june/July section report
Greetings South Carolina amateur radio operators. I hope everyone had a great field day this year. I believe it was one of the hotest weekends of the summer, and some storms rolled through as well, but that didn’t stop the clubs from having a seccessful FD.
I started my FD adventure leaving my home in Lexington, SC at 1030 to join my local club, The Ridge ARC, at their FD site on Lake Murray to help setup stations and raise antennas on the portable crank up tower. I enjoyed a BBQ sandwich lunch before leaving at noon to join the STEM ARC in Lancaster County.
Mrs. Vickie, AD3I had a large group of kids and parents at the school down the street from Andrew Jackson State Park to launch a pico ballon at 1400. The launch was seccessful as we watched N4TVV-2 dissapear into the sky. We were able to track it via APRS for several hours until we lost contact somewhere between Lake Norman and Mooresville, NC. We believe the storms coming through that late afternoon may had downed the ballon.
My next stop was with the Kershaw ARC at their club house in Camden. They were operating two rigs in the radio room when I arrived. There was a young couple recently licensed and the wife was in the process of making her first HF contact as I arrived. It was great to see several younger hams present. Ron, KB1ND gave me a tour of the club house which consists of several rooms in the old school. They have a great location with enough gear to keep any ham happy, and the history of the club on display from a plaque with founding members to a plaque of the club’s SK’s, and the Ham of the year. My friend Dion, KE4TLC even showed up before I left.
I left Camden around 1645 en route to Sesquicentennial State Park in Richland County to visit with the Columbia ARC. As I passed Blythewood and got closer to Two Notch Rd I could tell the area had recently experienced a lot of rain. I arrived at the club’s FD site in the primitive camping area to see a flooded roadway through the park. After speaking with the club’s president Jim Latham, W4JLP he advised they had to briefly shut down operations due to a large storm coming through the area. My arrival coincided perfectly with dinner time! I enjoyed a feast with at least 20 - 30 other hams, a great number considering the heat and storms. After dinner several stations were up and running phone and digital. An extensive wireless network was setup providing network access across the campsite for each operator running N3FJP. I had my meshtastic device with me and I found they had several meshtastics users at the site as well and it was working great across the campsites. Dion, KE4TLC followed me to Columbia and arrived before I departed. :)
I had plans to visit another site after Columbia but it was getting late and the nearby sites I reached out to had already shut down for the night. However, I wasn’t finished so I returned to the Ridge ARC FD site and I was able to get on phone for a few hours and finally try out the Yaesu FTX-1 Optima. I heard the bands were rough during the day at most of the sites I went to, but that night the bands were doing much better. I even made contact with the Keowee - Toxaway ARC FD site on 40M phone.
This was my first FD on the road and I really enjoyed getting to see so many hams radio active and many different setups. I look forward to getting out again next year to visit more affiliated clubs. I have attached a few photo’s below. OK, thats enough about my FD, please comment below how your FD was!
New Distracting Driving Law goes into effect September 1, 2025.
Governor McMaster signed H3276/R59/Act No. 40, also referred to as the “South Carolina Hands-Free & Distracted Driving Act” on May 12th, 2025. SC Code Section 56-5-3890 has ben ammended to read that while operating a motor vehicle you shall not use, hold, or read any mobile electronic device. However, Amateur Radio use is exempt per the act “Mobile electronic device does NOT include a citizens band radio, amateur radio, ham radio, commerical two-way radio or its functional equivalent, subscritpion-based emergency communication device, or prescribed medical device.” This is of course great news for us, but please continue to be extra vigilant while driving, watching your driving as well as those driving around you regardless of if you are on the radio or not. You may read the bill in its entirety here.
ARRL Files Comments to Protect 70-Centimeter Amateur Band
The ARRL has filed comments with the FCC to oppose part of an application that would impact the 440 Amateur Radio band. You can read the article here and see a PDF of the filing here.
The ARRL Member Bulletin came out yesterday with a lot of updates from the ARRL Board meeting this past weekend.
A new DXCC award, the 10-Band DXCC will be available to recognize those who achieve DXCC on all bands from 6m to 160m (excluding 60m)
2026 will be the Year of the Club!
Creation of a book featuring high-performance clubs.
Establishment of working with and recognizing outstanding club websites while helping clubs with ineffective websites.
Recognizing ARRL Affiliated Clubs that maintain a higher-than-required ARRL membershiplevel for affiliation. Clubs that achieve a 70% or a 90% ARRL membership level within their clubs will recieve acknowledgement and special recognition.
ARRL Heritage Museum’s Online Collection; Radio Alpha is now online here with more than 3,000 images and documents.
By-Laws 42 & 46 were discussed and approved.
A year long celebration of America’s Semiquincentennial (250th) was approved. This will include commemoratice ARRL US250 Worked All States awards from contacts made during 2026, as well as other on-air activity.
If you have questions please reach out to one of the ARRL Cabinet members listed below. If you have any interest to serve as part of the South Carolina ARRL team please reach out to me directly. I currently need a State Government Liasion, and I would like to have someone to work with out Section Youth Coordinator and our Affiliated Club Coordinator.
Thank you for taking the time to read this report. Check out the upcoming events, net reports, and cabinet members below. Thank you to our STM Dean French, N4AJK for compiling the Net Reports.
Upcoming Events
| Date | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 07/19/25 | 52nd Annual Cary Mid-Summer Swap | Cary, NC |
| 07/26/25 | WCARS Hamfest | Waynesville, NC |
| 08/09/25 | 25th Annual Cape Fear ARS Swapfest | Fayetteville, NC |
| 08/09/25 | Florence Hamfest | Florence, SC |
| 08/29/25 | Shelby Hamfest, ARRL NC Section Convention | Shelby, NC |
| 09/29/25 | HAM & GMRS Radio Swapmeet & Tailgate | Salley, SC |
| 10/04/25 | Rock Hill Hamfest, ARRL SC Section Convention | Rock Hill, SC |
| 10/18/25 | ARC of Augusta Swapmeet | Evans, GA |
| 10/18/25 | Savannah Hamfest & Swapmeet | Savannah, GA |
| 11/01/25 | Stone Mountain Hamfest, ARRL GA State Convention | Stone Mountain, GA |
May 2025 Net Reports
| Net Name | Check Ins (Winlink) | Traffic | Sessions | Reported By |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anderson Radio Club 2-meter net | 594 | 35 | 29 | KN4TUI |
| Big Ears Aynor Repeater | 46 | 0 | 4 | KD2OJQ |
| Blue Ridge 2 Meter Net | 1515 | 41 | 30 | W4DJW |
| Carolinas Net | 341 | 138 | 60 | AA4MP |
| Columbia ARC Sunday Net | 85 | 29 | 5 | N4PRF |
| Central SC CARC VHF Simplex Net | 12 | 0 | 1 | KN4KRZ |
| Florence Amateur Radio Club | 74 | 9 | 5 | WB6GUC |
| Grand Strand ARC 2m Net | 169 | 17 | 17 | N4AJK |
| Grand Strand ARC 1.25m Net | 35 | 4 | 4 | N4AJK |
| Grand Strand ARC 70 cm Net | 66 | 8 | 8 | N4AJK |
| Greater Pee Dee 2m Net | 998 | 62 | 30 | KK4KSZ |
| Horry Co. ARES simplex net | 17 | 1 | 1 | WBFTU |
| Hoodlum group 2M | 54 | 4 | 4 | KE4NOE |
| Hoodlum group HF | 78 | 4 | 4 | KE4NOE |
| Kershaw ARC 2m Net | 97 | 11 | 10 | W4JAV |
| Lancaster County ARC 2m Net | 30 | 0 | 5 | N4WMB |
| NWS Cola Midlands Skywarn FleetTalk Net | 19 | 1 | 2 | KN4KRZ |
| Lori's Ham Radio Club | 45 | 11 | 5 | N4SLC |
| PALS Net | 733 | 36 | 30 | KK4MQN |
| Ridge ARC VHF Net | 106 | 15 | 14 | KD4HDR |
| Ridge ARC HF Net | 2 | 1 | 1 | KD4HDR |
| SC Heart Training Net | 169 (1) | 0 | 4 | KQ4KK |
| SC Statewide ARES HF Net | 733 (32) | 10 | 4 | KN4KRZ |
| SC Midlands ARES Training Net | 21 (9) | 9 | 2 | KO4WAA |
| SCSSB Net | 957 | 806 | 30 | KG4RUE |
| SC ARES VHF/UHF Net | 308 | 3 | 5 | KI4RAX |
| Sumter County EmComm Net | 31 | 5 | 4 | N4RSM |
| YCARS | 993 | 0 | 51 | W4VST |
Additional Reports
Check Ins: 133 | Traffic: 19 | Sessions: 30 | Reported By: KI4KZS
637 minutes total
Cat1: 30 | Cat2: 8 | Cat3: 0 Cat4: 0 | Cat5: 10 | Cat6: 10 | Total:78
Sent: 50 | Received: 46 | Delivered: 11 | Originated: 0 | Total: 107
Received: 23 | Sent: 12 | Total: 35
Cat1: 40 | Cat2: 40 | Cat3: 20 | Cat4: 0 | Cat5: 0 | Cat6: 10 | Total: 110
| Position | Name | Call Sign | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Section Manager | Matthew Crook | W1MRC | W1MRC@arrl.org |
| Section Emergency Coordinator | Robert Webster | WR8RW | WR8RW@arrl.net |
| Assistant Section Manager | John Gendron | NJ4Z | NJ4Z@arrl.org |
| Assistant Section Manager - Skywarn | Billy Irwin | K9OH | K9OH@arrl.net |
| Assistant Section Manager | Stephen Anderjack | KO4AFL | KO4AFL@Gmail.com |
| Assistant Section Manager | Scott Putnam | KG9V | KG9V@Ycars.org |
| Public Info Coordinator | Gordon Mooneyhan | W4EGM | W4EGM@Outlook.com |
| Affiliated Club Coordinator | Carl Bosard | W4IXI | W4IXI@arrl.net |
| Section Traffic Manager | Dean French | N4AJK | N4AJK@arrl.net |
| Section Youth Coordinator | Michael Grimsley | KF4W | KF4W@arrl.net |
| Technical Coordinator | Brad Humphries | AE4VJ | AE4VJ@arrl.net |
