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Welcome to the new RATS.net! Membership account management functions are available from the Membership menu or https://wa.rats.net/
Upcoming Club Events:
► Our guest presenter this month is David Elkins KN4LQN, on the topic of Meshtastic. Join us on May 16 at 7:30 PM.
► RATS member survey coming soon: find the link in the next club newsletter email.
► Our annual Board of Directors election is underway. Our Nominating Committee is now accepting nominations. The offices of Secretary and Treasurer are up for election, along with two Director positions. If you know someone who is interested, you can send your nominations to election@rats.net. You can also nominate yourself! Any full RATS member in good standing is eligible to run (Individual, Family, or Life members, but not Associates). Watch for more information in the club newsletters. Ballots will distributed electronically later this summer.
► Dues have been set for the upcoming 2025-26 membership year. Standard membership rates for Individual, Family, and Associate members will remain unchanged. Dues are due by September 30. Renewals are normally accepted starting in July but may follow a slightly modified schedule this year due a change in membership management systems and processes. Additional details are coming soon via email.
► ARRL Field Day at Laurel Park in Henrico County - June 28 & 29
Scroll down for more club news.
Founded in 1972, the Richmond Amateur Telecommunications Society is an ARRL Affiliated general-interest ham radio club serving the Richmond Metro area. We operate the W4RAT 146.88, 442.55, and 443.5875 MHz repeaters. Our club meets via Zoom on the third Friday of each month. Meetings are open to everyone -- you do not need to be a member of the club (or even a licensed ham) to join our meetings. Most of our activities are also open to the public. Our members participate in Field Day, the Virginia QSO Party, and a number of other activities in the area. We invite you to join us.
We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on furthering the art and science of amateur radio by encouraging those interested in electronics and communications to further their knowledge in those fields, promoting the utilization of the higher frequency bands allotted to amateur radio, and offering the use of our communications systems during emergencies and for disaster response. Learn more about RATS.
Need a license? See our Get Licensed page. Our friends at the Catastrophic Amateur Tactical Squad (CATS) offer monthly VE testing in Powhatan County.
Organizing a charity bike ride, marathon, or other special event? Ham radio can help. Contact Jim Rubin W4PKR for more information.
Special Offer for New Hams: Qualifying new members can join RATS for only $1. Open to amateurs of any license class who submit a membership application within 180 days of their initial FCC Technician license grant. Renews in October 2025 at the regular rate (currently $35/year). Online application, electronic billing, and enrollment in automatic dues renewal are required. Click here and select the New Ham Rate. Contact info@rats.net for additional information.
WIRES-X Updates
WIRES-X Updates
Effective March 20, the WIRES-X VIRGINIA room is now hosted by RATS, and there's a new room number: 68927. It may take a few days or weeks for all linked repeaters to update and begin idling on the new room number. Thanks to Kevin Numbers KC8MTV for hosting the Virginia Room for the last several years! The weekly Virginia Room net is Saturdays at 8 PM.
DMRVA Talkgroup Matrix and Codeplugs Updated
DMRVA Talkgroup Matrix and Codeplugs Updated
DMRVA has posted an updated talkgroup matrix dated 2/27 which reflects several previously-announced changes to the system:
Adds new K2VIZ repeater in Topping, VA (Middlesex County) zone MDX. This repeater is part of the RVA Metro repeater cluster and will be included in the RATS LTD and Full codeplugs.
Adds new WB4EOT repeater on Thornton Mountain (Franklin County) zone FKN. Note that this repeater uses a non-standard offset and will be on the air later this year.
Changes the frequency for the South Hill repeater, zone SOU.
All official RATS codeplugs were updated on 3/1. These files are now available for download from codeplugs.rats.net.
Winter Field Day 2025
Winter Field Day 2025
We would like to thank everyone who joined us at Pocahontas State Park for Winter Field Day! We are processing the logs and will share our score as soon as it's available.
If you visited our Winter Field Day, the RATS Board would like your feedback. Did you have a good time? Were you bored out of your mind? Somewhere in between? Tell us how we can make next year's WFD even better.
Members who took photos at WFD can upload them to our photo gallery here.
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