A History of the Treaty City Amateur Radio Association

Sinclaire Arnett, Stanley Young, Sid Lohman, Herb Holzapfel and Ross Kemble founded the TCARA in 1911. It appears that the club became inactive about 1922. There are no records to show the exact time or reasons for the hiatus. It was during this period that licensing became "mandatory" so perhaps some of the members decided it wasn't worth the effort.

1940's:

Carl Snyder, W8ARW and some of the original 1911 members reactivated the club in December 1939. Rooms in the old waterworks on Winchester Pike were purchased from the city for a nominal fee and a 160-meter AM Phone station was installed there. At first, it was a 50-watter and then, later, Carl built a KW station. The 160-meter band was the only band where all licensees could use phone at the time. (Seventy-five meters and twenty meters were for Class A operators only. Before WWII, there were no forty-meter phone band and no 15-meter band at all. The ten meter band was considered VHF and of little use.) It seems that the club call sign, W8UMD, dates from 1939 or 1940. More research could confirm the date. With the advent of war in December 1941 and the closing down of amateur radio, there were only a few meetings until the club went on hiatus again in 1944. During the hiatus, the only 4-F member of the club sold the equipment piece-by-piece and sold the rooms to the Fish and Game Club. This ham was a pariah to the older members of the club until his death. With no place to meet and with the membership slowly coming back from the war, there were no meetings until...

1950's:

The club was formally reactivated on May 18, 1950. Soon after the reorganization, the membership obtained the use of the current clubhouse. The TCARA was affiliated with the American Radio Relay League on April 1, 1953. The club maintained active affiliation until it attained a large minority of codeless VHF licensees in the early 1990's. At one time, the club even achieved 100% ARRL membership. The club was incorporated as a not-for-profit Ohio Corporation on March 2, 1955. There have been many club activities with enduring effects. When the county got a grant from the US Government in the late 1950's and purchased about 10 Gonset Communicator IV transceivers, the CD Net moved to 2 meter AM.

1960's & 1970's:

At several times in the late 1950's and the 1960's, the club had demonstration and traffic-handling stations set up at the Darke County Fair. The club assisted in the county's Polio Program on November 4, 1962. This was during the first mass Polio immunization drive. In 1964 (or maybe 1965), the Richmond, Indiana, telephone office burned down and the TCARA helped provide 100% of Richmond's emergency dispatch and communications services. Carl Snyder, W8ARW, was chosen as Dayton Hamvention's Ham of the Year in 1965. In 1967 (1968?) we sat up at the Sheriff's Home Show. Using the special Bicentennial call AC8UMD, the TCARA achieved the Bicentennial WAS Award in 1976. The TCARA was very active in emergency preparedness from the end of WWII. The early Civil Defense nets were carried out on 75 meter AM Phone. When CD was abolished, the net came under the auspices of the ARRL's AREC (Amateur Radio Emergency Corps). This later became the ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) about the time the Monday net was moved to 2-meter FM. The net has since become a more informal informational/recreational net. The club had activity nights and club station activity days through the end of 1960's. Throughout the 1960's and 1970's, the TCARA was very active in the ARRL Simulated Emergency Tests. Participation by each member was expected. Over a dozen mobiles were activated (at a time when VHF mobiling was neither a simple nor efficient undertaking) and all the county's police and fire stations were covered. At that time, several of the county's fire stations had permanently-installed emergency stations. Dozens of formal messages were transmitted among the county's law enforcement agencies, state & Federal agencies and the ARRL Headquarters and officials during each SET. Carl Snyder put the first VHF repeater on the air about 1974 using the call WR8AGE. It was located in the Darke County courthouse.

1980's & 1990's:

In 1984, the county bought a new Motorola MSR2000 repeater and computerized controller for the club. The repeater site was moved to the Darke County justice center. The TCARA membership has traditionally been active on the air. Until the membership attained a large minority of codeless VHF licensees in the early 1990's, the TCARA always had most of its membership go out for ARRL Field Day. A 1986 ARRL training video prominently featured the club's FD activities. The club members also teamed up at the club station to finish very high in the first few ARRL RTTY Roundup contests. We had special events stations celebrating the Annie Oakley Days Festival in the 1980's. During the celebration of the Bicentennial of the US Constitution in 1989, the club station operated as W200UMD for a week, and achieved another special WAS award, the "We the People" WAS.

Today:

Since the late 1980's, the club's group activities have been limited to gathering for dinners. The TCARA Christmas party was inaugurated in the early days and has continued to today. Some club members have a cookout for "Field Days." The club owns some PA systems that are rented out to organizations that sponsor gatherings and events. Our members set up and operate the systems for those organizations. Besides providing free communications and organization skills for the Annie Oakley Days parade, the members contract their labor for profit as a work crew for the festival. Until the coming of the no-code license and published pools of examination questions eliminated the need for the training of newcomers, the TCARA had as many as three licensing classes per year. The club now participates in the ARRL Volunteer Examination program and has several examination sessions per year.

Struggles and the Future:

The TCARA has had its times of troubles. As noted above, during WWII a member sold off the club's property for his own profit. In 1970, the club was nearly burned out by an electrical accident. In 1974 most of the club station equipment was stolen in a break-in. Most of the current members well remember when a club secretary-treasurer cleaned out the club accounts. The club was rescued by donations and loans from members. Today, the club is fiscally sound again. But as with many smaller general-interest radio clubs in the US, the future of the club as a group of people united by an interest in ham radio is questionable. Few of the club members are active on the air other than using portable VHF FM equipment, communicating through repeaters. Fewer than ten of the more than 100 amateurs in the county are active on HF. Interest in license upgrading and learning the amateur art and new communications methods is at a low point. Many of those who have maintained their memberships rarely attend meetings.

Longtime members of the club are: Lowell Miller, W8QIY, who first joined in 195?; Bill Keller, K8QQL, (196?) (Now SK); Larry Nixon, WA8LDM, (196?) (Now SK); Charlie Rabley, WA8RUO, 1965; Scott Lehman, N9AG (WA8TGX), 1966; Rick Paul, N8VCO (WN8ZKZ), 1968 (Now SK); Bob Kuhnle, N8NR (WB8ENR), 1969; Dave Mayo, N8TP (WN8G??), 1970; and Gene Triplett, WB8IDC, 1970?

(if anyone has any additions or corrections, please submit to allen@outpostenterprises.com. Thanks)