This page will contain a listing of all the known Vara FM stations throughout South Carolina. This list will be organized by emergency management areas.
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Area 1 all stations can be found on 145.530 simplex
WX4PG-10 PCCG, Glassy Mountain, Pickens KO4HJO-10 Marion Seneca KJ4YLO-5 Rick, Walhalla KJ4YLO-10 Rick, Walhalla
Area 2
Area 3 all stations can be found on 145.530 simplex
K2KYJ Gary Columbia K2KYJ-10 Gary Columbia K4NBY-5 Newberry EOC (high antenna 80') K4LLE Pete Gilbert (high antenna 97') KD4JQJ Roger Irmo KM4AEG Travis Chapin KN4KRZ Mark Columbia N4LDL Dwayne Columbia W1GTT Bill Chapin W1GTT-5 Bill Chapin W1GTT-10 Bill Chapin W4EAE Ryan Cayce W4EAE-5 Ryan Cayce W4EAE-10 Ryan Cayce WD4NG Dan Chapin
Area 4
Area 5 all stations can be found on 145.530 simplex
KM4RK Mark Dorchester
Area 6
Note: what is a -5 station ? usually a callsign by itself indicates a station that is NOT on the air 24/7. A station that is on the air 24/7 in Winlink Vara FM P2P Digipeater mode is indicated by the -5 and if you try to connect to that station you would use the -5 with the stations callsign. Example: W1GTT-5 If you decide to run your Vara FM P2P station 24/7 it is ok to take your station down for Winlink, Vara, operating system updates or station maintenance and you can use your station to participate in nets. We only ask that during an ARES exercise or activation you postpone all of these items and run your station fulltime.
RMS stations are shown with the -10 suffix. Remember if you want to connect with a RMS station you must first open a Vara FM Winlink session, and use the station callsign with the -10 suffix. Example :W1GTT-10
Note: If you do not purchase a Vara license you will not be allowed to connect to any other station operating in digipeater mode. You can connect to other stations in direct mode only. If you do try to connect to another station that is operating in digipeater mode, and you don’t have a Vara license, the digipeater station will ignore you.
As of April 22 this list is being built so check back often as we get new stations added. If you want to be included in this list please contact Pete at PETE.EMMEL.K4LLE@gmail.com (no need for caps it just makes it easier to read) and I will get you on the list.
I am ready to run 24/7 in Vara FM P2P digipeater mode, how do I add the -5 ? Excellent question, This is a two step process.
Step 1: In Winlink upper lefthand corner use the pulldown where your callsign is and click on add callsign. Type in your station callsign and add the -5 to the end. Fill in the rest of the required fields and click on update.
Step 2: In Vara FM P2P session TNC box (the one with the constellation) click on settings, then click on VARA setup, in the digipeater box type in your callsign with the -5 and if you have a Vara license then type it in the license box with your callsign and the-5, and since you have a license you should set FM system to wide which is 12x faster then narrow. Click on close.