SCHH ARC “This & That” — October 1, 2024
Russ Treadwell, N1ZK — Silent Key
It is with much sadness that we communicate the passing of SCHH ARC Past President Russ Treadwell, N1ZK. Russ was an active member and leader in our radio club for many years.
Russ was our webmaster for the KE4HAM.org website and did a great job in keeping our site fresh with updated information.
He was very interested in the public service aspects of ham radio and filled in at board meetings and membership meetings to update the board and membership on our efforts in this area.
Russ was also a driving force for the establishment of the Okatie Repeater Association (ORA) and served as its treasurer until a few weeks ago. Russ’s wife Mary (KA1DGG), an accomplished artist, has also been a member of our ARC for many years.
Mary advised the club that Russ had donated all his ham radio equipment to the SCHH ARC. The club is in the process of receiving this generous donation.
Along with his serving the club and the ORA as an officer, Russ was a mainstay on our Wednesday night repeater nets as its net control for several years.
“Nobody ran a net like Russ…and no one ever will”, said Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW. “The level of intellect that Russ possessed was so very high in so many areas with ham radio being only one area of his expertise and knowledge base.”
All SCHH ARC members have been invited to an “In Memoriam” gathering on October 14th at River Bend Lodge. If you are a member of the club and did not receive an invitation or a friend of the club who knew Russ and would like to come to the gathering, please email Harve Hnatiuk (hnat463@gmail.com).
This Thursday — EME Presentation to Precede October 3rd Membership Meeting
ARC Will Meet at the Lakehouse with Program To Start at 7 PM
The October Membership Meeting was destined to be “out of this world”. Initially, the SCHH ARC was set to see a demonstration of ham radio satellite communications, which has come a long way since the days of OSCAR. The satellite demo had to be postponed — most likely until the spring — due to circumstances beyond our control.
However, we will still be learning about sending ham radio signals into space! Frank Pollino, K2OS, designed and assembled a moon-bounce station last fall that he and other club members used to contact two stations during the November 2023 ARRL EME Contest. EME stands for Earth-Moon-Earth, the path of the radio signals that were sent to the SCHH ballpark’s parking lot to the Moon and back. Frank will discuss his design and KE4HAM’s EME operations in a program that he will present at our meeting on Thursday evening.
The presentation and meeting will be in the Bayside Room at the Lakehouse beginning at 7 PM.
The general membership meeting will follow Frank’s presentation.
Hoping to see many SCHH ARC members on Thursday night!!
Contest Operation Presentation from the SECC Available on YouTube
The presentation by John Pescatore, K3TN entitled “Maximizing Fun in Contesting – now and in the future” is now available for viewing on the SECC YouTube channel.
The video can be accessed here.
Club’s Nominating Committee is Open for Business!!!
It is official: Our ARC’s Nominating Committee is comprised of Bob Officer, WA6WAY (chairperson); Ron Frick, AI4HH; and Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW.
The committee will seek nominees for all four officers of our club: President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary. All terms of office are presently one year. By-laws revisions are in progress that may change the term of office. However, the terms of officers elected during this cycle will be based on the current by-laws. Any by-laws changes that are related to elections will take effect for next fall’s elections.
Please Consider Being an Officer of the SCHH ARC
It is hoped that one or two current officers will agree to serve another term. At a minimum, the offices of president and vice president are definitely open.
Election Timetable:
Slate of Officers Established by Nominating Committee by October 31st
Election of Officers at November 7th Membership Meeting
Chartered Club Fair is This Saturday, October 5th!
Each early fall, the SCHHCA conducts a “Chartered Club Fair” to highlight the many clubs and activities that are available to Sun City Hilton Head residents.
Our Amateur Radio Club will once again participate in the Club Fair and will set up our club station, KE4HAM, to operate on CW from our table outside of the courtyard-side entrance to Pinckney Hall. All club members are invited to stop by and help our ARC to promote ham radio to interested residents.
Last year, it was great to have several SCHH hams join our club and we are hopeful that we can attract a few more residents — licensed or seeking to become licensed — to join us.
Current members can also stop at our table to renew their memberships for 2025.
Hope to see a lot of ARC members on Saturday, October 5th. The Club Fair starts at 10 AM. The ARC will begin its set up around 9:15 AM. The Club Fair concludes at 1 PM.
Hope to see you there!!
Upcoming Club Events and Meetings
Thursday, October 3rd – Membership Meeting: Our meeting will be at the Lakehouse. The program begins at 7 PM. Frank Pollino, K2OS, is providing a presentation entitled “SCHHARC EME Activation – CQ DE KE4HAM”. The successful Moon Bounce operation of our club station last Thanksgiving weekend was an exciting evening for all who were on hand. Come to the meeting to see how it came together. General membership meeting will follow Frank’s presentation.
Saturday, October 5th – Chartered Club Fair: The SCHH ARC will have a table just outside the back (courtyard) entrance to Pinckney Hall. Many clubs will be inside Pinckney Hall. Some clubs will be outside with us while others will set up in the Pavilion. Stop by and help us to promote amateur radio and our club to residents who stop by our table! Or, just stop by! You can renew your membership for 2025 at the Fair as well.
SCHH ARC Nets – 17 Check-ins Last Wednesday Night!
Our 8 PM Wednesday Repeater Net on September 25th, stations began checking in and then, more stations checked in. After our first go-around, we had a bunch of other stations check in. Net control Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW, kept adding them to his log.
When all was said and done…and it did take a while…the net had 17 stations on-board at one time or another. As far as anyone can recall, that is a new record!
There was lots of great conversation as regular check-ins and less regular check-ins alike shared some ideas and thoughts and many shared remembrances of Russ Treadwell, N1ZK, who passed away earlier in the week.
Participants also discussed the Internet outage that happened on Monday, September 23rd and how some hams (notably Dan McLaughlin, K4DNY) were monitoring the local repeaters in case emergency communications were needed. It was great to have Dan check into the net and remind us that when emergencies occur, we should turn on our 2-meter transceivers and get on the Jasper County or Okatie Repeater at a minimum. This approach was actually used by some hams here in SCHH during the fringes of Helene passing through the area late last week
This was a GREAT NET! Thanks to all who checked in and participated. The bar has been raised…but it is not out of the question that our net could draw 20 or more check-ins on any given evening. Let’s make it happen!
These are our nets. Please enjoy them. They are very special and give us the opportunity to connect with each other on a regular basis while testing our equipment’s connectivity capabilities.
Please keep our nets alive and well by checking in when you can.
Weekly SCHH ARC Nets
Sunday’s Net (8 PM) operates on 147.550 MHz simplex on the last two Sundays of the calendar month. The Sunday net will be on the KE4HAM repeater (147.135 + with a tone of 91.5 on both the input and the output) on all other Sundays of the calendar month. Check-in can be done even if you don’t have a radio up and running via EchoLink by using the link KE4HAM-L when the net is on SIMPLEX and KE4HAM-R when the net is on the SCHH Okatie Repeater.
Wednesday‘s Net (8 PM) operates through the KK4ONF/Jasper repeater, 147.060+. The net can be accessed via EchoLink using the link KE4HAM-R.
Net Control Stations and EchoLink Coordinator
Thanks to our regular Net Controls: Bob Officer, WA6WAY; Frank Pollino, K2OS; and Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW.
Thanks to Ron Frick, AI4HH, for working diligently to keep EchoLink up and running for our nets..
Net Control Schedule:
— Wednesday, October 2 @ 8 PM ET: Frank Pollino, K2OS (JASPER COUNTY REPEATER)
— Sunday, October 6 @ 8 PM ET Bob Officer, WA6WAY (KE4HAM Okatie Repeater)
If you are interested in being a Net Control, please let Harve know.
SCHH ARC Net Reports:
Thanks to ALL who checked in to our SCHH ARC nets last week.
If you have the time, please check into our club’s nets on a regular basis.
Last week’s check-ins and traffic:
— Wednesday, September 25 : KE4HAM/KB3FW, AI4HH, K2ITZ, KQ4JKI, AA4KK, WA2LWO, AD5EN, WD2LT, WA6WAY, KO4AQI, K2OS, W1ZZ, WB4KSG, KQ4KOO, WB1DXN, K4DNY . QNI=17, QTC=0.
— Sunday, September 29: KE4HAM/KB3FW, AI4HH, KJ4BSM, K2ITZ, WB1DXN, KQ4JKI. QNI=6, QTC=0.
Note: QNI = Number of Check-ins to the net, including Net Control; QTC = Traffic handled (Radiograms).
Any Interest In a 10-meter HF Net??
There has been some interest in having a 10m HF net on SSB or FM. Charlie Bess, AD5EN, even mentioned that a CW net might be fun to try from time to time (maybe once monthly?).
Any 10m HF nets would not replace either of our 2m nets. Any new nets would be additional netsthat would enable stations with HF capabilities to check their equipment’s viability for ground wave communications in the SCHH area.
Sounds like a winner but what do you think? Any other input? Anyone want to lead this effort or be a net control station?
Please send comments and thoughts to Harve at hnat463@gmail.com.
Other Operating:
Daily — Monitor the new KE4HAM Repeater: 147.135 MHz + with a tone of 91.5. You may get some good DX spots from time to time and other members may be there if you want to connect/chat.