SCHH ARC “This & That” – August 27 , 2024
Monthly Membership Meeting on Thursday, September 5th Will Be at Pinckney
Club Will Meet in the Kiawah River Room
As the saying goes: There is nothing constant but change. True to form, the ARC was notified on August 14th that the Bayside Room at the Lakehouse would not be available on Thursday, September 5th. The renovations that will be done between the Bayside Room and the Dockside Room hopefully will knock down the audible QRM between activities in the two rooms.
We will be meeting at Pinckney Hall in the Kiawah River Room.
Our meeting will begin at 7 PM with a presentation from Phil Blecker, a SCHH non-ham resident. Phil’s program will discuss PC optimization and speed up.
Our monthly membership meeting will follow Phil’s presentation.
Nominating Committee Formation – Help Needed
It is that time of year again…time to begin the process for nominating members for the positions of club president, club vice president, club treasurer, and club secretary.
Our club’s by laws do not permit a president to serve more than two years. As such, I cannot serve as club president in 2025. Other officers can serve two or more consecutive terms.
The current schedule for this process begins with the formation of a Nominating Committee. Help is needed.
The club will need a chairperson for the committee and at least two additional members to comprise the committee.
If you are interested in serving on the Nominating Committee, please let Harve (hnat463@gmail.com) know by September 4th.
Antenna For Sale
An email was sent to all members with information about an antenna that is for sale by a former member of our ARC, Brad Fox (K3BR). If you did not receive it or need it to be sent to you again, please email Harve at hnat463@gmail.com.
Huntsville Hamfest Report
Two members of the SCHH ARC made it to the annual Huntsville Hamfest. Bob Officer, WA6WAY, was there on Saturday morning, August 17th. Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW, rolled into Huntsville on Saturday early afternoon and stayed until Sunday, August 18th. Unfortunately, Bob and Harve were unable to link up while in northern Alabama.
Huntsville is about a 7-8 hour drive from SCHH. For some, like Harve and wife Cyndee, that means splitting the trip each way. They stayed a night in Douglasville, GA on the way to Huntsville and then went to Atlanta on the way back to see the Phillies-Braves game on August 20th.
Bob and XYL Sharon braved the roadways to make the journey in one leg each way. More power to you!
Harve reports that I-20 around Atlanta was the worst driving experience that he has had in many years. As the saying goes, timing is everything and his timing was bad on I-20!
The hamfest was held at the Von Braun Center, which is not where Werner Von Braun and his team developed the Saturn V rocket that carried astronauts into Earth orbit en route to the Moon. The Center is a medium sized exhibition complex that is connected to the Embassy Suites. The hamfest organizers negotiated a room block at the hotel that was quite manageable in price. It was great to get out of the hotel room, take the elevator to the link, and walk to the hamfest indoors and for the most part in air conditioning!
In the Exhibition space, there were areas for folks wanting to track the many door prize drawings, which were copious. Another area was devoted to Young Amateur Radio Operators. Several well-known sellers of ham radio equipment were there as well. And, there were table and tables of “stuff” that clubs from the area and others brought to make a few sales and bring home a few dollars.
Bob, WA6WAY, commented that the prices at the hamfest seemed to be high. There were a LOT of people there selling a lot of things as you can see below. “I’ve never seen that many hams per square foot before”, Bob said about his Saturday morning walkabout inside the exhibition area. I didn’t think there were that many hams alive!”
From Harve’s perspective, a lot of the things that were being sold in Huntsville by clubs and individuals looked like what we see at the Savannah swap meet…but, multiply that by 10 times! So, if you are looking for a needle in a haystack, you might find it at this particular hamfest.
Harve enjoyed discussing portable antennas with the Tarheel folks and remote radio operations with the FLEX radio team on Saturday,
There were a lot of technical sessions although neither Bob nor Harve went to any. The one session that Harve saw inside a conference room was packed with hams.
On Sunday, Harve helped with the Straight Key Century Club. He took Dave Vittum’s (W1DV) place at the booth around Noon to allow Dave to head back to NC and get home before dark! None of us in the SCHH ARC can identify with that concern, right?
Huntsville, AL is a very nice place to visit with lots of great restaurants and of course, the NASA facility for any space buffs out there. It’s a long drive though and with Shelby (NC) and Hamcation (FL) being closer and not involving a drive through the Atlanta-Metro area, they may be a better choice for SCHH residents wanting to go to a hamfest.
Humor…and Gator!
Thanks to Charlie Bess, AD5EN, for creating and providing this one!
Any ideas on what call sign the Gator should have??? Please send them to Harve at hnat463@gmail.com.
SC QSO Party Results
SC QSO Party results can be found here.
SCHH ARC president Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW, finished in the Top Ten overall for CW and 6th for CW running low power.
Upcoming Club Events and Meetings
Thursday, September 5th – Membership Meeting: PINCKNEY HALL, KIAWAH RIVER ROOM. Program begins at 7 PM and will be presented by Phil Blecker of the Sun City Hilton Head Computer Club. Phil’s presentation is entitled “PC Performance and Speedup”. The club’s regular membership meeting will follow the evening’s program.
SCHH ARC Nets – You Can Help To Make Them Better
Our SCHH ARC nets are only as good as we make them…and our nets are pretty good! They would be even better if we had more participation.
If you have been checking in regularly, thank you for that. If you have not been checking in or never have checked in, please check in to our nets this coming week and weekend.
These are our nets. 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 except for the first 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 the first two 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, August 28 @ 8 PM ET: Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW (JASPER COUNTY REPEATER)
— Sunday, September 1 @ 8 PM ET Bob Officer, WA6WAY (KE4HAM Okatie Repeater)
— Wednesday, September 4 @ 8 PM ET: Frank Pollino, K2OS (JASPER COUNTY REPEATER)
— Sunday, September 18 @ 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, August 21 : KE4HAM/K2OS, K2ITZ, KQ4JKI, WA6WAY, KB3FW, KN4VWQ, WD2LT . QNI=7 QTC+0.
— Sunday, August 25: KE4HAM/K2OS, AI4HH, KO4AQI, WB1DXN, KD8IH, K3WPA, WA2LWO, KJ4BSM, AD5EN, K2ITZ, WA6WAY, KQ4JKI, KB3FW. QNI=13, QTC=0.
Note: QNI = Number of Check-ins to the net, including Net Control; QTC = Traffic handled (Radiograms).
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.Edit