The ARROW Communication Association is the oldest amateur radio (“ham”) club in Washtenaw County, Michigan

  • ARROW Incorporation: November 20th 1972
  • ARRL Affiliation since: June 20th 1981

ARROW is dedicated to the promotion of amateur radio activities.
As such, we:

  • Support local groups to provide emergency and public service communications,
  • Hold classes to help others get their amateur radio licenses,
  • Hold meetings and sponsor activities that help members improve their technical and operating skills, and
  • Sponsor social activities to promote fellowship in the amateur radio community.

ARROW is a Michigan non-profit membership-based corporation tax-exempt under section 501(c)3 of the Federal Tax Code, managed by an elected Board of Directors under its corporate bylaws. ARROW is an affiliate of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) and has been designated a Special Service Club.

Board of Directors (2023)

  • President: James Forgacs, AE8JF
  • Vice President: Steve Szafarek, AC8YA
  • Secretary: Don Winsor, AC8TO
  • Treasurer: Steve Rogacki, AC8GO
  • Technical Coordinator: Jay Nugent, WB8TKL
  • Public Information Officer: Ralph Katz, AA8RK
  • Activities Coordinator: Dinesh Cyanam, AB3DC

Our Activities and Services

The ARROW has many activities and provides a number of services for members, and the public in general. You can get detailed information about these in the Activities and Services section of the website. Our most commonly requested ones are listed below.

Monthly meetings
Meetings are held each 2nd Wednesday of the month on Zoom and if possible, at a location in the Washtenaw County area at 7:00 p.m. There is usually a technical presentation on topics of interest to radio amateurs and a short business meeting. Meetings are open to the public. Talk-in assistance for meetings is on the ARROW 2-meter repeater (146.96-) MHz.

Club Stations
Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum (220 E. Ann St., downtown Ann Arbor). In 2008 this station was first setup due to a grant from the IEEE Foundation and the ARRL Foundation. Activities have started to update this station with the goal of spring 2023 to have it back up and running. We are always looking for volunteers to operate the station and ideas on how to make it better.

Repeaters
The ARROW operates 3 voice repeaters on 146.96(- / PL100) Mhz, 224.38(-) Mhz, and 443.50(DMR, + / CC1)Mhz. Click here for more detailed info about the repeaters.

Monday Night Net
The Monday Night Net is held on Monday evenings on 146.96(-) at 8:00 pm. While a net control station is almost always there, there may be some nights when he or she is absent. If you don’t hear any activity, give a call anyway to see if there are others awaiting the net. If so, take the bull by the horns and run the net yourself! Click here for details about our net.

AMPTeam Outings
Take place the 3rd Monday every month all year long, rain or shine. We gather at a common location, set up and operate portable HF and VHF stations.  This provides an opportunity to hone our skills in rapid and efficient deployment of Amateur Radio stations in the field in what are oftentimes non-optimum conditions.

Get Your License!
We regularly hold One-Day Tech Classes and provide monthly test sessions for those looking to obtain or upgrade their license. Please click for details about our Classes or Test Sessions.

Mentoring, or “Elmering”
One of the great traditions of ham radio has been the willingness of experienced hams to help new hams get started. These mentors are sometimes called “Elmers,” a name whose origin is as obscure as the origin of “ham radio.” With that in mind, we’ve started an informal Elmering program, and several members have already signed up to be Elmers. Click here to find an Elmer to help you.