San Antonio Hams

I’ve  installed a new Classified Ads module for this Blog, where visitors to the site can post free classified ads, for sale, for trade, wanted, etc. I’ve already created a few common categories and sub categories for most ham related stuff, but if you find that we need to add another category, please contact me via email to suggest a category. 

You can access the Classified Ads direct from the top menu bar, where it says “Home” “About” and “Classified Ads”.  I suspect you can figure out which one to click on, without too much more thought.

One person’s junk, is another person’s treasure, thus the reason we have Ham Radio Swapfests year around. But what happens between those events? Got some extra / unused Ham Radio gear you want to sell or trade? Looking to buy some used gear? Post a new Classified, or Browse our Classifieds posted by other hams.

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See you in Belton for the “Friendliest Ham Swapfest in the World”

– HamEXPO — Bell County Expo Center in Belton, Texas
– From I-35 take Exit 292 to the Dome
– Friday setup for vendors & pre-registered non-commercial sellers
– Doors open at *7:00 a.m.* on Saturday* *
– Admission: *$3.00
– *VE Testing at 11:00 a.m. *
– *Parking lot Tailgaters will pay $5.00 per occupied parking space*
– *Talk-in Freqs: 146.82- (PL 123.0)*

I emailed out the very first electronic newsletter for San Antonio Hams website, to a list of about 250 hams in the San Antonio Area, plus a few from the IH-35 Corridor up towards Austin, and a few of our ham friends from the Houston area.

14 hours later, only 1 ham asked to be unsubscribed and that was taken care of automatically by the email campaign software I was using.   I had several responses thanking me for the information, especially the news about AA5XH’s passing (3/24/2009) and visitation service happening on Monday (03/30/2009).  Had one ham’s name crossed posted wrong with another ham, but he contacted me to get it corrected.  (Sorry about that, Harvey!)

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Attention all prospective & committed Tour de Cure Volunteers

Here is an update for the 2009 Tour de Cure. It’s time to begin making duty assignments for all ham volunteers, but there have been some major changes regarding SAG Van duty. Most of the SAG Vans will NOT be driven by Ham Radio Operators, due to a donation of services by a local San Antonio company who is providing both the vehicles, the drivers and paying for the fuel.
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W2IK of San Antonio successfully scored as the top non-New Mexico station during the New Mexico QSO Party held this past February, thereby winning a plaque for his efforts. Using experience and knowledge in propagation aspects vs frequency and distance, he outscored by over 20% his closest rival, a ham contester in California.

Operating low power (100 watts), he also beat out all of the high power and mult-op stations from outside of New Mexico.

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It is with great sadness that I report that Gil Mathis AA5XH passed away this morning around 2am (03/25/2009) at a local hospital.  Gil was 76, having been born on December 25, 1932.  He had been admitted to the hospital on February 16th after showing signs of a stroke.  He was transferred to rehab, where he suffered another stroke and was diagnosed with Stage 4 Cancer. Cancer was found in his left lung and had spread to other parts of his body.

Gil was retired from the U. S. Army and later from a career at Industrial Communications as a service technician. He was a longtime member of the San Antonio Repeater Organization, where he was loved by all. He was a currently serving Director for the San Antonio Radio Club as well. Gil was very active in public service events such as the (formerly called) BikeMS Bike to the Beach and Tour de Cure.   Gil earned his Extra Class ham license in February 1992 and his prior call was KI5MO.

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An Update on the New Course
By Milton Johnson, N5HMJ

This is just a short communication to let you know what has been happening over the last month with the 2009 BikeMS: Valero Alamo Ride to the River!

RIDE TO THE RIVER HAMS WEB SITE

First I have created a new web site for the Amateur Radio community supporting the Ride to the River. It is called “2009 BikeMS: Valero Alamo Ride to the River HAMS” and is located at “www.n5hmj.com/BikeMS”. Why a new site? What happens with the YAHOO group? Well with the change in the ride’s name and course change, a group called “Bike to the Beach HAMS” was no longer appropriate. The second reason was that I could not succeed in getting even 50% of the Amateur Radio operator volunteers to join the group, so I decided not to fight it and created the new site. I will eventually disband the YAHOO group.

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    Bob Hejl – W2IK   World Trade Center Disaster First Responder

PTSD can happen at any time after an event. As in my case, even years after. There is usually a “trigger” (a word, smell, image, another experience, etc) which can set it off, and in my case it was just a thought that popped into my head. 

Allow me to explain.

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Ham Radio Class Number 8! 

We’re proud to say that seems to be the consensus of our eighth Technician and first General crash review courses. AARO (Alamo Area Radio Organization) and SWRC ARC (Southwest Research Corporation Amateur Radio Club) again teamed up with Johnny Wallace K5POP for coordinating Tech instructors and being the liaison with the South Texas Regional Advisory Council for Trauma (STRAC).   And a new “Thanks Again!” to Bob Rodriguez K5AUW for coming up with plans for our first General Crash Review course and following it through.

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PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Action:

Once again a bill is being introduced into the Texas Legislature to ban the use of cell phones while driving unless the call is being made using hands free operation. Senate bill (SB582) is being sponsored by State Senator Jeff Wentworth of San Antonio includes language to the effect of exempting Amateur Radio.

However, a bill being introduced by State Representative Jose Menendez from Bexar County does not include such language, Otherwise the bills are almost exactly alike.

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