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A Brief History of The Tamaqua Wireless Association

The forerunner of the Tamaqua Wireless Association was organized in early 1956 and
born more of necessity and later as a part of Tamaqua’s Emergency communications
and fraternal group.

Following the flood of August 1955 in which only two amateurs are credited for being
the only outside communications during and after the flood, W3ZRQ Allen Breiner Sr.
and W3VA, Karl Pfeil laid the ground work for organizing a group of local amateur radio
operators whose main objective was to have a group trained and ready to provide
emergency communications in the event of another devastating flood.

In the weeks that followed W3ZRQ (now W3TI ) sent post cards to all the local amateurs
inviting them to a social gathering at the home of W3CMA Tony Sarli and W3ZXF Bud Sarli.
Those in attendance were W3VA, W3OFL, W3QKS, W3AKF, W3CMA, W3RZV now
all Silent Keys. W3PTM, W3TI, W3ZXF and W3ZPW still living. Before that evenings
social gathering was over, these ten amateurs laid the groundwork for the first Amateur Radio
Club in Tamaqua, and Schuylkill county.
It was known as the Tamaqua Amateur Radio Club, TARC.

The Tamaqua radio amateurs have always been active on the air and associated with local
government as a part of their volunteer emergency radio system known at that time as
Civil Defense, now EMA Emergency management Agency.

In 1958 TARC began to print their first club news bulletin called “SPLATTER”. The name
was derived from a new era form of communications known as Single Side Band and the
interference it caused to the A.M. modulation mode. SPLATTER was printed on an
A B Dick Mimeograph machine until 1980 and the advent of our modern computers and
Xerox duplicators changed all that. In 1957 first class postage was only 3 cents and the
bulletin was printed and mailed to each member every month. TARC club dues was a
dollar a year.

As time went by, the club name was changed to The Tamaqua Side Band Amateur Radio Club
or TASBAR. Everyone was gainfully employed and the club prospered. For about 15 years
the annual club dues were dispensed with and secretarial expenses were derived from member
donations on a free will basis. At one time the membership was as high as 80 members.

In 1982 when U.S. Postage went over the 20 cent mark a new set of By-laws were drawn,
The name changed to The Tamaqua Wireless Association and decision made to resort back to
collecting membership dues.

An Amateur Radio operators license is a requisite for membership. TWA has three classes of
membership Regular, Family, and Student. Club meetings are the third Friday of each month.
During the winter month they are held at the East End Fire Company, East Broad Street,
Tamaqua. During the warm summer months meetings are held at Weicker’s Grove in Locust
Valley near the Tuscarora State Park. All our meetings are open to the public and anyone
interested in Amateur Radio