Dixie Amateur Radio Club

The

The Dixie Amateur Radio Club, Inc. is a non-profit* association of federally licensed Amateur Radio operators, also known as "ham radio" operators, who reside in southwestern Utah, primarily in the greater St. George City metropolitan area, but has members in most of Washington County and some outlying areas outside the county.

This extreme southwestern portion of the state of Utah, in Washington County, has long been known as "Utah's Dixie", actually since Latter-day Saints (Mormon) pioneers sent by their leaders in Salt Lake City settled this area in the mid-1800's. These early settlers were directed by their leaders to try to raise crops that might be well suited to the climate here to help meet the needs of the growing population of settlers in the territory. This area of southwestern Utah generally has a milder climate in comparison to the northern part of Utah, in much the same way that the southern states of this country generally has a milder climate than the northern states. That area of the country is called "Dixie". Thus this area earned the nickname "Utah's Dixie". This moniker was also fitting given the settlers' efforts at producing crops of cotton locally, a commodity very much in demand at that time, especially in such an isolated region of the American continent. This production of cotton in the Utah territory became especially critical during the Civil War years when supplies of cotton from southern states were unobtainable.

Dedicated, skilled and experienced members of the Dixie Amateur Radio Club have a long and proud tradition of providing vital public service communications capabilities within our community. Amateur Radio operators are all volunteers who provide this service, without remuneration, at many local and regional public events such as the annual St. George Marathon and Huntsman World Senior Games. Our members also provide safety communications for many other area events such as bicycle road and off-road mountain-bike races, and many other running events. Our Club members are available to assist, where appropriate, in similar activities in this area.

Specially trained members of our Club, participating in the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) program (please see the Washington County ARES link below) are ready to serve this area when natural and human-caused disasters occur, and are on call day or night, especially "when all else fails! " and most or all normal means of communications are disrupted.

Amateur Radio isn't all "doom and gloom". While the preparation for and ability to provide critical communications in time of disaster is the primary function of the Amateur Radio Service, ham radio operators also have fun and excitement when talking to fellow hams in other states as well in distant countries and islands around the globe. Hams use various internationally assigned amateur frequency bands and modes which include voice, data modes, even television as well as the traditional International Morse Code. Knowledge of and proficiency in the use of Morse Code is no longer required to obtain an Amateur Radio license. Many hams, however, do learn it and then continue to use this simple but elegant communications mode, that in many circumstances, "gets the messages through" in conditions when other operating modes cannot.

Hams also build and maintain mountain-top repeater systems for local and regional communications using hand-held and mobile transceivers and even have many earth-orbiting relay satellites, entirely funded and built by Amateur Radio operators, that provide world-wide capabilities independent of commercial systems. Amateur Radio is the backup that is always there!

The Dixie Amateur Radio Club, Inc. is a formally "Affiliated Club" with the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the National Association for Amateur Radio.

Please use the navigation links below and at the bottom of each page to explore our website.

News & Announcements

May 2008 Club Meeting

The next scheduled meeting of the Dixie Amateur Radio Club will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 21, 2008 (the third Wednesday). The Club meeting will be held at the Community Building located by the Aldred Senior Citizens Center, 245 North 200 West, St. George, Utah.

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 6:00 p.m. prior to the club meeting at the same location. 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 [evenings].

Information on Club meetings is available using 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 that page.

Club Bylaws Revision Proposed

The Dixie Amateur Radio Club. Inc. Board of Directors is proposing that the Club Bylaws be revised by a vote of the general membership in regards to procedures for the conducting of elections for the Club Officers and Board. Key changes include: changing when nominations will be opened; putting in place a procedure for uncontested positions; and making permanent that all elections shall be done by mail ballot to all full members as was done this year (for office positions where there is more than one candidate).

Click HERE to go to the Bylaws page where the proposed draft revisions are available to view.

This notice was announced at the Wednesday, April 16, 2008 Club Meeting and web posted here on Sunday, April 20, 2008.

April 2008 Edition of the Club's Newsletter is Available

The latest edition of the Club’s Newsletter (April 2008) is now available online. Please use this link or the "Current Newsletter" link at the bottom of each page on the web site to view the newsletter. There is also a newsletter archive available to view past editions available by using the Newsletter Archive link at the bottom of each page on the web site. We hope you enjoy this month’s installment. If you have any articles, product reviews, or a personal profile you would like to submit, please e-mail them to the Club at w7drc@arrl.net .

ARRL Field Day 2008 is June 28-29

The Dixie Amateur Radio Club will be participating in this years ARRL Field Day. Please see the President's message in the current Club Newsletter (April 2008) for more information. This year's operation will take place from "the field" at the Dixie Sun Bowl in St. George.

You can view where many of the Field Day operations across the country, including Utah by using the ARRL Field Day Locator. The DARC Field Day site has been added to the ARRL locator.

Use this link to go to the locator page: http://www.arrl.org/contests/announcements/fd/locator.php Use the "List By State/Province" link on the right side of that page and choose "Utah". The Club will be using it's W7DRC callsign.

ECOMM Hamfest 2008 in South Ogden Utah

On Saturday, June 7th, there will be a Hamfest in Weber County with an emergency communications emphasis. Everyone is invited. For more information contact Matt Zundel, KD7HHW, at kd7hhw@interfold.com or you can find out more about the event by viewing this PDF file regarding the Hamfest: http://www.dixieham.org/forms/ECOMM FEST 08 Flyer.pdf

Congratulations to these New FCC Licensees and License Upgrades

The following individuals qualified for their Technician Class Amateur Radio license at the April 16, 2008 V.E. Session:

Kevin Merrill, KE7TLW; St. George, UT
James W. Hooper, KE7TLX; St. George, UT
Cathy Farneman, KE7TLV; St. George, UT

The following individual upgraded to the General Class Amateur Radio license at the April 16, 2008 V.E. Session:

Harold Farneman, KE7TMI; St. George, UT

Check the Status of Your New or Upgraded Ham License

Those who have recently taken and passed an Amateur Radio examination 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 web site portal that has up to date information directly from the Federal Communications Commission database.

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).

Web Site Navigation

Mailing Address: Dixie Amateur Radio Club, Inc.; P.O. Box 422; Santa Clara, Utah 84765

E-mail: w7drc@arrl.net

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