PICKENS COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION GROUP (PCCG)

The Pickens County Communications Group is a group of volunteers for the Pickens County Emergency Management Agency in Pickens, South Carolina.

Many of our members are registered with the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) or with the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) in South Carolina. Other members are registered with the Military Auxilary Radio System (MARS) in either the Army MARS or the Air Force MARS programs.

In addition, we have members that participate in the Shared Resources High Frequency Radio Program (SHARES) that is administered by the Department of Homeland Security' (DHS) National Coordinating Center for Communications (NCC).

As a group we also have an association with the South Carolina State Guard and with various other Public Safety and Public Service organizations.

As a side note, ARES/RACES members can also be asked to participate in FEMA/NIMS Auxiliary Communications and SC AUXCOMM operations. (A more complete explanation of SC AUXCOMM can be found in section 1.2 of the SC-ARES 2017 Tactical Plan.)

The Pickens County Communications Group is NOT a radio club. Instead, we are a group of amateur radio enthusiasts with similar interests in emergency communication, repeater operation, digitial communications, etc. As a group we are dedicated in providing emergency communications for public service, public safety, and commercial communications for local agencies in Pickens County.

We also provide Skywarn communications for Pickens County and the National Weather Service in Greer, S.C. The PCCG repeater network can be (and is) linked to the WARNS repeater network during severe weather. The WARNS repeater network provides coverage to Northeastern Georgia, Southwestern North Carolina, and the Upstate portion of South Carolina. (Northwestern South Carolina.)

We have a mobile communications trailer that is capable of the following communications equipment:
      160 thru 10 meters all mode     (can be used for MARS and SHARES support
                                                            with appropiate authorized operators)
      2 meter fm VHF Highband(144 Mhz),
      70cm fm UHF(440 Mhz).

Our communications center at the EOC is equipped to communicate with local units as well as Statewide Communications with the SCEMD.

Digital modes as follows: APRS, Packet, RTTY, FLdigi with a notebook computer with internet access.

Other group interests include: ARRL Field Day, Mini Field Day, VHF/UHF Contesting, Backpack/Portable Communications, and various Digital mode operations.

The Pickens County Communications Group Meets monthly in a Pickens County Emergency Management Agency (EOC) conference room located on the lower level (rear) of the Pickens County Administration Facility at 222 Mcdaniel Avenue, Pickens, S.C. on the 1st Tuesday of every month from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

Our October Monthly Meeting will be on Tuesday, 3 October 2023 at 7 pm.

We also have a communications net that is held every Tuesday night at 8:00pm, except on the first Tuesday of every month, using several of our linked repeaters:
      443.450 Mhz repeater (70 cm).
      147.195 Mhz repeater (2M).
All amateurs are invited to check in to the PCCG net.

       (Note: The PCCG net is NOT held on the 1st Tuesday of the month, since most
           of our active members will be attending our monthly meeting at the EOC.)

The Skywarn net is automatically activated in case of severe weather in Pickens County.