The Chesapeake Amateur Radio Service (CARS) was started by a group of Amateurs who wanted to foster the growth of the Amateur Radio hobby in Chesapeake, VA in the late 1970s.

In addition to the fun side of the hobby, CARS also supports the City of Chesapeake with emergency communications support from various shelters that the city may open to the Emergency Operations Center at Emergency Management.

In fact, in Chesapeake’s early days as a city (Chesapeake was incorporated in 1963), CARS helped with communications from various polling centers where telephone service was not available.

During Hurricane Isabel in 2003, CARS members supported the city with communications at all shelters as well as various water drop points for citizens who were without running water for days. During this storm event, our old meeting location which was a portable school classroom at the Chesapeake Center for Science & Technology was seriously damaged.

The city showed its appreciation for the assistance the club provided the city and citizens of Chesapeake during this storm by offering us use of our present location on Reservation Road.

Today, CARS has monthly membership meetings as well as hosting several special events each year from this location. In addition to meeting space, we currently operate 4 HF stations for our club members to use at their leisure and for contests and emergency training.

From operating contests to holding license classes to supporting Tour de Cure and running the Springfest Hamfest, CARS members find a lot to do while enjoying the hobby of radio.

We meet the 1st Monday of every month at 116 Reservation Road in the Great Bridge section of Chesapeake. Please feel free to come out and experience the friendliest club you’ll find in Hampton Roads. If you like what you see, pick up a membership application and become a member.

Please feel free to drop me an email if you have any questions. I can be reached at President@w4car.org. You can also find out the current activities of CARS by visiting our Facebook page.