Welcome to the Radio Amateurs of Skagit County (RASC) Website! Please take a moment and browse around. Feel free to contact us via e-mail at rasconline@gmail.com.

The Radio Amateurs of Skagit County (RASC) was formed in the aftermath of the flood of 1975. Many of the Skagit County Hams had talked about forming a new club for years, but nothing much came of it. Some attempts were made, however the new clubs failed in a short period of time. The flood and the inability of the radio amateurs to make any concerted effort to help in the emergency was the catalyst that got enough amateurs together to form the Radio Amateurs of Skagit County.

The credit for getting the ball rolling toward a new ham club in Skagit County must go to Edward J.Wirtz Jr. (W7JGM).It was Ed, who in November of 1975, organized the original push by getting Roger Monroe (N7NTW), Paul Cook (WA7WZQ), Doug Matthies (WA7MSQ now (KE7AV), Gary Pierson (WA7GVM now WW7Q), and Pat Smith (WA7GMX) together to obtain the names of Skagit County amateurs and mail invitations to them to help form some sort of Amateur Radio Society. Other amateurs who quickly became involved were Ted Gray (W7IXF), Roger Haner (WN7BDQ now WB7BDQ), Mike young (WN7BMW now WB7BMW), and Loren Pelkey WA2NRI/2 now WB7OCA).

At the first small meeting in December 1975, thirteen hams showed up to discuss how to advertise that they were organizing. Ed (W7JGM) and Doug (KE7AV) handled the advertising so well that it made the front page and headlines of the Skagit Valley Herald. The result was that when they met in January 1976, thirty-six hams showed up and decided to form a club. ted (w7IXF) was elected President, Roger (K7NTW) Vice President, and Paul (WA7GMX) Secretary/Treasurer. With that out of the way, the next thing was to decide what to call ourselves.

Many suggestions were entered but none of them was quite right. however, the one by Paul (WA7WZQ), ie, radio Club of Skagit County came the closest to what we wanted but many members didn't like the word "club" in the name.

Paul suggested changing the word "club" to amateurs". The group had a little coffee, discussed it, came back to order and unanimously approved it. And with the vote counted, Ted (W7IXF) announced "we are so formed". The Radio Amateurs of Skagit County was born.

Meeting Location:

The Radio Amateurs of Skagit County meets at 7:00 PM on the second Friday of each month in the Cascade room of the Skagit Valley Hospital, 1415 East Kincaid, Mount Vernon. This is a business and social meeting, with occasional presentations of general interest to the members. Visitors are invited. For further information, contact one of the Officers, or inquire on the below-mentioned Repeater.

2M Repeater:

The Radio Amateurs of Skagit County owns and operates a 2M repeater. For more information, see 2M Repeater.

ARES/RACES Support:

Many members of RASC are regularly active in the local team of amateurs participating in Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) and Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services (RACES). For more information, see http://home.comcast.net/~w7abf/site/.