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.
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®
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.
$10 per Seller / Vendor
The Columbia Amateur Radio Club (CARC) is thrilled to invite amateur radio enthusiasts, hobbyists, and collectors to our Annual Swapfest in beautiful Columbia, South Carolina! This year’s event promises to be bigger and better than ever, offering a fantastic opportunity to buy, sell, and trade amateur radio gear, meet fellow hams, and participate in the vibrant community of amateur radio operators. Please note the traffic pattern in the image above, and note that the parking lot is divided into two sections: visitors and sellers/vendors. The event will open to the public at 8:00 am, and the club set up is from 7:00 am to 8:00 am. THIS IS A GUIDED EVENT. PLEASE FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE PARKING LOT.
Event Details:
ARRL Digital Contest
June 7-8 2025
Amateur radio operators, enthusiasts, and tech lovers, it’s time to mark your calendars for the ARRL Digital Contest, an exciting event hosted by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). Whether you’re a seasoned digital mode operator or a newcomer eager to dive into digital communications, this contest offers a unique opportunity to showcase your skills, connect with operators worldwide, and earn recognition in the ham radio community.
The ARRL Digital Contest is an annual competition designed to encourage the use of digital modes in amateur radio. Digital communication methods, including popular modes like FT8, PSK31, RTTY, and more, have become vital in ham radio. They allow operators to make contacts with minimal power, even under challenging propagation conditions, and the contest provides a platform for enthusiasts to challenge themselves and improve their digital mode proficiency.
Participants in the contest are tasked with making as many valid contacts as possible with other operators using digital modes, which can include short-range local exchanges and long-distance contacts across continents. The event is a great way to engage with a global community, exchange QSO information, and compete for awards and recognition.
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Want a program to display tons of Amateur Radio-related information? Many believe the only way to have a Geochron-like display is to install Linux on a dedicated system such as a Raspberry PI or a compatible PC or Laptop. Well, you can do that and have a reliable system displaying this beautiful screen on a large TV monitor. But, what if you don’t have a Raspberry Pi or spare PC? You can run the application in a little-known Linux sub-system environment in Windows.
Continue readingPermanent link to this article: https://w4cae.com/wait-a-hamming-minute-hamclock-and-windows/
March Ham and Eggs will feature Parks on the Air (POTA). So, what is POTA? POTA (Parks on The Air) is a part of Ham Radio that is growing in popularity. It starts when a Ham Radio operator travels to a National, State, or County Park listed on the POTA website. The Ham Radio Operator sets up their equipment and tries to make radio contact with other Ham Radio operators. There are many ways to communicate but the most common modes are SSB (talking on the radio), digital modes, i.e. FT8, and CW (like morse code). During this presentation we will cover:
At the conclusion of Ham and Eggs join Micheal KF4W, Tedd K4TLC, and Jim W4JLP at Sesquicentennial State Park for a demonstration of POTA activation using SSB and Digital modes. Did I mention, lunch? We will be grilling hamburgers with baked beans and mac ‘n cheese.
IMPORTANT NOTE: When you arrive at the gate, inform the gate personnel you are visiting the POTA event. Please make sure you give them your name and call sign if you have one. The POTA event is at Picnic table 3 which is near the boat house.
Open picnic table 3 with plenty of parking for those who want to set up their go-box/mobile for POTA.
Permanent link to this article: https://w4cae.com/march-ham-and-eggs-parks-on-the-air/
Greetings all, this month our main presentation will be Bill, W4FSV, taking us through the history and theories of Tubes in Amateur Radio. This will be a fantastic presentation, join us if you can.
Meeting Agenda
Permanent link to this article: https://w4cae.com/march-carc-monthly-meeting/
Greetings everyone! We will meet in person at the ETV building and encourage all to join us there. In case you can’t make the meeting below is the Zoom meeting information for Monday.
Continue readingPermanent link to this article: https://w4cae.com/february-carc-meeting-zoom/
The last Winter Field Day planning Zoom meeting is Wednesday 25th at 7:00 pm:
Click here for details in the Club Calendar
Continue readingPermanent link to this article: https://w4cae.com/winter-field-day-2023/
Line-of-Sight provides radio path information for mapping long-distance SCADA radio communications by using antenna height and topography. Though this tool is designed for cellular service, it has great potential in the ham community. For example, I live in Lugoff and have sporadic issues reaching the club repeater 147.330. I feel certain that my antenna is the problem, either the coax feeding the antenna or its placement.
After checking the coax and antenna, I found using the Rf Line-of-Sight tool there is possibly an elevation increase in my line-of-sight to the repeater of 5 meters; which could cause issues with reaching the repeater.
Using this finding, my next step is to increase my antenna height to obtain a clear line of sight.
Continue readingPermanent link to this article: https://w4cae.com/rf-line-of-sight/
Tonight’s call for Winter Field Day:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85735594296?pwd=Sk9idHFNYUszRmFuOSs2YXpDajBuZz09 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85735594296?pwd=Sk9idHFNYUszRmFuOSs2YXpDajBuZz09
Meeting ID: 857 3559 4296
Passcode: 848971
One tap mobile
+13017158592,,85735594296#,,,,*848971# US (Washington DC)
+13052241968,,85735594296#,,,,*848971# US
Permanent link to this article: https://w4cae.com/winter-field-day-planning-meeting/
