This information is for the visitor who is not yet a member of the Potomac Valley Radio Club (PVRC) and is intended to explain what PVRC is, why you might want to join us, and how to join. Welcome!
What is PVRC?
PVRC is a regional amateur radio club devoted to excellence in the competitive aspects of ham radio, particularly contesting, while also developing a spirit of camaraderie and fun. Parts of or all of these States are in the PVRC Region:
Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and Washington, D.C.
We have 13 Chapters in our Region with each holding a meeting monthly (usually) either in-person or by Zoom or both at the same time. See the calendar here.
Currently, the club has over 750 members, of whom most live within the 250-mile radius that ARRL and CQ have defined for eligibility to participate in the club competitions that they sponsor each year.
PVRC emphasizes participation in these and other club competitions that have other sponsors. There are currently (2024) 33 contest events that have club competitions and that PVRC incentivizes its members to participate in. Of these, PVRC wins many each year. One of these incentives is a wall plaque awarded to a PVRC member when they achieve 5 Million points in our 5M Program.
We are very much interested in welcoming new members to any of our chapters. Here are several ways to check us out to see if you’d like to join:
Click here for a list with chapter chairmen’s names and contact information.
If you know a PVRC member’s call or name, or want to know who lives near you, click here for a searchable membership roster.
An on-line membership form is here. Fill it in and we’ll contact you.
Once you are a member, please reference the PVRC faq for information on subscribing to our reflector(s).
(Note: You can see if you are in the PVRC circle by entering your G.P.S. into the PVRC circle calculator tool that is available here at the top of that page.
What are the requirements for membership?
You must possess an amateur radio license (any class) and an active interest in contesting. It doesn’t matter whether you have your own station, or how elaborate it is. It doesn’t matter whether your interest is HF, or VHF, or you don’t even know yet.
All members need to reside or operate inside the 250-mile circle to contribute points to most of the PVRC in the major club competitions, but there are about 14 major contests whose sponsors have no circle of eligibility. Your local chapter chairman can confirm that your QTH is inside the radius.
You need to attend two PVRC meetings, have a member sponsor and be voted in at a meeting to become a member. There are no dues for PVRC, only voluntary donations. Instead, we think your “dues” should be the submission of scores for the club in several of the contests we enter as a club every year. If you can’t operate from home, we’ll be glad to help you line up an opportunity to operate, either as part of a team at a multi-operator station or as a “guest op” at a member’s station. PVRC members help each other with antenna work, with technical issues, and with operating skill development. Learn how to contest with PVRC, and you’ll have the satisfaction of watching your skills (and your scores) grow year by year.
Some people tend to think of PVRC as composed entirely of “big guns” with many expensive radios, antennas, towers, etc. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the average PVRC member’s station probably consists of a transceiver, a tri-band beam, and wires for 40 and 80 meters, on a city lot. Some of our members even operate in contests with indoor antennas and QRP power! It’s all good.
So c’mon, join the fun!
The following presentations (slides) may help you determine if contesting will be fun for you:
Introduction to Contesting_N1EK_PVRC_2024
Busting-Contesting-Myths-Anthony-K8ZT-CTU-2024
QRP_LP-Contesting-CTU-2023_K8ZT
Getting-Started-in-Contesting-K5ZD_CTU-2024
Year-Long-Contests-State-QSO-Party-Challenge-CQ-DX-Marathon-CTU-2023_K8ZT
Many more contest related presentations are available on this website under the “Reference” navigation tab and in the resulting pull down menu item “Presentations”.
Try it!