History

CLARC has a solid heritage – let’s continue the legacy! If you know of a missing CLARC milestone, please contact us.

CLARC was founded in August of 1987 by:
Bob Biekert, KA5GLX; Kevin Biekert, KB5AQV; Ruth Biekert, N5JVV; Barry Dunlap, KA5KTH; Jim Heil, KB5AWM; Eugene McMahon, WB5FOF; Greg Treece, KA9WKK; Marie VanderWeele, KA5HFH

The Presidents of CLARC:

Name & Callsign Term
Greg Treece, KA9WKK September 1987 – December 1987
Bob Biekert, KA5GLX January 1988 – March 1989
Roger Blouch, K3WIV April 1989 – March 1990
Jack Gafford, KB5GNA April 1990 – March 1991
John Satagaj, N5NYD April 1991 – March 1992
Kevin Biekert, KB5AQV April 1992 – March 1994
Dick Wilke, N5SPU April 1994 – March 1995
John Maca, AB5SS  April 1995 – March 1996
Rod Troch, N2ZVV April 1996 – March 1998
Tim Firkowski, KB9DGB April 1998 – March 1999
Tom Frobase, N3LLL April 1999 – March 2001
Nick Lance, KC5KBO April 2001 – April 2002
George Fletcher, AD5CQ April 2002 – March 2004
Ken Ransom, N5VHO April 2004 – March 2006
April 2006 – March 2007
April 2007 – March 2008
April 2008 – March 2009
April 2009 – March 2010
April 2010 – March 2011
Steve Hester, K5STV April 2011 – March 2012
Curt Tallman, WB5UZZ April 2012 – March 2014
David Fretz, K5DLF April 2014 – March 2016
Kelvin Hickman, K5KGH April 2016 – March 2018
Tanner Jones, W9TWJ April 2018 – March 2020
Daniel Nagala, KG5PVP April 2020 – March 2021

Notable CLARC Happenings:

  • CLARC founded in August 1987 as an ARRL Affiliated club
  • First CLARC meeting was September 1987 with 13 hams attending
  • The first CLARC newsletter was produced in December 1987
  • The first CLARC Field Day was held June 1988
  • CLARC became an ARRL Special Services club in 1988
  • The KA5GLX/R CLARC Repeater went on the air September 1988 – 1st UHF repeater in Clear Lake area
  • Kevin Biekert KB5AQV wins ARRL Hiram Percy Maxim Award for 1988
  • The first CLARC VE Test Session was held at the Freeman Memorial Library in January 1989
  • Jim Heil KB5AWM wins the AEA Ham Ambassador of the year for establishing the Amateur Radio Helpline
  • Sandy Hawley N5OLU and Jim Heil KB5AWM win the QST Cover Award, April 1991
  • CLARC trains 9 school groups and achieves 100% SAREX contacts with 9 Shuttle Flights to support JSCARC SAREX projects, June 1992- September 1993
  • Jim Heil KB5AWM wins the ARRL Silver Antenna Award 1992
  • CLARC WWW Homepage on the Internet August 1994
  • CLARC launches first balloon on October 9th 1994
  • CLARC Internet WormHole goes on the air October 15th 1995
  • CLARC NetRom Packet Node goes on the air November 1995
  • CLARC WWW page, and Listservers move from Phoenix to the WormHole, June 1996
  • Gulf Coast Ham Convention Web Page created by CLARC and hosted on the WormHole, July 1996
  • Joint CLARC/JSCARC WIDE APRS Digi goes on the air October 1996
  • New Motorola Repeater replaces old GE repeater on December 19th, 1996
  • G4KLX, father of Linux AX25 UTILS uses our WormHole December 1996
  • CLARC donates web space for the Houston Vintage Radio Association 1997
  • Repeater moves from its site of 10 years to a new site – December 1997
  • May, 1998 CLARC uses bulk mailing of the CLARC newsletter
  • April 24, 1998 CLARC puts 9600 baud packet on-line at the WormHole
  • September 1999 CLARC member Jennifer Shane N5WFP wins the Tom and Judith Comstock Scholarship from the ARRL
  • December 1999 CLARC starts APRS I-Gate
  • January 2001 CLARC Wormhole is upgraded
  • September 4th 2001 CLARC supports ISS contact from Seabrook Intermediate School via W5RRR JSCARC
  • Temporary repeater installed to support Field Day June 2002
  • Spectrum repeater installed but had internal noise
  • Kenwood Repeater installed – fantastic!
  • First ever CLARC Echolink for 9/11 net using the new Kenwood Repeater
  • CLARC member and prior Vice President Andrew Koenig KE5GDB wins 2009 AR Newsline’s Young Ham of the Year