May 15

Photo from Radio Fiesta in a prior year

The 2022 Radio Fiesta is happening on June 17th-18th, the weekend before Field Day. Location is unchanged from the normal place, the Schertz Community Center. This event used to be held in January, but with the closure of the big Hamfest up in Plano, the San Antonio Radio Club was successful in taking over those days. Friday and Saturday this year.

There will be both Indoor and outdoor flea market areas on both days, with some big name vendors attending.
Admission is $10 and gets you in for both days. No discount for attending just 1 day, unfortunately. Tickets available online here on Eventbrite. But If you sign up to volunteer for 2 hours in some capacity, you can get free admission for both days.
There are multiple seminars both days and VE test sessions on Saturday only. No event admission needed if you are only doing the testing and not wanting to go inside for everything else.
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Apr 25

Important re FCC FRN! Please do this before your ham exam day.

The FCC requires you to obtain an FRN (FCC Registration Number) from them and use it instead of a Social Security number on your ham exam paperwork. If you have already obtained an FRN from the FCC, be sure to bring it with you and use it on the paperwork for your exam.

You only need one FRN. (Hams and GMRS licensees already have an FRN on their license.) If you do not have an FRN please do this. Go to

https://apps.fcc.gov/cores/userLogin.do

In the middle of the page you should see “Need a Username?” Under that, click Register.

You then will give information to the FCC, will create a password, and will obtain an FRN.

BRING YOUR FRN WITH YOU TO THE HAM EXAM SESSION!

Bring the following items to your exam in addition to that very important FRN number. (Ham licenses have an FRN.)

Ham license (if you are a ham) and any CSCE newer than your ham license. Bring a copy we can send with your paperwork. Please contact me if you need help getting a printed copy of your license.


A government-issued photo ID (preferably drivers license)

Form NCVEC 605 (updated March 2018) filled out and printed on your computer or in black ink, from
https://tinyurl.com/2021NCVEC605

Black pen and a pencil

A simple calculator may be helpful. No phones, no iPads, etc.

Earplugs that only reduce sound (no electronic device) may help you to concentrate if noise bothers you.

$15 session fee — exact change, please

You may have heard about an FCC application fee. It will not be paid on the date of the exam. New licensees will receive an email from the FCC with details about paying the $35 application fee directly to the FCC after you pass your exam. That email will be very important and it will explain that your payment to the FCC is due in a very short time, or you will not receive your license.

Youth without a government-issued photo ID need two documents for identification. Suitable documents include a school report card, birth certificate, and a Social Security card.

Study link

I highly recommend this web site’s flash cards and practice tests.

http://hamstudy.org

Select “Read Questions” and it will focus on just the correct answers. If you tap the top right corner of the card, you will see an explanation of the answer. Many of our test candidates have found that the flash cards there help them to review/study more thoroughly than other practice tests.

73,

Pat Knight AD5BR
210-273-5927 iPhone

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Mar 26

My husband has a ham radio license but is not active due to health issues. He has a lot of QST magazines that I thought maybe a group or newly licensed person might enjoy. I hate to just throw them out. If any interest please let me know.

Sample photo

Deanna Jennings, djennings6146@gmail.com

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Mar 22

We’re in need of another dozen or so ham radio volunteers to help with the L’ETape San Antonio Bicycle Ride being  held on Sunday, April 10th.  This is a competitive ride with 10mile / 25 mile / 60 mile and 100 mile routes.   The Start / Finish line is on the UTSA Campus, east parking lot off Valero Way.  We’ll be using a VHF repeater located out near Pipe Creek

This is a fully supported ride, with the riders having timing chips on their shoes / bikes, that get read by sensor mats about every 20 miles or so. There will be 7 Aid Stations, of which 1 will be staffed by the BikeMS folks.  We’re finalizing the number of SAG vehicles this week, but it looks like we need at least 6 SAGs staffed by ham radio operators.  There will be bicycle repair shops at each of the Aid Stations as usual.

Net control will be at UTSA and will feature the same crew that we used for the National MS BikeMS Ride to the River last October.  Erik and Steve will be net control.  Lee N5NTG will be the turtle on the 100 mile route.   Our friendly Motor-Marshals will be helping out just like the BikeMS Ride to the River event.

Most assignments require the use of a high powered (25-40 watts) mobile radio. In addition, some of the Aid Station locations may require the use of a high gain antenna on a mast in order to reach the repeater.

Here’s a link to the PDF document with all of the routes shown. L’ETape San Antonio Route Map

Here’s the volunteer link to sign up.   Please email me at info@sanantoniohams.org once you’ve signed up so we can discuss assignments.

Thanks for volunteering.  This is a historic ride for San Antonio and we’re looking forward to showing them what the Ham Community can do for them.

Lee N5NTG

 

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Feb 28

Just a quick update to let you know who our new Officers and Board of Directors for 2022-23 are.

President – James Bell KG5USB
Vice-President – Jim Wilken N5VL
Secretary – Robert Orta KI5TND
Treasurer – Sparky Macias N5GPM

Continuing Board Members: – 1 year remaining:
Wayne Bortner K5NCW
Rachel Wilken K5RWW

Reelected or Newly Elected remaining Members – 2 year term:
Joel Dixon K1JTD
Bill Chapman K5GGB
Jon Riely KU5I
David Wendel KJ6DW

Larry Boudreau W5LDB will fill the remaining 1 year term vacated by Sparky. Larry is also the liaison to the USS Lexington

The coming year will be an active one as we come out of Covid. We look forward to any input you may have,
after all, STARC is your club.

73
South Texas Amateur Radio Club
N5CRP / W5LEX

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Dec 24

Ham Radio Christmas Humor…

Twas the night before Christmas,
all through two-meters,
Not a signal was keying up
Any repeaters.

The antennas reached up
From the tower, quite high,
To catch the weak signals
That bounced from the sky.

The children, Tech-Pluses,
Took their HT’s to bed,
And dreamed of the day
They’d be Extras, instead.

Mom put on her headphones,
I plugged in the key,
And we tuned 40 meters
For that rare ZK3.

When the meter was pegged
by a signal with power.
It smoked a small diode,
and, I swear, shook the tower.

Mom yanked off her phones,
And with all she could muster
Logged a spot of the signal
On the DX PacketCluster,

While I ran to the window
And peered up at the sky,
To see what could generate
RF that high.

It was way in the distance,
But the moon made it gleam –
A flying sleigh, with an
Eight element beam,

And a little old driver
who looked slightly mean.
So I thought for a moment,
That it might be Wayne Green.

But no, it was Santa,
The Santa of Hams.
On a mission, this Christmas
To clean up the bands.

He circled the tower,
Then stopped in his track,
And he slid down the coax
Right into the shack.

While Mom and I hid
Behind stacks of CQ,
This Santa of hamming
Knew just what to do.

He cleared off the shack desk
Of paper and parts,
And filled out all my late QSLs
For a start.

He ran copper braid,
Took a steel rod and pounded
It into the earth, till
The station was grounded.

He tightened loose fittings,
Resoldered connections,
Cranked down modulation,
Installed lightning protection.

He neutralized tubes
In my linear amp. (Never worked right before –
Now it works like a champ).

A new, low-pass filter
Cleaned up the TV.
He corrected the settings
In my TNC.

He repaired the computer
That would not compute,
And he backed up the hard drive
And got it to boot.

Then, he reached really deep
In the bag that he brought,
And he pulled out a big box.
‘A new rig?’ I thought!

‘A new Kenwood? An Icom?
A Ten-Tec, for me?!’
(If he thought I’d been bad
it might be QRP!)

Yes! The Ultimate Station!
How could I deserve this?
Could it be all those hours
that I worked Public Service?

He hooked it all up
And in record time, quickly
Worked 100 countries,
All down on 160.

I should have been happy,
It was my call he sent.
But the cards and the postage
Will cost two month’s rent!

He made final adjustments,
And left a card by the key:
‘To Gary, from Santa Claus.
Seventy-Three.’

Then he grabbed his HT,
Looked me straight in the eye,
Punched a code on the pad,
And was gone – no good bye.

I ran back to the station,
And the pile-up was big,
But a card from St. Nick
Would be worth my new rig.

Oh, too late, for his final
came over the air.
It was copied all over.
It was heard everywhere.

The Ham’s Santa exclaimed
What a ham might expect,
‘Merry Christmas to all,
And to all, good DX.’
———————
C 1996 by Gary Pearce KN4AQ
Permission granted for any print or electronic reproduction

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Nov 2

by Stan Waghalter
Put Wednesday, December 8th on your calendar for our Christmas/Holiday Party.

NOTE: This is a new location.

The party will be held at La Hacienda de Los Barrios, 18747 Redland Road.
Party starts at 6PM.

This year, the grand prize will be a Yaesu FTM-300DR. 2nd Prize will be a Yaesu FT-70DR. There will be other prizes to be won as well.

Hosted by AARO & SARC

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Oct 13

I would appreciate your help getting the word out about my free weekly General Class licensing course on Zoom beginning Thursday, October 28 and running through Thursday, January 13 (9 sessions plus 3 weeks off for the holidays in November and December.)

Sessions will start at 6:30 pm eastern time, and run 3 hours. These are the classes sponsored by the National Electronics Museum that we have been holding for years.

Please publicize this with anyone you know that you think would be interested. Those wishing to sign up should email me at roland.anders@comcast.net.

Thanks,
Rol, K3RA

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Sep 20

We are looking for sag drivers/navigators as well as ham operators to work breakpoints. Sag volunteers we would prefer to be available both Saturday and Sunday. Others could be either or both.

Contact Lee N5NTG info@sanantoniohams.org or MaryAnne N5MYN for link to sign up.

This is the general volunteer link where you can get more info.

https://mssociety.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=cms.page&id=1868&eventID=603


Thanks!
MaryAnne, N5MYN
210-380-6560

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Jul 7

Posted on July 6, 2021 by Stan Waghalter

Gilbert Santana (N5CDA) has become a SK. He had been in poor health for several years, undergoing an organ transplant, but finally gave up the struggle. Most of us knew Gilbert from the AARO Ham Club where he served on the board and was even president for a while. We also know him from Altex Electronics.

Gilbert Santana N5CDA

Funeral services have been announced. On Monday, July 12, visitation and viewing from 3:30PM – 7:30PM at Castillo Mission Funeral Home, 520 N General McMullen. Rosary at 6PM.

On Tuesday, July 13, 9:30AM, depart the funeral home to the Mass of Christian Burial at St. Paul Catholic Church, 350 Sutton at 10AM with burial at San Fernando Cemetery 11.

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