Club Callsign: WB8WV
Home and mobile coverage throughout central West Virginia. Please check-in to the West Virgina District 4 ARES Information Net on Monday nights at 9 PM. Club meetings will be scheduled every month located at Gilmer County Volunteer Fire Department in Glenville, 606 W Main Street, zip 26351. We hope to see you at a meeting or on the net! Current Club Members: 14
Officers:
President: Eric Squires KD8JPE
Vice President: Steve Ostaff AB8CR
Secretary: Steven Smith KC8TNV
Treasurer: Larry Barton WV8LB
Pioneer Amateur Radio Association - History
The Pioneer Amateur Radio Association known locally by "PARA", was formed in 1987. Charter member and club trustee, G. Dave Ramezan, KA8ZXP formed the club after becoming an amateur himself and realizing that there was no real following of the hobby in central West Virginia. Dave was able to coordinate and build two VHF and one UHF
repeater and was able to locate a hilltop site to put them on the air. By advertising and organizing meetings, he found a strong interest and offered training for these interested folks who many became amateur operators. Although Dave passed away recently, Dave became a mentor to many beginning amateurs. As many as 25 amateurs became licensed and repeater activity flourished. Over the years, activity has dwindled which is most likely blamed on technology improvements especially with cell phone coverage increasing. The club call KB8ZBF, was change to a vanity call and is now WB8WV. This call is used for club field day activity and is now the call sign used for the 145.290 MHz repeater. The repeater coverage continues to spread over central West Virginia. For several years, a newsletter was produced called 'ParaPhrase". The newsletter was mailed monthly to club members. The newsletter brought amateur radio news, repeater lists and other information to spark interests in the hobby. Later, a webpage was created which demonstrated activities that club members were involved in. The webpage is no longer up to date as we are transitioning to Facebook to keep club members and the public informed of ongoing club activities. Over the years, membership has dwindled, there continues to be a strong base of active amateurs active. With the numerous bands & modes that the hobby offers, many local amateurs are still enjoying the hobby.
