San Antonio Hams

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.

Deanna Jennings, djennings6146@gmail.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

When: June 5th, 2021,
8:00am to 2:00pm

Where:
Encino Branch Library 2515 E Evans Rd, San Antonio, TX 78259 Off US281 (N)

Description:
San Antonio Radio Club (SARC) TAILGATE 2021

Admission: Buyers FREE, Sellers-$5 donation to support library programs

Commercial Vendors welcome

What is up? SARC is starting a new event for those interested in selling or buying some used ham radio gear and equipment. This is a opportunity for sellers to bring their Ham gear, open their trunks and let your stuff find a new home! Buyers can walk the parking lot looking for good deals from local hams you can trust.

Note:
• No AC power available
• Generators OK –
• Must take away any trash you create
Contact: Rosendo M Guzman, N5YBG President 210-570-0303 info@w5sc.org

For those who have shared an strong interest in Andrea’s K2EZ {Of HAM Talk fame} Rover vehicle, she will be making the drive from the Houston area this Saturday to attend the Meet & Greet plus swap meet and will have the rover with her, so you can ask questions and check out a very amazing mobil ham shack.

COME CHECK IT OUT, Breakfast is at 8:am.

THIS SATURDAY, OUR FIRST MEET & GREET AND SWAP MEET SINCE THE START OF COVID.

Join us this saturday……….GREAT FOOD, WONDERFUL PEOPLE AND PARKING LOT SWAP MEET AFTER BREAKFAST.

MEET THAT FACE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MICROPHONE, possibly see Andrea’s rover…..and have a fun swap meet.


When: SATURDAY AT 8:AM
Where: Taqueria Casa Jalisco
10696 Toepperwein Rd, Converse, TX 78109

Hope you join us….been a long time since we have all gotten together.

Greg N5XO