Well, it has been awhile since my last post and a lot has taken place. I won the VHF/UHF contest last year for the state and the region. It was my first contest. I worked the 13 Colonies event this past fourth of July and got all 13 colonies plus the two bonus stations. Worked W1AW for South Carolina for a small period of time.

Purchased a new great rig, a Yaesu 1200. Works great!

Going to the Shelby Hamfest!

Hope to work more contest and learn how to make a little pistol sound like a big gun without the power.

Joined the Swamp Fox Contest Group!

More to follow later!

South Cove Park Deployment

Well our South Cove Park, SC deployment went very well and all who participated seem to have a great time. Most had so much fun they are ready for another. However, Our field day is coming up and we want to get as many as possible participating. Once again this prepares us for an actual situation should one ever arise.

Bill and I will be contacting members to be participants in various parts of the deployment by making sure their part is executed. Please volunteer for what you are able.

Hopefully by the end of July we will have two more park deployments for member participation and maybe even a SOTA.

Happy Radio Waves till next time

Russ

South Cove Park Deploymen

We are just a week away from our CPOTA South Cove Park simulated emergency deployment.

We will deploy at 9am and operate till around 4pm. Bring you radio gear, lunch and drinks and have fun, learn and make contacts. We go rain or shine.

You may come an go as you wish. Parking is free. No metal stakes in the ground. We will operate on portable power only. batteries and generators. No mobile operation.

I look forward for a chance to check out my equipment and operation and will take notes. I encourage all participants to do the same. This will give us a chance to be better prepared for the next deployment and field day.

See you there!

New Year, New Opportunities!

Well here we are in a new year with new opportunities.

The first opportunity I have completed is participating in the club net from my iPad 2 on Echolink. I will be taking this to Florida so I can check in during the net.

I am also taking my 817 on the trip to Florida to try out new portable antenna in making some 20 and 40 meter contacts.

And I am looking forward to our March 17 deployment to South Cove County Park. Details coming at the next meeting.

I have been working on PSK31 set up and listening. Have tried to make a few contacts on low power. I persevere.

I hope every one else is having a great hobby year.

Happy Valentines Day to all!

Time

Well the good news is I have more time for radio ops. Great timefor learning new things. Plan to operate portable in a park or two while in FL over the Holidays.

Hope everyone has a safe and good holiday.

POTA and CPOTA

Well I have found 2 groups similar to SOTA that I believe the SOTA Team and the rest of the KTARC will want to participate in.
POTA, Parks on the Air is similar to SOTA except that it is designed for National and State Parks. CPOTA is similar except it is for County and City Parks. There is a list of approved National and State Parks and I assume CPOTA is the same for City and County Parks.
This is great because most all of these parks are accessible by everyone.
I look forward to many POTA and CPOTA activations. It will be even more fun with more people and running QRP or any output wattage. There is no power restriction at this time other than legal power limits and what you are willing to lug around.

I will keep all updated as we move in this direction.

Had great fun working the Tugaloo bike ride this past weekend!

SOTA Team News

We are not going to the mountains this weekend. We have decided to be chasers. Sometime soon we will just have a mountain top exploration to determine what mountains we want to activate next.

Our Team has decided and invited the KTARC to participate in 1 day field days through out the year. We will pick some Saturdays throughout the year to conduct these operations. We will also pick parks that are accessible by all participants. It will  be fun.

The guidelines for these 1 day field days are as follows:

•  Hours:  9:00 am to 3PM. You can come earlier or stay later or do both.
• You must bring all your own equipment.
• Operate QRP on battery power
• Bring your own snacks and food
• You can work all bands, all modes for which you are licensed
• Make as many contacts as you are able
• Learn from others about equipment, techniques, etc.
• Learn how to be prepared for future emergency operations

I look forward to these ops.

We will continue to pursue activating SC mountains as SOTA operations.

Keep your signal strong and clear!