History of the
Littleton Area Radio Klub
The Littleton Area Radio Klub started from very humble beginnings. The club was founded by Lyle (Rusty) Bulis K1HR approximately 1981. A small group of people including Bob Rayno WG1X were gathering on their radios routinely. During one of these informal chit chats Rusty suggested that the group meet somewhere for breakfast. The first meeting was held at the breakfast room of the East Gate and approximately 20 people showed up just from word of mouth and Lark was born. The meetings settled in to a monthly schedule usually on the second Sunday of the month. These were really just informal gatherings of friends with a common interest. In the beginning there were no officers no dues and no plans just fellowship.
After a time the East Gates business had grown and they could not accommodate such a large group on Sundays so the gang moved on to the Continental 93 restaurant. This was a motel right on the interstate where McDonald’s is today. The monthly meetings continued and the group starts participating in the ARRL Field Day. Field day is an annual event where Amateurs are challenged to set up their equipment using temporary antenna’s and power in remote locations. When the contest starts they have 24 hours to make as many contacts as they can and points are awarded based on the mode used and several other factors. This fun and rewarding event is a great way to get together and have a cook out and operate radio. It is a nationwide and Canada event and contacts are made in all 50 states and all the Provinces. The sheer number of Amateurs on the air all at once is exhilarating.
Over the years members have built and installed repeaters on high places such as Cannon Mountain, K1HR put up K1EME VHF and UHF. The PBS Television Tower on Mann’s Hill had a K1HR repeater until 2014 when it had to come off while they built a new antenna tower and prepared to take down the old one. Whitefield, Lancaster, Groveton all hosted repeaters built by N1PCE. The current systems are an ARES repeater on Mt Agassi in Bethlehem by KB1IZU, AB1NN and N1PCE. The All Star System developed by N1PCE and W1FVB has expanded our area even further than a repeater by attaching repeaters and nodes with the internet making the limit worldwide. The next logical step will be to add DMR to our inventory planned to be operational in early 2017.
The clubs call sign K1EME was originally held by early member Bill Sencabaugh’s mother. Bill was serving in the US Navy, stationed in the Pacific. As a surprise to him his mother got her Amateur License so that she could communicate with him while deployed. When Bill’s Mom passed his wife Gloria assumed the call sign and proudly used it for many years. When Gloria unexpectedly passed on, Bill donated the call sign to the club which cherishes it to this day.
The club decided approximately five years ago to become affiliated with the National Club the ARRL. It was necessary to have officers and dues to accomplish this. Professor George Blakeslee was elected President and Lilian Rayno was elected Treasurer. In keeping with the founders plan to stay small and simple the club operates this way to this day with only these two officers.
The club has held its meetings in many different locations over the years most recently at the little grill on Cottage ST., but is currently meeting at the Littleton Regional Hospital Cafeteria for breakfast followed by a meeting in the conference room at 9:00. New members or visitors are welcome to attend.
