San Antonio Hams

AARO will be holding their Field Day event at Raymond Russell Park, on IH-10 west near Camp Bullis exit, operating on Saturday only due to restrictions on the park usage.

ROOST will be at their Clubhouse location on the SE side, off Hwy 181, operating the full weekend.

GVARC will be operating from a member’s home (WQ5C) on River Road, but using Temp FD antennas and power sources. Access may be limited after dark, but operating the full weekend.

Texas Water Safari got rescheduled until this weekend, due to river flooding a few weeks ago, so many of those hans won’t be able to participate in FD this year.

I haven’t heard about the plans yet for Atascosa County ARC (Poteet fairgrounds or in Pleasanton?), Wilson County ARC (City park in Floresville?), or Guadalupe County (Chaparral ARC in Seguin).

San Antonio Radio Club (SARC) – The club will be holding it’s Field Day event in Shavano Park. The address for this event is 900 Saddletree Ct. Shavano Park, TX 78231. The club plans to operate from Noon on Saturday through Noon on Sunday. They will also host a barbeque at the site Saturday evening.

Medina County Amateur Radio Club (MCARC) – The Field Day event will be held at the Creekwood Community center located just off US90 half way between Hondo and Castroville. The community center is at the corner of County Road 458 and County Road 4510. Operating times are from Noon on Saturday and into Saturday evening (potentially 8pm).

Hill Country Amateur Radio Club (HCARC) – The Field Day event will be held at Our Lady of the Hills High School athletic field and pavilion in Kerrville, TX. Address is 235 Peterson Farm Road Kerrville, TX 78028. The site is just off of TX 27 SE of Kerrville near the Kerrville Municipal Airport. Please RSVP with Dale Gaudier k4dg(at)arrl(dot)net.

Kendall Amateur Radio Society (KARS) – The KARS 2016 Field Day event will be held Saturday June 25th between 1:00PM and 8:00PM CDT and Sunday June 26th between 7:00AM and 1:00PM CDT. The event will be held at Alan Walters, K5NOF’s, ranch located at 48 Rust Lane, BOERNE, TX 78006-1163. More information can be found at http://www.kb5tx.org/FieldDay2016. If you go please let them know that you are from STXDXCC so that they know who you are.

The ARRL has also provided a Field Day Locator website if you are in need of more information. http://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator

Have fun this weekend and be safe! Get out there and get on the air!

Have you tried the highest rated email app?
With 4.5 stars in iTunes, the Yahoo Mail app is the highest rated email app on the market. What are you waiting for? Now you can access all your inboxes (Gmail, Outlook, AOL and more) in one place. Never delete an email again with 1000GB of free cloud storage.
VISIT YOUR GROUP
Yahoo! Groups • Privacy • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use
.

__,_._,___

The Alamo Area Radio Organization is pleased to welcome Juan Hernandez of Yaesu America KG6HKA Technical Support Specialist as our guest speaker for the April membership meeting.  The date and location has been changed to accommodate both the speaker and the venue capacity.

The April meeting has been changed to the first Wednesday of April, April 6th at 6:30pm.  Please come early to eat before the meeting starts.

This a special event with limited seating (120 seats) and will be held at a Blanco BBQ on 13259 Blanco Road, San Antonio, TX and starts at 630 pm.

AA5RO will return back to Mamacita’s Mexican Restaurant next month, on the regular 2nd Wednesday at 7pm.

Morning all!

Event: AERC Heart of the Hills Endurance Ride

Dates: 5th and 6th March 2016

Location: Hill Country State Natural Area – Bandera

Times: 0700 hrs to 1700 hrs – assignment times very based on Checkpoint.

Help is needed on both days, but, if you can only work one of the other, your assistance is greatly appreciated.

Operators will be responsible for tracking the progress of Horse/Rider thru the course at 4 different checkpoints.  We also handle in health/welfare information and other task as submitted by the event coordinator/manager.

3 checkpoints should be able to contact net control with ht and a gain antenna.  One checkpoint is a little more challenging requiring a mobile unit, possibly crossband.

Comms will be VHF simplex.

RMS Express/Packet will be utilized during the event.  Packet not required to participate.

Most checkpoints are easily accessible by car or truck.  One will require a truck with moderate clearance.

If your are interested please contact Charlie Land at charlesdland at gmail dot com or Mike Perez at mikerey01 at yahoo dot com

Event is coordinated by Hill Country REACT – membership not required to participate.

Thank You,

Hams from the AARO and the San Antonio area are being asked to help with a ground search in a city park on Saturday, August 29th from 9am til 11am(?).

We will be meeting at the Bee Tree Soccer Field Parking lot. It is located 1 mile in from the entrance at Wurzbach Pkwy or .9 from the entrance at Jones Maltsberger.

If you get lost just call 210-422-5304 or on simplex 146.420.

Andrew Watson, K5NNN, is a private investigator who has been assigned to this case. He is requesting help from area ham volunteers with a search for a body in McAllister Park. The body is of the 25 year old girl is the one that was stolen from Mission Park Mortuary on the North Side.

Hams are needed to help search McAllister Park for signs of a possible shallow grave.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Skywarn Operators at the Austin-San Antonio NWO are in the process of updating our files and call-up list. Recently we have found the EC’s, Skywarn Coordinators and Net Controls have changed drastically in the various counties we serve.
It has also been found that several repeaters used in the past to contact and monitor Skywarn operations have changed or are no longer functioning.
If someone from each county could please e-mail me the contact information, frequencies and other pertinent information for ARES and Skywarn it would be greatly appreciated.
Also be advised that we have created a Facebook page and Twitter account to help get the word out. Feel free to like or follow to stay up to date with our operations.
Thank You, Louis – K5STX
e-mail to wx5exw at gmail dot com

This year the San Antonio
Rock and Roll Marathon
will take up 2 days. 

Saturday, December 6th, will feature the 10k race (new event), while Sunday, December 7th, will feature the normal bicycle tour, full marathon and half marathon races that the Ham Radio operators in San Antonio have long supported.

Due to the increased need for our services, we are especially looking for hams who are willing to work the timer clocks on both days.  The 10k Race route overlaps the top part of the marathon route to a certain extent.

View the full route maps here.

Assignments will be made mostly on a first come, first serve basis, with preference given to those who have worked a location in the past, or living nearby, etc.  Some assignments may require the volunteer to synchronize multiple clocks, such as one for the 1/2 marathon and one for the full marathon that are within a block or so of each other.  If we get lots of volunteers, that will reduce the need for double assignments.

Please contact Lee N5NTG to volunteer via email info@sanantoniohams.org or text message (210-771-7075). Remember to provide your name, callsign, contact info and which events you are available to help with. Please let Lee know if your radio can do both 2 meter and 440 UHF, or just 2 meter because we’re looking at using some alternative repeater frequencies to possibly minimize interference from idiots. Most locations will work fine with just an HT, but the southern most positions may need higher power.  If you have a preference or special need, please include that information.

Don’t forget that the clocks will need to be picked up on Friday evening.  Once you get  your assignment, please take time to locate your physical location during daylight hours, because trying to find your way in before sunrise can sometimes be a real challenge. Roads will be getting closed off hours prior to the start of the race, starting at the north end and working down south.

Read the rest of this entry »

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

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 »

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 »

Here is the list of hams who worked the marathon at what mile markers.    Dave Espinoza W5QS started out really early (before 4am) at the start line, acting as Net Control until 9am.  Lee Besing N5NTG was at mile marker 4 at 6am, and assumed Net Control duties at 9am, and continued until the race ended at 3:30pm when Lee was the last vehicle to cross the finish line. Literally the last person and vehicle, playing the Porky Pig tune “That’s all folks!”…

Here is the list…

Read the rest of this entry »