Upcoming Events

Check out our events below:

Until the JCC Library lifts restrictions on meeting rooms, all monthly club meetings will be held via Zoom. Check the WAARC groups.io page for info.
The weekly Williamsburg-James City County ARES net is each Wednesday at 7:30pm on the '76 repeater.

Event Calendar

WAARC Recent News

- Yorktown Special Event This Saturday
  October 16, 2020This weekend is WAARC’s annual Yorktown Special Event that coincides with the commemoration of the General Cornwallis and the British’s surrender to George Washington and the Colonial Army in 1781, which helped end the American Revolution. This year will be the 239th anniversary of the surrender. While we are normally set up in the parking lot of the Yorktown Battlefield Visitor Center, due to COVID-19 this facility will not be available to us this year. Randy WB7URZ has worked with the Watermen’s Museum along the York River to get us an alternate operating location. We will be set up on the deck behind the museum. This year there will also be a fox hunt that coincides with the special event in Yorktown. Randy WB7URZ will be hiding his 70cm fox somewhere in the Yorktown area. Bring your dual-band handheld and join in the fun! As always, we will be on the air from 10am-4pm, and plan to operate on or around 7.265 MHz +/- QRM. We will be listening for your call! The Yorktown Special Event is the third of our Historic Triangle Special Event series. If you work all three of our special event stations, you are eligible for a very nice certificate. QSL information, as well as info about the other events can be found on the special events page.... Read more...
- Fox Hunting in Yorktown
  October 13, 2020Over the past couple weeks Randy WB7URZ has hidden a “fox” in and around the Yorktown area. If you are new to fox hunting, a fox hunt is a search for a radio transmitter that has been hidden somewhere. It is good practice for using direction finding antennas when tracking down an unusual or possibly problematic signal. While the fox is transmitting, you listen for where the signal is strongest, and move toward that direction. This is where directional antennas can come in handy. Also, some have found that the cheaper Chinese radios do not work as well as handhelds made by the “Big 3” manufacturers. Several club members made the trip to Yorktown to look for the fox. At first Randy hid it in a place that was easy to locate, but over time he began finding more tricky spots that proved to really test the skills of even the more experienced hams. Overall, the fox hunts have been a big success. Allan, WD4ITE brought his friend and her grandkids to Yorktown one day to show them what fox hunting is about. They seemed really interested, and had a lot of fun. Not only that, but they also are beginning to study for their technician license as well! While you do not need an amateur license to listen to or hunt for the fox, this can be a valuable way to attract new hams to the hobby. Randy has also offered to hide the fox during our Yorktown Special Event on Saturday, October 17. If you are interested in joining in the fun, bring your 70cm (440 MHz) handheld, and if you have a directional antenna, bring that too! We look forward to seeing you out there!... Read more...
- N4MW with his new IC-705
  October 13, 2020WAARC member Dave Meir N4MW recently received his new Icom IC-705 HF/VHF/UHF portable QRP radio. The IC-705 has been anxiously anticipated and is now shipping. You can see details here: http://www.icomamerica.com/en/products/amateur/handheld/705/default.aspx Or at DX Engineering’s site: https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/ico-ic-705 Dave purchased his rig from Main Trading Company where he has dealt for several previous purchases: https://www.mtcradio.com/icom-ic-705-all-mode-qrp-all-mode-hf-vhf-uhf-now-shipping/ There are a whole raft of accessories like backpacks, portable antennas, etc. that are going to make this a very popular radio. Expect to hear lots of them from Summits on the Air (SOTA), Parks on the Air (POTA) and as a microwave IF system in VHF/UHF “rover” operations. Dino, KL0S... Read more...
- More on Route 66 event
  October 7, 2020The Williamsburg Area Amateur Radio Club recently sponsored a competition for members during the annual Route 66 Special Event Week. Members were challenged to contact as many of the W6 1×1 stations operating throughout the United States. Two categories were established, one for members licensed four years or less and a second for members who have been licensed more than four years. Competitors were limited to a maximum power of 100W. Not surprisingly all of the competitors were also members of the local Colonial Capital Chapter of PVRC. Scoring highest in the new ham category was Francine Cicatiello KN7YL who only just recently installed her new HF station, an Icom IC-7300, Palstar AT2K Tuner and a homebrew OCF dipole antenna. Francine contacted 16 of the 21 possible stations. High score in the long-time ham category was Wally Frank WA3RWP who scored highest with 18 out of 21 stations contacted. Wally uses a Yaesu FT-DX3000 and a simple 23’ HOA approved vertical antenna. Both operators were awarded nice prizes by club President Toby Papas KLØSS for taking first place in each category. (Submitted by Dino Papas KLØS) ... Read more...
- Club member awards for Route 66 event
  October 3, 2020WAARC President Toby Papas KLØSS recently presented awards to Wally Frank WA3RWP and Ed Kelly K1NUH for their high-scoring participation in the club’s competition during the recent nation wide Route 66 Special Event week. Stations were limited to a maximum of 100 Watts and all did very well and although no one got a clean sweep some came very close. Wally received the ARRL publication “Ham Radio for Arduino and PICAXE” for placing number one in the “been a ham for more than four years category”. Ed came in 3rd place and chose the ARRL reproduction of the very first issue of QST back from December 1915. Second place goes to Will Hrachovina K4MI who will receive his prize soon. Francine Cicatiello, KN7YL, was the big winner in the less than four years as a ham category and will receive her prize soon as well, the special edition ARRL Tablet Sleeve. ... Read more...
- Article on Godspeed from 1985
  September 8, 2020Recently, Rich W4BUE contacted the club with a copy of an article about a replica trip of the Godspeed that took place back in 1985. This article appeared in the newsletter of the Jamestown Settlement, and can be viewed here. We would like to thank Rich for sending this article along. The Virginia Gazette ran a story earlier this year about the voyage as well. It can be viewed at the following link: https://www.dailypress.com/virginiagazette/va-vg-godspeed-0502-20200501-g3k4mydcmbfzhhza6calpr6mnq-story.html Finally, Neil Tanner WA4CHQ has a web site with lots of information about the Godspeed’s voyage back in 1985. There is a lot of information about the trip that makes for some great reading. The web site is located at https://www.qsl.net/wa4chq/godspeed.html.... Read more...
- WAARC Hamshack Hotline Directory Available
  September 5, 2020If you have a Hamshack Hotline, or “bat phone” as some members call it, there is now an up-to-date directory of club members that are on the network. Instead of programming everyone’s number directly into your phone, you can configure the phone to access a published directory that has these numbers programmed. There are instructions for how to set up the WAARC Hamshack Hotline Directory for your phone available on the Hamshack Hotline page. If you have recently set up your Hamshack Hotline telephone and want to be added to the directory, please contact either Bill NR4C or Will K4MI.... Read more...
- Virtual Club Meetings for the rest of 2020
  September 1, 2020The James City County Library has made the decision to keep their meeting rooms closed for the rest of 2020. Since we are unable to use the library, the club has elected to continue using Zoom for club meetings for the rest of 2020. The information to join the virtual meetings has been posted to the club’s groups.io reflector. If you have not joined the groups.io page yet, there are instructions on the Groups.io Info page.... Read more...
- Results from August 19 VE Session
  August 22, 2020The WAARC VE team held a VE session on Wednesday, August 19 at the Little Creek Reservoir Park picnic shelter. This allowed for plenty of distance between examinees and VEs, in compliance with COVID-19 recommended practices. It was a little dark and somewhat humid, but everything worked out well. Congratulations to: Technician Kenzie Denton, call sign pending, daughter of proud dad Steve KO4ENU Technician Donna Ross, call sign pending, spouse of club treasurer Greg K3RM Amateur Extra Fred “Third Time’s a Charm” Sanborn, KN4ZME Amateur Extra Randy Altona, KM4YSN, spouse of Patti KB4PAT The examination team was super. Francine KN4KXI, Gil K4JST, Bob AJ4RS, Anita KH2FX kept everything moving and running smoothly. They let me do all the talking. Thank you for doing a great job. Greg and Steve are both VEs but we let them sit off to the side while they silently rooted for their family members to pass. Their support paid off, although looking at the scores, all aced their tests and would have easily passed whether or not they had a cheering section present. And a hat tip to Patti. She had her trusty camera and took pictures of everyone, CSCEs and masks and all. We’re sure there was a lot of grinning under those masks.... Read more...
- VE Testing Session on August 19
  August 11, 2020The WAARC VE team will be holding a VE Testing session on Wednesday, August 19. The testing session will be held in the picnic shelter at Little Creek Reservoir Park, 180 Lakeview Drive in Toano, VA. A map will be posted at the bottom of this page. This will be a CLOSED session, meaning no walk-ins will be accepted. In order to register for the testing session, please contact ve@k4rc.net. More information about the testing session can be found on our Testing Sessions page. Below is a map to the Little Creek Reservoir Park. Please note, use the first driveway to get to the picnic shelter.... Read more...

Previous news posts can be found here.

About WAARC

Welcome to the WAARC web page. We are a general interest radio club in Williamsburg, Virginia, located in the historic triangle of Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown. Club members participate in a variety of activities, including chasing DX, contesting, and public service.

About the Club

Groups.io

The club uses groups.io for its email communications platform. If you are a local ham please sign up for our groups.io page. More information is on the Groups.io info page