Aug 12

The Chapparal Amateur Radio Club, CARC-ARES, in Seguin will be changing its weekly net effective Tuesday, August 17 from its current time of 2000 hrs on Thursday to 1900 hrs on Tuesday except for the second Tuesday of each month which is the clubs regular meeting night. 

The purpose of the net is to promote the interests and activities of CARC and Guadalupe County ARES.  It, however is not an ARES net and announcements of events of interest to hams in the surrounding areas are welcome. 

The net convenes on the club repeater which operates of a frequency of 146.76 MHz with a negative offset and a PL tone of 141.3 in Seguin / Guadalupe County.

de Joe W4CTH

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Aug 7
 
Be a part of this first of it’s kind competition!  Rick Palm of the ARRL ARES E-Letter says of this event: “this is a cool idea!” and is including info about it in the August ARES E-Letter. He will be sent the results for possible ARRL publication. Your last chance to sign up. Get a team together.
 
When: September 5, 2010
  
Where: South Texas park. Park location to be announced before the competition to pre-registered teams.  This is not a spectator sport event.
 
Teams: Teams, made up of 4 people each, will compete to see which team can set up an operational communications (Jump Team) site and make 5 HF contacts in the least amount of time and in the proper manner.
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Jul 13

http://www.google.com/mapdata?CxXkg8MBHXMnH_ogDwxAjgJIuQFSAlVTkAECygECZW4TALK-NET  PICNIC
DATE:  JULY 17, 2010
TIME:  10:30 AM  TO 2:30 PM
PLACE: Elks Club 15650 MARKET HILL
SAN ANTONIO, TX 78256
(Outside Loop 1604, near La Cantera Parkway)
 

  • Free Hotdogs and Drinks
  • VE testing Get you Tech or Upgrade Starts 11:00 a.m.
  • Tail gate swap meet starts at 10:30 am in the parking lot.
  • Ham Continuing Education class SWR, VHF,UHF, HF ANTENNAS.
  • How to make a better station  start at 12:00 noon inside the Club
  • Radio Testing with a IFR Communication Service Monitor and verify your radio’s operation.   A stable Signal generator to check the receiver.  Make sure you have a clean transmitter and verify your frequency, audio deviation, power out and spectrum.  

Please R.S.V.P.   210-422-5304 Andrew KD5NNN

VE Test Info For JULY 17th Picnic

We look forward to seeing you at the VE session for the Talk-Net Annual Picnic.  Below I’ve listed information about our upcoming test session and what to bring.

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Jul 13

Sorry for the delays, folks.  Been a busy little bee lately and haven’t had time to post any stories or photos from last month’s Field Day events around the area…   I’ve gotten photos sent to me from the AARO FD event from at least 2 hams, and have access to photos from KARS, GVARC and possibly one or two others.    I keep extending invitations to folks to register and post their own stories / photos direct on this blog, but so far only a handful have accepted that offer.  I can only spend a finite amount of my time collecting and posting, in between family duties and earning a living.

I’ll try to get these up later this week.

73 de Lee N5NTG

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Jun 5
UPDATE : The Bexar Operators Group (W5BOG) has decided to operate from two locations during this event rather than be a rover station. On Saturday, we will be operating from the rest area on RT 37, in the southbound area, about 15 miles north of the town of Three Rivers. Anyone is welcome to join us. Look for the antennas. We will be operating on 6 meters, 2 meters and maybe 70CM all on SSB. Our grid square will be: EL08VP – ALSO: On Sunday we will operate from the very rare grid square: DL 99XF.
 
The ARRL June VHF QSO Party Rules

1.Object: To work as many amateur stations in as many different 2 degrees by 1 degree grid squares as possible using authorized frequencies above 50 MHz. Foreign stations work W/VE amateurs only.  

2. Date and Contest Period: The second full weekend in June. Begins 1800 UTC Saturday, ends 0300 UTC Monday (June 12-14, 2010).

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May 31

It’s almost that time of year again, the annual trek north up IH-35 to Plano, to attend the largest Hamfest in Texas.  

HamCom 2010 will be Friday, June 11th and Saturday, June 12th.  But if you want the best deals from the flea market areas, you best be there on Friday morning when they open.   The event is more crowded on Saturday, for obvious reasons, but most of the vendors arrive on Thursday  night, or Friday morning, ready to wheel and deal. 

Parking is free, admission is $10 at the door.    Hotel room info is available from the event website, www.hamcom.org by clicking on the Hotels link.

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May 27

2010 Tour de Cure Ride May 22nd – 23rd

ANOTHER SUCCESS !

This year’s event started at the Retama Park, in Selma, Texas, just north of Loop 1604.

Although we really had to twist a few arms, and shake the bushes a lot to fill all of the postions, due to some last minute changes,  the ham community came through for us once more!   It was reported that we had about 1,500 riders show up for the event, a slight increase over last year’s event.

We used the 147.000 repeater (GVARC) on Day 1, and the 147.100 San Marcos repeater plus the Austin 146.94 repeater on Day 2. Net Control on Day 1 was started by Dave W5QS at the Start Line due to delays in getting the San Marcos Finish Line up on the air in time. Thanks Dave! Net Control on Day 2 was started by Jake K5GWC from Rest Stop 4, until Austin’s Finish Line Net Control was ready to assume that duty. Thanks Jake!

2010 Tour de Cure at San Marcos River Pub & Grill

We provided hams to staff 7 rest stops on day 1, 8 on day 2, plus Start/Finish each day, 4 SAG’s each day, and 4 Toyota Trucks (used as Turtles) each day. The Toyota Trucks were also used to sweep the course looking for “lost sheep”, and to pick up the signs on each route as they swept the course.

Saturday night, after we shut down operations around 5pm for the day, about 15 of the Hams went to the San Marcos River Pub & Grill for a well deserved dinner and fellowship.

(Photo – Hams from the Tour de Cure enjoy a fine meal and fellowship at the San Marcos River Pub & Grill.)

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May 22
Emergency Communications Team Competition 
No, not a tug of war!
 
When: September 5, 2010
  
Where: South Texas park. Park to be announced before the competition to pre-registered teams.
 
Teams: Teams, made up of 4 people each, will compete to see which team can set up an operational communications (Jump Team) site and make 5 HF contacts in the least amount of time and in the proper manner.
 
Competition: Teams would be required to properly:

Erect a 6 man sleeping tent and a “toilet tent” (this includes ground tarp and rain tarp.)

Erect an operations area (canopy) with chairs and tables and radio gear.
 
Erect a food prep canopy with tables, chairs, stove, cooking supplies.
 
Erect one 40 meter “Inverted V” antenna with coax back to the operations area with proper hazard flagging.
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May 20

May 20, 2010 11:31:48 AM,
FCC-ConsumerNews@fcc.gov wrote:

Under a new FCC rule, anyone who uses a wireless microphone. or similar device, that operates in the 700 MHz Band will have to stop operating their wireless microphone, or similar device, no later than June 12, 2010.

To see if this law affects your wireless microphone, check our Manufacturers Equipment list at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/wirelessmicrophones/manufacturers.html.

 All users of 700 MHz Band wireless microphones and similar devices – including theaters, churches, schools, conference centers, theme parks, sports leagues, and musicians – will need to retune or replace, if necessary, their equipment no later than June 12, 2010. Wireless microphones that operate outside of the 700 MHz Band are not affected.

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May 14

Per the ARRL Website – posted 05/08/2010…

Acting on a 2006 Petition for Rulemaking filed by the ARRL, the FCC has issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM), ET Docket No 10-98 to modify the rules that govern amateurs’ secondary use of five channels in the 5 MHz frequency range known as 60 meters. The proposed changes would substitute a new channel for one that is seldom available because of occupancy by the fixed service, which is primary in this range. Also proposed is an increase in power from 50 to 100 W effective radiated…

Acting on a 2006 Petition for Rulemaking filed by the ARRL, the FCC has issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM), ET Docket No 10-98 to modify the rules that govern amateurs’ secondary use of five channels in the 5 MHz frequency range known as 60 meters. The proposed changes would substitute a new channel for one that is seldom available because of occupancy by the fixed service, which is primary in this range. Also proposed is an increase in power from 50 to 100 W effective radiated power (ERP) and the addition of CW, PSK31 and PACTOR-III modes with provisions to ensure that such operations would be compatible with the primary service. The proposed changes can be found beginning on page 8 of the NPRM.

“The ARRL is pleased that the Commission has opened this proceeding to increase the usefulness of the limited 5 MHz Amateur Service allocation,” said ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ. “We are gratified that the Commission and the NTIA agree that the responsible manner in which amateurs have been using the five USB channels warrants some expansion of privileges so that the Amateur Service can be even better prepared for service to the public.”

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