Welcome to RATS
Upcoming Club Events:
► The 2025 Virginia QSO Party is March 15 and 16. Get on the air with RATS or participate from home. Watch this site for more details.
► The Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10K is Saturday, April 12. We're looking for around 20 volunteers to assist with communications along the race course. To register as a communications volunteer, sign up here, or contact Jim Rubin W4PKR for more information..
► Next meetings: Board of Directors - Wednesday, April 2 at 6:30 PM · Membership - Friday, March 21 at 7:30 PM
Learn something new: Our friends at the Richmond Amateur Radio Club are accepting registrations for their next round of educational seminars on topics including antenna modeling, DMR and D-STAR radio setup & operation, radio sports/contesting, and more. See their Class Schedules page for registration information, deadlines, and pricing.
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.
SKYWARN Spotter Training March 11 & 13
The National Weather Service Forecast Office in Wakefield is offering two online SKYWARN Spotter training classes. Only a limited number of training opportunities are expected this year, so if you are interested, try to attend one of these classes. A Basic Spotter class will be offered on March 11 at 1 PM, followed by an Advanced Spotter session on March 13 at 1 PM.
Basic certification is a prerequisite for the Advanced class. SKYWARN Spotter certification is good for three years and may be renewed by taking either the Basic or Advanced training. No ham radio license is required for spotter training and classes are open to anyone who lives in an area served by the NWS Wakefield office. To register visit weather.gov/AKQ/SKYWARN.
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
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.