Welcome to the

Page updated on 20 July 2010

Greetings to all from Marc Tarplee, N4UFP!

 

 

7-20-10

 
The following announcement comes from Tammy Livingston, KI4PTJ, the PIO of the Columbia Amateur Radio Club. 
She is looking for volunteers to help with the MS Breakaway to the Beach. This event takes place on Sep 25 and 26 2010.
The event starts at Camden High School, Camden SC. For more information about the event, to to:
https://sites.google.com/a/teambikems.com/routes/home
To volunteer, to use the following URL and register as a ham radio operator.
http://ms150maps.com/2010/ham_signups.php. Please notify Tammy that you've volunteered to assist and what position you've signed up for.

 If you would like further information, please contact Tammy at   livi4461@sc.rr.com

 

 6-1-10

The Florence Amateur Radio Club needs volunteers, who need not be amateurs to help with the Pee Dee Air Show at Florence Airport this Saturday and Sunday (5 June and 6 June). The gates open at 8:00 am Saturday morning and 9:00 am on Sunday. The show itself begins at noon both days and ends at 5:00 pm. Volunteers get free admission and possibly a meal ticket. More information about the show is available at www.peedeeairshow.com. Anyone interested should call  John Germain, KA3JAL at 667-9702 (Home) or 615-5534 (Cell).

Dr. Jim Boehner, Roanoke Division Vice Director will be on the road again during Field Day! Details of his itinerary appear in the May monthly report.

Katie Bessley, KI4LSZ, our Assistant Section Manager for Youth made her first trip to the Dayton Hamvention this year. Check out her impression of Dayton under the Youth Report link.

5-17-10

York County Amateur Radio Society will hold its May Program Meeting at the new York County EOC Facility, 149 W Black Street, Rock Hill, SC at 7:30 PM. Cotton Howell, KC4TYY, Director of the York County Emergency Operations Center will be giving club members a tour of the facility. The new, state-of-the-art facility has an area designated specifically for amateur radio emergency communications that should be the highlight of the tour. For more information, please contact Mr. Brent Case, K4BSC, at micronut@gmail.com .

4-29-10

Ryan Lee, K3SFG, Assistant Section Manager - Youth Activities for the East Bay (CA) section has asked me pass the following information along:

The East Bay section has aYouth Net. It occurs every Saturday @ 2 pm PST (5pm EST) on the N6NFI Repeater (145.230 -100). For those not in the SF Bay Area, Echolink may be used: KR6DD-R (271122) or N6WN-R (477737).

Note: Only hams 18 and younger can check-in to this net. If someone is under 18 or younger, but does not have a license, they may check-in to the net, as long as a control operator is present.

For more information, please e-mail Ryan at hamradioyouth@gmail.com

3-24-10

Here's a blurb on the CARC Swapfest from Tammy Livingston, CARC PIO:

The Columbia Amateur Radio Club is hosting their annual Swapfest/Tailgate party on April 17th, 2010 from 9am to 12pm (8am set-up and 1pm clean-up).  The location this year is Caughman Rd Park.  Free Admission, Free Parking, and Free coffee!!  Just bring your own tables and chairs and stuff to trade/sell.  All are welcome! For additional information, link to: http://carc.ham-radio-op.net/activity/swapfest.shtml

 

3-8-10 – As some of you may know, the SC legislature is considering a bill to ban the use of wireless devices in moving vehicles. Currently, there are two bills under consideration in the State Senate, S642 and S954, as well as two others in the State House of Representatives, H4190 and H4206.  Please take a moment to send your State Representative and State Senator an e-mail to let them know how important it is that these bills contain an exemption for mobile amateur radio operations. 

Here is a sample text for an e-mail message that you might send to a State Senator

As you are likely aware, S642 and S954,  the "-18 cell phone bill" and the "+18 cell phone bill", are currently being considered by the SC Senate. With respect to either of them, please ensure that the legislation provides an exclusion that permits amateur radio operators to use their equipment in moving vehicles. Amateur Radio Operators, who are licensed by the FCC, provide communications during emergencies to serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity. The ability of amateurs to serve the public interest in an emergency would be severely limited by an outright ban on the use of wireless devices in a moving vehicle.

Here is a sample text for an e-mail message that you might send to a State Representative

As you are likely aware, H4190 and H4206, under consideration by the SC House of Representatives, deal with cell phones. With respect to either of them, please ensure that the legislation provides an exclusion that permits amateur radio operators to use their equipment in moving vehicles. Amateur Radio Operators, who are licensed by the FCC, provide communications during emergencies to serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity. The ability of amateurs to serve the public interest in an emergency would be severely limited by an outright ban on the use of wireless devices in a moving vehicle.

If you are not sure who your House Member or Senator is, you can find out by going to http://www.scstatehouse.gov/

Select the "Find Your Legislator" option in the left panel. You will be asked to enter your 9-digit Zip Code. After you enter your zip code, four results will appear on the screen. The first two will be your US Senators and Congressman. You can ignore these. The next two results will be your State Senator and State Representative. These are the folks to whom you should send your e-mail. If you click on their name, you should be redirected to their web sites, which will have a "send a message" option.

3-5-10 The Columbia Amateur Radio Club will once again be coordinating communications for the American Diabetes Association (SC) for their Tour de Cure ride here in SC.  The event will be held Saturday, May 1st and the ride will start and finish at Little Mountain Reunion Park.

 

This is an ALL DAY event.  There will be a pre-event meeting at 7am SHARP, after which volunteers will be released to go to their assigned positions. The ride will run until approximately 3pm or whenever the directors close the route and clear the course of riders.

 

You do NOT have to be a member of the Columbia Amateur Radio Club to participate. This event draws riders from all over the state and there were volunteers from 5 different clubs last year.  All are welcome!!

 

You do NOT have to have your own equipment to work this event.  This year CARC is teaming up with SCHEART and will be using their trailer as Net Control.  There will be some equipment available to anyone who would like to work that doesn't have a hand-held radio.

 

You do NOT have to have experience to work this event. CARC has been focusing on training new and inexperienced hams in event protocol.  If you have never worked an event but would like to see this side of Amateur Radio, you can be paired with an Elmer so you can provide public service and have fun in your hobby at the same time.

 

If you are interested in working this event, please contact Tammy A. Livingston, KI4PTJ, the Public Information Officer for the Columbia Amateur Radio Club at livi4461@sc.rr.com with your assignment preference ( (Rest Stop, SAG, Sweep, Director Liaison, Medical Liaison, etc), T-shirt size, and cell number (for Director only).

2-19-10 – I mentioned in my monthly report that the South Carolina Legislature is considering legislation to restrict cell phone use in motor vehicles that could also impact the use of mobile amateur radio equipment. The bill that has attracted the most attention is currently working its way through the Senate, S-954, sponsored by Sens. Rankin and Elliott. There are similar bills working their way through the House, the most recent of which is H-4190, sponsored by Reps. Sellers, Bales and Harrison. Our Section Government Liaison Dennis Fowler, KG4JIA, is working with legislators to get an exemption included for amateurs, but legislators are often more responsive to concerns raised by their constituents. I would urge you to contact your legislators regarding these bills and to let them know how important it is for an exemption for amateurs to be included. Please be thoughtful and polite in your communications; a little kindness goes a long way. J

 

2-14-2010 - The Board of Directors of the ARRL has established an Emergency Communications Advisory Committee to provide advice on EMCOMM issues and it will include a representative from each ARRL Division. Any amateur interested in becoming the Roanoke Division representative should forward his/her resume to me before 24 February. Each section manager will pass his recommendation along to the Director, who will make the final decision.

 

2-7-10 - The 2010 Charleston Hamfest is behind us and from my vantage point at the ARRL table, things looked very, very good. There were more indoor vendors and attendance appeared to be up over last year. Our guest from ARRL HQ, Norm Fusaro, W3IZ, and our new Vice Director, Jim Boehner, N2ZZ, gave interesting presentations during the ARRL Forum that were well attended. There was also a good crowd at the technical presentation, the first by our new Technical Coordinator, Les Shattuck, K4NK. We had lots of visitors at the ARRL table and it was a pleasure to speak to all of them.

I would like to thank our hosts, the Charleston Amateur Radio Society, who did a wonderful job, Norm, W3IZ, Jim, N2ZZ, and Les, K4NK for their thoughtful comments during their presentations, all the vendors for their hard work, and finally, all the amateurs who came out on Saturday morning to be part of the event.

Tammy, KI4PTJ, the Public Information Officer for the Columbia Amateur Radio Club sent the following information, which may be of interest to SC amateurs interested in public service:

Lexington County Medical Center is sponsoring their first annual Colon Cancer Bike Ride on Saturday, March 20th.  This event is still being planned but they contacted the Columbia Amateur Radio Club (CARC) for communications assistance as soon as they secured the date. CARC openly invites all hams to participate in any of their meetings, workshops, and events.  All hams are welcome to participate regardless of club affiliation or experience level. If you would like further information, please contact Tammy at   livi4461@sc.rr.com

1-9-2010 – Happy New Year to everyone! I am Marc Tarplee, N4UFP, the new Section Manager for the ARRL South Carolina Section. I have been appointed to fill out the balance of Dr. Jim’s term and it is a pleasure and an honor to serve the amateur radio community in SC.  Some of you may already know me – for the past seven years I have served as the section Technical Coordinator and had an opportunity to meet and provide technical assistance to many amateurs in our Section.

My duties as Technical Coordinator will now be taken over by Les Shattuck, K4NK. He is a very knowledgeable guy with lots of electronics experience. He has served our section and our division in a variety of capacities, including an earlier stint as Technical Coordinator, so I know that he will do a great job. If you need his assistance, contact him at K4NK@arrl.net

While on the subject of technical support, I would like to share the following information I received from Tammy, KI4PTJ, the Public Information Officer for the Columbia Amateur Radio Club:

“The Columbia Amateur Radio Club will be holding a Programming Session on Monday, February 1st during their monthly meeting.  They are inviting all hams to bring any equipment they have the needs programming (some radios are just scary) along with its accompanying manual and other hams in attendance will be there to assist with getting everyone up and running. This will be a great opportunity for any ham to come and get some help with their equipment.  I know Monday nights aren't always a great option but we did want to make this available to ALL hams, not just those that normally attend our meetings. “

If you would like further information, please contact Tammy at   livi4461@sc.rr.com

12-31-2009 - On my last day as South Carolina Section Manager, I would like to thank everyone AGAIN for all of your support over the last seven years!  It has been a wonderful experience for me, and I know that I am leaving the South Carolina Section in good hands!  Marc Tarplee N4UFP will become the South Carolina Section Manager as of 1/1/10.  Please offer him the same support during his tenure as Section Manager!  I will assume the post of Vice Director of the Roanoke Division on the above date.  Rest assured that I will be representing you and the rest of the Roanoke Division on the ARRL Board of Directors!


My best wishes to everyone and Have a Very Happy New Year!
 

12-13-2009 - The December Youth Report by Katie KI4LSZ, ASM-Youth is now on-line!  Please click the link on the right sidebar to view!

12-11-2009 - Section News is now on-line.  Please click on "SC Section News" on the left sidebar!

12-9-2009 - It is my pleasure to announce my successor as Section Manager of South Carolina!

Upon my recommendation to our Roanoke Division Director, Dennis W4PWF, and his recommendation to the ARRL Membership and Volunteer Programs Manager, Dave NN1N, at ARRL HQ, Marc Tarplee N4UFP, TC has been appointed Section Manager of South Carolina beginning January 1, 2010, to finish out my term of office.  Marc's term will continue through December 31, 2010.

Marc and I met this past weekend to discuss the Section Manager position in detail.  I received word that Marc's appointment was official today!  The ARRL news story will be released on Thursday or Friday.

Marc has been Technical Coordinator of the ARRL-SC team since I became Section Manager in 2003.  He has given numerous presentations to clubs and hamfests throughout the state.  He will represent our section well!

Further details will be given in my December Section Report!

NEW INFORMATION: Link to ARRL News Story: http://www.arrl.org/?artid=9332

11-22-09 -  I am very proud to announce that I won the election for Vice Director of the Roanoke Division, and will begin my new term of office on January 1st, 2010 for three years.  I was notified by ARRL President Joel Harrison W5ZN on Friday November 20th that I won the election with 1692 votes to my opponent’s 1496 votes.  This was a close election!  My opponent Hal Turley W8HC of West Virginia sent me a congratulatory e-mail after the results were known, which I greatly appreciated.  This will mean that I will have to leave my position as SC Section Manager to serve on the ARRL Board of Directors.  I do have someone from the ARRL-SC team in mind who has accepted the position if offered.  The ARRL Membership and Volunteer Programs Manager, in consultation with the Division Director, has the authority to make the appointment.  When this is official, I will announce the individual who will finish out my term as Section Manager!    I certainly will not be going away-I still plan to be available and attend most, if not all, of the SC hamfests!  It has been my long term goal to serve on the ARRL Board of Directors, as I know I will have a more direct role in shaping Amateur Radio in the future!  Thanks to EVERYONE for your support for my tenure as Section Manager, and as future Vice Director of the Roanoke Division!  The ARRL News story is here: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/11/20/11212/?nc=1

!HAMFEST ALERT!

Note:  I have filled out the hamfest events for the full year of 2009-some have not been registered with the ARRL yet. and they are listed when they would normally fall during the calendar year.  Please forward any corrections to me at n2zz@arrl.org .

--------------------------------------2010----------------------------------------

January 9, 2010-Greenwood Hamfest *****CANCELLED***** to be held at the Greenwood Civic Center.  Talk-in will be available on 147.165+ / ALT 443.900+. Click HERE for a copy of their hamfest flyer

February 6, 2010-Charleston Hamfest and Computer Show and the ARRL 2010 SC State Convention(!) to be held at the Exchange Park Fairground, 9850 Highway 78, Ladson, SC.  Exit 203 off of I-26, College Park Road.  For a copy of their hamfest flyer, click HERE .  Check www.wa4usn.org for further developments!

March 13 & 14, 2010-Charlotte, NC Hamfest and Computer Fair  to be held at the Cabarrus Arena & Events Center in Concord, NC (NEW LOCATION!).  For further information, check out the Mecklenburg ARS hamfest webpage: http://www.w4bfb.org/hamfest .

May 1, 2010-Upstate Hamfest to be held in Spartanburg, SC.  ARRL 2010 SC Section Convention(!) For further information, go to UPSTATEHAMFEST.COM or contact Rusty Kirkpatrick, AJ4RK aj4rk@bellsouth.net or hamfest@brars.org . Talk-in 146.610-

May 14-16, 2010-The DAYTON HAMVENTION!  Visit www.hamvention.org for details!

--------------------------------------2009----------------------------------------

January 10, 2009-Greenwood Hamfest to be held at the Greenwood Civic Center.  Talk-in will be available on 147.165+ / ALT 443.900+. Click HERE for a copy of their hamfest flyer!

February 7, 2009-Charleston Hamfest and Computer Show  and the ARRL 2009 SC State Convention(!) to be held at the Exchange Park Fairground, 9850 Highway 78, Ladson, SC.  Exit 203 off of I-26, College Park Road.

March 14 & 15, 2009-Charlotte, NC Hamfest and Computer Fair  to be held at the Cabarrus Arena & Events Center in Concord, NC (NEW LOCATION!).  For further information, check out the Mecklenburg ARS hamfest webpage: http://www.w4bfb.org/hamfest .

May 2, 2009-Upstate Hamfest to be held in Spartanburg, SC.  ARRL 2008 SC Section Convention(!) For further information, go to http://upstatehamfest.org or contact Rusty Kirkpatrick, AJ4RK aj4rk@bellsouth.net or hamfest@brars.org . Talk-in 146.610-

May 15-17, 2009-The DAYTON HAMVENTION!  Visit www.hamvention.org for details!

July 25, 2009-The Western Carolina Hamfest (NC) will be held at the Haywood County Fairgrounds.  Information can be found at http://www.wcars.org/hamfest.html .  Talk-in 146.91 / 147.39

August 15, 2009-The Trident Amateur Radio Club will be holding a tailgate party on this date at the Moncks Corner FOP Lodge 19, Highway 17, 1319 S Live Oak Drive, Moncks Corner, SC, from 09:00 to 15:00 EDT. Visit their website http://www.tridenthams.org/ for further information!

September 5 & 6, 2009-The 51th Annual SHELBY Hamfest will be held in Dallas, NC at Biggerstaff Park in Gaston County.  Biggerstaff Park is located twenty miles East of Shelby and three miles North of I-85 on NC HWY 279 (Dallas Cherryville Highway).   For further information, go to: www.shelbyhamfest.org or click HERE to see their hamfest flyer! Talk-in 146.880 / 147.120

October 3, 2009-Rock Hill Hamfest to be held at the Faith Assembly of God, 2800 Faith Blvd in Rock Hill.  Talk-in 147.03- .  For full details, go to http://www.rockhillhamfest.com .

October 10, 2009-The 31st Annual Lake Hartwell Hamfest will be held at Darwin Wright Park in Anderson, SC.  Talk-in 146.790.  Click HERE for a copy of their hamfest flyer.  www.andersonradioclub.us

October 10, 2009-The Augusta (GA) hamfest will be held at Evans Middle School, 4785 Hereford Farm Road, Evans, GA.  Doors open at 9am.  Talk-in 145.490.  For further information, contact Doug KE4JSJ doug9945@yahoo.com .  Click HERE for a copy of their hamfest flyer.

October 24, 2009-Sumter "Open Air" Hamfest to be held at the Sumter Jaycee Hut in Sumter, SC.  Talk-in 147.015, pl 156.7.  For full details, visit http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/2695/sara.htm .  For their hamfest flyer, click HERE

October 31, 2009-Grand Strand BEACHFEST *****CANCELLED*****to be held in Garden City, SC.  New Date, New Location!  For further information and a downloadable hamfest flyer, go to http://www.w4gs.org/beachfest/index.shtml

 

9-16-05 - The dedication of the Aiken County Emergency Services Amateur Radio Trailer was on Wednesday, September 14th.  There for the dedication were Aiken County Sheriff Michael Hunt, Aiken County Council Chairman Ronny Young, Aiken County Emergency Management Coordinator David Ruth, K4DLR, representatives from the State Emergency Management Department, Bob Besley K4NJN, ASM6, Tony Sealy N4ADM, TS and myself.  There was excellent news coverage from two local television news teams, WJBF and WRDW.  I was able to record the news and produce a streaming video for the web, in Windows Media Format.  It is available HERE  I have also added a newspaper article about the trailer in PDF format HERE.  According to Bob K4NJN ASM6, final touches are being put on the trailer and training will be held for each of the 6 EMD areas in South Carolina this Fall!

5-16-05-A message from Steve Ewald WV1X, ARRL HQ:

Greetings,

I'm pleased to report that the ARRL's Programs and Service Committee, a committee of the ARRL Board of Directors, has authorized ARRL to add FORTY SEVEN to its list of ARRL Numbered Radiograms.

The definition of FORTY SEVEN is

"Reference your message number ____ to  _____ delivered on  ____ at ____ UTC."

The list of ARRL Numbered Radiograms (including FORTY SEVEN) is found at this ARRL Web page in three different formats: HTML, Adobe PDF, and Word for Windows.
 
http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/forms/#fsd-3.

73,

Steve Ewald, WV1X
ARRL Field Organization/ Public Service Team
sewald@arrl.org

News Flash!

Word from WARC 2003 is that by the year 2009, the entire world will have an exclusive 40 meter allocation from 7000-7200 kHz, and shortwave broadcast stations will move out of 7100-7200 kHz in Regions 1 & 3! Amateurs in those regions are currently limited to 7000-7100 kHz.  This was a compromise made at the WARC, which should finish up by today, July 4th!  This does not affect our 7000-7300 kHz exclusive amateur allocation in Region 2.  This marks the first time that an HF broadcasting band has been moved to accommodate the needs of another service! The full story is available on the ARRL website: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2003/07/03/4/?nc=1 .  Thanks to our IARU team that made this possible!

60 Meters is now a reality!

As of July 3rd at midnight local time, five frequencies on the 60 meter band became available to US amateur radio operators.  Power limit on this band is 50 watts ERP.  50 watts PEP to a half-wave dipole (which is considered to be 0 dB gain) would satisfy FCC requirements.  If gain antennas are used, you must "do the math" and decrease power to keep your signal to 50 watts ERP.  Bandwidth is limited to 2.8 kHz.  Recommendations state that the signals must be "within a few tens of Hertz" of suppressed carrier accuracy.  Further information is available on the ARRL website: http://www2.arrl.org/news/stories/2003/06/03/1/?nc=1 .  The five center frequencies follow (in kHz), with the actual VFO frequency (the one that your rig should be tuned to) following in parentheses. You will note that the VFO frequency is 1.5 kHz below the center frequency: 5332(5330.5), 5348(5346.5), 5368(5366.5), 5373(5371.5), and 5405(5403.5).  The last frequency is currently used in the UK for experimentation  .  

This is a "foot in the door"!  Please follow all regulations to the letter-if we prove we can use this band productively, perhaps we will earn a full band allocation in the future!

The ARRL Section News will no longer be found on the pages of QST beginning with the January 2003 issue.  The Official SC ARRL Section News is available on the ARRL website:

 http://www.arrl.org/sections/?sect=SC

As a supplement to the Section News on the ARRL Website, I will also publish the SC Section News on this website.  I was given a suggestion that the Section News should be available from past months, so I will be adding an archive section for the SC Section News beginning in January 2003 on this site.

The monthly Section Manager's report is now available by clicking on "SC Section News".

A word about our website-it was developed with Microsoft Front Page, and it is best viewed with Internet Explorer.  Some of the special effects can not be viewed with other browsers, such as Netscape.

Some documents are in PDF format, and for these, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to display them.  Click on the graphic to get Adobe Acrobat Reader!

Click HERE to get the Microsoft Word 97/2000 Viewer-for those who do not have Microsoft Word installed on their computer!

Thanks to all!

'73 de JIM N2ZZ


n2zz@arrl.net

 

 

 

 

SAS