Section Leadership

Greetings to all SC ARRL members from Dr. Marc Tarplee, N4UFP. I have been an amateur radio operator for over 20 years and a shortwave listener for over 40 years, and presently hold an Amateur Extra license. I am active on all bands from 1.8 MHz to 1296 MHz. My primary interest is VHF/UHF weak signal operation, although I am active on many modes, including CW, SSB, SSTV, PSK-31, WSJT,and RTTY. I have earned 5BDXCC, 5BWAS,, VUCC on 6 and 2 meters. I hold a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of South Carolina, Master Telecommunications Engineer Certification from the National Association of Radio and Telecommunications Engineers (NARTE) and have attained Emergency Communicator Level I certification from ARRL. Currently, I am employed as the Associate Vice President for the Industrial and Engineering Technologies Division of York Technical College.

Assistant Section Manager (ASM) EMD Area 2 - Bob Bacharach - WA2EMF wa2emf@arrl.net

Robert Bacharach, WA2EMF, has been an amateur radio operator since 1959 and holds an Amateur Extra class license. He has been an active member of the York County Amateur Radio Society for 8 years, serving most recently as YCARS President for 2002. He is active on all bands from 3.5 to 440 MHz and enjoys both HF and VHF contesting, employing CW, SSB and digital modes. He holds a degree in Business Administration from Long Island University with an emphasis on software development. He was employed by the U.S. Department of Energy for ten years as Division Manager of Information Systems at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York , prior to his appointment as Director of Systems for Superior Washer and Gasket of New York and South Carolina.

Ken Kasper N2IXX is originally from Cranford NJ. He has lived in Missouri, Oklahoma, Germany and now resides in Lexington SC. He has been an amateur since 1988 and has advanced to extra over the years. Ken was just elected president of the Columbia Amateur Radio Club for the 2005 term. He is an avid builder, experimenter, and has tried just about every mode of communications. He is also an ARRL accredited Volunteer Examiner and works with the SC Midlands VE Team. Ken is currently employed by Verizon Wireless as a Senior Technical Analyst.

I was born in Hutchinson, Kansas in August of 1947. Since that time, I have lived in 17 states. I spent four years in the Navy as a Seabee, with two tours of duty in South Vietnam and one in the Antarctic. I retired in 2007 after 38 years as an electronic field service tech, working in the banking industry. I came to the Pee Dee region Of South Carolina in March of 1986. I am an American by birth and a South Carolinian by choice. I became interested in amateur radio in grammar school but partly due to my family moving regularly and my short term interest, I was 31 years old before I became licensed. I received my novice license in Vestal, NY in November of 1978 (KA2HDQ). I passed my extra (KF2X) at the FCC field office in Buffalo, NY in June of 1979. My main interest is DX and IOTA chasing. I have never made it to the top of the Honor Roll. I always seem to miss one. Ann, my YL, received her novice in Endicott, NY (KA2JFT) in May of 1980 and passed her Advanced (N2CFN) in September of 1981 at Syracuse, NY. Her interest is mainly in DXing also.

Paul Jones, NN4F, has been an active amateur radio operator since 1980 in the UK, he moved to the USA in 2000, and passed the technician exam, and went on to gain Amateur Extra in November 2005. He is a very active contester, but enjoys all facets of radio, including CW, Digital, SSB, and chasing DX. He has been an active member of the Trident Amateur Radio Club in Charleston, SC. Paul is the Current Vice President for the 2007/2008 term. He is also a VEC for the Goose Creek W4VEC test team and is a certified Skywarn operator for Dorchester County. Paul holds a B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Computer Science and has been in the IT field for over 20 Years. He lives in Ridgeville, SC. Paul runs his own company with is wife Terry. He has two step children who he is very proud of, his son is a Navy Fighter Pilot.

Assistant Section Manager (ASM) EMD Area 6 - Bob Besley - K4NJN k4njn@arrl.net

Bob Besley has been involved in emergency services for over 29 years, having worked for the FBI, South Carolina Attorney General's Office, and the Aiken Department of Public Safety. He retired in June 2006 and since retirement has begun working for Universal Health Systems as the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator at Aiken Regional Medical Centers. Bob also serves on the Board of the SCHEART Steering Committee. He is married to Sandy, KE4RFO, and has a 15 year old daughter Katie KI4LSZ, ARRL-SC Youth Editor. Bob is interested in building a positive relationship between emergency service agencies and amateurs throughout South Carolina. Having completed all three ARRL emergency communication classes, Bob is ready to deploy anywhere and set up communications in areas needing the assistance of amateur radio. Bob has written and been awarded a $100,000 Homeland Security Grant for Aiken County South Carolina for an ARES communication trailer. The project, the first of its kind in the United States has received national attention; and even the attention of the FCC, who has expressed publicly how proud they are of the initiative. Listen for Bob as he enjoys activating islands and chasing DX on 20 meters.

Assistant Section Manager (ASM) Youth - Katie Besley - KI4LSZ ki4lsz@arrl.net

Katie Besley, KI4LSZ is a Junior at Aiken High School and is a General Class Amateur Radio Operator. She has been licensed and an ARRL member for four years and has an interest in getting other young people involved in the hobby. She has served as Net Control Operator for the South Carolina ARES Statewide Emergency Net, and frequently introduces ham radio to Junior High students at a local school, demonstrating several different analog and digital modes. She likes to work HF radio with her dad (K4NJN) and is currently working on her WAS award. Katie shares her passion for amateur radio with her participation on the Varsity Softball Team and as a Lead in the local Cotillion program. Her future plans include studying Communications at the University of South Carolina upon graduation from High School in June 2011.

Charlie Miller, AE4UX, is the South Carolina Section Emergency Coordinator and the South Carolina State RACES Officer. Prior to that appointment, Charlie was the Aiken County ARES/RACES Emergency Coordinator from 1997 through 2002. He has been actively involved with emergency services for the last 21 years. In addition to his amateur radio emergency service, he was a Civil Air Patrol Squadron Commander, Mission Pilot, Ground Team Leader, and Air Operations Officer. Charlie retired in 2002 after a career in engineering and management at companies such as Bell Telephone Laboratories, McDonnell Douglas, DuPont, and Westinghouse. Charlie's education includes a Masters of Business Administration degree and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering degree. He holds an Extra Class Amateur Radio License. Charlie lives with his wife of 42 years, Ellen, in Trenton, South Carolina.

            Several years after retirement, Brian Sugden KR4SP became interested in amateur radio and by mid-2000 had obtained his Amateur Extra Class License. By this time he had been a member of Lakeland Amateur Radio Club for several years as a Director, and for two consecutive years as President, another single year as President, and one year as Treasurer. He has also been an ARES member, AEC and EC for Polk County, Florida, served on the Disaster Committee of the Polk County Red Cross, and was one of the Founders of the new West Central Florida Section of the ARRL.    Until his term expired he was also an ARRL accredited Volunteer Examiner. In the spring of 2002 he and his wife, Cecelia, moved to Anderson, SC.
            Brian was born and educated in the United Kingdom where he worked as an engineer in heavy power high voltage electrical distribution. After several years he moved to Canada where he became a Registered Professional Engineer working in the aircraft, manufacturing, and die casting industries in both Canada and the United States.
            It is his desire at this time to become involved in helping club members and promoting the interests of ARRL clubs in South Carolina.

Mac Heaton (N4MEH) became interested in amateur radio while flying EC47 combat missions over Southeast Asia. The crews could occasionally connect with their families via HF telephone patches through MARS and other amateur channels.
    Educational, family and career constraints did not allow the realization of active participation until he qualified for his Technician license in December 2002. He upgraded to General in October 2003 and is currently working toward the Extra Class.
    Mac enjoys working with emergency communications, digital communications, and traffic handling. He especially enjoys the opportunities of working with new hams and hopes to follow the examples set by several of his “Elmers” in passing along his knowledge and skills to others who can benefit from it.
   Mac and Elaine (his wife of 35 years) have two children and 1 grandchild. He works as a Management Consultant for Emergency Medical Services clients.

Robert was born in Massachusetts and at age 3 moved to New Hampshire. He served in the Army 1966 - 1969, Vietnam 1967 - 1968. He became a Ham in late 1991. His interests include antenna building, digital modes, and VHF/UHF SSB. He has served as Vice President of the Derry NH radio club. Robert is a long standing OO, and has served under at least two OOC's during his tenure. He retired at age 55 and moved Anderson with his wife, who was originally from Anderson. Besides Amateur radio, Robert's interests include cameras, camcorders and camping.

Rev. Les Shattuck, K4NK, has served the Section and Division in many capacities over the years: Assistant Section Manager, Area 1, Roanoke Division Vice Director, South Carolina Section Manager, an earlier stint as Technical Coordinator, and Affiliated Club Coordinator. Les enjoys CW, and has worked over 300 countries QRP. Les is well known throughout South Carolina, and we welcome him as TC!

Dennis has a background in Computer System Analysis and Programming, specializing in Embedded Computer Systems. He has experience in technical and training publications and as a technical instructor. Dennis has also functioned as PIO for the Trident Amateur Radio Club, currently is an ARRL PIO for the SC Section and Assistant EC and Information Officer for Berkeley County South Carolina ARES. He has maintained several informational websites and, is currently the webmaster for Berkeley County ARES. Dennis has experience in formal traffic net operations both with ARES and MARS and as Net Control for ARES traffic and training nets.

Dennis Fowler, 45, resides in his native Gaffney where serves as the station manager for commercial broadcast station WAGI-FM. He is married to Kim Fowler and the couple has two daughters ages 7 and 4. His fascination with radio and communications began while in the 1st grade when he got a small AM transistor radio as a birthday gift from his parents. By the time he reached the 9th grade, Dennis had landed a part-time on-air position with WAGI. Upon graduation from high school, Dennis continued his education at the University of South Carolina majoring in journalism. Over his 32 year career at the station, he has gained much experience in tuning and repairing transmitters, microwave systems, antenna systems along with other broadcast related equipment. Dennis currently serves as the AEC for Cherokee County and is a member of the county’s ARES board of directors. He owns 2 wide coverage repeaters, 147.240 and 442.500, both located on Cherry Mountain, North Carolina, and has received coordinations for two 220 repeaters that are expected to be on the air soon. A certified advanced Skywarn Spotter, Dennis serves as control operator for the Carolina Foothills Emergency Net. He is also an alternate control operator for the State Line Emergency Net and Charlotte Area Skywarn Net. Dennis has experience in dealing with law makers and influential leaders on the local, state and national levels having served on various boards and commissions including the American Red Cross, The Radio And Television News Directors Association Of The Carolinas and president of the board of directors of the South Carolina Associated Press Broadcasters. “I am truly honored to serve as your Section State Government Liaison. It is my goal to make sure amateur radio in South Carolina continues to be recognized as a vital source of emergency communication and that its future is protected through informed governmental leaders. I solicit your help in reaching this goal by alerting me to issues that could impact amateur radio on both the local and state levels. Please feel free to call on me anytime I may be of assistance."

ARRL-SC Section Leadership