San Antonio Hams

TALK-NET  PICNIC
DATE:  JULY 17, 2010
TIME:  10:30 AM  TO 2:30 PM
PLACE: Elks Club 15650 MARKET HILL
SAN ANTONIO, TX 78256
(Outside Loop 1604, near La Cantera Parkway)
 

• Free Hotdogs and Drinks
• VE testing Get you Tech or Upgrade Starts 11:00 a.m.
• Tail gate swap meet starts at 10:30 am in the parking lot.
• Ham Continuing Education class SWR, VHF,UHF, HF ANTENNAS.
• How to make a better station  start at 12:00 noon inside the Club
• Radio Testing with a IFR Communication Service Monitor and verify your radio’s operation.   A stable Signal generator to check the receiver.  Make sure you have a clean transmitter and verify your frequency, audio deviation, power out and spectrum.  

Please R.S.V.P.   210-422-5304 Andrew KD5NNN

VE Test Info For JULY 17th Picnic

We look forward to seeing you at the VE session for the Talk-Net Annual Picnic.  Below I’ve listed information about our upcoming test session and what to bring.

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Sorry for the delays, folks.  Been a busy little bee lately and haven’t had time to post any stories or photos from last month’s Field Day events around the area…   I’ve gotten photos sent to me from the AARO FD event from at least 2 hams, and have access to photos from KARS, GVARC and possibly one or two others.    I keep extending invitations to folks to register and post their own stories / photos direct on this blog, but so far only a handful have accepted that offer.  I can only spend a finite amount of my time collecting and posting, in between family duties and earning a living.

I’ll try to get these up later this week.

73 de Lee N5NTG

1.Object: To work as many amateur stations in as many different 2 degrees by 1 degree grid squares as possible using authorized frequencies above 50 MHz. Foreign stations work W/VE amateurs only.  

2. Date and Contest Period: The second full weekend in June. Begins 1800 UTC Saturday, ends 0300 UTC Monday (June 12-14, 2010).

It’s almost that time of year again, the annual trek north up IH-35 to Plano, to attend the largest Hamfest in Texas.  

HamCom 2010 will be Friday, June 11th and Saturday, June 12th.  But if you want the best deals from the flea market areas, you best be there on Friday morning when they open.   The event is more crowded on Saturday, for obvious reasons, but most of the vendors arrive on Thursday  night, or Friday morning, ready to wheel and deal. 

Parking is free, admission is $10 at the door.    Hotel room info is available from the event website, www.hamcom.org by clicking on the Hotels link.

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Lee,  Just wanted to say thank you for all the hard work you put into the ride. It was my first time setting up and operating a field station on my own.   Learned some valueble lessons, hope to do it again soon.

Thanks again,  John – KD5ZEW

Voice:  Yaesu FT-100d @ 5~10w into a 5/8 mag-mount at 6′ AGL
Data/APRS:  Yaesu ft-1500m, 6db base antenna @ 30’+ AGL.
Power Supply: 125hr Deep Cycle Flooded Lead-acid Battery.

Pictures from TdC 2010 Day 1 Rest stop 6 where John KD5ZEW was located.

D1 Finish Line- Unicycle

Here is a collection of  56 photos taken by Lee N5NTG at the San Marcos Finish Line on Day 1,  on the road on Day 2 from various rest stops and the Austin Finish Line. 

I saw at least two of these uni-cycles on both days, this one (in photo) and one other.  Unicycle riders have to peddle 100% of the time, no coasting, no shifting gears, oops, no steering wheel at all.  Just their inate sense of balance and lots of forward movement.   On Day 2, the other unicycle rider was zipping down the road, so we stopped on the side of the road to shoot some video of him.  He waved and then stopped next to my mini-van and held on to its luggage rack, saying “you just knew I needed a break, didn’t you?”   He rested for a few minutes and then went on to finish.

 Click on thumbnails for a larger view.

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Photos by Greg Lewis, N5XO, taken at the Day 1 Start Line at Retama Park.   Other operators present at the Start Line were Ruth Lewis KE5HMU, and Dave Espinoza W5QS who ran net control until the San Marcos Finish Line was able to take over that morning.  Click on thumbnail photo for larger views.

2010 Tour de Cure Ride May 22nd – 23rd

ANOTHER SUCCESS !

This year’s event started at the Retama Park, in Selma, Texas, just north of Loop 1604.

Although we really had to twist a few arms, and shake the bushes a lot to fill all of the postions, due to some last minute changes,  the ham community came through for us once more!   It was reported that we had about 1,500 riders show up for the event, a slight increase over last year’s event.

We used the 147.000 repeater (GVARC) on Day 1, and the 147.100 San Marcos repeater plus the Austin 146.94 repeater on Day 2. Net Control on Day 1 was started by Dave W5QS at the Start Line due to delays in getting the San Marcos Finish Line up on the air in time. Thanks Dave! Net Control on Day 2 was started by Jake K5GWC from Rest Stop 4, until Austin’s Finish Line Net Control was ready to assume that duty. Thanks Jake!

We provided hams to staff 7 rest stops on day 1, 8 on day 2, plus Start/Finish each day, 4 SAG’s each day, and 4 Toyota Trucks (used as Turtles) each day. The Toyota Trucks were also used to sweep the course looking for “lost sheep”, and to pick up the signs on each route as they swept the course.

Saturday night, after we shut down operations around 5pm for the day, about 15 of the Hams went to the San Marcos River Pub & Grill for a well deserved dinner and fellowship.

(Photo – Hams from the Tour de Cure enjoy a fine meal and fellowship at the San Marcos River Pub & Grill.)

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