San Antonio Hams

Title: One Day Technician License Crash Course
Location: University of the Incarnate Word
Link out: Click here
Description: Lecture Hall, Bonilla Science Building, University of the Incarnate Word, 4301 Broadway, San Antonio, TX 78209

Sponsored by AARO Ham Club – Per Person Cost: $40 – Includes continental breakfast, lunch and fee for one 35-item, multiple-choice exam given at the end of the day. Does not include the study book.

To Register: Call (210)522-3008 or (210)680-6841
or E-mail jwallace at (@) swri.org

Anyone wanting testing at the end of the day, can pay the test fee for upgrading, etc. Please RSVP
Start Time: 08:00
Date: 2010-03-06

The National Weather Service in New Braunfels has announced they are moving their regional Skywarn Net away from the 147.14 repeater to the newer 444.450 UHF repeater that is located just south of Startzville, with an antenna up at 1670 ft above sea level.  That repeater has a tone of 114.8 and a POSITIVE offset.  The 444.450 repeater has very wide regional coverage, equivalent to what the 147.14 repeater used to be.  We’ve had folks from as far south as Wilford Hall on Lackland AFB in San Antonio, or north to south Austin on 6th Street.  Of course those contacts were made using 50 watt mobile or base radios.

This repeater will soon be hooked up via an IRLP node, but the trustee Wade W5ERX is still working out the bugs for that.   This repeater is being sponsored by the Hill Country REACT Team.

This Skywarn net is NOT to be confused with the local Skywarn Nets in San Antonio or Austin on the 146.94 repeaters.  In San Antonio, that repeater has a PL tone of 179.9 and a negative offset.  The Austin repeater has no PL tone required, but does have an output tone.

In San Antonio, most of the time, you will find one of the AEC’s (Assistant Emergency Coordinator) from the Bexar County ARES group running the local Skywarn Net, and the repeater has a tone that goes off periodically, sort of a beep, just to let you know something serious is going on even if you don’t hear anybody talking at the moment.

If the Net Control operator asks for specific types of reports, don’t call in with reports of “It’s not raining over here”, or “I just saw on TV that such and such was happening…”.  Don’t clutter up the frequency with chatter.

The Bexar Operators Group will be “Flying Pink” with a 9 foot pink weather balloon with an attached pink (ok, reddish pink) 260 foot vertical wire antenna during the 160 meter contest this weekend to show our support for breast cancer awareness.

We had a choice of balloons to purchase and chose the pink colored ones (boy, do they look small un inflated) and even chose the pink topped helium tank when offered a choice of others.

Pictures of our contest operation at Choke Canyon State Park’s “Calliham Unit” will be posted next week.

If you can hear us on 160 meters (probably around 1.85 – 1.9 mhz after sunset until dawn), please either post us on “DX Summit” or other internet resources or make a QSO with us!

A large, stamped -self addressed envelope, sent to the QRZ address of W5BOG will net stations contacting us a special QSL certificate showing our support for breast cancer awareness.

Bob W2IK – W5BOG

The only good way is to use a full size antenna. It’s simple physics. I don’t care what mis-information you might have read or been told or what “miracle” antenna companies might claim.

HAITI: ECOM Operatoins appear to be slowing down somewhat.  The hospital ship USNS COMFORT is no longer accepting trauma patients, at the request of the Haitian government, and is preparing to return to the U.S.

The University of Miami Mediashare Operation has beem moved from the International Airport to another area, so that the airport could open for regular commercial traffic.

Our MARS volunteers continue to provide support to the effort and will, for a while yet.   Keep them in your thoughts, as they are in a less secure area now that they have moved off the International Airport.

Title: Chaparral ARC License Test Session
Location: Seguin
Description: Chaparral Amateur Radio Club a.k.a. Guadalupe County ARES will be holding a License Test session on the evening of May 11th, after our normally scheduled meeting. Currently we are planning to have available test for Technician and General. If you would like to test for Extra, please notify Ray Mueller – AE5HN, so we can plan accordingly. The session will start a 19:00 hrs (7:00 p.m.)
The address is 415 E. Donegan – Seguin, TX 78155
Chaparral ARC holds its monthly meeting on the 2nd Tuesday each month at 18:00hrs! All licences Amateur Radio Operators and those interested in becoming one are invited to attend!
Start Time: 19:00
Date: 2010-05-11

Wade KE5ZUO on Talk-in, JC Smith N5RXS, wanting to resell empty tables

San Antonio Radio Club’s event chairman, JC Smith N5RXS, reported on the air, Saturday morning at 6:15am, prior to opening the doors, that all vendor tables had been sold out already!

Wow!  In fact, JC placed several calls were placed on the air searching for hams who had rented tables, but hadn’t yet shown up to claim them, so that he could resell those empty tables to folks who forgot to advance register!  Amazingly enough, it seems that some hams will pay to rent a vendor table, just to get in the door before the general admission, so they can scout out the better deals and buy before the crowd starts rolling in.  This practice is discouraged, but it happens, and then it leaves empty tables that could have been used by another ham.

One of the challenges we faced this year, was the SARO 146.94 repeater being used for talk-in, failed around 6:20am, just after we had started making announcements.    We were actually then hitting the Austin’s .94 repeater, so we changed to simplex and kept on going.    Bob K5AUW set up his mobile for crossband on simplex in the beginning, then we changed over to using my radios (as discussed later).  The .94 San Antonio repeater stayed down the rest of the day.

Read the rest of this entry »

While some of us have operated in the field under emergency conditions such as during hurricanes and just after earthquakes, most hams haven’t.

I have done both, but during the recent series of Haitian earthquakes I have been, for the most part, on the “sidelines”.

I currently monitor some of the emcomm traffic coming out of the affected area by listening to the SATERN frequencies and even taking a turn at being a SATERN net control op.

Very few communications have been coming out of the country because there are presently only two amateur radio operators down there.

Hopefully, things will change if agencies get “their act together” and send communications “Jump Teams” to help send health and welfare traffic from Haiti so loved ones back in the U.S. and other countries will know that their friends/relatives in Haiti are alive. Just this simple act will relieve a lot of burden and suffering.

Read the rest of this entry »

The SARO President’s Corner

I would like time to thank all of the Directors, Committee Chairpersons, and numerous other members who have given of them selves so freely throughout the past year.  As your president I look forward to serving this organization again in 2010.

You’re new and returning Officers and Board members are Vice-President – Gary Tangrady, K5GST; Secretary – Dale Robinson, KB5YSJ; Treasurer – Mike Check, K5UCQ; Directors – Bob Rodriguez, KA5AUW; Pat Knight, AD5BR; and Lee Besing, N5NTG.

The 2010 Committee Chairpersons are: Membership – Pat Knight, AD5BR; Maintenance – Gordon Dial, K5SUZ; Engineering – Stan Stanukinos, KA5IID; Public Service – Royce Taylor, KA5OHJ; Public Relations and Newsletter – Gary Tangrady, K5GST; Web Master – Lee Besing, N5NTG; and Net Control Coordinator – Herm Hartel, N5CNH.

The first quarterly general membership meeting will be on Friday January 22 at 7:30 p.m. We will be at a new location the “El Jalisco Lindo Grill” near the intersection of Wurzbach Rd. and Watercress Dr. this is one block southwest of Bandera Rd. on Wurzbach Rd. The address is 5309 Wurzbach Rd. Suite 115.  Please note it is not necessary to purchase a meal to attend the meeting.  The restaurant is happy to host SARO and we will not have to contend with the mariachis.

Read the rest of this entry »