SCHH ARC “This & That” — November 18, 2025

The Weekly E-Newsletter of the Sun City Hilton Head Amateur Radio Club

Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW – Editor

The Next “Big Thing”: Holiday Dinner on December 8th!

ARC Will Enjoy Dutch Treat Dinner at the Clubhouse at Okatie Creek

Responses have been coming in regularly for the SCHH ARC’s Holiday Dinner. We will meet up by 7 PM at the Clubhouse at Okatie Creek on the 8th of December.

As of November 16th, we have fourteen (14) members and guests who have reserved their seating. Here who is “on the list”: Harve (KB3FW) and Cyndee Hnatiuk, Bob (WA6WAY) and Sharon Officer, Chuck (W8NCA) and wife Nehonsky, Chip (KQ4JKI) and Mary Ann Miller, Jack (K2ITZ) and Marcie Frisch, Bob McCormick (KD8IH), Ed Stratton (W1ZZ), Ken Finke (KN8F) and Ron Frick (AI4HH). The restaurant has assured us that we have twenty-five seats at the table(s) for us that night. We might be able to expand that to thirty but there are no guarantees.

It is best to reserve your seat(s) as soon as possible by emailing Harve Hnatiuk (KB3FW) at hnat463@gmail.com.

An update on availability will be provided in next week’s This & That.

ARRL To Provide Webinar on Winlink

Our ARC had a great introductory presentation on Winlink from our own Ron Frick AI4HH at the October Membership Meeting.

Bob McCormick, KD8IH informs us that the ARRL is providing a webinar about Winlink later this month.

Here is the info if you want to participate.

Sunday Night Net Is On the Move!

Beginning on November 23rd and until further notice, the SCHH ARC’s Sunday Night 2 meter net will be conducted on Simplex on 147.550 MHz. Our KE4HAM repeater has been a bit scratchy and noisy over the past months. While troubleshooting continues and fixes are tried and tested on the Wednesday Night 2 Meter Repeater Net, we’ll stay on Simplex on Sundays.

Winter Field Day Team Is Being Assembled

Our ARC plans to operate on the Saturday of Winter Field Day weekend. We have reserved Lake Somerset as our site for the January 24th multi-station set up and operation.

Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW will be organizing the club’s efforts in Winter Field Day and ARRL Field Day in 2026. Please email him at hnat463@gmail.com if you plan to participate.

For Winter Field Day, the goal has always been and continues to be to Keep It Simple. As such, we’ll initially plan on having three stations on the air. We may up that to four stations or downsize it to two stations depending on how many members indicate an interest in participating and what equipment and antennas are available for that day.

To date, we have only a few members who have expressed an interest: Bob McCormick (KD8IH), Ed Stratton (W1ZZ), Chip Miller (KQ4JKI), Bob Officer (WA6WAY), and Harve (KB3FW).

There will be a Planning Meeting on Zoom in early January 2026 to get all interested members together to finalize plans and goals for January 24th.

Thank You, Ken / KN8F

Ken Finke (KN8F) has been an active member of our ARC for many years. He and his wife Diana will be moving back to Ohio in the coming weeks. The club will definitely miss Ken. When you see him at the Holiday Dinner, please be sure to wish him well.

We hope that he can visit our 2 meter nets via EchoLink from time to time and that he will provide us with a program presentation (or two…or more!) via Zoom in the months/years ahead.

Ken generously donated several items to the ARC as he prepares for his move north including a 2 meter transceiver and a 10-40 meter vertical that will be a nice addition to our “arsenal” for future Field Days. Ken also donated 10, 15, and 40 meter dipoles among other items.

Many thanks, Ken, for all you have contributed to our ARC in time and talent…and now treasure.

Shaner’s Are Also Moving from SCHH

There’s a saying “When it rains, it pours”. And it applies to our ARC as we head into 2026.

Jim (NH6BS) and Jean (NH6EI) Shaner moved to SCHH from Hawaii a few years ago. They have been out to ARC events and meetings since their arrival.

They’ll be moving to the Orlando, FL area soon to enable them to travel by air from there more easily, which will help them to visit family overseas in the years ahead. We’ll miss them for sure.

Be Careful Out There While DXing!

What’s Coming Up

December 8, 2025 – SCHH ARC Annual Holiday Dinner, Dutch Treat at the Okatie Creek Clubhouse. 7 PM. Members and guests invited. Limited to 25 people. More info is included above. Email Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW (hnat463@gmail.com) to RSVP.

January 8, 2026 — SCHH ARC Membership Meeting. Lakehouse, Bayside Room, 7 PM. Presentation by Bob Brehm, AK6R from Palomar Engineers on RFI.

January 24, 2026 — Winter Field Day. See preliminary info above.

Programs for 2026 Membership Meetings

The plan to date for 2026 is shown below. As can be seen, we have some openings for programs.

All members of our ARC can provide ideas for programs. Your help and input is truly needed!!

As we have discussed, our best programs seem to come from our own members providing insights on the areas of amateur radio in which they excel. Our club is blessed to have some great hams on its roster with a huge knowledge base.

And, many members of our ARC know hams outside of SCHH who could do a great program.

Our club’s Program Committee presently includes Ed Stratton (W1ZZ), Ken Finke (KN8F), Dennis Hopkins (AC4DH), and Harve Hnatiuk (KB3FW). Ken will be moving from SCHH to Ohio in the coming months.

There is room on the Program Committee for one or two more volunteers so that we can seek out program presenters from within our club and from the overall ham radio community. No pressure really for committee members…just a matter of putting the thinking cap on, coming up with some ideas, and following up on them as needed.

January 8th Meeting: (To be confirmed) Bob Brehm, AK6R presentation on RFI coming to us from the west coast on Zoom.

February 5th Meeting: Mike Aimone, WA8AHZ presentation about the future of ham radio. Mike is the 2024 recipient of the ARRL Roanoke Division Service Award. He plans to join us via Zoom.

March 5th Meeting: Open.

April 2nd Meeting: Open.

May 7th Meeting: Open.

June 4th Meeting: ARRL Field Day Planning Session.

SCHH ARC Nets

Please check-in to our nets and let others know how you are doing and what you are doing in ham radio and in other areas of your life.

Repeater Issues

The Okatie Repeater has been quite scratchy with some “drop outs” over the past weeks.

The Sunday Night 2 Meter Net will be conducted on Simplex (147.550) until further notice.

If and when in doubt, please consult “This &That” to establish the dates, times, and frequencies/modes for our SCHH ARC nets.

Weekly SCHH ARC Nets

Sunday’s Net (8 PM) will operate on 147.550 MHz Simplex until further notice. Check-in can be done even if you don’t have a radio up and running via EchoLink by using the link KE4HAM-L.

Wednesday‘s Net (8 PM) will operate until further notice on the KE4HAM Okatie Repeater (147.135 + with a tone of 91.5 on both input and output). The net can be accessed via EchoLink using the link KE4HAM-R.

Next 10m SSB Net: 
Tuesday, December 2nd @ 8 PM on 28.450 MHz SSB. Frank Pollino, K2OS will be net control.

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 Frank, K2OS for also being the net control station of our monthly 10m SSB net. 

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

Thanks to Ron Frick, AI4HH, for working diligently to keep EchoLink up and running for our nets and for being the trustee for our club station, KE4HAM and the Okatie Repeater.

Net Control Schedule:

— Wednesday, November 19th @ 8 PM: Frank Pollino, K2OS (KE4HAM Okatie Repeater).

— Sunday, November 23rd @ 8 PM: Rick Garan, WA8NLX (Simplex).

— Wednesday, November 26th @ 8 PM: Rick Garan, WA8NLX (KE4HAM Okatie Repeater).

— Sunday, November 30th @ 8 PM: Frank Pollino, K2OS (Simplex)

— Tuesday, December 2nd @ 8 PM: Frank Pollino, K2OS (28.450 MHz, Upper Sideband).

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, November 12th 2m Repeater Net: KE4HAM/WA8NLX, AI4HH, WB1DXN, K2ITZ, K2OS, KD8IH. QNI=6 , QTC=0.

— Sunday, November 16th 2m Repeater Net: KE4HAM/K2OS, AI4HH, AA4KK, KJ4BSM, KD8IH, K2ITZ, KB3FW, WA6WAY, WB1DXN. QNI=9, QTC=0.

Note: QNI = Number of Check-ins to the net, including Net Control; QTC = Traffic handled (Radiograms).

News From Our Nets’ Check-ins

By the time that you read this on Tuesday AM, Jack FrisCh (K2ITZ) will most likely have his POTA parks worked count over 4900. He is closing in on getting some new wallpaper from the POTA organization.

Bob Officer, WA6WAY asked if anyone had a “screen meter”. No one seemed to know for sure what that is.

Other Operating

Daily —  Monitor the 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. If you are listening to the repeater, feel free to announce your call and that you are “monitoring”!