Founded in the 1950s, the Panama City Amateur Radio Club is a warm, relaxing haven for Bay County amateur radio operators to meet, chat, and eyeball folk they talk to on simplex and local repeaters during the week.
When it is all said and done, the hams of the PCARC and Bay County are a great bunch of people. They are willing to help others in any way they can, especially other hams with radio and computer-related problems and questions. The PCARC was very proud when their repeater stayed up and running after Hurricane Opal struck in 1995 and Hurricane Michael in 2018, providing much-needed emergency communications during this time of need. Many of the members were first to lend a hand for shelters in the area during the disaster, and pitched in after the disaster, during the cleanup process.
The callsign used by the radio club, W4RYZ, originally belonged to Roger Spencer, Signalman First Class. He was one of the 317 survivors from the sinking of the USS Indianapolis on July 30, 1945. He was an an active member of the radio club until his death in 1965. When we speak the letters and numbers of his callsign into a microphone, we memorialize the service of a sailor, the sacrifice of a war hero and the life of a great American.