W3GV - Radio Association of Erie

A brief history of the Radio Association of Erie

The Radio Association of Erie (RAE) was created July 4th, 1926, and incorporated in 1945, making it among the oldest is the USA.

The RAE was formed over 75 years ago by a radio enthusiast called Frank Dawson Bliley.

It was his intent to form a group of individuals interested in the development and advancement of two-way communications. He devoted his entire life to his work and hobby. After his death, his family at his request donated a large sum of money to the RAE.

The Federal Communications Commission call sign of W3GV was also reissued to the club in remembrance of the founder.

Over the years the club has become affiliated with several amateur radio organizations and programs. One such organizations is the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). The ARRL is a governing non-profit organization that supports the efforts of amateur radio operators.

The club has been recognized by the ARRL for providing training sessions, testing sessions, public service event support, etc. Two programs that the club supports are ARES-RACES and SKYWARN. The ARES-RACES program is sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide emergency communication in times of need. The SKYWARN program is sponsored by the National Weather Service to assist in the collection and reporting of weather conditions, both during and after severe weather.

Our Goals

• Furthering the interests of amateur radio both within the hobby and the community.


• Providing emergency communications to local non-profit organizations for various local events.


• Providing the National Weather Service and Erie County EMA with trained and qualified spotters for Erie County ARES-SKYWARN.


• Continuing and extending the amateur’s proven ability to contribute to the enhancement of the radio art.


• Enhance international goodwill through better communications between various societies and cultures.


• Expand the resources of trained amateur radio operators, technicians, and electronic experts.


• Cooperate with the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA),


• Local EMA & Public Safety Officials, and the American Red Cross to provide fixed and mobile emergency communications in times of need and disaster.


• But most of all, Have fun!

Our Projects

The RAE has multiple projects running simultaneously, some are simple operational upkeep, others are long term development plans. The overarching plan for RAE is to show the public that Amateur Radio has a place in the 21st Century always-on supercomputer in your pocket world. 

• General Amateur Radio Education


• Digital Amateur Radio


• Community Support/Public Service


• Emergency Communications (EmComm) 
  
  
  • Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES)
  
  
  • Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES)
  
  
  • SKYWARN Spotters
  
  
  
  


• Antenna Maintenace/Repairs


• Club Historic Document Digitization and Preservation

Our biggest project is the introduction and development of a county wide multi-gigahertz radio data links for everyday and emergency communications use. The club will be using the Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network (AREDN) platform, which is an open-source Amateur Radio exclusive networking project that aims to provide a secondary communication tool for use in emergencies.  A large concertation of AREDN systems is regularly used in California during earthquakes, wildfires, and other natural disasters. 

While the RAE is in early development of the plans, we are looking forward to building out a communication system that can help the overall Erie community. We also look forward to helping revie some of the other Amateur Radio communication tools, like Packet, NBEMS, and others as we grow the AREDN system.