The Rowan Amateur Radio Society Inc.

The History of the Rowan Amateur Radio Society

Long before cell phones, the Internet or web pages like this one, our club was an active & vital part of the community. Since it’s early day’s back in the 1930’s our club and it’s dedicated members have freely shared their skills in Amateur Radio and Emergency Communications with those interested or needing our assistance. We are continually working to expand our radio knowledge, and hone our individual, and collective operating skills.

We take pride in our accomplishments, being there in times of emergency, offering our expertise to those in need. Many of our members are specially trained for Emergency Communications, many are Severe Weather Spotters in the Skywarn Network having been trained by the National Weather Service, others take part in Community Emergency Response Teams assisting with Search and Rescue, First Aid, and Damage Assessment.

The photograph above was taken November 20, 1937 and depicts the first station thought to be on the air with the call sign “W4EXU” and operated by the Rowan Amateur Radio Society, or “Piedmont Amateur Radio Club” as it was called back then.

The W4EXU call sign is currently being used by a repeater located on Young Mountain at Barber Junction near Cleveland NC (Map). This repeater was first put on the air on November 22, 1970 by Bill Parris-AA4R. It was operated on the frequency pair of 146.28/88 until February of 1974 when it moved to the present pair of 146.130Mhz input and 146.730Mhz output with a PL Tone of 94.8Mhz.

In 1971 when repeater call signs were being issued by the FCC the repeater was assigned the call WR4AAA. This was the first repeater call sign issued in the southeast, maybe the entire US. For reasons unknown, in 1974 it was decided that a new group be created specifically to fund and maintain the repeater, thus forming the “Barber Junction Repeater Association” (BJRA). At one time the BJRA held meetings, collected dues and even had officers, however it is unknown if this group still exists today. There have been no meetings and they have not sent out any dues letters in 10 years or more.

In October of 1979 the WR4AAA call sign expired but the FCC had stopped issuing and renewing repeater call signs. The Barber Junction Repeater Association was having a hard time deciding whose call sign to use on the repeater, but since most of the BJRA members were also RARS members, there was no problem getting permission to use W4EXU. This approach seemed more appropriate than using the call sign of an individual, since no ONE individual was responsible for funding the repeater.

J.C. Ludwig-K4DFI has been involved in the repeater from the start and Ralph Mowery-KU4PT came on board in 1978 and he still does most of the electronic work. Frank Waring- AF4D is the current Trustee for both the W4EXU and N4UH call signs which are assigned to Rowan Amateur Radio Society. The current W4EXU repeater is located in a small building at the base of a 100 foot tower that can be seen from highway 70 near the junction of highway 801 just west of Salisbury N.C. on Young Mountain with an elevation of approximately 1040ft.

Currently they are using a CAT 300 controller and a GE Master ll base station. This was put online in 1997 after the old RC-850 controller was damaged . It is running at 100 Watts and has excellent coverage of central North Carolina, easily reaching up into the mountains. The antenna is a Station Master that is about 20 feet long at the top of the 100 foot tower placing the top of the antenna at about 1160ft above sea level! The duplexer is a Phelps Dodge 6 cavity.

Changes, Changes, Changes! Yes, everything seems to change through the years, including Ham Radio. The FCC’s rules that govern the Amateur Radio Service have changed as well. It is now possible to obtain your Amateur Radio license without even having to learn the International Morse Code! That does not mean that Morse Code is not being used anymore or that they have done away with it all together. It simply means it is no longer a requirement in obtaining your license.

It’s also now possible for a club to hold as many call signs as it so desires. Armed with this knowledge the Rowan ARS decided to do just that, and through the diligent efforts of Billy Stewart WA4PVI, Tommie Wood N4YZ, and Wayne Ashworth W4HG the FCC has issued another call sign to the Rowan Amateur Radio Society. A new call “KJ4FJL” was issued July 23, 2008 to the Rowan ARS, and then on August 12, 2008 that call sign was replaced with the vanity call “N4UH” in memory of club member Henry Elwell now a Silent Key. We will of course retain the W4EXU call sign as well and may add more in the future.

Anybody with additional information, corrections, or photographs featuring the BJRA, W4EXU, N4UH or The Rowan Amateur Radio Society’s history in general are asked to contact our webmaster so we may update this page. Thank You & 73’s, RowanARS

RARS History In Chronological Order