RARS in-person gatherings are cancelled. The RARS officers are making alternate arrangements for virtual meetings. Please check this website often for updated information.
6:00 PM: New Ham / Elmer meeting.
7:00 PM: General Social/Gathering. 7:30 PM: Business meeting and program.
See why YOU should be a RARS MemberNetwork with 400+ Amateur Radio Operators
Access to experienced Amateur Radio Operators (Hams) who volunteer as mentors to enhance enjoyment of our popular hobby and service. With more than 400 members, RARS is able to offer a wide array of public service, education, and advocacy activities covering many aspects of the Amateur Radio experience.
Community Support through Public Service
Many RARS members members contribute their skills and equipment in support of community service organizations across the RTP area, providing communications to many worthwhile nonprofit and charitable organizations. Typically when organizations hold fundraising events such as bicycle rallys, walk/run marathons, and Special Olympics. For example, the National MS Society has several walks in the spring, and a major bike tour in the fall. These events are outdoors, spread over several miles (150 miles for the MS-150 Bike tour). Ham Radio and repeaters are ideal for providing both logistical and safety communications.
RARS members also provide a public service through participation in such organizations as ARES and Skywarn which provide Emergency Communications Services to Public Safety officials and Government Agencies. Members Only Clssified Ads
The RARS website supports a very active classified add listing that anyone can see but only RARS Members have posting privledges. The classified ads are among the busiest pages of our website and the ads are a free service provided to all RARS members.
Membership Social Events
RARS members stay in touch in a lot of ways either in person or on-the-air
Education and License Exams
RARS conducts license classes for both initial licensing and advancement to higher class licenses. There are also frequent technical programs at our meetings as well as a weekly technical net on the club repeater. The RARS VE (Volunteer Examiner) team also conducts about half a dozen License Exam Sessions each year. For the newly licensed there is a NEW HAM meeting each month before the Membership Meeting. There is also a weekly Tech-Net on the club repeater.
Operating Events
Many RARS members participate in on-the-air events either as individuals or together such as:
Special RARS "Members Only" benefits
While some of the RARS benefits are available without actually becoming a paid member of RARS, there are some great benfits that are restricted to Members Only:
Updated October 07, 2020 19:49:29 On Aug 26 the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) seeking a $50 fee for Ham License Processing. The NPRM states that the fees "...derive from modifications to the Commission’s statutory application fee authority made by the RAY BAUM’S Act of 2018.1 The current application fee framework was established more than 30 years ago by Congress.” Comments from ARRL NC Section Mgr Marvin Hoffman, WA4NCby Marvin Hoffman, WA4NC ARRL Section Manager, North Carolina Section The proposal by the FCC to levy a $50 application fee has generated a lot of comment during my visits with clubs and on the bands. The sentiment seems to overwhelmingly oppose to the proposed fee. I have heard a small segment of the people express an opinion that the $50 application fee is small in proportion to the investment people make in their ham radio station which can easily cost several thousands of dollars. They point out that the $50 application fee occurs once during a ten year license period unless someone upgrades. Some have said they would support levying a fee if the funds were dedicated to strengthening the enforcement of FCC rules, particularly on ham bands where profanity and malicious interference is still occurring. Some have said that a first-time Technician should be exempt in order to attract more hams into the hobby. However, the overwhelming majority of comments that I have heard have been negative. Comments that I have heard from hams include: a. The proposed application fee is too high, going from $zero to $50 in one step is thought by many as being unreasonable. b. It is claimed that the application fee will be a huge deterrent to young people getting into the hobby. c. There is a widespread belief that there will be an inevitable decline in the numbers of ham radio operators which in turn will decrease whatever importance the FCC attaches to ham radio. If people are dropping out of ham radio, the critics say, the FCC will probably need fewer frequencies which could then be sold to business interests. d. If $50 is thought to be affordable, what is to say that in a year or two, the FCC will not attempt to raise the fee to generate more even more revenue for the federal government and not be earmarked for FCC enforcement efforts. Some hams have been quite vocal in asking why the ARRL has not organized a letter writing campaign like they did when the ARRL seemed to be at every hamfest in America urging hams to sign sample letters that the ARRL gathered up and delivered to the offices of each Member of Congress to show how important the antenna issue was to hams across the county. Hams have been vocal in pointing out that, even though that the Amateur Radio Parity Act effort failed, at least the ARRL was visible and offered advice to hams wanting to contact the FCC and Congress. Here are steps that you can take if you want to express your opinion about the proposed fee. 1. You can go to https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/ and express your opinion pro or con. Be sure to mention Proceeding 20-270 and be polite whichever side you take on this matter. As of this morning 876 comments had been filed and 35 of the commenters were from North Carolina. 2. It is election time and all 13 members of the US House of Representatives from North Carolina are up for election as is U.S. Senator Tom Tillis. The FCC indicated that the fees were mandated by Congress two years ago in the RAY BAUM ACT which directed the FCC to capture the cost of processing applications. Since Congress mandated the FCC study various fees but also exempted certain groups of users from fees perhaps the Congress could be persuaded to exempt Amateur Radio as well. If you encounter Senators Burr orTillis, or one of the incumbent US House Member who are seeking re-election to the US House of Representatives, politely express your opinion whether or not you disagree with the FCC proposal to levy a fee for amateur radio applications. 3. Send a letter to your representatives in Washington. Our webpage, https://www.ncarrl.org , has information on how to contact your member of Congress. In addition, although the Senate and House members have left Washington for a month of campaigning, their offices can be reached by calling 202-224-3121. The Capitol Switchboard operator will transfer you to the office of Senator Burr or Senator Tillis or to your particular member of the US House of Representatives. Be polite but let the staff member know how you feel on this question." Information from ARRL NEWSFCC Proposes to Reinstate Amateur Radio Service Fees
08/28/2020
[UPDATED 2020-09-01 @1845 UTC] Amateur radio licensees would pay a $50 fee for each amateur radio license application if the FCC adopts rules it proposed this week. Included in the FCC’s fee proposal are applications for new licenses, renewal and upgrades to existing licenses, and vanity call sign requests. Excluded are applications for administrative updates, such as changes of address, and annual regulatory fees. The FCC proposal is contained in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in MD Docket 20-270, which was adopted to implement portions of the “Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services Act” of 2018 — the so-called “Ray Baum’s Act.” The Act requires that the FCC switch from a Congressionally-mandated fee structure to a cost-based system of assessment. In its NPRM, the FCC proposed application fees for a broad range of services that use the FCC’s Universal Licensing System (ULS), including the Amateur Radio Service that had been excluded by an earlier statute. The 2018 statute excludes the Amateur Service from annual regulatory fees, but not from application fees. “[A]pplications for personal licenses are mostly automated and do not have individualized staff costs for data input or review,” the FCC said in its NPRM. “For these automated processes — new/major modifications, renewal, and minor modifications — we propose a nominal application fee of $50 due to automating the processes, routine ULS maintenance, and limited instances where staff input is required.” The same $50 fee would apply to all Amateur Service applications, including those for vanity call signs. “Although there is currently no fee for vanity call signs in the Amateur Radio Service, we find that such applications impose similar costs in aggregate on Commission resources as new applications and therefore propose a $50 fee,” the FCC said. The FCC is not proposing to charge for administrative updates, such as mailing address changes for amateur applications, and amateur radio will remain exempt from annual regulatory fees. “For administrative updates [and] modifications, which also are highly automated, we find that it is in the public interest to encourage licensees to update their [own] information without a charge,” the FCC said. The FCC also proposes to assess a $50 fee for individuals who want a printed copy of their license. “The Commission has proposed to eliminate these services — but to the extent the Commission does not do so, we propose a fee of $50 to cover the costs of these services,” the FCC said. The Ray Baum’s Act does not exempt filing fees in the Amateur Radio Service. The FCC dropped assessment of fees for vanity call signs several years ago. ARRL is reviewing the matter and intends to file comments in opposition. Deadlines for comments and reply comments will be determined once the NPRM appears in the Federal Register. Interested parties may file comments by using the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS), posting to MD Docket No. 20-270. This docket is already open to accept comments, even though deadlines have not yet been set. You can read the NPRM [HERE] You can read previous commennts on the NPRM [HERE] You can submit your commennts on Proceeding 20-270 [HERE] COVID-19 Impact on RARS Meetings and Gatherings
Due to the current COVID-19 related mandates all RARS in-person gatherings are suspended until further notice. Information will be published as the situation evolves. Please utilize the RARS nightly net on the W4DW 146.64 repeater and the RARS-L Email Reflector to stay in touch with fellow members.
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Build A Multi-Band Off-Center Fed Dipole For Your Attic
Article by Daniel Marks, KW4TI
This antenna is a 20 to 25 foot long (6.0 m to 7.6 m) off-center fed dipole antenna for the 20 m and 40 m bands designed for those who need to conceal an antenna. It is small enough to fit inside the attic of many homes. It can also be set up as ......<more>
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