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Application approval delays through mid January:
Applications for membership must be reviewed and approved by the existing club members at our monthly meeting. There will be no RATS Membership Meeting in the month of December. Our Christmas dinner replaces the December membership meeting each year. Membership applications submitted between November 15 and January 17 will be reviewed and approved at the January 17, 2025 membership meeting. We apologize for the delay. If you are joining specifically for access to restricted DMR codeplugs, get expedited access by emailing your call sign and exact radio model to codeplug-request@rats.net after you submit your membership application and payment.
Apply for Membership
RATS offers three membership levels: Full, Family, and Associate.
A Full member must be a licensed radio amateur. Full members in good standing shall have full voice in the conduct of the affairs of the organization and shall enjoy all the privileges of membership. A Family membership extends Full member status to all licensed amateurs in the same household and represents a savings over the cost of multiple individual Full memberships.
Associate membership is available for non-amateurs, organizations, or licensed radio amateurs who reside outside of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Associate members will not have voting privileges or access to repeater codes, and are not eligible to hold office in the organization. Like a Full membership, an Associate Membership places you on the club's contact lists for meeting announcements and other club news, and your annual dues help support our club's operations.
A Life Membership carries all of the privileges of a Full Membership, without the payment of dues. Founding members of RATS who were active as of November 17, 1989 were granted Life Membership. Five of these founding Life Members are still with us today. The RATS Board of Directors may occasionally grant Life Membership in recognition of a member's extraordinary service and contributions to the club. We have three Life Members who have been granted this special status by acts of the RATS Board. RATS Life Memberships are not for sale -- they must be earned.
Family Membership Login Information
Individual RATS.net logins are provided for Family Memberships. This will place the family members on the RATS e-mail lists and allow login to members-only functions on the RATS web site. We will assist with the provisioning of web site access for family member accounts. The membership level options displayed below show a limit of 1 member associated with a Family Membership, however, we can associate an unlimited number of sub-accounts upon request.
General Dues Information
The RATS membership year runs from October 1 to September 30. Renewals are processed online through this web site and are accepted starting July 1 each year. Membership privileges (including voting) is suspended if dues are not paid by October 1. Membership can be reinstated by paying dues no later than January 1, after which time membership will be considered relinquished and a new membership application and vote-in will be required.
New Membership Applications
You are submitting an application for membership. Your membership is not effective immediately and will need to be approved by the membership at the next monthly Membership Meeting. In the unlikely event your application is not approved by the membership, any payment made through this site will be returned to you.
To Cancel Auto-Pay or End Your RATS Membership
Changes and cancellations of auto-pay enrollment can be performed several ways: through this web site by logging in to your RATS.net account, by emailing either the club's secretary or treasurer with a request, or by making your request during a RATS membership meeting or other activity. Un-renewed memberships are automatically relinquished at the end of December each year.