RATS Meeting Friday 7:30p | DDXG Invite: Flex Radio | Marathon Registration Now Open | and more!
RATS Secretary
Richmond Amateur Telecommunications Society
News
September 17, 2025
Inside this email:
You’re Invited: Flex Radio at DDXG on 9/27
Richmond Marathon Volunteer Registration
Membership Meeting Friday
The monthly membership meeting is this Friday evening at 7:30 PM. Our presenter this month is Bruce MacAlister W4BRU. The presentation is titled "Group Mentoring, it’s different." Many of you are familiar with Bruce and his many years of devotion to teaching amateur radio classes and his desire to help hams succeed in their goals as head of the Richmond Amateur Radio Club (RARC) "Radio School." Bruce is a retired software engineer, project manager, instructor, and technical writer, and is a Life Senior Member of the Computer Society of the Institute of Electric and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
Connect at https://go.rats.net/zoom
We currently have four new membership applications up for vote:
Steven Zinski K4GBA
Wayne Buchan KR4GBG
Michael Buchan KR4GBV
John Munn KR4CAK
Be sure to review last month’s minutes and recent committee reports ahead of time so we can sail right through the business portion of our meeting.
Also, here’s a quick reminder to cast your vote in round two of our Board of Directors election. This time, we’re voting on a replacement to fill the remaining term of a director position vacated by Reid Barden’s shift to secretary during round one. Voting closes at 7:30 PM Friday. If you’re an active Full member and did not receive a ballot, please contact elec...@rats.net ASAP.
Activities Committee Update
The Activities Committee kickoff meeting was held last night. Several club members volunteered to be a part of this group and a candidate for committee chair was identified. If formation is approved at the October Board meeting, this new team will get to work on spicing up our Field Days with more fun and educational programs, while improving promotion, public outreach, food & beverage, and other aspects of our club gatherings. They'll also work on organizing other opportunities for our members to see each other and do fun stuff throughout the year. Thank you all who volunteered! If you’ve got some ideas for cool things we can do as a group, send a note to in...@rats.net and we’ll pass it along to the new committee once they’re up and running.
You’re Invited: Flex Radio at DDXG on 9/27
The Dominion DX Group has invited RATS to join them for their September 27 meeting, where Michael Walker VA3MW from Flex Radio will be on hand via Zoom to talk about their fancy new Aurora series radios. Flex Radio specializes in Software Defined Radios (SDRs) for the amateur market. They’ll meet at the Deep Run Recreation Center, 9900 Ridgefield Parkway at 9:00 AM, and you can also join on Zoom:
DDXG is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: DDXG September Meeting via Zoom / Flex Radio Presentation
Time: Sep 27, 2025 08:45 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/98204004280?pwd=19Vi3qbny66aMoRDo2Alp7uQyHQ8F7.1
Meeting ID: 982 0400 4280
Passcode: 135338
Thank you, Tom N3GTG for the invite!
Richmond Marathon Volunteer Registration
Volunteer registration is now open for the Allianz Richmond Marathon, coming up on November 15. Our Public Service Team is looking for volunteers to provide communications from various points along the route. You do not need to be experienced operating at events to participate. We will pair you up with someone that is. Operating at events is fun, it gives us skills useful for operating in emergency communications and it shows our local community what we are capable of as radio amateurs.
Register online to volunteer with RATS and sign up for other public service event updates via email.
Dues are Due!
Dues for the 2025-2026 membership year are due by September 30 to avoid a lapse in membership. You can renew online at rats.net/renew.
Meetings and Club Contacts
Next membership meeting: Friday, September 19 at 7:30 PM
Next Board meeting: Wednesday, October 1 at 6:30 PM
Link to all meetings: https://go.rats.net/zoom
Meeting minutes and video: https://www.rats.net/club-info/minutes
Listen to our repeaters from anywhere with the Broadcastify network and Brandmeister Hoseline
Club leadership, committee, and workgroup contact information is available on our website.