Feb 7

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,

Louis Upton – K5STX

Hill Country REACT – Team # 4804 – President
Tejas Trails Communication Group – Cactus Rose and Bandera 100k Ultra-Marathons – Coordinator

Rocky Raccoon Communications Group – Tejas Trails Liaison

 

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May 24

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

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Oct 9

 

Location:

Hill Country State Natural Area – Bandera, TexasBandera_2014_buckle

When:  10th and 11th of January 2015

Description: 

It is that time of year, to start marking your calendars and making preparations for the 13th Annual Bandera 100k Ultra-Marathon held at Hill Country State Natural Area in Bandera County.

Tejas Trails Communication Group – Coordinated by Hill Country REACT and supported by Highland Lakes Amateur Radio Club, Chaparral Amateur Radio Club, Crew 317 and many dedicated Amateur Radio Operators from San Antonio, Austin, Houston, Kerrville and other locations throughout the state, have supported and provided communications for this event the past 10 years.

This event typically requires 15 – 16 Amateur Radio Operators in a situation that is similar to what an Emergency Communications Operator would experience in a disaster zone. Remote operations little to no permanent infrastructure.Bring it, work it, enjoy it!
UHF, VHF and Packet communications are involved in this event. And with some hard work between now and then, possibly HSMM-Mesh!

This is a fun event with challenges. The participants of this event, are of a type you will not encounter at most other events we deal with throughout the year. Over the years, we have made some lasting friendships among the event management, participants and operators that come out to help. This is one event, where your hard work and efforts are truly recognized and appreciated from top to bottom.

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Jul 7

The annual 4th of July parade was held in Startzville,Texas, on the south side of Canyon Lake.

As usual for the past 20+ years, the members of Hill Country REACT, with assistance from the HCHams (Hayes / Caldwell County Hams), and a few others, managed the staging area, got everybody lined up in the right order, and merged in the units (like the USAF Band, the horses, & the local dignitaries) when the parade started around 11am.

The parade started with a fly over by the Combined Air Force (used to be Confederate Air Force) based in San Marcos.

We did shoot some video of the parade, with quality of questionable focus, using a new HD Vehicle DVR Recorder mounted inside the front windshield of my van.   Even though I had washed the van the night before, it sprinkled on the way up that morning before dawn, and perhaps some neighborhood birds decided to add their deposits on the way up as well. (Note to self: Wash the window before shooting video thru it next time!)   With the glare of the sun, sometimes the focus wasn’t as sharp as I would have preferred, or expected had I used a real video camera mounted outside the glass.  I’ll post that edited video later on, for those who care to watch it.  It’s clear, just slightly not as clear as I’d prefer, or maybe it’s just my eye glass prescription needing tweaked.  🙂

Here is a list of hams and other volunteers working on behalf of REACT for this event, followed by a gallery of photos taken by either myself or Jake Creamer.

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Nov 13

Location:

Hill Country State Natural Area – Bandera, Texas

 

 When: 7th and 8th of January 2012

Description:

It is that time of year, to start forming the roster and making preparations for the 10th Annual Bandera 100k Ultra-Marathon held at Hill Country State Natural Area in Bandera County.

Tejas Trails Communication Group – Sponsored by Hill Country REACT has been the lead team for communications for this event the past 6 years with the assistance of many hams from the San Antonio, Austin and other areas around the state..

This event typically requires 15 – 16 Amateur Radio Operators in a situation that is similar to what an Emergency Communications Operator would experience in a disaster zone. UHF, VHF and Packet communications are involved in this event.

This is a fun event with challenges.  The participants of this event, are of a type you will not encounter at most other events we deal with throughout the year.  Over the years, we have made some lasting friendships!

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Nov 13

Title: 13th Annual Skywarn Recognition Day
Location: Austin/San Antonio National Weather Service Office – New Braunfels Airport
Description: The Austin/San Antonio National Weather Service Office will be participating in the 2011 Skywarn Recognition Day, which will occur from 1800hrs 2 December 2011 to 1800hrs 3 December 2011.

Our station will again be operating for the entire 24 hours time period, utilizing 2m, 440, multiple HF bands, as well as Echolink and IRLP contacts.

This is the 13th year for the program, and I believe will be the 9th year this station has participated. Each year, our station, thanks to the dedication and perseverance of many dedicated hams from throughout the South Central Texas area, has improved on its contact status, and rating in the Skywarn Recognition Day program.

All Licensed Amateur Radio Operators are invited to participate in this fun event.  Yes, Technician class licensees are encouraged to participate, as we do utilize 2m, 440 and the digital modes!

We schedule operators in 2 hours blocks of time, with a maximum of 3 operators per block! Of course, if you choose to, you may request scheduling for multiple blocks, either consecutive or broken. Such as one evening shift and one early morning shift.

Due to limited security, space, and the fact the NWS staff is still operating, we can only have 3 operators, and try to keep the noise level to a minimum. Although, many members of the staff enjoy hearing the goings on, when things are not busy on their end. We have had severe weather events occur, during the SRD.

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May 17

Once again, the regional American Diabetes Association’s Tour de Cure event is upon us!  May 22-23rd are the Dates.  This is a 2-day event starting at the Retama Park in Selma (Just north of San Antonio, Off IH-35 & 1604).    Day 1 ends in San Marcos at the Texas State University, Butler Dorm.   Day 2 starts at the same place as Day 1 Finish, and ends at Akins High School in south Austin.

HELP IS STILL NEEDED!  

SAG DRIVERS & REST STOP HAMS (Day 1 only)

We’ve got a few vacancies left for driving either a Toyota Truck (from Austin Champion Toyota) or a 15 Passenger Van (from Enterprise in San Antonio near the airport).   Call Lee at 210-771-7075 ASAP If you want to volunteer cause time is running out.  1 Toyota Truck is available as of Sunday  night, and 2 of the 15 Passenger Vans are available as of Sunday night.   We could also put a few more folks into Documation SCION sag cars, but that is being controlled by another person and the # of vacancies is unknown as of Sunday night.

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Dec 19

Every year, the Hill Country REACT Team has been helping out the with the Christmas Parade in Sattler, Texas, just east of Canyon Lake. We organize and run the two parade staging areas, mix the two together before they hit the parade route, and ensure that the announcer knows about any changes before they reach his or her location. We get the help of a couple neighboring ham clubs from as far away as 50-70 miles (GVARC, HC Hams).

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Dec 16

We received an advance copy of the news release from the Canyon Lake Christmas Parade Committee about last weekend’s Christmas parade in Sattler (December 12th), written by Valerie Schroller of the Parade Committee.  She was the gal zipping around in that red golf cart taking care of everything and everybody who might have had their political toes stepped on for some reason during the parade. 

I got this from Valerie Schroller.  It went out to the Canyon Lake Views, the Hill Top Reporter, and the Herald-Zeitung.   She said I could forward it to anyone I choose, so I thought you might want to post something using it.  It says “unnamed volunteers”….here is the article and the rest of names of those “unnamed volunteers”.

– Wade Bolling W5ERX, President, Hill Country REACT Team.

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Nov 24

100_2935On the morning of Saturday, November 21st, Gary K5GST and Lee N5NTG took a field trip up to New Braunfels, having breakfast with members of the Guadalupe Valley Amateur Radio Club at their favorite restaurant, Los Gallos on Loop 337 near Commons Street.    

After stuffing ourselves on some very excellent Mexican breakfast food, we poured ourselves into Gary’s truck and headed further north on IH-35, looking for the San Marcos Public Library on East Hopkins Street.  This was the location of a meeting for the Hayes Caldwell Hams, a group of hams who has been very active in our recent Hurricane Evacuation Drills.      They were showing a movie from CQ Magazine about Ham Radio, produced in 1994, before the spread of the Internet and Email addresses.

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