Southwest Iowa Amateur Radio Club
The Southwest Iowa Amateur Radio Club, or SWIARC, is a non-profit organization dedicated to ham radio. The club meeting location is in Council Bluffs Iowa while the majority of members are from both eastern Nebraska and western Iowa, primarily within the EN21 and EN11 to a lessor amount. Each year in March the club holds a flea market or "hamfest" in the small town of McClelland Iowa.
Members of this club do not have to be licensed amateur radio operators, however, a license is required to hold office. Club business meetings are governed by Robert's Rules of Order. The Southwest Iowa Amateur Radio Club Constitution is publicly available in print, packet, and online.
- K0SWI SWIARC - SouthWest Iowa Amateur Radio Club
- Locations: Council Bluffs IA, McClelland IA
SWIARC has the following Internet presence media:
- Internet web site: www.swiarc.org
- Grous IO site: swiarc.groups.io
- Facebook social media: link disabled
- Broadcastify: K0SWI 146.8200 MHz South West Iowa ARC Repeater
Contents
Repeaters
K0SWI/WA0YRS VHF Council Bluffs, IA
Repeater ID: 19-52
Frequency: operates on 146.82 with an input on 146.22 (-0.6 MHz) no CTCSS / PL tone required
Location: Pottawattamie County Iowa at 1,455 ft.
Features: Analog FM, Voter system with two receive locations, one at the transmit site
Contact Info: SOUTHWEST IOWA AMATEUR RADIO CLUB, Box 661, Council Bluff, IA 51502, ATTN GREGORY S ROSS
Coverage Area: East Central Nebraska and West Central Iowa
K0SWI/KB0QKH UHF Omaha, NE
Repeater ID: no listing
Frequency: operates on 442.225 with an input on 442.725 (+5.0 MHz) CTCSS 136.5 Hz
Location: Douglas County Nebraska at 380 ft.
Features: Analog and C4FM Digital operation, WiresX connected K0SWI-ND 33633 K0SWI Digital Council Bluffs Iowa 442.225MHz
Contact Info: SOUTHWEST IOWA AMATEUR RADIO CLUB, Box 661, Council Bluff, IA 51502, ATTN
Coverage Area: Omaha and Council Bluffs area
Club History
This section will include details on the age of the club as well as the original club organizers. The club has changed a great deal over the years, and has a fascinating history.
Organization Review
SWIARC was once a very large club for the area and it currently operates two amateur radio repeaters. The club's primary repeater K0SWI VHF has an impressive coverage footprint. The repeater lacks a PL tone for access. The repeater also has two receive sites for better receive coverage. The repeater on 146.82 MHz is considered by many the most active area ham radio repeater. The secondary repeater is a lower power UHF repeater with limited coverage and mix mode operation.
The review rating of this club has been demoted as of 2018 due to internal corruption, election of an illegitimate president presiding in 2018, and actions contrary to the club's own bylaws. This club does not adhere to the official club constitution.
Activity
For the area the SWIARC club is a very active club, probably one of the three most active clubs around Omaha and Council Bluffs. Members of the SWIARC club are involved in many club sponsored activities including a number of radio field events and annual participation in ARRL Field Day in June. The club also has an annual dinner in December.
Club officers are elected by members. Election for club president occurs on an annual basis. The club has a constitution of by-laws available for review by club members and the public. Club membership is available to anyone at a reasonable annual fee.
SWIARC has experienced a number of surges in new membership over the years. During new licensing spikes SWIARC typically sees many new faces at monthly meetings. As has been observed with any club, only a certain percentage will become regular attendees and begin paying club dues. The first year of a new licensee is free membership in SWIARC, a common practice for area ham clubs. SWIARC's membership has experienced a decline in long term renewals while also finding an influx of many new operators which has resulted in a noticeable shift away from traditional club conduct.
For those offended by drinking: Some club events are alcohol free while others are not. Events to avoid if you are offended by alcohol or have a reason to avoid being around alcohol include those at Toby Jack's restaurant and perhaps some field activities. Official club meetings are always alcohol free.
Club Meetings
Monthly club meetings are conducted somewhat loosely based on Robert's Rules or Order. All members are given an opportunity to voice an opinion as well as meeting attendees that are not members. Voting is reserved for club members only. The club is fairly lenient in regards to when dues are paid, those members that are a few months behind in payment are still allowed to vote and considered reliable to pay before becoming too outstanding.
Following most club meetings there is often a presentation on an amateur radio or related subject. Meetings can be of a technical nature to relatively generalized. Some noteworthy meetings over recent years include new digital modes on repeaters, using radio in a disaster or survival situation, electronics kit building, and how sunspot numbers impact radio propagation.
Criticism
Some critics of the club have cited repeated FCC violations on the VHF repeater including use of inappropriate language and failure of amateur operators to identify themselves. Sometimes conversations on the repeater have been described as somewhat "tacky" or lacking in good taste. The repeater has been cited by Omaha area ARRL Official Observers to make the club and trustee aware of perceived problems.
It should be noted that as it is likely the most active repeater in the area it resides, it will be more likely to have the occasional poor operator just by volume. More total people often results in more marginal people as well as good people no matter where you go. The club has taken some token measures to improve conditions, however, more could be done. For example, some net control operators on this repeater tend to permit questionable dialogue and failure to adhere to FCC required operating practice. This could be corrected by bringing the matter to the attention of the net control operators by the club's own governing body.
The removal of a couple nighttime operators would clean up the majority of aforementioned problems as one in particular is responsible for vocabulary resulting in one of the most recent Official Observer notifications. One SWIARC club member, that is also an ARRL VE Examiner has been observed using profanity on this club repeater, with recordings available to substantiate. The individual has never been sanctioned by the club. Lack of club enforcement against violators is a major factor in continued problems with the club VHF repeater.
Conclusion
In a balanced review the bad has to be mentioned along with the good. The majority of criticism is in regards to the VHF repeater. Some more recent criticism is relating to club administration. Events, such as SWIARC Field Day and the annual flea market have always been tasteful and family friendly. The VHF repeater is considered "family friendly" during the daytime and the repeater trustee is of good character as well as taking repeater operation seriously. It is certainly a very active repeater with the highest likelihood of ham operator response on a request for QSO made by locals as well as visitors passing though mobile. No other repeater in the Omaha/Council Bluffs area probably has as high of a ham call response rate.
Details for this review were offered by multiple ham radio operators as a collaborative effort to prevent bias.
Contact Information
See the Southwest Iowa Amateur Radio Club web site for contact information and meeting location directions.
Club Meeting Place
Typical Club Meeting
Swap-meet (flea market hamfest) Location
Typical SWIARC Hamfest
