VALLEY   AMATEUR   REPEATER   ASSOCIATION

WR9ABQ

VHF Analog: 52.95 MHz (-1 MHz) 114.8 Hz (2A) Receiver Input PL
94.8 Hz (ZA) Transmitter Output PL
VHF Analog: 146.790 MHz (-600 KHz) 107.2 Hz (1B) PL
VHF APCO P-25: 146.790 MHz (-600 KHz) NAC 293
UHF Analog: 444.950 MHz (+5 MHz) 114.8 Hz (2A) PL
UHF APCO P-25: 444.950 MHz (+5 MHz) NAC 293
UHF DMR: 444.975 MHz (+5 MHz) Color Code 1

Elected Officers
President Vice President Secretary Treasurer Trustee
Will, W9WSS Jim, N9GTM Mark, KB9TVD Steve, W9ELG Terry, W9AUV
 

Contact Us   |   Membership Application Form   |   Historical Notes   |   Swag

VARA CLUB
The Valley Amateur Repeater Association (VARA) is an amateur radio club that maintains several repeaters that provide service in and around the Elgin, IL and Kane County, IL area. Formed in 1970, the club has been in continuous operation for more than 50 years. For historical details, please see our history page.
 

CLUB MEETINGS
The quarterly meetings are held on the first Friday of the months of February, May, August and November. The 2024 meeting dates are February 2nd, May 3rd, August 2nd, and November 1st. The election of club officers takes place every May meeting.


The meetings will take place in a reserved private dining room on the lower level at
Pal Joey's Restaurant
31 River Street
Batavia, IL 60510
Phone 630-593-6600
6:00 pm to approximately 9:30 pm.
The quarterly business meeting will begin at 8pm local time.
Members and guests can order from a variety of items on the menu, have them served, and pay separate checks similarly as we did at our previous restaurant locations. We will conduct Club business, and have our usual social gathering during and after dinner.

ZOOM MEETING
Details of the Zoom meeting are announced in the groups.io forum.
REPEATER & NET INFORMATION
The 2-meter (VHF) repeater no longer has a courtesy tone to indicate controller time-out timer reset. Please allow the carrier to drop after each transmission for timer reset and to provide an opportunity for anyone else to join the conversation or pass emergency or priority traffic. The VHF repeater has coverage as far as the lake shore to west of Interstate 39.

The 70cm (UHF) repeaters do not have a courtesy tone, so please allow the carrier to drop after each transmission to reset the time-out timer during QSOs.

The VARA 2m net occurs every Monday evening at 8:00PM local time on the 146.79 repeater. Any and all amateurs (members or non-members) are invited to check into this net and pass any traffic that may be of interest to other amateurs.
 

MEMBERSHIP
The annual dues from our members go towards financially supporting our repeater systems in terms of site rent and electric bills, as well as other ongoing costs of maintaining the repeater equipment.

Dues are to be paid at or before the May meeting. Additional family members (living at the same address as the paying member) may join free of charge. Regular membership is $30/year and is prorated based on the time of year you joined.

Dues can be paid at meetings, mailed to our PO Box (address on membership application), an electronic payment via your financial institution, or paid online at our online store.

If you use the online store, please include a note with your name and callsign. The store vendor doesn't provide us with your name or callsign, so we have no other way to know who's making a donation or paying dues.
 

EMAIL GROUP
The members-only VARA Email Group page can be accessed at https://groups.io/g/vara/. Access to this group is granted via membership invitation and only VARA members in good standing are eligible to join. Meeting notices, club news and other amateur radio related information can be shared via this group in between regular meetings. Please contact us if you are a member and would like to join the VARA Email Group.
 
FACEBOOK GROUP
The publicly accessible VARA Facebook Group page can be accessed at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1194779133944900/.
You do not need to be a member to follow us.
 

© 1997-2023   Valley Amateur Repeater Association, Inc. Last updated 2024-02-12