Poinsett State Park & Riverbanks Zoo and Gardens - Midlands South Carolina Road Trip Radio Report; 9/10 November 2025

I took an overnight road trip to Midlands South Carolina on Sunday, 9 November and Monday, 10 November 2025 to visit Poinsett State Park in Wedgefield and Riverbanks Zoo and Gardens in Columbia. The trip up was via I-95 and the trip back to Savannah was on US-321, providing two different levels of activity on amateur radio and scanning. Both days were beautiful and especially on Monday, I enjoyed the colors of the Autumn foliage; we don't get quite as much color at home on the coast. Due to the Federal holiday on Tuesday, there was very little military communications to monitor, public safety in the Columbia area was busy as always, and the railroads around Columbia were active as well. There wasn't much Federal communications activity either, although I was surprised to hear the Fort Sumter NHS talkgroup on the Palmetto 800 system active during the Federal Government shutdown. While visiting the Zoo, I enjoyed listening to their radio system. On amateur radio, I had fun doing a Parks on the Air (POTA) activation at Poinsett State Park and listening to 2 Meter/70 cm repeaters along my route of travel. 

Autumn foliage at Poinsett State Park

Coastal Georgia Military Monitoring Recap; October 2025

October was a month to be forgotten. Some issues significantly reduced the amount of radio time I had in the second half of the month, so I didn't get to listen as much as I usually do. The biggest item of note for the month is that 113th Wing/121st Fighter Squadron, Washington DC Air National Guard F-16s are visiting Savannah at the Savannah Combat Readiness Training Center/Air Dominance Center. VMFA-533 at MCAS Beaufort had been away for a while and they returned home at the end of the month. The 20th Fighter Wing/79th Fighter Squadron returned to Shaw AFB recently and they began flying in earnest again throughout October. 

Two 113th Wing/121st FW F-16s (86-0356 & 87-0314) on the deck at the Savannah CRTC/ADC

My First Road Trip Incorporating Parks on the Air Activity - Central Georgia Road Trip Radio Report; 19/20 October 2025

This weekend's overnight road trip to Central Georgia was the first time I've incorporated portable HF operating and Parks on the Air activity into one of my road trips. I left Savannah on Sunday morning and headed toward the Piedmont NWR north of Macon. It started raining just north of Dublin, so went through Jeffersonville and Gordon to Gray, GA where I stopped for an early lunch at Old Clinton BBQ while I waited for the rain to slack off. After lunch, I continued on to the NWR, scouting for a good spot to operate from, finding one on the Little Rock Wildlife Drive. After activating the Piedmont NWR, I continued on to Juliette, GA where I visited Jarrell Plantation State Historic Site and activated it after touring the grounds. The day may have started out dreary and wet, but the afternoon turned out wonderful. Between it being a Sunday and the weather not being all that great, I didn't hear any MilCom activity, but there was plenty of public safety and railroad communications to listen to. I had a special project planned for the drive back home on Monday morning; I stopped at Exit 143 on I-16 and did some radio recon on the DMR system in use at Hyundai Metaplant in Ellabell. It was a successful stop and it yielded some good results.

Some of the historic structures at Jarrell Plantation State Historic Site in Juliette, GA

Getting Active on HF Amateur Radio Again - Putting a Portable Station on the Air

Over the last month, I've assembled everything I'd need to put a portable HF station together and get back on HF Amateur Radio for the first time in four or five years. After forgetting to bring the coax with me to Brunswick last week, this afternoon I was finally able to put in the air after work. I contacted eleven stations from 8 states, a Canadian province, and a DX contact.

Yaesu FT-891 and LiFePo battery in the back of KF4LMT Mobile

Coastal Georgia Military Monitoring Recap; September 2025

September began with disappointment, but despite limited radio time it became a better than average month for MilCom in Coastal Georgia. Within the last year, it had been announced that a William Tell air superiority competition was to be held at the Savannah Air Dominance Center (ADC) in September, but apparently it was cancelled as it never occurred. That disappointment was balanced out by some other visitors to the Savannah ADC, the return of a MCAS Beaufort unit to the skies, and an Army competition at Fort Stewart and Hunter AAF. During September I also settled on which radios I was going to use in my new mobile station - a Uniden SDS100 for scanning and a Radioddity DB-25D Pro for amateur radio/GMRS.

The SDS100 and Radioddity DB-25D Pro in the new KF4LMT Mobile

New KF4LMT Mobile - Going Low Profile With Less Radios and Antennas

In the last few months, I had to buy a new car because the maintenance costs on the old car had reached the point of diminishing returns. I wasn't looking forward to car payments, but the money was coming out of my pockets either way... Previous iterations of KF4LMT mobile have been packed with radios and covered with antennas, but this time I decided to go lower profile with only two radios - one scanner and one amateur radio handheld and only two antennas - one scanner antenna and one amateur radio antenna. After looking at a number of choices, I decided on a Hyundai Venue. It's a bit smaller than my 2012 Kia Sportage, but it gets better gas mileage (around 37 mpg on one leg of a road trip) and has turned out to be a terrific city car. It fits into small parking spaces and its tight turning radius makes it easy to get in and out of tight spots. This time, I even went with an automatic transmission instead of a manual, so it would be easier to talk on the radio between traffic lights!

The new KF4LMT Mobile - a Hyundai Venue

F-22s and T-38s at Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport

Based on Air Force social media posts earlier this year, the 2025 William Tell air superiority competition was supposed to begin this week at the Air National Guard Air Dominance Center at Savannah-Hilton Head IAP. I had no radio time earlier this week and minimal radio time the last couple of days, but it seems that there is no William Tell competition this year. Instead, there are 71st FS F-22As and 7th FTS T-38As from Joint Base Langley at the Air Dominance Center. They have been working with 95th FS F-35As from Tyndall AFB and 159th FS F-35As from Jacksonville in the Special Use Areas off the Georgia coast. I'm guessing they'll be here next week as well, so here's what I was able to hear yesterday and today.