Our Open Repeaters: 146.82 PL 146.2 / 448.775 PL 146.2
Shenandoah Valley Emergency Net – Tuesday 7PM ET 146.82 – Join us!
Welcome! • Willkommen! • ¡Bienvenido/a! • Benvenuto/a! ! • Benvenuto! • Bem-vindo/a! • Hoş geldin!
Do you enjoy puzzles? Science, Technology, Engineering, Math? How about finding new friends far and wide?
If so, amateur radio may be a “thing” for you!
Thank you for visiting the Shenandoah Valley Amateur Radio Club website! Here’s what you should know about us:
- We are one of the oldest Amateur Radio Clubs in the United States, first established in 1948!
- We are the home of the World Famous Berryville HamFest, always the first Sunday of August! Radio amateurs from far and wide have come together for community, fellowship, new parts, gear and pre-owned treasures since 1953.
- We meet on the first and third Thursday monthly at 7:30 in our clubhouse. 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.
- Read more about the Club, or, Contact us with questions.
News & Updates updated 9/5/23
ARRL-Roanoke Division News | ARRL-Virginia News
EMCOMM Wiki | Virginia Statewide Amateur Radio Nets
—Weather / Space Weather / Propagation—
Real Time Lightning Map | What is the Solar Index? | Live Solar Weather Reports|
Space Weather Forecasts|NOAA Radio Communications Dashboard
K7RA Solar Report |WM7D’s Solar Resource Page |
KC2G HF MUF Propagation Map | IARU HF Propagation Beacons | WWV Beacons-Time | Canada CHU Ottawa ON
National Weather Service SkyWarn Weather Spotter Training: https://www.weather.gov/lwx/skywarn
9/11 Handi-Ham Special Event Station
—Contest Events—
12 Month Contest Calendar | State QSO Parties | Parks on the Air | Volunteers on the Air
ARRL Contest Corral Calendar [.pdf] September 2023
DX Spotting Reports via DXHeat
—Upcoming Conventions / Hamfests—
Search the ARRL Convention / Hamfest Calendar
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Special Event Stations – July 22 – BOTA – Buffalos on the Air
Cross posted from Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/amateurradio/comments/14ubop0/buffalos_on_the_air_2023/
Event Updates / Frequencies: https://www.facebook.com/groups/751075983050671
July 22, 2023 from 1600 GMT til propagation allows
Hi I’m Phill, VA7XOZ from Comox, BC. I’m an Avionics Tech in the Royal Canadian Air Force and I have organized an event called Buffalos On The Air (BOTA) to celebrate the retirement of the De Havilland CC115 Buffalo, fixed-wing Search and Rescue plane.
I worked on the Buffalo as a tech for several years and now that we have retired them to museums across Canada I have arranged for amateur radio clubs across the country to hook up to the Buffalo’s beautiful mil-spec length of 45ft antenna wire to broadcast for this event using amateur radio equipment.
This is not a contest, but if you are able to make contact with more than one Buffalo you can request a certificate. You may also receive a QSL card just for making contact.
The event is on Saturday 22 July from 16:00 GMT into the evening. Each location has their own Canadian special event callsign and coordinator:
-VC7BUFF457 Comox BC – Phillip Tanner VA7XOZ
-VC4BUFF462 Winnipeg MB – Calvin Winter VE4AJ
-VC3BUFF456 Trenton ON – Dave Ackerman VE3UGT / VE3OX
-VY2BUFF451 Summerside PEI – Doug Silliker VY2DS
We have a facebook group and event setup to be able to send out info on what bands and modes we’re broadcasting on, answer questions, and stay coordinated. https://www.facebook.com/groups/751075983050671
If you’re in the area, we welcome you to come out to the actual Buffalo locations and come say hi.
I’ll try and answer as many questions as I can in this thread, please try and reach us on the day of. It’s a unique opportunity to be able to make contact with a retired air force plane’s antenna and I hope to continue this event in the future. Just be patient as unlike regular events, we only have the one antenna at each location to communicate with.
Thank you for your support, Phill VA7XOZ
####
Find out more about this airframe and it’s service to Canada:
https://www.canada.ca/en/air-force/services/aircraft/cc-115.html
KQ4IGV Annabel – How POTA created a new ham!
Cross posted from QRZ: https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?threads/general-kq4igv-annabel-hiraldo-charges-ahead-with-parks-on-the-air.871923/
Annabel Hiraldo had participated in over 700 Parks on the Air activations with her husband, David Lama HI8D, long before she was a licensed ham radio operator. Although she didn’t initially understand the lure of ham radio, she loved being in the outdoors, helping where she could and keeping David’s logs in order. But as Annabel began to recognize voices and callsigns, especially those that continually answered David’s CQ’s, she knew that this was a community, and hobby, that she wanted to be part of. Once she decided to get her license, Annabel passed her Technician and then General license exams in short order. Now Annabel is on a mission to learn more, including CW, pass her Amateur Extra exam, and to open up a path to ham radio for more women. Annabel’s story is one that many of us will relate to – the draw of the connectivity and unique community that defines ham radio.
Amateur Radio is not just for OM [Old Men], it’s for YL’s [Young Ladies] and XYL’s [Married Ladies] also.
YL 33: The First Female Ham Radio Operators, and their Awesome Legacy
https://www.themarysue.com/female-ham-radio-operators/
Sisterhood of Amateur Radio http://www.soar-yls.com/
Women Radio Operators of Maine https://womenradiooperatorsofmaine.org/
Young Ladies Radio League https://ylrl.net/
YL International Side Band System https://ylsystem.org
Find out more about Parks on the Air https//parksontheair.com/
Are you local to Winchester, Virginia? Come and get your license with us at our next test session: https://winchesterhamtest.com
Congratulations to W0AAE, Kees Van Oosbree, 2023 Young Ham of the Year! 🎉
Congratulations to W0AAE, Kees [pronounced Case] Van Oosbree of Maple Grove, Minnesota. Kees has been selected as Amateur Radio Newsline’s [arnewsline.org] 2023 Bill Pasternak WA6ITF Memorial Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year.
Kees is a recent graduate of Heritage Christian Academy in Maple Grove, MN where he earned a membership in the National Honor Society and was recognized as valedictorian of his class. Kees currently holds a General class license and is a member of the Minnesota Wireless Association [https://www.w0aa.org]
Kees remembers his interest in amateur radio began during a visit to a museum when he was 12 years old. In that museum was an amateur radio, and the display demonstrated how radio allowed communications to happen. Kees was hooked and immediately started studying for his first license. He also remembers hearing HF radio for the first time. His interest led to learning about remote operating and reaching out to W2RE, Ray Higgins, who has become an Elmer in the area of remote/DX operating.
Kees has been active with YOTA – Youth on the Air and has taken a variety of leadership roles within the organization, including training of youth operators. He is also interested in remote operating and chasing DX. Presently he has 165 DXCC’s.
He will be presented his Award at the Huntsville HamFest August 19th.
Kees begins his studies of Aerospace Engineering at Iowa State University in August, and will be taking his HF rig with him.
Send Congratulations to Kees via his QRZ page: https://www.qrz.com/db/W0AAE
Press Release: https://www.arnewsline.org/2023-yhoty
Fine Field Day!
Field Day national emergency communications preparedness event is always the 4th full weekend of June annually in the United States and Canada. This year that weekend fell on June 24 – 25 and was an amazing day filled with fine people and weather throughout the operating 24 hours. Fine thanks to the Clarke County Fairgrounds for hosting us. Thank you to the Clarke County Sheriff’s Office for stopping by on Friday late evening to ensure everything was in order. Thank you also to Berryville Mayor (Jay) Harry Lee Arnold, Jr for visiting Saturday afternoon to learn how amateur radio can serve his community during communication and civil emergency.
Club members began at 8AM Friday morning to pack and transport gear from our clubhouse in Winchester to the Lions Club Pavilion at the Clarke County Fairground. Though conditions on the ground were soggy, the skies cleared with temperatures in the high 70’s / low 80’s during operations.
Thanks to K04SSD, Jeremy who lent his spiffy red light LED lanterns from LuminAid to ensure our night vision was preserved. Gratitude to KC4RCR, Rousseau “Mr Lightning” for lending a fine bug zapper to keep flying insects at a distance and his 2 meter 10 element yagi antenna.
Fine food during Saturday’s traditional group lunch at Mario’s Pizzeria. During the weekend all types food was shared by members including amazing grilled hot dogs, hamburgers. Sweets abound with fine selections of muffins, cookies, pie, and of course it’s not amateur radio without “power rings” also known as donuts from Dunkin Donuts. Thank you to Rob for making the gas grill spic and span and then cooked up sliders and hotdogs for dinner for us on Saturday evening. Thank you Rob! Thank you to Andy NR8N and Tom KM4FEC for making breakfast on Sunday morning.
Field Day Radios [Transceivers]
Our station, with club callsign W4RKC, operated 3A [three HF transmitters in club or non-club portable operation] this year, radios were:
- two ICOM 746 Pro HF Transceivers for Digital and Phone
- ICOM IC706MKIIG for CW.
- a GOTA [Get on the Air ] station, Yaesu FT-710 HF Transceiver and Kenwood TM-D710G VHF/UHF Transceiver operating callsign W8BE powered by solar charged batteries.
3A stations each had a computer laptop and N3JFP logging software to document contacts on CW [Morse Code], Phone [Voice], and Digital [FT8]. FT8 is a digital mode capable of send and receive with milliwatts of power over high-frequency [HF] for global communications capability.
Field Day antennas in use this year included:
- Vertical 160-10m consisting of an MFJ-1965 mast, 4 ground counterpoises at 65′ each and 90º apart. Antenna matching was through an ITT Mackay MSR-4020 Antenna Coupler at the base of the antenna.
- Two Cobra dipoles 160-10 Meter frequency, 265′ in length.
- For the GOTA station the antenna was a 130′ Chameleon EMCOMM III end fed dipole with a frequency range of 160-6 meters hanging at 60 feet above the ground with a matching 130′ copper wire counterpoise mirroring the overhead antenna path on the ground. The GOTA antenna was connected to the station 200 feet from the operating station to the pavillion.
- Also in service were two Chameleon 25′ self supporting masts to operate a variety of UHF/VHF vertical and yagi antennas as well as experimentation with low power HF antennas.
This year marked the passing of the Field Day operations lead from KW4CW, Tom to AF7YL, Frances and AE7YH, John for 2024. Thank you Tom for amazing dedication to the tradition of Field Day and the importance of having our club being prepared and ready when called up for service by our community. Tom served for the Club in this capacity from 2009 – 2023. A fine legacy to uphold! Thank you Tom.
If you would like the Shenandoah Valley Amateur Radio Club to provide an operations demonstration and / or speak with your organization about the importance of Amateur Radio to the communications infrastructure, or, speak to careers in S.T.E.M [Science, Technology, Engineering and Math], please contact us, we would be delighted to help. https://svarc.us/contact-us/
Call your Congress Member – Vote Yes on HR 4006
Please call your US Representative in Congress as you read this and ask them to vote YES on House Bill HR4006. This bill serves to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the application of certain private land use restrictions to amateur station antennas, and for other purposes is about to come to the well of the US House of Representative for a vote. This bill would remove private land use restrictions that prohibit, restrict, or impair the ability of Amateur Radio operators from operating and installing reasonable antennas on property that they own or control.
If you live in Virginia House District 6, please call Representative Ben Cline’s office at (202) 225-5431, provide your name, City and Zip code and ask the Congressman to vote Yes for this bill.
Other phone numbers for Rep Ben Cline’s office can be found here: https://cline.house.gov/contact/offices
Should you reside outside of Virginia 6, please contact your Representative in Congress and ask them to support the Bill and vote yes. Find your Representative by visiting https://www.house.gov/. At the top right of the page enter your zip code and search.
Read more from the American Radio Relay League: https://www.arrl.org/news/legislation-to-remove-private-land-use-restrictions-on-amateur-radio-introduced-in-congress
Full PDF of the Bill from Congressman Johnson can be found here: https://billjohnson.house.gov/uploadedfiles/amateur_radio_emergency_preparedness_act_signed_bill_text.pdf
American Radio Relay League Elected to Serve on SAFECOM with CISA the CyberSecurity Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
The American Radio Relay League has been elected to serve on SAFECOM. SAFECOM is a working group, part of CISA, The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency [CISA.gov] which is part of The Department of Homeland Security [DHS.gov]. The American Radio Relay League [ARRL] will contribute as thought leaders within emergency communications and response space and will work to set standards at every level.
For further information on this venture read more at the American Radio Relay League: http://igc.arrl.org/news/arrl-elected-to-serve-on-safecom
More information about SAFECOM found here: https://www.cisa.gov/safecom