About Us

The Top of Panhandle Amateur Radio Club is a non-profit organization for the promotion of amateur radio, fellowship, emergency preparedness and public service. The Top of the Panhandle Amateur Radio Club (TOPARC) is a group of enthusiastic amateurs involved in multiple projects: building equipment and antennas, license training and test sessions, fox hunts, working with Scouts on their Radio merit badge, even high-altitude balloon launches and (mostly) recovery. We participate in Summer and Winter Field Days and chase DX. Members help activate Parks on the Air, contact Scouts in the Jamboree on the Air, participate in SkyWarn with the Weather Service, and report precipitation through the citizen Science CoCoRaHS program. Members have talked to astronauts, sponsoring a MIR contact with Jerry Linenger with Perryton I.S.D. students. We are refurbishing a donated ambulance as a mobile communications center for use in emergencies and about to start the Citizen Emergency Response Team (CERT) training program. We have a number of ARRL members. We maintain the Perryton repeaters on 2 meters and 440.

We are made of a diverse group of men and women, young and old, technology-savvy and learning, scattered across the top of the Texas and the Oklahoma Panhandle. We are adding members with each testing session and planning on helping Scouts with their Amateur Radio license, hopefully with an ARRL grant. If we are not awarded the grant, we will do it on a reduced scale.

We were founded in 1972 and still have two of the founders as part of the club are still members. TOPARC has been designated as an ARRL Special Service Club and are members of ARES and RACES, with leadership roles in both. We are often a significant part of the Thursday night West Texas Section Zoom meeting, discussing emergency response and learning more about the skills of amateur radio. We operate on all bands, and several modes. We are a friendly, accepting group and welcome anyone who is interested in amateur radio.

The Scouts on the Air program is a natural extension of our past activities and interests.