This is the history of SPARC as told by one of the Original Members of the Ham and Eggers of Columbia Jim Ibaugh.

 Text transcript of the club meeting is at the end.

Bonus Footage of the night

Short History of SPARC & It’s Genesis 

Columbia Hams & Eggers Breakfast Club

 Columbia Area Amateur Radio Club

 Southern Pennsylvania Amateur Radio Club

  By James L. Ibaugh,  AA3C,  ARRL T.S., V.E. & R.I.

 In 1959 I built a Heathkit “Benton Harbor Lunch Box” 6 meter ~7 watt 50 Mc (MHz) “Sixer”AM transceiver. The very first 6 meter contact I made with the “Sixer” was with K3FHC Jim Douglas in Washington Boro. I was K3ITG back then and Jim got his call one year before I got mine. He knew my grandfather Albert L. Ibaugh, Sr., also of Washington Boro. In our first long QSO, Jim invited me to attend the informal meeting of the area hams at the Columbia Hams & Eggers Breakfast Club at the Columbia steel diner which had been located in the second block of (342) Chestnut Street east of the RT 462 (old) Columbia – Wrightsville bridge.  I joined the CHEBC in June,1960 (few records kept then).

The Chestnut Street Diner was moved east of Columbia on RT 462 where it is located today.

The 342 Chestnut Street location is now occupied by a Turkey Hill Minit Market.

Note Gas = $1.18 per gallon (~1970~?)!

From CH&EBC to CAARC.

Some time during 1960 the Columbia Hams & Eggers Breakfast Club reorganized itself as the first ham radio club in western Lancaster County. New name was not West LanCo A.R.C., it was Columbia Area Amateur Radio Club.

Full disclosure: Fire Chief of SFC, at that time, was my cousin-in-law Scott P. Rhoads, KA3HJL (now N3CRS) and my cousin is Scott’s XYL (wife) Terresa (Terry) [Green] A. Rhoads, KA3WHK (now N3IKH) both of Columbia.

The new CAARC used the ARRL’s club charter and bylaws templates and organized along those lines. I think the first years dues were $5 per ham. CAARC (~1960) Organizers: K3FHC, K3BKH (SK), WA3UOE, K3CMD, WA3OUF, KA3HJL, KA3WHK, K3ITG and some others, who’s calls I can’t remember. The CAARC membership elected officers and composed a member list. This was the club’s first affiliation effort with ARRL.

CAARC encouraged members to participate in local RACES and ARES in Lancaster County.

The club applied for a 2m repeater frequency pair from the ARRL’s Frequency Coordination Committee and received it. I think it was 146.715 MHz. This frequency pair is not in use now.

The club meetings were held at the “Hambones” Fire Company (aka: Susquehanna Fire Company) at 10^th & Manor St., Columbia, PA 17512.

A separate CAARC work group arranged for a repeater location on Little Chickies Hill, a high hill (650FASL) over looking Columbia and high above the Susquehanna River in a small park known as Breezy View Community Park on RT441 River Road. Borrowed and donated equipment got the CAARC repeater on the air as K3FHC/RPT (Jim Douglas was CAARC president at that time). Building was 4’x4’x8′ and AC power from pavilion for $50 per year.

Much later, in the 1980’s, the CAARC got the chance to move to a much better location on the Ironville Fire Company grounds, behind the fire engine bays. That is where the small donated prefabbed office building was placed. This is the small building, home to K3FHC/R at Ironville F.C. grounds. A small prefabbed office building was donated to CAARC and that housed the clubs equipment and repeater systems behind the I-ville Fire Co’s main building. The repeater’s tower was donated and was fastened to the backside of the prefabbed unit. CAARC membership made sub-sandwiches and all members were required to sell as many as they could. The subs were made in the fire hall’s large well equipment kitchen. With some of the income the club bought a used set of duplex-er cavities which helped keep the input receiver from desensitizing when running full transmitter power only 600 KHz up the band. We were allowed use of the large Fire Hall building for meetings, FCC License Exam Prep Classes, RACES & ARES meetings and even yearly ARRL Field Day operations (open to public visitation). Things were going well enough for CAARC. Then a name change to SPARC.

The club was in identity transition from CAARC (Columbia Area Amateur Radio Club) to SPARC (Southern Pennsylvania A.R.C.) and a club outing for a tour of Cardinal Technologies in Lancaster facilitated the gathering of a large number of members. Until that time the club, QTH at the IRonville Fire Station Annex, used a members personal call sign for club activities. It was at that short meeting at Cardinal Tech the club picked “K3IR” out of several available call signs; K3IR as representative of IRonville’s only radio club. I voted for K3IR because it was very easy (& fast) to send in Morse code (CW).

Sometime around 1988 there was a movement in the county fire safety organization to merge two or more small fire companies to save fire safety costs. I lived in Landisville when the Landisville Fire Company was closed and resources and man power merged with the former Salunga Fire Company and the new combined company was called Hempfield Fire Department.

In 1992 the Southern Pennsylvania A.R.C., was incorporated as a 501(C)(3) Not-For-Profit Organization. Founded in ~June~ 1960 (as CH&EBC), later as CAARC, then finally, Incorporated March 27, 1992 as SPARC-Inc. Donations were finally tax deductible. Rumors about an Ironville and Silver Spring Companies merger abounded. Of course the one that would disappear would be Ironville F.C., the Fire Hall, all buildings and structures

The first to go was the Ironville Fire Hall. Only the brick & mortar fire truck bays stood for a few months more. The SPARC building and the tower with all antennas would need to find a new QTH (home). The IFC grounds was converted into the West Hempfield Twp. Community Park (3^rd park in W.Hemp.Twp., within two miles). SPARC was lucky enough to find an old microwave tower and building on an acre of land on a high location in Rapho Twp. The club bought the property and moved all things SPARC to the new QTH (home) in 2003.

The clubs activities were not limited to the ham radio station K3IR’s location. There have been

many club field trips. One most notable trip was the SPARC visitation to the Frisbie’s Marconi Museum. Most of the SPARC’s 2011 visit photo review is still viewable at this URL:

The most valuable innovation at the  K3IR-SPARC radio site. [AA3C’s monolog about using the fiberglass outhouse without the aid of moon light or any light at all. ★BRIGADEAR★ vetoed the monolog!]       ★BRIGADEAR★=N3CXY.

As of November 2010 SPARC has a “solar powered potty” fiberglass outhouse at the Club site! Harry-WA3FFK brought the donated solar power lighting unit all the way from Harry’s daughter’s location in Iowa. The full story (including photos) is in Harry’s November, 2010’s President’s Message in the club’s newsletter, the QRZNews found at URL:

http://www.k3ir.org/QRZ_News/QRZnewsNov2010.pdf

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