The Eastern PA QRP Club was formed in December 1997. The purpose of the club is to have the QRP'ers who live in and visit the Eastern PA area get to know each other. The club now has 156 members who are active on the HF bands and keep in touch via a list server, EPA QRP-L. Wow, I never thought the club would have 100 members when I first started the club back in 1997. The members live in CT, DE, IL, NH, NJ, NY, MA, MD, MI, NC, PA, SC and VA. The club acquired the KB3DBJ call in October of 1998. Shortly afterwards they applied for N3EPA through the vanity call sign program. The club had their first meeting on Feb. 26, 2000, which was a great success. They also participated in the 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006 & 2007 Field Day.

The club sponsors the TAC (Telephone Area Code) contest every June. The contest is for the CW mode only. The four hour long contest uses telephone area codes as the multipliers.

The Appalachian Trail Award program was created to promote QRP operations on the trail. There are five different types of awards that are available for all amateurs. Details are on the web site. The program is new as of Jan. 1, 2000, and it already seems to be a hit with the QRP community.

The Eastern PA QRP Club members participate in many contests through out the year. The members hunt the different states, DX, and counties as well as rag chew on the HF bands. A large number of the club members like to build radio kits. They have built everything from the basic 38 Special to the Elecraft K2 & K1 transceiver. The members like to go camping, hiking and canoeing. Of course they always take along their QRP radios. You could probably bump into a member or two at a hamfest in the Atlantic Division area. The latest pastime for the group is activating the Appalachian Trail for the award program.

72 Ron Polityka N3EPA