OUR CLUB HISTORY
There were amateur radio operators in the Glenwood Springs-Aspen area before 1969 but that was the year of the first attempt at organized activity. First known as Glenwood Amateur Society (GAS) it consisted of Bob Cutter WNØYED (KIØG), Ken Eigsti WØLSD, Dale Hoveland, Neal Morris KØTIV and Neil Van Gaalen WAØKAP. The primary emphasis of the group was ARRL Field Day and the first group effort was in June 1970 at a location above Glenwood Springs.
The club name was changed to Ski Country Amateur Radio Club, Inc. with incorporation as a Colorado nonprofit corporation in 1975 and to more accurately reflect the regional nature of the club and its members. The club also filed for and obtained IRS designation as a 501(c)(3) charitable corporation in 1987.
FM repeater activity came to the valley in 1976 when WRØANT was issued an FCC license. In those days repeaters had to be individually licensed and involved a rather detailed application for a specific site. Sunlight Peak was chosen as WAØKAP maintained the Garfield County TV translator system and could obtain access for the machine. One of the elements of the application was a rather complicated calculation of Height Above Average Terrain (HAAT). The Sunlight Peak site had a HAAT of 8,815 feet. The present location, building and tower are the same as used by WRØANT when it went on the air November 14, 1977 on 146.670 MHz, with no PL required in those days!
In 1977 the City of Glenwood Springs donated several Motorola mobile FM transceivers that were surplus to their police department. The first repeater was assembled from these transceivers after considerable work and modification by Doug Bridges WØFV, WAØYED (KIØG), Walt Smith WØFG and WAØKAP. The license for WRØANT required that control operators be designated and WAØYED (KIØG), Larry Gerbaz WBØLLR (KØCL) and Fred Scully WBØFOR (KØVK) were listed. One Glenwood police radio remained un-butchered and it was given to then high school student, Robert Burry WBØBWW.
In 1979 FCC rules were modified to allow a General or higher Amateur Radio Licensee to operate a repeater under his own call sign. The WRØANT repeater was changed to WAØYED/R on September 30, 1979, to KIØG/R in 1981, and later to KØCL/R. The final change to club call KØRV was on December 18, 1996. The repeater frequency was changed from 146.670 MHz to 146.880 MHz along with PL receive to mitigate interference from the nearby KREG-TV 20 kW CH3 transmitter in the mid 1980s, at which time the 67 frequency was transferred to the club’s Snowmass repeater.
In 2022 and 2023 a 5.8 GHz microwave system and private Asterisk AllStar voting system was installed. Four sites; Sunlight, Snowmass, Iron Mtn and Anvil Points were equipped with identical Motorola 146.28 MHz receivers digitally linked back to a central Linux server for comparison of signal strength, wherein selected audio is routed to the main 146.88 MHz transmitter on Sunlight, all transparent to the users.
The club has proudly fielded an operation each Field Day since 1970. In addition it has hosted swapfests, hidden transmitter hunts and provided communications for fire emergencies and various public events. When the FCC initiated the Volunteer Examiner program the club was quick to obtain authorization and has always prided itself in making examination sessions available when needed.
Written by Bob Cutter, KIØG (SK)
Minor edits and updates by Kevin Milner, KDØMA
OUR SILENT KEYS
Bert Alport KA9SSB
Claire Alport KA9ZVG
George Austin-Martin K5EKQ
Jim Bailey NØIAA
Allen Bell KBØBAU
Keith Brent WDØGBZ
Sy Coleman AE1V
Jim Cowee WØPSC
Bob Cutter KIØG
Elaine Davis KAØEDN
Ron Dump KDØWT
Bill Ferguson KAØLRW
Jack Gabow NØZBS
Ed Godfrey KAØHCN
Mike Goodman KBØHLS
Andy Hassell W5DEM
Carl Hubbell WØRPX
Mel Jones WØHLD
Ken Ludlam W6TTZ
Louise Ludlam WB6VGJ
Don Morehouse WBØWVL
Bruce Neumann WAØMUW
Bernice Parr KAØBAD
Lloyd Parr NDØE
John Radloff NØMOR
Eric Rosenquist NAØAA
Walt Smith WØFG
LeRoy Snyder KBØRCI
Frank Speck KAØHCD
Louise Speck WBØPYG
Stan Speck KEØFMJ
Richard Thomas WDØBBW
Dave Thomson KAØEOJ
Lyle Troth NØRIA
Gerry Walding KDØNV
Ted Wetzel KEØTY
Larry Wood NØACW