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RANV- The Fun Club!
Radio Amateurs of Northern Vermont.

Our motto is "The Fun Club."
We are some of the most knowledgeable people in Amateur Radio.
"No Boring Bylaws or Bossy Board of Directors in this group!"

RANV is an affiliated Special Service Club with the American Radio Relay League (ARRL).

RANV membership meetings are held the second Tuesday of each month at 7 PM at the O'Brien Civic Center, 113 Patchen Road, South Burlington. Each meeting consists of a mix of technical and light-hearted topics, with a refreshment break for meeting friends and new friends. Anyone with an interest in ham radio is invited to join us.

We are centrally located in South Burlington. From I-89, take Exit 14E onto Williston Road. Proceed past Dorset Street for 0.4 mile. Make a LEFT onto Patchen Road. (A sign indicates Route 116 to the right, but DON'T go this way). If you are coming from the East on Williston Road, go 0.9 mile past Kennedy Drive to Patchen Road and turn Right.

Go past the lights at Patchen Road and White Street and continue another 675 feet. Looking to the left, you will see a Chinese Restaurant, a Hair Salon, and Playground and then a light gray house. The house is the O'Brien Civic Center, continue just past the house to the driveway and park in back.

Map to meeting location


Here is a tentative schedule of meeting topics.
This information changes often, so keep coming back to check!

January 12	Military Satellites
February 9	Software Defined Radios
March 9	Movie Night:KP5 Desecheo 2009 DXPedition
April 13	Soldering
May 11	Border Patrol Communications
June 8	Field Trip to Williston 911 Call Center
Jul 13	Lightning - Part 2
Aug 15	Summer Picnic - Kill Kare State Park

THE STEERING WHEEL

RANV members get together and help organize club activities at the "Steering Wheel" meeting. These meetings serve as a way for club enthusiasts to get together informally and brainstorm ideas for new club activities. The Steering Wheel is held on Tuesday night, 1 week after the membership meeting. Our NEW meeting place is Ground Round, 1633 Williston Rd (Rt 2), South Burlington. We meet at 6:30-8:30.

Our award winning newsletter, News & Views, contains operating information, technical articles and articles of personal interest to whet your appetite for more amateur radio activity. News & Views received the "Excellent" rating from the Amateur Radio News Service.

We always look for input for the newsletter. Submit information to the editor Mitch W1SJ by the end of the month.

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RANV sponsors the WB1GQR repeater on 145.15 MHz. From its 3400 foot elevation in Bolton, we get activity from most of Northern Vermont, Northeastern New York and parts of New Hampshire. If you are traveling throughout the North Country, check into the repeater. Not only do we cover Northern Vermont, but we cover the world through the IRLP Internet Connection.

Details and Operational Status of the repeater.

Take a tour of the repeater site.

Looking for other repeaters in Vermont? Check our handy Vermont Repeater Listing.

RANV sponsors HAM-CON, the North Country's largest Hamfest and Radio Convention,
Saturday, February 26, 2011 at the Hampton Inn Convention Center in Colchester.
HAM-CON is also the ARRL Vermont State Convention.

HAM-CON is hundreds of hams gathering for thousands of flea market goodies,
vendor sales, forums, demonstrations and all things Ham Radio!
Join us on the 4th Saturday of February!

RANV is very active in the annual Field Day exercises held each June. Hams and non-hams can see the inner workings of a competitive amateur radio operation and learn tips from the "pros". From our hilltop location in Williston, we regularly place in the top ten amongst 2-transmitter Field Day groups across the U.S. and Canada.

Results and pictures from the last Field Day.
Details on the next Field Day.

We get together for a picnic every August. Join us for hot dogs, hamburgers, dipoles, DX, swimming, marshmallows and tall stories. Work the pileups as we put our club station W1NVT on the air. And we have pictures to prove it! If you are interested in ham radio and will be in Northern Vermont, stop on by!

RANV members volunteer their time to provide communications and support for a number of community events. Some of the events we have been involved in:

Vermont City Marathon
Multiple Sclerosis Walk
Multiple Sclerosis MS-150 Bike Ride
Charlotte Half Marathon
Greater Burlington Triathlon
Essex Memorial Day Parade
Essex Cabbage Night and Halloween Patrols
South Burlington National Night Out
American Diabetes Association Tour-de-Cure

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The Burlington Area Volunteer Exam Team offers testing for Amateur Radio Licenses. Sessions are held at the Milton Hamfest and following Spring and Fall Ham Radio classes.

Exams are held at other times by appointment. To schedule an exam please call 802-879-6589 or E-mail w1sj@arrl.net.

Exams for FCC Commercial Licenses also are given. These consist of the General Radio Operator's License (GROL), Radar Endorsement, Global Marine Distress and Safety Service (GMDSS) and Radiotelegraph licenses.

Candidates for all examinations should bring two forms of identification, copies of existing license and CSCE (if applicable), pens and pencils and the exam fee of $14 (amateur) or $35 (commercial), cash only please.



Exam Sessions Across New England

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A hearty THANK YOU to the folks at SoVerNet for their generousity in hosting the RANV Web Site.

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Mitch W1SJ, Web Page Hacker