San Antonio Hams

Hi Ya’ll

The next regularly scheduled GVARC sponsored test session will be held on 22 Nov 2014 at the New Braunfels Fire Dept Training facility at 1311 Industrial Blvd, Suite A, New Braunfels, TX 78130 at 1000.

Come one, Come all! You don’t need an appointment. Walk Ins are allowed. Bring your original license with you if you have one and preferably two copies, however, we can usually make copies on site if we need to. Last time in Sept there was a problem and since I leave the copy tasks up to Darren/WD5GQT I will have to check with him to see if the problem has been fixed or is fixable before the 22nd.

Also bring two forms of ID, here we usually get your drivers license and in the Texas of Today your CHL is usually the number two choice. If you are not licensed to carry I can accept many different forms of identification as a second ID. I have had to resort to using a birth certificate as the only means of ID before so if there is a question in this area please contact me. I can afford to be somewhat liberal in this area.

If you are a first timer testing for a new license, bring your ID and we will take care of the rest. As always one test will costs you $15 and if you pass that one you can take the next test in the sequence without paying a second time. If however you fail an element and wish to take it over using another version of the test we have on file you would need to pay another $15. Usually that isn’t a problem.

This is also a call for certified ARRL VEs who can help out. Please drop me an email if you can help so I can plan accordingly.

—
Gary S. Tangrady
USAF Retired
k5gst01@gmail.com

Local Time: 1800 hrs Friday December 5th to 1800 hrs Saturday December 6th, 2014

This annual event is always the first Friday / Saturday of December each year.  Ham Operators, operating from their local National Weather Service Offices around the country, are trying to contact as many other NWS offices as possible during a 24 hour period that runs from 6pm CDT Friday until 6pm CDT Saturday.  Modes used include VHF/UHF,HF, Internet Enhanced (EchoLink, and IRLP) and various digital modes..

Access is limited at the local NWS office due to space constraints and the fact that the meteorologists are actively working in the same room, so the noise level and disruption factor is a concern.

Operators are scheduled to work in groups of no more than 3 in multiples of 2 hour shifts!

All classes of licensed Amateur Radio Operators are encouraged to participate.  This is a great opportunity for Technician class operators to get some HF time in the early morning shifts with a General or Extra class on the roster!

Visitors are limited to those who RSVP before the event! No drop in visitors!  Please, if you would like to come by just to visit, you MUST be on the roster!

To volunteer for a 2 hour shift or more, Contact event coordinator Louis – K5STX at k5stx@k5stx.net or k5stx@hillcountryreact.org!  Sign up early, the based slots go fast!

Title: Tejas Trails – Cactus Rose 100/50 Ultra-Marathon
Location: Hill Country State Natural Area – Bandera County, TX
Link out: Click here

Description:  Public Service Event coordinated Hill Country REACT and supported by  Highland Lakes Amateur Radio Club and other Amateur Radio Operators from around the state.
Amateur Radio Operators provide voice and data communications between Race Central and 2 remote check points along the course.  As this event has grown substantially since it’s inception, reliable communications for Safety and Logistics has grown in importance.  Amateur Radio Operators are challenged during this 36 hour long event, having to provide everything to keep their stations up and running, with no permanent infrastructure to support communications.

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UC Parade

Date: 01 November 2014 – Important, they moved the parade up one week this year due to multiple large events around the area on the following weekend.

Title: Universal City Veterans Day Parade

Location: Univeral City, Texas
Description: For more years than we can count, HIll Country REACT and radio operators around the region have provided support for this Patriotic Event.

Ham Radio Operators provide a valuable service during this event by assisting the Universal City Police Department in shutting down the parade route (Pat Booker Rd.) in preparation of the parade.

We meet at the U.C.P.D. in the morning for a briefing and assignments (City Hall is located on Universal City Blvd). After that we proceed to our assigned stations and await the call to setup our barricades.

FREE DONUTS, COFFEE, ORANGE JUICE, and maybe even some milk, courtesy of UCPD.

During the parade, we try to make sure no vehicles enter the route that could disrupt the parade. Afterwards, we meet for  lunch at a nearby Mexican Restaurant on Pat Booker Road and visit for a bit.

All licensed radio operators are invited to participate.
For more information of to be added to the roster of volunteers for this event, contact Lee Besing – N5NTG – Event IC
Start Time: 08:30
Date: 2014-11-01
End Time: 12:00

Hi all. It is with a heavy heart that I make this post.

David Floyd, WD5IEH, passed last night. His obituary link can be found here…

www.meaningfulfunerals.net/home/index.cfm?action=public:obituaries.view&o_id=2666866&fh_id=13043

He was a big part of the Lonestar Link system that used to be called the WD5IEH link system that linked repeaters in a large area in south Texas. He was also an honorary member of the Coleto Creek Amateur Radio Club (CCARC) because of his generous donations and help when we sat up our Yorktown repeater. He has done a lot for the hams in this area and will be missed. He was also a big part of keeping communications going for the Texas Water Safari. It was the Lonestar Link system that made voice communications possible from the start to the end of the race.

I will post more info here when it is available. Please Keep David’s family in your thoughts and prayers.

73 WD5IEH, from W5DWT

Jimmy Podsim, W5DWT
(announcement via Facebook)

16th Annual South Texas Hamfest 2014

November 7 – 8, Aransas Pass, Texas

Hello Friends and Crew!!

The Hamfest normally being held in Corpus Christi, hosted by the South Texas Amateur Radio Club has stepped it up quite a few very large notches!  It is well beyond our normal, “club event – Hamfest”, and is now a much larger entity !!

This year, we are in a new facility just north of Corpus Christ in Aransas Pass, Texas.

Aransas Pass Civic Center 

700 West Wheeler Avenue

Aransas Pass, Texas 78335

Our new location offers us over 8,000 square feet, over 100+ tables, a conference room and room to grow should we suddenly require it.

Along with the usual hosting of new vendors, flea market, tailgating, VE test session and forums, we are offering a Friday Night Antenna Build, an extensive offering of door prizes, a Silent Auction with consignments accepted, (maybe a Saturday Night gathering event somewhere) and a Sunday Tour of the USS Lexington !!

And for the hams with Young Ladies by their side, we will also have some offerings, along with all the activities along the South Texas Coast, YOUR VACATION DESTINATION !!

Visit the http://southtexashamfest.org details and schedules.

Check back often as we are working quickly to get everything listed on the site, as there is more to this event than meets the eye.

We are in a much, much larger location this year!!!

This Hamfest will be the biggest yet in South Texas. We have over 8000 square feet of Exhibit Space and over 100+ tables available !!

Admission: Advance Registration $ 8 includes 2 door prize tickets

– Closes October 26th – Don’t miss out!!

• Entry Tickets available at Door $10 includes 1 Door Prize Ticket
• Kids 17 and under Free (no door prize ticket)
• Antenna Build $ 5 Entry
• Tables (8ft) $ 10 each (does not include entry)
• Commercial Spaces $10 each -1 table included
• Tailgating $ 5 per space (Truck with Trailer is two spaces)
• Raffle Tickets for Grand Prizes $ 1.00 each
• NEW FOR THIS YEAR : SILENT AUCTION !!

Talk-In: 146.820 -107.2

Fellow hams:

My name is John Ralston, K0RVB, Net manager for the San Antonio Area Rainfall Net. At the risk of sounding dramatic, I send you the following official communication.

It is with a heavy heart that I inform you that Sunday, July 13^th, 2014, will be the last day for the rainfall net.  This decision did not come easily, was not made quickly and involved a great deal of communication with the National Weather Service and board members of the net’s sponsor, the San Antonio Radio Club.

The decision to end the net was based solely on our data presentation to the NWS and how they receive their main data stream for daily rainfall amounts. Their main source of receiving daily, timely rainfall data is from CoCoRaHs, a web based reporting model, giving the NWS real time data on a 24 hr model from 8a to 8a.

I encourage each of you to sign up with CoCoRaHs, at http://www.cocorahs.org/ if you have not already done so. Our rainfall reports can still be utilized by the NWS by reporting through the website.

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The FCC is requesting to raise the Amateur Service vanity call sign regulatory fee from its current $16.10 to $21.60 for the 10-year license term. The $5.50 increase would be the largest vanity fee hike in many years. The proposal is contained in a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM), “Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2014; Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2013; and Procedures for Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees,” which appeared in The Federal Register on July 3.

The FCC reported there were 11,500 “payment units” in FY 2014. The Commission said the vanity program generated $230,000 in FY 2013 revenue, and it estimated that it would collect nearly $248,000 in FY 2014.

Interested parties have 30 days to comment on the NPRM. Changes in the vanity call sign fee typically take effect in late August or early September

Howdy!

I’d like to personally invite you to attend the 48th Annual Central States VHF Conference.

If you’ve ever wondered about what it takes to get on the VHF/UHF and Microwave bands, this is an excellent conference to attend. You’ll want to attend our VHF-101 introductory class. This year’s conference theme is QRO, or making high power on the VHF and up bands. We have an impressive list of speakers supporting this topic and many other topics including oscillator design, antenna construction, station design and construction.

We’ve poked, prodded and twisted arms to get THREE unique speakers this year:

•  – Gerald Youngblood, K5SDR, from FlexRadio Systems presents an analysis of system noise and its effect on station performance at the Friday luncheon
• – Jim Klitzing, W6PQL, from Klitzing Electronics will discuss component selection for projects at the Saturday luncheon
• – Our banquet speaker is Jimmy Treybig, W6JKV. Jimmy has done over SEVENTY six and two-meter DXpeditions to over 50 countries. He’ll be sharing his perspectives on family and DXpeditions.

The conference will feature noise figure and gain measurement, sun noise measurement, prizes, a rover-row and dish-bowl, a swap fest and an excellent lineup of vendors.

The family program starts off on Thursday evening with a chartered boat tour including a meet-and-greet with a catered BBQ dinner and an opportunity to watch one of the largest colonies of Mexican Free-Tailed bats emerge for their evening dinner run. Even though you live here in Austin, you may not have had an opportunity to take one of these boat trips and having done one last year, I must say they are a lot of fun and not to be missed! Please note: the boat trip is filling up fast so if you are interested in this trip, register ASAP!

On Friday, the ladies program ventures out to Fredericksburg for shopping, wine tasting and to soak up the culture and then on Saturday on to the Natural Bridge Caverns for a tour of the underground caves and on to the San Marcos Premium Outlets for more shopping.

The RMG team has worked hard to make sure you and your family will have a blast at the conference. But we know that even with all the fun and education we’ve lined up, the big draw is you: other hams from in and out of the area travel to this conference to meet up with others that are doing unique things in the VHF world and they want to get an opportunity to talk with you about your exciting projects and plans. Please join us for the fun! To find out all the details on everything I’ve mentioned, visit the link below:

http://www.csvhfs.org/2014conference

Then, register today for the conference:
http://www.csvhfs.org/2014conference/2014Registration.html

It’s important to register early so we can have adequate transportation for the family events.

JULY 2nd is the deadline to get conference discounted hotel rooms.
http://www.csvhfs.org/2014conference/lodging.html

If you have any questions, please feel free to drop us an email and we’ll get right back to you (austin2014@n5ac.com).

73’s and see you in Austin!
Steve Hicks, N5AC
2014 CSVHFS President

Be sure to join us at the 48th Annual CSVHF Conference on July 24-27 in Austin, TX. Visit www.csvhfs.org for more information.

Field Day is coming up soon, on June 28-29th, so here are a few thoughts (and facts) as you plan your group’s operation.

A FEW TIPS FOR ANY FIELD DAY OPERATION – I’ve posted some of this before but I think they should be repeated. (I’ve updated them a bit for 2014) 1. When setting up antennas within close proximity: If you are using wire antennas such as dipoles, and they run parallel to each other there will be interference on your HF operating bands in the form of hash so arrange them at right angles to each other and at slightly different heights.

If you use wire antennas such as dipoles, try to stay away from trap dipoles and use full length antennas instead. You may also wish to run your dipoles in different configurations such as have one as an “inverted V” and another as a sloper, etc. An antenna cut to the exact band you are using will decrease interference to and from other bands.

Do not compromise by using trap or “all band” antennas. (The only efficient “all band antennas” are a log periodic and a “fan dipole” NOT a “folded dipole” or others that claim they use “balancing resistors” as this only wastes RF energy in the form of heat.) With others you may make a few contacts, but they are junk and will cause harmonic radiation. Do not fall for any ads claiming “miracle antennas”.

Don’t waste your watts! Dedicated operating needs the right antenna. Wasted energy on trap antennas (some of your RF energy is used up in the form of heat) and that equals an inefficient radiator, especially as you go lower in frequency. On HF, try not to use vertical antennas as they receive too much man-made noise from sources such as generators, street lamps, etc.

Using a Yagi style antenna for Field Day may look impressive, but be careful that the “focused energy” doesn’t interfere with other operations. Know as well, that transmitting focused energy may be all well and good, but it, in receiving signals it can also make your station “deaf” from directions so you may have to waste time turning the beam…. is it worth it? —–  READ ON, THERE’S LOTS MORE INFO! —-

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