Athens Radio Club
The Athens Radio Club is active in the amateur radio hobby. The club hosts several annual events that provide opportunities for operators to experience all aspects of amateur radio. Our members can be found operating POTA, working a variety of public service events, or just ragchewing on the local repeater. Join us at a regular meeting, at one of our many events, or on the air. Membership is not required but is encouraged and appreciated. We have set a goal of 100 members for 2026.
New Meeting Location
At the November meeting, it was agreed that we would move our meeting location to the Athens Airport for 2026. See our Meetings page for more information.
We bid a fond farwell to our hosts at the Athens-Clarke County Police Department. All meetings will now be held in the Community Room at the Athens Airport Terminal building, 1020 Ben Epps Dr, Athens, GA 30605.
2026 Membership Drive
Help us reach our goal of 100 members. Join the Athens Radio Club now.
Upcoming meetings, programs and events
January 6 - Regular Meeting 7:30 PM - New Location
Mark Campbell (W0GZR) will present on two impressive radio stations. His presentation will include a tour of the WHO Radio transmitter site in Des Moines and the popular contest station of Tony Radebaugh, N0NI, in Rippey, Iowa.
For more information, check out the 2026 Programs page. This will be our first meeting at our new meeting location.
January 10 - Winterville Snowflake 10K.
Come support ARC as we support the 12th annual Snowflake. The race is put on by the Winterville Civitan Club and supports the Firefly Trail, the community, and persons with disabilities. Hams will need to be in position by 8:30 a.m. If you can help, please fill out the 2026 Snowflake Sign-up Form. For more information, contact Bob (KE4JLL).
January 24 - Athens Classic City Marathon.
The ARC will be supporting the 3rd annual Classic City Marathon. We have helped with this event since it began in 2024. We need at least 16 operators this year. Operators need to be on site by 6:45 a.m. and can leave as soon as all runner pass by. If you are able to help out, please add your name to the 2026 Marathon Sign-up Form. For more information, contact Bob (KE4JLL).
January (23), 24 & 25 - Winter Field Day at Watson Mill Bridge State Park.
Using the W4G Special Event Call Sign on Jan. 23 – 25, 2026, the Athens Radio Club (ARC) will be operating from Watson Mill Bridge State Park in support of the Winter Field Day communications exercise. This will be our 6th year operating from this park.
We will begin setting up the afternoon of Friday, January 23, around 2:30, and stay through the weekend. All club members and visitors are welcome to come any time and join in the radio fun. There's plenty of room in the cabins to stay the nights. The more the merrier.
Before Winter Field Day officially begins (on the 24th), we will be using the W4G call sign to activate Watson Mill Bridge State Park, US-2207, for Parks on the Air (POTA). All contacts made from the park before, and during, Winter Field Day will be uploaded to the POTA website for credit.
Let us know you are coming by filling out the Winter Field Day 2026 Sign-up form or just show up. Drop-ins are welcome. For more information, contact Colin (KO4IZK).
February 3 - VE License Testing 6:00 PM - New Location
February 3 - Regular Meeting 7:30 PM - New Location
Annie Dmitrieff (KQ4NJC) will present on the progress of the University of Georgia Small Satellite Research Laboratory (SSRL) and their current educational/outreach satellite in development, MEMESat-1.
For more information, check out the 2026 Programs page. This meeting will be held at our new meeting location.
March 3 - Regular Meeting 7:30 PM - New Location
Scott Wooten (KW4NJA) will present the Long Island CW Club (LICW) and the CW Academy (CWops), two of the leading organizations available to the Amateur Radio enthusiast for learning CW Morse Code.
Scott is the current Vice-President of the South East Contest Club, a graduate of the CW Academy (CWops), and a morse code instructor with the Long Island CW Club (LICW), He is active in POTA, CW contesting, ragchews and chasing DX.
For more information, check out the 2026 Programs page. This meeting will be held at our new meeting location.
April 7 - VE License Testing 6:00 PM
April 7 - Regular Meeting 7:30 PM
Bruce Johnson (KX4AZ) is fascinated with the science of electromagnetic waves and the means of sending/detecting them. His presentation, titled “You Used Ethernet Cable for WHAT?”, will highlight the advantages of using ethernet cable as a feedline for HF antennas. The characteristics of ethernet cable (impedance, line loss, matching needs, cost) will be discussed, along with real-world examples from his Antenna Farm of using a single cable for multiple receive only antennas.
For more information, check out the 2026 Programs page.
See the main ARC Calendar Page for more events.
Repeater site in northwest Clarke County, GA
Club members supporting the 2025 Milledge Mile run.
Colin, KO4IZK, operating at Winter Field Day 2025.
Club members looking over some items at the 2025 club swap meet.
Drone view of the club repeater antennas on the Colbert water tower.
Nighttime overhead view of the Number One Dawgs, N1D, setup at UGA April 2025.
Club members socializing at Summer Field Day 2025.
Claude AC4SH and Kevin KR4BDR supporting the Star Spangled Classic fireworks show June, 2025.
Jesse N4JAH supporting the Coach Mikes's Through the Woods Run August 2025.
Fireworks exploding in the air at the Colbert, GA Fireworks show July 4, 2025.
Gant (KR4CWB) and Tom (K9EDD) at STEM Day at Watkinsville Library 2025
2025 Christmas Party collage
VE License Testing Session December 2025
New Officer Elections
Elections for 2026 ARC club officers was held at the November meeting. We would like to congratulate our new President Claude Ray, AC4SH, and Tom Bohannon, KQ4TAB, our new Vice President. A big thank you goes out to the other officers that agreed to continue to serve our club for 2026.
The 2026 ARC Officers are:
President - Claude Ray, AC4SH
Vice President - Tom Bohannon, KQ4TAB
Treasurer - Chris Morgan, N5TOY
Public Information Officer - Kathleen McCook, KN4IJM
Recorder - Derrec Utley, KE4SIU
Public Service Coordinator - Bob Herrin, KE4JLL
Check out the Leadership Page for more information.
Recent Events
December 12 - 60 members on membership list.
December 4 - 50 members on membership list. We’re half way to our goal of 100 members.
December 2 - VE License Testing Session. Seven candidates tested. Four earned their Technician license and one upgraded to General.
December 2 - ARC Christmas Party - We had about 30 people come and enjoy good food and good friends. A great time was had by all.
November 22 - ARC provided communications for the First Aid Dawgs at the UGA home football game, UGA vs. Charlotte. Thank you Tom (KN4TBD), Lamar (KO4NTS), Robert, (KC4SPD), Angela (KJ4HWB), Daniel (KK4NGE), Richard (KR4OS), and Net Control Bob (KE4JLL), For more information about how to participate, contact Bob, KE4JLL.
November 15 - ARC again provided communications for the First Aid Dawgs at the UGA home football game, UGA vs. Texas. Thanks to Tom (KN4TBD), Lee (KD4NTS), Lamar (KO4NTS), JoAnna (KQ4GAV), Daniel (KK4NGE), Robert, (KC4SPD), Bob (KE4JLL), Angela (KJ4HWB), James (KF4AQO), Richard (KR4OS), and Net Control, Jesse (N4JAH) for supporting ARC and the First Aid Dawgs this week.
November 4 - Regular meeting - Club Officer Nominations and Elections were held. Phillip, W4PHC, gave a short presentation about Georgia Bushcraft and the upcoming Fall Gathering near Watkinsville. Watch the meeting on Youtube.
November 5 - ARC members assisted Athens-Clarke EMA during their Siren Test.
October 25 - For our 5th year, the ARC hosted the Wicked 4 Halloween special event POTA station at Hard Labor Creek State Park, near Rutledge, GA. For more information, contact Claude, AC4SH.
October 25 - ARC provided communications support for the Colbert Community Trunk or Treat event. The event is held at the Colbert City Park (Red Canna Park), Colbert, GA.
October 18 - Georgia Fall POTA Sprint - The W4H Georgia Fall POTA Sprint logs are now uploaded to both the POTA and the "Sprint" sites. They should show up on the “Sprint” webpage in about a week. It was a fun 4 hours in the parks for KQ4TAB Tom, KR4BDR Kevin, KO4IZK Colin, KQ4VVW Andy, KO4FHS Diane, KN4SWS John and Claude AC4SH.
Here are the individual park counts for a total or 260 QSOs:
US-2177 Ft. Yargo SP - 62 QSOs
US-2205 Victoria Bryant SP - 65 QSOs
US-7142 Redlands WMA 46 QSOs & US-4473 Chattahoochee-Oconee NF - 46 QSOs
US-7904 Broad River WMA - 41 QSOs
October 18 - We had 10 operators come out and support the club, the First-Aid Dawgs and the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday. Without the help of our club, they might not have pulled off this victory. We can always use more operators. If you would like to help in the future, contact Bob, KE4JLL.
October 7 - Regular meeting —Bill KQ4PGV gave a program on Summits on the Air - SOTA. You can download his PowerPoint presentation.
October 7 - Ham Radio License Exams (VE Testing) at 6:00 pm @ 3035 Lexington Road, Athens, GA. 2 new Technician licenses and 1 upgrade to General.
October 5 - STEM Day at Oconee County Library - Athens Radio Club demonstrated Ham Radio to people of all ages in Wire Park, 1925 Electric Avenue, Watkinsville, GA.
September 2 - Regular meeting - Claude AC4SH gave a program on how POTA has increased club activities and participation over the last 5 years. He also covered the upcoming club POTA events and Georgia State Parks on the Air.
August 5 - Regular meeting - Big crowd of 37 attended and enjoyed Phillip W4PHC giving a presentation on how to keep your Ham radio on the air when the power grids are down.
August 5 - Ham Radio License Exams (VE Testing) at 6:00 - 3 new Hams and 1 upgrade to Extra.
Suggestion Box
Please take a moment and tell us what you think of Athens Radio Club. You can also suggest ideas or monthly programs. Just use the message to send us your ideas or comments.
We also receive physical mail at Post Office Box 782, Athens, Georgia 30603.
Donations
Please consider making a donation to our group to fund things such as Supporting Special Events, Repeater Maintenance, Disaster Aid, General Operations, and Public Service.
We seek to educate members and others interested in Amateur Radio, as well as provide information about amateur radio activities in Athens and surrounding areas.
Maybe your neighbor is a licensed ‘ham’ radio operator? Take a LOOK!
For current meeting information visit the meetings page.
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Athens Radio Club meetings are held at 7:30 pm on the first Tuesday of every month, except July and December. Check the Meeting Location page for the correct location.