If you would like to join please send an email to [email protected] and ask for an invite to the slack channel. We are also experimenting with JS8call as the “on radio” platform to coordinate our activities in the event of no internet.
Experimentation
W4FSV
Breadboard Radio – Ham Radio Kits that are easy to build and fun to use!
KM4ACK
Build-a-Pi will allow you to get up and running fast with a Raspberry Pi for ham radio.
Winlink for Emergency Communications: Beginners Workshop
Wait what? Last month’s Ham and Eggs attendees received a USB key packed with tools and software for Winlink, JS8Call, and VARAChat. Perfect timing, there is training posted at ARES-SC.org that will take you through Winlink A-Z. More details are below:
NOTE: This is will a late evening event, it is posted to be a 7 pm PST time, making it 10 pm for the east coast.
COLUMBIA SKYWARN STORM SPOTTERS TEAM
Midlands Skywarn Newsletter Sign-up
The Columbia SKYWARN Team assists the Columbia National Weather Service with Ground-Truth weather observations during severe or dangerous weather. The Columbia NWS forecast area covers much of South Carolina and is divided into August/CSRA, Midlands, and Eastern Midlands.
The Columbia SKYWARM Team holds NETS and Virtual Training/Meetings weekly and monthly. More Information can be found at the Columbia Amateur Radio Club Calendar
Important Links:
- How to Report Severe Weather to the NWS Office in Columbia: https://www.weather.gov/cae/severe_reports.html
- Storm Reporting to NWS: https://inws.ncep.noaa.gov/report/
- Storm Prediction Center: https://www.spc.noaa.gov/
- Richland County Emergency Preparedness: https://richlandcountysc.gov/Emergency-Preparedness
Founded in the 1970s, the information provided by SKYWARN Spotters, coupled with Doppler radar technology, improved satellite, and other data, has enabled the NWS to issue more timely and accurate warnings for tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, and flash floods. SKYWARN Storm Spotters form the nation’s first line of defense against severe weather minutes that can help save lives.
In most years, thunderstorms, tornadoes, and lightning cause hundreds of injuries and deaths and billions in property and crop damage. The National Weather Service (NWS) established SKYWARN with partner organizations to obtain critical weather information. SKYWARN is a volunteer program with 350,000 and 400,000 trained severe weather Spotters. These volunteers help keep their local communities safe by providing timely and accurate reports of severe weather to the National Weather Service. Although SKYWARN Spotters provide essential information for all weather hazards, the focus is reporting on severe local thunderstorms. In an average year, the United States experiences more than 10,000 severe thunderstorms, 5,000 floods, and more than 1,000 tornadoes. (Information courtesy of the Columbia NWS)
Interested in learning more, have questions, or want to sign up for training-Newsletter-meetings?
Use the orange form at the bottom of the page to contact us, or visit the Columbia NWS at https://www.weather.gov/cae/skywarn.html
Community Emergency Response Team Training
Community Emergency Response Team – CERT Training – STARTING Tuesday, October 10 at 6 PM at the Richland County EOC.
This is the 20-hour Community Emergency Response Team Class. This training is scheduled for three consecutive Tuesdays & Thursdays in October. We have openings and need additional participants to register with Sharon Long by the close of business on Wednesday, October 4, to avoid canceling this training.
Link for the schedule: CERT October 2023 Link for the application: COMMUNICATIONS EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM APPLICATION FORM
For more information, Contact Mark Goddard @ [email protected]
ARRL Special Service Club Award
Congratulations! The SSC status has been approved for the Columbia Amateur Radio Club, W4CAE.
Thank you for being so supportive of amateur radio.
Sincerely,
Mike Walters, W8ZY
Field Services Manager
ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio®
Columbia Amateur Radio Club is now a Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador!
The Columbia Amateur Radio Club is now a Weather-Ready Nation (WRN) Ambassador.
The Columbia Amateur Radio Club is excited to collaborate with NOAA/NWS to help strengthen our nation’s readiness against extreme weather, water, and climate events. If you would like more information, please visit the Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador Frequently Asked Questions. And if you need any additional information, email WRN anytime at [email protected]. You can also find WRN on X (previously Twitter) @WRNAmbassadors.
January 2025 CARC Monthly Club Meeting: Meet KM6LYW: Innovator Behind DigiPi
We are excited to announce that at the January Club meeting, we have a special guest: Craig KM6LYW. Craig KM6LYW is a trailblazer in the amateur radio community, known for blending traditional ham radio practices with cutting-edge technology will be joining the Clubs Zoom meeting. As the creator of DigiPi, a compact, Raspberry Pi-based platform for digital communications, KM6LYW has made digital modes more accessible and affordable for amateur radio enthusiasts worldwide. The Club Zoom meeting details are at the end on this article.
The DigiPi is a versatile and user-friendly solution that supports popular digital modes like FT8, JS8Call, APRS, and more. By combining modern software with low-cost hardware, KM6LYW has empowered operators to explore the exciting world of digital amateur radio without needing expensive, specialized equipment.
Beyond developing the DigiPi, KM6LYW is passionate about supporting the ham radio community. He actively shares his knowledge, engages with fellow enthusiasts, and fosters innovation to ensure that digital amateur radio continues to thrive. Explore the world of digital amateur radio with KM6LYW and DigiPi—where tradition meets innovation.
In addition to exploring the exciting world of DigiPi and digital amateur radio, we’re excited to share that the club will offer our members a variety of amateur radio hobby items. Whether you’re a seasoned operator or just starting, you’ll find a range of gear and accessories to enhance your amateur radio experience. These items are available on a donation basis, and all proceeds will go directly to supporting the club’s activities, resources, and outreach efforts. It’s a great way to get something you need while giving back to the community that keeps the hobby alive and thriving! Bring your $$$.
Here’s how you could present the additional topics for the meeting:
Additional Meeting Topics
Join us for a dynamic and informative meeting as we dive into several exciting topics, including:
- Harbison 50K Review: This is a look back at the event and the role amateur radio played in its success.
- Winter Field Day: Preparation and strategies for this popular event to hone emergency communication skills.
- South Carolina QSO Party: Tips for participating and maximizing your contact logs during this state-focused radio contest.
- Hams and Eggs & New Lunch and Learn: Discover these engaging opportunities to connect, share, and learn in a casual setting.
- Hands-On Experience: A practical session to explore and practice amateur radio techniques.
- April CARC Swapfest: Get a preview of this must-attend event for buying, selling, or trading amateur radio gear.
- ARRL Summer Field Day: Early planning for one of the most significant events in amateur radio, focusing on teamwork and readiness.
Whether you’re a long-time operator or new to the hobby, there’s something for everyone at this meeting. Don’t miss out!
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85333006112?pwd=SIMA5UTJzYEEf1RPh8rfmIjWbyZMzP.1
Meeting ID: 853 3300 6112
Passcode: 132652
Permanent link to this article: https://w4cae.com/winlink-p2p-group/
Station Grounding & Bonding
Kevan attended the clubs August 2020 meeting and his presentation was very very interesting. Not at such a high level like some presentations but at a level we could implement his suggestions and understand why.
Note: all of the club business, opining and show and tell has been edited out by K4LLE. Which means this is a heavily edited video because the August club meeting was also a business meeting. For club business I direct you to the meeting minutes which will be posted under the tab MINUTES. This video is Kevan’s presentation and the Q&A session he ran afterwards. Also, because this MP4 is so big it could not be uploaded to this website. As such it was placed on a google drive with a sharable link. Click on this link and you will go to the google drive where you can download or view the full presentation.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15z6OOdXjGvNNUI5uP4QetKO2svu9rEas/view?usp=sharing
This video is a ZOOM recording of the Columbia Amateur Radio Clubs (CARC) August 3 2020 business meeting. The CARC is not responsible for anything you see or hear in this video. This video is rated G for all audiences.
Permanent link to this article: https://w4cae.com/station-grounding-bonding/
DHS SHARES LF Beacon
There is an LF beacon operating in the Columbia area. It can be received out to about 200 miles via groundwave – much further with skywave. This station is operating as a proof of concept Low Frequency alerting station, as part of a DHS SHARES trial program. Our Amateur HF community knows that long-range emergency communications can become unusable when HF skywave propagation is disrupted by a disturbed ionosphere. But groundwave communications independent of the ionosphere remain available. Such LF stations can provide essentially omni-directional blanket Alerting and low-bit-rate information coverage, nearly independent of mountains or foliage, etc.
The local station is transmitting on a center frequency of 194 khz. The best way to receive it is to tune your receiver’s USB Mode to 192.500 kHz, and use FLDIG or an equivalent program set at ‘1500 Hz CENTER,’ with a very narrow filter – the signal is only 36 Hz wide, so I use a 50 Hz filter for best reception.
The signal presently being transmitted is THOR-Micro, available free from fldigi. The signal is sent with a 50 second on, 60 second off duty cycle and runs 24/7.
We are very interested in getting signal reports, and prefer to get them taken near noon, when any skywave component is minimized. Reports of just the observance of the signal in a waterfall display, even of just an audable signal strong enough for CW (here: on/off as above), or of course, copy of the brief Alert text in the message window of THOR-Micro.
Send reports to Dan Goldston [email protected]
Permanent link to this article: https://w4cae.com/dhs-shares-lf-beacon/
RMS Titanic Radio Room
We all know on April 15 1912 in the early morning hours the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank. This is a picture of the Titanic radio room, it has been colorized but other then that it is a real picture.
Can you identify ANY of the radio equipment ?, not looking for brand names but what its function was would be interesting I think.
If you have some ideas just click on the contact button up top and I will share your ideas here as they come in.
8/18/2019 K4CAE, David points us to a very interesting article written by Rhonda Berenson. What we are looking at in this picture is the “Marconi Room” very interesting reading indeed. Click HERE for the article.
Permanent link to this article: https://w4cae.com/rms-titanic-radio-room/
FT4
FT4 is an experimental digital mode designed specifically for radio contesting. Like FT8, it uses fixed-length transmissions, structured messages with formats optimized for minimal QSOs, and strong forward error correction. T/R sequences are 6 seconds long, so FT4 is 2.5 × faster than FT8 and about the same speed as RTTY for radio contesting.
Further information on FT4 is at
http://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/FT4_Protocol.pdf
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2019/april/new-digital-mode-ft4.htm
Permanent link to this article: https://w4cae.com/ft4/
1/2in Type M Copper Tubing Slim Jim VHF/UHF Antenna
Click on the picture for the full report.
Permanent link to this article: https://w4cae.com/1-2in-type-m-copper-tubing-slim-jim-vhf-uhf-antenna/
Message from ARRL, South Carolina, Public Information Coordinator
South Carolina Amateur Radio Volunteers Assist with Emergency Communication
09/16/2018
Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) volunteers from several South Carolina counties are pitching in to help support emergency communication, as the state deals with the aftereffects of Hurricane Florence. The storm, now a tropical depression, continues to generate heavy rainfall in the Carolinas.
“Amateur Radio operators are far from ‘amateurs’ when it comes to providing communication in an emergency,” ARES Richland County Emergency Coordinator Ronnie Livingston, W4RWL, said. “Our volunteers here in Richland County have been staffing stations at the Richland County Emergency Operations Center (EOC), as well as at the Red Cross, since the requests were first received.”
ARES District Emergency Coordinator EMEA Area 3 Earl Dean, W4ESD, said operators at the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) have been keeping in contact with field volunteers in Marion and Dillon counties, after conventional telecommunications failed there. “We were able to deploy assets and personnel, thanks to our volunteers who managed communications between these areas and coordinated with the appropriate agencies,” Dean said.
“South Carolina ARES is fully activated,” ARRL South Carolina Section Emergency Coordinator Billy Irwin, K9OH, told ARRL in advance of the storm, adding that he’s been coordinating regularly with the SC Emergency Management Division.”
ARRL South Carolina ARES needs additional Amateur Radio volunteers to assist with the response effort and is in discussion with the ARRL Alabama Section to fulfill this need through a mutual aid agreement.
Gordon Mooneyhan, W4EGM, Public Information Officer (PIO) for the Grand Strand Amateur Radio Club (GSARC), said radio amateurs set up and managed organized communication networks to assist local government and emergency agencies, as well as non-commercial health-and-welfare messaging for residents affected by the disaster, to let family members outside the affected area know they are okay.
On-air operations for National Hurricane Center station WX4NHC, the Hurricane Watch Net, the VoIP Hurricane Net, and SATERN have concluded. — Thanks to ARRL South Carolina Section PIC Tammy A. Livingston, N4TAL
If you are interested in joining South Carolina ARES click here.
Permanent link to this article: https://w4cae.com/message-from-arrl-south-carolina-public-information-coordinator/