SCHH ARC “This & That” — October 8, 2024

K2OS Wows SCHH ARC with Moon Bounce Presentation

October Membership Meeting Draws 19 Members

Many people say that there is nothing like “home brew”. Some of these folks enjoy their personally-crafted beers and spirits.

Some hams are into building equipment to make contacts around the world. Others build stuff that makes for out of the world experiences. Such was the case for Frank Pollino, K2OS, who designed, built, and assembled a ham radio station that culminated in two contacts that in total traversed close to a million miles. The EME (Earth-Moon-Earth) operation was a first for KE4HAM.

Frank found out about a 2-meter beam that the ARC had in storage, giving him an idea that the club could use it to enter the ARRL’s EME Contest. He rebuilt the antenna after realizing some of its elements were in the wrong position. To get the power needed to have a shot at a moon-bounce QSO, Frank designed and built a 500-Watt PA amplifier. He also built two pre-amps to help on the receiving end of the contacts. KE4HAM made two QSOs using the set-up, one in Italy and the other in Texas.

During the membership meeting that followed Frank’s presentation, plans for a mid-October hidden transmitter hunt were discussed. The establishment of a 10m SSB net seemed to resonate with the members; a net control station or two will be needed to get this rolling. Ron Frick, AI4HH, thanked Bob Kennedy,N0DQD, for donating an Arduino control device that can be used to shut off the Okatie Repeater from a remote location as needed. The club’s By-Laws were reviewed by Lifestyles and will be resubmitted after two minor changes are made. Plans for the October 5th Chartered Club Fair were discussed along with an October 14th lunch get-together with a French ham who will be visiting the Hilton Head area.

Nineteen club members were on hand for the meeting including WB4KSG, KB3FW, WB3H, N0DQD, KQ4JKI, WA6WAY, AI4HH, WD2LT, WB1DXN, K2EG, W4QNW, K2ITZ, KO4AQI, KN4VWQ, KN8F, W1ZZ, KD8IH, K2OS, and prospective ham Sharon McFetridge.

Ed Stratton, W1ZZ, has a RTTY presentation line up for our November meeting, which should be very interesting. More details to follow!

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.

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 (i.e., 2025 officers will serve a one-year term). 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

Election Timetable:

Slate of Officers Established by Nominating Committee by October 31st

Election of Officers at November 7th Membership Meeting

ARC Participates In SCHH Chartered Club Fair

An early morning rain shower did not dampen the enthusiasm of hundreds of Sun City residents who came to Pinckney Hall, the Pavilion, and the surrounding area for the annual Chartered Club Fair.

Over 100 clubs and groups set up tables and displays to attract new members to their organizations and to say hello to old and new friends.

Our club set up in its usual location outside of the Courtyard entrance to Pinckney Hall. KE4HAM was on the air using an ICOM IC-7300 and a portable vertical antenna. The club station managed to make three contacts on CW amidst the tumult.

Many club members participated in the Club Fair or stopped by to say hello, pay 2025 dues, and hang out. The club also welcomed a new member, Stephen Smith. Several other SCHH residents stopped by and expressed an interest in ham radio. We hope to hear from them in the weeks ahead!

Club president Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW, was interviewed by Sun City TV to talk about how the club may be able to help during emergencies here in SCHH. Our club has many members interested in developing an Emergency Preparedness and Operations plan.

Thanks to all ARC members who helped or stopped by to say hello including KQ4JKI, WB4KSG, K2OS, W1ZZ, Sharon McFetridge, N0DQD, KB3FW, AB2LT, WA6WAY, K2ITZ, KN8F, K04AQI, NH6BS, WA2MZB, KN4VWQ, AI4HH, WB1DXN, and KB3H.

Special thanks to Lon (WB4KSG), Chip (KQ4JKI), Frank (K2OS), Harve (KB3FW), Ken (KN8F), Bob (WA6WAY), and Ed (W1ZZ) for help with the setting up and take down.

Interested in Some Light Reading??

You can find a lot of great radio reading here. Thanks to Lon Seward, WB4KSG, for sending the link.

Helene Story

Read all about how ham radio helped up in NC. Thanks to Dan Kreshak, KO4AQI, for sending the link.

K2ITZ Hits the 3500 Mark for POTA

Congratulations to SCHH ARC’s POTA trailblazer Jack Frisch, K2ITZ who now has contacted 3500 or more unique parks in the Parks on the Air (POTA) program. On to 4000!!!

Upcoming Club Events and Meetings

Saturday, October 19th, 9 AM – Hidden Transmitter Hunt. Lunch afterward (Dutch Treat). More details in next week’s This & That.

Thursday, November 7th, 7 PM – November Membership Meeting, Bayside Room, Lakehouse. Plans are to have a program about RTTY. More details will be in This & That in the weeks ahead.

SCHH ARC Nets – Wednesday Night Rocks Again!

We had 11 check-ins this past Wednesday night. Any time that we have over TEN check-ins to our net represents great participation.

This was a GREAT NET! Thanks to all who checked in and participated.

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 9 @ 8 PM ET:  Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW (JASPER COUNTY REPEATER)

— Sunday, October 13 @ 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, October 2 : KE4HAM/K2OS, AI4HH, KJ4BSM, KO4AQI, WB4KSG, W1ZZ, KQ4JKI, KB3FW, WA2LWO, WA6WAY, WB1DXN . QNI=11, QTC=0.

— Sunday, October 6: KE4HAM/WA6WAY, AI4HH, KJ4BSM, K2ITZ, KB3FW, K2OS, KO4AQI, KQ4JKI. QNI=7, QTC=0.

Note: QNI = Number of Check-ins to the net, including Net Control; QTC = Traffic handled (Radiograms).

10 Meter SSB Net Update

A 10m SSB net continues to be under consideration. One or two net control stations are needed in order to get this off the ground. The net control stations will have a big say in when the nets will be held.

Any volunteers? Please contact Harve, KB3FW, if you are interested (hnat463@gmail.com).

Any 10m HF nets would not replace either of our 2m nets. Any new nets would be additional nets that would enable stations with HF capabilities to check their equipment’s viability for ground wave communications in the SCHH area.

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.