Founded in 1992, the Area Repeater Coordination Council continues to serve the operators of the area’s five hundred active repeaters and auxiliary links in Eastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey. These include FM repeaters, links and ATV system operations on 10 and 6 Meters through VHF and UHF.

It is a much bigger and more complex business than most people can imagine, especially because the area we serve – from Harrisburg and York east in Pennsylvania and from Trenton south in New Jersey – is one of the most densely-populated and "radio-active" areas in the country.

Interest in maintaining existing repeaters continues strong and requests for new coordinations are on the rise again after falling off sharply during the year 2000. We are uncertain about the reasons for that dip in activity but it has proven to have been very temporary and the number of requests for new coordinations, especially on 2 Meters, has once again risen to a steady stream.

We remain on message to the repeater community that 2 Meters, with only about 60 specific repeater pairs available to accommodate all the activity there, has become a more and more difficult place in which to shoehorn in additional repeaters. Viable new coordination pairs continue to be much more easily found on other bands.

We continue to meet our responsibilities in maintaining an extensive and accurate database and in submitting on time the data that appears in the ARRL Repeater Directory each year. Jeff DePolo, WN3A, is listed as our Database Manager but he’s much more than that. He keeps our very comprehensive database and submits our data to ARRL annually but, even more importantly, he is one of the most knowledgeable people on repeater operations in the area and a key player on the ARCC team.

We maintain an Internet Web site that makes a version of the ARCC database available on-line, along with information on ARCC’s services and the forms needed for repeater coordination and membership in the organization.

We publish a periodic newsletter in an effort to keep repeater operators and users aware of developments in the field and we continue to show or provide loaned copies of an ARCC video tape program at hamfests and radio club meetings throughout the area. The video may be the very first of its kind anywhere in the country and it was produced very professionally by ARCC President Dave Laustsen, W3LAW.

We continue to work closely with repeater coordinators operating in adjacent areas: T-MARC to the south, WPARC to the west and UNYREPCO to the north. We also need to deal with the complications caused by the fact that there has been no active coordinator in northern New Jersey. A state of chaos has existed there for a number of years but that situation may soon change. With some help and encouragement that ARCC and UNYREPCO have been offering, a group there is currently trying to organize to take on repeater coordination for the area.

Repeater coordination in SNJ and EPA continues to be alive and well and, while it means more work for us, we are glad to see repeater activity and interest beginning to pick up again after the strangely quiet year 2000.

Everyone who submits an application to us thinks that theirs is the only or at least the most important matter we have on our plate at any one time. We agree but there’s a lot of work that goes behind every coordination application and it takes time for us to properly do our job, sometimes more time than some people think it should take. We have no magic wands to wave and most people seem to appreciate the need for patience as the process moves ahead. We are seeing fewer and fewer complaints and we appreciate the understanding that there can be no shortcuts taken in the process.

We continue to be fortunate indeed to have a leadership dedicated to serving the repeater community. With very few exceptions, the same group of individuals has been at the helm since ARCC was formed and we think that is remarkable demonstration of their commitment to the organization’s mission.

Dave Laustsen, W3LAW, is ARCC President. He’s an attorney practicing in Doylestown and a former state legislator. Gene Pressler, W3ZXV, serves as Administrative Vice President and he is a retired banking executive. Ron Raymond, Vice President of Administration, is an engineer and a resident of Bethlehem. Vince Bardsley, KB3OM, is a retired science teacher, Treasurer and a resident of Williamsport. Bob Agans, our Secretary, is a manufacturer’s representative and a resident of Doylestown.

Jeff DePolo, WN3A, does a lot of heavy lifting for ARCC as its Database Manager and he works closely with Coordinator John Sichert, KA3LAO, of Gettysburg and Coordinator Dick Tyler, WA2EHL, from Burlington, NJ. Pete Rossi, WA3NNA, our Webmaster, is from Newtown Square.

In the field, ARCC is ably represented by a group of five Regional Representatives: in South Jersey we have Roger Purdy, W2NWL; in the Eastern Pennsylvania area we have Bill Barnes, N3JIX, in the NW quadrant; Don Curtis, W3LR, NE; John Shaffer, W3SST, SW; and Dick Stewart, K3ITH, in the SE corner.

We work long and hard for you and we think we deserve your support but none of us is wedded to our job and we’re always receptive to volunteers willing to step up and take on one of our jobs. Stability is good but we know that organizations thrive best when there is an influx of energy and new ideas. If you feel you have something to contribute, and if you are willing to work, we’d like to hear from you.

de Gene Pressler, W3ZXV