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Thank you for visiting the Shenandoah Valley Amateur Radio Club website! We are one of the oldest Amateur Radio Clubs in the United States, first established in 1948! We are also the home of the World Famous Berryville HamFest, always the first Sunday of August! Radio amateurs from far and wide come together for community, fellowship, new parts, gear and pre-owned treasures since 1953. The club members meet on the first and third Thursday monthly. Please visit our Club in-person or remotely via Zoom during one of our meetings to say “hello”. Use our contact page to request the meeting link. Our radio room features a FlexRadio 6400 and ICOM 9100. Both radios can be operated for send and receive by club members anywhere on the Earth with an internet connection. It’s a fine way to become a Radio Amateur and take advantage of high-end radios and antennas as you learn and build your own station! Read more about the Club, or, Contact us with questions you may have about the Club. We look forward to meeting you at our next meeting, afterward consider submitting an Application to join the Club!
News & Updates
ARRL-Roanoke Division News | ARRL-Virginia News
—Weather / Space Weather / Propagation—
What is the Solar Index? | Live Solar Weather Reports| Space Weather Forecasts|NOAA Radio Communications Dashboard
K7RA Solar Report |WM7D’s Solar Resource Page |
National Weather Service SkyWarn Weather Spotter Training: https://www.weather.gov/lwx/skywarn
—Contest Events—
12 Month Contest Calendar | State QSO Parties | Parks on the Air | Volunteers on the Air
ARRL Contest Corral Calendar [.pdf] June 2023 | July 2023
Field Day June 24-25 Clarke County Fairgrounds
—Upcoming Conventions / Hamfests—
Search the ARRL Convention / Hamfest Calendar
June 3 W4OVH Tailgate – Manassas, VA |
Roanoke Virginia HamFest August 5 | 72nd Annual Berryville HamFest August 6|Huntsville HamFest August 19-20
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Our Sun Rapid Fires Earth-directed Solar Storms | Solar Storm Forecast 06 May 2023
This Space Weather News forecast sponsored in part by Millersville University: https://www.millersville.edu/swen Want early access to these forecasts, tutorials on Space Weather, & more? Visit: https://patreon.com/SpaceweatherWoman For daily and often hourly updates (during active times) visit me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TamithaSkov
ARRL Helps Radio Amateurs Comply with New RF Exposure Evaluation Rules
From ARRL.org –
ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® provides free, comprehensive resources to help radio amateurs ensure they are compliant with the new RF exposure rules.
On May 3, 2021, new FCC rules governing RF exposure evaluations went into effect. While the exposure limits were not changed, the requirement to conduct an evaluation was made more broadly applicable to amateur licensees. A 2-year transition period was implemented to allow existing amateur licensees to conduct evaluations and make any changes necessary to ensure that their station complies with the exposure rules. On May 3, 2023, the transition period ended. All licensees must now conduct evaluations of their current station and reassess compliance when making changes to their stations that would affect exposure going forward.
As detailed in a May 2023 QST article by Greg Lapin, N9GL, the rules 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.
The ARRL website features an RF Exposure landing page with resources, such as an RF exposure calculator, the entire RF Safety section from the 100th Edition of the ARRL The Handbook, a video explaining the topic, FAQs about the subject, and more. These tools and resources are available to the public without an ARRL membership or website account.
For further assistance with technical matters, ARRL members enjoy the additional resources of the ARRL Technical Information Service, and access to the experts within the ARRL Lab.
Request from KG4BIR: Volunteers Needed May 1
Please see below original request for specific information regarding times and locations followed by “update”Final Call.” In addition, ham operators volunteering are asked to bring a fully charged HT (just in case and to communicate between us at both sites. We will use the W4RKC repeater, 146.820 MHz, – (minus) offset, PL 146.2. As a backup we will use the K4QJZ repeater, 145.210 MHz, – (minus) offset, PL 141.3.
Original Request:
VDEM is requesting volunteers to support parking operations at the funeral of Deputy Chief Chester T. Lauck on Monday, May 1st. Chief Lauck was the Emergency Management Coordinator for Frederick County.
He was also a member of the SVARC and my Frederick County POC for WINFRED ARES.
They are looking for 14-30 volunteers to assist with parking efforts (directing traffic flow, etc.). The need is for two shifts at different locations in Winchester, VA.
Team 1 will be at the church from 0800 – 1300 for a shift of about 5 hours.
Team 2 will be at the cemetery from 1130 – 1530 for a shift of about 4 hours.
read more…Action Request – ARRL Advocates for Radio Amateurs as FCC Proposes Changes to 60-Meter Band
Cross-post from ARRL.org
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is seeking comments about changing the secondary allocation available to radio amateurs on 60 meters. The FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on April 21, 2023, that deals with the band. In a prior petition, ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® urged protecting the existing use of the band by amateurs when adding a new allocation adopted internationally.
Currently, radio amateurs in the US have access to five discrete channels on a secondary basis: 5332 kHz, 5348 kHz, 5358.5 kHz, 5373 kHz, and 5405 kHz. Users of these channels are limited to an effective radiated power (ERP) of 100 W PEP.
The FCC proposes to allocate 15 kHz of contiguous bandwidth between 5351.5 – 5366.5 kHz on a secondary basis with a maximum power of 15 W EIRP (equivalent to 9.15 W ERP). This allocation was adopted at the 2015 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15).
The federal government is the primary user of the 5 MHz spectrum. The government’s manager of spectrum use, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), has expressed support for implementing the allocation as adopted at WRC-15. Doing so would result in amateurs losing access to four of the five discrete channels, and power limits would be reduced from 100 W ERP to 9.15 W ERP. However, it would provide access to a new contiguous 15 kHz band that includes one of the current five channels.
In 2017, ARRL petitioned the FCC to keep the four 60-meter channels that fall outside the new band, as well as the current operating rules, including the 100 W PEP ERP limit.
The ARRL petition stated, “Such implementation will allow radio amateurs engaged in emergency and disaster relief communications, and especially those between the United States and the Caribbean basin, to more reliably, more flexibly, and more capably conduct those communications.”
ARRL said that years of amateur radio experience using the five discrete channels have shown that amateurs can coexist with primary users at 5 MHz while complying with the regulations established for their use. The petition also stated, “Neither ARRL, nor, apparently, NTIA, is aware of a single reported instance of interference to a federal user by a radio amateur operating at 5 MHz to date.”
In the NPRM, the FCC recognizes that Canada has already adopted 60-meter allocations and related rules that align with those proposed by ARRL. The Commission wrote, “Finally, we note that Canada has essentially implemented the same rules as ARRL has requested.”
The FCC proposed to allocate the 15 kHz bandwidth, but stopped short of making a proposal on whether the existing channels should remain allocated to amateur radio and what the power limitations should be. They requested comments on their proposal and the related channel and power issues.
Comments will be due 60 days after the NPRM is published in the Federal Register, which is expected within the next two weeks.
Saturday May 13 – 2023 Online Ham Bootcamp
Cross Posted from ARRL:
The Nashua Area Radio Society’s spring 2023 online Ham Bootcamp will be held on Saturday, May 13, from 10 AM to 6 PM Eastern Time. Access to the session will be provided via Zoom.
Ham Bootcamp includes a series of demonstrations and tutorials designed to help newly licensed Technician-, General-, and Extra-class license holders get on the air. Ham Bootcamp is also a great opportunity for hams who are interested in seeing what the hobby has to offer.
The online Ham Bootcamp program is available to all licensed and prospective amateur radio operators. You can register for the next Ham Bootcamp session here. For additional information, contact Anita Kemmerer, AB1QB, of the Nashua Area Radio Society at ab1qb@arrl.net.