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Buffalo Amateur Radio Repeater Association |
The Buffalo Amateur Radio Repeater Association, Inc., or BARRA, was formed in 1967 and has a current membership of approximately 65. Meetings are normally held seven times a year on the third Monday of January, February, April, June, September, October and December at St. Bartholomew's Church, at the corner of Brighton and Fries Roads in the Town of Tonawanda, NY (across from Kenmore East HS) at 7:30 pm. Doors open at 7:00 for rag chewing and informal discussion. Refreshments are usually available. A few times each year the regular meetings are replaced by special activities. These include the Mobile Clinic each July at the Boston Repeater Site, the February Auction and tours of local businesses or other locations of interest.
Our newsletter is called The Link, and is published in meeting months and July providing notices about club meetings and activities, articles of interest to hams, and a repeater report.
BARRA is involved in emergency-type communications as a public service. Such operations are traditional to amateur radio. BARRA members and their repeaters have been called upon many times in the past to assist in providing communications following natural disasters and other emergency situations.
In normal times we offer public service communications to regular activities such as the various walk/hike/bike-a-thons that take place in this area every year. Most of BARRA's members participate in one or more of these activities each year.
BARRA's unique membership structure was designed to provide the incentive for the personal involvement of its members. Much of our success in so many projects can be attributed to this unique arrangement.
The BARRA repeaters are viewed as "open" - that is, service is offered to any licensed amateurs whether they are members or not. Special functions on the repeaters are also free to all, with the provision that a member activate them for guests.
BARRA's board consists of five members elected in alternating years to maintain continuity of leadership. Four members serve as officers of the organization. Any voting member can be nominated to the ballot of the board each fall. The current Board members are:
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| BARRA's 2006-07 Board, front row: WA2ZSJ, KA2WFT; back row: W2ZZA, K2GTM,W2EAS N2ZDU photo |