San Antonio Hams

A Short Note On Hurricane IKE

de Bob Hejl W2IK – NNN0KSI – NNN0GBY2 Ecom STX

One of the advantages of preparing for a hurricane is that it may take a few days before it “concerns” your area. As the projected path of hurricane IKE became more focused on the Texas Gulf coast area, it became evident that I might be called upon to deploy as a MARS Ecom station to report conditions at whatever location I might find myself. I was, of course, going to use my station with one of my NVIS antennas due to it’s ability of having lower noise floor reception and wouldn’t be prone to too much of an increase in “static crashes” caused by distant lightening.

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Every year the members of the Boerne KARS Ham Club gather on the Saturday before Labor Day to work the staging area for the county fair’s parade.  KARS members coordinate the staging area, helping to direct entries to their proper line-up location, and figuring out what to do when someone put the entries too close together, or when they put the numbers on the wrong order facing the wrong way of the street.  Oops!

But sometimes “stuff happens”, and this year was no exception.  One street had the numbers in reverse order causing some confusion which was quickly straightened out by KARS.  And then there was that dead end street, E. Voygt, which had entries assigned to both sides, got filled up quickly, and this this huge gravel truck appears pulling a flatbed trailer with a backhoe on it, plus another huge semi truck.   Did they need to dig up the street?  No, they were one of the first time entries assigned to that block!  But they got there about 1 hour before the start of the parade, and there was no way possible to fit them into that dead end street and get them turned around facing the wrong way.  So we put them in a nearby parking lot, and simply inserted them into the proper order when the parade finally got started.

And then there was the taxi cab who was pretending to be a float.  Actually, she was pretending to have a dead battery, or was it real?  Boerne PD arrived with a patrol car and KARS members assisted with jumping the battery.  Shortly after,  a small pickup truck shows up and they changed out the battery in the taxi van.

Bottom line, fun event with a fun group of hams.

Keep the 147.14 Repeater On The Air!

Says the banner!

Fund drive started by REACT Team

Members of Hill Country REACT manned a booth at the 2008 Austin Summerfest event to raise funds to help with the anticipated repair needs for the 147.14 Canyon Lake Repeater. Water has been detected in the feedline leading up to the antenna which is 580′ up on the tower. At this time, it is unknown whether the existing feedline can be repaired and salvaged, or if it will need replaced. This repeater is owned by San Antonio Radio Organization (SARO) and REACT has been providing some funding for the past several years to help keep this important repeater on the air.

As of the conclusion of the Summerfest, REACT had raised nearly $750 from area hams, but this is only a fraction of what may be needed if the full 680′ of feedline needs replaced. All donations will be dedicated for this purpose, and you can use PayPal to make donations or mail checks to the REACT Team’s PO Box address.

Visit the REACT’s website for more details at www.hillcountryreact.org.

August 18 , 2008 – MOU Signed between Texas MARS and Texas REACT

August is hurricane season but apparently it is also the season for cooperation between various radio communications agencies as well.  On August 18, 2008, Charles Land, president of the local San Antonio based Hill Country REACT Team, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the South Texas Navy – Marine Corps MARS (Military Affiliated Radio System).  Minutes later, Texas State REACTCouncil Secretary, Lee Besing, signed a similar agreement with the Texas Navy – Marine Corps MARS. The MARS signature was NOT that of Bob Hejl, W2IK, but rather that of a MARS officer higher up in the chain of command for Texas. See links at bottom of this article for PDF copies scanned with signatures of both agreements.

{Photo Left – Right; Charles Land (KC5NKK) signing as president of Hill Country REACT, Bob Hejl, (W2IK, NNN0GBY2) representing MARS, and Lee Besing (N5NTG) signing as the secretary for the Texas State REACT Council.} Read the rest of this entry »

From Noon Saturday thru Noon Sunday by N5NTG – Lee Besing

I made a tour of three FD locations this year… I used to do this in previous years, but with fuel prices increasing, I had sort of slowed down a bit. But this year, I decided to spend the bux and go visit some of my friends. I had planned to visit two others, but one shut down earlier than planned on Saturday, and around 1am I decided I was too tired to safely drive all the way out to Boerne to visit Kendall County, so I headed home to get some sleep instead.

I started this with compiling a list of known locations around San Antonio, then we received contact from other clubs in Central and South Texas asking that we list their FD site, so we ended up with 13 locations. Click Here for a full list of 13 sites in or around San Antonio, as far west as Ulvade, north to Austin, South to Laredo and Southeast to Corpus Christi.

This report will contain photos from the three locations I managed to visit (GVARC, SARC, AARO) plus photos that were sent to me from other operators. Band conditions this year were sort of weak, so contacts appeared to be less than in some previous years, but the weather cooperated with us locally. The Bexar Operators Group set up down on Mustang Island, “roughing it” with a portable A/C unit sitting on the edge of his picnic table sticking out thru the sides of his pop-up shelter that they rigged around the table. His pop-up was the only one that didn’t blow away in the high winds that hit the gulf coast during that weekend because he rigged for the possibility of high winds at the start.

Photos are embedded in the 2008 Field Day Page here.

From Noon Saturday thru Noon Sunday 

using only Old Vacuum Tube Radio / Equpment by K5AXN – Jerry Barry

Jerry says… It’s time for my 8th annual Vintage Field Day. this is mostly a social event, so bring a yard chair and join the fun. The place may need mowing and I might be slow in getting the equipment set up, but come pitch in and have fun. This is a gathering of some old AM guys and some family, plus new friends, and not a contest, so come join us to discuss Ham Radio or the problems of the world. Enjoy some tiem under the big pecan trees down by Cibolo Creek near Marion, Texas. We will have Polish Sausage wrapped in tortillas and bottled water. Carol will play you Hammered Dulcimer. If there is a lot of rain, call first because this is near a creek bottom with the usual country / creek insects.

TALK-NET – PICNIC AND SWAP MEET FESTIVAL

MAY 31, 2008 SATURDAY – TIME 11:00 A.M. TO 1:00 P.M.

FREE HOT DOGS, DRINKS, AND CHIPS AT ORSINGER PARK  12230 HUEBNER

For more information, check in to the Tuesday night net on 146.42 at 7:30pm, or contact Andrew Watson at 210-422-5304 or BEXARTALK@GMAIL.COM

Close to 3 dozen hams showed up for this first annual event at Orsinger Park. Free foot long hot dogs, with buns almost long enough to hold them, plus all the toppings, chips and cold iced tea you could ever want. Click here to view some photos taken during the event by Lee N5NTG.

May 17-18, 2008 – Tour De Cure Hams

I’ve collected 673 photos from hams taken during the 2008 Tour de Cure event which rode from San Antonio to San Marcos on Day 1, and San Marcos to Austin on Day 2. Around 56 ham volunteers worked this event on Saturday, 53 Ham Volunteers on Sunday this year, a new record. We also drove 9 SAG vans on Saturday, 8 SAG vans on Sunday, manned 9 Rest Stops on Saturday, 6 Rest Stops on Sunday, plus we had around a dozen or so Motorcycle Safety Marshals on both days.

Photos provided by Lee Besing N5NTG, Joe Plano KA1MZY, John Trigg W5KXO, Eugene Bentz KI6MPA, and Phil Boggan KD5MMM as indicated. If you have photos to share, contact me for simple FTP instructions. Credit will be given to each source.

Photo at left, Day 1 San Marcos Net Control Station. L-R rear, Roger W5WIA, Sterling KE5KZE, Mike KD5OZM, front – Pat AD5BR

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May 10, 2008 – NAV3 – Armed Forces Day

Two pix of my “NAV3” operation for the Armed Forces Day Cross Band event. I contacted about 100 stations from my set up at Bullis Cnty Park, San Antonio, using one of the 40 meter “inverted V” antennas I’ll have for the N5D event next weekend. – Bob W2IK

May 10, 2008 – 2 Meter Antenna Shoot-Out

About a dozen hams showed up for ROOST Ham Club’s annual 2-meter Antenna Shoot-out. Homebrew antennas and commercial antennas were compared using the same transmitter and receiver to see what designs worked the best.

Click here for a collection of photos taken by Andy, KD5TNI.