Who We Are

The Pecos Valley Amateur Radio Club has been around for 50 some years.

The old story: somebody threw the baby out with the bath water comes to play here. The earliest record we can come up with is the ARRL certificate giving the club affiliation with them in 1953; so we have to assume the Club was formed some time before that at least. During the time Walker AFB was a commissioned base, many of the members were from there. When the first permanent AF base was closed, we lost many members and our faith in the promises of politicians! There are reasons for membership changing. Our earliest record found that the Club was centered in Artesia, New Mexico until 1979. About that time there was the Roswell Amateur Radio Club, Pecos Valley Amateur Radio Club, and Capitan Mountain VHF Association. It seems that the distance to travel to Artesia was wearing on the Roswell and Carlsbad hams and one by one dropped out of the PVARC. In 1979, the Artesia PVARC Club voted to disband and offer the name and amenities to the Roswell amateur bunch and they took it. The group at Carlsbad seemed to form a club at or near that time also. The Pecos Valley Amateur Radio Club became quartered at Roswell in January 1980. The Capitan Mountain Group eventually disbanded about the same time. Doing detective work on exactly what happened and where the Clubs were has been difficult because a huge number of the original members have passed away or moved or just dropped out of sight.

The club station license K5LWU was obtained in the early days with George M. (Mert) Sayre as trustee. At his death, with the permission of his next of kin, and as a memorial to Mert his call W5ZU was assigned to the club with Hal Denison as trustee.

The PVARC as it now stands participates in Field Day, City Sports Monitoring and reporting, Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) , a nightly VHF net (Yucca Net), an active VE exam group, yearly picnics, a yearly trip to the "famous Mexican restaurant" La FONDA in Artesia, and last year we had out first Hamfest in some time. Some said " we had a Hamfest before but nothing in black and white can confirm that. The Club now boasts an average of about 70 members and publishes a monthly newsletter which sometimes needs more member input!! There are many more hams in the area than that but as usual, are not "joiners"

The area is served by several VHF repeaters: 147.18 mHz, which covers the southeast corner of the state and west Texas adjacent to Lea County; 146.61 mHz is the mountain climber giving coverage at least to Clines Corners but can be used even to Santa Fe and Albuquerque if you are in the right spot. There is a Club sponsored 146.94 mHz repeater at the western edge of town that is used mostly locally but has good range. Another repeater is near Ruidoso on Buck Mountain 146.74 mHz and is linked to the Upper Rio FM Society system and it can take you anywhere in the state.

Packet radio on 145.01 is still alive: Roswell to ABQ and Roswell to Lubbock and Plainview Texas. We also have an excellent system for HF Radio at the Clubhouse.

Our Club is active; we are always looking for new members and ideas and activities and we don't follow the nay Sayers. If it looks like it will work, try it, modify it and get the participation to make it go.

Come and see us. We meet the first Thursday of every month and we'll meet you at the bus station if we have to!!