and patient operating when requested; friendly advice and counsel to the beginner; kindly assistance, cooperation and consideration for interests of others. These are the hallmarks of the amateur spirit.
Balanced...radio is an avocation, never interfering with duties owed to family, job, school, or community.
Patriotic... station and skill always ready for service to country and community.

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P H I L I P S B U R G , P E N N S Y L V A N I A

Home of "The Big .43 Repeater™"

PARA Installs a Vendor Neutral D-STAR Compatible Repeater (added 12-March-2013)
On Sunday March 10, 2013 PARA placed into service a new home-brewed D-STAR compatible repeater. The entire system is operated by the Free-Star software package which runs on the CentOS Linux operating system. Free-Star is a vendor natural approach to digital communications for amateur radio. Click the link above for details.

2013 PARA Officers Elected (added 13-January-2013)
At the January 2013 PARA meeting a elections were held for all officer positions. Click the link above for details.

Dave AA3EJ is PARA 2013 Ham of the Year (added 16-December-2012)
It with considerable pride that the Philipsburg Amateur Radio Association announces that Dave Runk AA3EJ has been named as the PARA Ham of the Year Award for 2013. Dave is one of the founding members of PARA and has been consistently involved in the club over the years. Click the link above for details.

PARA 2012 Christmas Banquet Plans Announced (added 2-October-2012)
The Philipsburg Amateur Radio Association will hold its Christmas Banquet at the Philipsburg Elks Lodge & Country Club on Saturday December 15, 2012. The evening will start off with cocktails at 5:00 PM and dinner at 6:00 PM. All amateur radio operators and their families and/or guests are welcome to attend. Click the link above for details and the reservation form.

Nominations for Ham of the Year are Open (added 11-September-2012)
Is there a local ham radio operator that you believe deserves special recognition for their ham radio related activities? Nominations are currently being accepted for the PARA Ham of the Year award. The person selected as Ham of the Year will be publicly recognized at the Philipsburg Amateur Radio Association 2012 Christmas Banquet. Click the link above for details and the nomination form.

PARA Members Help with Communications at 2012 Black Moshannon YMCA Mountain Bike Race (added 17-August-2012)
For the third consecutive year PARA members, in cooperation with the Nittanty Amateur Radio Club and Centre County ARES / RACES provided communications for the Black Moshannon Mountain Bike Race. The race is a fund raising event for the Moshannon Valley YMCA and is held on some of the most rugged trails in Black Moshannon State Park, north of Philipsburg. Click the link above for details.

Good Food, Fun Planned at Phlipsburg Area Amateur Radio Picnic (added 3-August-2012)
The 6th Annual Philipsburg Area Amateur Radio Picnic has been scheduled for Saturday August 25th, 2012 at 2 PM. This is a fun event with lots of food and nobody goes home hungry. The location will once again be the Cold Stream Dam Park in Philipsburg. Our pavilion is on the far side of the lake near the amphitheater. The bathhouse restrooms will be open for our use. Click the link above for details.

PARA Concludes Successful 2012 Philipsburg Heritage Days W3P Special Event Station (added 15-July-2012)
From July 11th through July 13th the Philipsburg Amateur Radio Association operated Special Event Station W3P from a vendor style tent at the Philipsburg Heritage Days Street Fair. PARA has operated from the Heritage Days celebration for the past four years and it has become our biggest public outreach effort of the year. Click the link above for details.

PARA's BIG .43 REPEATER gets Audio Delay Board Installed (added 7-June-2012)
On Thursday June 7, 2012 PARA's Dynamic Duo, Dave AA3EJ and Filip AB3HK, finished up yet another repeater improvement project for the BIG 43 Repeater. They installed the same audio delay board on the BIG 43 as they had previously installed on our 146.640 repeater. This new board is an add-on accessory for the repeater's CAT-200B controller. Click the link above for details.

PARA's .64 Repeater Improved (added 6-June-2012)
On Tuesday June 5, 2012 PARA members Dave AA3EJ and Filip AB3HK visited PARA's 146.640- repeater and installed a new audio delay board on the repeater controller. This new board is an add-on accessory for the repeater's CAT-200B controller. Its function is to delay the audio, but it also has the added effect of eliminating the static crash at the end of each transmission from a user of the system. Click the link above for details.

PARA Helps Out at the 2012 Black Moshannon 5K and 10K Race (added 28-May-2012)
Once again PARA members were on hand to help out with communications at the Black Moshannon 5K & 10 K Race/Walk on Saturday May 26t, 2012. This event is held at Black Moshannon State Park and is a fund raising effort of the Moshannon Valley YMCA in Philipsburg. Click the link above for details.

"Like" PARA on Facebook! (added 5-May-2012)
PARA recently jumped into the on-line world of social media by launching a Facebook page. The page is a means for PARA members, who use Facebook, to share PARA announcements with their friends and make posts to the PARA Facebook page with their input on current PARA events. Click the link above for details.

PARA's N3SPW Named WPA N2 District Emergency Coordinator (added 2-May-2012)
On April 24, 2011 one of PARA's own was appointed to the position of North 2 District Emergency Coordinator (DEC) in the Western Pennsylvania Section for the Amateur Radio Emergency Service. John Szwarc N3SPW was appointed to this position by the WPA Section Emergency Coordinator Larry Keller AB3ER with the approval of the WPA Section Manager John Rodger N3MSE. Click the link above for details.

Dave K3MGC - Silent Key (added 2-February-2012)
It is with great sadness that PARA marks the passing of one of its founding members, Dave K3MGC. Click the link above for details.

"The Big .43 Repeater™ is back on the air (added 2-February-2012)
After an extended period of time, the new antenna for PARA's .43 repeater has been installed and the repeater is back on the air. Click the link above for details.

PARA EchoLink Node Back up and Running (added 20-January-2012)
The PARA EchoLink node is back up and running. It is currently connected to the PARA 146.640- repeater. Click the link above for details.

2012 PARA Officers Elected (added 14-January-2012)
At the January 2012 PARA meeting a new slate of organization officers were elected. Click the link above for details.

Jim N3ONE is PARA Ham of the Year (added 11-December-2011)
The Philipsburg Amateur Radio Association has announced that Jim Warg, N3ONE, is the recipient of the 2012 Ham of the Year award. Click the link above for details.

New Antenna for "The Big .43 Repeater™" (added 2-November-2011)
The “Big .43 Repeater”™ is currently off the air. The problem is a faulty antenna. When tested with an SWR meter, it read a 9:1 SWR. A new antenna has already been ordered. Click the link above for details.

PARA Picnic Pictures (added 14-August-2011)
On Saturday, August 13th, PARA hosted a picnic for Philipsburg area Amateur Radio operators and their families. The location was once again Pavilion #7 at Black Moshannon State Park. For more information and pictures click the link above.

PARA Members Help with Communications at Moshannon Valley WMCA Mountain Bike Race (added 14-August-2011)
On August 13th the Moshannon Valley YMCA Mountain Bike Race was held on a rather grueling course over dirt roads and mountain trails in Black Moshannon State Park. Amateur Radio played a key role in providing race officials with the ability to communicate with checkpoints along the race route. Click the link above for details.

.43 Repeater Issues Continue (added 14-August-2011)
After having installed the new HiPro R1 repeater at the repeater sites, PARA officials discovered that the repeater was still not functioning as flawlessly as expected. Filip AB3HK took on the task of diagnosing the problems and consulted with the repeater manufacturer for their suggestions. Click the link above for details.

PARA Upgrades .43 Repeater (added 24-July-2011)
The new HiPro R1 repeater that PARA purchased was installed at the 146.430 repeater site on Saturday July 23rd, 2011.This was phase 1 of the repeater upgrade project. There is still more to be done and we can now turn our attention to the next steps in the process. Click the link above for details.

PARA Resumes Publication of Club Newsletter (added 18-June-2011)
After a 17 month hiatus PARA officials have decided it is time to bring back the club newsletter. The first issue of the PARA Connections will be released on or about July 1st, 2011. Click the link above for details.

PARA helps out at Black Moshannon 5K & 10K Race (added 29-May-2011)
On May 28th 2011 PARA members once again provided communications assistance at the Black Moshannon 5K & 10 K Race/Walk. This event is held at Black Moshannon State Park and is a fundraising effort of the Moshannon Valley YMCA in Philipsburg. Click the link above for details and photos.

ARRL WPA Section Manager Visits PARA (added 15-May-2011)
At the May 14, 2011 PARA meeting John Rodgers N3MSE, the ARRL Western Pennsylvania Section Manager, was the guest speaker. Following our club business meeting, John gave a brief talk about strengthening clubs in the WPA Section which was followed by a Q&A session. Click the link above for details and photos.

PARA Moves to Upgrade .43 Repeater (added 15-May-2011)
PARA has outlined a plan to repair and improve the club owned and operated 146.430 (+1 MHz offset, PL 173.8 Hz) repeater. At the May PARA meeting it was decided to move forward with the fist phase of the project: Replacement of the repeater with a HiPro R1 repeater. Click the link above for details.

Club Officers Elected for 2011 (added 9-January-2011)
The Philipsburg Amateur Radio Association elected club officers for 2011 at the club meeting on Saturday January 8th. For more details click the link above.

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Philipsburg Amateur Radio Association
Philipsburg, PA
An ARRL Affiliated Club

For more information on the Philipsburg Amateur Radio Association, contact us by email at (e-mail at "n3spw (at) arrl.net").