“This & That” — April 1, 2025

The Weekly Newsletter of the Sun City Hilton Head Amateur Radio Club (SCHH ARC)

Editor – Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW

Membership Meeting on Thursday Begins With RFI Presentation

None of us like to be interfered with, right? It goes beyond ham radio, of course.

But, in our great avocation, when we are presented with barriers over which we cannot find a way to hurdle, it knocks us for a loop.

Radio Frequency Interference (RFI), to ham radio operators, is a bane that requires knowledge and patience to overcome.

Our presenter for our meeting on April 3rd will shed some light on RFI, the challenges that it presents to hams, and the strategies for mitigations of issues.

Mike Martin, K3RFI, will begin his program about RFI at 7 PM on April 3rd. He will be “Zooming” in from either his home QTH in Maryland or wherever he happens to be on the road working to help others with RFI issues.

Join your fellow SCHH ARC members in the Bayside Room at the Lakehouse. A general membership meeting will follow Mike’s presentation. An agenda for the meeting has been sent via email to all members.

10 Meter Net Tonight!

Fire up your HF rig and join the SCHH 10m Net, which meets monthly on the Tuesday evening before our Membership Meeting.

That means tonight! April 1st!

The net is held on upper sideband on 28.450 MHz. It begins at 8 PM local time.

Hope to hear you on the 10m Net this evening!!!

Civil Air Patrol Search and Rescue Exercise – Saturday, April 5th

Our local Civil Air Patrol squadron will be conducting a Search and Rescue Exercise (SAREX) on Saturday, April 5th at the Jasper County Airport. Our ARC has been invited to observe the exercise, which begins at 9:15 AM.

Bob Officer, WA6WAY is our club’s liaison to the Civil Air Patrol. He is organizing this opportunity for up to 8 members to see SAREX that morning.

Please see Bob at the April 3rd membership meeting to arrange being a part of the SCHH ARC contingent.

Three Months Out…But ARRL Field Day Will Be Here Before You Know It!

Mark your calendars now for the SCHH ARC’s annual participation in ARRL Field Day at Lake Somerset on Saturday, June 28th.

Are you interested in participating? Can you be a part of the planning team for this great annual event? Please let Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW know (hnat463@gmail.com).

CARS Swapmeet Scheduled for Later This Year

In case you want to mark your calendars…

CARS 2025 Swapmeet

At the SAV regional airport rec building, more details to follow. Enter through the rideshare parking lot on Crossroads Parkway.

When: Sat October 18 8:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Where: Sav-HH Regional Airport Rec Building

Ideas for “This & That”?

Items for our club’s newsletter are always appreciated.

Do you have a QSL card that you received…even from decades ago…that you think your fellow SCHH ARC members would like to see? Please email a JPEG of it.

Here’s one that recently came in via the ARRL QSL Bureau from Paul Golder (GW0NGA) in Wales to KB3FW. The cat’s name, by the way, is Rocky. Paul notes on his QSL card’s reverse side that Rocky was probably sitting on his desk when this QSO happened. If you have had a cat for a while at any time in your life, you get that, right?

Have you gotten a certificate to recognize your ham radio activities? POTA, DXCC, WAS, Thirteen Colonies, etc. Send a JPEG or PDF.

Have you seen a ham radio cartoon or photo that might bring some smiles to faces around our ham radio community? Please send it in!

Articles of interest to hams? Send the link!

Bottom line: Please send anything you believe our ARC’s members might like to read/see to Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW (hnat463@gmail.com).

What’s Coming Up

Tuesday, April 1, 2025 — SCHH ARC Emergency Preparedness Task Force Zoom Meeting at 11 AM. Task Force Members and Invited Guests Only.

Tuesday, April 1, 2025 — SCHH ARC 10m SSB Net. 28.450 MHz at 8 PM local time.

Thursday, April 3, 2025 — Program (RFI by Mike Martin, K3RFI) via Zoom and General Membership Meeting, Bayside Room at the Lakehouse. See additional details above.

Saturday, April 5, 2025 — Civil Air Patrol SAREX at Jasper County Airport. See information above. Contact Bob Officer, WA6WAY if you are interested in going!

Saturday, April 26, 2025 — SCHH ARC Hidden Transmitter Hunt! 9 AM. We’ll kick things off behind Pinckney Hall in the Courtyard area and go from there! More details in upcoming issues of This & That.

Thursday, May 1, 2025 — May Membership Meeting in the Bayside Room at the Lakehouse. Presentation by Jim Boehner, N2ZZ and Bill Morine, N2COP (ARRL Roanoke Division Director and Vice Director).

Thursday, June 5, 2025 — June Membership Meeting and ARRL Field Day Planning Meeting at the Lakehouse.

Saturday, June 28, 2025 — ARRL Field Day at Lake Somerset. Some info is included above and more to follow in upcoming issues of This & That.

Saturday, August 9, 2025 — KE4HAM Parks on the Air Activation at Lake Warren State Park.

This great POTA location, as you can see above, is an easy drive from SCHH…less than an hour, about the same travel time as going to Hunting Island State Park. We believe that there are no high school reunions scheduled for Lake Warren State Park near where we will be situated that day!

Thanks to Jack Frisch, K2ITZ for organizing this activity! More to come on this great activity in future editions of This & That, including photos that Jack took on a site survey recently!!

Sun City Hilton Head Amateur Radio Club 2025

All SCHH clubs need volunteers to step up, provide leadership and direction.

Our club is blessed to have members who do so. Many thanks are extended to them.

Please consider being a leader in our club in the years ahead. As you can see below, from year to year there are many opportunities to contribute your time and talents for the benefit of all SCHH hams!

Our leadership team for 2025 —

President – Bob McCormick, KD8IH

Vice President – Bob Kennedy, N0DQD

Treasurer – Lon Seward, WB4KSG

Secretary – Bill Albro, K3WP

Immediate Past President – Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW

Membership Director – Chip Miller, KQ4JKI

Social Activities Chair – Bob Officer, WA6WAY

Volunteer Examiners Chair – Ken Finke, KN8F

Program Committee: Dennis Hopkins, AC4DH: Ed Stratton, W1ZZ; Ken Finke, KN8F; Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW.

SCHH ARC Nets

Net News

Please keep our nets alive and well by checking in when you can.

Thanks to all who participate.

Can you be a net control station for one or more of our nets?

If our community experiences an emergency during which our ARC activates its nets to provide assistance to our neighbors, we will need a group of operators who have experience in conducting a net. Our weekly, routine nets give interested members the opportunity to lead and organize such activities. It is a fun way to become prepared. Please consider giving it a try!

If you’d like to join the net control team, please reach out to Harve, KB3FW (hnat463@gmail.com).

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.

Next 10m SSB Net: Tuesday, April 1 at 8 PM on 28.450 Upper Sideband. Net Control will be K2OS, Frank Pollino.

Net Control Stations and EchoLink Coordinator

Thanks to our regular 2m Net Controls: Frank Pollino, K2OS; Rick Garan, WA8NLX; and Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW.

Thanks to Bob Officer, WA6WAY, for being an alternate Net Control Station and overseer of our KE4HAM repeater.

Thanks to Ron Frick, AI4HH, for working diligently to keep EchoLink up and running for our nets.

Net Control Schedule:

— Tuesday, April 1, 2025 @ 8 PM: Frank Pollino, K2OS (10m Net, 28.450 MHz, SSB).

— Wednesday, April 2, 2025 @ 8 PM: Harve Hnatiuk (KK4ONF Jasper County Repeater).

— Sunday, April 6, 2025 @ 8 PM: Frank Pollino, K2OS (KE4HAM Okatie Repeater).

— Wednesday, April 9, 2025 @ 8 PM: Rick Garan, WA8NLX (KK4ONF Jasper County Repeater).

SCHH ARC Net Reports:

Thanks to ALL who checked in to our SCHH ARC nets last week.

Last week’s check-ins and traffic:

— Wednesday, March 26 2m KK4ONF Repeater Net: KE4HAM/K2OS, AI4HH, KB3FW, K2ITZ, N0DQD, WB4KSG, WA8NLX, W1ZZ, KQ4JKI. QNI=9, QTC=0.

— Sunday, March 30 2m SIMPLEX Net: KE4HAM/K2OS, AI4HH, KJ4BSM, WA6WAY, AA4KK, K2ITZ, KB3FW, KO4AQI, KQ4JKI, KD8IH, W8NCA, W1ZZ. QNI=12, 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.