Maple Valley Amateur Radio Club
The Maple Valley Amateur Radio Club (MVARC), an ARRL Affiliate club, is a group of amateur radio enthusiasts in the greater Maple Valley area who meet and engage in activities to further the advancement of this hobby for the good of ourselves and the community.
What is Amateur Radio?
Amateur Radio is a non-commercial radio communication service whose primary aims are public service, technical training, experimentation, and communication between private persons. Amateur Radio operators are commonly called "hams". Hams generally communicate with each other recreationally but also provide communications for others at public events or in times of emergency or disaster. Hams take tests to demonstrate knowledge in various levels of radio theory (depending on the level of license each ham wants to achieve) as well as the rules and regulations that govern the use of radio spectrum. Once a ham passes the appropriate test, the results are sent to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) who grants the license to the ham to operate radio transmitters on a specific set of frequencies. Each license is assigned call letters. The call letters KC7KEY are assigned to the Maple Valley Amateur Radio Club.
Monthly Meetings
Club Monthly Meetings
Monthly meetings are held at 10 AM on the fourth Saturday of each month (except July-August and November-December).
Remote protocol: Zoom meeting. Join the meeting by clicking on https://equinix.zoom.us/j/97147985615?pwd=cmJ3cFFXMWZyVWdWYjJNTkFjMEordz09 (Meeting ID: 971 4798 5615). The meeting requires the following password: 887788 or send an email to info@kc7key.org to get the link via email.
In person location: When we meet in person, we meet at the Puget Sound Fire Station 81, 22225 SE 231st St., Maple Valley, WA 98038.
All are welcome to come. Talk-In available on either the 147.26 repeater or 146.54 MHz simplex. Please see the Events page for more info.
MVARC Weekly Club Net
MVARC holds a weekly social net on the Maple Valley Repeater and also on simplex. The net starts at 8 PM local time, Tuesday nights, on the repeater at 147.26+ (103.5). After the first round we switch to 146.54 simplex. This is an informal net and all are welcome to check in and tell us about your latest ham radio adventures. For more information contact info@kc7key.org. If you're acting as Net Control for the week, the net preamble (zoom edition) is available here.
Maple Valley Repeaters
MVARC, working with the Maple Valley Emergency Repeater Association (MVERA), sponsors two local repeaters using call sign KF7NPL. Contact Chuck KF7SDL for details and usage guidelines.
2m - 147.260+ Analog
- Analog Voice FM (103.5Hz tone)
70cm - 442.675+ D-Star (only)
- D-Star Digital Voice (KF7NPL B)
ARRL Field Day!
On the fourth weekend of June of each year, more than 35,000 radio amateurs gather with their clubs, groups or simply with friends to operate from remote locations, an event called Field Day. MVARC participates in this event each year at Ravensdale Park in Ravensdale and uses the event as an opportunity to practice their emergency communication capabilities. All are welcome to join us and find out more about Amateur Radio and our club.
Check out the Events page for more information about MVARC's participation in Field Day, and the monthly newsletters for additional events members participate in!
Interested individuals please signup for available postions.
Emergency Communications
MVARC has an active role with King County and the city of Maple Valley through the Maple Valley Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) team. See the ARES page for more details.
Event Support Sign Up
MVARC participates in and supports many events in the Maple Valley area. This includes the Maple Valley Days, bike races, triathlons, and other community events.
To sign-up to support local events as a Amateur radio operator, see the Event Support Sign-Up page.
For more information about other MVARC events, see the Events page.
MVARC Educational Opportunities, Club Presentations and other Resources
MVARC is a source to find help, find license classes and VE test sessions to help get people started in Amateur Radio. Please see our Education page for more info.
Join the Maple Valley Amateur Radio Club
We'd love for you to join us! More information about how to join is on our Membership and Engagement page.
Club Merchandise
Maple Valley Amateur Radio Club merchandise is available for order with the MVARC logo. Download and print this order form and bring it to a club meeting, or send it along with payment to the address listed at the bottom of the form.