Alaska Section Information:

Amateur radio is alive and well inside Alaska. Ham Radio operators have supported public events and emergency response operations in Alaska for over 70 years. With three ARRL 50+ year affiliated radio clubs and more than 3400 amateur radio operators throughout the state, ham radio has the ability to provide communication coverage all over the entire state. As you can see from the size comparison map, that is a lot of coverage. Alaska is twice the size of Texas, 413 times the size of Rhode Island and yet has only one section for the entire state to support activities and emergency communications.

Each operator has a radio, their own power supply and a general knowledge of emergency communications needed to provide emergency or priority communications traffic compliant with the Federal Response Plan National Traffic System. Amateur Radio is a key component in the State of Alaska Emergency Plan. The Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) of Alaska http://www.aresalaska.org/ provides auxiliary communications support for local governments, disaster relief, and search and rescue groups during emergencies, as well as support for various public service community events. ARES operates throughout Alaska via several "regions". In Anchorage, ARES is managed by a dedicated team of ARES volunteers.

Amateur Radio Clubs in Alaska

The Anchorage Amateur Radio Club serves the entire 1,963 square miles of the Municipality of Anchorage including Anchorage proper, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Eagle River, Chugiak, Peters Creek, Eklutna, Indian, Bird Creek, Girdwood, and Portage.  It covers 80 miles of highway from its northern reaches on the Glenn Highway at Eklutna to its southern reaches just past Portage on the Seward Highway.  It operates numerous voice repeaters, packet digipeaters, VHF, UHF, and HF Winlink RMSs, an APRS digipeater/I-gate, and a high-speed AREDN mesh network.  The club’s clubhouse is its Radio Science and Operations Center (RSOC) located at the former FCC monitoring station in west Anchorage.  From there, its “operations” area includes 5 HF stations, a satellite station, mesh network connectivity, and an assortment of VHF and UHF equipment of many types including interoperability equipment.  The club also operates the Anchorage ARC VEC, offers license prep classes as well as an assortment of STEM education courses, and is the primary sponsor of ARES in the Anchorage area.  The club call is KL7AA.  Meetings: 

7:00 PM, 1st Thursday, every month at the Radio Science and Operations Center, 6721 Raspberry Road, Anchorage.  Club website: https://kl7aa.org.  Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/kl7aa/.

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/AnchorageARC.  Newsletters/Newsletter archives:  https://kl7aa.org/newsletters/.  E-mail info@kl7aa.org for more information.

The Elmendorf Amateur Radio Society (EARS) serves primarily military personnel on Elmendorf AFB and Fort Richardson Army Post. These facilities were merged in 2010.  It is open to local civilian members as well.  Club call signs are KL7AIR and KL7USA.  The Club represents the two military stations one Air Force base and one Army post and as such is also known as the JBER Radio Club.  EARS is also an active Navy MARS Aux Station with the call sign, NNN0EAM. Meetings: EARS meets monthly. Meetings are at the EARS club house, (R-1 North, CAP Wing Headquarters) on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER).
Website: http://www.kl7air.us
Email Ron Keech, KL7YK, for details.
ronkeech@alaska.com

The Matanuska Amateur Radio Association (MARA) KL7JFU serves the Greater Matanuska Susitna Valley, Palmer-Wasilla-BigLake-Sutton-Willow and Talkeetna area. Meetings: 7:00 PM, on the last Friday of each month, at the Fire Station 61, in Wasilla. MARA sponsors a Hamfest and flea market every year, usually in the spring. http://www.kl7jfu.com/

The Arctic Amateur Radio Club, Inc (KL7KC), is the first Amateur club in ALASKA forming in 1939 and incorporating in 1966. Theclub meets monthly at the Hutchison Career Center, Room 202, which is located at 3750 Geist Rd., Fairbanks, AK. See www.KL7KC.com for meeting details.

The Alaska QRP Club -- No dues, no rules, everyone welcome. Low power radio is fun! Enjoy "do it yourself" radio and visit with other hams. Meetings are on hold right now but may start up again if there is enough interest. To be added to the Alaska QRP email notices list contact Jim Larsen, AL7FS at al7fs@arrl.org

The Moosehorn ARC serves the Kenai-Soldotna-Sterling area. Club call is AL7LE. Meetings: 7:00 PM, first Thursday of the month, at the Kenai Peninsula Borough building. Moosehorn sponsors a Hamfest every year, usually in July. http://www.moosehornarc.com/

In Kodiak, the primary mission of KARES is to support the community through the augmentation of communications for local, regional and governmental entities and community groups during times of emergency and non-emergency events when normal communications fail. Meetings are Monday nights held at 7:00 PM in the Bayside Fire Hall, 4606 Rezanof Drive E in Kodiak. Contact Mike Dolph - KL7JBV at Mike_dolph@hotmail.com for more info.

The Juneau ARC (JARC) serves the Juneau - Douglas - Auke Bay areas. Meetings are at 7:30 p.m. the first Wednesday of each month except July & August. Meetings are held at the National Weather Service Office, 8500 Mendenhall Loop Road.

Nenana ARC serves central Alaska in the Nenana area.

The Petersburg ARC serves portions of Southeastern Alaska, along the "inside passage". Petersburg is located on Mitkof Island.

The Seward Peninsula ARC (SPARC) serves Nome and surrounding communities in Western Alaska. Meetings: 7:00 PM, last Monday of each month, at the Nome Fire Hall. http://www.sparcalaska.com/

Then our newest radio club in Alaska is BARK, AL7YK, the Bethel Amateur Radio Klub. From the hard work of a few mentors to the good outreach of ham radio, the Bethel hams have been very active in promoting amateur radio in Western Alaska. At last count Bethel is up to 62 hams in town. For a better understanding of the unique operating conditions rural communities encounter check out the Bethel radio clubs website at: http://www.al7yk.org