THE RICHMOND AMATEUR RADIO CLUB
"HISTORY SECTION"
The RARC is the oldest ARRL affiliated club in Virginia. Founded in 1929 by Ted Mathewson, W4FJ one of the earliest Ham Radio Operators licensed by the FCC. The RARC recently received an Honorary Plaque from ARRL commemorating our long heritage (75 years) as a special service club. Current membership includes over 110 members whom possess diverse interest in amateur radio.
In a recent interview with Ted, W4FJ he indicated that amateur radio has in some ways changed quite a bit. With the advent of computers and instant messaging capabilities, the computer has replaced some of the day to day communication techniques used by the amateurs of today. The computer has added a new dimension to amateur radio today with packet, PSK and the ever evolving digital communication arena.
It was interesting to see Ted's eyes light up when he shared with us his experiences doing some of the first moon bounce and routine ultra high frequency communication. Ted was a pioneer in this new means of communication and he was one of the first in the amateur community to use the moon to bounce signals around the world. Using home grown equipment and home made antenna arrays, he was able to contact several other moon bounce enthusiasts and carry on documented contacts.
Another radio challenge was conducting routine ultra high frequency communications on a regular basis which had not been done at that time. With this in mind Ted set out to prove them wrong! He was able to complete weekly documented contacts with a friend in Maryland consistently for several years.
This type of can do attitude is still one of the main driving forces behind amateur radio today.
You know what they say about Amateur Radio Operators? Old Ham Radio Operators never die, there signal may fade away, but if you listen hard enough, you just might be able to pull them out of the pile up.
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