How it all started
Inspired by belief in truth and unfettered flow of information between all good hams, and frustrated by club policies and politics getting in the way of these things, SnoCoHams was conceived by Bob Huson WA7HYD (SK).
Bob Casteneda KC7QR and Bob Huson WA7HYD worked together to implement the original SnoCoHams.net web page and e-mail reflector, which Bob KC7QR maintained until he moved out of the area in May of 2007. At that time Bob WA7HYD took over maintenance and operation of both the web page and reflector. Bob continued in that role until he passed away in May of 2013.
Bob felt too that there should be activities for hams to enjoy free from politics and structure that sometimes preoccupy an official club; hence, the monthly Second Saturday SnoCoHams Breakfast was born.
Transcript excerpt from Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2010, May 6, 2016 with Paul Braun WD9GCO interview of Eric AD7BF on the origins of SnoCoHams (sorry, the original audio is no longer available)
SnoCo Hams, The 'UnClub'
SKEETER: The SnoCoHams are a friendly group of radio amateurs who gather regularly, help one another out, and get on the air. Just don't call them a club. Amateur Radio Newsline's Paul Braun, WD9GCO, tells us more.
PAUL: When is a club NOT a club? When it's like the SnoCoHams in the Pacific Northwest. I spoke with member Eric Nordin, AD7BF, about the group, originally formed by the late Bob Huson WA7HYD.
ERIC: SnoCo Hams is not a club, per se, it's just a group, there are a few of us who take care of the website and arrange a breakfast get together second Saturday of every month, It was actually born from some frustration with oh, I think, some political posturing and stuff in the club and Bob decided, "hey, you know, let's start a website and an email reflector that anybody can join and I'll get that going and just stand out of the way. And you know those will be tools for people to use and it wasn't long at all after that hey, let's just get a monthly breakfast together going. No politics, no club meeting, no business, just a bunch of hams who get together around the table and circulate and talk and toss ideas around." And it's grown. We had around a dozen people the first couple of meetings. It's grown and typically we have anywhere between 20 and close to 40 people who show up now. It's a neat thing.
PAUL: Nordin said that Huson originally formed the group to complement local clubs, not to compete with them. In fact, he said, many local clubs have benefitted from the intermingling of members at the breakfasts. He also mentioned that a major part of the original email list was lost when Huson passed away so if you are interested in the group please visit their website at www.snocohams.net.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Paul Braun, WD9GCO.
I would like to express my extreme gratitude to Joe K7KOJ for providing the design of this website and also to Rob NR3O for his work in reacquiring the domain and arranging for site hosting and setting up the email reflector. Without the efforts of these two gentlemen, neither the website nor the reflector would exist today. Thank you so much, guys!
Eric AD7BF