ARES Special Event

Operators from ARES in the Summerville, SC, area (Dorchester County, Grid locater EM93), will activate the special callsign K4E during an ARES Earthquake Emergency Communication Awareness Exercise, April 21-22nd.

When not passing event traffic, K4E will be available for QSOs on 80-15 meters, as well as 2 meter FM local QSOs. QSL via W4NSC.

This training exercise is to demonstrate the cooperation needed between the firemen, policemen, hospital workers, hams, and other public service personnel throughout South Carolina in time of an emergency.

South Carolina is prone to hurricanes, and it has been determined that a major earthquake occurring in the greater Charleston, SC, area would divide the area into 18 "islands" due to damage to infrastructure such as bridges and roads.

Each of these "islands" is equipped with a structure
containing various emergency supplies and Amateur radio equipment and antennas. Each POD (Points of Distribution) has a generator and is environmentally controlled. This exercise is a test of one of those "islands".