Photo of Nipper

Victor Amateur Radio Association (VARA)
W2VTM


The VICTOR AMATEUR RADIO ASSOCIATION (VARA) is the employee amateur radio club of  L-3 Communications Systems - East and other successors of the Victor Talking Machine Company (VTMC), and sister organizations.  The club started when we were the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), and now includes employees and retirees of RCA, GE Aerospace, Martin Marietta, Lockheed Martin, and L-3 Communications Systems - East.  We are headquartered at the Camden Waterfront Technology Center, Camden, NJ, in the shadow of our former Nipper Building, on the Delaware River overlooking the city of Philadelphia, PA (see the view from our building).  Affiliated members are located in Moorestown, NJ and throughout the country.  We operate the Camden repeater (146.82-).  Our members and former members have been pioneers in the communications business, a century-long heritage which started in 1901 here in Camden.

Were you looking for information on antique records, players, radios, etc.?  Click here for Victor/RCA Link Site



VARA Web Sites and Links

Club Information Club History and Background Information  |  Victor Talking Machine/RCA Web Sites
Hamfest Schedule Hamfests in South Jersey/Philadelphia/MD/DE Metro Area
Ham Activities What hams like to do - table of activities, buzzwords, links, and equipment
License Exams & Courses ARRL Exam Search
FCC Licensing, Renewal FCC License Information, Renewals, Change of Name/Address, Rules, etc.
Call Sign Allocation Definition US Callsign Allocations by Region
Shuttle Missions Upcoming Shuttle Missions & SAREX Missions
Satellite Tracking & Reference Satellite Tracking Software & Keplerian Elements  |  Space Reference Page  |  Launch Sites
ARRL Bulletins (ARRL) ARRL General Bulletins (ARRL web page)
DX News (ARRL)  Index of DX Bulletins (ARRL web page)
DX Resources DX Information/Resources
General Resources General Resources for Amateurs on the Web
Call Sign/QSL Searches Links to Call Sign Look-ups and QSL Managers
Postage Rates International & Domestic Postage Rates  |  International Postal Services
Radio Mods (QRZ.com) QRZ Radio and Scanner Modifications
Hurricane & Weather Frequencies List of Government & Ham frequencies used to track hurricanes, weather, etc. (by KC2AUP)
Solar Indices and HF Quick Guide to HF Propagation using Solar Indices (by N2LVI)
Solar Index Charts Solar/Geomagnetic Activity Chart (an excellent tutorial/summary) (by NA5N)
Working the Gray Line A tutorial on Gray-Line DX Work  (by NA5N)
Emergency Communications ARES/RACES, MARS, CAP, REACT, Weather, Red Cross, etc.
PowerPole Connectors ARES/RACES Standard Power Connector (Anderson PowerPole)
RCA/Victor Talking Machine Victor Talking Machine/RCA Web Sites
RCA/Victor History Series KPH Pacific Overseas Radio Station
Vintage RCA Military Radios List of Vintage Military Radios/Receivers manufactured by RCA Corporation
AR-88, AR-88LF, AR-77, CR-88, etc. Manuals, Brochures, Photos, Technical Data, etc.
Project Block Military TV Military Television History - Provided by Maurice Schechter
Battleship New Jersey (BB62) Battleship New Jersey Amateur Radio Station (BNJARS)  |  BB62 References
E-mail VARA Comments, Questions and other Correspondence

VARA Members Only

Membership List (L-3 only)  Camden Membership List  |  Moorestown Membership
 Off-site Members  |  Retired Members
Membership Application  Application in PDF format  |  Microsoft Word format  --  Submit hardcopy only
   
Sister/Heritage Clubs &
Member Pages
 Saltlake Peaks Amateur Radio Club - K7CSW, L-3 Communications Systems - West
 Raytheon Amateur Radio Club - WD5GSL, L-3 Communications Integrated Systems
 David Sarnoff Radio Club - N2RE, Sarnoff Corp, Princeton, NJ (former RCA Labs)
 Thomson Amateur Radio Association - W3RCA, Lancaster, PA (Picture Tube Division)
 RCA Amateur Radio Club - W9RCA, Indianapolis, IN (former RCA Consumer)
 Waterton Amateur Radio Society - N0LM, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, CO (Local)
 LMERA Amateur Radio Club - WA6GFY, Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space, Sunnyvale, CA
 Lockheed Martin ARC - W5SJZ, Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft, Ft. Worth, TX
 Lockheed Martin Emp. ARA - W4LMA, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics,  Marietta, GA

History of the Camden, NJ  Plant

Victor Talking Machine Company (VTMC)  --  1901 - 1929
Radio Corporation of America (RCA)  --  1929 - 1986
General Electric Aerospace (GE)  --  1986 - 1993
Martin Marietta Corporation (MMC)  -- 1993 - 1995
Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMC)  --  1995 - 2003 (ATL, EPI)
Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMC)  --  1995 - 1997 (Communications Systems)
L-3 Communications Corporation (L3C)  --  1997 - present (Communication Systems - East)
"If you don't like the company you're working for, wait another year!"

RCA History (provided by Thomson Consumer Electronics)

RCA Victor 100th Anniversary Special Event (Oct-Dec 2001)


Call Signs Used - Past & Present

WA3RCA        NG2R        KB2VBI        W2VTM

Location

Camden, NJ  USA  --  Camden County  --  Grid FM29kw


VARA Officers

Position Name & Call Sign Phone
President Pete Greene, N2LVI 856 338-2343
Vice President / Membership Joe Everhart, N2CX 856 338-4099
Secretary Steve Devlin, N3DZT  856 338-2876 
Treasurer Steve Devlin, N3DZT  856 338-2876 
Activities Chairman Dave Mull, N2GQG  856 338-3131 
Training Chairman Tim Ohrman, W2CN  856 338-4797 
Repeater / PARA Representative John Goheen, KB2ADL  856 397-3703
Moorestown Representative Rich Inacker, N2VVT 856 722-3464

 

Other L-3/Lockheed Martin/RCA Club Locations & Contacts 

Contact & E-mail | Website Plant Location | Heritage Contact Phone Number
Pete Greene, N2LVI L-3 CSE, Camden, NJ
  RCA GCSD, CSD, Broadcast
856-338-2343
Rich Inacker, N2VVT LM NE&SS, Moorestown, NJ
  RCA MSR, LM GES, LM NE&SS
856-722-3464
Ron Vattimo, KC3PC
  Astro ARC, WB2JQR
LM CPC, Newtown, PA
  RCA Astro / GE Astro
215-497-3660
Clarence Rudd, W2PGS
  RCA ARC, W9RCA
Thomson Consumer Electronics, Indianapolis, IN
  RCA Consumer Electronics
 
George Gadbois, W3FEY
  Thomson ARA, W3RCA
Thomson Multimedia Inc., Lancaster, PA
  RCA Picture Tube Division
 
Barry Griffen, KD5PXU
  Raytheon ARC, WD5GSL
L-3 Integrated Systems, Greenville, TX
  Raytheon Aircraft Integration Systems / E-Systems
 
Rick Donkin, KA7MMM
  Saltlake Peaks ARC, K7CSW
L-3 CSW, Salt Lake City, UT
  Lockheed Martin, Loral Wideband Systems
 
Craig LaBarge, WB3GCK LM MDS, Valley Forge, PA
  GE Aerospace M&DS
610-531-3241
Jim Woods, KC7FG
  LMERA ARC, WA6GFY
LMMS, Sunnyvale, CA
  Lockheed
408-742-3033
Benj Campbell, W0CBH
  Waterton ARS, N0LM
LM Astronautics, Denver, CO
  Martin Marietta
303-977-9917
Barry Whittemore, WB1EDI BAE Sanders, Nashua, NH
  Sanders, LM Sanders
603-885-7190
Bill Penny, WM5U
  Lockheed Martin ARC, W5SJZ
LM Tactical Aircraft, Ft Worth, TX
  General Dynamics
817-763-4212
Tony Miles, KD4CJO
  Lockheed Martin Emp. ARA, W4LMA
LM Aeronautics,  Marietta, GA
  Lockheed
 

Affiliated Corporate Home Pages:
(Legal Notice:  VARA is solely responsible for this web page content.  Endorsement is not implied or inferred.)  

L-3 Communications Systems - East
L-3 CS-East Camden, NJ
Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Labs (ATL)
ATL Labs Cherry Hill, NJ
Lockheed Martin Government Electronics Systems
Lockheed Martin Moorestown, NJ
Universal Web Access: http://www.qsl.net/w2vtm/index.html
L-3 CSE Access: \\Csenetapp\Public_HTML\pgreene\vara\index.html

Web Page Maintained by Pete Greene, N2LVI

Victor Amateur Radio Association
Pete Greene, President 
c/o L-3 Communications Systems 
1 Federal Street, OPS-2A 
Camden, NJ  08103-1004

Contact Webmaster:  Pete Greene, N2LVI
Phone:   (856) 338-3659

Victor or Nipper Bldg 17 
Nipper Tower (RCA Building 17) looking west
photo © 2000 Pete Greene, N2LVI

© 1998-2010 VARA.  All rights reserved.
Last Updated:  27 July 2010 

Web Site Courtesy of QSL.net Host Site

Page created Dec 1998
 

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