W4CA
Roanoke Valley Amateur Radio Club (RVARC) is dedicated to the advancement of amateur radio, serving Southwest Virginia, since 1932
Roanoke Valley ARES
The Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) consists of licensed amateurs who have voluntarily registered with their local ARES leadership for communications duty in the public service when disaster strikes. Hams serve our communities when storms or other disasters–natural or manmade–damage critical communication infrastructure. Amateur radio can function completely independently of the internet and phone systems. An amateur radio station can be set up almost anywhere in minutes. Hams can quickly raise a wire antenna in a tree or on a mast, connect it to a radio and power source, and communicate effectively with others.
Membership Requirements
Every licensed amateur is eligible to apply for membership in ARES. To get involved, fill out the ARES Registration form and submit it to FM KI4LH Hite at ARES@w4ca.com.
For training, go to arrl.org/ARES
Red Cross Volunteer
Next, you need to be a Red Cross volunteer. That gives you benefits like insurance during the disaster, as well as protect the Red Cross from any liability from your involvement. To learn about the coursework, go to
https://www.arrl.org/online-course-catalog
Here you’ll find detailed information about ARRL online courses which include:
Advanced EmComm (coursework pending)
PR-101 Public Relations 101 for Radio Amateurs.
In order to take these courses you have to be a member of ARRL. To join ARRL, go to https://www.arrl.org/membership.
When you have completed each EmComm course, print off the certificate or store it in a file. Show your certificates to the ARES EC. Taking these courses gives you volunteer hours with the Red Cross.
I am a visual learner. So I take notes on the videos. If, once you’ve completed the courses, you would like a review to keep on file, just email me at webmaster@w4ca.com, tell me what course you completed and I will share my notes with you.
If you have any questions, just email me (webmaster@w4ca.com) or our EmComm DEC, F. M. Hite at ARES@w4ca.com.
Roanoke Valley ARES Net
Meets weekly on Tuesday night, starting at 7:00PM.
Check ins will be first on duplex W4CA repeater 146.985 ( minus offset ), PL Tone 107.2.
Once check ins are complete, we will change frequency (QSY) to simplex 146.580 after a 2-3 minute delay from the initial check-ins on duplex.
Roanoke Valley ARES Practice Events
ARES Drills will be announced at meetings and on the Website. None are scheduled at the present time.
When we do have a drill, we need to know how many will participate in it to be able to plan and make assignments. A commitment to participate in the drill will include your attending the training sessions and notify the ARES EC that you will participate. Also be sure you have completed an ARES application.
To learn more about the NTS, at 1800 (6PM) every evening, if one has HF capability, there is an NTS NET on 80M @ 3.947 MGHz where you may hear “traffic” being passed. Please avail yourselves of hearing traffic and begin to start processing from the resources provided knowledge of how to construct and pass traffic. There is enough information to learn that the table exercise will require some but not all proficiency with radiograms. It is intended as a learning process and not a test situation
NTS resources:
Radiograms
Videos
Watch this video starting at 2:30.
There are other videos on Youtube.com, up to 2 hours long, that you might be interested in watching. Just go to Youtube.com and search Radiogram.