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The Pickens County Communications Group (PCCG) is a group of volunteers for the Pickens County
Emergency Management Agency in Pickens, South Carolina.
Members are licensed as Amateur Radio Operators or hold a General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) Station License. Many
of our members also participate in other Emergency Radio Service Organizations, such as the Amateur Radio
Emergency Services (ARES); or the FEMA Auxiliary Communications (AUXCOMM); and when requested, the Radio Amateur
Civil Emergency Service (RACES).
Some members are trained Radio Operators in the SHAred RESources (SHARES) High Frequency (HF) Radio Program,
administered by the Department of Homeland Security or the Military Auxiliary Radio Services (MARS) programs
sponsored by the Department of Defense (U.S. Army or U.S. Air Force). We also have ties to the South Carolina
State Guard and the South Carolina Emergency Management Division (SCEMD), the state Emergency Operations Center
located in West Columbia, SC.
We are not a radio club. We are, however, a group of radio enthusiasts with similar interests, dedicated
to providing emergency communications for public service, public safety, and last resource communications for local
agencies in Pickens County.
In addition to our Radio Amateur Repeaters in the 2-meter, 220Mhz, and 70cm bands, we also support four publicly
accessible GMRS repeaters, along with additional specialized repeaters for use by Pickens County Search and Rescue groups.
Some of the Amateur Radio repeaters that we maintain are participants in the WARNS system that covers
parts of Northeastern Georgia, Southwestern North Carolina, and Northwestern (Upstate) South Carolina.
Our connections to the Wide Area Repeater Network System (WARNS) are used on a regular basis to provide
Skywarn communications for Pickens County, while the entire WARNS system is used by all of the surrounding
areas to provide extended SKYWARN services to the National Weather Service in Greer, SC.
The WARNS system can also be used to link one or more counties in its coverage areas when needed
to support emergency communications. Areas can be connected or separated on an individual basis as needed.
While the Pickens County Communications Group has been providing Skywarn communications for many years
now in support of the National Weather Service′s local office in Greer, South Carolina - we are
more than happy to transition some of our SKYWARN support efforts into the full support of the WARNS network.
For instance, our 2-meter repeater (147.195 MHz) will automatically link to the WARNS system whenever a
Severe Weather Alert is broadcast by the National Weather Service. When conditions dictate, additional
repeaters in the PCCG network will also be manually linked into the WARNS system by the system operators.
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, SC on the 1st Tuesday of every month from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm.
Our May Monthly Meeting will be on Tuesday, 7 May 2024 at 7 pm.
The Pickens County Communications Group has a net every Tuesday night at 8:00 pm
on the PCCG linked network repeaters in the 2-Meter (147.195 MHz, PL 141.3)
and 70-CM bands (443.450 MHz, PL 110.9).
See our repeater page for more information.)
All amateurs are invited to check into our nets.
(The Tuesday night net is NOT held on the 1st Tuesday of the month because of the
group meeting.)
A Skywarn net is activated in case of severe weather in Pickens County.
Additional information about the PCCG group can be found here.
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