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

There will not be a program meeting Friday, April 24, due to the set up for the Auction Saturday.

March Radios in the Park

Radios in the Park at Greenhill Park in Salem was a success in spite of the cold! We had about 6 stations set up, doing POTA [Greenhill Park is POTA (Parks on the Air) station 9935], HF, and more.

Marty has acquisitioned a trailer from the Red Cross to set up as an emergency radio station. Jaden worked CW from inside.

So what can you do with a 30 foot antenna?

2026 Planned Events

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

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.

If you have equipment to sell you can bring it to the Red Cross building Friday night from 6:00 to 8:00 PM or Saturday morning at 8:00 AM. The auction will start at 9:00 AM. Put a minimum price on the item, and identify who the seller is.

If you are coming to the auction on Saturday, be there before 9:00 so you can be registered. The auction could last until 2:00. There will be some snacks and water available, but not a meal.

If you have any other questions about the auction, contact Ben KK4EWT Williams at activities@w4ca.com

Here are some of the examples of equipment that has been donated for the auction:

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 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.

GVARC Thawfest 2026

The Greene County Virginia Amateur Radio Clug is holding their GCVARC 2026 Thawfest from 8:00AM to 11:30 AM on Saturday, April 11, 2026.

The location of the venue is at the Madison County High School located just off Route 29 at 68 Mountaineer Lane, Madison Virginia.

There will be limited snacks and drinks available and restroom access.

For more information, contact

W4CA