On Saturday morning, I made a last minute decision to take an overnight road trip from Savannah up to Beaufort to visit the Beaufort History Museum and the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park. It was another practically tropical December day in Coastal Georgia and Lowcountry South Carolina, so it was a great day for a road trip. It turned out that the History Museum was closed for the morning due to a staffing issue, but it turned out to be an interesting trip anyway (and it gives me another reason to come back another day...). I also fit in visits to the Fort Fremont History Preserve, the St Helena Island Chapel of Ease, and the Fort Frederick History Preserve. Radio-wise, I didn't expect a lot of military aviation activity due to it being a holiday weekend, but there was one nice surprise. There was quite a bit of fire department traffic on the area Palmetto 800 sites to listen to, however. The radio in KF4LMT Mobile didn't stay silent much throughout the day. On the amateur radio side of things, there was decent activity on area 2 Meter analog repeaters and I squeezed in a short POTA (Parks on the Air) activation.
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| The Beaufort History Museum in the Beaufort Arsenal (built in 1798), unfortunately it was closed the morning of my visit |
MilCom/Aviation
As I mentioned above, it was a holiday weekend between Christmas and New Years, so there wasn't a lot of military activity to be heard, although there was plenty of commercial and general aviation activity. One surprise was hearing two HMX-1 MV-22Bs (the USMC unit that provides the helicopters and tilt-rotors for use as MARINE 1) heading south around lunch time.
125.125 - Beaufort Approach/Departure
123.700 - Beaufort Approach/Departure
118.975 - Hilton Head Airport Tower
122.700 - Beaufort Executive Airport CTAF/Unicom
125.300 - Savannah TRACON
120.700 - Charleston TRACON
124.075 - Jacksonville Center Summerville High
124.700 - Jacksonville Center Columbia Low
127.875 - Jacksonville Center Aiken High
132.425 - Jacksonville Center Hunter Ultra High
132.925 - Jacksonville Center Allendale/Savannah Low
133.450 - Jacksonville Center Florence Low
133.625 - Jacksonville Center Georgetown High
134.375 - Jacksonville Center Charleston Low
134.975 - Jacksonville Center Ridgeway Ultra High
NIGHTHAWK ## (MV-22B, HMX-1)
Public Safety
Almost all of the public safety communications in Beaufort County and the surrounding areas are on the Palmetto 800 P25 TRS. One outstanding exception is the South Carolina Forestry Commission, which still uses VHF repeaters. Note: Beaufort County's fire department dispatch talkgroup and Hilton Head Fire/Rescue's dispatch talkgroup stay quite busy; if you have more than one scanner, you might want to use one to listen to those and another for everything else!
Palmetto 800
TG 704 - Beaufort County FD Dispatch 1
TG 516 - Beaufort FD Admin (Beaufort Co)
TG 518 - Beaufort FD Ops 1 (Beaufort Co)
TG 544 - Bluffton FD Ops 1 (Beaufort Co)
TG 550 - Hilton Head Island Fire/Rescue Dispatch (Beaufort Co)
TG 552 - Hilton Head Island Fire/Resuce Tac 1 (Beaufort Co)
TG 2972 - Edisto FD Dispatch (Colleton Co)
TG 32065 - Hampton County FD
TG 6541 - Jasper County FD Dispatch
TG 6542 - Jasper County FD Tac 1
TG 6543 - Jasper County FD Tac 2
159.2475 (DCS 115) - SCFC Okatie
FedCom
For much the same reason as there wasn't much MilCom activity, there wasn't a lot of FedCom activity either. Most of the FedCom activity came from US Coast Guard traffic on Marine VHF Channel 16 and Marine VHF Channel 1022. I will add some interesting traffic I heard on Marine VHF Channel 1082 in this category because it's likely related to NOAA Right Whale research. Throughout Saturday afternoon, I heard 37 Golf (C337, N8437G, Anthem Commercial Air Services Inc) talking to an unheard station passing Right Whale survey and spotting information; it sounded like they spotted then flew over several Right Whales attempting to ID them. I recently heard the same aircraft and another from the Brunswick, GA area, so if you live along the Georgia/Florida/South Carolina coast, you might want to program Marine VHF Channel 1082 in and see what you can hear.
156.8000 - Marine VHF Ch 16
157.1000 - Marine VHF Ch 1022/22A
157.1250 - Marine VHF Ch 1082/82
Amateur Radio
A handful of 2 Meter amateur repeaters and a couple of 70cm repeaters were heard active throughout my visit to the Beaufort area. Easily the most active was the 146.7150 repeater in White Hall. Although it's in Colleton County, the 146.715 repeater provides excellent coverage throughout the Beaufort area and Jasper County as well (it's also part of the SCHearts linkable system).
145.1300- (PL 88.5) - Beaufort
146.7150- (PL 123.0) - White Hall (SCHeart)
146.9100- (PL 156.7) - White Hall
147.2400+ (PL 100.0) - Hilton Head
442.6750+ (PL 100.0) - Bluffton
444.3500+ (PL 123.) - Hilton Head
During my visit to the Fort Frederick Heritage Preserve in Port Royal, I noticed it had a nice covered picnic pavilion with a nice spot nearby to set up my MC-750 portable HF antenna. I had the portable HF equipment in the car, so I decided to do a short unplanned POTA activation and put just enough stations in the log to consider it an activation before heading to the hotel to get checked in.
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| Parks on the Air Activation at Fort Frederick Heritage Preserve in Port Royal |
Reconstruction Era National Historical Park and Fort Frederick Heritage Preserve
The Reconstruction Era National Historical Park in Beaufort, SC consists of three main sites: the visitors center in downtown Beaufort, Darrah Hall and the Brick Church at the Penn Center, and the Pinckney-Porter's Chapel near the Beaufort Naval Hospital and Fort Frederick Heritage Preserve. This park, established in 2017, is the first national park dedicated to Reconstruction. It was established in Beaufort because it was the site of the Port Royal Experiment during the Civil War, in which the US Government worked to transition slaves by enabling them to get an education, work, and buy property of their own. The experiment laid the ground work for the era of Reconstruction (1861-1900). Although separate Historic sites and locations, the Penn Center and Fort Frederick Heritage Preserve predate and are associated with the National Park; visits to them are recommended. Unfortunately, the Penn Center was closed for the Holidays during this visit, so I'll have to make a return trip. Last year, I took a road trip to Columbia, SC and visited Historic Columbia, which includes the boyhood home of President Woodrow Wilson. Their tour and exhibits are also related to Reconstruction and are a good complement to the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park. Reconstruction, even more so than the Civil War, is a controversial and touchy subject (especially in the south), but I think the Park does a fine job of presenting it.
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| National Reconstruction Era Historical Park Visitors Center in the Old Beaufort Firehouse |
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| Ranger talk about Reconstruction and the Port Royal Experiment at Stephen Elliott Park in Downtown Beaufort |
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| The Beaufort River and Woods Memorial Bridge seen from Stephen Elliott Park in Downtown Beaufort |
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| Darrah Hall at the Penn Center |
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| Pinckney-Porter's Chapel in Port Royal, SC |
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| Depiction of Sgt Prince Rivers and the Colors he was presented for the 1st South Carolina Volunteers at Camp Saxton on Emancipation Day, 1 January 1863 |
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| The remains of Fort Frederick, a tabby fortification built by the British along the Beaufort River in Port Royal in 1733-1735 |
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| The remains of Fort Frederick, a tabby fortification built by the British along the Beaufort River in Port Royal in 1733-1735 |
Fort Fremont Historical Preserve
I visited a few years back, but since I was on St Helena Island visiting Darrah Hall at the Penn Center, I drove a bit farther out to revisit the Fort Fremont Historical Preserve. Many are familiar with Parris Island as the US Marine Corps' east coast recruit depot, but prior to that it was a significant US Navy coaling station, shipyard, and drydock. Fort Fremont was built around the time of the Spanish American War to help protect Parris Island. It consisted of two batteries: Battery Fornance with quick firing smaller guns to help protect a minefield from small enemy ships and minesweepers and Battery Jesup, with larger guns for engaging enemy warships. The Historical Preserve preserves the remains of the fortification and features a visitors center and museum about its history. |
| The visitors center and museum at Fort Fremont Historical Preserve |
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| Battery Fornance, the smaller of the two batteries at Fort Fremont |
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| Battery Jesup, the larger of the two batteries at Fort Fremont |
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| The top of Battery Jesup, the larger of the two batteries at Fort Fremont |
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| Battery Jesup, the larger of the two batteries at Fort Fremont |
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| Battery Jesup, the larger of the two batteries at Fort Fremont |
St Helena Island Chapel of Ease
On the way back to Beaufort from Fort Fremont, I stopped by the St Helena Island Chapel of Ease. Built in 1740 as a Chapel of Ease (for planters on St Helena Island plantations who had to travel long distances to the Parish Church in Beaufort), the church eventually became its own Parish in 1812. Abandoned during the Civil War when the planters fled the area because of Federal occupation, it was used by northerners and freedmen until it burned in a forest fire in 1886 and was never rebuilt. The ruins stand today alongside Lands End Rd between the Penn Center and Fort Fremont.
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| The St Helena Island Chapel of Ease |
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| The St Helena Island Chapel of Ease |
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| The St Helena Island Chapel of Ease |
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| The St Helena Island Chapel of Ease |
Beaufort National Cemetery
On Sunday morning, before heading back to Savannah, I visited the Beaufort National Cemetery. Set aside as a National Cemetery during the Civil War, there are war dead (including over 3,600 unknowns) and veterans from every major conflict the United States has been involved in since the Civil War buried there. Additionally, there are 102 Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery. On this visit, the headstones were still decorated with Veterans Wreaths for Christmas.
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| Beaufort National Cemetery decorated with Veterans Wreaths for Christmas |
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| Beaufort National Cemetery decorated with Veterans Wreaths for Christmas |
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| Beaufort National Cemetery decorated with Veterans Wreaths for Christmas |
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| Beaufort National Cemetery decorated with Veterans Wreaths for Christmas |
Food
No road trip is complete with out good food, and on this trip I stopped for supper on Saturday evening at The Smokehouse at Paris Avenue in downtown Port Royal. When you stop at a BBQ restaurant and the food comes out in plastic or paper plates with plastic tableware, you know you're in the right place... It's small and unpretentious, so don't be surprised if you come in and all the tables are occupied; they seem to stay busy with both eat-in and take-out orders. Walk up to the window and place your order; it may take a bit for the food to come out because of how busy they are but it's worth the wait. I had the pulled pork plate with cole slaw and green beans and it was absolutely delicious. The pork was tender and juicy and I enjoyed the slightly sweet red and gold sauces.
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| Pulled pork dinner with cole slaw and green beans at The Smokehouse at Paris Avenue in Port Royal, SC |
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| The Smokehouse at Paris Avenue in Port Royal, SC |
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| The Smokehouse at Paris Avenue in Port Royal, SC |
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| The Smokehouse at Paris Avenue in Port Royal, SC |
Finally, to close out this road trip report, a view of Saturday evening's Lowcountry sunset from the hotel I stayed at in Beaufort. It was a delightful end to a great day.
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| Lowcountry SC sunset in Beaufort on 27 December 2025 |
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