San Antonio Hams

The Unusual Suspects UNCLUB group came together in 2006, during that time I think we as a GROUP have done an amazing job of promoting Amateur Radio. I thought I would share some of our events and Activities. It is  these projects and the friendships of an incredible group of people that make me proud to be part of this fine group.   - Greg N5XO

Website: We built a new website, http://www.wx5us.us/, where we featured photos and news from various ham radio events that our members participated in, plus a list of our proud members.

Tower Raising:  I think we have had more tower raising projects than about any group around. Since every thing we do is about Taco’s… it would explain why as a group we seem to be getting fatter {grin}. We have helped  each other raise towers, design systems and improve our stations. I am impressed with our accomplishments. When we first started operating simplex like many ham’s and clubs we relied on repeaters and  our stations showed it … now we have stations that anyone can be proud of … and have outstanding simplex coverage.

In fact within the members of our group…

• we have 3 more tower projects coming along in the next month to month in a half…
• 2 of them 72ft towers with large antenna arrays….

PROMOTING SIMPLEX AND WEAK SIGNAL  is our thing {grin}

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On Sunday morning, June 2nd, after the rain had passed thru the area, some area ham radio operators showed up at Grumpy’s Shop (ham radio store) to install new antennas and tower, so that hams could use the station inside when the store was open. For many years, the San Antonio Radio Club (SARC – W5SC) had an operating station inside the Kcomm Ham Radio Store on Gulfdale Rd (west side of the airport), but when that store closed a year ago, the club lost their club station.

Grumpy’s Shop is located at 2002 CeeGee Lane, San Antonio, TX 78217.  That’s 2 traffic lights outside (north) of Loop 410, off Broadway, between Broadway and the airport, on the corner of CeeGee Lane and Aero Street.  (Google map link here http://goo.gl/maps/7DX3f )

Our thanks to William DW9HGF/W5 for providing the following photos taken during this operation.  Notice the airplanes taking off in the background?

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Guadalupe Valley Amateur Radio Club (GVARC) is now offering the opportunity to test for your FCC Amateur Radio License through the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Volunteer Examiner (VE) program.

When: April 6, 2013, Testing starts at 10:00 am.

Location: New Braunfels Fire Department Training Center Emergency Operations Center (1311 Industrial Dr. Suite A New Braunfels, TX 78130)

Exam Fee: $15.00 – Payable by cash or personal check

Requirements: Photo ID or 2 alternate forms of identification, plus your Social Security Number (SSN) or Federal Registration Number (FRN – Free registration on FCC.GOV website).   Note: Testing for License class upgrade also requires applicant’s ORIGINAL License or Certificate of Successful Completion and an additional photocopy of such documentation.

Morse code is not required for any Amateur Radio License

Contact: Gary S. Tangrady K5GST – Volunteer Examiner (VE) via email – K5GST01@gmail.com
or call one of the VE’s at phone – (210) 619-6217

GVARC is now sponsoring an ARRL affiliated VE Team and will conduct test sessions on a quarterly or more frequent basis as the demand for such requires.

The San Antonio Repeater Organization has unveiled a brand new website design, same address, with lots of new features for sharing information about the club to both the public and to its members.

Please check the new website out at Sarepeater.net when you have a moment.  Website design and hosting for the club has been provided by Lee N5NTG, as usual.  Additional work is on-going, therefore you will see some changes to the layout or design from time to time.

All SARO members are encouraged to register on the website for access to the member only area, using their Amateur Radio Call Sign as their userID. 

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Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls…..

It is that time of month once again, yes the monthly event you have all been waiting for……..This Saturday (Feb 2nd) at 9:am at the Astro Bowling Alley Conference room is our 1st Saturday of the month MEET & GREET session.

SWAP MEET, TECHNICAL TRAINING, GOOD FOOD AND GREAT FOLKS TO MEET.

Agenda       

• 9am to 9:45am - Meet & Greet Casual Breakfast (on your own expense)
• 9:45 to 10am  - Quick intro-planning information for up coming Unusual Suspect Remote Field Day.
• 10am to 10:30am   - Guest Speaker Bob Rodriguez will be giving this month’s training class.
• 10:30am -  Monthly Swap Meet. Bring your stuff to sell, your money to buy….. LOT’S OF GOODIES

Normal turn out for our monthly Meet & Greet’s is in the 20 to 30 range. GREAT chance to meet that voice on the other end of the microphone……

COME JOIN US
When: 9 AM Saturday, February 2, 2013
Where: Astro Bowling Alley, 3203 Harry Wurzbach {by Austin Hwy},
Conference room. Just to right of main desk.
Who: Anybody interested in Amateur Radio Service

Title: 2013 AERC Heart of the Hills Endurance Event
Location: Hill Country State Natural Area – Bandera, Texas
Link out: Click here
Description: The AERC Heart of the HIlls is a 25 and 50 mile equestrian endurance event that test the horse and rider.
Hill Country REACT as well as members of other organizations have provided Amateur Radio Communications, Safety and Tracking for the last 3 years. Amateur Radio has become and important part of this event due to the remoteness and terrain, and our familiarity of the facility. In being able to consistently and accurately track the competitors at various checkpoints, we have become more than just a safety net!

Any licensed Amateur Radio Operator with interest in Public Service and Emergency Communications are invited to assist with this event. Events like this are the best way to test equipment and hone skills that would be useful during a disaster deployment.

This years event will be two days, with the major emphasis and need on Saturday March 2nd, as the largest group of competitors will be on this day. Sunday March 3rd will be the same course for the most part, but the expected group is smaller.

Communications for this event is typically VHF simplex voice and the utilization of a event specific packet spreadsheet utilized for tracking.

We need 8 – 12 operators for Saturday March 2nd and 5 – 8 on Sunday!

For more information or to sign up, contact Louis – K5STX at k5stx@arrl.net

Thank You!
Start Date: 2013-03-02
Start Time: 06:00
End Date: 2013-03-03
End Time: 15:00

The January 23rd Hill Country REACT meeting has been cancelled.
Our next meeting will be on the 27th of February 2013

Thank You,

Louis Upton – K5STX
Hill Country REACT President

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…

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Okay, it’s time to unveil the full length, 140 minutes, runners video that we took at Mile Marker #4 on Camden Street.   It has minimal editing, mostly to add titles at the front / back, and a running date / location stamp during the video.  All sound is original once the video portion begins.  (The video file itself was more than 2gb in size, and it was only 640×480 screen size.)

I’ll be posting more info about the race itself, who the volunteers were from AARO and other ham volunteers, etc., in another post.

This post is just for the runners.    This is the view from Mile Marker #4 on November 11, 2012, starting around 7:45am, after all the bicycle riders are gone.  You can see the approaching lead vehicles, watch the guy and my son, David KD5MTJ, relocate the mile marker and clock closer to the curb, and hear all the spectator comments (uncensored) in the background.  The video with the bicycle riders is found here http://sanantoniohams.org/blog/?p=6394

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The following video was shot at Mile Marker #4 along the route of the 2012 San Antonio Rock and Roll Marathon, and is for the Bike Tour part of the event only, no runners in this clip.   The Bike Tour, with about 1,000 riders, started at 6:45am, before the 7:30am main start for the Marathon.

Ham Radio Operators from the Alamo Area Radio Organization (AARO) and other volunteers, staffed every mile marker along the routes to ensure the timing clocks were started accurately at 7:30am when the net control (Dave W5QS) gave the count down over the radio.  This year’s event started without a hitch, other than some timing clocks had dead batteries or other malfunctions, but the operational end of from the ham radio operator perspective went fairly smoothly this year.

We’ll be posting more videos and photos later this week, as we find more “free time” to do the editing. This was the short one, so be warned!