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SCHH ARC “This & That” – June 11 , 2024

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Field Day Plans Highlight June Membership Meeting

Members Also Receive a Parks on the Air Refresher

Seventeen members of the SCHH ARC participated in last Thursday’s June Membership Meeting at the Lakehouse. The club’s new banner was unfurled by Chip Miller, KQ4JKI, who was instrumental in designing the banner and coordinating its purchase. The club gratefully accepted a donated “tripod” from Phil Flaxman, AB2LT, for use as an antenna mount/support.

It was great to see the following members (listed by call sign) at the meeting: KQ4AKI, KN4MIY, KD8VL, K3WPA, K2ITZ, AI4HH, KB3VOD, K2OS, KN4VWQ, KQ4JKI, WB4KSG, WA6WAY, AB2LT, W1ZZ, KN8F, W4QNW, KB3FW.

The evening began with a Parks on the Air (POTA) “Elmer” presentation by the SCHH King of POTA, Jack Frisch, K2ITZ. Jack provided a history of the POTA program and how the program works. He discussed several local parks that can be “activated” and reported that he had “hunted” well over 3,000 parks to date. The SCHH ARC will activate Hunting Island State Park on August 3rd during US Lightships and Lighthouses Weekend.

The monthly membership meeting included updates on all club activities.

The ARC is seeking help for our Volunteer Examiner program, which has been capably organized by Dennis Hopkins, AC4DH, for many years. Dennis needs to step out of this role but will provide mentoring assistance as much as he can to a new volunteer leader.

Room Requests for our 2025 meetings were submitted on June 3rd as planned and as such, we should be set to continue our Thursday evening meetings next year.

Sherwin Tames, W4QNW, showed everyone the certificate that he was awarded for his station’s performance in the recent CQ WPX SSB contest. Great job, Sherwin!

Congratulations to W4QNW

Sherwin also gave the group a quick quiz on propagation, which in these days is an important subject. So, some of us now know a bit more about MUF, LUF, A, and K!

Speaking about propagation, anyone else noticing that 15 meters has been a 24-hour band lately!

Our ARRL Field Day Planning Session closed out the meeting. Bob Officer, WA6WAY, led the discussions and was assisted by Ron Frick, AI4HH. Field Day will take place on Saturday, June 22nd, at Lake Somerset here in SCHH. Set-up will begin at Noon with operations with up to 6 stations to start at 2 PM and conclude around 5 PM.

The club will provide lunch to set-up volunteers around 1 PM. There will be snacks and water and may some additional non-alcohol beverages on hand as well for volunteers and guests.

120 VAC power for radios and peripheral equipment will be sourced by WA6WAY’s solar power golf cart. We’ll have a back-up generator set for use in case there is any need. All operation will be from “off the grid”.

Jack Frisch, K2ITZ, will be our safety officer.

Logging will be done either by computer or by hand. Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW, agreed to compile the logs and to submit our entry to the ARRL.

The Field Day Team will work to do its best to “pass the mic” to operators and guests who want to try doing a QSO or two during Field Day operations. The “GOTA” (Get On The Air) angle is meant to encourage hams who do not normally operate to do so and to have non-ham guests/visitors catch the “ham radio bug”.

Antenna testing is scheduled for June 12th at the Lake beginning around 9 AM. Feel free to come out to help, observe, or whatever as the ARC tries to get rid of any gremlins in its antennas prior to the 22nd!

SC’s K2L Ready for the 2024 Thirteen Colonies Event

South Carolina will try for a “three-peat” in 2024’s Thirteen Colonies Event. The SC team has had the most contacts of any state team during the past two years. Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW, participated as a K2L operator last year and notched close to 300 contacts on CW as a small part of SC’s winning effort. Harve will be active in this year’s event on CW as well. K2L needs a few more CW operators. If you are interested, please let Harve know (hnat463@gmail.com).

The 13 Colonies Special Event will take place July 1-7, 2024. Operating times are July 1,1300 UTC to July 8, 0400 UTC. Thirteen special call signs will be on the air, each one representing one of the original 13 British colonies that were established in 1607. Three additional bonus call signs will be on the air representing Great Britain, France, and Philadelphia. All HF bands can be used, including the WARC bands, with the exception of 60 meters. Simplex on 2 meters and 6 meters is encouraged. The southeastern stations on the east coast are very close to each other. It will be harder for these states to contact each other so, use of 40-160 meters is encouraged. All modes of operation may be used, including SSB, CW, RTTY, and digital. The mode of operation is up to the individual colony state station. More information about logs, call signs, and QSL certifications can be found at The Annual 13 Colonies Special Event.

It Is Indeed a Grand Old Flag

June 14th – Flag Day.

Flagpole Survey

Seen in the recent update from the SCHH Board:

Flagpoles in Residents’ Rear Yards
On May 28 at 2 p.m., the Community Association sent a link to residents asking for their input on a recommendation from the Modifications Committee about changing the Design Guidelines to permit flagpoles in residents’ rear yards. The link was active through June 2 at 11:45 p.m. The survey asked residents if they would like the Board to approve stand-alone flagpoles with the below noted stipulations:

9.8.1 Flagpoles (Federal and SC Law: owners shall display the flag consistent with the U.S. Flag Code.)
Flagpoles shall only be erected in the rear of the home and shall not encroach into setback lines.

  • The Maximum size of the U.S. flag hung on a flagpole shall be no greater than 3’x 5’.
  • A permanent flagpole shall not exceed 20 feet in height and shall be properly illuminated per U.S. 94-344 public law not to exceed 1100 lumens.
  • Only one flag shall be displayed on the flagpole and must be the current official U.S. Flag.
  • U.S. Code of Flag etiquette rules shall be followed and the flag properly displayed.
  • Damaged U.S. flags shall be removed and disposed of according to flag protocol. 

Here are the results of the survey:

  • 8,719 surveys were sent out via email. 
  • 475 emails were undeliverable which included residents who had previously opted out of receiving surveys. One person per household had the opportunity to take the survey. Residents who did not receive the survey are advised to check if they had opted out of receiving surveys or if their email address was incorrect in the Community Association database so that their information is correct in the future.
  • 5,731 residents opened the email with the survey link.
  • 3,154 total responses were received.
    • 1,422 responded “YES” to the proposed change to permit flagpoles in rear yards (45.1%)
    • 1,732 responded “NO” to the proposed change (54.9%)

Therefore, based on this community survey, the Design Guidelines will not be changed to permit the installation of flagpoles in residents’ yards in the Association. The Board appreciates those that took the time to respond to the survey.

It is Hard to Resist Certain Art

Upcoming Club Events and Meetings

June 22nd — ARRL Field Day: Lake Somerset. KE4HAM on the air at 2 PM Eastern. Set up begins around Noon. See additional details above. Thanks to Bob Officer, WA6WAY, and Ron Frick, AI4HH, for leading our Field Day efforts.

August 3rd — Hunting Island POTA Activation and Lighthouses on the Air: More info to follow.

Club Website

Click here to get to the Club’s website: https://www.ke4ham.org. 

If you notice any errors or have site-related questions, please email the webmaster;  email: webmaster@ke4ham.org.

SCHH ARC Nets Rolling Toward Summer

At times, participation in our nets drops a bit during the summer months. If you have not checked in a lot over the past few months, it would be GREAT to hear you on the nets this summer.

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 and EchoLink node: KE4HAM – L except on the Sunday after our club’s membership meeting. On the Sunday after our club membership meeting, the Sunday Net will be on the KE4HAM repeater (147.135 + with a tone of 91.5 on both the input and the output). The KE4HAM Repeater Net can also be accessed via EchoLink at KE4HAM-R. 

Wednesday‘s Net (8 PM) operates through the KK4ONF/Jasper repeater, 147.060+ and EchoLink node: KE4HAM-R

Net Control Stations and EchoLink Coordinator

Thanks to our regular Net Controls: Bob Officer, WA6WAY; Frank Pollino, K2OS; Russ Treadwell, N1ZK; and Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW.

Thanks to Ron Frick, AI4HH, for continually working to keep our SCHH ARC nets on EchoLink.

Net Control Schedule:

— Wednesday, June 12 @ 8 PM ET:  Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW with Bob Officer, WA6WAY as Back-up (JASPER COUNTY REPEATER)

— Sunday, June 16 @ 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, June 5 : KE4HAM/K2OS, AI4HH, KQ4KOO, K2ITZ, WA6WAY, KQ4JKI, KB3FW. QNI=7. QTC+0.

— Sunday, June 9: KE4HAM/KB3FW, AI4HH, WA6WAY, WA2LWO, K2ITZ, WA8NLX, W1ZZ, KJ4BSM.. QNI=8, 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.

Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FWEdit