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Beginnings: | A group of Amateur Radio Operators met in the Community room of the America First Credit Union Building in Mesquite, Nevada, on 2 April 2005 at 9:00 am and resolved to establish a local radio club. | |||
Mission Statement: | The Virgin Valley Amateur Radio Club is
a group of licensed Amateur Radio Operators who have established this group for
mutual fellowship and to assist local emergency responders by providing back up
emergency communications to the people of the Virgin Valley area in times of
natural and/or man-made disasters. | |||
Objectives: |
To accomplish this end, we will: 1. Maintain the highest personal
decorum, 2. Assist interested persons in
becoming Amateurs by training and Elmering, 3. Constantly update our training in
emergency procedures, 4. Participate in emergency exercises
when they are held, | |||
Meetings: |
Meetings are held on the second Thursday of each month in a meeting room of the Mesquite Lutheran Church, 450 Turtle Back Road, Mesquite, Nevada, from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm. All hams interested in joining our group and all visitors are welcome. We are indebted to the members of this Church for their support of our efforts. | |||
Licensing (VE) Exams: | Our Club is authorized to provide exam sessions for all classes of licenses in the Amateur Radio service.For Information, contact Charlie Lum Kee, KH6AB or call 702-345-4646 for further information and set up an exam session. | |||
Officers: |
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Net: | A weekly net is held each Thursday evening at 8:00 pm using repeater WA7HXO, located on Water Tower Road in Bunkerville, NV, 3 miles outside of Mesquite NV. The frequency is 448.020-, PL 136.5. The Virgin Valley Amateur Radio Club is an associate of the Las Vegas Repeater Association [LVRA] (www.hxo.com). | |||
Repeaters: |
About 4 years ago, now, Harry Fielder, WA6GLB, suggested that we approach the LVRA about setting up a repeater here in our valley. At the time, there was a UHF repeater available and all that remained was a location.We discovered that the local Water Company had previously approved a former repeater at their water tower location and that the repeater was damaged and the location left unattended. Charlie Lum Kee, KH6AB, wrote a letter to the then Manager of the Water Company and attended one of its board meetings, explaining what we needed. An approval was given within the week.A work party from the HXO club installed the repeater which is linked to the UHF system of the LVRA. One needs to know that the LVRA has a parallel repeater system: the VHF system is open but the UHF system is closed.With an agreement of our local club contributing an annual payment of $100, all members have the privilege of using the repeater. There are three members from here who are LVRA members, Harry Fielder, WA6GLB, Charlie Lum Kee, KH6AB and Bruce Hughes, KE7ZEF. The HXO group is an Internal Revenue Service 501(c)(3).Presently, we are considering moving the repeater to a more accessible location.Our area also gained from the largesse of NARRI (Nevada Amateur Radio Repeater, Inc.). NARRI is also an Internal Revenue Service 501(c)(3) based in Las Vegas.NARRI was able to locate a repeater here at the Mesquite, Nevada airport. The repeater provides IRLP services to our Virgin Valley area.See more information about NARRI at narri.org | |||
IRLP | IRLP provides a means to link radio repeaters together anywhere there is high speed internet connection (128 kbs or more) available. The IRLP uses Voice-Over-IP software and the power of the Internet to link repeaters world wide. The system uses its own custom interface board and Linux based software suite. IRLP makes interfacing a radio system to the world simple and cost effective.
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Members: |
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NEWS: | On Saturday, February 5, 2011, several members from CERT and VVARC came together to clean and rearrange the CERT room in preparation for relocating there, the HXO repeater from the present Bunkerville, Nevada location.More work is to be done. We need to remove the antennas at the present site and mount them on the Fire Station #2 building, put in a ground rod and prepare for the move in early March.Thanks to all, including the LVRA members, for helping to make this relocation possible. More information is forthcoming. |
