I look back over the last year I see a radio club that is serving a need. When we participated again in the 2002 ARRL Field Day last June, we demonstrated our ability to set up stations and communicate nationwide, with minimal resources, under adverse conditions. We once again chose to use all battery powered stations. There were no fossil fueled generators running at Kelly Butte, but rather a central power station fueled by the sun and wind, thanks to the efforts of one of our newer members, KB7YVM.

Invited guests from state and local government took the time to visit our operation, hopefully learning more about the national resource we know as Amateur Radio. Those who were able to come to Field Day had another opportunity to experience that magical feel of wireless. Those who at the last moment were called away by other responsibilities were truly missed, and there were many missed. We have another chance to try our hand at Field Day this June, and I'd invite you all to join us. Everyone is needed.

The club also set up an information booth at the SeaPac ARRL Northwestern Division Convention in June, providing another opportunity to let others know about our activities. New club displays, color brochures and copies of the sPARC gap boosted our image.

The club once again provided much of the communication system for the Portland Marathon in early October. Volunteer operators were enlisted from all over the metro area and as far south as Salem. Over 50 amateurs helped make the Marathon a success again. PARC demonstrated APRS for the first time, to the fascination of  Marathon management who watched as locations of four key Marathon vehicles in motion were displayed in real time on a video monitor at Net Control, with dedicated voice dispatching to the hams on board.

PARC established a milestone in November when a newer Motorola system based repeater was acquired and installed, relieving an older club built machine with many, many hours on it. This was the result of much planning and effort, with many members donating funds and time to the project. The new unit was installed in mid-November and continues a heritage as the primary emergency public service repeater for the Portland area. This project was led by K7RUN.
 
Our monthly Volunteer Exam (VE) sessions have helped over 70 new and upgrading hams by administering license tests. Some have required extra effort on our part to accommodate the examinees, a service sometimes hard to find. At the May session 14 candidates were tested, a new record for this VE team, led by N7XB. The youngest was 9 years old and had traveled from Eugene to take his Technician test. He passed, joining his just licensed 12 year old sister as new hams.

Thanks to the efforts of WA7NE, PARC now has a packet node and BBS that provides good coverage and is connected to the network. A second full duplex repeater node has also been added to our growing digital system.  As a public service tool these nodes are increasingly important to groups such as Multnomah County ARES. A donation toward MCARES packet needs was facilitated by PARC's new 501(c)(3) non profit status, one result of the efforts of N7RX during his presidency. We continue to support MCARES in this and other ways.

Our newsletter, the sPARC gap , has evolved into a first class full color publication. This is the result of a desire to project a high quality with both news and technical content. Our current volunteer editor, AL7W, was responsible for its beginnings in the 80s and has again donated his skills for a time to help keep it in print. 

These are but a few of the accomplishments we should all be proud of. I would encourage those of you who have been reluctant to participate to join us in upcoming events. Those who have contributed to the successes of PARC over the past year are to be congratulated. You have many reasons to be proud. It has been my pleasure to serve as your President the last two years.

-KC7GFX