South Carolina Amateur Radio Emergency Services

The latest update to the South Carolina ARES Tactical Plan has been posted today.

All ARES members are encouraged to become familiar with the document as it defines how we operate in emergency situations.

The document is available at the following link:
SC ARES Tactical Plan

An update on the SCHEART repeater antenna systems on Caesars Head was posted to the SCHEART.us website earlier this week.

Due to hard line antenna cable damage at the site, water intrusion has occurred.  An estimated date of return to service is not available at this time.

Go to the following link for more complete details:
SCHEART Caesars Head Repeaters Update

Our next Statewide ARES Net (scheduled for 6 September) is cancelled.  As it occurs during the Labor Day holiday weekend, and there is no severe weather on the “horizon”, we want to give our net controllers and all who check into the net a “holiday” break.

We will resume our scheduled Sunday net on 20 September.

Wishing all a pleasant  and safe Labor Day weekend.

The 2026 Great American Shake Out drill is scheduled for 15 October 2026 at 10.15 [AM} local time.

This provides an opportunity for us to practice our response to an earthquake-generated emergency situation.

Given that we here in South Carolina have a number of fault lines in the state and off shore, this is a valuable opportunity to practice our skills as teams and / or individuals.

For additional information and registration go to:  https://www.shakeout.org/

If you have any questions related to this, feel free to contact me at: robert.webster@ares-sc.org

Effective today, 1 July 2026, there are two leadership updates for South Carolina ARES.

District 2
Lee Marion (W8CGQ) has stepped down from his role as EC for District Two.  Lee has been active in South Carolina ARES for a number of years and has been instrumental in assisting the return of ARES to several of the county EOCs in District Two. Our thanks to Lee for his many years of service.
Chad Hightower (KO4NUE) has volunteered to take on the role of EC for District Two.  Chad has been the assistant EC for District Two for the last two years.  Chad is well versed in emergency management and has significant leadership experience from his military service.  Our thanks to Chad for taking on the District EC role.

District 3
Joe Wilson (KO4WAA) has stepped down from his role as EC for District Three.  Joe has been an active member of ARES for a number of years including his leadership as EC for Richland County.  Our thanks to Joe for his excellent leadership for District Three over the last several years.
Ed Knowles (K4ERK) has volunteered to take on the role of EC for District Three.  Ed has previously served as the Assistant EC for District Three and also serves as the EC for Newberry County. Our thanks to Ed for his volunteering to take on the DEC role.

The image below was created by the ARRL for 2026 Field Day given the current emergency response to the earthquake situation in Venezuela.

If you are participating in 2026 Field Day, and are operating HF, please keep this advisory in mind so the critical emergency channels are used for Venezuela Earthquake Emergency response traffic only.

Thanks for your cooperation and assistance.

The statewide Sunday evening ARES nets schedule for hurricane season 2026 has been set up. The nets for the months of June through November will begin at 20.00 hrs (8.00 PM ET) on the following dates:

June: 7th and 21st
July: 5th and 19th
August: 2nd and 16th
September: 6th and 20th
October: 4th and 18th
November: 8th and 22nd

The objectives of these nets are:
– Test the functional capability and readiness of our radio equipment and the SCHEART system
– Drive to an improved level of proficiency when communicating via voice on a net

Additional information related to the conduct of these nets will be available later this month.

If you have any questions, contact Robert Webster (WR8RW).

The Department of Defense will host this year’s Armed Forces Day (AFD) Crossband Test. For more than 50 years, military and amateur stations have taken part in this event, which is an interoperability exercise between hobbyist and government radio stations. The AFD Crossband Test, open to all licensed amateur radio operators, is a unique opportunity to test two-way communication between military communicators and radio stations in the Amateur Radio Service (ARS). These tests provide opportunities and challenges for radio operators to demonstrate individual technical skills in a tightly controlled exercise scenario that does not impact any public or private communications. Military stations will transmit on selected military frequencies and will announce the specific ARS frequencies monitored. All times are ZULU (Z), and all frequencies are Upper Side Band (USB) unless otherwise noted.

See attached document or this link for more details = https://www.dodmars.org/mars-comex-information-website/armed-forces-day?utm_source=chatgpt.com