Richmond VA Ham Radio freqs

[shumadine]

I have never listened to HAM radio in Richmond, nor do I have any desire to. Having said that, I fully understand that should there be a disaster of some type that would knock out public safety communications and cell phone service, (e.g. Hurricane Isabel on the Outer Banks of NC) HAM radio users would be the only ones able to communicate. So I think it would make sense to have a few in my scanner.

I googled some of the Richmond area Ham sites and found what appears to be a lot of frequencies posted on there.

Which ones should I have in my scanner should there ever be a worst case scenario? And please don't say "all of them" as I'm sure there are a few priority channels used for any situations as described above.

 

[JESSERABBIT]

Usrepeaters.com has an extensive list of all the states. I am not sure how up to date their list is but it is a good place to start if you haven't already done so.

 

[W4BOZ]

I'm relatively inactive in ham radio at the moment but I did monitor the 146.880 W4RAT repeater yesterday when we were supposed to have severe weather pass through the area and heard a good amount of traffic related to the conditions at the time. According to the RATS.net local repeater listing, RATS repeaters participate in Skywarn and will break in with severe weather reports from the NWS.

I also found this website in a Google search, not sure if you've found this as well:

Area 1 - Richmond - Wakefield SKYWARN Amateur Radio Support Team

 

[crayon]

.. HAM radio users would be the only ones able to communicate. So I think it would make sense to have a few in my scanner.

Exactly.

Now, take that one step further. If *you* had your amateur radio license not only could you listen, you could take an active part in it if you needed too. ie: You need critical emergency care for your family or neighbors. How is a scanner going to help you in that senerio?

It aint.

Just because you have your license does not mean that you need to join a club and hang out with wimpy nerds! It's helpful because there are methods to proper communications.

Check it out, it is not that hard and besides, it opens up a whole new isle of toys to play with!!

 

[blueangel4]

Richmond HAM Repeaters

For the info you request my suggestion would be

the 146.880-W4RAT machine as primary

the 147.360-KA4CBB-

the 145.430-W4SQT

also the 146.940-N4VEM- as this one is related to the Virginia Department of Emergency Management-hence the callsign

also as a back up to the VHF W4RAT machine keep a ear on 442.550 UHF machine for W4RAT

For the most up to Date listing of Richmond and surrounding area repeaters I would use this list
The listing is located at the BOTTOM of the page

KG4YJB   +444.275--(pl.tone-103.5) & Richmond, Va -- APRS Info

 

[immelmen]

+1 for the 146.88 machine. its foot print is huge.

 

[K4APR]

The problem with looking up repeaters in a directory is the fact that many of them may not be active anymore. The reason they are still listed is because the control operator (owner) will keep the coordination up to date so they do not lose the frequencies assigned to them.

In areas like Richmond, Virginia Beach, Roanoke, ect., repeater pairs, especially 2M (VHF) pairs are getting hard to get. So, when someone gets a pair, they hang on to them, even if they do not have a machine on the air.

Put in what the USERS on the forum suggest. That will tell you what is active and what is not.

Just my $0.02

 

[blueangel4]

"The problem with looking up repeaters in a directory is the fact that many of them may not be active anymore. The reason they are still listed is because the control operator (owner) will keep the coordination up to date so they do not lose the frequencies assigned to them."
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IMHO- I think most of the problem at least in Va is the fact that the repeater coordination group -in our case- South Eastern Repeater Association-(SERA) is TERRIBLE with keeping the database up to date. They do not strive to keep the control ops info up to date, such as if machine is still on the air, where it is, are you still alive, do you still need frequency.

I know od several machines in my area alone that are either off the air and have been for more then five years, control op has passed away and no one to take over, so info is WAY out of date.

I my self have been trying to get info on a repeater I own for five years updated to no avail. This includes handing the info directly to my regional coordinator and still no updates to the directory. So in my opinion , SERA directory sucks and ARRL just gets the info from SERA on this region , so that ought to tell you something.

 

[gcgrotz]

I think SERA tries, but I know that some owners don't update their paperwork, or else won't co-operate with SERA. I'm just sorry that more of it is not available online and trustworthy like most of the info on here.

 

[K4APR]

I think SERA tries, but I know that some owners don't update their paperwork, or else won't co-operate with SERA. I'm just sorry that more of it is not available online and trustworthy like most of the info on here.

The truth is, since repeater pairs are getting hard to attain in certain areas of the state, once a control op gets a pair, they hang on to it, even if the machine isn't on the air. They just keep paying the SERA membership fee and keeping the coordination alive. That way, they can't lose it. There are repeaters in Roanoke that have not been on the air in years, as well.

I had 927.5125- KE4NYV machine coordinated for a year. The machine never was put on the air officially, I moved and did'nt renew, it was gone from SERA's guide AND the ARRL repeater directory the next year. They were on the ball with that one

 

[tuttleje]

For a map of Skywarn repeaters in the Richmond area, see http://atlanta.wx4akq.org/~wx4akq/ftp/Miscellaneous Resources/Handouts and Fliers/AKQSWMAP.pdf

For more info about the Skywarn program in the Richmond/Tidewater area see Welcome to Wakefield SKYWARN! (NWS Wakefield SKYWARN Amateur Radio Support Team)

Many of these repeater are also used by VDEM to communicate with various Emergency Operation Centers to pass messages during an emergency.

When severe weather is approaching, the Skywarn repeaters make for interesting/informative listening.