Welcome to the home of the Burlington Amateur Radio Club, of Burlington, Vermont! We are an ARRL affiliated club Special Services club. We also support the American Red Cross of Northern VT. The Red Cross has for many years graciously allowed us to call their building home, in Burlington, as our Club meeting space. We are still working on a new Emergency Communications Center/W1KOO Club station which has been on hold.  Some of our club members are also Red Cross Volunteers.  More to come.

REPEATER PHOTOS BELOW -  Top row is Mt Mansfield W1KOO/VHF, W1IMD UHF, Bottom row is UVM Redstone Campus, Burlington  W1KOO VHF/UHF.  See "Repeaters" page.

Our May BARC meeting is Friday, May 17 at 19:00 BOTH IN PERSON and ON ZOOM.   Our regular meeting place at the First Congregational Church in Essex Junction, 39 Main Street in the Marvin Lounge at the far end of the facility from the Parking Lot. (Turn right then left at the bottom of the ramp/stairs to the far end on the right.)    Those on BARC distribution will receive Zoom info for this meeting.  Email me at W1OKH@W1KOO.org if you are new and would like to join us. 

More to come on what's happening. 

The antennas were removed the W1KOO repeater site at UVM Redstone Water Tower on Saturday, April 20th thanks to Mike N1FBZ, Dave W1HRG and family help.  This was per the request from the Burlington Water Department for structural work and repainting of the Water Tower after many years

of service. W1KOO has been there for almost 50 years without interruption.  We do not know how long this process with take at this point, but the hope is that we will be back in service sometime later this summer.  It is possible that our antenna situation may be significantly improved in this process.  We are looking at a temporary antenna down below on the race-way but that option is still to be determined.  

After getting permission from New York RACES, we have access within reason to the Terry Mountain Repeater on 145.490 MHz, Minus Duplex, PL of 123 Hz as part of our strategy to continue local repeater ACTIVITY for the Burlington regional area.  Please be respectful as we are guests on the New York side of the lake here.  We ran our first Wednesday night 8 PM Roundtable on April 24th with good participation from both BARC and local New York hams.  (Normally active with the Northern New York Emergency Service Nets on Whiteface Mt....Info below.)   This will continue forward for the time being.  Get your radios programmed and join us when possible.

I will be monitoring Terry Mountain in W1KOO 146.61's absence along with Mt Mansfield VHF/UHF and W1CTE. (Below)  

Please monitor our repeaters when possible, especially for new hams to become acquainted with us and the hobby.  You never know when we may have emergency communications such as a hiker or mobile station not able to reach cellular.  (Bolton Valley Access Road is a good example.)

Mt Mansfield VHF and UHF (NFMRA connected) are operating normally.  Due to the smaller antennas (Photo above) and a strong Broadcast RF environment, handheld radios are generally not favorable unless in sight of the antennas and running 5 watts minimum.  Base Station and Mobile rigs running 25-50 watts are preferred for operating through Mt. Mansfield.  This would be a good time to upgrade if your only radio is a handheld.

We have a repeater at Fleming School licensed to Center for Technology Essex which is W1CTE on 146.850 MHz, Minus Duplex with a PL of

100 Hz.  Near term, the power amplifier needs to be replaced as the GE Master II transmitter is currently running at very low power.  A Motorola MTR2000 is undergoing preparation for converting over to a newer generation repeater, similar to W1KOO Redstone. (Photo above) We also have a new 2 Meter/440 MHz repeater quality Hustler antenna of which we need to work through the approval process for installation.  Competing priorities have delayed getting this work done over the past couple of years or so.  It's time now to seriously make this happen. 

The HF bands are pretty hot with the favorable sunspot cycle reaching its peak sometime next year.  If you haven't upgraded to General or Extra Class, this summer would be a good time to get going on that.  You don't need big antennas or an expensive "Contest Radio" to have a good time.

It's important that locally we stay socially connected and active with this wonderful hobby of ours. 

Hope you can join us on the 17!

Ed Guild W1OKH / W1KOO

Upcoming events:  

Near-Fest 2024 in Deerfield, NH is Thursday/Friday, April 25-26.  The October Near-Fest is October 11-12, 2024 if you miss this one.

Appreciate all of you who have renewed your BARC memberships so far. 

In other news, 

• SEE our VE Sessions page for an update for the VE Exams at the Red Cross Blood Center in Burlington on the SECOND FRIDAY of the MONTH. (June 9)  

  • Clifford Lang, AB1WG, is the contact point person for registration and info.   Be sure to contact Cliff FIRST as opposed to just showing up.

• The "St Albans Amateur Radio Club (STARC) runs VE Sessions generally on the Third Saturday of the Month.  Here is a link to their webpage.  Be sure to check the schedule similar to the Red Cross VE Exams.

Don't forget the 8:00 PM Wednesday night net on W1KOO, 146.610, --600 KHz,  PL 100 Hz. TERRY MOUNTAIN WA2LRE 145.490 MHz, -600 KHz, PL 123 Hz until further notice.  We've had some good roundtables including new hams discovering activity on our repeater which generates new interest and participation.    Locally you can access NFMRA via the W1KOO UHF Repeater on 443.150, +5 Mhz, PL 110.9 Hz co-located with 146.610. W1IMD UHF Repeater, Mt Mansfield, 447.175 MHz, -5 MHz, PL 110.9 Hz or W1BKK UHF Repeater, Monkton, 444.650 MHz, + 5 MHz, PL 110.9 Hz.   See our NFMRA UHF FM Network Page for other repeater info. 

Check out the Vermont VEM RACES net update below.  

 Our mailing address for the club is.

Burlington Amateur Radio Club, Inc.

PO BOX 312

ESSEX JUNCTION, VT  05453

Let me know if you are not receiving email.   (Reply back to W1OKH@W1KOO.org)  Some services, such as AOL, do not seem to reliably receive "group" email.

We could use more fresh material here!  Send via email to W1OKH@w1koo.org.

Vermont VEM RACES Nets:  

UHF Linked system and VHF FM linked repeaters from Northwestern Vermont are accessed through 

• W1IMD UHF, Mt Mansfield as part of the Northeast FM Repeater Association Network. (447.175, -5 MHz offset, 110.9 Hz Linked , Local has been disabled.)  

• W1KOO VHF, Mt Mansfield (146.940 MHz, -600 KHz offset, PL 100 Hz.  Handhelds please use an external antenna and high power.)

• K1VIT VHF Lincoln Mountain, 145.47 MHz repeater, - 600 KHz offset, PL 100 Hz.  This is linked to Cabot VHF on 146.820 MHz, 0600 KHz offset, PL 100 Hz. 

Here is the latest update from Cathy/NQ1B.

Monday schedule:

    1400 - 1500 (2:00 PM - 3:00 PM)        3815 kHz +/- QRM, followed by digital tests and drills on an 80 meter frequency TBD during the phone net

Tuesday schedule:

    1900 - 1930 (7:00 PM - 7:30 PM)        UHF linked system (Northeast FM Repeater Association )

    1930 - 1945 (7:30 PM - 7:45 PM)        VHF FM repeater - Mt Mansfield  146.940.

    1945 - 2000 (7:45 PM - 8:00 PM)        VHF FM linked repeaters (Lincoln 145.470, Cabot 146.820,   Williamstown 146.625,  Killington 146.880)

    2000 - 2015 (8:00 PM - 8:30 PM)        DMR Statewide Vermont talk group

Thursday:  Not active currently but will likely revitalize with colder WX coming.

      7:00 – 8:00 PM   3570 kHz +/- QRM  or 7085 kHz +/- QRM, Thor22

 NNYESN:  Northern New York Emergency Service Net runs every day at 0730 and 1900 hours on the Whiteface Repeater, VHF 145.110, PL of 100 Hz or UHF 447.775 MHz, PL of 100 Hz for Net Operation.)    Lyon Mountain, 147.285 MHz, PL 123 Hz is the primary backup with Terry Mountain, 145.490 MHz, PL 123 Hz is the secondary backup.  Purpose is training for Sky Warn and traffic handling. (NTS)   This net is monitored by the National Weather Service at the Burlington International Airport.  

    Protocol for WX reports are:

        Sky Conditions

        Precipitation

        Temperature in degrees F

        Wind speed and direction if known.

        Barometer if available

        Other comments such a wind damage or road conditions. 

The Whiteface VHF Repeater is strictly emergency and public service use only and is monitored 24 hours per day...No rag chewing.