Swamp Fox Contest Group

4/23/2023

3/20/2023

Please welcome Darcy K4DQP to the Swamp Fox Contest Group!  Darcy was invited to SFCG by John NJ4Z with an endorsement from Scott KG9V.  Darcy holds a General class license and is working on his Extra.  He lives in Rock Hill with his XYL and 5 children. John is a member and Treasurer of the York County Amateur Radio Society.  He enjoys contesting and finished 2'nd place SC (SOLP-U) in the 2020 ARRL International DX Contest SSB, 1'st place the previous 3 years (Multi-op K4YTZ) in the SC QSO Party and enjoys special event operations including 13 Colonies, VOTA and POTA activations. 

 Darcy states that he's interested in all kinds of aspects of Amateur Radio, technology and the interfacing of data and physical world, building antennas, Raspberry PI, Arduino, etc. His favorite mode is voice however he recently received a certificate of completion of beginner CW skills from CW Academy. In addition to ham radio, Darcy keeps busy with leatherworking, fly fishing, fly tying and bee keeping!

Darcy:  Welcome to the Swamp Fox Contest Group!

3/1/2023

2023 is continuing to be a great year for new membership with the addition of three new members. It is with great pleasure that we would like to introduce our newest members to the Swamp Fox Contesting group. First, we would like to re-welcome Bob K4RLC to our ranks. Bob has a family beach house and a station at Windy Hill in North Myrtle Beach SC sandwiched between the ocean and a salt water marsh.

Bob joined the SFCG initially in 2021 but unfortunately, he had problems with significant hurricane damage. Considerable flooding and electrical issues limited his ability to operate his station so he left the club in early 2022. He has since resolved the electrical issues and will soon be working on antenna repairs. Subsequently, he purchased a small camper van for travel and radio operations which gives him even more operating opportunities! 

Bob enjoys CW contesting, POTA, SOTA and has run the K4 SC state for the SKCC month the past few years. His ham radio experiences are wide-ranging and far-flung - please check out his QRZ page for much more info. Professionally, Bob is a neuropsychologist/neuroscientist and works with patients with sport concussions, TBI and dementia. He's married (K4AAC) with two grown children - his primary residence is in the Raleigh NC area.

Next, we would like to introduce Dennis K2SX who comes to the SFCG via our W1AW/4 SC Volunteers on the Air Event. When it ended our club President Ed K3DNE asked Dennis to consider SFCG membership. Several emails were traded which led to Ed receiving Dennis’s application for membership. Dennis holds an extra class license and was first licensed in 1955 as WN1DYE in Concord NH. He later upgraded to W1DYE, moved to NY and became W2FVS then K2SX and now makes his home at Pawleys Island, SC.

Dennis is a well-established and a very well-known contester who prefers CW contesting.  He finished #1 in the world as a M/M with HC8GR and M/S with CR3L and has operated at VP5M, PF4A, PJ5W, V31AO, VP2VI, 8P9EL, FS7RT, PJ5ME, AH6XX, HH2VP, 4U1UN, K2LE, K1KI and W4BVV. More info can be found on his QRZ.com page. 

His home station consists of a K4D, K3, KPA-1500 amp and a THP-HL-1.5KFX amp. His community doesn't allow towers but that hasn't stopped him from putting up dipoles for 80 and 40m, delta loops for 20 and 15m, H Doubleday’s for 10 and 6m and an inverted-L for 160m. He's a member of FOC, SECC (but out of their ARRL circle!) and CW Ops. He's a former member of YCCC, OWLs, CDXA, WIN and the ARRL Contest Advisory Committee and PR Committee. Professionally, Dennis worked on Wall Street for 40 years as a research analyst specializing in covering the media, entertainment and leisure time industries. In addition to contesting, he is active in community theatre. 

Third on our list is Suzanne N1SUZ who comes to SFCG through an invitation by Dave WN4AFP. I think Suzanne's first sentence of her SFCG membership application says it all: "Hello! I'm Suzanne, N1SUZ and I love Ham Radio". Suzanne started as a Technician licensee and enjoyed talking on 10m and operating CW - she later upgraded to General and now Extra. She states that she "loved the hunt" and enjoys operating NAQPs, the New England QSO Party (she's originally from CT), SCQP and the 13 Colonies Operating Event.

In 2014 she and her OM (Jim KJ4WKD) had the unique opportunity to operate the NEQP from ARRL Headquarters station W1AW. Check out her QRZ.com page for some great photos of that event and others. Also prominently displayed there are a couple of photos of her Bengali Iambic Paddle! Her favorite mode is phone but she writes that she'd love to get back to CW "someday". The last sentence of her application also says a lot: "it would be nice to talk with and learn from some of the great contesters" which puts a little pressure on our club but I know we can help mentor Suzanne along her contesting journey.

Bob, Dennis, and Suzanne, we are very excited to have you guys on our contesting team, welcome to the Swamp Fox Contest Group!

2/23/2023

The SFCG would like to remind everyone that the Carolinas Weekend is this upcoming weekend with both the South Carolina & the North Carolina QSO Parties! The SCQP is sponsored by the Columbia ARC and starts 1500z February 25th and ends at 0159z February 26th. For rules and other valuble information including how to to use the FT8/4 digital modes in the SCQP , please direct your browser to the SCQSO website. The North Carolina QSO Party begins 1500 UTC February 26, 2023 to 0100 UTC February 27, 2023. Rules for the NCQP can be found on the NCQP website. This is a huge event for the Carolinas and we hope to look forward to your participation in both QSO parties! 

We would also like to welcome Dick KD4S to the Swamp Fox Contest Group!  Dick was invited to the club by Burton KY4ID back in December and again by Ed K4DNE after our W1AW/4 SC VOTA activation. Dick holds an Extra Class license and has held an amateur call since 1959 (N9XO, W9MDW, W2FWO, K9TCO and KD4S). He graduated from Purdue University in 1967 with a BSEE and retired in 2007 after 41 years with same company (mostly called Delco Radio as a division of General Motors located in Kokomo, IN).

Dick moved to SC in 2015 and lives in Travelers Rest. His station: Elecraft K3S with P3 display and a KPA500 amplifier.  Antennas: SteppIR Big IR for 40 thru 10 meters - it has about 45 radials of various lengths and an 80m EFHW with home made transformer which can be used on other bands. The transformer has relays to bypass it which allows the 132-foot wire to be used as Inverted-L on 160 meters. Please check out his QRZ.com page for more info and photos. Dick told me via email that he isn't a "big contester" but likes to make Q's in contests which sounds like a perfect mutual fit to me! Dick: Happy to have you on board and part of the SFCG team!

1/30/2023

Please welcome Bob Wright KZ3P to the Swamp Fox Contest Group! Bob was recruited by Dave WN4AFP after Dave noted his score in the PA QSO Party and by Frank KG4IGC. Bob and I had a QSO in Sweepstakes phone and had a very short discussion on how he's from Westminster SC and I moved to SC from Westminster MD. Bob holds an Extra class license and enjoys both contesting and rag chews on SSB. He uses a Kenwood TS-570S, Acom 2100 amp (QRO HF2500dx as backup) feeding a Cushcraft A3S Tribander and a homebrew ZS6BKW 80m dipole. He states he has 70 feet of used Heights Tower ready for a spring project. Bob; you picked a great time to join the club with the winter/spring contest season upon us!

Welcome to SFCG!

1/19/2023

Ahoy there fellow Swamp Foxes, it seems that membership is off to a really great start this year! We would like to welcome  Larry Abelkop NN4SS to SFCG! Larry is a well known CW DX operator and contester. He was first licensed in 1963 as WN4LPV then WA4LPV; in '76 he obtained the Vanity call of W4ABE and in 2012 became NN4SS. He has a Mechanical Engineering Degree from Georgia Tech and worked as an Environmental Engineer in Atlanta. 

Larry's shack equipment includes an Elecraft K3 xcvr, KPA 1500 and 500 amps as well as an Acom 2000A.  His prized stainless steel Begali anniversary sculpture key is displayed on his QRZ.com page. His antenna farm includes a 3 element Steppir at 100 feet along with an open wire dipole that he's been using since he was 14 years of age with the help from his Elmer, W4NTO. Larry has been a loyal supporter of SCQP and has won the HP CW SO category the last 2 years and is very active with his local club (Spartanburg ARC). Larry, we are pleased to have you on our contesting team, welcome to the Swamp Fox Contest Group!

Annual Club Meeting: 

The annual meeting will be held on Sunday, January 29th at the Lizard’s Thicket in Lexington SC at 3PM. 3PM is the earliest weekend time they had available where they can guarantee that the banquet room will be available for a private event (apparently business is booming and they now use that room as a dining room overflow on weekends). I would have preferred earlier timing for more daylight drive time after the meeting but that option was not available.

Spouse or a guest are welcome. If you know of a potential member please feel free to invite that person as a guest.

The Lizard’s Thicket is located on US-1 between I-26 and I-20 west of I-26 in Lexington SC (see address and phone # below). There are many Lizard's Thickets in SC - I went to the wrong one in 2020 and was late to the meeting!

Lizard’s Thicket

4616 Augusta Rd.

Lexington, SC

803-785-5560

In addition to the usual business meeting, SFOTA award presentations, lunch (order off the menu and pay individually) a contest associated presentation will be provided. Matt NU4E will give a presentation on “contesting from across the pond” – sharing some of his contest experiences from DL and elsewhere including a bit about his use of wire antennas at his station here in SC.

I’m sure that Covid and the variants remain on everyone’s mind and is a continuing concern. We will monitor and if the pandemic raises its ugly head again to dangerous levels, I will discuss with the club officers to determine if cancellation is prudent and QSY to a Zoom meeting again this year. Attendance is not mandatory, so if a member is not comfortable attending due to Covid then, by all means, do not attend. This is a personal decision and will be left to the individual member. Minutes will be posted on our website as soon as available.

A reminder to all members: It is that time of year again, club dues are due! If you have not paid your dues as of yet, you can either send payment directly to our club treasurer Phil NI7R's home address or go to the SFCG website, click on Club Business, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Donate button. You may also pay your dues at the annual club meeting. Club dues help support our website, sponsorship of contest awards, and other club activities. One of such awards was a CQWPX SSB plaque sponsorship in memory of past member Tom W1TEF (SK). the CQWPX was one of Toms favorite contests. Your support is greatly appreciated by the members of this club, thank you!

Looking forward to seeing you there!

73,

Ed K3DNE

President, Swamp Fox Contest Group

1/14/2023

12/22/2022

12/17/2022

Our membership just keeps growing and we now have another new member in the SFCG! Please welcome Norm Perez KM4WPR! Norm was referred by Al NE4EA and lives in Conway, SC. He holds a General class license and is just getting started in contesting with Al's assistance. Presently his shack consists of a TS590, FT450D and a fan dipole. Norm has a 40 foot tower that he plans on getting in the air next year, prefers SSB contests and he and Al operated together using Norm's call in last weekend's ARRL 10 meter contest. Norm, we are pleased to have you join our contesting team and look forward to working with you. Welcome to the Swamp Fox Contest Group!   

December 2, 2022

Ahoy fellow Swamp foxes! We would like to announce the addition of two new members to the Swamp Fox Contest Group! First , please welcome new SFCG member Eddie King N4HEK! Eddie is originally from Florence, SC and spent many years in Columbia before moving to Hilton Head Island in 2004. He was originally licensed as KA4FLD, then N4PSH and now N4HEK, holds an Advanced Class license and was referred to SFCG by members WA2BCK and K4QQG. Eddie has a degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering, a Masters in EE and is working part-time on his PhD in EE (anticipated dissertation will be related to HF radio). He recently retired from the University of SC System working in IT most of his career. 

His station consists of a Flexradio 6600, a Carolina Windom and a SteppIR vertical (presently out of service pending relocation). He states that over the years he has dabbled in contests with a variety of modes and is interested in expanding that activity with a primary interest in CW, digital modes and a little voice activity. He is very interested in CW (but "not especially proficient at it" and hopes to expand his abilities through SFCG) and wrote an article for the Smithsonian Magazine in 2019 - "Morse Code Celebrates 175 Years and Counting".  He is looking forward to meeting us in person and over-the-air. 

The second new member whom we would like to give a warm welcome to is Chip Swett KB1QU who also comes to SFCG via WA2BCK and K4QQG (as did Eddie N4HEK) . Chip resides (at least October thru June) in Hilton Head Island. His summer residence and remote station is located in Maine (FN55) check out the photo on QRZ.com!. Chip holds an Extra Class license and was originally licensed in 1959 (at the age of 14). His previous calls include: WV2ICG, then WA2ICG, WA7SUD, WA6DEU and now KB1QU. Also; 3D2QU (Fiji), A35QU (Tonga), and 9G5QU (Ghana)! At his remote station in ME he has a Flex 6600 and Flex PGXL amplifier. Antennas: GXP 3 elements for 10-20m, 2 elements on 30 and 40m, Inverted-L's on 80 and 160m and 5 elements on 6m. In SC and for POTA he uses a FT891 and a Windom. He runs 440 MHz and D-Star nets in the low-country. Chip states that he is particularly interested in CW contesting but will enter most RTTY contests and many SSB events as well. Eddie and Chip, welcome aboard! We are pleased to have you both join our contesting team and look forward to working with you both.

October 5, 2022

Please welcome Van Herridge N4VGE to the Swamp Fox Contest Group! Van holds an Extra Class license and lives in Charleston. Van was active in contesting in the early 80’s from his QTH on the Eastern Shore of MD – his 3-acre antenna farm at that time included 2 rhombics and several yagis.  He dropped out of the hobby when he moved to SC in 1984 and re-licensed in 2016. He’s been very active in POTA and “enjoys running pileups” and activated 400 unique POTA locations! Van and his XYL travel extensively by motorhome (his station; Flex 6700 and FT891 is in the motorhome with a roof mounted Hustler 6BTV antenna that folds down) and they are now planning a 20K mile motorhome trip to AK (do I see a state QSO party DXpedition in the future?) as well as a DXpedition to the Vanuatu Islands for the 2024 CQWW DX Phone Contest! Please visit Van's QRZ.com bio page for more interesting info.

Van: Welcome to the Swamp Fox Contest Group!

February 2, 2022

Please welcome George N4QI to the Swamp Fox Contest Group! George was first licensed as a Novice in 1960 but took a 57 year hiatus and rejoined the hobby in 2018 as a General and upgraded to Extra in early 2020. George lives in a HOA restricted community in Myrtle Beach and uses a vertical MFJ loop in the attic of his garage for 30 and 40m and a wire loop strung around the ceiling of a 2nd floor bedroom for 20,17,15 and 10m (with a tuner) to an Icom 7300. He enjoys SSB, CW and RTTY  contesting but often focuses on CW and RTTY. 

George states on his QRZ.com page that he enjoys contesting, DX'ing and now that he's semi-retired; some rag chewing. He's operated in CQ WPX, CQWWDX, IARU HF, ARRL DX and NAQP's and his 3830 results show that George has been very active in state QSO parties and most recently in the NAQP SSB and Winter Field Day events! George is presently a N3FJP logger user and this year's goals are to explore other contest logging options (I see an opportunity to introduce him to N1MM+!), improve his CW skills and get into FT4/FT8 which will be a totally new experience for him. George: Welcome to the Swamp Fox Contest Group!

January 26, 2022

Please welcome Vicki W4NQX to the Swamp Fox Contest Group! Vicki comes to us after she worked several of our members in the recent NAQP SSB contest. Vicki is new to the hobby first licensed on March 3rd 2021 and upgraded to General on April 17’th. Vicki is also a member of the York County Amateur Radio Society (YCARS) and recently received their 2021 Pacesetter Award. She has also earned several POTA awards including POTA All States Hunter Award and multiple POTA Kilo Awards.

Per her QRZ.com page, her station consists of a FT891 and a ZS6BKW dipole at 46 feet. She uses a Kenwood V71A and Tram 1480 dual band antenna on VHF. Vicki has been busy with CW Academy’s Beginners Course graduating a few weeks ago and started a new course in early January. A photo of her MFJ-564 paddles is prominently and proudly displayed on her QRZ page! Vicki has described her membership in YCARS as “amazing” – I can only hope that she will find her membership in SFCG similarly rewarding. Welcome Vicky!

January 19, 2022

Attention Swamp Fox Contest Group Members:

Due to Covid 19 concerns our Annual Meeting will be held via Zoom on Tuesday, January 25’th at 7pm. A Zoom invitation, agenda and other materials will be sent via the reflector prior to the meeting.

Ed K3DNE

President, Swamp Fox Contest Group

December 2, 2021

Attention Swamp Fox Contest Group Members: 

2022  General Officer Elections and Annual SFCG Meeting News: 

Nominations: The open nomination period ended at midnight on Tuesday, November 30'th. One nomination was received for the open Secretary position. That nomination is for Kevan N4XL. Therefore, Kevan N4XL (Secretary) will be added to the slate of existing officer candidates (Ed K3DNE President, Dave WN4AFP Vice President, Phil NI7R Treasurer) and will require a series of motions and a vote at our annual meeting.

Annual Meeting:

Due to  Covid 19 concerns, a decision concerning the annual club meeting will be announced soon. Please check back later.

73,

Ed K3DNE

President, Swamp Fox Contest Group

November 18, 2021

Please welcome John Wulf K4FT as the newest member of the Swamp Fox Contest Group! John recently moved from KY to Yemassee, SC to be closer to family. John was first licensed in IA as KE0FT and moved to KY in 2008. John describes himself as a “little pistol” contester since his first Field Day in Davenport, IA. He operates all modes but admits he loses his voice easily so prefers CW contesting. His station consists of an FTDX3000 and an OCF dipole at 30 feet. John’s list of contests operated (on the 3830 website) is impressive!

John: Welcome to the Swamp Fox Contest Group!

November 2, 2021

Attention SFCG members: 

Ed K3DNE is pleased to announce a new inner club contest called The Presidents Challenge and is focused on the 2021 ARRL November Sweepstakes. The challenge is designed for those members who have submitted 3 or or less scores to Swamp Foxes on the Air Competition (SFOTA) this year. For more information about the challenge, click here.

We are also very pleased to announce and introduce two news members to the SFCG, Bob Conder K4RLC from North Myrtle Beach, SC, & Greg Smith N8PPZ From Aiken, SC.

Bob has a family beach house and a station at Windy Hill near North Myrtle Beach SC. He enjoys CW contesting and is a recent participant in the CW Academy where he refers to W0OJ as his "drill sergeant instructor" and is working hard to become a better CW operator. His station consists of an IC-756Pro3 and IC-7300. He uses a dipole and a 43ft. vertical grounded in salt water. He also portable ops on the beach with his KX-2. 

This summer Bob participated in Summits on the Air near the Appalachian Trail. In October 2019 he traveled to St. Lucia and operated from several locations including from J68HZ (as J68MD) with a group from the Medical Amateur Radio Council (MARCO) for the CQ WW DX SSB contest finishing 7'th in the world in the M/S category (low power). Check out his QRZ.com page at J6/K4RLC.

Bob holds an Extra class license and is active in ARES for both Wake County, NC and Horry County, SC. Other calls: OH\K4RLC (Helsinki) & ES1\K4RLC (Tallinn, Estonia...), V31KR (Belize) & J6/K4RLC (St. Lucia). Like Ed K3DNE and Tom WA2BCK, Bob is also a member of PVRC.

Professionally Bob is a neuropsychologist/neuroscientist who diagnoses and treats brain dysfunction, such as Sport Concussions, TBI and Dementia. He's married with two children and is a North Carolina native.

Please also welcome Greg Smith N8PPZ from Aiken! Greg was first licensed as a no-code Tech, upgraded to Tech Plus (5wpm CW) and is now a General. Greg has had an interest in contesting for a long time and usually participates in Field Day, CQ WW SSB and ARRL SSB Sweepstakes. 

Greg describes his shack as modest with a FTDX10, FT991A and a Comet CHA-250B vertical ground mounted and hidden in a big tree due to his HOA. He can often be found on 20m FT8 and on SSB. He also operates a limited amount of VHF/UHF.

He joined SFCG to get better at contesting, learn how to get the most from his equipment and learn new modes like RTTY. Greg: Perfect timing as the fall-winter contesting season is underway, we have several top notch RTTY ops to help you with that mode (they got me in to RTTY this year and I've made over 1300 RTTY contest QSO's so far) and lots of members with plenty of technical and operating experience. Don't hesitate to ask any questions via our groups.io reflector.

Bob & Greg welcome to SFCG, you've picked a great time to join the club - the fall/winter contest season is just revving up!

July 14, 2021

Please welcome our 3 newest members! Michael Burton KY4ID, Brian Smithson N8WRL and Doug Anderson W4NWS! All three of our new members come to SFCG via the very successful Annual 13 Colonies Special Event and represented SC and operated as K2L earlier this month.

KY4ID: Michael is new to the hobby (Extra Class) - on the air for about a month - lives in Trenton (Edgefield County). He enjoys working SSB (mostly), FT8/FT4 and PSK. He's working on getting RTTY going and has an interest in CW.  He's a graduate of the W4EEY-KE4EA YouTube license program. His station consists of a TS-590SG, SDRPlay panadapter, 100ft homebrew doublet. Burton's dad was a ham and he has fond memories sitting in the shack with his dad and looking through old QSL cards. Burton admits he has a lot to learn about the hobby and contesting but is jumping in with both feet. I know being a member of SFCG will help him to get on his way in contesting and the hobby!

N8WRL: Brian holds an Extra Class license, has been a ham since 1993 and lives in Clover SC. Presently his operating is focused on DXing on voice modes. He recently made Honor Roll! He's dabbled in contesting with only a couple of serious entries. His antenna farm includes an 80m 4 square and beams for 40, 20, 17, 15, 12 and 10m. Check out his antenna farm photo on QRZ.com! He also enjoys woodworking as another hobby.

W4NWS: Doug holds an Extra Class license and lives in Sumter, SC. Doug served as the 13 Colonies K2L state manager this year and did an excellent job of coordinating and communicating the K2L effort. He has traveled extensively with the Air Force. First licensed in '78 as KA7AHH in OR he also held KB0JCD and N0PDV in KS, HL9NNT in South Korea, KL0KE and KL7DA in AK! Doug says he enjoys casual contesting using a TS-440, TS-480SAT, IC-7300, TenTec Century 21 for QRP CW and a Yaesu FT-8900. His antenna farm includes a 40M inverted V, an 80m dipole, and he's building an 80m loop. Doug prefers voice modes but is also active on digital modes and CW.

Brian, Michael and Doug: Welcome to the Swamp Fox Contest Group!

February 24, 2021

Calling all Swamp Foxes! Are you ready for the Carolinas Weekend? The South Carolina & North Carolina QSO Parties is this upcoming weekend! The South Carolina QSO Party starts  starts at 1500z February 27th and ends at 0159z February 28th. Then, on Sunday, the North Carolina QSO Party begins at 1500 UTC February 28, 2021 and runs until 0100 UTC March 1, 2021. (10 am to 8 pm EST on February 28, 2021).  Be sure to come out and join us for two of the popular QSO parties and have some fun! Rules for each QSO Party can be found both on the contest calendar and in the links above.

We are also excited to report that we have another new member in the Swamp Fox Contest Group, Please welcome Fred Pinson K4RM from Piedmont, South Carolina!  Fred's home QTH is in Piedmont SC and he has a 2'nd QTH near Nancy Mountain, Transylvania County, NC. Fred was licensed in 2013 and started chasing DX in 2014. He's also a member of SCDXA. Recently, Fred has developed an interest in contesting and hosted two multi-op events at his NC QTH.

From his home QTH: Fred uses; Icom IC 7100, Expert Linear 1.3K Amplifier, Palstar HF Auto Tuner; Antennas – Hex Beam, 10 through 80M regular Windom.

From his NC QTH: Radio is an ICOM 7300, an Expert Linear 1.5K amp, a Force 12 XR 5 beam (10 thru 20 Meters), 40 M vertical, 80 M vertical, and 160 M Carolina Windom. This is the site where Fred hosted several SFCG members in the CQ WW DX SSB contest last fall - preliminary results shows the team in 6'th place in the Multi Single High Power category in North America! Fred, we are pleased to have you join our contesting team, welcome to the Swamp Fox Contesting Group!

A reminder to all members: It is that time of year again, club dues are due! If you have not paid your dues as of yet, you can either send payment directly to our club treasurer Phil NI7R's home address or go to the SFCG website, click on Club Business, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Donate button. Club dues help support our website, sponsorship of contest awards, and other club activities. One of such awards was a CQWPX SSB plaque sponsorship in memory of past member Tom W1TEF (SK). the CQWPX was one of Toms favorite contests. Your support is greatly appreciated by the members of this club, thank you!

January 6, 2021

Based on the poll results posted on the SFCG reflector last month, the SFCG annual meeting will be held via Zoom (due to the ongoing pandemic) on Thursday evening January 21'st at 7:30pm. Log-in instructions will be sent via the club email reflector several days prior to the meeting. 

In addition to the usual club business meeting, we will have several members present topics on different aspects associated with contesting, club activities and the opportunity for each member to briefly discuss what is happening at their stations. More info to follow shortly via the email reflector.

December 27, 2020

Membership is on the rise once again in the SFCG we would like to announce that we have two new members!  Please welcome Tom Nail WA2BCK and  John Schroeder K4QQG  to the Swamp Fox Contest Group! Tom lives on Hilton Head Island and moved there from Great Falls VA where he was a member of the Potomac Valley Radio Club with a lot of contesting experience. He lives in a HOA restricted development on HHI and his contesting is limited from his home QTH.

 Tom heard about SFCG via K4QQG (John) when our President Ed K3DNE reached out to him after their SS SSB contact last month. Tom's been operating at or with K4QQG and has been mentoring John. He has also been contesting remotely via superstation W2FU in WNY. Tom states that even though contesting is limited from his home QTH he looks forward to mentoring new contesters in his area and continued operations at K4QQG.  

John also lives in Hilton Head, is a new General and has been on the air since December 2019. His station consists of an IC7300, SPE 1.5 KW amplifier and an OCF 132 foot Windom that reaches 60 ft. John's QRZ.com page states he enjoys working DX but especially likes contesting. Tom & John we are delighted to have the both of you, welcome to the finest contest club in the state of South Carolina! 

December 15, 2020

The SFCG would like to extend a warm welcome to our newest member, Scott Putnam KG9V from Fort Mill, SC. After our club President Ed K3DNE worked Scott in the SS SSB, they exchanged a few emails about the club which led to him submitting an application for membership. Scott is relatively new to the hobby and contesting and is a member of the York County Amateur Radio Society (YCARS). His station consists of  a IC 7300, Elecraft KPA500 Amp, a KTA500 Tuner and two EFHW antennas (one S-N and one E-W). He also uses an IC9700 and Mirage amp and a dual band Diamond X200A on VHF. Scott,  we are very pleased to have you on our contesting team and look forward to working with you, welcome to the club!

October 28, 2020 

The Swamp Fox Contest Group would like to announce  that we have a new member! Please welcome Jim Porterfield of Gray Court, SC.  Jim recently operated with the K4RM group from Nancy Mountain NC in the CQWW DX SSB contest and helped earn the 2M+ points the team accumulated for the club in that contest.

 From Jim's QRZ.com page; his home station consists of an IC7610, FT897D, Ameritron AL-1200 amp, Force 12 XR5 beam, an OCF 8 band dipole and a dual band Tram for 2m/70cm. Check out his QRZ.com page for some pics of his shack. He joins SFCG at a perfect time with the upcoming contest season on our door step - great timing! Jim, we are very happy to have you on our team and a member of Swamp Fox Contest Group!

September 4, 2020

The W4EEY Training Team announces two new Ham Radio classes starting in October. These will be held online using Zoom. No travel needed! The classes are free and open to all, but registration is required to participate on Zoom (and class size will be limited to 25 students).

For beginners, a Technician Class will be held starting on Wednesday, October 7th from 6:30 to 8:30pm EST. The class will meet weekly on Wednesday nights for ten weeks. The class is based on the ARRL Ham Radio License Manual for Technicians, Fourth Edition.

For those wanting to upgrade to Amateur Extra, a class will be held starting on Tuesday, October 6th, from 6:30 to 8:30pm EST. The class will meet weekly on Tuesday nights through February 2, 2021 (with a break for the Christmas season). The class is based on the ARRL Extra Class License Manual, Twelfth Edition (the new Question Pool).

Both classes will also be streamed live to the W4EEY YouTube channel and will be available for later viewing.

To register for either class please contact Gary, W4EEY at the email w4eey@aol.com

Please pass this along to other clubs. As these are virtual classes, geography is no limitation.

August 8, 2020

We have a new member to welcome, Scott KN4SMO of Greenville. Scott has had an interest in radio communications dating back to the 70's with CB radio. He obtained his General license in November of 2019. His station consists of a FT991A and an OCF dipole on 10-80m at 78 feet and he's active on SSB and FT8. Scott recently achieved 1st place in the April 2020 ARRL Rookie Roundup SSB in the W4 call area - what a great start to his contesting journey and a great time to join our contesting club with the fall contest season approaching! Scott, we are very happy to have you on our team and a member of Swamp Fox Contest Group!

June 18, 2020

Once again the Swamp Fox Contest Club will be working with Ken Villon KU2US in the 13 Colonies annual special event. We would like to thank Hans Helland WU0B for taking on the job of state manager for K2L. As a lot of you know, we lost W1TEF Tom (SK) and really appreciate Hans taking on the job with such short notice.  We would also like to thank Jeff Vortisch, W4JRV  for volunteering to be the QSL manager  for K2L South Carolina. We are scrambling for operators, so if you are interested in becoming a K2L operator please contact Hans WU0B ASAP before the event so that he can get you on the list of operators. 

May 15, 2020

The Swamp Fox Contest Group would like to congratulate Ed Kucharski K3DNE for his appointment to the office of President.  Ed was nominated for the position by the outgoing President and founding member Frank KG4IGC. As per a vote at the January 2020 meeting in Columbia, Dave NJ4F made a special motion to request the club to allow the club officers to have the authority  to appoint a President for 2020, due to our immediate vacancy. The motion was approved.  Ed was officially voted in 5/14/2020 by the Swamp Fox Contest Group officers and with the authority of the membership. 

Ed became licensed in December of 1971 as WB2DNE, at he age of 14 years old  while living in upstate NY. He joined the United States Air Force after his high school graduation in 1975 and was allowed to install 6m and 2m antennas on the roof of the dorm at his first duty assignment at Andrews AFB in Maryland . Ed remained in MD, and settled down in Carroll County where he originally built his home station focused on VHF+ operation. He dabbled in some HF contesting and was approached by Ed K3IXD (SK) who recruited Ed to join the Potomac Valley Radio Club (PVRC). Coincidentally, Ed K3IXD was the founder and president of the Carolina Contest Club, a precursor to SFCG, after he moved from MD to SC. 

Ed has participated in many HF multi-operator contests at W8ZA, WX3B and K3VOA and some VHF+ multi-op operations with K1TR (Mt. Washington NH), N3II (SK) (Blue Knob PA) and K2CBA (FN32). He also took his station to many different locations in New England, PA, WV and operated in the QRP Portable class in multiple vhf contests. After his  two sons graduated from high school, the youngest in 2018, Ed retired as a hospital pharmacist and in August 2018 and he and his wife Kathrin moved to their retirement house on Lake Greenwood SC.

 Ed joined the Swamp Fox Contest Group in 2019 and is an avid VHF and HF contester. His antenna farm presently consists of inverted-v’s for 160, 80, 40 and 20m,  and a newly installed  KIO Hexbeam on a 20 foot military surplus mast for 20, 15 and 10 meters.  Ed tells us that he has plans for a more permanent HF tribander, receive antennas and maybe something for 6 and 2 meters. He operates primarily on SSB but does make the occasional CW contact with his straight key and/or computer generated CW.  He also tells us that digital operations may be on the radar, mostly for vhf, but as of yet he has not explored that area (RTTY, FTx) of the hobby yet. Ed also plans to take his vhf+ station mountain top portable for some contests.

On behalf of the entire club, we would like to thank Ed for volunteering for this position. With his vast experience in both ham radio and contesting, the club looks forward to his leadership and taking the club in a new direction. Congratulations Ed! 

January 6, 2019

We would like to remind everyone to mark your calendars for our annual meeting/lunch on Saturday, January 25th, 2020 at the Lizard's Thicket in Lexington, SC at 1 PM. As always, XYL's and guests are welcome. If you have a friend or a potential contester that you would like to bring along feel free to do so, they are welcome to join us! We are looking forward to seeing everyone, especially our newest members. The Lizard's Thicket is located on US-1 between I-26 and I-20, west of I-26 in Lexington, SC. Below is the address and phone number.

October 1, 2019

We would like to congratulate our members on a fine turnout in the CQWW RTTY DX Contest this past weekend! If you were not in the contest this year, you certainly missed a good one. 20 and 40 meters was wide open to work plenty of DX, and our scores certainly reflected that! Last year the club made 1,008,574 points with six members. This year we topped that score utilizing six members again with a grand total of 1,396,913, a difference of 388,339 points! Go Swamp Foxes!!!

NU4E from Greenville, SC. Matt enjoys DXing in all modes and contesting. He currently does not have a station set up at his QTH, but does put together a field day type station at his company from time to time. I’m told that he sometimes operates at Gary W4EEY’s QTH and he also operates remotely from his station in Germany. Matt is also a member of the NCDXA, SCDXA and also the Greer radio club. Welcome to South Carolina's premier radio contesting club Matt!

September 24, 2019

We would like to welcome our newest member to the Swamp Fox Contesting Group, Elaine Thorp N4EHT. Elaine enjoys many aspects of the hobby including contesting, DXing, Chasing IOTA's and Lighthouses, and Emergency communications. She is also a member of our 13 Colonies team and on the Board of Directors for the Columbia Amateur Radio Club. Elaine, we are pleased to have you on our team, welcome to the club! 

A quick reminder for our members, the CQWW RTTY DX Contest is  September 28-29, 2019  0000 GMT Saturday-  2359 GMT Sunday. This is one of the biggest contests for club competition so if you can, please come on out and support our club! 

June 27, 2019

It is time once again for the week long fun filled extravaganza known as the 13 Colonies Special event! Tom W1TEF has done an amazing job of organizing K2L and has put together a team 15 members strong! For those who might not be familiar with the week-long event, we are celebrating the formation of the original 13 colonies. Each of the 13 original states will have their own 1X1 special event call. The event runs from July 1, 2019-1300 UTC to July 8, 2019-0400 UTC. You can find more information about the special event stations here.

February 21, 2018

Membership is on the rise once again, we would like to welcome our newest member Charlie Brown KD4CB from Columbia, SC. Charlie has been a ham for three years now and along with contesting enjoys WWFF and SOTA activation's. Welcome Charlie, we are happy to have you on our team! The Carolina's weekend is this upcoming weekend, be sure to get in on the action and support the great state of South Carolina!! Both North Carolina and South Carolina will be teaming up for a very special award to celebrate five years of working together. 

From the SCQP website: "To celebrate five years of North and South Carolina QSO party synergy Chairmen Marty, W4MY, (North Carolina) and Dave, WN4AFP (South Carolina) are teaming up to operate very special bonus stations for the QSO parties this year.The two QP leaders are teaming up to activate and operate Bonus Station WN4AFP/W4MY as a full weekend bonus. The Chairmen will be the ops. When you you work this bonus it will be either Dave or Marty. (And maybe a helper on digital in NCQP.) 

In addition to being in the slate of bonus stations, there are some additional perks offered to those that get these guys in their log. Working this bonus station (one QSO in NCQP, and one in SCQP – and submitting your log to each appropriately) puts you in a the hat for a very special drawing. The two state QSO Party committees are sponsoring a $200 ham radio store gift certificate to go to the winner. This is open to both In-State and Out-of-State Single-Ops and In-State Mobiles who submit logs to both North and South Carolina QSO parties.

It will be a test of ability and endurance for both Marty and Dave to be QRV from two states over the one weekend. But they are up to it and looking forward to working everyone as a way to express their appreciation for everyone’s support and participation. Work call signs WN4AFP in Saturday’s SCQP and W4MY on Sunday in North Carolina QSO Party. We look forward to hearing you on the air! 

Feb. 1, 2019

The annual meeting went very well this past January. There was good attendance and a fair amount of club business was talked about. The club voted in a new Treasurer, congratulations to Phil N7IR. We would also like to thank the outgoing Treasurer, Dave NJ4F for his dedication and hard work for the past couple of years. The remaining officer positions were voted on and the 2019 officers are the following: President: Frank KG4IGC, Vice President: Dave WN4AFP, & Secretary: Bill N4IQ. We gained two new members at the meeting, AC4Q Phil from Duncan, SC and also the SC Section Manager Mark N4UFP. Welcome to the club guys! We are very happy to have you both on our team. SFOTA 2018 Results have been posted, you can check them out here. 

The South Carolina QSO Party is Feb. 23rd 2019 at 1500z. Abbeville County is the Rare County this year. Abbeville county contacts are worth an extra 50 points. WW4SF and W4CAE will be running multiple bonus stations (250 points). If you have a mobile station, we'd love to have you on the air for this event. Dave will be working SO3R at N4IQ using the call WN4AFP which will be worth another 50 points. There is also a very special Chairmans award this year, for details, please check out the SC QSO Party website. We are looking for SFCG volunteers to be a bonus station (WW4SF)  in the South Carolina QSO Party, if you are interested please let him know ASAP. 

Sept 5, 2018

The W4DXCC DX and Contest Convention (SEDCO) is September 21st and 22nd, 2018 Location: 410 Pine Mountain Road, Pigeon Forge, TN Phone: (865) 428-8350 Fax: (865) 428-5217 Click here for info on Hotel Reservations. Reservations for rooms are going fast so if you plan to attend, now is the time to reserve your room!

8/19/2018

The SFCG club like to thank Kevan Nason N4XL for organizing and presenting the Advanced Contest Classes. Both classes were well attended, very enjoyable and  educational. We would also like to thank both the Dutch Fork Amateur Radio Club and Jim K9JDP for the use of their facilities. At this time we would also like to welcome our newest member, Gary Lyons W0GX. Gary has a very impressive background in contesting dating back to the 1970s and is currently putting together a new little Pistol contesting station. Welcome to the club Gary, we are pleased to have you aboard!

August 1, 2018

Ahoy fellow Swamp Foxes! The membership keeps growing guys and gals, please welcome our newest member Pete Moyes AG3R From Taylors, SC! Pete is an active CW contester and heard about us at the Greer ARC from our very own Vice President, Dave WN4AFP.  We are pleased to have you join our team Pete, welcome!!  Just as a reminder, the Swamp Fox Contest Group (SFCG) & the and South Carolina DX Association (SCDXA) will be sponsoring another Advanced Contesting Class on Saturday, August 18, 2018. The address is 3056 Greenpond Rd, Gray Court, South Carolina 29645  and starts at 8:30 A.M. We would like to thank  K9JDP for graciously opening his shack for the purpose of the class. For more details about the class, be sure to check out our Education page.

July 5, 2018

Attention Swamp Foxes! We have a new member on the Swamp Fox Contesting team, please welcome Randy Sandstrom, N4SXX from Gaston, SC who heard about us via an invitation from N4XL to attend the upcoming contest class. Randy has been hamming for over 30 years, started with an FT-101B and a MFJ expandable whip of which he completed 10 meter WAS. We are very pleased to have you on our team Randy, welcome to the Swamp Fox Contest Group!

March 13, 2018

The Swamp Fox Contest Group (SFCG) and Dutch Fork Amateur Radio Group (DFARG) are sponsoring a Competitive Contesting class Saturday April 14th in Little Mountain, South Carolina. Its goal is simple. To help those already familiar with contesting improve their scores. To achieve that goal operating techniques, station design choices, and contest radio characteristics will be presented. The class will be presented by Kevan N4XL. For more information please go to our Education Page.

November 15, 2017

Attention Swamp Foxes! We would like to remind everyone of the two big upcoming contests this month. First we have the ARRL Sweepstakes SSB on November 18, 2100z to Nov 20, 0300z. This contest has a pretty lengthy exchange  so get ready for some fills! Next, get ready for one of the biggest contests of the year, the CQ WW DX Contest, CW  Nov 25, 0000z to Nov 27, 0000z we had a pretty good turnout last year, so lets fire up those rigs and top last years score! HAMFEST ALERT: The Charleston hamfest is right around the corner February 3rd 2018 in North Charleston, SC. Details about the hamfest can be found at WA4USN.ORG

October 16, 2017

This week is the School Club Roundup  which runs from Monday, Oct 16 thru Friday, Oct 20. Students from across the country will be on the air in the afternoon after school so please give them some calls! Self spotting is allowed, look for the different schools on the spotting networks. Please listen out for N4SMS, Schofield Middle School in Aiken SC. We also have the Dubose Middle School Radio Club K4DMS headed up by Alene Wilkens KG4NKD here in the low county so keep an ear out and lets give these guys some support! At this time we would also like to welcome our newest member, Kevan K4XL.  Kevan is a top tier contester and a great mentor. He likes to participate in most of the major contests and is an excellent cw operator. Welcome Kevan, we are pleased to have you on our team and look forward to working with you!

October 7, 2017

We would like to remind everyone to mark your calendars for our annual meeting/dinner on Sunday  January 28, 2018 at the Lizard's Thicket in Lexington, SC. Frank KG4IGC has made reservations so if you plan to attend, please let him know so we can get a head count. As always, XYL's and guests are welcome. If you have a friend or a potential contester that you would like to bring along, feel free to do so, they are welcome to join us! We are looking forward to seeing everyone, especially our newest members. The Lizard's Thicket is located on US-1 between I-26 and I-20, west of I-26 in Lexington, SC. Below is the address and phone number.

Lizard's Thicket

4616 Augusta Road

Lexington, SC

803-785-5560 

June 8, 2017

Election results are in and the club has spoken! Frank KG4IGC has been elected as President through December 2017, when we will hold our annual elections for the coming year. Frank will also be working on getting our newsletter running again so we will be able to keep everyone up to date with what is happening in the club. We will be having a meeting in the near future, most likely at our usual place, The Lizards Thicket . A date has NOT been set as of today's date but will be announced as soon as the club can agree on a meeting date. We would like to thank our members for your participation in the special election.

May 30, 2017

NOTICE: Due to on going health problems, our President, Tom W1TEF has had to step down. The Swamp Fox Contest Group would like to thank Tom for taking on the position of President and also for everything that he has done for the club. We wish him well and hope that he has a speedy recovery. The club is currently holding special elections as per the club constitution. If you have someone in mind that you would like to nominate for the position of President, please direct your nominations to the Yahoo group website.

We have also received a request from Robert AJ5E for some help activating the H.L. Hunley on Museum Ships Weekend.  The event runs (local time) Fri June 2nd 8pm to Sun June 4th 8pm. There are still a few gaps in the schedule if you are interested in operating. There are two rigs available, working mostly phone. There is the possibility of operating CW or PSK if there is interest. This operation will be held within sight of the building that houses the H.L. Hunley. If interested, please contact Robert AJ5E . There is also a signup sheet for those who may be interested in operating off of the Yorktown and/or the Clamagore here .

Feb. 9, 2017

Ahoy fellow Swamp Foxes!  First off, we would like to officially welcome in our new club officers who were elected in by unanimous vote of the members present at  the club meeting on Jan 28, 2016. Our new lineup of officers includes some really great guys who we feel will give great leadership and guidance to the club. Congratulations to President W1TEF Tom Francis, Vice President WN4AFP Dave Edmonds, Treasurer NJ4F Dave Fuseler, and Secretary N4IQ Bill Chartier.  

Reminder to all club members please remember to  pay your membership dues of $10.00, annual SFCG dues should be paid by March 1. Dues may be paid by cash or check mailed to our Treasurer Dave NJ4F or you may pay by Paypal here.  Your annual contribution is greatly appreciated and helps cover expenses such as website fees, QSLs and postage, education and sponsorship's.

Lot's of fun things coming up this month, a little something for everyone. Here are a few items of interest that have been brought up by our club members:

-This weekend, the Swamp Fox Contest Club will be competing in the CQWW RTTY WPX,  which starts Feb. 11 at 00:00z through Feb. 12 23:59z. CQ requires a minimum of four logs in order for a club log to be listed.  

-From Dave WB5NHL: Feb. 13th-17th is the ARRL School Club Roundup. There will be schools from all over the country  elementary through universities on the air trying to make as many contacts as possible. Individuals are welcome to participate and look for schools to contact. Self spotting IS ALLOWED.  This is a great way to find schools to contact.  Only 6 hours operation is allowed in any 24 hours and 24 hours total operation for the week.  So.....the best time to catch the younger kids is from about 2pm to 6pm LOCAL TIME i.e. "after school".  The Aiken Schofield Middle School call sign is N4SMS. We normally operate during the above times starting on 20M switching to 40M. We also have the Dubose Middle School Radio Club K4DMS headed up by Alene Wilkens KG4NKD here in the low county so keep an ear out and lets give these guys some support!

-The Trident Amateur Radio Club will be operating a special event station, N4HLH, on 40 and 2 meters from 9 AM to 3 PM on February 17th from the site of the launching of H L Hunley from Breech Inlet, on Sullivans Island, SC. We have been asked for volunteers to help with the SES, and are also looking for some stations to operate at home on 160,80,20,and 10 meters. For more information please contact David Merits AE4ZR via email or by phone (843) 566-3323. If you are interested in helping out, you can sign up here. Below is the address of where the TARC club will be operating:

Sunrise Presbyterian Church

3222 Middle Street
Sullivan's Island, SC 29482

-The South Carolina QSO Party is February 25, 2017, It begins at 10:00 am and ends at 8:59 pm. We are currently looking for a few more guys to operate as the WW4SF bonus station, if you are interested please contact Dave WN4AFP before Feb. 25.  We also still have awards to sponsor... If you wish to sponsor an award please visit www.scqso.com.

-The North America QSO Party, RTTY is also on Feb 25 1800Z to 0559Z Feb 26, 2017 for you RTTY guys. If you are interested in team competition please contact KG4IGC Frank before Feb. 25th so he can get the team registered. From the rules: "Teams must consist of from two to five Single-Operator stations whose individual scores are combined to produce a team score. Although clubs or other groups having more than five members may form multiple teams, there are no distance or meeting requirements for a team entry".

December 5, 2016

The Swamp Fox Contest Group would like to announce a new and exciting inner-club competition called "Swamp Foxes On The Air" (SFOTA). It has been designed to promote on the air activity and perhaps some fierce and fun competition among the SFCG members. This competition starts on January 1st, 2017, runs for the calendar year and has six different categories that members can compete in. The categories are: Most Active, Most Contest QSO's Most Improved, Most CW QSO's, Most Digital QSO's and Most SSB QSO's. As you can see, there is something for everyone to compete for so come join the fun!! The complete rules for the competition can be found here.

September 18, 2016

Attention Swamp foxes! The ARRL has recently made a change in the rules for club competition. Whenever we enter a contest sponsored by the ARRL, we are now required to submit a file with the list of operators and their grid square. Dave NJ4F has asked that all members send him their grid square so he can update the roster. For more information on this rule change, click here. 

In other news, Dave WN4AFP has come up with a new and exciting idea to encourage inner-club competition called the "Swamp Fox On The Air Competition". The idea behind this is to spark up member participation and also some great inner club rivalry. We now have a development team working diligently on making this happen for 2017 consisting of Dave WN4AFP,  Tony K4AMA, Frank KG4IGC, and Dave NJ4F. Rules for this competition will be announced sometime in the near future so stay tuned!!

We would also like to welcome out newest member, Hans Helland WU0B from Columbia, SC. Hans has also operated from Chad, Africa as TT8HA from 2007-2008. He has considerable experience in contesting and comes to the club with a long list of awards! His mode of choice is Voice but is looking to get more involved in the digital modes. Hans we are delighted that you have applied for membership and are very excited to have you on our team!

July 24, 2016

Ahoy fellow Swamp Foxes!  

We have some new educational opportunities for our club members!  Anyone interested in brushing up on your CW, Dave WN4AFP Dave has created a user group on the Learn CW Online website. So far we have four members in the user group: Swamp Fox Contest Group, all members are welcome to join. 

For those of you in the upstate, two of our members Gary W4EEY and Bill N4IQ are teaching a ten week course for anyone wanting to upgrade their ticket to General Class.  Classes begin on September 13, 2016, 6:30 PM at the Victor Park Gym Classroom, 108 South Line Street Greer, SC 29651.  Registration is requested, to register contact Gary Wise, W4EEY  . 

Last but not least, the Contesting Basics Class being held by our very own President Dave NJ4F is just around the corner this upcoming Saturday, August 6th. If you are planning to attend, the class is being held at the Lowcountry SC Chapter of the American Red Cross 2424-A City Hall Lane,  North Charleston, SC 29406. Registration is required, and all are invited to attend. Contact Dave NJ4F for more information. 

We also have a new member among us, please welcome Tony Austin K4AMA to our team. Tony prefers CW and digital modes and has plenty of contesting experience. From the looks of his very impressive 3830 page, he enjoys the State QSO Parties of which he will be in good company! Tony, welcome to the club, we are very pleased to have you!

June 21, 2016

We would like to remind everyone of the Contesting Basics class on Saturday, August 6th being held at  Lowcountry SC Chapter of the American Red Cross 2424-A City Hall Lane,  North Charleston, SC 29406. Members are encouraged to attend as we could use your contesting experience to help educate potential contester's. We would appreciate if you would help spread the word about the class with any other hams that you know that might be interested in contesting and any other local clubs that you may belong to.  We also happy to announce that we have two new members, please welcome  N4UQM Jeff and  W4CAN Craig.  Jeff is a member of the Columbia ARC, enjoys SSB contesting, mobile operating, and likes to operate on the digital modes. Craig is a fairly new ham, licensed in 2014 and a member of the Trident ARC here in Charleston. He is new to contesting very interested in the digital modes. Welcome to the best contest club in the state of South Carolina guys, we are very happy to have you both on our team! We would also like to give a long overdue mention about two of our long standing members, WN4AFP Dave and W4STR Russ. Both of these guys recently passed their extra exam, congratulation guys!

May 7, 2016

Well, the contesting class has come and gone, and Dave NJ4F reports that overall it went well. There were about 25 students give or take who attended. The class took a bit longer than anticipated, so Dave and Kevan are working on streamlining the curriculum for the next time. We have two new members that we would like to introduce to the club, please welcome Gary Wise, W4EEY from Greenville and Jeff Johnson N4UQM from Columbia, SC! 

Gary got back into contesting two years ago and has a pretty interesting radio history, he used to work for the Voice of America until his retirement in 2008. He is a member of the Greenville & Greer Ham clubs, NCDXA, and the SCDXA. Gary is also a registered ARRL & W5YI Instructor.  Jeff is a  Retired USAF tactical and special operations communicator and now works in the field of cyber security. He enjoys digital modes such as RTTY, PSK, JT69 and JT9. He is also a member of the CARC.  Guys, we are excited to have you on our team Gary and Jeff, welcome to the club!

There will be a club get together on June 4, 2016  at 3 PM at the Lizard's Thicket in Lexington, SC located on US-1 between I-26 and I-20, west of I-26 . Below is the address and phone number. Please let Dave NJ4F know if you will be able to attend so he can get a final head count, and as usual, XYL's are very welcome to attend! 

Lizard's Thicket

4616 Augusta Road

Lexington, SC

803-785-5560 

April 8, 2016

Well fellow Swamp foxes, our membership continues to grow with the addition of our very first ham family! Please welcome Tammy N4TAL, Ronnie W4RWL and  their daughter, Sarah KJ4UFA from Elgin, South Carolina. Tammy and Sarah also have the honor of being our first YL's in the club! Tammy is the ARRL Public Information Coordinator for SC and has recently become interested in contesting from her activities with the ARRL's National Parks On The Air year long event. Ronnie is the former President of the Columbia ARC prefers voice modes, rag chewing, and building homebrew projects.  Sarah is new to ham radio, but enjoys voice modes, is fresh out of college and currently studying to upgrade to General. Welcome to the club guys, we are pleased to have you as our first family membership!

On April 23, 2016 our President, Dave NJ4F has been invited to speak at the the Anderson Radio Club's 50th anniversary. The invitation was extended by the Margie Spangenberg, KK4AGN, who is the Secretary, Newsletter Editor, and 50th Anniversary Event Chair of the ARC.  It’s anticipated that a large attendance of licensed radio operators from SC, GA, and NC , a number of Scouts from the SC Blue Ridge Council and several invited special guests from ARRL will be at the event.  Two of the key speakers on the program will be Dr. James Boehner N2ZZ, Director, ARRL Roanoke Division and Dr. Marc Tarplee N4UFP, the SC ARRL Section Manager. 

We would also like to remind everyone of the upcoming Contesting Basics class on Saturday April 30th at 9 AM.  All members  are invited to attend as are anyone outside of the club that is interested in learning about how to get started in the world of contesting. Information about the class can be found here. 

February 10, 2016

2016 is already proving to be a very busy year! So far this month we have voted in three new members to the club. Please welcome Loyd Van Horn W4LVH from Mt. Pleasant, SC, Marc Tarplee N4UFP from Rock Hill, SC and Joe Avampato W8DKR from Fort Mill, SC. Loyd W4LVT is a very active contester with numerous awards acquired from his many years of contesting. His primary interests in contesting are voice and digital modes. 

Marc of course needs no introduction, we all know him as our ARRL Section Manager for SC. Some of Marc's interests include CW operation, VHF/UHF weak signal operation, 160m operation, design and construction of antennas, kit building, DX'ing and of course, contesting. Joe is a Master of Engineering, PE,(ret) and Life Sr. IEEE and former NOAA officer (LTJG). He heard about us at the hamfest and is new to contesting, and enjoy's bicycle mobiling and DXing. Guys, welcome to the Swamp Fox Contest Group, we are very pleased that you have joined our team.

It was really nice to see quite a few members at the Charleston Hamfest last weekend. We had a few folks who were interested in contesting and picked up the flyer that Dave NJ4F made up, of which so far we have had one new applicant. Alan W4ANT did a short presentation on contesting for the club, and from what we hear, it was well received.

In other news, Dave NJ4F is currently working with Kevan N4XL on putting together an educational presentation aimed towards beginner level contesting. Dave spoke with the new President of the Columbia ARC Andrew Haworth KK4DSD at the Charleston hamfest, and they are working on procuring a room in the Columbia area to hold the class. Nothing is set in stone yet for a date, but they are aiming for sometime toward the end of April. As soon as the details are ironed out, the information will be provided to the club.

Dave WN4AFP and his team are working hard to spread the news of the upcoming South Carolina QSO Party. For those of you who might not have heard, the date has been changed to coincide with the North Carolina QSO party and is now known as the "Carolinas Weekend". The new date and time will be February 27 1400z  through February 28 0059z. It will be followed by the NCQP  February 28 1000 EST to 2000 EST sponsored by the Raleigh Amateur Radio Society. Once again, the club station WW4SF will be one of the bonus stations for the SCQP. If you are interested in being a bonus station operator, contact Kevan N4XL for scheduling. Details for the upcoming SCQP can be found here.

January 1, 2016

Well, another amazing year has come and gone and our club is active as ever and growing in popularity around the state. We submitted scores in at least 23 contests as a club with three or more participants and at least a dozen or so with one or two club members this year. We also have a few members taking part in the CWops contests Membership is on the rise with nine new members in 2015. 

It is really awesome to see how the club has taken off in the past two years, and is far beyond what the founding members ever expected. We have also gained the support of the  SC Section Manager Marc Turplee, N4UFP and the Roanoke Division Director Dr Jim Boehner, N2ZZ in spreading the word about the SFCG!  Dave, NJ4F has taken on the task of writing a monthly newsletter for the club called "Tales From The Swamp". He will be rehashing the activities, conversations, awards, and anything else that happens to come up each month. This will be sent to our members via email, and will also be available on this website in the menu bar under "Club Newsletter". 

We are starting the year off  with the announcement of another new member, please welcome Tom Glaab, AJ4UQ from  Charleston, SC. Tom is a well known member of both the Charleston Amateur Radio Society and the Trident Amateur radio club. From what Dave NJ4F tells us, Tom is very active in his kid's school projects involving robotics and other events. He is also a seasoned and active QRPer so it looks like you peanut whistle guys are going to have some heavy competition coming your way! Tom, welcome to the group, we have a great group of guys here and we are happy to have you on our team.

 We would like to also remind everyone about the upcoming annual meeting on January 31 at the Lizards Thicket in Lexington, SC at 3 PM. We will be holding annual elections so if you have someone in mind that you would like to nominate for one of the club officers, be sure to speak up. If you are unable to attend the meeting, you may also cast your nominations in the Yahoo group so they can be voted on at the meeting. 2016 looks to be an exciting year for the SFCG, things are already starting to hop with the start of the winter contest season and the upcoming South Carolina QSO Party in February.  We would like to take this opportunity to thank our members for making the SFCG a success and a very noticeable force in the contesting community. We hope all of you have a very happy and prosperous New Year!

Oct. 27, 2015

Attention Swamp foxes:  It has been decided that the next quarterly meeting previously scheduled for October 31, 2015 at 3:00 has been cancelled. We look forward to seeing everyone at the next meeting  which will be scheduled in January for annual elections. As soon as everyone agrees on a date, that information will be posted. In the meantime, have a happy and safe holiday season! 

August 28, 2015

We would like to take this opportunity to welcome our newest member to the Swamp Fox Contest Group, Tom Lufkin, W4DAX. Tom is from Goose Creek, SC, a lifetime ARRL member, and has been actively hamming since 1972! He has been instrumental in bringing new hams into the community for years now and is the founder and past President of the Trident Amateur Radio Society. Tom is relatively new to contesting, but he has expressed his desire to learn more about it. His favorite mode of operation is CW, and he spends much of his on air time rag-chewing on HF and  loves working special events. Tom, we are very pleased to have you on our team and look forward to working with you in the upcoming winter contest season, you are going to have a blast! 

Next order of business, please mark your calendars for the next quarterly meeting October 31, 2015 at 3:00. The meeting will take place at our usual location, the Lizards Thicket in Lexington, SC located on US-1 between I-26 and I-20, west of I-26 . Below is the address and phone number. Please let Dave NJ4F know if you will be able to attend so he can get a final head count, and as usual, XYL,s are very welcome to attend! 

Lizard's Thicket

4616 Augusta Road

Lexington, SC

803-785-5560 

August 17, 2015

This months get together in Lexington at the Lizards Thicket in Lexington proved to be one of our better meetings. The turnout was awesome , and the comradery was just short of  spectacular. We had the pleasure of introducing a few guests, Gil KS4YS brought along a new ham with the contest itch  Tom KK4CEW  and Tom W1TEF introduced us to Ronnie (W4RWR) and Tammy (N4TAL) Livingston. Ronnie is the President of the Columbia ARC and Tammy is the SC ARRL Public Affairs Coordinator. We got to see some new faces at the get together, there was Dave WN4AFP, Andrew KB9WHV, Dave WB5NHL and Kevan N4XL. On the business side of things, there was discussion about implementing dues next year to help fund the club, a mention of the upcoming annual elections in January, and the club logo. We also discussed having a file section on the website, following up on the club shirts, and 2015 South Carolina QSO Party, Dave WN4AFP is still looking for available ops for mobile stations so if you can activate a much needed county, please contact him ASAP. As usual, the food and service was fantastic and everyone enjoyed themselves. We would like to thank everyone for making this meet and greet a success , we look forward to seeing you again at the October 31, 2015 meeting!

July 9, 2015

Attention Swampfoxes! Once again, the IARU HF World Championship is upon us this upcoming weekend! Not only will we have some of our team participating here in South Carolina, two of our members Ariel NY4G & Bill NY4Q will be operating from Prince Edward Island! From what we are seeing via pictures from Ariel, the guys are having a GREAT time.  They are starting operations July 9, 2015  in the VY2TT station of K6LA. There are 4 ops there that week - Phil AC4Q/VY2, Bill N4IQ/VY2, Bob ND7J/VY2 and Ariel NY4G/VY2. If you would like to see the station, check out the new album in the photo gallery. You can also get all the information about this superstation at the PEI DX Lodge website. After the contest is over, Ariel NY4G will be heading to  St Pierre & Miquelon for a mini DXpedition of his own as  FP/NY4G. Details can be found at the FP-NY4G 2015 DXpedition website

June 12, 2015

The Swamp Fox Contest group would like to welcome our newest member, Dave Kjellquist from Aiken, South 

Carolina. He brings about 50 years of ham radio experience and has considerable knowledge of stealth 

antennas. From what Kevan N4XL tells us, he is currently serving as the Treasurer for the North Augusta 

Belvedere Radio Club and is well respected by their club members. Dave heard about us from the Contest 

Results List. His contesting experience speaks for itself,  as he has won first place SOLP in multiple ARRL and CQ contests. Dave, we are honored to have you as a member, welcome to South Carolina's finest contesting team!

June 4, 2014

Today we welcome our newest member to the Swamp Fox Contest Group, Dave EsLinger K4DLE from Summerville, SC.  Dave just recently got his ham ticket of which he has upgraded to General class and has been spending his time working DX on SSB.  He is a member of TARC and has been busy building his first ham radio station. Dave has been being mentored by our very own Vice President, Alan W4ANT and has already had his first taste of contesting in the ARRL Rookie Roundup.  From what we hear, he did  did very well and is very excited about getting more experience with contesting and learning about some digital modes. Dave, welcome to the club, we look forward to working with you and are happy to have you on our team!

Attention Swampfoxes! 

Please mark your calendars for the next get together  August 16, 2015  at the  Lizards Thicket located in Lexington on US-1 between I-26 and I-20, west of I-26. Dave has made a reservation for our usual room at 3:00 PM . All club members are encouraged to bring your XYL.  If you plan to attend, please let Dave NJ4F know so he can get a final head count. We look forward to seeing you there! For future reference, we are looking at possibly meeting on a quarterly basis throughout the year.

Lizard's Thicket
4616 Augusta Road
Lexington, SC
803-785-5560

May 13, 2015

Once again, the meet and greet at the Lizards Thicket in Lexington was very enjoyable. We had good attendance and got to meet some new members plus a couple of the guys who couldn't make it last time. Several topics were covered, including the Yahoo group, the Radiotelegraph FCC Commercial License, and the upcoming SC QSO Party. We also touched base on the SFCG QSL card design, upgrading the club website, and mentoring potential new contesters. In the end a good time was had by all, and it was in agreement that we should look at the possibly of meeting on a quarterly basis.

Membership continues to grow with the addition of three contesters, two from the low Country, and one from the upstate. It has been extremely satisfying  to watch our team grow the past year or so with the addition of some of the finest contesters in the state. In saying that, we are pleased to introduce of our newest members, Robert Wilhite KV4LV, Lewis Cheek N4CO, and Bob Boroughs KG6MC. 

Robert is from Charleston SC where he has been busy assembling his first HF Station and working DX from the old Navy base. He heard about us from Alan W4ANT's TARC presentation and is new to contesting.  Lewis is from Beaufort, SC and has been a ham since 1965. He started contesting back around 2003 and set up a multi op three position station under his old call . Since moving to Beaufort, he has been working a few select contests a year.  Bob is from Simpsonville, SC and has been a ham since 1960. His favorite mode is CW, and is very active in the SKCC. Bob tells us that he works 4 or 5 big contests per year and participates on a casual basis with several more. Guys we are excited to have you on our team, welcome to the Swamp Fox Contest Group!

April 27, 2015

Well folks, the membership keeps climbing, we are now up to 21 members! Please welcome Andrew Chaloupka KB9WHV from Hanahan, SC.  Andrew heard about us from the presentation at one of the recent TARC (Trident Amatuer Radio Club) meetings given by our very own Alan W4ANT.  Andrew likes the hands on approach to building kit radios, arduino projects, and antennas. He also enjoys SSB and PSK31 on the 20 and 40 meter bands. Andrew, welcome to the finest contest club in the state of South Carolina! 

April 23, 2015

This has been an awesome month for membership, please welcome Tommy Owens KV4TH to our team. He is from Honea Path, SC located in Anderson county. Tommy is new to contesting, but already has a couple of contests under his belt. He has also worked with Kevan N4XL in the ARRL DX contest. He enjoys working SSB on 20 and 40 meters, and is the emergency communications coordinator for the local hospital where he works. Tommy, we are very happy to have you on our team and look forward to working with you, welcome aboard!

April 21, 2015

April has indeed proven to be a busy month for membership applications so without further adieu , we are pleased to announce the addition of two new members. The first is a fellow  familiar to some of our members from the upstate,  John Colyard W4IX .  He is from from the Spartanburg , SC and has years of contesting experience. John was a part of the team that represented SC in the W1AW/4 SC operation, and From what we hear, he racked up some serious Q's. John is also a member of the N4QI contesting team and rumor has it that he believes in maximizing his score and pushing his team to do their best.  

The next gentlemen is from here in the low country who is very much active in VHF/UHF  contesting. Please welcome Mike Abbott KM4ID from Summerville, SC. Mike is quite active in VHF/UHF contesting, and ranks #10 for three band single op. He also enjoys chasing grid squares and is soon going to be getting involved in some EME activity. From what we are hearing from some of the members of the club, each guys are going to be great additions to our team, so it is with great pleasure that we welcome them to the group!

March 24, 2015

Please join us in welcoming our 1st new member of 2015 Kevan Nasan N4XL from Greenwood, SC!  Kevan brings 40 years of hamming experience to the club is a very active HF contester. He has been contesting for 15 years, primarily SSB and CW. Kevan also calls a 2 meter net and is a ARES/SCHEARTS operator. He has been working the bigger contests at NQ4I in Griffin, GA and the smaller contests at home. Kevan, we are pleased to have you join our team and extend the warmest welcome!

February 6 , 2015

Well, our first annual meeting/election on Saturday, January 31, 2015  at Lizards Thicket in Lexington was a huge success! We had a really good turnout, great conversation, spectacular service and great food. There were some new ideas passed around on promoting the club, and decided that we would form a new Public Relations Officer position. Dave WN4AFP was nominated and has graciously accepted the new position. It was also suggested that we look into possibly getting a team together for the South Carolina QSO Party this year and use the club callsign. More on that later... Yearly elections for club officers was held, Alan W4ANT was nominated for Vice President and Bill N4IQ was nominated for Secretary. Both guys were unanimously voted in office by the attending club members. NJ4f Dave will remain President and K7OM will remain Treasurer for another year by unanimous vote. All in all, everyone had a great time and it was agreed that we should perhaps talk about having another get together sometime in the spring. Minutes of the meeting can be found under the club business tab  

January 8, 2015

We will be holding our annual meet and greet on Saturday, Jan 31, 2015  3 PM at the Lizards Thicket in Lexington, SC. Dave NJ4F has reserved a room that holds about 45 people. All club members attending are encouraged to bring your XYL's. We will be discussing some club business and holding general elections. We are also looking forward to meeting some of the clubs newest members. Please let Dave know if you will be able to attend so he can get a final head count. Here is the address and phone number of the restaurant: 

Lizards Thicket
4616 Augusta Road
Lexington, SC
803-785-5560

On US-1 between I-26 and I-20, west of I-26  Looking forward to seeing everyone!

December 31, 2014

As we come to the end of 2014, lets take a pause to look back on an amazing year for the Swamp Fox Contesting club. We started this club in January with only 4 members, and have managed to grow 14 members which is incredible! When we first started this club, we had no idea that the club would grow like it has. 

Over the course of the year, we have become ARRL affiliated and have secured a callsign for the club WW4SF.  We also managed to squeeze in two get togethers, one we met at restaurant in North Charleston, and once at Daves NJ4F's house. A good time with great food and conversation was had by those who were able to attend. 

For a new club, be sure have made some big steps in the contesting community.  We have become recognized and  listed as a contesting club with the ARRL, CQ, 3830 Contest Rumors, and QRZ. In the beginning, we intended to participate as a club in the contests sponsored by either the ARRL or CQ. Thanks to our new members, we have become a more diversified contesting club. Now we are getting involved in some of the smaller contests, the QSO parties, and the CW ops Mini tests. As a club, we participated in 22 contests, and that is not including the ones where we only had one or two participants! 

Many thanks goes out to our club members for all the hard work and support that you guys have put into the club. You have made the Swamp Fox Contesting Club the best club in South Carolina and we are looking forward to another great year in 2015! May the new year find each and every one of you and your families health, wealth, and happiness!

September 23, 2014

Well guys, membership is moving right along! This will be the fourth new member this month which is awesome! Please give a warm welcome to Tom Francis W4TEF from Columbia, SC. Tom brings with him a wealth of experience, having operated with the Yankee Clipper club as a multi-multi station, club stations, and single band QRP. He also was active in the recent W1AW/4 operations as a RTTY/PSK31 station and has operated as W1TEF and W4DFG (Dutch Fork Amateur Radio Group) in Little Mountain,SC. Tom is also a member of the SC QSO Party Organizing Committee. Tom, we are very excited about having you on our team and look forward to working with you, welcome aboard!

September 12, 2014

Attention Swamp Foxes! Please join us in welcoming our newest member Bill Chartier N4IQ from Simpsonville, SC. We are now officially a bakers dozen with 13 members!  Bill brings years of experience to the group along with a very long list of awards for DXing. Some of his accomplishments include  321 confirmed countries, 8 Band DXCC,  8 Band WAS, Triple Play award, Challenge Award; WPX 700; and various contest certificates. Bill is also an accomplished CW operator and favors RTTY in the contests, which is great news as we love our RTTY tests! Bill, we are thrilled to have you joining our team, and are looking forward to working with you in the upcoming winter contest season!

August 26, 2013

Today we would like to welcome our 3 newest members, Gil Huggins KS4YX , Steve Terry W4SLT, and Russ Warmath W4STR, all from Seneca, SC. Gil ran W1AW/4 as a digital station, is active in not only contesting but enjoys VHF rovering and SOTA chasing. Steve enjoys SSB contesting and also holds the call G8OCT in the UK. Russ carries his fathers call, dating back from the late 1930s or early 40's, and is th EC for Oconee County.  He is also the RACES Coordinator, and like Gil, enjoys SOTA chasing. We are pleased to have you Gentlemen join our team and represent the great state of South Carolina, welcome aboard!

August 8, 2014

As of this evening, we have two new members in our club, we would like to give a warm welcome to Dave Edmonds WN4AFP from Greenville, SC and Alan Fitzsimmons W4ANT from Saint George, SC. Both Dave and Alan have an extensive background in contesting and will be a great asset to the club. Alan brings with him 41 years of hamming experience and Dave is also a member of the SC QSO Party Organizing Committee. It is a pleasure to have you guys on our team! 

June 7, 2014

Great news everyone! Just heard from Dave, NJ4F that we have received notification from Norm Fusaro, W3IZ.  Our application to become an ARRL affiliated club has been approved! We are now a duly affiliated society!

May 31, 2014 

Hear Ye Hear Ye.... Dave NJ4F would like to invite all members of the Swamp Fox Contest Group and their XYLs to a cookout at his and Dees home on June 21, 2014.  Arrival time is 4:00 PM and food will be served a little later when everyone arrives.  There will be beef and chicken hot dogs and bratwurst , white and wheat bread, with catsup, mustard, mayo, sweet relish, and chili for toppings.  There will also be bottled water and tea available.  If you would like to bring something extra, I am sure that Dave and Dee will not mind. 

May 20, 2014  

Just got news from Ron N4VZ that his XYL Kate has passed her Technician Exam at the Dayton Hamfest and is now KM4BKK.  Two weeks later, she had her call changed to K4VZT.  He also reports that she is already studying for her General ticket. On behalf of everyone in the club, we would like to congratulate Kate on her new ticket and wish her good luck with her General exam. Good Job Kate and look forward to hearing you on the air! 

April 3, 2014

We are official! Dave received the new club call KK4ZQM from the FCC! 

February 18, 2014

Certificates are in! Congratulations are in order for the following members:

KM4RK Mark received 1st place SOLP South Carolina in the 2012 ARRL 10 meter contest and our fearless leader Dave NJ4F received 1st Place SOHP CW Only South Carolina in the 2012  ARRL 10M Contest.  Dave also made 9th Place United States Single OP RTTY in the A.R.I. International DX Contest 2013 

Great job guys, keep up the good work! Now to win some club competition.....