Black Swamp Radio Club Is Changing the Game: KE8UTX and KE8QJV

Sandy Schwind KE8UTX and Craig Rower KE8QJV are the driving force behind the Black Swamp Amateur Radio Club—a group that’s rewriting the script for what a ham radio club can be. Founded in late 2023, Black Swamp has exploded with energy: VE testing, weekly nets, competitive contesting, and a Parks on the Air presence that’s hard to miss. Their secret? No meetings—just relentless momentum and a Signal group chat that never sleeps.

Sandy went from self-doubt to Extra class in six months. Her first license came on her birthday in 2022, and now she’s a CW student and club VE lead. Craig, her Elmer and club president, held out for years before diving in—and now runs nets via AllStar and EchoLink from a repeater in his closet. Both came from traditional clubs where camping and crockpots overshadowed pileups. They wanted more. So they built it.

The club thrives on competitive camaraderie. During an Ohio state parks contest, they logged 67 QSOs in an hour on their first try—today they clock 100+ without blinking. Field Day runs like a machine with rotating shifts, top-tier gear, and members traveling in from multiple states. And with a new climate-controlled shack and fourth repeater coming online, Black Swamp isn’t slowing down—they’re scaling up.

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Thanks Kevin for the interview

 

blackswampradio.org

 

Thanks for Interviewing those two, you all did a great job!

 

This was a lot of fun. Thanks for having us in to chat, Kevin.

 

Thank you Kevin!!

 

Great interview with some great people!

 

Awesome video thanks Kevin and QRZ

 

For those who are following we got the results. Ke8qjv, ke8utx and the rest of the k8bsr crew won the ohio state parks on the air again!

 

Love the results Cody!!! Thank you for sharing!!
Woo hoo!!! Love this team!!! ❤️

 

Loved the video, very informative. You guys did a great job!!!

 

Excellent interview Kevin, thank you for that. I've worked Sandy and Craig tons of times and they are definitely a pair of super fine operators. The fact that they are new means absolutely nothing in my opinion. They can draw and work huge pile ups as good or better than a lot of the exotic dx stations that I've worked. Another member that id like to mention is Brandon KZ4CP, I've worked him more than the other club members . He's also a very hard working and a great guy.

K8BSR and NA4WD are my absolute favorite clubs. Both are full of top notch operators and have great personalities as well. I'm not in any clubs cause to be honest they bore me to tears but if I were to be in one then I'd want to be part of one of these. Just high energy and cover a lot of ground quickly.

Craig, on the no code thing. I wouldn't pay any attention to what those old timers say about it. I've been Advanced Class since 97 and never had the first CW QSO ever. I only learned it for the test and I honestly just don't care about it, If thats someone's thing then im happy for them but its not for me. That's just a tired argument and they need to just drop it. They are the very reason why lots of new operators don't stick around long.

Thank you Sandy, Craig and the other club members for all the parks and what you do, 73

 

I appreciate the kind words, as do the rest of the club members. It's nice when you develop regular contacts with operators like you. You get used to hearing those voices in the pile up and you just know who it is.
NA4WD is a great bunch. They are in our logs quite a few times as well. Several clubs are really starting to get out there and seem to be doing a great job and having a lot of fun. SDRA and NC4HH both come to mind.
Thanks for all the contacts and thanks for checking out the video. Kevin really does a great job with the platform. 73!

 

Thanks Pam! Loved the Halloween activation you did with Sandy!

 

By far my favorite contest!