The Philadelphia Area Repeater Association (PARA) is over three hundred members strong. PARA was founded in 1971 when four repeater groups in the greater Delaware Valley joined forces to blanket the Philadelphia area with amateur radio communication networks.

The PARA system covers the entire Delaware Valley and beyond!!! ------ from Wilmington to Allentown and from Reading to central southern New Jersey. PARA installed and maintains over twenty repeater systems. Some of these include: 52.41/53.41 MHz in Valley Forge; four repeaters in the two meter band as discussed below; 222.26/223.86 MHz in Worcester; 223.34/224.94 MHz in Valley Forge; 223.38/224.98 MHz in Feasterville; 448.9/443.9 MHz in Valley Forge; all of which are in Pennsylvania. Also included is the 146.82 MHZ repeater in Camden, New Jersey. PARA operates fast-scan amateur television repeaters (ATV) in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia. Plus PARA has nine digipeaters in Valley Forge on two meters, 1-1/4 meters and 70 centimeters for packet communications. Our machines are strategically located to best serve the needs of the local and transient radio amateur population.

The "FLAGSHIP" of the PARA system is the 146.16/146.76 MHz wide-area coverage repeater system transmitting from Valley Forge. This machine runs 400 watts ERP and, through the use of a central voting system, selects the best signal from the various remote receive sites located around the Delaware Valley. The Receiver Comparator voter has capability of up to twelve inputs. Presently there are six sites located in Worcester, Eagleville, Hilltown, Camden, Broomall and Thorndale; additional sites are planned.

The PARA organization is divided into quadrants, each with it's own repeater: Northeast on 146.37/146.97 MHz in Feasterville, PA; Southeast on 146.22/146.82 MHz in Camden, NJ; Northwest on 146.28/146.88 MHz in Hilltown, PA; Southwest on 146.34/146.94 MHz in Paoli, PA. The quadrants are the original groups that merged to form PARA in 1971. Two directors from each quadrant are elected to serve on the PARA governing body plus five officers. PARA has two general membership meetings each year, usually the second Tuesday of May and November. The November meeting is election of officers and directors. PARA currently airs the "Eastlink Network" bulletins, which are of interest to the general amateur community, on Wednesday evenings at 1930 hours. PARA also issues a quarterly newsletter called "PARA-graphs".

We of PARA want and need your support and participation. We cordially invite you to become a PARA member. We think that we are the best metro-politan repeater support association in the nation. If you agree, come aboard! Enclosed is a membership application. Just fill it out, enclose a check payable to PARA for the first years fee and mail to the address indicated on the application. I'm sure you will find, as we have, that there are no finer people in the world than those you will meet on the PARA repeaters!

Very 73,

Dave K3HLN,
PARA Technical Chairman