W4CA
Roanoke Valley Amateur Radio Club (RVARC) is dedicated to the advancement of amateur radio, serving Southwest Virginia, since 1932
Mission Statement
To provide emergency communications services to the community;
assist other civic organizations; promote the technical craft of amateur radio through class training and testing;
mentor new amateur operators and members;
and enhance fellowship among radio amateurs.
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Join Us
Meetings: 2nd and 4th Fridays at the American Red Cross (see footer for more information)
Testing Sessions
Roanoke: Every 3rd Sunday except June and December: https://hamstudy.org/sessions/RVARC/all
Officers
President: Martin Rosendale K4EQS president@w4ca.com
Vice President: Ben Williams KK4EWT vicepresident@w4ca.com
Secretary: Linda Cheek KQ4VGS secretary@w4ca.com
Treasurer: Doug Kabler N4MGW treasurer@w4ca.com
Membership/Webmaster: Linda Cheek KQ4VGS membership@w4ca.com, webmaster@w4ca.com
ARES DEC: FM Hite KI4LH ARES@w4ca.com
Directors: Scott Shrewsbury KN4ZFI, James Pascoe KN4MKX, William Dodge N4ZSG, Tom Wilcox W4TKW coreteam@w4ca.com
Go Fest October 16-18
We had a great time at our first Go Fest. A lot of people were exposed to amateur radio. Avery Gibbs ran CW which attracted a lot of folks. Having the radio active, where people could talk on the radio for the first time introduced ham radio to kids from 6 years old, up to senior citizens who had been hams in the past, and we sparked their interest back. We got around 30 people to sign up for more information. Chris Boone answered the call for volunteers to help, serving on both Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday he even did an SSTV demo which attracted people.
Bill W4TIO talked with a ham who got his license a while back, and hopefully this will spark him back into the hobby. Ben KK4EWT and Dave K4DNS responded on the radio to chat with those who were interested. They served at the table at Explorer Park, and also worked JOTA.
Hopefully in the future we will get more people to help with this activity. It really proved to be a great way to show off amateur radio and what it can do for the area to lots of people in a short period of time.
ARES recommended 2 meter and 440 channels
Please put these channels in your radio (s) that you want to use during the weekly ARES Net and see how well they work for you at your QTH (location).
Net Control can pick one to use and test operation with the group that joins us.
Main: W4CA (Poor Mtn). 146.985 -600. PL tone 107.2
Backup: (SKYWARN). 146.745 -600. PL tone 107.2
UHF: W4CA (Mill Mtn). 442.500 +5 MHz. PL tone 107.2
UHF: ARA (New River Valley) 442.850 +5 MHz. PL tone 100.0
Simplex (Local). 146.580. No tone
We now have these digital connections up and running. So feel free to renew your membership, start a new membership, or donate to the club through these links below:
Facebook group: rvarc.w4ca
Email list: Get signed up HERE
Make a Payment
Pay your dues
(click on the credit cards)
Apply For Membership
Fill out the form HERE. Once submitted, go ahead and make the payment to PayPal
Support the club and ham radio by giving a donation of any amount you wish. RVARC is selling an ICOM 7000 radio set. You can find the information on it on the Trading Post page.
Blue Ridge Bonanza Special Event, Sept 13, 2026
The Blue Ridge Bonanza is a special event commemorating the beginning of construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway in September, 1935.
Stations were set up on the parkway and contacts were made.
For a QSL card from W4CA, send a SASE with your contact information along with postage to the W4CA QSL Manager
Sarah Joiner
5366 Sundance Rd
Salem, VA 24153
Future 2026 Planned Events
November 1 – Mill Mountain Star
Nov 14 – Meeting with Eating 8:30 AM Golden Corral
November 21 – Raleigh Court Christmas Parade 9:30 AM – it’s over. Contact Frank.
December 18 6PM– Holiday Party at Mama Maria’s
Help Get the 4 Mile Roanoke Mountain Loop Road Open
The 4 mile Loop Road on Roanoke Mountain has been a destination for ham radio operation for years. It was closed down in 2018 with the flooding that wiped out the road in sections. It takes Federal funds to repair federal park or parkway sites, and this repair has been seriously ignored. We need to communicate with our federal legislators to get the funding appropriated to get this road opened back up.
If you would help, please communicate with your Congressman/woman and Senators. To find the contact information for your legislator, go to:
https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
For Senator Kaine, go to https://www.kaine.senate.gov/contact/share-your-opinion
For Senator Warner, go to https://www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=ContactPage
Looking for a Few Good Men and Women
By Pat N3AYW Lewis
Recently a local served agency asked if there was a way to connect two cities (in Virginia ) for keyboard to keyboard emergency “comms” .
BUT without any infrastructure in between….. no links, no internet, no satellites, no packet modems
AND this mode would allow humans to talk to humans almost real time but have the weak signal and error correction just like the proven programs used for sending messages via Winlink.
Turns out…
Vara Chat ( Varac or VarAC ) already does an incredible job of many things hams like to do. Even QSO ing…. Actually communicating directly… just like CW or voice at a distance. But Vara Chat has many more secrets….even beyond hams texting ( hi hi )
So. If you are up to the challenge, you should load the free program and try it. It looks complicated at first. Runs on the same computers as Winlink ( either windows 10 or 11 at my shack with ICOM 7300 , 9700, and 705 so far )
My hope is that some more local hams will adopt Vara Chat, and help me learn how to use it ( both of VHF and HF ). And sometime this year live testing between two Red Cross teams in different towns can be supported by a communication technique that doesn’t require cell phones, satellites, or internet ( or even repeaters). Human to human in effect. But for now we can experiment and play and learn locally too.
Meeting With Eating
Our next meeting with eating will be November 14 at 8:30 AM at Golden Corral on Town Square Blvd in Roanoke.
Enjoy the commradery along with great food! :
