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The Roanoke Valley Amateur Radio Club (RVARC) is a non-profit, Special Service Club dedicated to the advancement and enjoyment of amateur radio. The club has been serving Southwestern Virginia since 1932. -- The RVARC meets the 2nd and 4th Fridays of every month at 8pm, except June (2nd Friday only), November (2nd Friday only), and December (Christmas party only). -- The VE testing session is the 3rd Sunday of each month at 2pm except June and December. -- The W4CA repeater is located on 146.985 (-) pl 107.2. We have a weekly social net on Wednesday at 8pm. |
N4HVH |
| Ham radio club on the air at Hidden Valley By Emily Flora When Josh Whitlow, Assistant Principal came to work at Hidden Valley High School he was strongly encouraged to help create an amateur radio club at the school. With the help of the Roanoke Valley Amateur Radio Club in the Roanoke Valley he made it happen. Some schools in the area like William Bryd Middle School and William Bryd High School had established clubs in place. “It took us a few years to get off the ground," Whitlow said. "But we started talking about it my first year here during the 2003-2004 school year." Whitlow said that it was partially possible by the donation of some radio equipment from both William Bryd Schools and the Roanoke Valley Amateur Club. "We got an antenna and those sorts of things and had a starting point," he said. "Principal Blevins at the time donated a room for the club and since then Principal Rhonda Stegall has come on board and she's been more than supportive. We didn't have a lot of kids at first, but we got the word out." Most recently the club applied for a grant through the American Radio Relay Team (ARRL), an organization that works to benefit amateur radio. Hidden Valley High School began work on the grant application about two years ago. The application included their team goals and a request of equipment. Whitlow said that those that are chosen to receive the grant receive a portion of the equipment they requested. Hidden Valley received a brand new YAESU radio, a new antenna, and equipment to put it all together which included cables, etc. Whitlow said that it wasn't the easiest task setting all of the equipment up, but with help from Principal Stegall, the maintenance crew at HVHS and the Roanoke Valley Amateur Radio club it was all made possible. "It's been really nice in that you have Roanoke County Schools at Central level and at the school level getting this on the ground." There are currently about 14 total members at HVHS and out of those 14, four of the students have their technician license. The first level of licensure for the students is technician and the second level is general. The school also provides sessions where they teach the information that will be on the licensing test, hold official tests and training modules. Micah Green, a junior and vice president of the radio club said that he enjoys being in the radio club and talking with people using different sounds and frequencies as close as your next door neighbor and as far away as Japan. Green said he became involved in the club because of radio experience during Boy Scouts. "I found it to be pretty interesting. I like the fact of being able to talk to people all around the world. Jake Moles, also a junior and President of the radio club, said "Scouts was the first place I got involved in. It's a lot of fun because when ever you turn on the radio you never know who you're going to get." Ron Ramsey, a member of the Roanoke Valley Amateur Radio Club has been involved in radio since the 70's and comes to help mentor the students at HVHS. "This is made possible here by the national organization, ARRL. It's $1,800 worth of equipment. I'm the trustee of their call. Basically I have to enforce that they do follow the rules and most importantly make sure they have a good time. I just enjoy doing it," Ramsey said. The club meets every other Monday and practices contacting other HAM's all over the world in places like Canada, Russia, Italy, and the list goes on. The students learn voice, Morse code, and digital methods over the radio. They are using their new radio system from the grant and the older radio to perform the digital communication. "The overriding idea here is to get as many students into amateur radio as possible," Whitlow said. "Our goal is to get kids involved because it provides great community services and its fun in general. It's amazing in my mind, to sit down at our school and talk to someone in a European country." "The science and math that are involved is wonderful, particularly for me as an education. I'm loving the idea of our students getting into it. It's going to bolster what we are doing as a school." And twice a year the HVHS HAM Radio Club participates in the School Club Round Up, a nation wide contest held the first week of February and then again in October. Points are accrued by making contacts during the 24-hour window over the course of five days. The students use a logging program to keep record of their contacts and receive a certain amount of points based on what kind of contacts they make. Then the club is ranked according to how well they do against other schools. Whitlow said that the Hidden Valley club has been participating in the contest for a few years. Others that participate in the round up include other elementary, middle, and high school teams, as well as college teams and other outlying groups. Whitlow said that William Bryd High School and Middle School came in first place in the October round-up and unofficially Hidden Valley High School came in 3rd place out of 41 teams. For more photos, see the links below. http://www.flickr.com/photos/swoco/sets/72157623156646847/show/ http://blogs.roanoke.com/rtblogs/swoco/2010/02/02/hidden-valley-high-school-ham-radio-club-receives-new-equipment/ |
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Upcoming Events | |||
| Happy New Year! Hope you have a good 2010 In January we have:
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2009 RVARC Elections |
| The votes are in! The Officers of the club for 2010 will be: President - Ron Ramsey AB4A Vice President - Phil Roark K4WFO Secretary - Nancy Wood KG4ETP Treasurer - Ray Pillow KK4HR |
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