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Renewals are now being accepted for the 2025-2026 membership year.
► Activities Committee Kickoff Meeting Coming Soon: An initial meeting of our proposed Activities Committee will be held in late August or early September. If you are interested in being a part of (or leading!) this new group, please contact info@rats.net to volunteer.
► Annual Board of Directors Election Update: We have the winners for our first election of 2025, and we're now accepting nominations and candidate biographies for a special election to fill a new Director vacancy on our Board. The second election will kick off in early September. You'll find all that information on our Election page. Official election results are available from Election Runner.
► You asked, we listened: More fun, less-business-y membership meetings and more efficient Board meetings are here. Learn more.
► August membership meeting: Our guest presenter was John Wells W4CMH, ARES Assistant Emergency Coordinator and Logistics Section Chief for Lee County, Florida. His presentation is titled "The Importance of EMCOMM for Amateur Radio Operators." He talked about the role of ham radio in emergency communications, key skills and training, recent real-life examples of EMCOMM in action, and much more. Missed it? A recording is available on our Documents & Videos page.
► Renewals for 2025-2026 are now being accepted! Payments are due by September 30 to avoid a lapse in membership. To begin the renewal process, click here. Many members have included extra donations along with their renewal payments this year. Thank you for your generosity!
► June 2025 Member Survey Results are now available.
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 2026 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.
Wakefield SKYWARN DMR Trial Run on 31516 - VA Peninsula
Wakefield SKYWARN DMR Trial Run on 31516 - VA Peninsula
Wakefield SKYWARN is experimenting with activations on the VA Peninsula DMR talkgroup when severe weather is expected to cover a significant portion of the Wakefield County Warning Area. This DMR net supplements the team's existing FM operations and provides a route into SKYWARN in areas not covered by existing official SKYWARN nets. The VA Peninsula talkgroup is carried on most DMRVA network repeaters and on Brandmeister. It's included in all current RATS codeplugs.
DMR operations are shown as Area 11 in the SKYWARN activation bulletins.
When participating in SKYWARN nets over the RATS DMR repeater, spotters are asked to leave the Piedmont link active only as long as necessary to relay your report to SKYWARN. Make your report, and either drop the link with Clear Timeslot, or allow it to drop naturally after 15 minutes. This will help keep the timeslot available for other system users. If you wish to monitor the net for an extended period please use a hotspot or the Brandmeister Hoseline.
Volunteers Needed for Ashland Half Marathon
Volunteers Needed for Ashland Half Marathon
Hanover County ARES is looking for ham radio volunteers for the Ashland Half Marathon, August 23. If you are interested in participating or for more information, contact Hanover County EC Sean Pyne W4BKR via email at sean.pyne@gmail.com.
DMR Codeplug Project Expansion
DMR Codeplug Project Expansion
Our DMR Codeplug Project now includes support for the SCHEART DMR network in South Carolina. Our Specialty Codeplug collection has files for several surrounding DMR networks, usable with any radio supported by the N0GSG DMR Contact Manager application.
The RATS Codeplug Project furnishes quality DMR codeplugs for a wide range of radios, and also provides basic troubleshooting assistance with radio programming.
The website was updated recently to feature better navigation, making it easier than ever to find the right file and conversion instructions for your radio.
DMR Users: Beware of commercial radio dealers and other unscrupulous individuals offering expensive codeplug design and programming. RATS codeplugs and programming support are FREE! [More Information]
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