Ham radio volunteers will be supporting a public service event this weekend.  Certain RATS services are reserved for event traffic Saturday and Sunday, June 3 and 4.

The W4RAT 146.88 MHz repeater will be in use by amateurs supporting Bike MS Colonial Crossroads 2023 between Richmond and Williamsburg, from early morning into mid/late afternoon each day.  This repeater will not be available for regular amateur use during the event.  Amateurs not registered as communication volunteers for this event are asked to select a different repeater.  Our 442.55 MHz repeater is available for local non-event traffic and will be operating in its usual configuration.

UPDATE:  As of 11:30 AM Saturday, activity on the 146.88 repeater has concluded for the day and the repeater is again available for regular amateur radio use.  The repeater will be in use again starting Sunday morning.

Also - Next Weekend:

The W4RAT 442.55 MHz repeater will be in use by amateurs supporting the Virginia Special Olympics Summer Games at the University of Richmond, Friday and Saturday June 9 and 10.  This event generates large amounts of radio traffic.  Amateurs not participating are asked to please keep off the 442.55 MHz repeater during this event.  WIRES-X services will be disabled while Special Olympics traffic is being handled.

The W4RAT 146.88 MHz repeater may carry some occasional overflow traffic for Special Olympics.  Stations using this repeater during the event are asked to please keep transmissions short and yield to Special Olympics radio traffic so priority traffic may be passed quickly.

The KG4MRA 145.43 MHz, KA4CBB 147.36, and W4TTL 146.715 MHz repeaters are great options while the RATS repeaters are busy.

Additional volunteers are still needed for this event.  If you're available even for just a couple of hours, please contact Darren Faulkner KG4INW via e-mail prior to Thursday.

RATS will be hosting our annual Summer Field Day at our usual spot: Laurel Recreation Area, 10301 Hungary Spring Rd in northern Henrico County.  We'll be gathering at 10 AM local time Saturday, June 24 to begin setup, and we will go on the air at 2 PM, operating from generator power as a class 2A station.

RATS control operators will be on site to assist and supervise operation.  Anyone who is interested in amateur radio (particularly HF) is welcome and encouraged to join us.  No amateur radio license is required to operate at the RATS Field Day.

A license test session will be provided by Allan Johnson WA3J.

Additional information will be posted to this web site as Field Day approaches.

For general information about Field Day, visit the ARRL Field Day web site.

The monthly RATS Membership Meeting will take place this Friday night, May 19 at 7:30 PM via Zoom.  All are welcome to attend.  We'll be voting in at least three new members, discussing Field Day (June 24 & 25), establishing a nominating committee for our upcoming Board elections, and more.  We hope to see you there.

On May 3, 2023 the RATS Board approved an increase in membership dues.

Dues for the membership year October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024 will be as follows:

• Individual Membership - $35.00
• Family Membership - $55.00

This rate increase will be effective for all new applications and renewals submitted on or after October 1, 2023.

From the ARRL:

As detailed in a May 2023 QST article by Greg Lapin, N9GL, the rules which took effect on May 3, 2021 now require amateur radio operators to perform station evaluations.  The Amateur Radio Service is no longer categorically excluded from certain aspects of the RF exposure rules, and licensees can no longer avoid performing an exposure assessment simply because they are transmitting below a given power level.  

A two year transition period was implemented to allow existing stations to make any necessary changes, but as of May 3, 2023, the transition period ends and all transmitters operating in the US are expected to comply with the exposure rules.  The ARRL has on its website an RF Exposure Calculator to assist amateurs in performing station assessments.

To continue reading and for an assortment of helpful RF exposure calculation resources, visit http://www.arrl.org/rf-exposure

The monthly RATS club activity will be this Saturday morning at 8 AM.  We'll meet for breakfast at Golden Corral, 11 S Providence Rd.  Afterward, we'll depart for a group ham radio activity, destination TBD.

Those joining us for breakfast are responsible for the cost of their food and beverage at regular retail prices - this is not a "group rate" event.  There is no need to RSVP.  We hope to see you there.

The monthly RATS Membership Meeting will be this Friday, April 21 at 7:30 PM via Zoom.  All are welcome -- you do not need to be a member of the club to attend, though we'd appreciate your support.

As a reminder, ham radio volunteers will be supporting a public service event this weekend.  Certain RATS services are reserved for event traffic Saturday morning and early Saturday afternoon.

The W4RAT 442.55 MHz and KG4MRA 145.43 MHz repeaters will be in use by amateurs supporting the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10K race on Saturday, April 22.  These repeaters will not be available for regular amateur use during the event.  WIRES-X services on the 442.55 MHz repeater will be disabled and the repeater will operate with a configuration change from 10 PM Friday night until all event traffic has cleared.  If you must make a brief call on one of these repeaters please coordinate that activity with Net Control and QSY.

For additional information, please see the Repeater Status page.

Update:  As of 12:25 PM 4/22/2023, this event has concluded.  The 442.55 repeater has been returned to its usual configuration and all repeaters are again available for regular amateur radio use.  Please be mindful of possible SKYWARN activity on the 146.88 repeater this afternoon and evening.

The Technical Committee is performing maintenance on the network cabling and equipment at the repeater site on Saturday, April 15.  There may be some brief service interruptions on the UHF repeater's WIRES-X service.  No interruption to local voice service is expected.  Any updates or additional details will be posted to the RF Systems Status Page.

Update:  As of 6:00 PM 4/15/2023, this maintenance work is complete.

The Technical Committee is performing maintenance on the network equipment and remote power control systems at the repeater site.  There may be some brief service interruptions on Saturday, April 8.  Any updates or additional details will be posted to the RF Systems Status page.

Update:  As of 2:00 PM 4/8/2023, this maintenance work is complete.

The RATS Board will meet Wednesday, April 5 at 6:30 PM via Zoom.  All members are always welcome to attend, ask questions, and provide feedback to the Board.

In addition to a number of general operational items, the Board is expected to vote to accept an equipment donation which will restore the club's previous offering of DMR voice services on 443.5875 MHz from an antenna located at 460 feet on our tower.  This proposal has been under review for a couple of months and was approved by the Technical Committee on March 10.  Following a Board vote and acceptance of the donation, we anticipate a restoration of service under the W4RAT call sign within 90 days.  More details will be provided at the Membership Meeting on April 21.