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ARRL South Carolina Section (SC)Section Manager
James F. Boehner, N2ZZ 525 Barnwell Ave Nw Aiken, SC 29801-3939 803-649-7535 n2zz@arrl.org |
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News last updated: Wed, October 22, 2008 at 11:46 PM ET
Greetings to all Amateur Radio Operators. This is Dr. Jim, N2ZZ with the October 2008 South Carolina Section Manager's Report! Please remember that the SC Section website can be found at: www.arrl-sc.org/ where my full SM report will be listed as well as up-to-the-date information on Amateur Radio in South Carolina!
The Fall weather has definitely hit South Carolina! The jackets are out of storage, and heating has replaced air conditioning this month. Still, although temperatures are in the 50's at night, they still are in the 70's during the day! I hope everyone is enjoying the cooler weather!
Every month I send out a section report detailing activities of the ARRL SC section as well as some ARRL national news. This report is e-mailed to all ARRL members who have elected to receive e-mail from the Section Manager/Director via the ARRL. I have been told that the e-mails are difficult to read. Although I do spend time formatting my section reports, most of that formatting is stripped off by the ARRL e-mail server, many times leaving a jumble of sentences that are difficult to follow. I have most control over the formatting on the http://www.arrl-sc.org/arrl_sc_section_news.htm web page. I would recommend going to that page when you receive the section news e-mail, and it will hopefully be much easier to read!
Via my ability to send e-mails to all the ARRL Members in my section, I endeavor to send an e-mail out the day prior to each hamfest. Each time I do so, I receive e-mails requesting why I am sending the information out so late, and a suggestion is given that I send it out at least a week ahead of time. I consider hamfests very important events, and I have a three-tiered notification system. Whenever a hamfest is approved by ARRL HQ or I receive hamfest information from a group, I add it to the home page of the www.arrl-sc.org website. Second, I add reminders in my section reports about hamfest that are planned in the following month. Third, I send out an e-mail notice about hamfests the day prior to be a final "memory jog" for the hamfest. I encourage everyone to look over the upcoming hamfests on the www.arrl-sc website, and mark your calendars, even if they are not in your area. I see many caravans from distant areas of the state attend hamfests across the state!
Speaking of hamfests, the Rock Hill Hamfest was held on October 4th at the Rock Hill American Legion. I was unable to attend due to hospital call coverage, but Bob Bacharach WA2EMF, ASM2 provided this report:
The Rock Hill Hamfest was held on Saturday October 4, 2008 at the American Legion Hall on Cherry Road in Rock Hill, SC.
The Hamfest, chaired by Cole Ruck, KC4UIG hosted commercial vendors including Lakeview Antennas, the Wireman, AC-DC Electronics, Cedar City Sales, DB&J Radio & Electronics.
Weather was beautiful and the Tailgate sales area was the scene of a good selection of used equipment and accessories. Many sellers reported "selling out" their treasures.
Attendance was down somewhat,a result of the nervous economic climate as well as concerns many had about the ability to purchase gasoline for the trip to the hamfest.
YCARS VE Coordinator, Jason Starnes reported 7 applicants tested, with 4 receiving new Technician class licenses, one Extra and 1 General Class upgrade, none other than Cole Ruck, KC4UIG, our Hamfest Chairman. Congratulations Cole!
Hamfest attendees once again enjoyed fellowship with old friends and meeting new ones!
The York County Amateur Radio Society thanks ARRL for Hamfest sponsorship and is grateful to those who attended.
We remind everyone to look for the next Rock Hill Hamfest on Saturday October 3, 2009.
73,Bob Bacharach WA2EMF
York County Amateur Radio Society
My thanks to Bob for representing the ARRL-SC team at the Rock Hill Hamfest!
The Lake Hartwell Hamfest, sponsored by the Anderson Radio Club, was held on Saturday, October 18th. I was pleased to attend, and had a great time with the many eyeball QSO's! Vendors included the Wireman and Lakeview, as well as a number of tailgaters. The weather cooperated, but by mid morning I had to pull out my heavier jacket! My thanks to the Anderson Radio Club for their sponsorship of the event!
The Sumter "Open Air" Hamfest will be held Saturday October 25th at the Sumter Jaycee Hut, 314 Pine Street in Sumter, SC. This hamfest is sponsored by the Sumter Amateur Radio Association. Talk-in will be on 147.015+, pl 156.7. I hope to see everyone there!
I received a report that the Myrtle Beach Beachfest that was to be held on November 15th and sponsored by the Grand Strand ARC, is officially cancelled. According to Bob Gagliardi N4XML, VP Grand Strand ARC, the decision to cancel the hamfest was based on the current state of the economy which was jeopardizing the decision of ham vendors and the ham community to attend their event. Their plans are to re-evaluate the economy next year and plan accordingly. The tentative date for Beachfest 2009 will be November 14, 2009.
I am sad to report the passing of Emmie Patience, KA4LRM, a long time member and Secretary/Treasurer of the South Carolina Sideband net. Miss Emmie became a Silent Key on September 29th at the AnMed Health Medical Center. She was a nightly check-in on the South Carolina Sideband Net, and was named Sidebander of the Year in 1987. I know she was pleased to see the net through its 50th anniversary on April 7th, 2008. We will miss Miss Emmie, but will remember that her love, service and devotion to amateur radio has been an inspiration to us all!
I had mentioned last month that Katie Besley KI4LSZ was featured in October QST for her promotion of emergency communication to children during Kids Day! Katie will be our new youth contributor for the ARRL-SC website! Look for her articles with links on the left sidebar of the www.arrl-sc.org website!
Congratulations to the Columbia ARC on changing their club callsign from KF4GHC to W4CAE! Thanks go to their Trustee Ronnie W4RWL on expediting the paperwork to make this change possible!
I was contacted by Rosalie White K1STO from ARRL HQ regarding the participation of the ARRL SC section in an ARISS session to be held in Columbia, SC. Tammy Livingston KI4PTJ, PIO Columbia ARC, stepped up to coordinate the event! The following report was submitted by David Huddleston, KI4LKG and Moses Rabb, KG4VOV:
On Thursday, October 16, 2008, two Columbia, SC hams KG4VOV Moses Rabb
and KI4LKG David Huddleston joined several parents and observers at the
Challenger Center in Columbia to watch five Richland One middle school
students make a phone patch connection with the International Space Station.
The five students were part of four teams from Challenger Centers in
Lanham, Maryland; Columbia, South Carolina; Tampa, Florida; and
Brownsburg, Indiana. The students used a phone patch through the ground
station W6SRJ at Santa Rosa Junior College in Santa Rosa, California.
Astronaut and game-developer Richard Garriott, W5KWQ, chatted with the
students and answered their questions about space flight and the ISS for
about ten minutes while the ISS was within range of the radio.
The observers arrived at 11:30 AM and were greeted by Challenger Center
Lead Flight Director Thelma Clavon and her five-member staff. The
professional staff were dressed in NASA style jump suits and presented a
lively and interesting program about the background and history of the
space station. The focus of the program was the development and purpose
of the ISS, the international cooperation necessary for its completion,
and its future uses in space exploration.
Fifteen minutes before the contact, the staff conducted IRLP, Echolink,
and downlink coordination. They used squelch noises and student voices
for sound level checks to assure all the equipment was functioning
correctly.
At 12:40 PM contact began with the clear and steady voice of Richard
Garriott from the ISS greeting the group and calling for questions.
Student voices varied depending on location, but they were copied by Mr.
Garriott well enough that he could respond. Students asked questions on
a one-from-each-school rotation until the ISS orbited out of range.
At 12:53 Richard Garriot's father, former astronaut Owen K. Garriott,
W5LFL, spoke with the students for a few minutes over the phone patch.
He told them that his greatest experience as an astronaut was looking
out of the window at the Earth while he was in orbit.
Archived webcasts of the downlinks are here:
http://www.challenger.org/programs/garriottwebcasts.cfm
More information about the Challenger Learning Center can be found on
their website:
http://www.thechallengercenter.com
The following information is quoted from the website:
"The Challenger Learning Center was established as a living memorial to
the heroes of the Challenger 51-L crew. A stand-alone facility, the
Richland School District One's Challenger Learning Center opened in 1996."
"The Challenger Learning Center is an exciting, hands-on, simulated
space science environment where students and educators work in teams to
solve real-life math, science and technology problems during a space
flight simulation."
My sincere thanks and appreciation for all those involved in this landmark event!
Dennis Zabawa KG4RUL, PIC reported on Amateur Radio Support of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure held on October 18th. This event's purpose was to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research by presenting an annual 5K walk/run. Thanks go to Linda KJ4EVV (Linda ran the race also), Greg WA7TSP, Dennis KG4RUL (NCS), Kraig AA4SD and Don KG6HJR who participated in the event!
I would like to issue a plea to all amateur radio operators in South Carolina. I received an ARRL bulletin on October 9th that proclaimed that Pennsylvania is the 27th state with a PRB-1 law on their books. The bill requires local municipalities to
"reasonably accommodate amateur radio service communications, and to impose only the minimum regulations necessary to accomplish the legitimate purpose of the municipality" and says that "no ordinance, regulation, plan or any other action shall restrict amateur radio antenna height to less than 65 feet above ground level, but a municipality may impose necessary regulations to ensure the safety of amateur radio antenna structures, but must reasonably accommodate amateur service communications."
Greater than one half of the states in the USA have a PRB-1 law, and South Carolina is not one of them. I had someone who had an initial interest in spearheading an effort to establish a PRB-1 law in South Carolina, but the interest apparently dwindled. I need someone to pick up this effort, and to keep up with legislative issues within South Carolina. Ideally, this individual would be in the law profession with close contacts within the legislature. Please contact me n2zz@arrl.org if either you or someone you know would have an interest in this project.
If you have a amateur radio news item that you feel would be of interest to hams state-wide, please send it to me at n2zz@arrl.org . I request that it be in a format where I can cut-and-paste the item without having to do significant editing. In this format, I can easily add the information to the www.arrl-sc.org webpage as well!
That's it for October! See you next Month!
September 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/930/30//KI4CCZ
Beaufort VHF ARES Net/43/5/4/KB1CTC
Blue Ridge Amateur Radio Net /2152/44/30/K4SUG
Carolina's Net/293/140/58/W2EAG
Carolina Slow Net/108/17/30/N0SU
Columbia ARC 2 Meter Net/215//8/KE4TLC
Grand Strand ARC 2M Net/124/23/13/KI4HEE
Greater Pee Dee 2 Meter Net/718/43/30/K4DTT
Greenwood ARC 2 Meter Net/94/4/4/W4DEW
Greenwood ARC 2 Meter Net (August)/80/4/3/W4DEW
Lancaster County 2 Meter Net/116/15/13/N4WMB
Oconee 2M Net/349/14/13/N9GSX
SC SSB Net/2119/87/30/W4DDK
SC State ARES Net/203/4/4/KE4RVF
Trident/43/11/5/W4KSD
York Co. ARS 2 Meter FM Net/868/2/55/KI4NBA
Station Activity Reports
Station/Sent/Received/Delivered/Originated/Total:
KA4UIV/7/10/3/0/20
K4GLT/41/30/2/1/74
N4MEH/22/47/3/2/74
W4DDK/2/30/0/2/34
W4KLB/23/19/3/0/45
Public Service Honor Roll
Station/Cat1/Cat2/Cat3/Cat4/Cat5/Cat6/Total
N4MEH/40/40/10/0/0/0/90
K4BSC/0/0/0/40/0/0/40
Have a Great Month!!
'73 de Dr. Jim N2ZZ
ARRL Section Manager
South Carolina Section
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