SCHH ARC “This & That” — October 7, 2025

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

Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW – Editor

Winlink Presentation by Ron Frick Highlights October Membership Meeting

A lot of amateur radio operators love “home brew”. Equipment that is “home brew” is built by the ham…sometimes even designed by the ham. Our radio club likes home brew equipment as well as what we come to call “Home Brew Presentations”. There is nothing better than a great presentation done in person at one of our meetings by one of our members.

Ron Frick, AI4HH provided a great presentation at the October 2nd Membership Meeting on the purpose, installation and use of Winlink. Ron stated that Winlink is a “Global Radio E-mail” system.  He discussed how to install Winlink software and the pros and cons of various operations options, of which there are more than a few! Ron created a 3-4 minute video that showed how he sent an actual Winlink message.

Winlink folds into our club’s increased efforts to be ready to maintain communications during emergencies that cause outages to normal power and communications. It does not rely on the Internet but rather banks on ham radio operators who create and maintain a messaging system that uses amateur radio as its conduit.

Ron offered to help members of the club to get up and running on Winlink, which can on the surface appear to be a daunting task. Ron is a great mentor who has helped many of us through the years to navigate the troubled waters of technology and amateur radio. If you are interested in further information or guidance on Winlink, please reach out to him.

Many thanks to Ron Frick, AI4HH for his presentation at last week’s meeting!

The ARC’s General Membership Meeting followed Ron’s presentation. Club president Bob McCormick, KD8IH oversaw a meeting that updated all in attendance on club-related topics such as membership, financials, and upcoming activities.

Bob reiterated the appeal for more engagement of our members. We will soon have three openings for Members-At-Large on our board (Public Service, Mentoring, and VE Coordinator). He noted that the “Open House” at our club’s storage room went well.

Also, the ARC needs a Public Information Officer and someone to oversee our web page. If you can help, please contact Bob (kd8ih@earthlink.net).

Upcoming events and programs were discussed by Bob Officer, WA6WAY. See below for more details on this Saturday’s Hidden Transmitter Hunt and the luncheon that will follow it.

Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW provided an update on the club’s Emergency Preparedness efforts and our continuing need to re-engage with Jasper County Emergency Management. Look for an email this week with our ARC’s task force’s report that was sent to the SCHH Community Association and also reviewed and discussed with Securitas.

Bob Officer, WA6WAY provided a Nominating Committee report. Stay tuned for more details. Our club will elect 2026 officers at the November Membership Meeting. Open positions are president, vice president, treasurer, and secretary. Bob believes that we have nominees for all but the vice president slot.

Thanks to all ARC members who participated in the October Membership Meeting: Gwen Fox (KN4VWQ), Harve Hnatiuk (KB3FW), Bob McCormick (KD8IH), Jack Owen (N0JCQ), Ron Frick (AI4HH), Bob Kehoe (WB3H), Chuck Nehonski (N8NCA), Frank Pollino (K2OS), Rick Garan (WA8NLX), Bob Kennedy (N0DQD), Bob Officer (WA6WAY), and Lon Seward (WB4KSG). It was great to have John Thompson (KD6KID), a ham who lives in Margaritaville, join us for the evening.

The date of our next membership meeting is November 6th. The meeting will be held in the Bayside Room at the newly renovated Lakehouse. See details below.

Chartered Club Fair: A Nice Success for the ARC

Mother Nature cooperated and provided all SCHH clubs and organizations with a late morning and early afternoon at the Chartered Club Fair this past Saturday. It is noted that 24 hours after the Club Fair, it was pouring rain here in SCHH during the hours of the fair! As the saying goes, timing is everything.

The SCHH Amateur Radio Club set up a table outside the courtyard entrance to Pinckney Hall. We put up our club banner and got KE4HAM on the air on 20 meters FT8. We operated “off the grid” thanks to Lon Seward’s (WB4KSG) battery power unit.

KE4HAM made 11 contacts on FT8 using the club’s IC-7300 and Harve’s pipsqueak antenna that was installed about 50 feet away from our table in the pine straw along the building.

Thanks to Bob McCormick (KD8IH), Frank Pollino (K2OS), Harve Hnatiuk, (KB3FW), and Lon Seward (WB4KSG) for taking care of not the set-up and Lon and Harve for handling the take-down. During the course of the 3-hour Club Fair, Ken Finke (KN8F) spent a lot of time at the table helping out as well. Others who pitched in at the table for some time were Ed Stratton (W1ZZ), Bob Kennedy (N0DQD), Ron Frick (AI4HH), and Jack Frisch (K2ITZ).

Several club members stopped by to visit and/or to renew their club memberships for 2026 including Jim (NH6BS)) and Jean Shaner (NH6EI), Bill Altman (WB3CBO), Phil Flaxman (AB2LT), Ted Kunzog (KQ4LCK), Sharon McFetridge, and Bob Kehoe (WB3H).

There was much interest about our club among SCHH residents who stopped by. Two or three residents offered to donate radio equipment to the club. One new resident of SCHH, Bruce Dianis, joined our club on Saturday! We hope that one or two other new residents of SCHH also decide to join us!

Many thanks to all who participated in the Chartered Club Fair for our ARC!

Have Your Letters Been Sent?

The ARRL has ramped up efforts to reduce restrictions to ham radio antennas in HOA communities.

Have you participated in this grassroots effort?

You can easily have your voice included in the chorus even if you are not an ARRL member? Click here to make that happen.

New Fox Will Be Unleashed for Saturday’s Hidden Transmitter Hunt

Lon Seward, WB4KSG Will Hide Transmitter. Dutch Treat Lunch at Okatie Creek Clubhouse to Follow!

Our Fall Hidden Transmitter Hunt (aka the Fox Hunt) will kick off from the parking lot of Pinckney Hall at 9:30 AM on Saturday October 11th, which is this coming Saturday!

One can only imagine where someone as crafty as Lon Seward (WB4KSG) will choose to hide the 2 meter FM transmitter. Lon and fellow member Judy Seward have been successful fox hunters in the past. If they collaborate on hiding a transmitter, we all may be out there for a while on October 11th…so, bring extra sunscreen and water that day! You may be out there for a while.

The transmitter will be stashed somewhere in SCHH in a public area. Complete “ground rules” for the hunt will be discussed with all participants who gather at Pinckney prior to the hunt.

All members and guests are invited to a Dutch Treat lunch at the Okatie Creek Clubhouse at Noon on October 11th at the conclusion of the hunt. We’ll look to meet up at the restaurant at 12 Noon on Saturday.

RSVPs for the lunch must be sent in as our reservation is only for 14 people. So, get on board early! Contact Harve, KB3FW via email (hnat463@gmail. com) to get on the list. The list so far includes Bob Officer (WA6WAY) and Harve Hnatiuk (KB3FW).

1500+ Parks for KB3FW

Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW also reports that he has recently achieved Worked All States on POTA and 40 meters DXCC.

New award? New certificate of note? Great QSL card that you have received? Please send a PDF or .jpeg of it to Harve for possible inclusion in “This & That” (hnat463@gmail.com).

Perhaps a “Fix” for Improved Vertical Antenna Performance?

Tell It To the Judge!

“Officer, I was just trying to get my 10 contacts to assure my POTA activation.”

What’s Coming Up

Saturday, October 11st: Hidden Transmitter Hunt with Dutch Treat lunch at Okatie Creek Clubhouse. More details above.

Saturday, October 18th — CARS Swapmeet near SAV Airport in Georgia. More info here, including how to get raffle tickets on line!

Thursday, November 6, 2025 – November Membership Meeting and Election of 2026 ARC Officers, Lakehouse, 7 PM. Program coming to us via Zoom thanks to Phil, N1DQ who will tell us about PSK Reporter.

December – Holiday Dinner. Date, time, and location to be determined.

SCHH ARC Nets

Net News

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.

As reported by Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW at our October Membership Meeting, the club continues its efforts to get the 147.06 repeater back into legal operation. It is unclear how long it will take to resolve this situation. Our ARC will remain proactive as we try to restore this important piece of ham radio infrastructure in the Low Country.

For now, the .060 KK4ONF machine remains “accessible” but it should be considered “off limits” for anything other than monitoring.

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) 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, November 4th @ 8 PM on 28.450 MHz SSB.

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, October 8th @ 8 PM: Rick Garan, WA8NLX (KE4HAM Okatie Repeater).

— Sunday, October 12th @ 8 PM: Frank Pollino, K2OS (KE4HAM Okatie Repeater).

— Wednesday, October 15th @ 8 PM: Frank Pollino, K2OS (KE4HAM Okatie Repeater).

— Sunday, October 19th @ 8 PM: Frank Pollino, K2OS (Simplex).

— Wednesday, October 22nd @ 8 PM: Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW (KE4HAM Okatie Repeater).

— Sunday, October 26th @ 8 PM: Frank Pollino, K2OS (Simplex).

— Wednesday, October 29th @ 8 PM: Frank Pollino, K2OS (KE4HAM Okatie Repeater).

— Sunday, November 2nd @ 8 PM: Frank Pollino, K2OS (KE4HAM Okatie Repeater).

— Tuesday, November 4th @ 8 PM: Frank Pollino, K2OS (28.450 MHz SSB).

SCHH ARC Net Reports:

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

Last week’s check-ins and traffic:

— Tuesday, September 30th 10m SSB Net: KE4HAM/K2OS, K2ITZ, AD5EN, N0DQD, AA4KK, AI4HH, WD2LT, KB3FW. QNI=8, QTC=0.

— Wednesday, October 1st 2m Repeater Net: KE4HAM/KB3FW, AI4HH, KD6KID, KJ4BSM, WA6WAY, K2OS, WB4KSG, W1ZZ, WA8NLX, AA4KK, WB1DXN. QNI=11 , QTC=0.

— Sunday, October 5th 2m Repeater: KE4HAM/K2OS, AI4HH, AA4KK, AD5EN, KD8IH, WB1DXN, K2ITZ, KQ4JKI, WB4KSG, WA6WAY, WA8NLX, KB3FW, KJ4BSM. 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 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”!