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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sent: Friday, March 06, 2009 10:12
From: FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency)
Currently the United States is in the midst of one of the largest food recalls in American history. As Americans dig through their cabinets and refrigerators to remove potentially contaminated food associated with the recent peanut recall, we would like to also remind citizens to open and check their Emergency Preparedness Kits to remove any potentially harmful items from these also.
Because peanut products are often recommended as staples in Emergency Preparedness Kits due to their long shell life and because they are a good source of protein, we encourage all kit owners to look at their kits to ensure food products are not on the peanut recall list. Please keep in mind that the peanut product recall extends beyond peanut-flavored products.
18 of 23 TSA Agents who participated in an almost week long communications training course conducted in here in San Antonio, passed their ham license exam on Wednesday, March 4th. This was the 2nd such session in San Antonio, the previous session being in May of 2008.
The TSA is trying to improve interoperability in their communications, and each major airport in the USA is being required to establish the ability to communicate via ham radion, in addition to their normal modes of communications (which include Sat Phones, etc.).
The TSA has purchased “go kits” containing ham radios, power supplies, antennas, and other items, sort of like the resources we now have at our EOC, so that they could send a ham radio operator / TSA agent down to the Rio Grande Valley or other areas where there were some of the smaller airports being affected by some emergency. They have installed a “normal” ham radio station at their office here in San Antonio, which is off the airport’s premises and location which we won’t divulge due to security concerns. They are ho[ping that in time of need, they will be able to depend upon the San Antonio Ham Radio community to provide them with extra operators to supplement their trained TSA employees.
San Antonio Radio Club’s VE Team led by Pat AD5BR, supplemented by some other VE’s from AARO, conducted the testing at a local hotel near the airport. Following is a list of the VE’s who took time off in the middle of a workday to assist.
Greg N5XO <n5xo@satx.rr.com>
It has been awhile since we had a Unusual Suspect Meet and Greet and with the repeater issues and many of us operating on simplex or other repeaters up in the Austin area we can not talk as often as we would all like.
So it’s TIME ONCE AGAIN TO HAVE A MEET AND GREET BREAKFAST.
WHAT: UNUSUAL SUSPECT MEET & GREET
WHEN: SUNDAY MARCH 22ND 2009 @ 9:AM
WHERE: BILL MILLERS BBQ {BREAKFAST TACO’S} AT IH-35 AND FM 3009
TOPICS:
LET’S MAKE THIS A SUPER TURN OUT AND HOPE TO SEE EVERYONE THERE!!!!!!
RSVP to Greg suggested, but not required. Dutch Treat.
OMAHA (KPTM) – Police evacuated a midtown neighborhood briefly Thursday morning for what was originally thought to be a bomb, but in the end, it turned out to be ham radio equipment.
The house, located near 48th and Mayberry, caught fire last week. A cleaning company found the equipment and called police, thinking it was a pipe bomb. Police were called, and officers detonated the equipment. The neighborhood was evacuated during the investigation.
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N5NTG | 
03 27th, 2009| 
