Southwest Iowa Amateur Radio Club (SWIARC Inc.) is just the current name of the guys in Council Bluffs. Leo Meyerson W0GFQ (SK) recalled the club doing Field Day up at Fairmount Park, a 140 ft Loess Hill in the middle of town overlooking the Missouri River and Omaha to the West, before the war. Leo ran Scientific Radio during the war, and started making GLOBE radios in the 1950s (sold to Textron Bell in Chicago). Then he made GALAXY radios (think Galaxy V Mark II, the Amateur equivalent of a COLLINS KWM-2) and sold that to Hy-Gain in 1970. The other Leo – K0JIU – put up the first repeater in this area using Motorola parts, and ran the transmitter from his house on South 1st St with a receiver, also Motorola, at the base of the 120 ft blue water tower near St. Albert H/S on Gleason Ave where our UHF .225 is now. (That’s the way they did it in the old days, used Motorola equipment with wires shoved in here and there to make it work like a repeater instead of transceiver.)
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SWIARC used to be called – take a breath – the Radio Communication and Electronic Training Club of Southwest Iowa when Don WAODEI who taught out at Iowa Western Community College was a key member. Let’s not forget Fred KOFG ex WBOBLR and younger Paul WBOGXD who also helped with the club. And Terry KS0L, oh we could go on and on . . .
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We’ve always met at the Red Cross wherever that was, and since Leo KOJIU gave it to us, run the 146.82 R- KOSWI (ex WROACE) 2M repeater. He used to run 220-250W on a 2 ceramic tube Motorola turned down from 500. After Leo gave it to us, the repeater was at Paul WBOGXD’s house on a high hill North of Broadway, and then out at IWCC at 270 on their 330 foot tower. We’re using a 50W Yaesu 7000 turned down to 7.5W into a 100W Henry amp, soon from John QKH’s house near the previous Simms St site. The system is open for use by all licensed Amateur radio operators except during ARES and club nets.
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Membership in the club is open to all interested parties.  Dues are $20 per calendar year for adults and $10  for students.  From 1980s to 2012 we mailed out the Printed Circuit newsletter, and now with Rich KORWJ in charge, available electronically. Our repeaters have always been free to all. If you are interested in joining please contact any of our members or Memb Chairman, WAOZQG.