Road Trip Radio Report - Overnight Road Trip to the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia; 26/27 July 2026

This past weekend, I went on an overnight road trip to the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia, SC to see their Semi-quincentennial/American Revolution exhibit. As I mentioned in a previous post, I spent late June and early July on family leaving helping a relative after surgery, so it was a good opportunity to rest, relax, and enjoy myself. I left Savannah on Sunday morning, using US-321 for the trip up and returned on Monday morning, using I-26 and I-95. Sunday night, I stayed in Cayce, SC not far away from Columbia Municipal Airport (KCAE). Even though my travels were on a Sunday and early Monday, the trip still provided some good monitoring opportunities. As always, the Columbia area provided no shortage of public safety communications. There was steady traffic at Columbia Municipal Airport and although there was little military communications to be heard on Sunday I caught some F-5Ns out of MCAS Beaufort and some F-15Es from Savannah-Hilton Head IAP on Monday morning. There was usual VHF/UHF morning commute amateur radio traffic on Monday and I was surprised at the amount of VHF/UHF amateur radio traffic I heard around Orangeburg and Columbia on Sunday afternoon. There was some rain and thunderstorm activity on Sunday afternoon and evening and I think that played into less medevac helicopter activity than I usually hear in Columbia.

The South Carolina State Museum in Columbia, SC (the dome of their observatory is visible on the roof)

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

Road Trip Radio Report - Columbia, SC 20-22 October 2024

This road trip was supposed be in Upstate South Carolina to visit the Cowpens and Kings Mountain battlefields and take in the Autumn foliage, but unfortunately both Cowpens and Kings Mountain are still in the process of removing dangerous fallen trees from Hurricane Helene. Since the two parks were closed in the week before I left, I changed plans and visited Congaree National Park in Hopkins, SC, Riverbanks Zoo and Gardens in Columbia, SC, and Poinsett State Park in Wedgefield, SC on Sunday and Monday and returned to Savannah on Tuesday. Sunday, on the way up, I used I-95, but to get a bit different view and hear different things, I used US-321 to return to Savannah on Tuesday morning.

This road trip was across two beautiful Autumn days with the leaves in Midlands South Carolina beginning to turn. 

Road Trip Radio Report: Midland and Pee Dee South Carolina History - Columbia, Camden, and Darlington, SC; 10-13 June 2024

From Monday, 10 June through Thursday, 13 June, I took a road trip through Columbia, Camden, and Darlington, SC visiting some historic sites while staying in Cayce, just east of Columbia. In Columbia, I visited Historic Columbia and toured some of their historic homes and gardens. In Camden, I visited the Historic Camden living history park. In Darlington, I visited the museum at Darlington Raceway (maybe not everyone would consider Darlington a historic site, but a motor sport fan surely would). Along the way, I made stops in Sumter to visit Thomas Sumter's grave, in Eutawville to visit the Eutaw Springs battlefield, in Pineville to visit Francis Marion's grave, and in Walterboro to visit the Tuskegee Airmen Memorial. It was also an interesting trip radio-wise; there was a lot of activity from both Shaw AFB, McEntire JNGB, and Fort Jackson; the Palmetto 800 system was busy with public safety communications from the region; and railroads were quite busy, especially in and close around Columbia. I also discovered that the VHF TRS at Shaw AFB was no longer a stand alone system, but now part of the USAF 57C system. Unusual for me, I also had a few amateur radio QSOs along the way.

Historic Columbia's hub - the Robert Mills House in downtown Columbia, SC

Road Trip Radio Report: Columbia, SC - 27/28 November 2023

I took a couple of extra days off along with the Thanksgiving holiday and as part of those days off, I took an overnight road trip to Columbia, SC. I left Savannah on Monday afternoon, stopped in Swansea, SC for dinner, then continued to a hotel in Cayce, SC to stay the night. On Tuesday morning, I visited the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia then headed back to Savannah just after lunchtime. This Columbia road trip was a bit different because I used US-321 for the northbound trip but used I-26 and I-95 to return to Savannah due to the multiple work zones I encountered on 321 on Monday afternoon. 

Road Trip Radio Report: Columbia, SC - 01/02 October 2023

On Sunday, 1 October 2023 and Monday, 2 October 2023, I took an overnight road trip to Columbia, SC to visit the Riverbanks Zoo. On the way up, I made a stop at the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge's Laurel Hill Wildlife Drive, the Bull Durham Center in Estill, SC, and the Cayce Riverwalk in Cayce, SC. On Monday, I visited the Riverbanks Zoo before heading back to Savannah. On the drives to Columbia and back to Savannah I enjoyed listening to MilCom, Public Safety, and Railroad communications, so this post will detail those as well as providing some information on and photos from the places I visited along the way.

On my last few overnight road trips to Columbia, I noticed that the Riverbanks Zoo had stopped using their UHF analog frequencies and zoo staff appeared to be carrying NXDN portables. I thought they may have moved to the Carolinas FleetTalk system, but I could never find them, so it was time for some research. Prior to this trip, I did a deep dive into FCC licenses for the Columbia area and found a license for a NXDN trunking system licensed to the Zoo.