2023-7-25 Weekly This & That Newsletter
de KB3FW
It is hard to believe that our “summer break” will be over in about 6 weeks. We’ll meet on September 7th at the Lake House and will then have two more Membership Meetings (October 5th and November 2nd) before we gather to celebrate the holidays in early December. You can find some information about the September meeting below. More info on the October, November, and December plans will be provided later.
Still smiling here about the Fox Hunt on July 15th. If you enjoyed it half as much as I did, then you had a great time! Some follow-ups on the Hunt are included below.
Our next summer event will be held at Hunting Island State Park on August 19th. We will be operating KE4HAM from the pavilion near the lighthouse on Hunting Island during International Lighthouses and Lightships Weekend (ILLW). More details are included below.
All who participated in last year’s ILLW event on Hunting Island had a great time. I hope that you’ll consider being a part of this year’s event!
Please Check Into our SCHH ARC Nets on 2 Meters!
Please participate in our SCHH ARC’s 2-meter nets!
The Basics: Our ARC has two nets per week…one on Sunday night at 8 PM local time on 147.550 MHz simplex and the other on Wednesday night at 8 PM local time on the Jasper County Repeater (147.060 + with a tone of 123 Hz),
The nets are also reachable via EchoLink. For more info on how to connect with the SCHH ARC nets with your computer, laptop, phone, etc., please contact Ron Frick, AI4HH Ron (ronfradio73@gmail.com).
Our ARC’s nets are a GREAT WAY to remain active in ham radio and to create more and more camaraderie within our club.
Fox Hunt Wrap Up
This year’s Fox Hunt had two foxes for everyone to find. It was a lot of fun homing in on Ed Stratton’s (W1ZZ) set up near the Okatie Creek clubhouse and Ron Frick’s (AI4HH) spot in the Nature Trail parking lot along Colonel T.
Here are two photos of Ed’s set up near the golf course.
The antenna is where the cone can be seen behind the cab of the truck. Note the “ZZ” vanity plate! Well done, Ed!
The huge transceiver on the left is dwarfed by the supercomputer on the right that provided the Martian-like transmissions that dared participants to find the foxes.
Never underestimate the power of the tried and true Tape Measure antenna, shown below in its stowed position on Harve Hnatiuk’s (KB3FW) golf cart (aka “Eli”). You can also see Ron Frick’s SUV, the temporary home of Fox #2, in this photo.
Let’s plan on another Hunt in 2024!!!
Humor: Equipment Demo – Hallicrafters T.O. Keyer
A quite entertaining video showing the capabilities of this old keyer.
Enjoy! The balance and weight settings are quite intriguing.
W1AW/4 SC Operation Update
SC stations are closing in on 5,000 QSOs in this round of our state section’s W1AW/4 operation as of Sunday night, July 23rd.
Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW, is closing in on 100 contacts during his volunteer efforts. Band conditions have been less than good and the interest in the ham population in the Volunteers on the Air (VOTA) program seems to have taken a summer vacation.
The SC troops have done well and we’re hoping to rank in the Top 5 of ARRL sections after all is said and dnoe.
Harve plans to activate W1AW/4 on Tuesday afternoon on 15 meters, most likely around 3 PM local time.
Look for W1AW/4 action on DX Summit.
The SC VOTA event ends at 2359 UTC on Tuesday, July 25th.
QSL Card of the Week
It seems that everyone who has sent in cards has had at least one published in our This & That newsletter. If you have sent a card or two and have not seen a card from you in the newsletter, please let Harve know (hnat463@gmail.com).
BUT FOR NOW: Let Round #2 begin!
This is from the ancient archives of our club president, KB3FW, when his call sign was WB2FWW, when he lived in NNJ, and when he actually did a lot of his operation on SSB!
WB2FWW’s QTH was in Kearny, NJ, which as the crow flies is about 7 miles west of NYC. The operator had just completed his first year of college. The shack was in his parents’ basement. Rig: SWAN-500C / Antenna: 2 element KRN Special 15m beam atop detached garage. Those were the days!
Please continue to send your favorite QSLs that you have received recently or from your past ham radio activities. Email in .jpeg format to hnat463@gmail.com. Include some background too if you are up to it! Thanks!
Upcoming Club Events
August 19th – KE4HAM Operation on Hunting Island for International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend (ILLW).
Jack Frisch, K2ITZ, has provided some details for this year’s outing to Hunting Island.
Please get to Hunting Island State Park by 9:30 AM on August 19th to assist with setting up the three stations that we plan to operate.
We will look to get on the air by 10:30 AM and operate up to three HF stations until about 3-3:30 PM. We may adjust the time that we close down our operation based on band conditions.
Lunch will be around Noon and will include the grilled hot dogs that were so popular at last year’s gathering. Everyone who participates is encouraged to bring food or drink for all to enjoy (no alcoholic beverages please).
Additional details will be in the next three issues of “This & That”.
So, please: Get this on your calendar and stay tuned for additional details!!!
Next Membership Meeting
The Club’s next Membership Meeting will be on Thursday, September 7th, at the Lake House. Plans are to have an Elmer Presentation by Frank Pollino, K2OS, at 6:45 PM followed by the evening’s main program, which will be presented by Ken Finke, KN8F, and cover how to get an antenna installation approved here in Sun City. The business meeting will follow Ken’s presentation. More info will be sent as the date gets closer on the calendar.
Club Website
The URL is https://www.ke4ham.org. If you notice any errors or have site-related questions, email: webmaster@ke4ham.org.
Nets:
Sunday NET (8 PM) operates on 147.550 MHz simplex and Echolink node: KE4HAM – L
Wednesday Nets (8 PM) operates from KK4ONF/Jasper repeater, 147.060+ and Echolink node: KE4HAM-R
Thanks to our regular Net Controls: Bob Officer, WA6WAY; Russ Treadwell, N1ZK; and Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW.
Thanks to Ron Frick, AI4HH, for keeping the nets on Echolink.
Please check into our nets when you can. The nets are informative and interesting and foster club camaraderie.
If you are interested in being a Net Control, please let Ron or Harve know.
Other Operating:
Daily — DX spotting and open chat 24/7 on 147.550 MHz simplex and the Jasper Repeater, 147.060+ (no Echolink).
KB3FW – SCHH ARC President