DARC LogoDixie Amateur Radio Club

The Dixie Amateur Radio Club, Inc. is a non-profit* association of federally licensed Amateur Radio operators, also known as "ham radio" operators, who primarily reside in southwestern Utah, mostly in the greater St. George City metropolitan area. We do however, have members who live throughout many areas of Washington County and also in areas outside of the county. The Dixie Amateur Radio Club, Inc. is a formally "Affiliated Club" with the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) "The National Association for Amateur Radio".

Our members are all volunteers.  We are experienced and capable of providing non-commercial radio telecommunications, independent of public and/or commercial networks.  We provide vital communications services in this area of Utah as our motto says: "When all else fails...    ...Amateur Radio works!"  

Amateur Radio operators provide, in many circumstances, the first and only reliable means of communicating to an from an affected area in the first several days following a natural disaster.  This was well proven during the deadly Indian Ocean tsunami and in the days and weeks following Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast in 2005.  Our Club also provides local public safety and health and welfare communications services for local events such as the annual St. George Marathon and Huntsman World Senior Games. 

To explore our web site please use the web site navigation links located at the bottom of this and every page on this web site. For more information on the Club CLICK HERE. Or you can use the  "About the Club" link found at the bottom of each page this web site.  If you are interested in becoming a licensed Amateur Radio operator come and meet us at our next club meeting. Information on our Club meetings is available below.

News & Announcements

July 15th Club Meeting

 The next scheduled regular meeting of the Dixie Amateur Radio Club will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 15, 2009  (always the third Wednesday of each month except in December).  Unless otherwise advertised here, our Club meetings will always be held at the St. George Community Building which is located at the southwest corner of Washington County's Gayle M. & Mary Aldred Senior Citizens Center property which is located at 245 North 200 West, St. George, Utah.    

PRESENTATION TOPIC FOR THE JULY 15th MEETING:

The presentation at the July 15th Club meeting will be by Paulette Valentine who is the Director of Communicable Disease and Emergency Preparedness in the five county area (Beaver, Garfield, Iron, Kane and Washington).  With the Flu season starting in September and peaking in December, and Swine Flu reaching pandemic conditions this year, Club President Ken Forshee, KE7DZI, feels our club members will be called upon or pressed into service as emergency communications personnel.  Paulette has been instrumental in implementing the “Roadmap to Preparedness” for the Health Department staff and many community organizations.  She will be here to educate us on staying healthy ourselves.

Additional information on our Club meetings and V.E. Testing sessions  is available by clicking  HERE.

You can also use the "Club Meeting Info"  link at the bottom of this and each page on the site.   A link to an interactive map of the location is also provided on the Club Meeting Info page.

V.E. Testing Session

For those wanting to take the FCC test for a new Amateur Radio license or upgrade to a higher license class, there will be a ARRL Volunteer Examiner administered exam test session held at 5:30 p.m. prior to the club meeting at the same location (see club meeting information link below or at bottom of any page).  If you are planning to upgrade or take a new Ham Radio test, please contact Gary Zabriskie, N7ARE, ARRL VEC-Volunteer Exam Liaison, at n7are@arrl.net,  or by phone (435) 674-2678 leaving an answering machine message with your name an intention to test and for what class of license you are planning on testing for.   Please do NOT use this phone number for general inquirees about Amateur Radio or the Club.  For any of those types of inquirees, please contact the Club President at the contact information at the bottom of this page, or on the "DARC Board" page (see web site navigation links below).

We will open the doors to the Community Building at 5:30 p.m. and will begin to assist you in filling out the required test session registration paperwork.   As soon as we have 3 Volunteer Examiners in attendance, you will be able to begin taking your exam.

Information on Club meetings and V.E. Testing sessions  is available by clicking  HERE

You can also use the "Club Meeting Info"  link at the bottom of this and each page on the site.   A link to an interactive map of the location is also provided on the Club Meeting Info page.

Boy Scout Operation "On Target"

It's that time of year again to start thinking about On Target.  This is a fun event!  The event is scheduled to take place on Saturday, July 18, 2009.  The website is www.ontargetbsa.org this is a fun event.   There are several groups registered in Southern Utah. Lets get in contact with them and coordinate to make sure they have a ham operator.  I will be happy to assist you in coordinating with a group who could use you  to provide ham radio communications from their location.   To volunteer for this event, please call me at: (435) 467-2787 or e-mail:  cblofty@cpaz.net  

Thanks Casey Lofthouse, KD7HUS


May 2009 Club Newsletter Available

The latest Club Newsletter (May 2009) is now available.  Please use this link or the Club Newsletter link on any page on this web site to view it.  

The Club Newsletter Editor, Gary Hall, K7ODM, is doing a great job but he still needs your help in order to expand and grow the Newsletter. This is your Newsletter!  Please help take ownership by providing Gary with
stories, articles, photographs, product reviews, or a personal profile you would like to submit, please e-mail them to Gary at:  gshall@medbiltech.com .  


Club Mentoring Program

The Club has implement a voluntary list of local Amateur Radio operators who have expressed a willingness to assist aspiring as well as newly licensed ham radio enthusiasts in learning more about the hobby and helping when questions/difficulties arise.

Click HERE to find out more about this new program and view a list of willing and able mentors to assist you as you come into this exciting hobby.  You can also reach this information by using the "Contact the Club" link at the bottom of each page on this site.


Used Equipment Classified Ads

There is never a bad time to clean out the ol' ham "shack" of
those items that really need a new home.  We have had many news ham operators join our ranks at recent Volunteer Exam sessions who may be looking for rigs and all of the ancillary equipment that you may have lying about the shack that could be put to use in the shack of a new ham.

Please visit the "Equipment Classifieds" page on this web site (QUICK-LINK) for items that are for sale and to see items that hams are looking for that you might be willing to part with. Send requests for posting items for sale or wanted to the webmaster at: n7are@arrl.net

Club Founder and Good Friend to All, Bart Anderson, K7EDU,  Silent Key

A special tribute page has been created and will remain active for a period of time to present information on our recently departed friend and fellow Dixie Amateur Radio Club member Bart Anderson, K7EDU.  Please click HERE to view it.

Club Member Hal Whiting, KI2U,  Uses Amateur Radio to Aid an Injured Woman

Man uses ham radio to rescue woman
(c) KSL.com  March 19th, 2009 Story by KSL Producer/Reporter Paul McHardy
Story is used with permission from KSL .com

Hal_Whiting_KI2UST. GEORGE -- Hal Whiting of St. George was driving in the Arizona desert between the Grand Canyon and the Utah border, looking for an old plane wreckage with his two sons and some friends when they were flagged down by a group of people.   The group said a woman was injured by an ATV rollover and asked for a satellite phone. Whiting didn't have one but, lucky for them, he's an amateur ham radio operator.

Whiting set up his equipment and made an emergency call. "This is K-I-2-U. Break, break, break. I have emergency traffic," he announced into his radio.  Ralph Magee, over 50 miles away, responded to his call.   "He replied back, and I asked him if he had clear contact with, which he said he did. And then I said I need a 911 emergency call made," said Whiting.

He says the Mohave County Sheriff's Office dispatched a helicopter from Phoenix. Whiting stayed in contact with Magee and the sheriff's office the whole time.  "It's about an hour and a half that we were on the radio. It's quite a ways out there."

The woman was transported to a Las Vegas hospital. She's expected to make a full recovery.  Whiting said he doesn't consider himself a hero. "It's what I train for, it's what I practice doing. I've done emergency training with them, participated in various exercises with the public health department," he said.

He said he's grateful he was prepared and glad he could set a good example for his sons.  "Jared's comment was, 'You know, this gave me a really warm feeling.' After this was all over he told me that."

NOTE:   To read more about this story and to listen to audio clips, etc., please use THIS LINK

Preparation for St. George Marathon Begins Now!

It’s never too early to talk about the St George City Marathon! Hi - my name is Kenneth Head, KD7FGP.  I have been assigned by the DARC Board to coordinate our club’s participation with the upcoming St. George Marathon.

Please see the information I have provided on preparation for providing communications for the Marathon located near the bottom of the Events Calendar page on this site. 

Club Financial Report for 2008

 The Dixie Amateur Radio Club, Inc. Board of Directors has posted the Club's Financial Report for 2008 here on this web site.  Please click on this LINK to view the report as a viewable/printable PDF file. 

Questions regarding the financial report can be directed to the Club Treasurer George Darrow, KK7GC, who can be reached via e-mail at:  kk7gc@earthlink.net or to the Board at the next Club meeting.


Amateur Radio Practice Exam Site Available

An Amateur Radio operator in  Colorado,  Hamilton Carter, KDØFNR, has just created a set of free online exam practice tests that he hopes hams will find useful.

Within the practice tests, online study resources, (Wikipedia, NASA, ARRL, etc...), are provided for many of the questions.  The list of resources available for each question is constantly growing because users can add their own favorite links to the study materials.  Users can also track their test scores over time and see which subelements are giving them the most trouble.

You can see  the practice tests at:   http://copaseticflow.blogspot.com .  Please let Hamilton know if you find it handy, or if you think of any ways to make it better.   His e-mail address is:   hcarter333@gmail.com

Check the Status of Your New or Upgraded Ham License

Those who have just recently taken and passed an Amateur Radio examination (see below) administered by the Dixie Amateur Radio Club, Inc. at a ARRL-VEC Volunteer Exam session may check the status of your first license or your upgrade by going to American Radio Relay League (ARRL) web site portal that has up to date information directly from the Federal Communications Commission database.  Everyone else can verify the expiration date of your license using this portal.

Please click on this link:  http://www.arrl.org/fcc/fcclook.php3   to look up whether your new license is effective (and discover your newly assigned call sign) and to confirm your upgraded license status (if you took and passed a test to upgrade).    A great link is the ULS lookup on the FCC web site.  You can print additional "reference copies" of your license and see the status of your license. You can choose to search by name, callsign or your FRN number.  This search page can be found at this link:  http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/searchLicense.jsp


 Volunteer Exam Session Results

Congratulations to those who took Amateur Radio examinations for their Amateur Radio operator licenses at the most recent June 17, 2009 ARRL-VEC session conducted by ARRL-VEC Certified Dixie Amateur Radio Club volunteer examiners.  
The following individuals passed their license examination:    
        

NAME:         

QRZ.COM  LOOKUP
OF CALLSIGN: 

HOME TOWN:       

EXAM ELEMENT PASSED:    
Lee Case
KE7DZJ
St. George, Utah
Upgraded to General Class license
Garn Huntington
KE7HNR St. George, Utah
Upgraded to General Class license
Joshua Ursenbach
KE7OPC St. George, Utah
Upgraded to General Class license
Kevin Andrews KF7DLR
Santa Clara, Utah
New Technician Class license
Anthony (Tony) Schriver
KF7DLQ  
Beryl, Utah New Technician Class license
Danelle Oleson
KF7BVV
St. George, Utah Upgraded to General Class license
Robert Childs
KF7BVY
Diamond Valley, Utah
Upgraded to General Class license

Webmaster note: 
Please note that for new licenses it may take up to several days for the QRZ.com web site to be updated with current FCC information.  In those cases you can use this link:  FCC LICENSE SEARCH  where you can type in your callsign to view the information that is in the FCC database.           

Web Site Navigation 
About the Dixie MPO Club Meeting Information Dixie Amateur Radio Club Elected Board
History of the DARC Club Membership Roster How to Join the Club
The Club's Constitution The Club's Bylaws
The Club's Latest Newletter
The Club's Sunday Night VHF net Ham Equipment Classified Ads Past Editions of the Club's Newletters
Area Repeaters Neighboring Amateur Radio Clubs Helpful Web Links
Amateur Radio Events Calendar
Washington County Amateur Radio Emergency Service
How to Contact the Club

Mailing Address:  Dixie Amateur Radio Club, Inc.;  P.O. Box 422;  Santa Clara, Utah 84765
Club e-mail address:  w7drc@arrl.net
For Additional Information on the Club or on Ham Radio in general, please call:  Club President Ken Forshee, KE7DZI at (435) 673-7645

*
Dixie Amateur Radio Club, Inc. is an IRS 501(c)(3) charitable organization.  Charitable donations to our Club are always accepted and much appreciated.