SCHH ARC “This & That” — October 15, 2024

Can You Find a Hidden Ham Radio Transmitter?

You’ll Have a Chance to Do So on Saturday Morning!

The SCHH ARC will conduct a Hidden Transmitter Hunt on Saturday morning, October 19th, beginning at 9 AM. Hidden Transmitter Hunts are colloquially called “Fox Hunts”. A lean red fox has been seen along Del Webb Boulevard in past weeks but we will not be looking for him. He may have his eyes on us though! You never know. The wildlife in SCHH never seems to disappoint!

Good news: We have a “fox”, who will be hiding the transmitter. Bad news for the transmitter hunters: Ed Stratton, W1ZZ, is the “fox” and he is very cagey. Ed has a lot of good ideas on where to hide a transmitter. You may recall one of his locations from our past “exercise”.

You might have to look closely at this photo to find the transmitter! One can only imagine what Ed has up his sleeve for us on Saturday!

We will soon find out! The hunters will meet in the courtyard area near Pinckney Hall. Please plan to arrive between 8:45 and 8:55 AM so we can be ready to start homing in on the KE4HAM hidden transmitter at 9 AM sharp.

Note that we will meet up for lunch at Jameson’s at Noon after the the hunt has concluded. This will be a Dutch Treat lunch in our own room where we have had our events at the Hidden Cypress dining establishment. Even if you do not participate in the Hunt, you can join the group for lunch.

Check out the club’s web page (KE4HAM.org) for Fox Hunting tips!

Hope to see many club members on Saturday morning for the big Hunt and at Noon at Jameson’s on Saturday for a great lunch.

A 2-meter HI is all that is needed to give it a try. Check out the KE4HAM.org web site for some other ideas on how to find “the fox”!

Chartered Club Fair Wrap Up

If you missed the Fair, you missed a great SCHH event that was part of the annual Life Under the Sun events coordinated by the SCHH Community Association.

Our ARC had a great showing of members at our table outside of Pinckney Hall. We saw some nice interest in our hobby from several SCHH residents and one resident became a new member of our club.

Here are a few photos taken by Lon Seward, WB4KSG, during the festivities.

Upcoming Club Events and Meetings

Saturday, October 19th, 9 AM – Hidden Transmitter Hunt. Lunch afterward (Dutch Treat). See details above!

Thursday, November 7th, 7 PM – November Membership Meeting, Bayside Room, Lakehouse. Ed Stratton, W1ZZ, has coordinated a Zoom presentation from a ham in California on RTTY. More details will be in This & That in the weeks ahead.

SCHH ARC Nets

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.

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.

Net Control Schedule:

— Wednesday, October 16 @ 8 PM ET:  Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW (JASPER COUNTY REPEATER)

— Sunday, October 20 @ 8 PM ET Bob Officer, WA6WAY (Simplex)

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 9 : KE4HAM/KB3FW, AI4HH, KJ4BSM, K2ITZ, KQ4JKI, WB1DXN . QNI=6, QTC=0.

— Sunday, October 13: KE4HAM/WA6WAY, AI4HH, KJ4BSM, KO4AQI, K2ITZ, WB4KSG, KB3FW, WD2LT, KQ4JKI, WB1DXN. QNI=10, 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.

Still looking for 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.