September 8 – Tour for Children (www.tourforchildren.org) – A bicycle ride from Helotes, Texas up thru Grey Forest to Boerne, Texas, and points in between or around. Expected to have 600+ riders this year. Last year hams provided miminal support at the spur of the moment, with a ham from KARS at the northern break point, and three roving hams in their POV on the route, plus net control operating from a ham’s house in Grey Forest.

In 2012, we’ve been asked to staff 6-8 SAG Trucks from Toyota of Boerne, plus running net control of course. We might even get some M&M’s to come play with us. We’ve been promised they’ll have some 2X and 3X t-shirts this year as well, for the “not so skinny” folks.

Hams who are willing to help as SAG drivers, need to have a relatively clear drivers license background (but we aren’t running checks) and insurance coverage for their own vehicle. The event’s insurance is covering the drivers & trucks, but it’s routine to only accept drivers who can prove they are insurable. SAG drivers will need to pick up their truck at Toyota of Boerne on Friday, after presenting their DL & insurance card for proof, and the dealership is offering space to leave your personal vehicle there over night in a locked secured area.

The event will run from 7am-3pm or so, based upon last year’s timing, but we’ve learned to be flexible. If you are interested in volunteering for this event, contact Lee Besing N5NTG at 210-771-7075 or info@sanantoniohams.org for SAG driver support, or Mike Perez WA5ZAP for Motorcycle Safety Marshal support. Most M&M’s know how to reach Mike, but if you don’t, then contact Lee and he’ll get you in touch.

The Unusual Suspects group will have an “upgraded” monthly meeting at a new location this next Saturday, September 1st, at 9am.   Instead of the usual meet & greet at the Taco Cabana in Universal City, the group will be meeting in San Antonio, at the Astro Bowl, near the intersection of Austin Hwy, Eisenhauer Rd & Harry Wurzbach.

LOCATION:ASTRO BOWL {PRIVATE PARTY ROOM}  3203 Harry Wuzbach, San Antonio, TX 78209

Recommend early arrival to get breakfast ordered.  Food & Drink available for purchase.

PROGRAM:

• 9:am to 9:45     Meet & Greet Breakfast…..Casual enjoy your meal and chat
• 9:45 to 10:15    Technical Training:      Topic: Introduction to APRS by Lee Besing

Note: As we are still setting up our VE training sessions, unless we have PRE-SCHEDULED NEW AND UPGRADING HAMS,  there will not be a VE Session this month.  We are putting together a VE Team to hold regular test sessions in the future, following our meetings.   So if interested in testing, please e-mail Greg Lewis right away: n5xo@satx.rr.com.   Effective with the October meeting, this will be a regular scheduled event and walk in’s will be welcome.

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The San Antonio Office of Emergency Managemenet (SAOEM) is hosting the one day AmTrak Passenger Train Emergency Response Training on your choice of dates, September 18th, 19th, 20th, or 21st, at the Emergency Operations Center located at 8130 Inner Circle Road, San Antonio, TX 78235.

This is a one day course that we are offering four days in a row to allow you to have a choice of days to attend. The training is scheduled from 8 am to 5 pm; however, that is contingent upon AmTrak having one of the cars available for students to actually walk through in the afternoon. If the rail car is not available, the class will end at noon.

This training is open to all disciplines: Law Enforcement, Fire, EMS, Public Health, Public Works, Government Administration, Private Sector, and Volunteers.

If you are interested in attending any of these days, please register on www.preparingtexas.org or email us for registration assistance.

Please help us to get the word out to people about the AmTrak training. So far the response has been very low and we need to promote the training class to insure that we do not have to cancel it.

Thank you!

Mark Chadwick, CEM, TEM
Training Officer
San Antonio Office of Emergency Management
PO Box 23339, San Antonio, TX 78235-0339
Voice: 210.206.8688
Fax: 210.206.8570
Email: mark.chadwick@sanantonio.gov
Web site: http://www.sanantonio.gov/emergency/

Don’t be bored, volunteer for some upcoming public service events!

We’ve got a series of public service events happening in the next few months, surely one of them will tickle your fancy?  Hams are needed for all of these events.

• September 8 – Tour for Children bicycle ride
• October 13-14 – BikeMS Valero Ride to the River
• November 3-4 – Tour de Gruene race / ride
• November 3rd – Universal City Veterans Day Parade
• November 11th – San Antonio Rock & Roll Marathon Race
• December 8th – Canyon Lake Christmas Parade

Here are the details about each event….  Scroll down!

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TO  ALL.. 146.42 ECHO LINK IS NOW BACK !!

K5NNN-L   Node #594762

As of Monday (8/20/2012) at 5:00pm CDT, Echo Link is up and running on 146.420 simplex (no tone).

We are using a Icom IC-7000 with 75 watts of power!! On top of a 50 foot mast.. You can reach out 35 to 50 miles..  Transceiver location is on the NW side of town at K5NNN’s house, near Vance Jackson & Callaghan vicinity.

You can do a self test by transmitting on that frequency, and using your hand microphone to send DTMF tones of “999” to test your Audio and then use “#” to disconnect…

More info will be made available so you can connect to specific other nodes, repeaters or users by typing in their node # using your hand microphone. Remember, your conversation is NOT PRIVATE, and you still need to ID yourself as normal.

Please let me know how it works for you..   Andrew K5NNN  Bexartalk@gmail.com

NCTECH Hamfest

Saturday, November 10, 2012
404 West Main Street, Azel, TX (Near Ft. Worth)
7am-Noon

Admission Only $5

Live presentations on Operating & Activities

• ARRL Field Organization
• ARRL / Dr. Woolweaver
• AMSAT
• CERT Team
• Red Cross
• More!
• FCC Amateur Radio License Test Session
• Over 10,000 square feet of indoor table space ($10/table with 1 registration included) – Unclaimed tables will be resold after the event starts
• Outdoor Flea Market (your table or tailgate)
• Large Indoor “Eyeball QSO” Sitting Area
• Coffee & Snack Shop on premises
• Grand Door Prizes & Hourly Prize Drawings
• Grand Prize Icom Dual Band Radio

Talk-in on the 147.16 repeater (PL 110.9)

For more information, visit www.wc5c.org or contact Paul WB5IDM at wb5idm@gmail.com

The Tri-County Amateur Radio Club of North Texas WC5C (ARRL Affiliated Club) welcomes visitors, and serves the area north and west of Fort Worth, including parts of Parker County, Tarrant County and Wise County.  Most of the club’s activities occur around the west side of Eagle Mountain Lake.  Cities served include Agnes, Aledo, Azle, La Junta, Sanctuary, Springtown, Reno, Lake Worth, Lakeside, Boyd, Paradise, Aurora, Rhome, Fort Worth, Sansom Park, Benbrook, White Settlement, Haslet, Saginaw, Keeter, Briar, Pelican Bay, Weatherford, Newark.

This article was about the 2012 event and is now out dated. SEE THE 2013 Austin Summerfest Info here

Its once again time for the Summer Fest in Austin. This ham fest is like none other in the state! They offer different forums and classes on things such as Military radios and aircraft, Antenna building, DXing, Antique radios and Software Defined Radios (flex). Representatives from the ARRL and the TX-VHF Society will also be on hand. A short hop up to Austin is where all the fun happens!

When: August 3rd and 4th. Friday and Saturday (Friday from 6pm to 9pm and Saturday from 8am to 3:30)

Where: Austin Airport Marriott hotel on the south side of Austin.  It is at exit 228 (only 56 miles from I35 and 1604!)

Cost: $8 per person if paid in advance by July 25th. $10 at the door.

Here is a link to the Summer Fest web site: http://www.austinsummerfest.info/

Here is a link to the registration forms: http://www.austinsummerfest.info/images/stories/Flier2012.pdf

Continuing a Ham tradition!

Special Features of this event include:

AMSAT, ARES,  HSMM-MESH, SDR, Vintage Radio. ARRL Forum,FCC License Exams, DX and Contest Session,

Weather Session, ARES Session, Microwave Forum, Indoor Swapfest, Tailgate Swapfest, Crafts & Skills, QRP, A Special Friday Night presentation, and the Summer Meeting of TX VHF-FM Society.

Ed Kirk has the following stuff for sale. Contact him at 210-347-7690 for  pricing, condition, viewing, etc.

• Heathkit SB-201 amp with 10 meters
• Heathkit SB-601 station monitor
• Clipperton-L amp
• Dentron Super Tuner
• Kenwood TS-430 transceiver
• Kenwood TS-530S transceiver
• Kenwood TR-9130 2 meter all mode
• Yaesu FT-901DM with matching speaker/phone patch
• Yaesu FT-7B transceiver

All needs cleaning, testing, etc. Some have manuals.

The staff at the Austin Tour de Cure office have been busy, with the help of donated video services during this past event. Here is their story….

If you are a Ham Radio Operator and work for Boeing, then BACS Wants You!

The Boeing Auxiliary Communications Service (BACS) is a team of employees and contractors who are FCC-licensed amateur radio (“ham”) operators, who provide backup communications when normal channels become damaged or overloaded due to natural or man-made disasters.BACS is a Boeing Enterprise S&FP Disaster Preparedness Org. and is the only official ham radio organization that supports Boeing S&FP DP.

BACS primary task is to provide Emergency Communications, using Amateur Radio Frequencies to communicate from Boeing site EOC’s to Boeing site EOC’s during a disaster. Secondarily, provide emergency communications between local government authorities and local Boeing site EOC’s.

Other duties may include but are not limited to (depending on your sites needs):

• Supporting Volunteer Disaster Responders (VDRs), facilities personnel, and anyone else responsible for protecting lives and property at Boeing.
• “Shadowing” fire and security personnel.
• If needed, field communications.
• Operate company radios during all three phases of a disaster.

BACS teams are all ready operating at Boeing sites around the country. Including; Enterprise ECMC and 14 other sites in Washington/Oregon, California, Texas, Utah, Alabama. More are coming on line as they learn about us.

This is your opportunity to use your amateur radio skills to protect yourself and your coworkers in an emergency. All you need are your ham license (technician or higher) handheld radio, and a desire to help.

Don’t have a team at your site?? We can help with that too. For more information, contact Tom Wells (thomas.e.wells@boeing.com) Or visit our (INTERNAL WORK PC’s ONLY) web site: http://bacs.web.boeing.com/bacs.htm

Locally – Steve Castle N7FUL and Bill Mayfield KF5QVM  both work at the Boeing facility at Kelly Field here in San Antonio. They have volunteered to help recruit and organize licensed ham operators, who are also employees here, to participate in the Boeing Auxiliary Communications Service at this facility.  But so far, other than Steve and Bill, they have not found any other hams here. There is bound to at least a dozen, we just need to put the word out.

Here is the PDF brochure with application.  Only Boeing Employees & Contractors may join.  BACS_recruiting_flyer

Bill Mayfield KF5QVM
mvmayfield@gvtc.com
210-932-7368
Supplier Quality Assurance Engineer
Boeing Global Services & Support, Kelly Field San Antonio, TX