San Antonio Hams

CHRISTMAS PARTY
DECEMBER 17TH @ 6:30 PM – 8PM

PAPA DANTE’S RESTAURANT
8607 FM 1976, CONVERSE, TX 78109

RSVP: wx5us@satx.rr.com

We will be holding our Annual Awards presentation, enjoying good Italian food and having a great time with each others company in typical Unusual Suspect Spirit.   Our Christmas Parties have always been a GREAT time for all, so you will hate yourself if you miss out on the fun.

Please confirm you will be coming and  how many in your party.   Remember the Unusual Suspects are about FAMILY and AMATEUR RADIO.  Family members young and old are welcome.

Please RSVP because we need to give the restaurant an accurate head count prior to the event.

The 2013 AARO Christmas/Holiday Party will be held Wednesday, December 11^th at Grady’s BBQ on Bandera Road across from the Jefferson State Bank near Leon Valley. Dinner starts at 6:30pm, activities start at 7pm.

Admission price is $15 per person before the event, $17 at the door.  Your $15 includes one raffle ticket. Additional tickets will be on sale.   There will be some really nice prizes again this year (Door prizes include 2 Baofeng HT’s for the grand prizes).

Attendance is not restricted to members of the AARO ham club.

Thanks for your continued support of the AARO group.

73’s and Happy Holidays.
Stan Waghalter, Treasurer
KD5ZSY

I have a Yaesu FT-450D with power supply for sale for 800$USD.  (Photo is a stock photo provided by this site’s webmaster)

Cliff Gieseke,  W4ZFL/5
Tel. 210–745–1141
cliffgie@swbell.net
San Antonio, TX

Dear Friends of Bill Reichert,

As some of you may have heard by now, it is with very sad hearts that we let you know of the passing of our father.  He was our knight and will be missed beyond words, but it is also our faith that he is surrounded by God’s love and grace and now reunited with our mother who went on before him.  Dad was with his family when he died at about 5:15 a.m. on Friday, November 22, 2013, and we don’t think that’s a coincidental date or time, as our mom also died on a 22^nd and our dad was the founding Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 515, which he loved and devoted much of his life to.

We want people to know that our dad “fought the good fight” (2 Timothy 4:7); he put forth a long and valiant recovery effort after his heart attack and major heart surgery last December 2012.  Just to live into one’s 70s, 80s, or even 90s is to survive, and our dad lived all of his life with a congenital heart problem.  Even so, he got a lot of mileage with his heart: Getting through A&M’s Corps of Cadets, the Korean War, the military, engineering sites out in the field, camping all over the country with the Scouts, and square dancing – and all with a compromised heart, though one with plenty of love.

Even when he had his heart attack last December and called 911 for himself, he still wasn’t down.  With few options and the information he had been given at the time, he chose to go for an intensive heart surgery and not only survived the surgery, but also several weeks in ICU, and then slowly but surely, he started his physical recovery and got better, step by step, at age 82, and all while still having a compromised heart.  Our dad was a very strong man even up until the very end when he realized “it was time,” which also takes a whole lot of mental and spiritual strength and courage.

Read the rest of this entry »

Bill Clabo K9ASL became a Silent Key November 7, 2013. All hams are invited to a celebration of his life on Friday, November 15, 2 PM to 8 PM, at the family home in San Antonio, TX 78245. (Look up his call sign to get address, we’re withholding it here to protect their privacy and security – Lee N5NTG)

Bill was a life member of ARRL, QCWA and OOTC. He served as a VE at 73 sessions.

He was a retired Coast Guard Master Chief Petty Officer, electronics tech, 1961-1995. He held an Amateur Extra ham radio license.

Information about his Coast Guard Service can be found here. http://tinyurl.com/l65lnl3

Ham Radio Operators are still needed to set up and coordinate the starting of the official timer clocks at every mile marker along the route.

This year’s event coordination is being done by ham radio as usual. Lee N5NTG is the coordinator for the ham radio operators working the San Antonio Rock and Roll Marathon on Sunday, November 17th.

AARO is the ham club sponsoring the communications for this event, and we’d like to help them out. All volunteers will get a free t-shirt, and yes, they do have the larger sizes as well.

Typical Duties of the Hams:

• Friday, November 15th – Hams will be picking up their timer clocks at 6pm from Alamo Dome Parking Lot “B” (off Cherry Street, north of Caesar Chavez, aka Durango). There will be a briefing for all volunteers, t-shirts and extra maps will be passed out, and timer clocks distributed.
• Saturday, November 16th – Hams should locate and verify their assigned locations during daylight hours, and compare available routes with the Marathon route and closure lists. The actual mile marker location should have a written description provided to you, but the street should be marked with either paint or orange duct tape looking arrows.
• Sunday, November 17th – Hams should be at their assigned locations, way before the race is scheduled to start. Wear your event t-shirt for identification and put your placard in the window to help you with local law enforcement. Remember there will be a bicycle ride prior to the event, so the route will be closed earlier than you may think.

DO NOT PARK DIRECTLY ON THE ROUTE. Park your vehicle nearby in a safe spot, but the road itself must remain open from curb to curb. You can park on a sidewalk, driveway (with permission of property owner, if available), nearby parking lot, etc.. Use good judgment when choosing your parking area as close to the timer clock position as possible. You may need to walk a short distance to your clock to be ready to flip the on switch when announced.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s now been a couple of weeks since the event was held, but I wanted to write up some sort of “after action” report, complete with photos.    This report is from the Ham / SAG van viewpoint, since that’s where I was all weekend. I didn’t take as many photos as I usually like to do, but I received photos from other folks, such as Mike Perez W5ZUP, Joe Plano KA1MZY, and various BikeMS Committee members.

At the almost last moment, Saturday’s start line was moved from the AT&T Center over to the brand new Wheatley Heights Sports Complex on the other side of IH-10, just off Houston St.  This resulted in minor route change that subtracted about a mile from the course each day.  Riders in my SAG van said they preferred the new location over the AT&T Center, that it felt more like “our event” instead of “just borrowing the parking lot from the AT&T Center.”

(L-R) David KD5MTJ, Charlie KC5NKK, Paul KA5FZU, Joe WA5AUQ)

Our 15 SAG Vans came from Enterprise Rent a Car as usual, but what wasn’t usual was that we had to remove and store our rear bench seats instead of Enterprise doing it for us, as they have done the past 4 years.  But Lloyd Hensley (BikeMS Staff) came up with a solution and we had the vans delivered to the BikeMS warehouse on Friday instead of our drivers picking them up directly from Enterprise.

Once the vans arrived, volunteers removed and stored the seats inside the warehouse, while the APRS Crew installed the trackers, applied the numbers to the front & back of the vans, distributed magnetic signs, t-shirts, and of course printed maps, guidelines and a list of where the authorized fuel stations were located.

The Route both days was changed this year to avoid the stretch of FM1346 thru St. Hedwig, where the shoulders on the road had cracks large enough to cause a bike to flip, or to take a short cut to Australia perhaps?  After taking FM1346 for 2009-2012, the route committee said “enough is enough” and chance the route.  Riders seemed to enjoy the scenery on the new roads better, with less traffic, lower speed limits, but no shoulders.  The down side of the new section, was lots of blind curves and low water crossings that would have caused us problems on Sunday when the weather turned off bad.

Saturday’s ride went pretty smoothly, with only a couple reported medical issues from riders having accidents, none really major.  It was probably one of our safest years yet for this ride.  We had an incident or two, where a SAG van got stuck when backed into a side road waiting for riders to pass, and a police vehicle with a dead battery.

SAG 15 – Rob W07ROB loading bikes into his van. Photo by Joe KA1MZY

Weather was very cooperative both Friday and Saturday, getting a bit warm and humid on Saturday afternoon, which required higher than normal SAG usage, but we (the hams & SAG Teams) were up to the challenge.  We’ve had several good feedback reports from riders who felt their SAG driver / team was very helpful, especially on Sunday.

The ride was completely finished shortly after 6pm on Saturday, with no riders needing to be picked up at the last minute as they returned down River Road on the Century Route.   Part of the reason for that improvement, was the earlier cut-off time set for riders wishing to take the extra 30 mile trip up River Road and back.  By moving the cut-off time forward, we eliminated those last minute riders who weren’t physically up to the challenge of finishing the route by 6pm.

Read the rest of this entry »

Title: Technician Ham Class – Day 1 of 2
Location: Santa Christa Rosa Hospital – Seaworld
Link out: Click here
Description: Bob Rodriguez K5AUW is conducting a 2 day Technician Ham Class on Saturday, November 9th and 16th. Contact Bob via email at bobrod@flash.net for more details. Test fee on November 16th will be $15. Pre-study highly recommended. Class will be held both days, with testing done at the end of second day.
Start Time: 08:00
Date: 2013-11-09
End Time: 17:00

If you’re bored and you know it, charge your batteries, dust off those emergency go-kits sitting in the garage, and get your radios programmed to work these upcoming events.  Even if you aren’t bored, it’s still that time of year anyway.

I know more help is really needed for the two upcoming bike rides on September 21st and October 12-13th. I’m pretty sure that all of the other events will be grateful for some extra ham help as well.

Where available, I have listed email address links for the contact person. If you don’t see a contact link, or are unsuccessful in contacting them, please feel free to contact me direct for more info or help. – Lee N5NTG

• September 21st – OLPH Wildcat Ride and Run – Jeremy KE5ELI
• September 28-29th – Texas QSL Party
• October 5th – Belton HamExpo
• October 5th – BikeMS150 San Antonio Training / Briefing meeting for hams / volunteers at 10am – Lee N5NTG.
• October 12-13th – BikeMS150 San Antonio. 2 day event. SARO Ham Club. Charlie KC5NKK
• October 19th – JOTA at the McGimmsey Scout Park. SARC Club – Bob K5AUW
• October 19th – Alamo Area Law Enforcement Explorer Competition (AALEEC) at SW High School – Dave W5QS
• October 26-27th – Cactus Rose Run (36 hour 5:30am Sat -5:30pm Sun) – Bandera Hill Country State Natural Area (100 mile). REACT Team – Louis K5STX
• November 2nd – UC Veterans Day Parade. REACT Team – Lee N5NTG
• November 2-3th – Tour de Gruene – GVARC ham club. Mike WQ5C
• November 17th – San Antonio Rock & Roll Marathon – AARO – Lee N5NTG
• December 6-7th – National Skywarn Recognition Weekend – New Braunfels NWS Office – 24 hour event (6pm-6pm) over 2 days – Louis K5STX
• December 14th – Christmas Parade at Canyon Lake / Sattler – REACT – Wade W5ERX
• January 11th – San Antonio Radio Fiesta – (Schertz TX) SARC Club – W5SC.ORG – Rowena KF5JCZ
• January 11-12th – Bandera 100K Run at Hill Country State Natural Area (state park) 24 hour event over 2 days – Louis K5STX