Welcome to OCRA!

OCRA Mission Statement & Membership

This organization is exclusively for educational, scientific and charitable purposes within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or corresponding sections of any future United States Internal Revenue Law.

Specifically the OCRA mission is to:

  • Encourage the use of Amateur Radio for emergency and welfare communications for the public good.
  • Further the exchange of information on Amateur Radio among members, and between members and the general public.
  • Promote radio knowledge, fraternalism and individual Amateur Radio operating efficiency.
  • Conduct meetings, classes and other activities of general interest to Amateur Radio operators.
  • All persons interested in Amateur Radio communications shall be eligible for membership. Membership shall be by application and election as provided in the By-laws.

Membership dues cover the cost of keeping the OCRA repeaters on the air; club insurance; an OCRA membership web site with an online membership directory of dues status, member interests, needs for assistance, club Field Day signup list; and additional insurance coverage for Field Day and similar club sanctioned member events.

OCRA membership dues are used to cover the costs of the above provided member benefits and per IRS regulations are not tax deductable.
However, any additional general donations of funds or equipment to Orange County Radio Amateurs Inc, a 501(c)3 organization, are tax deductable.
The Orange County Radio Amateurs, Inc, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (TIN# 58-2064632)

OCRA Club Meetings and Nets

  • OCRA monthly club meetings are on the 2nd Monday of the month at 7pm at the Elfand Baha’i Center location as noted on this page.
  • Monday night 10 meter net on 28.450mHz at 8pm with Zoom gathering starting 30 minutes prior the net.
  • Saturday OCRA 442.150 9:30am Auxcomm net with Zoom gathering starting at 8:30am.
  • 3rd Saturday of the month “HamPiE” Experimenters Zoom gathering starting at 1:30pm. This gathering focuses on amateur related hobby projects with a work session exchanging ideas and help on various gadgets.

OCRA Repeaters

OCRA is affiliated with the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the national organization for Amateur Radio™ and owns and maintains the following repeaters located in the central North Carolina region:

442.150 MHz, +5 MHz offset, PL131.8 Hz Operational, on a tall tower a few miles southwest of Chapel Hill, NC providing wide area coverage through out the Research Triangle and adjoining regions
442.075 MHz, +5 MHz offset, PL107.2 Hz Operational, on the Gibbs Lane tower, courtesy Charlie, NC4CD located mid way between Hillsborough and Durham, NC. This local repeater will be linked via AllStar other repeaters listed here for emergency service use and as to provide backup coverage in the event 442.150 is off the air.
145.230 MHz,-600kHz offset, PL107.2 Hz Currently off the air, while being relocated from the Firetower site to the new Chatham NorthEast Park tower site. Will provide similar coverage into southern Orange County and Chatham County.This local repeater will be linked via AllStar other repeaters listed here for emergency service use and as to provide backup coverage in the event 442.150 is off the air.
443.475MHz, +5 MHz offset, PL131.8 Hz Currently off the air, while being relocated to the nearby new Siler Hospital tower site. Will provide similar coverage into western Chatham County & the emerging NC Core region. To be relocated to a new nearby tower site for increased coverage.This local repeater will be linked via AllStar other repeaters listed here for emergency service use and as to provide backup coverage in the event 442.150 is off the air.
53.450 MHz, -1 MHz offset, PL107.2 Hz Operational. Summertime ducting/propagation brings in a distant, unknown source signal on the repeater input frequency that times out the repeater for periods of time

OCRA Officers