The Boundary Waters Amateur Radio Club is a Cook County based organization that welcomes you to our area and invites you to use our repeaters. Our club meets on the last Wednesday of every month in the Cook County Community Center located in Grand Marais. If you are in town at that time, visitors are welcome so please feel free to join us!
ORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION: Our Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation are available by following these links. You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed in order to read these. If you don't have Adobe Acrobat, you can get it from Adobe.
Repeater Information
The BWARC currently maintains two repeaters in Cook County. These two repeaters are connected via a UHF simplex link. Having linked these two machines, we have contiguous coverage for the entire Gunflint Trail corridor and along most of the North Shore. Approximate coverage is outlined below, or you can view our coverage map.
In Grand Marais, along the North Shore, and inland, we have the 146.895 machine with a minus offset and a PL of 100.0. This repeater is located on Maple Hill just outside of Grand Marais and provides excellent coverage along the North Shore itself. Inland coverage varies due to terrain, but the rule of thumb would be coverage to about 20 miles from the shore of Lake Superior.
Approximately 45 driving miles up the Gunflint Trail at the Gunflint Lake tower site, is our 146.73 repeater. This repeater, too, has a minus offset and also uses a PL of 100.0 for access. Coverage for this repeater is approximately a 20 mile radius for mobile radios - along the Gunflint Trail this would be starting near the Lullaby Creek Rd. and covering well into the BWCA and Quetico park areas. Here, too, though terrain is a big factor and needs to be taken into consideration.
If you are traveling in the Boundary Waters or Quetico and can provide us with coverage information, we would appreciate hearing from you about your experience. You can contact us via e-mail through the link provided at the bottom of the page. Thanks in advance for helping us out!
Emergency 911 Access
Both Repeaters are equipped with a closed autopatch with 911 access allowed. To initiate a 911 call, simply press 911 on your DTMF pad. To end the call, press #1. The procedure is the same for both machines.
| Cook County ARES Response Team |  |
The Cook County ARES Response Team was formed in 2003 to support both local government and non-government agencies with emergency communications. Utilizing their skills as amateur radio operators, CCART members are active in both emergency and non-emergency communications. CCART holds a net on the air every Sunday at 1900 hours on the BWARC repeaters. If you would like more information about CCART, please send an e-mail to the informational link below.
Current BWARC Newsletter
For those of you looking for a copy of the current BWARC Newsletter, you can view it online by clicking here. You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed in order to read the Newsletter. If you don't have Adobe Acrobat, you can get it from Adobe.
History of WØBBN
WØBBN was the call sign sign of the late Dr. Wallace "Doc" Smith. Doc was an Elmer to many of the local hams and was responsible for much of the spread of Amateur Radio in Cook County. When he passed away, the BWARC contacted his widow and, with her permission, adopted his call sign for the club as a lasting tribute to him. His call sign also identifies all club repeaters.