PICKENS COUNTY — TriCounty Amateur Radio Group will hold a training event next week to show off some of the new HAM Radio equipment and technologies available.

“There are a lot of young operators out there who talk on Walkie-Talkies and we want to let them know about some of the new things available,” said Ken Sams of the radio operators group.

‘They are talking on radios that will allow them to reach from hear to Greenville with repeaters. Equipment is now available that will allow them to talk (on a handset) around the world,” Sams said.

In practical applications, the HAM operators in Pickens County have assisted law enforcement in searches for missing people and in weather spotting.

The operators are able to go into remote areas in nearby mountains and assist in law enforcement communications. One example was in assisting with the location and evacuation of a missing person from the Horse Pasture area. “We were able to get up there and provide the GPS coordinates for the helicopter pilot,” Sams said.

Last week, Sams said he spent Wednesday night working through Skywarn Net, a local network of HAM operators that act as trained weather spotters during severe weather. They act as eyes in the community for tornadoes and flooding and other severe weather, providing a communications link.

They are able to communicate when land telephone lines, Internet and cell phones don’t work, he said.

T.A.R.G. bills the Friday and Saturday event May 31 and June 1 as a training exercise on Sis Mile Mountain in Six Mile. It will start on May 31 at noon and continue until Saturday evening.

There will be classes on antenna building and proper grounding of towers and equipment.

All persons attending will be able to use the HF radios that the group will have set up.

Available will be rigs on all the HF bands for you to use including 6 meters, 10 meters, 15 meters, 20, 40, and 75 meter bands.

Take Hwy.137 to Six mile Mountain Road and then a sharp right to top of the mountain.

Contact Sams for more information at 864-607-0104 or email KA2AXQ@gmail.com.