Blue Ridge Amateur Radio Society

To all interested amateur radio operators:

On Saturday, November the 8th of 2025 (11-08-25), and at the request of local Trail Life management, there will be an operating event using Amateur Radio.

This is a large yearly event involving the younger members of Trail Life USA.

All attending radio operators must report to the headquarters location to obtain your ID badges. ID badges are to be displayed at all times while on site. Any persons found unescorted without ID will be subject to questioning and possibly removal from the event site.

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Location: Hugh’s Bend Road, Central SC, 29630

Signs will be present at this map location to guide you in (click icon):

We will be monitoring 146.520 MHz simplex for talk-in once you reach the general area if you are having trouble locating the event.

The request from Trail Life is for a controlled two-meter simplex Net to be set up for the purpose of tracking the flow of Trail Life scout members and personnel through the various activity events across the site.

Setup for Net Control will start at 6:30 AM

Check-in for communications personnel will begin at 7:30 AM.

The Event will start at 8:30 AM.

For further information, club members should read the document linked here.

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For those interested in participating, we will be holding a training session at the next BRARS club meeting on Monday November the 3rd (11-03-25). Please bring the dual-band radio equipment that you would be using at the event.

Note, while it would be a good opportunity to learn and a lot of fun to attend the meeting for training, doing so is not a requirement for attending the event.

In closing, this is a great opportunity to introduce Amateur Radio to the younger generation, setup and operate equipment, practice operating for emergencies, and mostly having a lot of fun doing so!

On October 4th 2025, Club leadership and several members traveled to both repeaters sites to perform cleanup and site surveys. Caesar’s Head (146.610) and Paris Mountain (146.820) were reviewed and cleaned up, and a To-Do list was created for the repeaters. Here are a few photos that were taken via Daniels’ quadcopter and Scott’s professional camera rig!

Caesar’s Head

Paris Mountain

The Monday September BRARS club meeting will be moved from the 1st of September to Monday the 8th of September due to the Labor Day holiday. The location and time will remain the same.

The onsite meeting is at the Red Cross building at 940 Grove Road in Greenville and also accessible via Zoom Video.

Address: 940 Grove Rd, Greenville, SC 29605

Meeting start time will be 7:00 PM

As always, guests, licensed or not, are welcome and encouraged to attend. Club membership is not required.

Virtual Zoom meeting link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88670224040?pwd=WWdtVFprUEg4ZDVSdGxqUElyMUlzUT09

Meeting ID: 886 7022 4040
Passcode: 169706

You may also call in via phone by dialing: 1-929-205-6099 When prompted enter the Meeting ID: 886 7022 4040 and the Passcode: 169706

The Blue Ridge Amateur Radio Society is excited to invite you to a special presentation on Meshtastic, an innovative, open-source project that’s making waves in the amateur radio community.

Meshtastic enables long-range, off-grid communication using small affordable LoRa radios — no cell towers, Wi-Fi, or internet required. Whether you’re interested in emergency preparedness, outdoor expeditions, or simply curious about mesh networking, this system offers a fun and practical way to extend your ham radio toolkit, or a simple way to explore wireless communication technologies.

Join us as we dive into how Meshtastic works, what gear you’ll need, and how you can start experimenting with your own mesh network — all while staying well within the amateur radio spirit of exploration and service. Guests are welcome, and no license is required to utilize this fascinating wireless tech!

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The meeting is on Monday, October 6th at 7pm ET. It is both onsite at the Red Cross building at 940 Grove Road in Greenville SC and via Zoom Video.

Click here for a map to: 940 Grove Road, Greenville SC 29605

For those unable to attend the in person meeting, you may join via Zoom by using one of the two methods below.

Virtual Zoom meeting link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88670224040?pwd=WWdtVFprUEg4ZDVSdGxqUElyMUlzUT09

Meeting ID: 886 7022 4040
Passcode: 169706

You may also call in via phone by dialing: 1-929-205-6099 When prompted enter the Meeting ID: 886 7022 4040 and the Passcode: 169706

Saturday June 28th starting at 10am, through Sunday June 29th at 6pm

Field Day is ham radio’s open house – everyone is invited. The ARRL Field Day is the most popular on-the-air event held annually in the US and Canada, and often extending across the globe!

This is a free event and the public is welcome! This will be an old-fashioned event with friends and family members encouraged to attend. Plenty of parking is available as well as onsite power and shelter if you wish to bring your own equipment and operate.

The Blue Ridge Amateur Radio Society will be hosting this year’s Field Day in partnership with Greenville County ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service). The primary purpose of the event is to bring radio equipment to the site, set it up, and operate. We will have many experts on location to assist with station setup, programming, alternative power configurations, and more!

The theme for 2025 Field Day is “Radio Connects” – highlighting the many ways that wireless technology connects people across distances near and far. The event is part picnic, campout, practice for emergencies, and most of all, fun! However, we will not be participating in the official contest for the purpose of earning points for the Club. Instead, we will use the equipment brought to the site to provide contacts for the other participants around the world who are contesting.
http://www.arrl.org/field-day

Location: Riverbend Equestrian Park
175 River Bend Road
Greenville, SC 29617
https://greenvillerec.com/parks/riverbend-equestrian-park/

Map Link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/8sthUiQQzyfTpLDd8

Get on the Air Station!
The BRARS Field Day will have a GOTA (Get On The Air) station for anyone unlicensed or licensed who are interested in using radio equipment on the amateur radio bands. A number of mentors will be available to assist using the equipment provided. For newcomers or individuals who have no gear, you will be welcomed and encouraged to help set up and operate. Just show up and ask to play!

FOOD!
The Club will provide sandwiches and drinks for Saturday lunch, and will provide hamburgers, hot dogs, drinks and sides for dinner starting at 5pm. A grill will be available to cook on, and we encourage anyone who would like to bring a covered dish to do so.

Camping:
Camping sites with power (120/240 volt, 50 amp) and standard water hook ups are available starting Friday night with a fee of $25 per night, proceeds going directly to the Park. However, full RV wastewater connections are not available. Primitive camping on both nights is free and welcomed.

Talk-in Frequency: For licensed amateurs, we will be utilizing our Caesar’s Head repeater for talk-in assistance: 146.610 MHz FM offset -0.600 with no Tones.

Onsite Frequency: For licensed amateurs, we will be utilizing 147.610 MHz FM simplex for local communications.

For further questions, please contact Club President, Johnny Allison WD4DYH, via call or text at 864-884-1314.

To all interested amateur radio operators:

On Saturday, April the 26th of 2025 (04-26-25), and at the request of Trail Life management, there will be an operating event using Amateur Radio.

This is a large yearly event involving the younger members of Trail Life.

All attending radio operators must report to the headquarters location to obtain your ID badges. ID badges are to be displayed at all times while on site. Any persons found unescorted without ID will be subject to questioning and possibly removal from the event site.

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Location: Hugh’s Bend Road, Central SC, 29630

Signs will be present at this map location to guide you in (click icon):

We will be monitoring 146.520MHz simplex for talk-in once you reach the general area if you are having trouble locating the event.

The request from Trail Life is for a controlled 2 meter simplex Net to be set up for the purpose of tracking the flow of Trail Life scout members and personnel through the various activity events across the site.

Below you will find a Power Point link that details the event.

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For those interested in participating, we will be holding a training session at the next BRARS club meeting on Monday April the 7th (04-07-25). Please bring the 2 meter radio equipment that you would be using at the event.

Note, while it would be a good opportunity to learn and a lot of fun to attend the meeting for training, doing so is not a requirement for attending the event.

In closing, this is a great opportunity to introduce Amateur Radio to the younger generation, setup and operate equipment, practice operating for emergencies, and mostly having a lot of fun doing so!

Tuesday 09-03-24 BRARS club meeting to be held at:

American Red Cross

940 Grove Rd, Greenville, SC 29605

Meeting start time will be 7:00 Pm

Fellow amateur Radio operators.

BRARS has been ask to provide communications services for two upcoming events. The first being the Trail Life event, beginning Friday October 11 and lasting to Sunday October 13 with the need for communications personnel being on Saturday October 12. Details for when and where will be covered by Bob and Josh at the club meeting.

The second event will be the Gran Fondo Hincapie bike race being held on Saturday October 19, 2024. Details regarding where and how many operators will be needed as well as the event map will be discussed by Joe via Zoom at the club meeting.

There will be two cross-band repeaters set up on simplex for a table top exercise at the meeting. The exercise is aimed at practicing the use of cross band, repeating, and traffic handling.

Please bring your walkie-talkies.

All licensed radio operators interested are welcome to participate, club membership is not required.

Zoom meeting information listed below 

(https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83720242675?pwd=a1F0bGIrbk0xY0w0cjlmL0hla2I5QT09)

Fellow amateur radio operators, BRARS has been asked to provide communications services for two upcoming events.

The first is the Trail Life event beginning Friday October 11, lasting to Sunday October 13. Details for when and where we will be needed will be covered by Bob and Josh at the next club meeting.

The second event will be the Gran Fondo Hincapie bicycle race being held on Saturday October 19, 2024. It will be discussed by Joe via Zoom at the club meeting, followed by an in person visit from Joe at the next meeting. At the meeting, there will be two cross-band repeaters set up on simplex for a table top exercise. The exercise is aimed at practicing the use of cross band, repeating, and traffic handling. Please bring your walkie-talkies to the meeting. All licensed radio operators interested are welcome to participate club membership is not required.

As discussed at this month’s club meeting, we are hoping to start up regularly scheduled fox hunts as a new club activity.

“Fox Hunting” (hidden transmitter) is a fun activity and is a great introduction to amateur radio. Since it requires listening only and no transmitting for participants, it is the perfect opportunity to get someone you know that is interested in radio but hasn’t gotten licensed yet some hands on experience.

We are working on planning and hopefully can run some fox hunts at our upcoming summer field day activity to get everyone familiar with the process. In the meantime, please see below for some information and links to helpful articles and videos that will let you learn more about this fun ham radio activity. Please feel free to comment and reach out if you have any questions, or want to express your interest and be informed of planned future activities.

Building a tape measure Yagi antenna from KB9VBR – link to instructions and video

https://www.jpole-antenna.com/2017/02/07/build-it-2-meter-tape-measure-yagi-beam-antenna/

Fox Hunting 101 (Three easy steps)

Fox Hunting 102 (Attenuating the signal)

Full length presentation on fox hunting (58 minutes)

RDF Equipment Ideas for VHF Foxhunting and Radio-Orienteering

http://www.homingin.com/equipment.html

Compass and map orienteering app for apple and android (very helpful when tracking down the fox)

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/orienteering-compass-map/id1495072316

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.calmatics.compassmap&hl=en_US

Please plan to join us at the Upstate Radio Rally Spring 2024 for a day of fun for the amateur radio community. Check the new club Radio Rally page periodically for information and updates about the event.

https://brars.cc/radiorally/