ARRL-SC
Section News Archives
2003
Click HERE for January
2003
Click HERE for February 2003
Click HERE for March 2003
Click HERE for April 2003
Click HERE for May 2003
Click HERE for June 2003
Click HERE for July 2003
Click HERE for August 2003
Click HERE for September 2003
Click HERE for October 2003
Click HERE for November 2003
Click HERE for December 2003
Greetings to all Amateur Radio Operators!
I’m Dr. Jim, N2ZZ, and beginning today, I am proud to serve as ARRL
Section Manager for South Carolina. I wish everyone a Happy New Year! I would
like to thank Pat Hensley N4ROS, and her appointed section staff, for their
service to the ARRL over the past several years. That being said, I would like
to introduce my section staff cabinet that will be assisting me in the
administration of the SC ARRL programs over the next two years: ASM’s: Area
1-David Crockett WB4DFW, Area 2-Bob
Bacharach WA2EMF, Area 6-Bob Besley K4NJN; SEC-Charlie Miller
AE4UX; STM–Adam Hoffman AF4QZ, Asst STM Joe Ferguson W4JF; ACC-Kimberly
Smith K1MI, OOC-Sue Chism N4ENX, PIC-Dan Donovan KF4VIS, and TC-Marc
Tarplee N4UFP. Several cabinet
appointments are still open, and if you have an interest in one of those
positions, please contact me at n2zz@arrl.org.
Station Activity Reports: AF4QZ 195, KA4UIV 161, KA4LRM 93, WD4BUH 22, K4JIF 20, N4VVX 13. Public Service Honor Roll Results: AF4QZ 105, KA4LRM 100, KA4UIV 100, N4VVX 88. Congratulations and thanks for your service to amateur radio!
Section Manager, South Carolina
Greetings to all Amateur Radio Operators! This is Dr. Jim, N2ZZ, and January has been a very productive month. I appreciate the efforts of my section cabinet, and all the suggestions given to us by the ARRL members of South Carolina. Since January, I have added two more cabinet members: Laurie Sansbury Jr. KV4C, Assistant Section Manager EMD Area 4 and Dennis G. Fowler, KG4JIA, State Government Liaison. The cabinet members have been active in recruiting for their respective programs, and the ARRL database is currently undergoing housecleaning. All previous section appointments have expired as of January 31st. If you have an interest in participating in the SC ARRL field service, please notify us! We will be happy to hear from you!
Please keep in mind that the ARRL-SC website is at http://www.qsl.net/arrl-sc/ , and there you will find current information on the ARRL field service in South Carolina and contact information. I also encourage everyone to join the ARRL-SC mail server by sending an e-mail to this address: arrl-sc-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. This will allow a dialog between the amateur radio operators of South Carolina. Please also keep in mind that the Section Manager’s report is given weekly on the air on the SC SSB net, which meets on 3915 kHz, at 1900 Eastern time.
Now for the developments for the month of January.
Looking back at the month, there has been an incredible amount of
progress made. In regards to
Emergency Communications, we now have an ideal amateur radio-state relationship.
Our Section Emergency Coordinator, Charlie AE4UX, was appointed State
RACES officer by Ron Osborne, State EMD director.
Charlie, myself, and our two Aiken County EMD directors, David Ruth and
Paul Matthews KB4GYT had a meeting with Mr. Osborne at the state EOC. We
discussed with him the advantages of having the same person occupy the Section
Emergency Coordinator/State RACES position to ensure that both programs proceed
in the same direction. As of
Thursday, January 30th, Charlie was appointed State RACES officer.
In that capacity, he has already given a presentation to the state EMD
Area 1 officials on February 4th.
Dave WB4DFW (ASM Area 1) and Sue N4ENX (EC Greenville County) also
attended that meeting. This gave
the other attendees a very positive impression of Amateur Radio volunteers as
professional and well organized. This
meeting has already had a positive effect, as one of the counties in Area 1 who
did not want any coordination with Amateur Radio has actually contacted
the EC of that county and asked to meet with him. This has really had an impact, and I thank all involved!
Charlie has also been contacted by the state DHEC to
comment on a plan by John Welton N4SJW from the Charleston area, regarding his
plan for amateur radio coordination between the Medical University of South
Carolina campus and surrounding hospitals.
Both Charlie and I reviewed the plan, and found it to be well thought
out. Charlie responded positively
to that inquiry, and hopefully we will see some action soon.
I noted that there is interest in such a system in the Grand Strand Area,
and in North Carolina. Perhaps a
hospital linking system would be possible along the entire coast of South
Carolina, and perhaps even throughout the state!
Some grants may be forthcoming as well!
Just after I took office as Section Manager, I was distressed
to find that there were strained relations between the American Red Cross and the
South Carolina ARRL. Charlie AE4UX,
myself, and Bob K4NJN (ASM Area 6) met with David McGlothlin W4EPD, Chairman of
the Red Cross Disaster Communications Subcommittee.
We discussed the fact that the ARRL has a Statement Of Understanding with
the American Red Cross, and that the current ARRL-SC team will certainly honor
that agreement. I later sent a
letter to David, specifically stating that:
“I would like to state to you that it is the full intention of the South Carolina Section of the American Radio League to cooperate with the American Red Cross in the spirit of the Statement of Understanding (SOU) signed by our national organizations on September 17, 2002.”
Additionally, I requested that Charlie AE4UX be asked to
join his subcommittee so that an active dialog can be maintained between the Red
Cross and the SC-ARRL field service.
I told Charlie that SEC is probably the most time
consuming appointment given in the ARRL field service, and I think he agrees
with me. He is still busy making appointments. Our goal is to have District Emergency Coordinators in each
of the EMD Areas and Emergency Coordinators in each county.
If you have an interest, please contact him at ae4ux@arrl.net
. Listing of the EMD areas can be
found on our Section Website.
I
strongly encourage anyone interested in Emergency Services or the National
Traffic System to sign up for the Level I Emergency Course offered by the ARRL.
I finished Level I in a weekend, and I’ll be signing up for Level II in short
order. At this time, Level I is
funded by a grant. You would pay
$45 up front, and then it will be refunded at your successful completion of the
course-What a deal!
January
11th was the Greenwood Hamfest, and the new ARRL-SC team was there!
I was told that attendance was about 500, up from last year.
I could tell that there was a newfound enthusiasm for amateur radio in
the state! The Charleston Hamfest
was on February 1st in its new location in Ladsen, SC.
The forum schedule included my first ARRL forum where we discussed the
new direction of the ARRL-SC field service, and our Technical Coordinator Marc
Tarplee N4UFP gave a presentation on “The Ultimate DX Experience”.
There were also excellent forums by the State Guard and on APRS.
During the Charleston Hamfest, we received the
unfortunate news about the Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster.
We offered our respects during the ARRL forum by observing a moment of
silence.
Pictures of the hamfests are available on the www.qsl.net/arrl-sc
website. Please support our SC
hamfests! The next SC hamfest will
be in Union, SC on April 5th, a new date for that hamfest!
The time has come for an on-the-air
event for South Carolina. I have
asked Paul Matthews KB4GYT and Ray McClure W8CNL to set up a South Carolina QSO
party for later in the year!
Now a word on school clubs-I
mentioned last month that when reviewing the ARRL affiliated club database, I
found NO affiliated school clubs in South Carolina. I also mentioned that the Foothills club was working with
Chris, KG4UOY to set up a club station at Pickens High School.
After doing some investigating, it seems that there is a
problem with getting anything new started at a public school.
There appears to be a reluctance to do anything out of the norm, perhaps
due to liability concerns. It seems
that the person that would be in the best position to start a school amateur
radio club is a Principal, a Teacher, or a member of the School Board.
If you occupy any of these positions, or you know of someone who could
work with the public school system, please encourage them to work at starting a
school club in their area.
Alternatively, if the public schools continue to be resistant,
perhaps an alternative route could be utilized. I had the pleasure of attending a Technician level Amateur
Radio Course that is being conducted by a joint effort of the North Augusta-Belevedere
Amateur Radio Club and the Aiken County EMD department.
There is a rotation of teachers, and the teacher the night I attended was
Bob, K4NJN, our Area 6 ASM. We had
a group of 6th graders that were from the same Boy Scout Troop, and
they were up on the material! Interestingly,
they REALLY liked Morse Code!! YES! This will bring new hams into the fold!
Another possible route is along the private school system.
They appear to have fewer constraints than the public schools. This may be a route to follow in the future.
I received an e-mail from our
new State Government Liaison, Dennis KG4JIA yesterday. He had suggested working on obtaining an ARRL vehicle license
plate for South Carolina to replace our “Plain Jane” black and white plates.
Interestingly, our Vice Director Les K4NK was working on this project in
the past, and I had approached a local state Senator about this previously.
Dennis will take the lead on this project, and begin making inquiries
this week! If you have suggestions,
please send them to Dennis at kg4jia@arrl.net
!
Well, I’m on my third page,
and there is still more to report! I
ask everyone to check our website www.qsl.net/arrl-sc/
. I put new announcements on the
home page, and have a clock on that page to say when it was last updated.
To all the Amateur Radio Operators in South Carolina, THANK YOU for your support! If you are not an ARRL member, PLEASE consider becoming one. The ARRL needs your support! I hope that through the increased programs in SC that becoming an ARRL member will not only be worthwhile on a National Level, but on the Section Level as well!
Traffic Totals from our Section Traffic Manager, Adam
AF4QZ:
STATION ACTIVITY REPORTS January 2003:
NET ACTIVITY REPORTS January 2003:
To everyone listed above, THANK YOU for your service to Amateur Radio!
’73 de Dr. Jim N2ZZ
ARRL SC Section Manager
Greetings to all Amateur Radio Operators!
This is Dr. Jim, N2ZZ with the March Section Manager’s Report.
I’m happy to say that almost all ARRL-SC cabinet positions have been
filled, and many of the cabinet appointees have made appointments to their
respective programs. Charlie Miller
AE4UX, SEC has filled 5 out of 7 DEC spots, and has appointed 21 EC’s.
He is still actively recruiting for these positions.
Sue Chism N4ENX, OOC has filled 7 OO spots.
Adam Hoffman AF4QZ, STM has appointed 8 ORS’s and 7 NM’s.
Dan Donovan, KF4VIS PIC has appointed 7 PIO’s.
Marc Tarplee N4UFP, TC has filled 8 TS spots. I know that this is a cornucopia of acronyms, but please
check out the field services portion of the ARRL website: http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/org/
to see what these positions are all about.
Perhaps there is an ARRL field service position that will interest you!
Please keep in mind that the ARRL-SC website is at http://www.qsl.net/arrl-sc/
, and there you will find current information on the ARRL field service in
South Carolina and contact information. I
also encourage everyone to join the ARRL-SC mail server by sending an e-mail to
this address: arrl-sc-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
This will allow a dialog between the amateur radio operators of South
Carolina. Please also keep in mind that the Section Manager’s report is given
weekly on the air on the SC SSB net, which meets on 3915 kHz, at 1900 Eastern
time. On a special note, the SC SSB
net is now celebrating its 45th year of service!
Now for the developments for the Month of February.
February began with the Charleston Hamfest on February 1st.
This hamfest was at its new location in Ladsen, SC.
The hamfest was a success, and I was pleased to give my first ARRL forum
at this hamfest. Marc Tarplee
N4UFP, TC gave a forum on “The Ultimate DX Experience”.
Pictures of the hamfest are now on the www.qsl.net/arrl-sc
website. Please support our SC
hamfests! The next SC hamfest will
be at Union, SC on April 5th, a new date for that hamfest! For the next hamfest, we have great news: The Blue Ridge
Amateur Radio Society has been granted permission to hold an ARRL approved South
Carolina State Convention in Greenville, SC on May 3, 2003!
In Emergency Communications, Charlie AE4UX has been spending time presenting amateur radio to the SC Emergency Management Department (EMD) personnel. He has presented to Area 1, Area 3, and the State EOC personnel. He has portrayed a very positive image of amateur radio, and its usefulness in emergencies. Due to his efforts, Amateur Radio is gaining rapid acceptance by EMD personnel throughout the state of South Carolina, and Charlie has been asked to provide amateur radio communicators to several groups within the EMD system already.
We have been notified by the ARRL that all three emergency courses (EC-001, EC-002 and EC-003) will now be reimbursed!
I would like to offer my congratulations to Bob Besley
K4NJN, ASM6 and Paul Matthews KB4GYT (Aiken County Emergency Management Division
Asst. Director) on their successful completion of the ARRL Level III emergency
course!
I received an e-mail on February 21st from Bill Morine,
N2COP Regarding CARES:
I
am pleased to report that on January 10th, the CEOs of the Coastal
Carolinas Hospital Alliance (CCHA) voted to fund $68,000 to implement a ham
radio emergency based communications system for Southeastern North Carolina and
Northeastern South Carolina using voice and digital repeaters.
To our knowledge, this is the most geographically expansive amateur radio
hospital communications system in the Americas, and the third such system
undertaken in the United States. The
amateur operators serving on the task force met subsequently on January 31st
to begin implementation. The group
votes to adopt the name of CARES – Carolinas Amateur Radio Emergency Services.
I had mentioned last month that John Welton N4SJW, was
working on a system to link the Charleston hospitals via amateur radio.
With CARES now a reality, it is possible this linking may soon exist
along the entire coast, and perhaps within all the hospitals in South Carolina!
Throughout the country, all SM’s, SEC’s and ARRL
affiliated clubs received a surprise in their mailboxes this month.
The ARRL “Amateur Radio Today” CD was sent out mid month.
This is excellent presentation material to be shared with public groups,
local government officials, etc. to show how emergency preparedness fits in with
amateur radio. It is a professional
production, narrated by Walter Cronkite. Copies
are available from ARRL headquarters, either by purchasing a CD or as an 80 Meg
download.
Projects still underway include developing a SC QSO party,
currently in its development stages by Paul KB4GYT and Ray W8CNL.
Additionally, Dennis Fowler KG4JIA, has developed preliminary designs of
future SC Amateur Radio License Plates for comment.
Look for pictures of these preliminary designs on the SC-ARRL website in
the near future.
Our hearts and prayers go out to Emmie Patience KA4LRM on the loss of her husband Lee W4DRF, who became a silent key in February. Lee contributed a great deal to amateur radio in this state. Miss Emmie, we hope to see you back on the SC SSB net in the near future.
Station
Activity Reports – February 2003
Public
Service Honor Roll – February 2003
Net Reports: (Net Name, Traffic, Checkins, Sessions, Reported By)
Anderson
ARC 2 Meter Net, 24, N/A, 28, WD4BUH
Blue Ridge 2 Meter Net, 50, 1853, 28, K4SUG
Carolina’s CW Traffic (CN) Net, 183/173, 499, 56, K4IWW
Carolina’s Slow Net, 33/32, 132, 28, W4EAT
Columbia ARC 2 Meter Net, 2, 165, 8, K4RKC
Horry County Skywarn Net, 6, 38, 2, KF4HAV
Lancaster County 2 Meter Net,18, 140, 11, N4WMB
Laurens ARS 2 Meter Net, 3, 107, 4, WA4AOS
MultiState 2 Meter SSB Net, 0, 74, 4, WB4PCS
PALS Net, 45, 1180, 28, KG4KOE
Salkehatchie ARS 2 Meter Net, 0, 74, 4, AF4QZ
South Carolina SSB Net, 79, 1429, 28, WA4UGD
’73 de Dr. JIM N2ZZ
Greetings to all Amateur Radio Operators! This is Dr. Jim, N2ZZ with the April Section Manager’s Report. As I sit here composing my report this month, I’m coming off of a “high” with the events over the last few days! On Saturday April 5th, the ARRL-SC team showed up in force at the Union Hamfest on its new date! December was much too cold! I had mentioned to our SGL, Dennis KG4JIA, that we were in need of a banner for our hamfest table. He surprised me by coming with a huge 4x6 foot ARRL-SC banner that was fantastic! He has been working on an ARRL prototype license plate for SC, and he had a poster board made up with all the designs. Our PIC, Dan KF4VIS had a CD/TV combo that continuously played the new ARRL CD, “Amateur Radio Today” narrated by Walter Cronkite. Most of the ARRL-SC team was there, working the ARRL Table and meeting with the hamfest crowd!
On Monday, April 7th, the South Carolina Sideband net celebrated its 45th anniversary. The net had an unprecedented 140 check-ins! I was very pleased that Dave Sumner, K1ZZ and Dan Miller K3UFG from ARRL HQ found time to check-in to show their appreciation for the net. The ARRL has given special recognition to the net in the form of a certificate. This certificate will be part of the SC SSB net roster and I will be officially presenting it to the net at the State ARRL Convention at the Upstate Hamfest in Spartanburg on May 3rd. There will also be a sidebar article about the SC SSB net in an upcoming issue of QST by Steve Ewald, WV1X. If that wasn’t excitement enough, I watched my Alma Mater win the NCAA Basketball Final Four in New Orleans-GO SYRACUSE!
Please keep in mind that the ARRL-SC website is at http://www.qsl.net/arrl-sc/ , and there you will find current information on the ARRL field service in South Carolina and contact information. I also encourage everyone to join the ARRL-SC mail server by sending an e-mail to this address: arrl-sc-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. This will allow a dialog between the amateur radio operators of South Carolina. Please also keep in mind that the Section Manager’s report is given weekly on the air on the SC SSB net, which meets on 3915 kHz, at 1900 Eastern time. IMPORTANT: If you have not signed up for receiving section bulletins, please go to the members only page on the www.arrl.org website and select the option. I hope to use those bulletins sparingly, but wish to keep the section informed by that route and the website!
Emergency Services has had a
busy month! Many SC Amateur Radio Operators have taken the Emergency Courses
given by the ARRL. Mary Favaro
AE4BX, Sue Chism N4ENX, Charlie AE4UX and myself, N2ZZ completed the Level II
course this past month. Many others
have completed the Level I course, including Adam AF4QZ.
Ties continue to strengthen between amateur radio and the state/county
Emergency Management Departments. Charlie
AE4UX, SEC reports that this month's
two emergency operations were in response to ice storms in northern South
Carolina. WB4BLI, W8CGQ and various amateur radio operators who were out
and about during the storm assisted the Cherokee County Emergency Management
Director by handling communications during the response.
Laurie KV4C, ASM Area 4 has suggested another EC, which will just about
fill the EC spots for all counties in his area.
John Hoyt, W5UGD, a representative of the Pickens County ARES/Foothills
ARC has met with school officials at Pickens High School, and it looks like an
amateur radio club there will soon be a reality! John brought along the ARRL “Amateur Radio Today” CD
during his presentation, and this was well received!
John also told me that he may have a chance to make a similar
presentation to a middle school with an enrolment of 1500+!
Great work! Dan Donovan KF4VIS, our PIC had the opportunity to make a
presentation on amateur radio to Post #3 American Legion, and this presentation
was also well received! In the Aiken area, the amateur radio class has come to a
close, and after testing, there was a 75% pass rate, and a few were 12 years
old! Thanks to the North
Augusta/Belvedere club!
Good news in the PR Department! Both
Paul Harvey and USA Today had excellent news stories on Amateur Radio Emergency
Communications this month. Details
are available on the ARRL website!
Great news for the I-95 corridor-The Dillon Repeater (146.745-) is now
back on the air and operational!
South Carolina QSO Party-Ray W8CNL, Paul KB4GYT and myself have been
working on a SC QSO party. The
preliminary information is up on the www.qsl.net/arrl-sc
website. The Sumter club has come
forward and has agreed to sponsor the first annual event.
The event is planned for September 20th and 21st.
Please check out the website above for more information!
Legislation-There has never been a more important time to contact your
elected representatives in D.C. regarding bills related to amateur radio.
The Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act is now in the house and senate,
and the Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Consistency act is in the House!
Please check out the www.qsl.net/arrl-sc/
website for more information, and please contact your representative ASAP!
The more I look, the more there is to report! I’ll keep this report short, though, and report more next
month. Don’t forget the Anderson
hamfest on April 26th and the SC State ARRL convention at the Upstate
(Greenville/Spartanburg) hamfest on May 3rd.
I hope to see everyone there! Information
is available on the section website: www.qsl.net/arrl-sc/
. Again, if you have not signed up
for section bulletins, please go to the members only area of www.arrl.org
and select “section bulletins”. Thank
you!
March 2003:
Station Activity
Reports: KA4UIV 192, AF4QZ 181, K4NJN 20, K4JIF 17, WB4PCS 14, K4RKC 5
Carolina’s Slow Net-CSN, 41/40, 151, 31, W4EAT
Carolina’s Traffic Net-CN, 213/200, 517, 62, K4IWW
Columbia ARC 2 meter net, 12, 178, 8, K4RKC
Greater Pee Dee 2 meter net, 7, 183, 6, K4DTT
Laurens County Emergency 2 meter net, 1, 151, 5, KF4YKT
MultiState 2 meter SSB Net, 0, 39, 4, WB4PCS
PALS, 49, 1464, 31, KG4KOE
SC SSB Net, 86, 1460, 31, WA4VYS
‘73 de Dr. Jim
N2ZZ
ARRL Section Manager
South Carolina Section
Greetings to all Amateur Radio Operators!
This is Dr. Jim with the May Section Manager’s Report.
This past April was a good hamfest month, beginning with the Union
Hamfest on April 5th, and the simultaneous 25th annual Lake Hartwell
(Anderson) Hamfest and Rosewood get-together on April 26th.
May was begun with the Upstate South Carolina State ARRL
Convention/Hamfest. Union was on its new date, a much warmer month than December!
A good time was had by all! On April 26th, Les K4NK our Vice Director and I decided to
split up so that we could cover both events.
I attended the Rosewood Get-together and wish to thank Ray and Kathleen
for their hospitality. Les attended
the Anderson event and enjoyed the fellowship as well!
My travel to the Upstate hamfest resulted in my arrival just after a severe
storm on Friday-I missed it by a half hour! Whew!
Of the SC-ARRL Team, those attending were: KG4JIA, WB4DFW, WA2EMF, N4UFP,
KF4VIS, AF4QZ, myself N2ZZ and our Vice Director K4NK!
Marc Tarplee N4UPF TC gave a great talk on PSK-31 at 9 am. The ARRL
forum followed at 10 am. I presided over that forum, and gave everyone an
idea as to what was going on in the South Carolina section. Our topics included
Emergency communications, getting amateur radio into the schools, the upcoming
SC QSO party, Legislative concerns, the proposed ARRL SC license plates and
recognition of the SC SSB net for their 45th anniversary!
I want to thank all of our friends in the Upstate for all their hard work
on this hamfest. It is always a great hamfest, and I thank the hamfest
committee to allow the ARRL-SC team to be a part of your hamfest!
Please be sure to go to the ARRL-SC website www.qsl.net/arrl-sc/ and check out the picture gallery-I haven’t had pictures sent to me for the Anderson Hamfest yet, but I’ll be happy to put them up when I receive them. Thanks to N4LAW for his pictures of the Rosewood get-together!
Your Section Manager broke down and bought a Davis Weather Station at the Upstate SC hamfest. With all of the Emcomm courses I have been taking, it just seemed to be the next logical step! I did get the computer software, and if you go down the left sidebar on the ARRL-SC website, you will see “Current Weather-Aiken, SC”. Click on that link and see what the weather station is capable of doing! It is a work in progress, as I have had to relearn some of the HTML formatting that is in my distant memory! Next step-APRS!
Regarding emergency communications, Charlie AE4UX, SEC reports that the total number of SC ARES members is 187, up 65 members from last month! John Hoyt, W5UGD, Pickens County EC, strengthened ARES’s relationship with the local Red Cross Chapter, and a memorandum of understanding has been signed. Bobby Collins KG4BZK, Florence County EC, arranged for a district-wide ARES training session, and Matt McGuire AF4UZ Area 4 DEC, presented the material during that session. Mike Croft KG4LUS, York County EC, led an ARES team helping their county EMD personnel distribute Potassium Iodide tablets to county residents. KI tablets are used to protect the thyroid gland from radioactive iodine, which could become airborne during a nuclear incident. Mary AE4BX represented SC at the recent CARES meeting. Mary reports that CARES now has linked 13 hospitals, with Loris and Conway being the two hospitals in South Carolina (so far!).
I would like to remind everyone that the three ARRL Emergency communications courses are fully reimbursable for ARRL members. I strongly encourage everyone to take advantage of these courses, even if your main interests are not in emergency communications. Over the last month, I have received word that Bob Bacharach WA2EMF, ASM AREA 2 and Peter KG4VDR completed level I. Matt AF4UZ, DEC Area 4 completed Level II. Mary AE4BX, and your SM, Jim N2ZZ completed level III! In SC, a total of 7 have completed level III, 5 have completed level II, and 50 have completed Level I. Please become part of the emcomm group when you can! The courses are a great experience!
I would like to offer congratulations to the North Augusta-Belvedere Amateur
Radio Club, which became an ARRL Special Service Club this past month.
I was pleased to note that this club ran a licensing class this Spring.
Per Joe AF4JX, club president: “The
North Augusta Belvedere Radio Club sponsored an entry level license class. The
class met on Thursdays at 7:00 PM until 9 PM, the class ran for 12 weeks
starting on Jan 9th and a VE session on the 13th week, April
3rd. The class started with 14 students and had 11 sit for testing. Eight of these eleven obtained a Technician license”.
Other clubs have also been busy: The Trident Amateur Radio Club (TARC) was proud to provide communication services for the recent Charleston, SC MS Walk. Eight club members participated using one of the club repeaters for communications. The Ridge Club will be participating in the Batesburg-Leesville Poultry Festival on Saturday, May 10.
Well, there seems to be more and more to report each month. I do endeavor to give updates on the SC SSB net on 3915 kHz Wednesday at 7 pm local time. Please check www.qsl.net/arrl-sc/ website’s home page for updates as well! I hope to see everyone at the Dayton Hamvention this week!
Station Activity Reports April 2003: SENT/RECEIVED/DELIVERED/ORIGINATED/TOTAL: AF4QZ 125/30/70/0/225; KA4UIV 56/51/0/0/107; WA4UGD 26/3/0/0/29; K4NJN 5/5/4/0/14; KG4VDR 2/0/2/5/9; N4VVX 2/5/0/0/7
PSHR
April 2003:
N4VVX
01/40 02/7 03/30 04/30 05/0 06/0 Total 107
AF4QZ
01/40 02/40 03/20 04/0 05/0 06/0
Total 100
KA4UIV
01/40 02/40 03/20 04/0 05/0 06/0 Total 100
To everyone listed above, THANK YOU for your service to Amateur Radio!
Greetings to all Amateur Radio Operators! This is Dr. Jim with the June South Carolina Section Manager’s Report. Since the last report, there has been plenty of news in Amateur Radio, both at the Section and National level!
I wish to further congratulate the SC SSB net on their 45th anniversary of service to the Amateur Radio community and the citizens of South Carolina. I am proud to report that a sidebar article was published on page 76 of June’s QST, bringing national congratulations to the net. On the www.qsl.net/arrl-sc/ SC section website, please check out the picture gallery for pictures of the presentation of the ARRL Certificate of merit to the Net’s officers!
I had the pleasure of traveling to the Dayton Hamvention on my annual visit. I have traveled to the Dayton Hamvention yearly, beginning in 1994 to present. This year was a wonderful year for me, representing South Carolina as your Section Manager! One of my first stops was to the ARRL tables, having the opportunity to speak with Dave Sumner K1ZZ, CEO of the ARRL, and ARRL President Jim Haynie W5JBP. I met up with John Covington W4CC, Section Manager of North Carolina. We had a picture taken of both of us with Jim Haynie, and I saw that the ARRL published that picture on their website, under “In Brief”. That picture, and my report on the Dayton Hamvention are available on the SC Section Website in the Picture Gallery.
One of the potential threats to Amateur Radio and any service using the HF spectrum is PLC, Power Line Communications. President Haynie had indicated to me that he had just come from a five-hour meeting on that topic. The ARRL-SC team mobilized its Technical Group through Marc Tarplee K4UFP, TC. Marc has already filed his comments with the FCC, and encourages others to do the same: http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/upload_v2.cgi . Marc has also been busy completing a PowerPoint presentation on NVIS (Near Vertical Incidence Sky Wave) propagation. He will be providing me with a disk having his presentations on a number of topics, and I’ll add those to the Section website!
The big news, though, is our new band, 60 meters! The FCC has allocated five frequencies for Amateur Radio Use, 5332, 5348, 5368, 5373, and 5405 kHz. These will be USB only, 2.8 kHz wide, with a maximum ERP of 50 watts. Transmitters should be tuned to 1.5 kHz below the center frequencies above. This allocation will begin on July 3rd, 2003 at Midnight, Local Time. If you want to be the first to use these allocations, better get your ticket to Guam ASAP! President Haynie described this allocation as a “foot in the door”. We, as an Amateur Radio community, must respect the restrictions on this band, as we will share the band on a secondary basis. If we misuse it, we will lose it! The primary allocation is to the Federal Government. On a related note, we did not obtain a LF allocation on 136 kHz, primarily due to concerns of power companies who say they control power grids on or around that frequency. They were concerned about interference into their system by signal ingress. Hopefully they will be as concerned as much about signal egress potentially causing interference to the HF spectrum by PLC, as mentioned above.
I was fortunate to visit a few clubs earlier this month, and wish to thank them for their hospitality! The first was the Columbia ARC, who met on June 2nd at the Columbia American Red Cross Building. Charlie AE4UX, SEC was invited to call the SC ARES/RACES net from their new communications room. I arrived in Columbia during the net and checked into the net as a mobile station. Upon my arrival, Brian K6NWS gave me a tour of the facilities, and discussed further plans for the communications room. The Columbia ARC meeting ensued, called to order by Roger KF4PRV. Roger called on both Charlie AE4UX and myself to give a brief presentation at the meeting. I also had the pleasure of meeting Joe KF4TEN, the President of the Palmetto ARC. I was very pleased to find that the Columbia ARC and the Palmetto ARC were combining efforts this year for Field Day! A few Palmetto ARC members were present as well. Thanks to both clubs for your hospitality and your upcoming combined effort on Field Day!
On Tuesday, June 3rd, Bob K4NJN, ASM6 and I traveled to the Spartanburg ARC club meeting, presided over by Art KE4EAN, DEC2. Bob WA2EMF ASM2 had arranged for a number of the ARRL-SC cabinet members to be present. Bob WA2EMF gave a great talk on the ARRL organization structure and opportunities for membership and field service appointments. Marc N4UFP, TC gave a brief talk on PLC and NVIS to the audience. My talk centered on our progress in the state to date and what directions we will be proceeding with the ARRL-SC team and field service. Dan KF4VIS PIC was present, as Spartanburg is his home club. I was proud to see the number of ARRL members and appointees in the audience!
Thanks to both clubs for welcoming me to your meetings and for the opportunity to address your members!
Speaking of Field Day, my designee or I will be available on the SC SSB net on June 28th to receive Section Manager messages from Field Day Stations. Remember that a message to either the SM or SEC this year adds an additional 100 points to your score!
I was approached by Toni Pipkins KG4LXM, in regards to an upcoming 4-H club Congress which will be held at Clemson University on July 20th-24th. 4-H clubs were polled across the state, and one of their main interests involved Emergency Preparedness! Dave Crocket WB4DFW, ASM1 works at Clemson University and will be handling the presentation of Amateur Radio to the 4-H Congress. The ARRL will be providing information brochures for the Congress, and I have inquired regarding videos from the ARRL library. The ARRL-SC section will be donating five “Now You’re Talking” Books to Dave’s presentation.
The Salkehatchie ARS reported a good turn out for their yard sale on June 7th, and wish to thank all that turned out for their event.
Laurie KV4C, ASM4 reported that there was an article in the Florence Morning News on June 9th regarding the benefits of Amateur Radio to the public, including Emergency Preparedness and SKYWARN. Congratulations!
John, W5UGD, EC Pickins County, reported that three of our EC’s, John W5UGD (Pickins), Elsie KA2CLX (Spartanburg), and Sue N4ENX (Greenville) were featured in an article in the Spartanburg Herald-Journal concerning SKYWARN. Congratulations!
I appreciate the media efforts. Remember, although we have specific appointments for PIO’s (Public Information Officers), we are all PIO’s to some extent. Any opportunity for good publicity is a good opportunity!
South Carolina underwent a full scale emergency drill on June 3rd and 4th. The scenario was that of a WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) attack. Communications were primarily via the Palmetto 800 trunked system, with satellite phones as a backup. Amateur Radio Operators were called upon as communicators, manning the Palmetto 800 system as relief operators. Although amateur radio was not specifically a backup in this scenario, VHF nets were brought up on local repeaters with a liaison to the HF net on 3993.5 kHz with a secondary frequency of 7250 kHz. Announcements were to be made from the State EOC at prearranged times to activate ARES if necessary. It was unfortunate that HF propagation was poor on both days of the exercise. Fortunately, the SC Emergency Operations Center ARES/RACES was able to make contact with radio operators throughout the state using the repeater systems. VHF nets were established at 0800, 1000, 1200 and 1400 hours. The exercise greatly built confidence in the amateur radio operators as professional communicators, which is a big plus for ARES/RACES in South Carolina. Charlie AE4UX did identify a number of equipment limitations in the SC EOC, and has suggested additional equipment to be obtained. Antenna work will also need to be performed.
I have a plea to the Amateur Radio community in South Carolina. There are many hams that are not members of the ARRL. There is no doubt that some people have very strong feelings against the ARRL for whatever reason. There is nothing any of us can do about the past, only the present and the future. I can truthfully say that of my 30+ years of ARRL membership, I have never seen such a dedicated, progressive organization. President Jim Haynie W5JBP is an excellent representative of that effort. He is a salesman by trade, and a very enthusiastic salesman of the ARRL and Amateur Radio in general. There are commercial interests out there that are bidding high dollars for spectrum. Haynie had made an interesting observation at the Dayton ARRL Forum. Each frequency, channelized at 12.5 kHz is worth $300,000 on the open market. That means our 420-450 mHz allocation is worth over a Billion dollars! Individually, we would have no recourse if that allocation were auctioned from the amateur service. The ARRL, as our representative, is our watchdog and we need to have a strong organization. If you know someone who is not an ARRL member, please encourage them to become one. We want all of the Amateur Radio Operators in SC to be a part of the ARRL-SC team!
The following reports
submitted by Adam AF4QZ, STM:
Station Activity Reports, May 2003: (Call/Received/Sent/Originated/Delivered/Total) AF4QZ 109/35/3/48/195; KA4UIV 42/49/0/1/92; WA4MIY 16/17/3/1/73; KG4VDR 0/6/0/0/6; N4VVX 1/1/0/0/2
PSHR Reports, May, 2003 :
AF4QZ 40/40/20/0/0/0/100; KA4UIV 40/40/20/0/0/0/100; N4VVX 40/2/30/5/20/0/97
May 2003 Net Reports:
Net Name (Checkins
/ Traffic / Sessions / Reported by)
Blue Ridge 2 Meter Net 2183 / 41 / 31 / K4SUG
Carolina’s (CW) Net 501 / 154 / 62 / (745 minutes) / K4IWW
Columbia ARC 2 Meter Net 180 / 8 / 8 / K4RKC
Greater Pee Dee 2 Meter Net 877 / 44 / 31 / K4DTT
Laurens County 2 Meter Net 91 / 6 / 4 / KF4YKT
Multistate 2 Meter SSB Net 26 / 0 / 4 / (83 minutes) / WB4PCS
P.A.L.S 2 Meter Net 1367 / 52 / 31 / KG4KOE
Ridge ARC 2 Meter Net 48 / 4 / 4 / K4RKC
SC SSB Net 1352 / 67 / 31 / WA4UGD
To everyone above, THANK YOU for your service to Amateur Radio! See you next month!
’73 de Jim N2ZZ
Section Manager
South Carolina Section
Visit our website: www.qsl.net/arrl-sc/
Greetings to all Amateur Radio Operators! This is Dr. Jim with the July South Carolina Section Manager’s Report. Since my last report, we have had numerous accomplishments, both at the National and Section Level!
Field Day was an opportunity for teamwork and an excellent exercise for emergency communication preparedness this year. This was the first year for Class “F” stations, operating from Established EOC’s or Served Agencies with the requirement of close interaction with agency personnel. This should go far in improved relations between amateur radio and the agencies we serve! For Charlie AE4UX, SEC, and myself, we decided on a road trip! On Saturday June 28th, over the course of a day, Charlie and I traveled 500 miles over 11 hours on the road to visit 6 field day groups. My full report and pictures of our travels are on the www.qsl.net/arrl-sc/ website entitled “Jim and Charlie’s Excellent Adventure”! My thanks to all the groups that we visited for their hospitality, and my apologies to all of the groups we were unable to visit. That day made me realize how big a state South Carolina actually is! Fortunately, Les K4NK, our Vice Director, was able to visit a number of clubs in Upstate South Carolina. Excellent Public Relations resulted as a result of Field Day. Our PIC Dan Donovan KF4VIS just awarded Dennis Zabawa KG4RUL, PIO of the Trident Club and Michael Duff KG4SLH, PIO of the Florence Club certificates for their hard work and originality in establishing grass roots public relations in our section. In addition, I would like to thank all those others who worked so hard in their public relations capacity. Special mention is due to Elizabeth KG4CEZ, Brian K6NWS and Robert K4RKC from the Columbia club for securing the proclamation from Governor Mark Sanford to proclaim June 22-29, 2003 as Amateur Radio Week!
On July 20th-24th, Dave WB4DFW, ASM-1 will be presenting amateur radio to the 4-H club Congress that will be held at Clemson University. ARRL-SC has donated five “Now You’re Talking” books for Dave’s presentation, and ARRL videos will be used as part of the teaching materials. My thanks to Dave for his upcoming presentation!
I have just firmed up the SC QSO party details with Jim KB3PU, President of the Sumter Club. The Sumter club will be sponsoring the event, which will be held September 20th and 21st. I have contacted Ward N0AX to add the event to “Contest Corral” in QST. Full details are on the www.qsl.net/arrl-sc/ website. If anyone is part of the “County Hunters” group, please let them know about the QSO party! For Mobiles and Portables, there will be a multiplier for each county they activate-so there should be a number of rare SC counties on the air! Let’s have a lot of activity, and make this a successful first annual SC QSO Party!
Now on to the National News-What a month! On June 30th at Midnight local time, five frequencies on 60 meters became available to US amateurs for the very first time! Full details on 60 meter operation can be found on both the www.qsl.net/arrl-sc section website and specifically the national www.arrl.org website. The VFO tuning frequencies are 5330.5, 5346.5, 5366.5, 5371.5 and 5403.5 kHz. Frequency accuracy must be within “a few tens of Hertz”. Bandwidth must be limited to 2.8 kHz. ERP is limited to 50 watts. 50 watts PEP to a half-wave dipole would satisfy this requirement. For gain antennas, you must “do the math” and be certain that your ERP does not exceed 50 watts! ENJOY!
The second development is the compromise made at the World Administrative Radio Conference 2003 in regards to 40 meters! By 2009, Shortwave broadcasters will move out of the 7100-7200 kHz spectrum and that spectrum will then be allocated to Amateur Radio in Regions 1&3. This will result in a world-wide allocation of 7000-7200 kHz to Amateur Radio. US amateurs (Region 2) will continue to enjoy 7000-7300 kHz, but will no longer be plagued with shortwave broadcast stations in the 7100-7200 kHz segment. This is a great development for amateur radio worldwide!
The ARRL is also on the Power Line Communications Issue.
This technology has the capability of disrupting communications from 2-80
mHz, and should be considered a serious threat to Amateur Radio and other
services that use the HF/VHF-Lo bands. Please
become involved in this issue, and make your feelings known.
Full details can be found here: http://www.arrl.org/news/features/2003/06/19/2/?nc=1
Well, that’s it for this month’s report!
Have a great month, and don’t pass up any opportunity to promote
Amateur Radio to the public! We are all PIO’s in this capacity!
Reports submitted by Adam AF4QZ, STM:
JUNE 2003 STATION ACTIVITY REPORTS: (CALLRCVD/SENT/DLVD/ORIG/TOTAL) AF4QZ 80/45/34/0/159; KA4UIV 45/39/3/0/87; WA4MIY 29/28/4/1/62; WA4UGD 26/0/2/0/28; KG4VDR 2/15/6/4/27; KA4LRM 13/13/1/0/27
JUNE 2003 PSHR REPORTS: [CALL (1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / TOTAL )] AF4QZ 40 / 40 / 20 / 45 / 0 / 0 / 145; KA4UIV 40 / 40 / 20 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 100; KA4LRM 37 / 17 / 20 / 15 / 0 / 0 / 89
JUNE 2003 NET
REPORTS: Net
Name(Check-ins / Traffic / Sessions / Reported by) Blue Ridge 2 Meter Net 2015 /
48 / 30 / K4SUG;Carolina’s (CW) Net 473 / 253 / 60 / K4IWW; Carolina’s Slow
(CW) Net 130 / 20 / 30 / W4EAT; Columbia ARC 2 Meter Net 185 / 9 / 9 / K4RKC;
Greater Pee Dee 2 Meter Net 901 / 39 / 30 / K4DTT; Laurens County 2 Meter Net 91
/ 6 / 4 / KF4YKT; Lancaster County 2 Meter Net 173 / 29 / 30 / N4WMB; Multistate
2 Meter SSB Net 27 / 0 / 3 / (81 minutes) WB4PCS; P.A.L.S 2 Meter Net 1320 / 41
/ 30 / KG4KOE; Ridge ARC 2 Meter Net 45 / 0 / 4 / K4RKC; SC SSB Net 1202 / 104 /
30 / WA4UGD; South Sandlapper 6 Meter Net 56 / 0 / 4 / K4RKC; YCARS 2 Meter Net
800 / 0 / 47 / KG4LUS
To all above, THANK YOU for your service to Amateur Radio! See you next month!
’73 de Dr. JIM N2ZZ
ARRL Section Manager
South Carolina Section
www.qsl.net/arrl-sc/
Greetings to all Amateur Radio Operators! This is Dr. Jim with the August South Carolina Section Manager’s Report. Since the last report, there has been plenty of news in Amateur Radio, both at the Section and National level!
First, I would like to remind everyone of the South Carolina Section Website at www.qsl.net/arrl-sc/. This site will contain my full Section Managers Report, and not an abbreviated version.
As I begin this report on August 16th, I am happy to say that the ARRL-SC section was mentioned twice in the September 2003 issue of QST. On page 13, the Field Day adventure that Charlie AE4UX, SEC and I had, traveling 500 miles and visiting 6 Field Day sites, was highlighted in the column “Section Managers Get Around on Field Day!” In Contest Corral on page 105, our upcoming first annual South Carolina QSO party on September 20th to 21st was announced. More on this later!
On July 20th-22nd, our own Dave Crockett WB4DFW, ASM-1 gave a presentation on Amateur radio to the 4-H Club Congress held at Clemson University, attended by approximately 70 teens. It was interesting that one of the major concerns of the attendees was Emergency Preparedness, as determined by polls several months prior to the conference. Dave centered his talk on Emergency Communications via Amateur Radio, and used the ARRL Disaster Preparedness video in his presentation. He thanks Fred Tuck KD4OAQ for his invaluable assistance on site and Sue N4ENX, OOC for her help with on-the-air demonstrations to the participants. The ARRL-SC section donated five “Now You’re Talking” manuals to Dave’s presentation! Thanks to all!
The first annual South Carolina QSO party will be held on September 20th through the 21st. I encourage everyone to read “Contest Corral” in their September QST, or visit the www.qsl.net/arrl-sc/ website for the details. Remember, mobile and portable stations receive a multiplier for the number of different SC counties they activate! Thanks to the Sumter ARC, and their president, Jim KB3PU for their sponsorship of the South Carolina QSO party! To Everyone, PLEASE PARTICIPATE, Even if for a few hours!
Congratulations go to Mike Duff KG4SLH, PIO/Florence ARC on completing a basic Public Information course offered by the SC Emergency Management Division. Mike reports that this course is offered three times a year, and lasts three days. He goes on to say that the course teaches how to write press releases, public speaking and how to speak with reporters.
Word has it that York County has a high power 6-meter repeater! According to John, KI4D, This is a 100-watt repeater at an antenna height of 167 feet, and frequencies are 53.520 receive/52.520 transmit. It is coordinated with a 123.0 Hz tone, but currently is on carrier access.
Marc Tarplee N4UFP, TC reports that he has assembled an NVIS (Near Vertical Incidence Skywave) station for 60 meters, and currently is testing propagation from his QTH. He also reports that the planned Digital Seminars (covering PSK31, APRS, ECHOLINK/IRLP) will be held September 27th from 9am-4pm in several locations: Charleston EOC, Sumter Technical College, Florence (meeting room at KD4HTW’s workplace), and York Technical College in Rock Hill. For further information, contact Marc at n4ufp@arrl.net. Each seminar will be divided up into two-hour sessions, and attendees will be able to decide which seminar they would like to attend.
On Tuesday August 19th, the Aiken County Council will formally recognize the amateur radio operators that assisted the Sheriff’s Office Communications following a lightning storm on June 16th that rendered most of the EMS communication systems unusable.
I was able to take a trip up to my hometown of Syracuse, NY this past weekend and had the pleasure of speaking with Al N2CCN, SEC and Scott W2LC, SM, both of the Western NY section. I even spoke with an old friend, Viv WA2PUU on one of the repeaters! Thanks for your hospitality!
I would like to formally express my appreciation to two clubs, the Grand Strand ARC and the York County ARS for renewing their affiliation with the ARRL! Thanks also to ALL the ARRL affiliated clubs in the ARRL-SC section! With strong club support and member support of the ARRL, we will aid our growth of our national organization.
Speaking of our national organization, and going on to our national news,
as of July 3rd, 60 meters is now a reality, with 5 available
frequencies, 50 watts to a non-gain dipole.
Amateur Radio worldwide has been benefited by the 40 meter compromises
made at the World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC-03), where broadcasters
will move out of the 7100-7200 kHz band, and that range will be allocated to
amateurs worldwide in 2009. The US
will continue to enjoy 7000-7300, but will notice a drop in Shortwave
Broadcasters over the next 6 years in the frequency band 7100-7200.
The changes should be complete by 2009.
There is now a youth page on the ARRL website. Go to www.arrl.org, select
“Educational” and then “For Kids” on the pop-up menu. Quite a bit of research has gone into this part of the ARRL
website, and kids apparently love it! It
is definitely worth checking out! ARRL
President Haynie has been working with ARRL staff and consultants regarding
Power Line Communications (PLC), also called Broadband over Power Line (BPL).
He states that if this medium is allowed to be widely deployed, would
result in “spectrum pollution” on a level that is “difficult to
imagine”. Full story is available
on the ARRL website: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2003/08/08/2/?nc=1.
He encourages all hams to get involved, as this is a very significant
threat to all that use the HF bands.
Reports Submitted by Adam AF4QZ, STM:
To all above, THANK
YOU for your service to Amateur Radio! See
you next month!
’73 de Dr. JIM N2ZZ
ARRL Section Manager
South Carolina Section
Greetings to all Amateur Radio Operators! This is Dr. Jim with the September South Carolina Section Manager’s Report. First, I would like to remind everyone of the South Carolina Section Website at www.qsl.net/arrl-sc/. This site will contain my full Section Managers Report, and not an abbreviated version. Additionally, you may have noted that I always give the month of the report when I write it, rather than the previous month as it is listed on the ARRL national website. I hope that this doesn’t lead to much confusion-It definitely helps me keep my thoughts in perspective!
I mentioned in my last report that I had the pleasure of spending time with a very close friend, Al Topalian, N2CCN, SEC WNY in early August. I am very sorry to report that within three weeks of my visit he unexpectedly became a silent key. I did send in information on Al to the ARRL, and my comments were published in the current ARRL “News in Brief”. He will never be forgotten.
On August 19, the Aiken County Council issued a resolution to express their appreciation to the Aiken County ARES/RACES members who helped maintain EMS communications on June 16 after a lightning storm disabled the EMS radio system. Congratulations! The resolution is on the ARRL-SC website. Please check for the link on the home page!
I have received word from John W5UGD that the Pickens High School may soon have an amateur radio club starting. John and Chris KG4UOY, student at Pickens, have made arrangements with the principal, and have a faculty advisor. The Foothills club has offered to mentor the club. In my area, a technician/general class has been started at Aiken Preparatory School in preparation for a club starting at their facility. Joe Semer AF4JX, is heading up that effort, aided by volunteers from the area offering to teach individual classes.
In the ARRL Roanoke Division, of which South Carolina is one of four sections, our Director Dennis Bodson W4PWF and our Vice Director Les Shattuck K4NK have been declared re-elected for another term, as both ran unopposed. Pat Hensley N4ROS challenged the Vice Director spot, but her petition was deemed invalid by the ARRL election committee since it did not contain the required ten ARRL member signatures.
Labor Day weekend brought about the Shelby NC hamfest. I had the opportunity to attend, and was in good company at the ARRL forum. Our Director Dennis Bodson W4PWF was unable to attend, so the ARRL forum was run by our Vice Director, Les Shattuck, K4NK. Les spoke on a number of topics, including BPL and the Morse Code requirement for licensure in the US Amateur Radio Service. John Covington W4CC, SM NC spoke on topics specific to North Carolina, and I had a chance to speak about the ARRL field service in South Carolina. Dan Henderson N1ND from the Contest Branch at ARRL HQ spoke also. I had the pleasure of seeing and acknowledging my predecessor as SM, Pat Hensley N4ROS who was in the audience. A little later in the day, I had the privilege to speak with Susan AF4FO, SM GA. With the numerous vendors, the large flea market and good fellowship, Shelby is always a lot of fun!
I had the honor of being asked to go to ARRL HQ in Newington, CT in early September to attend a Section Manager Conference. I was one of 15 SM’s who attended, and had a chance to interact with HQ personnel. Steve Ewald, WV1X and Chuck Skolaut K0BOG ran the conference, and several other HQ staffers presented programs as well. While the programs were very informational, I think the informal interaction that I had with the other SM’s was extremely helpful. The interaction answered a number of questions I had, and gave me some new ideas. On the other hand, I realize that we are very lucky in South Carolina for a number of reasons. One is the excellent relation we have with emergency officials. Another is the lack of significant repeater conflicts. Despite our varying challenges, though, the SM’s were all very upbeat and positive. We were pleased to have two Vice Directors attend the conference also.
Well, September is here, and the first annual SC QSO party, sponsored by the Sumter ARC, will be held on September 20th and 21st. Full details are on the www.qsl.net/arrl-sc website, and in Contest Corral in the September issue of QST. PLEASE participate, even if for only an hour or two. We want our first QSO party effort to be a success! Remember that mobile/portable stations receive multipliers for each county they activate, to emphasize emergency preparedness. At the Shelby Hamfest, Les K4NK told me that one of his club members has vowed to operate from EVERY County in South Carolina! Brother, I thought I was type “A”! I will definitely operate the contest, and hope to hear everyone participating!
There will be digital seminars covering PSK31, APRS, Echolink, and IRLP
at two locations on September 27th, from 9 am to 4 pm.
One will be at the Charleston EOC, and the other will be in Florence at
KD4HTW’s workplace (The
location in Florence is on Hwy 52, 2 miles from I-95 toward Darlington at the SC
Forestry Commission Office next to Florence Darlington Technical College.
Talk-in on 146.85mhz)
.
Please attend the Rock Hill Hamfest on October 4th at York
Technical College (NEW LOCATION)! Information
is available on the www.qsl.net/arrl-sc/
website.
Well, that’s the news for the
September report! See you next
month!
CALL
(RCVD/SENT/DLVD/ORIG/TOTAL): KA4UIV
82/72/4/0/158; WA4MIY 37/16/3/1/57; KG4VDR 9/16/18/0/43;
WA4UGD 24/0/5/0/29; KA4LRM
7/3/1/0/11
CALL (1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / TOTAL):
KA4UIV 40/40/20/0/0/0/100; WA4MIY 40/40/10/0/0/0 /90; KA4LRM
40/11/20/0/0/ 0/71
Net Name (Checkins / Traffic /
Sessions / Reported by): Carolina’s (CW) Net 458
/ 162 / 62 / K4IWW; Carolina’s Slow (CW) Net 146 / 31 / 32 / W4EAT; Greater
Pee Dee 2 Meter Net 801 / 41 / 32 / K4DTT; Lancaster County 2 Meter Net 196 / 26
/ 12 / N4WMB; Multistate 2 Meter SSB Net 24 / 0 / 4 / (50 minutes) / WB4PCS; SC
SSB Net 1140 / 201 / 32 / WA4UGD
To all above, thank
you for your service to Amateur Radio!
See everyone next month!
’73 de Dr. Jim
N2ZZ
ARRL Section Manager
South Carolina Section
Greetings to all Amateur Radio
Operators. This is Dr. Jim, N2ZZ
with the October South Carolina Section Manager’s Report! Please remember that the SC Section website can be found at www.qsl.net/arrl-sc/
where my full SM report will be listed as well as up-to-the-date information on
Amateur Radio in South Carolina!
I stated in the September report that I had the chance to travel to ARRL Headquarters in Newington, Connecticut in early September. Dan Miller K3UFG, Emcomm Course Manager, met me at the airport. Steve Ewald, WV1X, Field Services Manager and Chuck Skolaut K0BOG, Official Observer Program Director ran the programs. Presentations were given by Maul Lau N1VH, Field and Educational Support Team Supervisor; John Hennessee N1KB, Regulatory Information; Bob Indebitzen NQ1R, Marketing; and Mark Spencer WA8SME, the ARRL Big Project Director. For Dinner one evening, we had the pleasure of the company of Rosalie White K1STO, Field and Educational Services Manager. We had a chance to tour Headquarters and a chance to operate the historic Hiram P. Maxim Memorial Station, W1AW. We were brought up to date on a number of the current developments in amateur radio, and saw a very disturbing presentation on “Broadband over Power Line” (BPL/PLC) technology. This is a service promoted by the power companies that is meant to bring broadband Internet communication to everyone, even those in rural areas. From an interference perspective, it could bring about the demise of amateur radio and all services that use 2-80 mHz in this country, and in the world. A video was shown that in one of the pilot regions of this technology, the noise