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)

Facebook group: rvarc.w4ca

Email list: Get signed up HERE

Officers

President: Martin K4EQS Rosendale president@w4ca.com

Vice President: Ben KK4EWT Williams viecpresident@w4ca.com

Secretary: Linda KQ4VGS Cheek secretary@w4ca.com

Treasurer: Doug N4MGW Kabler treasurer@w4ca.com

Membership/Webmaster: Linda KQ4VGS Cheek membership@w4ca.com, webmaster@w4ca.com

ARES DEC: FM KI4LH Hite ARES@w4ca.com

Directors: Scott KN4ZFI Shrewsbury, James KN4MKX Pascoe, William N4ZSG Dodge, Tom W4TKW Wilcox coreteam@w4ca.com

March Meeting with Eating

We had a great turnout at our Meeting with Eating this month. It was held at Golden Corral on Town Square Blvd in Roanoke. Twelve people came and had a good time.

Luckily, I did have someone remind me to take a picture, but I’m afraid it was after Marty and Kathy left for the St. Patricks Day parade.

Also, Ed WB4MMW (Mickey Mouse Watch) joined us for a little while. He is volunteering equipment to our auction

2026 Planned Events

March 28 – Radios In The Park
April 25 – Auction
May – Dayton Hamvention
June – Field Day
August 1 – Hamfest
September 6 – Blue Ridge Bonanza
October – Radios In Ther Park
October 17-18 – JOTA
November 1 – Mill Mountain Star
December – Holiday Party

Virginia QSO Party March 21-22

The Virginia QSO Party website is https://www.qsl.net/sterling/VA_QSO_Party/2026_VQP/2026_VQP_Main.html.

There you will find the rules, logging programs, and other information. For statistics on past parties and the frequencies most used, go to http://www.vaqsoparty.com/.

RVARC is not running a club contest this year. Members are participating individually at their own locations. Dave K4DNS Shelton will set up a station on Saturday at Waldron Park near the ball park and was given permission to use the W4CA call sign.

Radios in the Park March 28

RVARC will be holding Radios in the Park at Greenhill Park, Salem on Saturday, March 28 from 10AM to 3 PM. Greenhill Park is first come, first served, so if we aren’t in the first field, just keep driving through the park and eventually you will find us. When you set up your station, try to leave enough room between you and the other stations so you don’t interfere. We will also have bandpass filters to avoid interference for stations that are close together. You are responsible for your own lunch.

Let friends know about this. They can get on the air with us at any station they choose.

Greenhill Park is POTA (Parks on the Air) station 9935. Dave K4DNS Shelton will be activating a 10 meter station on POTA. For more information on POTA, we have a video on w4ca.com.

RVARC Auction -- April 25

It’s time to get ready for the auction in April. Go through your equipment. See what you aren’t using anymore, and consider putting it in the auction. You’ll get 90% of the proceeds, and 10% will be donated to RVARC.

Go through your equipment and think of what you would like to have that you don’t. Then come to the auction and bid on those items that might be available.

If you would like to help with the auction, contact Ben KK4EWT Williams at activities@w4ca.com.

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 is April 11 at 8:30 AM at Golden Corral, 1441 Town Square Blvd, Roanoke.

We will again arrange tables behind the fireplace next to the ice cream machine.