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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) non-profit 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.

Your donation helps support the operation of three wide-coverage repeaters serving thousands of licensed ham radio operators.  These operators volunteer their time, equipment, and skills to provide emergency and special event communications for organizations like the National Weather Service SKYWARN spotter network, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, Amateur Radio Emergency Services, local marathons and bike rides, and much more.  Our repeaters provide reliable analog and digital voice communications across central Virginia and beyond, but they're expensive to maintain.

Your donation also helps support the club's other special activities such as our annual Field Day exercises in January and June, which put amateur radio on display for the general public to discover and explore.  And your donation supports our outreach and support services for new hams.

Donations of Radios, Computers, Parts and other Used Equipment

RATS selectively accepts limited donations of working equipment in the following categories:

• Amateur radio transceivers (transmitters/receivers)

• Shortwave radio receivers, "police" scanners

• Electronic test equipment such as digital or analog multi-meters, oscilloscopes, signal generators, spectrum analyzers, frequency counters, antenna analyzers, SWR meters

• Some antennas, depending on size and type;  antenna parts such as wire, insulators, rope, baluns

• Antenna tuners, switches

• Radio transmission line, including both coaxial cable and ladder line

• Some 12V DC power supplies

• RF signal amplifiers, filters, duplexers

Sorry, RATS does not have the resources to repair or dispose of non-functioning equipment and these donations cannot be accepted.  Other clubs in our area may be interested.

Equipment Identification and Valuation

Often a family member of a recently deceased ham (called a "silent key") will find themselves with large amounts of stuff they can't identify, test, or value.  RATS can help you figure out what some of the stuff is, but unfortunately, if you're thinking about donating it to us, laws prohibit us from assisting with the valuation of those items.  But!  We can at least answer "what on earth is this?" and possibly help determine if it is in working condition.

RATS provides a receipt for donated items.  The donor must determine the value of those items for tax purposes.