Old Barney Amateur Radio Club began in this area in 1974/75, and is a successor to an earlier club, “The Apple Pie Hill ARC”. Old Barney was more formally organized in 1975 and has a New Jersey state charter of incorporation.
Several active DXers/contesters met in the Tuckerton area and became friends. When asking about a local club in the area they discovered the closest one was located in Toms River but there was interest in forming a club in Southern Ocean County, New Jersey. There had once been a club in the area called the "Apple Pie Hill ARC" that met in Tuckerton but had disbanded. Eventually a group of the local hams met at the home of Erich Schmidt W2FWY (later K2TJ sk) and became the "charter members" of the Old Barney ARC. The group included:
Bob Schenck WB2RJJ (now N2OO)
Steve Sullivan WB2VFT (now KZ2I)
Gary Medford W2EQK (N2CW) SK
Erich Schmidt W2FWY (K2TJ) SK
Jack Trautvetter K2IGH SK
Lew Zell WA2PCF
Dr. George Nichols W2GJB SK
Possibly (not sure)
Bill Driscoll WA2BTO SK
Vic Cranmer W2NXX SK
The club was informally started in the summer 1974 with an organizational meeting held at Eric’s house where they created the original constitution... came up with the club name... and named the first "officers" which were WB2RJJ pres, W2EQK v. pres, WB2VFT sec'y, and K2IGH treas...... The first regular type of meetings were held in late 1974 or early 1975. The first meetings were held in the Beach Haven West community center then they were moved over to Stafford Hall.
At that first meeting, they bounced ideas around like Southern Ocean County ARC and such. It was Eric who suggested naming the club after a "local point of interest". The Barnegat Lighthouse was the only major point of interest at the time... and when Eric said "Old Barney Amateur Radio Club" everybody agreed to the name unanimously!
Since that time, Old Barney Amateur Radio Club (OBARC) has grown and become a very active group in the area. Participating in community activities, setting up and operating every year in the annual Field Day operations and organizing a VE team in 1986. OBARC also offered License Classes for many years.
The club initiated the local Lighthouse Day operations at the Barnegat Lighthouse on Long Beach Island in 1990 and has continued this special event every year. Many years later we began operating a special event from the Tucker Island Lighthouse display at the Tuckerton Seaport Museum.
In December of 1996 OBARC applied for and received the vanity call sign N2OB for club use.
1975 - 1976 - Bob Schenck WB2RJJ (now N2OO)
1977 - Lew Zell WA2PCF
1978 - Bob Schenck N2OO
1979 - Jake Kaferle W2IFI sk
1980 - 1981 Jim Eckersley K2IXE sk
1982 - 1984 Eric Schmidt K2TJ sk
1985 - 1986 Bob Schenck N2OO
1987 - 1990 Dave Burgess WA2TVS
1991 - Jack Trautvetter K2IGH sk
1992- Bob Schenck N2OO
1993 - 2001 Dave Burgess WA2TVS
2002 - 2006 Bob Bruno N2NF
2007 - Dave Burgess WA2TVS
2008 - 2009 Bob Schenck N2OO