SCARC Information

The South Coast Amateur Radio Club (SCARC) Inc., was formed in the Southern Suburbs of Adelaide, to bring together a group of people who share a common interest in Amateur Radio. The SCARC is affiliated member of the Wireless Institute of Australia which is the representative body for all amateurs in Australia. All members are encouraged to join the WIA to show support for the recognition of Amateurs when the need arises.

The clubrooms are located in Hackham, at the Hackham Scout Hall - 16 Roberts Road Hackham, which provides a fairly central location for members, some to the north, but the majority to the south of O'Halloran Hill, spreading down through McLaren Vale to Victor Harbor. Membership is open to ALL persons - the only requirement is a genuine interest in amateur radio. We especially welcome youth of the community to whom we feel amateur radio is a great leisure activity. An amateur radio interest can well lead to a career in radio, television, computers or even electronics. Our membership is made up from people of all professions, trades and callings, many of which are non-technical, including farmers, builders, musicians and retirees to name a few.

The SCARC meets every Wednesday evening at the clubrooms, from 8:00pm. The fourth Wednesday reserved for General Meeting nights, to allow both passing on information onto members, plus club business to be taken care of. The club radio shack VK5ARC, is open for operating each week, which provides members who haven't their own equipment, to get hands on operation with the HF, VHF, UHF and packet facilities available. This also allows visitors to see a working amateur station in operation, to show exactly what amateur radio is all about.

The club also has members who are facilitators for examinations for the Amateur Operators Certificate Proficiency (AOCP). There are members who are more than willing to help guide you in your study to obtain your license, plus there are also members more than happy to provide help with problems in understanding the related topics and questions involved with not only the theory examination, but also the whole exam process. The SCARC objectives include the encouragement of all members to obtain their highest Amateur Status, plus the furtherance of high standards of Amateur Radio in all practices and technical knowledge to members. Thus we try to encourage all members in attaining their highest possible potential, while providing plenty of support and guidance to help them achieve this.

The SCARC Members actively participate in outside organisations that incorporate amateur radio that also provide a community support role to events held both in Adelaide and the state of South Australia. These organisations include: The Wireless Institute Civil Emergency Network Inc. (WICEN), which are written in to the South Australian State Disaster Plan, where they provide support communications in times of natural disasters and major social and sporting events. Events have included - Classic Adelaide Car Rally (since 1996), Coopers Pale Ale Rally (South Australia), Bicycle SA Events and Australian Off-Road Championship Rally. These events enable us as amateurs to incorporate and develop our radio operating skills, both in the field (i.e. portable operation) and central radio command (WICEN control). Nationally, WICEN. has been activated for more tragic times including Ash Wednesday, Newcastle Earthquake, NSW Christmas Bush FIres, NSW \ VIC Floods to name but a few. We can be a valuable asset to our community, as we can be fully operational, Australia-wide, with a few hours providing necessary communications for civilian requirements [i.e. Red Cross, Hospital & Search\Rescue], when existing infrastructure is either damaged, or complementing existing operations.

The SCARC regularly participate in contests throughout the year, which include setting up and operating portable stations, to run continuous for a 24hr period, logging contacts for resulting in scoring points. The winner is the station who logs the most contacts within the time limit. The contests we have participated in include: Remembrance Day Contest , John Moyle Field Day , VHF/UHF Field Day. This involves the organising for operating a large fully portable amateur station, in sometimes remote locations operating continuous for upto a 24 hour period. The station requires the construction and setup of - portable antennas, towers, coax feeders, generators and amateur radios. We can have more than 5 radios and operators simultaniously contesting on multiple bands, sometimes multiple modes, with the same callsign attempting to contact as many stations as possible, for points in the contest. This can be both confusing and excillerating at the same time, especially when it comes all together and you manage to pull it all off. At the completion of the contest, the collapsing and packing up of the station seems to be quicker than the setup, with the only thing left is to go home and recover from the lack of sleep you received over the entire weekend of the contest.

If the SCARC sounds like a club in which you wish to be involved with, please don't hesitate to either contact us by email, packet, post OR come visit us on a Wednesday night at the clubrooms. We certainly look forward to hearing from you or seeing you at the clubrooms. All the best in your amateur interests and all we can say is to try and contribute as much to the amateur community as possible, as to sure its future for the next generations to come.....

A Amateur Radio Information Brochure has been created by Rob VK5MM which is available to view and download from HERE. Please feel free to distribute the brochure to help promote Amateur Radio to the Community, hopefully increasing the ranks of users. For details on the brochure, you can contact Rob VK5MM at arpromo@mailaustralia.net or visit his website located at http://www.users.on.net/~mickeymouse/ !! .

Regards SCARC Committee.