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I enjoyed participating in our first hamfest of 2008 in Greenwood, sponsored by the Greenwood Amateur Radio Society. The hamfest was held on January 12^th, and was greeted with great weather, although a bit cold at first! There was a good turnout for the event, and hamfest goers had a vast selection of new and vintage equipment. The ARRL forum was held at noon, and in addition to my report, we had an update from John Crockett KC4YI on the SCHEARTS system, and from Charlie AE4UX, SEC regarding new NIMS forms. Bob K4NJN, ASM6 reported on updates to the Aiken County Emergency Services Trailer as mentioned in my report last month. Thanks to all for a great hamfest!

During my discussions with several hams at the Greenwood Hamfest, I was told that Rodney Grim WA7ZIA from ICOM is now living in the greater Charleston area with a strong interest in D*STAR digital systems. I understand he will be giving a forum at the Charleston Hamfest in February.

Speaking of the Charleston Hamfest, the 35^th annual Charleston Hamfest will be held on February 2^nd in the same location as last year, the Exchange Park Fairground, 9850 Hwy 78 in Ladson, SC, Exit 203 off I-26, College Park Road. Talk-in will be via the WA4USN linked repeater system, 146.79- Charleston, 145.250-/PL 123.0 Summerville, and 147.045+ /PL 103.5 St George. This is the South Carolina State Convention! I am happy to report that Dan Henderson N1ND from ARRL HQ will be attending the hamfest! Dan is the Regulatory Services Specialist from ARRL HQ and will give a presentation at the ARRL forum-and for you DX’ers, Dan is a certified ARRL QSL card checker, and will be handling QSL card checking at the ARRL table! John Crockett KC4YI will also be giving a presentation on the SCHEARTS system at the ARRL forum, so be sure to be there! Please make plans to attend the Charleston Hamfest, the South Carolina State Convention!

Each month, Brian KR4SP, ACC provides a report about club activities throughout South Carolina. I encourage all to take a look at his report. I also encourage all who write newsletters for their club and/or run club websites to send Brian their monthly information at kr4sp-1@juno.com . Brian indicates he is unable to obtain broadband internet coverage at his location, so reviewing changes in club websites is very time consuming. Any help he can receive would be greatly appreciated! If you read Brian’s report, please send him an e-mail thanking him for his efforts!

April 7^th will mark the 50^th anniversary of the South Carolina Sideband Net! Jim WB4DLD Net Manager would like to pass on the following information:

We are planning a very special Net for the 7th which is on Monday. Place this date on your calendar and check-in.

On April 5th which is the Saturday prior to the 7th at Noon, we are going to have a meeting in Columbia to celebrate our 50th Anniversary.

What we need you to do is let us know if you will be attending. Right now we need to poll you and see what type of facility we will need. Whether it be a Restaurant or a facility with a caterer. Our intentions will be a Dutch Meal at a restaurant or a Catered meal. Expected cost would be limited to about 10 bucks a person.

We encourage you to bring your Spouse and include your family if you like or a friend.

Give your total count to Jim WB4DLD or Tom WA4VYS as soon as possible if you believe you will attend.

Once we have an idea on how many to expect we can firm up our reservations with a meeting place and offer more details.

This is a special time for all of our Net Participants and you will not want to miss being there.

The 2008 Sandhills Sandblast will be held Saturday February 9th. Volunteers are needed to provide communications along the course. To volunteer, contact John Eskridge, KD4VIF, at KD4VIF@yahoo.com or Tommy Hyatt, KD4ZMR, at hyatttmm@schaeffler.com. Volunteers will also need to check in at the net control location in Patrick. T-shirts will be handed out to volunteers here. You need to check in and be at your assigned location at least an hour prior to the start of your race stage. That really means check in at Patrick as soon after 7AM as you can. The race organizers will hold a drawing for a new Icom V-8000 drawn from the names of the hams participating in the event during the Awards ceremony; you do not need to be present to win. Additional information can be obtained by visiting the website at www.sandblastrally.com.

As more hams are volunteering to support hospitals in South Carolina as trained communicators, my local hospital is in need of more amateur radio operators. Training classes are currently being offered at Aiken Regional Medical Centers. If you live in Aiken County or nearby and interested in supporting this hospital, please contact James Tarpley KN4UE, TS at kn4ue@gforcecable.com .

Marc N4UFP, TC brings news that Tyler, KT4XD, was nominated as a Systems Administrator for the Winlink Development Team. He and another gentleman from Missouri were the two selected for this role. This is truly an honor, as this team has received ‘Honorable Mention” from Congress and the FCC. Anyone interested in knowing more about Winlink can check out the home site for Winlink: www.winlink.org . You will see the contributors at the bottom of the home page.

I wish to congratulate Aiken County’s Emergency Management Director KI4DLR on his upgrade to General Class. I am fortunate to be in a county where both EMD directors are hams!

December 2007 National Traffic System Report for SC by Mac Heaton N4MEH, STM

Net Reports

Net/Check Ins/Traffic/Sessions/Reported By
Anderson Radio Club 2M Net/812/34/31/N4MEH
Blue Ridge Amateur Radio Net /2400/33/31/K4SUG
Carolina's Net/237/151/62/W2EAG
Carolina Slow Net/252/25/31/N0SU
Columbia ARC 2 Meter Net/198/0/9/KE4TLC
Grand Strand ARC 2M Net/119/13/12/KI4HEE
Greater Pee Dee 2 Meter Net/707/40/31/K4DTT
Greenwood ARC 2 Meter Net/119/4/4/W4DEW
Greenwood Friendly Net/370/60/30/W4JAK
Lancaster County 2 Meter Net/105/18/11/N4WMB
Oconee 2M Net/273/20/13/N9GSX
SC SSB Net/1541/81/29/WB4DLD
York Co. ARS 2 Meter FM Net/671/2/47/KI4NBA

Station Activity Reports
Station/Sent/Received/Delivered/Originated/Total
KA4LRM/0/7/6/0/13
WB4DLD/2/29/3/2/36
N4MEH/7/42/7/2/58

Public Service Honor Roll
Station/Cat1/Cat2/Cat3/Cat4/Cat5/Cat6/Total
KA4LRM/40/13/20/0/0/0/73
N4MEH/40/40/20/0/0/0/100

’73 de Dr. Jim N2ZZ
ARRL Section Manager
South Carolina Section
www.arrl-sc.org

The 35^th annual Charleston Hamfest, the South Carolina State Convention, was held on February 2^nd. Dan Henderson N1ND, Regulatory Services Specialist from ARRL Headquarters attended the hamfest, and added his humorous and informative report at the ARRL Forum. John KC4YI also gave a report on the current status of the SCHEARTS project. Dan provided QSL card checking to the hamfest attendees, including yours truly! I asked the hamfest chair, Jenny WA4NGV about her impressions, and she was very pleased with the turnout. Prior to the ARRL Forum, Rodney Grim WA7ZIA from ICOM gave a talk on D*STAR. Rodney is now living in the greater Charleston Area. Information I received this weekend was that Rodney will be donating three D*STAR repeaters (VHF, UHF and 1.2 Gig) which will be placed on a tower at MUSC. Thanks to all for a great hamfest!

Although mentioned last month, I would like to again note that April 7^th will mark the 50^th anniversary of the South Carolina Sideband Net! Jim WB4DLD Net Manager would like to pass on the following information:

We are planning a very special Net for the 7th which is on Monday. Place this date on your calendar and check-in.

On April 5th which is the Saturday prior to the 7th at Noon, we are going to have a meeting in Columbia to celebrate our 50th Anniversary.

We encourage you to bring your Spouse and include your family if you like or a friend.

Give your total count to Jim WB4DLD or Tom WA4VYS as soon as possible if you believe you will attend.

Once we have an idea on how many to expect we can firm up our reservations with a meeting place and offer more details.

This is a special time for all of our Net Participants and you will not want to miss being there.

Last month I reported on the Sandblast Rally, held on February 9^th. I received a nice note from Gene WA4UKX. Both Gene and his son KG4HPW thoroughly enjoyed their participation in the Sandblast Rally, and from his notes passed 212 pieces of traffic during the rally! Congratulations and thanks to all who volunteered for this event!

The Salkehatchie Amateur Radio Society will be presenting a program March 18^th on Fox Hunting. K4GLP from North Carolina will be the speaker and will answer all questions on everything you wanted to know about Fox Hunting. Program will begin about 2000 in the metal building behind Barnwell First Baptist Church. For questions, contact Ray Thomas rosewoodco@tds.net .

50th Anniversary of the Accidental Nuclear Bomb drop, Mars Bluff, SC, Special Event Station March 7 - 12, 2008, http//www.qrz.com/n4b: March 11, 1958, Florence, South Carolina -a B-47E accidentally jettisoned an unarmed nuclear weapon without its fissile core at 15,000 feet, which impacted in a sparsely populated area 6-1/2 miles east of Florence, South Carolina. The bomb's high explosive material exploded on impact, causing property damage and several injuries. This was the first town in America to have a Nuclear Bomb dropped on it. More Info? http://tinyurl.com/2zs9vq ; Video clip http://tinyurl.com/2fdu7x ; 28.330 14.290 7.263 3.920 146.850 MHz. SSB, CW, PSK, FM. Times are daily. Other frequencies may be used. QSL with SASE to N3ZL, Greg Davis, 3818 Colonial Rd Florence SC 29501.

The official 2008 ARRL Field Day Web page http://www.arrl.org/FieldDay is up and running. The page includes a summary of available resources, with links to Field Day forms and rules, logos and reference links. There is also a link for ordering commemorative Field Day T-shirts, pins and other supplies. ARRL Sales and Marketing Manager Bob Inderbitzen NQ1R said supplies will begin shipping in early March, but it's not too early to place a pre-order now. Radio clubs are encouraged to order early.

The Saluda County Emergency Management Division along with state/local agencies in Aiken, Greenwood and Lexington counties took part in COMMO-EX 2008 on Saturday, February, 16th. COMMO-EX 2008 was a joint communication exercise simulating a large scale coastal evacuation due to an impending hurricane approaching SC. Various communication technologies from ham radio to South Carolina’s statewide "Palmetto 800" radio system were utilized in Saturday’s exercise. Amateur radio operators from Aiken, Greenwood, Lexington, McCormick, Richland and Saluda counties came together as members of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES). Ham radio units were stationed on SC Hwy 178 throughout Greenwood, Lexington and Saluda counties to monitor and report actual traffic data. The amateur radio operators demonstrated their skills at passing messages by radio waves from the field sites to the county Emergency Operations Centers (EOC) and the State EOC in Columbia. According to Buddy Willis, Saluda County’s amateur radio Emergency Coordinator, Saturday’s exercise was "a huge success." Robert Steadman, Saluda County Emergency Management Director echoed Willis’s comments: "The lessons learned from COMMO-EX 2008 will benefit not only the agencies that participated but will also benefit public safety agencies throughout South Carolina." Agencies participating in the exercise included Aiken County Emergency Management Division, Greenwood County Emergency Preparedness Division, Greenwood Amateur Radio Society, Lexington County Emergency Management Division, Ridge Amateur Radio Club, Saluda County Emergency Management Division, Saluda County Sheriff’s Office, Saluda County Fire Service, SC Department of Public Safety and the SC Emergency Management Division.

DX’ers had a special treat this month. The VP6DX Ducie Island DXPedition has been all over the HF bands with excellent signals and excellent operators. With the ability to work them mobile and QRP, it was no longer a question on whether it was possible to work them, it was the question as to how many bands/modes you could work them! Many records have been set, including the largest number of contacts made by any DXPedition (>168,723!), Largest number of RTTY contacts, Largest number of SSB contacts, and the list goes on and on. Information is available on their website: http://ducie2008.dl1mgb.com/ . Online logs are available!

Finally, I attended the QCWA meeting in Columbia this past Saturday, presided over by Chapter 89’s President Jenny Myers WA4NGV. I encourage all amateur radio operators who have been licensed over 25 years to become part of this organization! Dues are reasonable and the fellowship is outstanding! Please contact Jim Hill mfhill@bellsouth.net or Jenny Myers brycemyers@aol.com for membership information.

January 2008 National Traffic System Report for SC by Mac Heaton N4MEH, STM

Net Reports
Net/Check Ins/Traffic/Sessions/Reported By
Anderson Radio Club 2M Net/852/32/31/N4MEH
Beaufort VHF ARES Net/50/5/4/KB1CTC
Blue Ridge Amateur Radio Net /2549/43/31/K4SUG
Carolina Slow Net/157/24/31/N0SU
Columbia ARC 2 Meter Net/226/0/9/KE4TLC
Grand Strand ARC 2M Net/170/18/14/KI4HEE
Greater Pee Dee 2 Meter Net/558/46/31/K4DTT
Greenwood ARC 2 Meter Net/137/5/5/W4DEW
Greenwood Friendly Net/392/66/31/W4JAK
Lancaster County 2 Meter Net/112/14/13/N4WMB
Oconee 2M Net/316/21/13/N9GSX
PALS Net/862/74/31/KG4KOE
SC SSB Net/1523/78/31/WB4DLD
York Co. ARS 2 Meter FM Net/765/0/53/KI4NBA

Station Activity Reports
Station/Sent/Received/Delivered/Originated/Total
KA4LRM/4/14/3/0/21
KA4UIV/10/28/19/0/57
K4GLT/94/104/9/0/207
N4MEH/9/43/7/4/63
WB4DLD/3/41/12/3/59

Public Service Honor Roll
Station/Cat. 1/Cat. 2/Cat. 3/Cat. 4/Cat. 5/Cat. 6/Total
KA4LRM/31/21/20/0/0/0/72
N4MEH/40/40/20/0/0/0/100

’73 de Dr. Jim N2ZZ
ARRL Section Manager
South Carolina Section
www.arrl-sc.org

The South Carolina Sideband Net 50^th anniversary net meeting will be held at Leaphart Elementary School, I-26 Exit #104 Piney Grove Road West, 120 Piney Grove Road (on the Left), Columbia, SC on April 5^th, 2008 11am-2pm. Dress will be casual, and Bar-B-Q will be catered by Shealy’s: $11 adult, $5 under 12. Riley Hollingsworth of the FCC will be the guest speaker. The deadline for reservations was March 16^th, but as of last week, Ms. Emmie was still collecting for the meeting. Checks should be made payable to the SC SSB Net and sent to KA4LRM, Emmie Patience, 332 Haynie Mill Road, Belton, SC 29627. Hope to see everyone there! According to Jim WB4DLD, SC SSB Net Manager, 75-80 are expected to attend (so far)! Be sure to attend the 50^th anniversary net session on 3915 kHz on Monday April 7^th at 1900 EDT as well!

Congratulations to the Beaufort Amateur Radio Club, our newest ARRL Affiliated Club in South Carolina! They have just received news that their application has been approved by the ARRL Executive Committee, and their date of affiliation was March 15^th, 2008. Again, Congratulations!

A note from Jim N4GSA, President of the Grand Strand Amateur Radio Club: Fellow hams, the GSARC will be installing PL (tone) on all of our repeaters effective the first week of April 2008. The tone is 85.4 Hz for all our repeaters. When you come to the beach, all are welcome to use our repeaters. We have four (4) repeaters on the air: 145.110, 147.12, 147.33, and 444.675. The 145.11 and 444.675 are located at Conway, SC (400'). The 147.12 is located in the N Myrtle Beach area on the beach (100'). The 147.33 is located in the Murrells Inlet area (700'). Please feel free to use our repeaters and check out our club web site at: http://www.w4gs.org.

Saturday March 15^th was the day that tornadoes ripped through South Carolina. Charlie AE4UX, SEC forwarded this report to me: Tornadoes tore through South Carolina on Saturday March 15, 2008. The damage was severe. Seventy houses were destroyed. Eighty-nine houses received major damage. Three Hundred Sixty-six houses had minor damage. Electrical power outages were widespread. There were many major roads blocked by fallen trees. It could have been worse. People could have been killed. The National Weather Service (NWS) did a good job of identifying the tornadoes in time to get out warnings that undoubtedly saved lives. They used their Doppler Weather Radar and on the ground reports from SKYWARN spotters to accurately identify the tornadoes before they hit. After storm inspections by NWS meteorologists showed that 17 tornadoes had hit. The most powerful was the EF-3 that struck Newberry, SC. Several EF-2 tornadoes struck in other areas. The EF-2 that hit Bath, SC just East of Augusta, GA, destroyed 12 houses and caused major damage to 50 others. Numerous large trees and the town’s water tower lid were brought to the ground. The town’s water supply became contaminated. One of the large trees that became uprooted severed a large water main as the tree fell. The school children got a surprise school holiday because of the water outage. Amateur radio operators were called into action throughout the state as the bad weather approached. SKYWARN nets were activated for each of National Weather Service offices. At first the reports were of the normal high winds knocking down some branches. That was replaced by reports of hail. Then came the reports of quarter size hail. We all knew that this was getting serious. Almost immediately, the weather radios alarmed, the television alert systems broke into the regular program schedules with warnings that tornadoes were here. Fortunately, those warnings were taken seriously. Nobody was killed. After the storms passed, amateur radio operators helped get response resources where they were needed. Trees were blocking roads into damage areas. Art Patterson, KE4EAN, reported the deployment of the Red Cross ERV to Newberry. Bob Besley, K4NJN, reported the deployment of the ARES Communications Trailer to Bath. Willie Turner, KG4ETE, reported that it took all day to clear the more than 100 trees down on highway 278 near Allendale. Shelters were opened near each of the damage areas. EOCs were opened to coordinate responses. Each time, Amateur radio operators answered the call and were there to help. Brian Fletcher, K6NWS, DEC for the Charleston area reported that the partially completed SCHEART linkable repeater system was used to enable wide area communication. Columbia and Charleston NWS offices were able to use the system for coordination. Bob Hawkins, KI4HEE, Reported that Horry County (Myrtle Beach) SKYWARN was activated and reporting. Dennis Zabawa KG4RUL PIC, reported on the Berkley County SKYWARN and post event shelter and EOC operations. Fortunately many of the normal communications remained intact. That allowed many amateur radio responders to cease operations. Some remained in the field to support recovery operations. The ARES communications trailer was requested for support in Bath until Monday evening. The Aiken County Sheriff, Michael Hunt, found the trailer and the amateur radio operators enhanced his ability to deal with the problem. He said that he would be calling again. Although not all participants’ call-signs were reported, here are the calls for the ones that were: AC4IH, AE4UX, AG4IM, AI4WB, K4AOC, K4NJN, K4SHP, K6NWS, KA1DF, KB4GYT, KB7QVG, KE4EAN, KG4ETE, KG4RUL, KI4DLR, KI4FFC, KI4HEE, KI4LXH, KI4UIW, KI4UIW, KR4QO, N4ADM, N4JZH, W4LNY, and WA7TSP.

For those going to the Dayton Hamvention this year, it looks like construction is at an all time high! A message from ROB WB8UEY, Hamvention Talk-in Chairman: I am the chairman of the Talk-In committee for the 2008 Dayton Hamvention. I am sending this out to as many sources I can think of to get the word out. We have been hit with the orange barrels REAL bad this year and it could get real interesting. We have plenty of alternatives, but a couple of main paths to Hamvention that folks may be used to taking are not so appealing this year. If you have any questions feel free to contact me. The number listed below is my cell. It has free incoming and is with me 24-7. The only caution there is that both buildings I work in have very poor cell coverage so you may have to leave a message and I WILL call back. - Rob Lunsford KB8UEY, Committee Chairman Talk-In, Hamvention 2008 (937) 241-1861. Thanks to Mac Heaton N4MEH for forwarding this information to me.

My best wishes to Dennis KG4RUL, PIC. Dennis just had his Right Kidney removed laparoscopically at MUSC on March 18^th. The surgery went well, and Dennis returned home the next afternoon. He reports that he is doing well, and will continue to fully function as our Public Information Coordinator!

February 2008 National Traffic System Report for SC by Mac Heaton N4MEH, STM

Net Reports
Net/Check Ins/Traffic/Sessions/Reported By
Anderson Radio Club 2M Net/915/29/29/N4MEH
Beaufort VHF ARES Net/35/4/4/KB1CTC
Blue Ridge Amateur Radio Net /2295/48/29/K4SUG
Carolina's Net/296/114/56/W2EAG
Carolina Slow Net/153/17/29/N0SU
Grand Strand ARC 2M Net/148/14/12/KI4HEE
Greater Pee Dee 2 Meter Net/558/48/29/K4DTT
Greenwood ARC 2 Meter Net/108/4/4/W4DEW
Lancaster County 2 Meter Net/87/9/11/N4WMB
Oconee 2M Net/333/13/13/N9GSX
SC SSB Net/1916/95/29/WB4DLD
York Co. ARS 2 Meter FM Net/614/0/47/KI4NBA

Station Activity Reports
Station/Sent/Received/Delivered/Originated/Total
KA4LRM/7/15/1/0/23
KA4UIV/23/29/16/0/57
K4GLT/63/60/0/0/123
N4MEH/31/51/3/5/90
W4WVO/2/3/3/2/10
WB4DLD/4/35/7/4/50

Public Service Honor Roll
Station/Cat1/Cat2/Cat3/Cat4/Cat5/Cat6/Total
N4MEH/40/40/20/0/0/0/100

’73 de Dr. Jim N2ZZ
ARRL Section Manager
South Carolina Section
www.arrl-sc.org

Our next hamfest will be the Upstate Hamfest on May 3^rd at the Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds in Spartanburg. The hamfest is sponsored by the Blue Ridge Amateur Radio Society and is the ARRL South Carolina Section Convention! There will be an ARRL forum, and Penny Harts, N1NAG will be visiting from ARRL Headquarters. Penny will be making a presentation at the ARRL forum, and I have asked John Crockett KC4YI to give an update on the SCHEART system. I will be unable to attend the hamfest, as I will be at my daughter’s college graduation in Florida that day. My thanks to Bob Bacharach WA2EMF, ASM2 and Marc Tarplee N4UFP, TC who will be filling in for me. For further information on the hamfest, go to the BRARS hamfest site: http://www.upstatehamfest.org/

The Shelby Hamfest is moving! In recent years, the Shelby Amateur Radio Club has had a great deal of difficulty in dealing with the Cleveland (NC) county fairground officials in negotiating a contract for the use of the fairgrounds during their hamfest, held each year on Labor Day weekend. This year, a non-negotiable contract presented to the club by the fairground commission prompted the club to end their fifty year Cleveland county tradition and move their hamfest to nearby Gaston County in Dallas, NC. The hamfest will be held at Biggerstaff Park, which is located twenty miles East of Shelby and three miles North of I-85 on NC HWY 279 (Dallas Cherryville Highway). The park offers 100 acres of beautiful park settings and amenities. For further information, go to their website: http://www.shelbyhamfest.org/ .

While on the topic of hamfests, the Dayton HAMVENTION will be held on May 16, 17 and 18^th, and the ARRL EXPO will be in full force! For information on the hamfest, go to http://hamvention.org/ and for the ARRL EXPO, go to http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/04/26/10062/?nc=1 . If you have never attended the Dayton Hamvention, please give it a try! It is an experience you won’t forget! In regards to the heavy construction this year on the Dayton roads, check out http://www.hamvention.org/hv2008/media/trafficnews.html before you start your trip!

My congratulations to the South Carolina Sideband Net for their 50 years of service to Amateur Radio Operators and the people of South Carolina! The net luncheon was held at Leaphart Elementary school on April 5^th. Jim WB4DLD, Net Manager held the meeting, and Riley Hollngsworth was the guest speaker! Multiple presentations were given throughout the meeting, including recognition of all the Net Control Stations. The new Net Manager of the SC SSB net will be Bill, W4DDK with Kelly, K4GLT as his assistant. All participants in the net received a 50^th anniversary Net Roster, either at the meeting, or in the mail. Thanks to Miss Emmie KA4LRM, Tom WA4VYS and all others for the contributions and work in making this Net Roster a reality! The 50^th anniversary net was held on Monday, April 7^th, 50 years after the original net held on the same date in 1958! All participants of this net session were sent a handsome certificate in the mail!

I mentioned last month that our newest ARRL affiliated club is the Beaufort Amateur Radio Club. I had the pleasure of personally presenting their ARRL Club Charter at their Charter Party Celebration on April 19^th in Beaufort. Congratulations, and thanks for your hospitality during my visit!

The quarterly update on the SCHEART is now available, and is listed on the home page of the www.arrl-sc.org website. John Crockett KC4YI reports that a new website for SCHEART is now up and running. The address is www.scheart.us . There is an update on the front page with new information on phase three of the linked repeater project. Page two contains the repeater link status map which indicates which repeaters are currently linked.

Ken N2IXX, ASM3 reports that the first Columbia Tailgate Party held on Saturday April 12^th was a rousing success! Bob AE4FA was the event coordinator, and reports that approximately 75 amateur radio operators participated, and there was a large variety of equipment and components available. Sales (not including trades) amounted to at least $2000, but probably more. Congratulations to all for a great event!

An unusual and exciting opportunity has arisen for the South Carolina Section! I was notified by Dave Sumner K1ZZ, ARRL CEO that the Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) are interested in a demonstration of Amateur Radio during Canadian-American week in Myrtle Beach in March, 2009. The purpose of this event is to demonstrate that during a communications disruption, Amateur Radio could be used to put Canadians visiting Myrtle Beach back in touch with their families back in Canada. Matt AF4UZ, EC Horry County has agreed to be the primary contact and one of the primary organizers of this event. Matt presented information on this opportunity to the Grand Strand Amateur Radio Club who voted unanimously to support the event! RAC will be applying for grants from the Canadian Government for financial backing. Thanks to all, and this is going to be an exciting international event!

This month I was informed about a bill introduced to the SC Senate which looks to prohibit the use of “Wireless Communication Devices” in moving vehicles. This bill was introduced by Senator Knotts. The full text of the bill is as follows:

A BILL TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 56-1-55 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT IT IS UNLAWFUL FOR A PERSON TO OPERATE A MOTOR VEHICLE WHILE USING A CELLULAR TELEPHONE, PAGER, PERSONAL DIGITAL ASSISTANT DEVICE, OR ANOTHER WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE THAT IS NOT EQUIPPED WITH A HANDS-FREE MECHANISM, TO PROVIDE A PENALTY FOR A VIOLATION OF THIS PROVISION, AND TO PROVIDE THAT THIS SECTION DOES NOT APPLY TO LAW ENFORCEMENT, EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SERVICE, AND FIRE DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS AND PERSONNEL WHEN THEY ARE PERFORMING THEIR OFFICIAL DUTIES.

This bill was introduced on 2/20/08 and was immediately referred to the Committee on Transportation. This has serious implications for amateur radio operators, particularly those involved in ARES functions. I ask that EVERYONE contact their legislators by phone, fax and/or e-mail to add federally licensed Amateur Radio Operators as an exception to this bill. Those legislators on the Committee on Transportation can be found on the bottom of the SC committee page: http://www.scstatehouse.net/html-pages/senatecommlst.html#tra

Amateur Radio was involved in a large scale drill by the National Guard in Beaufort this past week. Operation Vigilant Guard is a formal, regional emergency drill sponsored by the Department of Defense. South Carolina ARES was asked by the host agency, Beaufort County Emergency Management Department, to provide primary communications for two venues and back-up communications as needed anywhere in the state. The SCHEART linked repeater system was activated and performed “flawlessly”. Congratulations to all involved in the exercise!

March 2008 National Traffic System Report for South Carolina by Mac Heaton N4MEH, STM:

Net Reports
Net/Check Ins/Traffic/Sessions/Reported By
Anderson Radio Club 2M Net/768/17/26/N4MEH
Blue Ridge Amateur Radio Net /2675/40/31/K4SUG
Carolina's Net/289/146/59/W2EAG
Carolina Slow Net/149/21/29/N0SU
Columbia ARC 2 Meter Net/243/0/27/KE4TLC
Grand Strand ARC 2M Net/165/14/13/KI4HEE
Greater Pee Dee 2 Meter Net/685/36/31/K4DTT
Greenwood ARC 2 Meter Net/119/5/4/W4DEW
Greenwood Friendly Net/367/51/30/W4JAK
Lancaster County 2 Meter Net/117/9/11/N4WMB
Oconee 2M Net/348/17/13/N9GSX
SC SSB Net/2072/109/31/WB4DLD
York Co. ARS 2 Meter FM Net/709/2/53/KI4NBA

Station Activity Reports
Station/Sent/Received/Delivered/Originated/Total
KA4LRM/9/15/8/0/32
KA4UIV/20/22/11/0/53
K4GLT/92/86/1/0/179
N4MEH/4/62/3/3/72
WB4DLD/8/36/6/8/58

Public Service Honor Roll
Station/Cat1/Cat2/Cat3/Cat4/Cat5/Cat6/Total
KA4LRM/45/0/0/8/0/20/73
N4MEH/40/40/20/0/0/0/100

’73 de Dr. Jim N2ZZ
ARRL Section Manager
South Carolina Section
www.arrl-sc.org

The Upstate Hamfest was held on May 3^rd at the Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds in Spartanburg. The hamfest was sponsored by the Blue Ridge Amateur Radio Society and was the 2008 ARRL South Carolina Section Convention! I was unable to attend as I was at my daughter’s graduation in Sarasota that day. Marc Tarplee N4UFP, TC filled in for me, and sent this report: Weather for this year's Upstate Hamfest in Spartanburg was warm and partly sunny and certainly a big improvement over last year. The ARRL forum included a delightful presentation from ARRL's Penny Harts N1NAG about the League and its services. John Crockett KC4YI also reported on the progress of the SCHEART project and shared the URL of the new web page: http://www.scheart.us/ . I thank Marc and Penny for holding the ARRL forum, and wish the best for Bob Bacharach WA2EMF, ASM2 who was unable to attend due to medical reasons.

While on the topic of hamfests, the Dayton HAMVENTION was held on May 16, 17 and 18^th, and the ARRL EXPO again was in full force! Katie Breen W1KRB of ARRL HQ was the EXPO Coordinator this year, and put together an excellent event. Katie is the ARRL Membership manager and is a human dynamo! She is very progressive and added a new dimension to the ARRL! Would you ever expect to see someone from ARRL HQ with their own MySpace Page about their love of Amateur Radio? Go to www.myspace.com and search W1KRB, and you’ll see what I mean!

The ARRL Section Managers forum was held on Saturday, and we had presentations from a number of ARRL HQ staffers. One of the breaking news items was from Dennis Dura K2DCD, Manager of Emergency Preparedness and Response of the ARRL. It concerned the Red Cross and their new policy of background checks. The Red Cross reviewed their policy of background checks as related to Amateur Radio operators, and their decisions will pave the way for a new MOU between the Red Cross and the ARRL. The official statement from Harold Kramer WJ1B, COO of the ARRL is as follows: Thank you for your email (or telephone call) concerning the American Red Cross' background check policy. While we believe that the Red Cross is implementing some changes that will address some of the concerns expressed to them by ARRL, at this point, it is work in process. There are many questions yet to be answered, but we believe that the Red Cross is progressing in good faith to complete the changes to their policy and their background check consent form, which was the primary concern expressed to the Red Cross by ARRL. There will be more clarifications and information in the near future. Please keep an eye on the ARRL web site for updates as we know them. We are very much aware of your concerns and have conveyed them to the Red Cross. We expect the Red Cross to address these and other concerns on subject of their background check policy in the near future.

I did have the pleasure of being a co-moderator for a private Section Manager session held after the official meeting, discussing a number of issues currently facing section managers.

Allen Pitts W1AGP, ARRL Media and Public Relations manager, announced his new public relations campaign at the ARRL EXPO. It highlights the Technical aspects of Amateur Radio, and is known as “We DO That!” This comes on the heels of his two previous public relations campaigns, “Hello” and “Ham Radio – Getting the Message Through” For more information, visit the ARRL websites for these programs, respectively WeDoThat-Radio.org , hello-radio.org, and Emergency-Radio.org .

On a more somber note, Riley Hollingsworth, Special Counsel in the FCC Spectrum Enforcement Division, has announced plans to retire from his post in early July. His successor has not been named, but he assures us that the FCC’s Amateur Radio Enforcement program will continue. We can only hope that his successor has his vision and love for the future of Amateur Radio. The full ARRL news story is available here: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/05/20/10106/?nc=1

The ARRL has just released the 2008 ARRL Foundation Scholarship winners, and I see we have two recipients in our section. Andrew Cwalina WA4JJZ received the Scholarship of the Morris Radio Club of New Jersey ($1000) and Gregory Davis N3ZL received the Northern California DX Foundation Scholarship ($1500). Congratulations to both!

There have been a number of hams wanting to visit the Aiken County Communications Trailer. Here is a unique opportunity offered by Bob K4NJN ASM6 and Coordinator for the Aiken County Communications Trailer:

The Communications Trailer Group from Aiken has had several requests to view the communications trailer since we have had the new up-grade completed. Because diesel has approached the $5 mark, we are unable to bring it around as freely as we have in the past. Therefore.....We are inviting hams from all over South Carolina and Georgia to join us for a breakfast in Aiken on Saturday, June 14, 2007. We will meet for breakfast and fellowship at 8am and then will walk across the street where we will have the trailer set up, and be in a position to provide you a little training on the operation and set-up of the vehicle. We will be on site for a couple of hours.

Breakfast and fellowship at 8am (Hardees), then we will all walk across the street and play with the trailer. We will be setting up antennas, deploying the satellite, and demonstrating all of our capabilities.

April 2008 National Traffic System Report for South Carolina by Mac Heaton N4MEH, STM

Net Reports
Net/Check Ins/Traffic/Sessions/Reported By
Anderson Radio Club 2M Net/981/46/30/N4MEH
Blue Ridge Amateur Radio Net /2460/43/30/K4SUG
Carolina's Net/304/162/60/W2EAG
Columbia ARC 2 Meter Net/262/0/9/KE4TLC
Grand Strand ARC 2M Net/173/13/13/KI4HEE
Greater Pee Dee 2 Meter Net/727/41/30/K4DTT
Greenwood ARC 2 Meter Net/121/4/4/W4DEW
Greenwood Friendly Net/370/49/30/W4JAK
Lancaster County 2 Meter Net/130/10/12/N4WMB
Oconee 2M Net/373/18/13/N9GSX
SC SSB Net/2351/100/30/W4DDK
York Co. ARS 2 Meter FM Net/734/1/49/KI4NBA

Station Activity Reports
Station/Sent/Received/Delivered/Originated/Total
KA4LRM/11/11/5/0/27
K4GLT/59/49/0/0/108
N4MEH/3/52/2/2/59
W4KLB/5/1/3/4/13
W4WVO/3/2/2/3/10

Public Service Honor Roll
Station/Cat1/Cat2/Cat3/Cat4/Cat5/Cat6/Total
KA4LRM/50/0/0/5/20/10/85
N4MEH/40/40/20/0/0/0/100

’73 de Dr. Jim N2ZZ
ARRL Section Manager
South Carolina Section
www.arrl-sc.org

Field Day is almost upon us! Field Day is always the fourth full weekend in June, and will fall on June 28th and 29th this year. Full information on Field Day, including the downloadable Field Day Packet is available on the ARRL Website: http://www.arrl.org/contests/announcements/fd/ . Additionally, this year the ARRL has a Field Day Locator where you can input your Field Day Site location! Charlie AE4UX, SEC and I will be traveling around the state again this year, and would like to hear from groups that would like a visit from us! We have a large state, so we must plan our trip out in advance to visit as many Field Day Sites as possible. For those who would like us to visit, we ask the following from each site's Field Day Coordinator: 1) Please let us know the time you plan to set up/tear down, and whether you will be participating BOTH Saturday and Sunday, or just one day. 2) Please give us detailed driving directions as well as a street address and/or coordinates to input into a GPS. 3) Please register your site on the ARRL webpage 4) Please include contact information for your group, either a call and repeater/simplex talk-in or a Cell phone number. We hope to be taking a different route this year to visit sites we have not visited in the last few years. We will need to start out early, so we may arrive just at the beginning of set-up at our first site! Charlie and I really enjoy our Field Day trip each year, and look forward with visiting with everyone! Please let us know as soon as possible. Please send all information to n2zz@arrl.org AND ae4ux@arrl.net . Charlie will be finalizing our route about a week before Field Day.

We have heard from several groups already, so Charlie is currently working on our route. Thanks to all who have replied to us so far!

The public viewing of the Aiken County Communications Trailer was held this past Saturday. Bob Besley K4NJN, ASM6 and Trailer Coordinator had this to say:

“The Aiken Communications Trailer made a public appearance at the O’Dell Weeks Park in Aiken on Saturday, June 14. The presentation, open to the public and to amateurs from South Carolina and Eastern Georgia drew a large crowd. The trailer group was able to demonstrate setting up the vehicle, and showing how the team operates as a significant part of the South Carolina Hurricane / Disaster Response Team. The morning started with a breakfast at Hardees, where there was a great deal of good food and fellowship. Following this casual meeting, everyone walked across the street and was given a tour and demonstration of the new Satellite, Telephone and VOIP upgrades to the trailer. Many in attendance had never been given the opportunity to see the trailer in operation, and to actually operate from this Homeland Security, Federally Funded Vehicle, The morning was a great success and will be followed with another demonstration next Saturday, June 21, as the group Operates ARRL Kids Day. The trailer will be set up again in the O Dell Weeks Recreation Center parking lot, 1700 Whiskey Road, and will be open for public viewing from 9am to 12 noon. Everyone is invited.”

I was unable to attend the June 14th event as I was on the other side of the state at a medical conference. I plan to be participating on June 21^st, so I hope to see all those interested in viewing the trailer this weekend! For those interested in viewing the Trailer’s website, go to http://aikenradio.com/index.html

The Palmetto State Chapter #89 QCWA quarterly meeting will be held at Ryan’s, 1304 Bower Parkway [exit 104 off I-26], Columbia, SC on Saturday, June 21, at 11:00 AM.

May 2008 National Traffic System Report for South Carolina by Mac Heaton N4MEH, STM:

Net Reports
Net/Check Ins/Traffic/Sessions/Reported By: Anderson Radio Club 2M
Net/861/42/30/N4MEH Beaufort VHF ARES Net/190/6/4/KE4RVF Blue Ridge Amateur
Radio Net /2290/40/30/K4SUG Carolina's Net/289/146/59/W2EAG Carolina Slow
Net/133/24/31/N0SU Columbia ARC 2 Meter Net/202/0/8/KE4TLC Grand Strand ARC
2M Net/137/13/12/KI4HEE Greater Pee Dee 2 Meter Net/844/51/31/K4DTT
Greenwood ARC 2 Meter Net/149/8/5/W4DEW Greenwood Friendly
Net/341/52/30/W4JAK Lancaster County 2 Meter Net/127/10/13/N4WMB Oconee 2M
Net/316/13/13/N9GSX PALS Net (February 08)/721/43/29/KG4KOE PALS Net (March
08)/794/48/31/KG4KOE PALS Net (April 08)/759/42/30/KG4KOE SC SSB
Net/2074/70/31/W4DDK York Co. ARS 2 Meter FM Net/819/2/56/KI4NBA

Station Activity Reports
Station/Sent/Received/Delivered/Originated/Total
KA4LRM/0/17/16/0/33
KA4UIV/21/18/12/0/51
K4GLT/62/53/0/0/115
N4MEH/8/67/5/2/80
W4DDK/3/34/1/3/41
W4KLB/0/50/4/4/18

Public Service Honor Roll
Station/Cat1/Cat2/Cat3/Cat4/Cat5/Cat6/Total
KA4LRM/35/33/20/0/0/0/86
N4MEH/40/40/20/0/0/0/100

’73 de Dr. Jim N2ZZ
ARRL Section Manager
South Carolina Section
www.arrl-sc.org

Field Day was fantastic this year! Charlie AE4UX, SEC and I had our annual trip around South Carolina visiting Field Day sites, something we look forward to each year! We took a new route this year, covering 690 miles and 11 Field day sites! As I mention and remind myself each year, South Carolina is a large state. We focused on visiting a number of sites in the upstate, but found that the non-interstate roads took quite a while to navigate. Additionally, timing was a big factor. Twenty Four hours is not much time for travel. For those who responded to my initial request for a visit and did not see us, please respond again next year! The sites we did visit were: Greenwood, Anderson, Pickens, Greer, Blue Ridge, Columbia, Coastal, Beaufort, MUSC, Charleston and Trident ARC. All sites had an interesting story. Greenwood was fortunate to have a yard sale going on within sight of the operating positions, so there were a number of onlookers and some visitors who otherwise would have not had the opportunity to experience Amateur Radio. Our next site, Anderson, was one that was a bit difficult for us to find, but a call to Brian KR4SP, ACC directed us to their location. A surprise to me was to see Rev. Les K4NK, our immediate past Vice Director. I noticed a fresh scar visible through his buttoned shirt. Les was three weeks out from a triple coronary bypass operation! He is doing well, and just came to visit. He is undergoing cardiac rehabilitation now, but was ready to preach his sermons the following day! Our best to Les! I was also pleased to see Miss Emmie, KA4LRM, and really appreciate her taking all Field Day messages for me on the SC SSB net that night. I was able to listen to the net that evening, and conditions were certainly not optimal. Our next site was Pickens, and I was very impressed with the wealth of digital modes that were being used. I had the opportunity to meet their State Representative on our visit as well! Greer had a wonderful location on Lake Robinson, with a great antenna system. Blue Ridge had a great location, with perhaps the farthest spacing between the CW station and the Phone station we had seen on our travels! We appreciated the dinner, and allowing us to be the first in line! Columbia had their first year in their new site, the VERY public Sandhills shopping center! That parking lot was filled, and cars were buzzing by on the main road. From a human interest side, I noticed an area that was roped off and found that the Columbia group found a bird nest on the ground! Other than Mama bird not liking the activity going on, the nest and eggs were safe throughout the weekend! Charlie and I then made the long drive to Point South, where we spent the evening. The following morning, we visited Costal at the Point South KOA. How they ever got that crank up tower through those trees, I’ll never know! Our next stop was Beaufort, with a great setup adjacent to the fire station in Port Royal. The ham with the most Q’s was to win their Field Day mascot. I forgot its name, but when you hit the right button, it does the chicken dance! Congrats to the ham that won that trophy! MUSC was the next on the list. They were set up in a Mass Casualty Tent. Yes, complete with an air conditioning unit! Also notable was the biggest power generator I have ever seen, that was larger than I am tall! The Charleston ARS was surprised to see us, since we usually visit on Saturday evening. It was good to be on the USS Yorktown again, although I don’t think I will ever be able to navigate through that ship on my own to get to their radio room. After a quick lunch, we hit the road to visit our last site. We were nearing 2pm. When we visited the Trident ARC in North Charleston, a thunderstorm was on the way, and they were just packing up. We were unable to visit the Grand Strand or Pee Dee, but Greg Davis N3ZL posted the following TV coverage of their activities on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30QtbCOnKS8 . Thanks to Lloyd KO4L for that information!

Thanks to everyone for their hospitality during our visit, and we will plan on a different route next year to hopefully catch those sites we missed this year. Thanks again to Miss Emmie for taking the Field Day traffic for me, and assisting all the Field Day sites with their NTS message bonus points!

Tom WA4VYS reports that the SC SSB net made the August QST issue (p.61) for their 50 years of service. Again, congratulations to the SC SSB net!

Dennis KG4RUL, PIC reports that the Second Annual TARC tailgate party will be held on August 16^th, 2008 in Moncks Corner. Further information is available on their website: http://tarc.ai4mt.com/Tailgate_Party.htm

June 2008 National Traffic System Report for South Carolina by Mac Heaton N4MEH, STM:

Net Reports
Net/Check Ins/Traffic/Sessions/Reported By
Anderson Radio Club 2M Net/818/34/30/N4MEH
Beaufort VHF ARES Net/36/4/4/W4KLB
Blue Ridge Amateur Radio Net /2187/45/30/K4SUG
Carolina's Net/242/116/57/W2EAG
Columbia ARC 2 Meter Net/245/0/9/KE4TLC
Grand Strand ARC 2M Net/167/14/13/KI4HEE
Greater Pee Dee 2 Meter Net/778/39/30/K4DTT
Greenwood ARC 2 Meter Net/118/4/4/W4DEW
Greenwood Friendly Net/578/46/30/W4JAK
Lancaster County 2 Meter Net/100/13/12/N4WMB
Oconee 2M Net/347/19/13/N9GSX
SC SSB Net/1660/68/30/W4DDK
SC Hearts ARES Net/219/5/6/KE4RVF
York Co. ARS 2 Meter FM Net/840/5/47/KI4NBA

Station Activity Reports
Station/Sent/Received/Delivered/Originated/Total
KA4LRM/0/17/16/0/33
KA4UIV/9/9/7/0/25
K4GLT/55/44/1/0/100
N4MEH/9/52/4/3/68
W4DDK/5/33/2/5/45
W4KLB/14/8/5/6/33

Public Service Honor Roll
Station/Cat1/Cat2/Cat3/Cat4/Cat5/Cat6/Total
KA4LRM/40/40/20/0/0/0/100
N4MEH/40/40/20/0/0/0/100

’73 de Dr. Jim N2ZZ
ARRL Section Manager
South Carolina Section
www.arrl-sc.org