Hampden County Radio Association

Welcome!

Welcome to the website of the Hampden County Radio Association, or HCRA, a group of amateur radio operators (“hams”) in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts. The club has existed since the mid-1940s; the first newsletter we have on file is from September 1948. You can browse through it and the rest of the newsletter archive for a complete history of the club’s activities, but it’ll take you awhile.

HCRA has a long tradition of maintaining a diverse membership spanning a wide range of interests. Many of us are deeply involved in all kinds of HF communication, from CW and SSB to the latest digital modes. There are also members active in low power communications, in the microwaves, Parks on the Air (POTA), Emergency Communications, Summits on the Air (SOTA), project building and nearly every other aspect of this amazing hobby. There’s a place here for everyone.

The HCRA is an Affiliated Club and a Special Service Club with the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the national association for amateur radio. Find out more about that on the ARRL New England Division web site.

Many of our club members are technical and build projects or help others with their questions and projects.

  • A feature of membership is assistance for any question you may have, the club offers a specialist who can work with you at your level.
  • If you chase DX, the QSL bureau costs $7 per group of cards plus a fee for the weight of the cards. The club offers a pooled QSL service for members, saving you a minimum of $7 every time you send cards through the ARRL DX QSL Bureau System.
  • The club also lets members join the HCRA group on ClubLog. It’s a fun way to compete with your friends and their DX chasing accomplishments.

Whether you are a new ham who just earned a license or an old timer who’s been on the air for decades, there is something for you in the HCRA. Join the HCRA Facebook page and keep up with the daily goings on of the club and its members. Come join us at our monthly meeting and introduce yourself. We meet the first Friday of every month at the Holyoke Medical Center Auxiliary Conference Room.

I know I speak for the whole club in welcoming you to the HCRA. We look forward to meeting you. If you are not yet a ham, we can help you with that too.

73 and I hope to see you at the next meeting!

Alan Dove, AB1XW
HCRA President

ARRL Special Service Club Logo.
ARRL Affiliated Club Logo

Latest Blog Posts

  • And the winner is… ???

    It brings us great pleasure to announce the winner of the KX3 raffle today. The drawing was held a little after noon at the close of the MTARA Hamfest. Our winner is: Chris Snyder/KB1RMA Unfortunately Chris was not present to collect his prize. We will be shipping it out to him the first part of…

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  • HCRA Meeting Streaming Live

    Were trying out a new thing. We’re trying to broadcast out meetings live. Give it a shot, We should be live right now (3/1/2013 @ 7:00pm) Video streaming by Ustream Thanks!

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  • Visit the HCRA Table at the MTARA Hamfest this Saturday.

    MTARA Hamfest this Saturday, March 2nd – Visit us at the HCRA club table! The hamfest/fleamarket season is just getting underway. What better way to break out of the winter blues than to spend a few hours with your local friends, wander aisles of tables full of ham radio bargains, eat food you probably shouldn’t, and overall have…

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  • From the Shack – March 2013

    Next Meeting March 1st  – Our annual Show & Tell night! It is March Madness again at HCRA with our annual Show & Tell event. I’ve heard a lot of members are putting the finishing touches on their projects and expect we will see a grand assortment of ham radio, or not so ham radio, contraptions…

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  • Can you help your fellow members? – Yes you can!

    Did you know YOU can increase the value of HCRA to all its members? How can you do this you may ask? The answer is simple. Sharing of knowledge, especially local knowledge, is how we all learn and expand our appreciation of amateur radio. If you’ve done something, built something, installed some software, raised an…

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  • SOTA Jerks “Introduction to SOTA” Presentation

    Here is the presentation the SOTA Jerks present to local clubs (or anyone else willing to listen to us). Besides an introduction to SOTA the most important part could be the resource links at the end of the presentation. Feel free to download and use at your club meeting or event. Modification is fine, please…

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  • Get ready for HCRA ‘Show and Tell’ Friday, March 1st

    It’s time to finish up that project you’ve been working on over the last year and bring it to the annual HCRA Show & Tell meeting in March. No project is too small or too big (but it does have to fit through the door). Do you have something that’s not finished, but close enough…

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  • Foxhunting Meeting Follow-up

    Hey folks, Thanks to everyone that braved the cold and turned out for February’s Foxhunting and Build-A-Beam meeting. Jeff did a fine job organizing the beam building and with help from George/KC1V and Doug/KB1ZGL fifteen people went home with a cool, 3 element two meter beam. Up front the Foxhunting presentation excited over a dozen…

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  • Foxhunting meeting tomorrow night – don’t miss it!

    February first is indeed tomorrow – also the date of our next HCRA meeting. We’re putting on an ‘all about foxhunting’ presentation by a few of our members. If you’ve never heard of foxhunting this will be the time to learn. If you have foxhunted in the past that’s OK, we’re going to cover some…

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