About Penn Wireless

Our History

Penn Wireless was born from a merger. On May 24, 1965, two amateur radio clubs of lower Bucks County — the Penn Wireless Association of Windsor and the Bucks County Radio Club — ratified a common constitution and became one. The next spring, on April 7, 1966, the club was chartered as a non-profit corporation of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, later rewritten to meet IRS section 501(c)(3) guidelines. Six decades on, we’re still at it — and the milestones below tell the story better than a paragraph can.

Moments on the air

1. 1956

   ARRL affiliated

   Even our forerunners were joiners — Penn Wireless has been an affiliated club of the American Radio Relay League continuously since March 9, 1956, nearly a decade before the merger that gave us our name.

2. 1965

   Two clubs become one

   On May 24, 1965, the Penn Wireless Association of Windsor and the Bucks County Radio Club ratified a shared constitution and joined forces as the club we are today.

3. 1965

   A guest from the bottom of the world

   The headline speaker at that first banquet was Merrill Beam, K2BX — remembered as the first radio amateur to establish communications with Admiral Byrd's early Antarctic expedition.

4. Early years

   Hot on the trail

   Weekends meant the club's “fox hunts” — chasing down hidden transmitters with directional antennas and a sharp ear. Radio direction-finding, for sport.

5. 1971

   Our first repeater

   As FM gear swept into ham radio, Penn Wireless put up a 2-meter repeater — the great-grandparent of today's W3SK machines on 146.79 and 448.225 MHz.

6. 1980

   Carrying the Olympic flame

   Club member Bob Strickland, WA3HWZ, joined the Olympic Torch Relay Team, and Penn Wireless handled communications as the flame crossed Bucks County — Philadelphia to Washington Crossing — bound for the Lake Placid Winter Games.

7. 1983

   An ARRL Special Service Club

   On April 11, 1983, the ARRL named Penn Wireless a Special Service Club — a designation reserved for clubs that go the extra mile in training, public service, and growing the hobby.

8. On the circuit

   First of its kind

   Penn Wireless was the very first winner of the Club Award in the Pennsylvania QSO Party — and to this day sponsors the QRP (low-power) award for the division.

9. When it counts

   Service on the air

   From National Disaster Medical System drills to the MS-150 charity bike rides, club operators have long volunteered their radios — and their time — when the community needs reliable communications.

10. Then & now

    Six decades and counting

    Charter members Ben Johns (K3JQH, SK) and Dave Heller (K3TX, SK) each carried their membership for more than 50 years. Both became Silent Keys in recent years, and Penn Wireless remembers them with gratitude. Past president John Johnson, W3BE, served in the FCC's Amateur & Citizens Division and as national president of the Quarter Century Wireless Association.