Good Morning Ya’ll

Test Session this coming Saturday at 1000 at our new location. 424 Castell St, New Braunfels, TX 78130.

Driving up Seguin St (fm725) towards the circle turn left at the Civic Center and the street that runs behind the Civic Center is Castell. The new Fire Department Training Facility is now located on Castell right behind the Civic Center in what used to be the Municipal Offices for New Braunfels.

Park on the left side of the building in what is labelled as Employee parking and enter the building from that end.

Test Session will be as usual starting at 1000, all classes of license will be tested. The fee is $15 payable by cash, check, or money order. Please bring your drivers license or picture ID and ur amateur radio license or any CSCEs you may have.

Looking forward to seeing you there. If you have any question please contact K5GST (GaryT) at k5gst01@ gmail.com.

73 de K5SGT
GaryTangrady

(Karnes County) The Otto Kaiser Memorial Hospital in Kenedy, Texas, has contacted us asking for help in joining the 21st century of ham radio communications.   🙂   I put them in touch with the ARES leaders for that district (Karnes County) and some others.  Ongoing discussion is starting up to cover a NDMS drill on the morning of September 20th.   The problem is that there are only about 10 hams licensed in that immediate area, with 2 of them (husband / wife) being registered hams and over the road truck drivers.

The hospital has a Kenwood dual band TM-D700 mobile radio that they are in the process of moving to a new location within the hospital.  They also want to establish HF Packet / Winlink capabilities.  Help with designing the antenna system and equipment will likely be needed.  I’m presuming the hospital is willing to budget for the equipment, but you know that presuming can be dangerous at times.

The latest word that I received (yesterday) was that the hospital would like someone to teach a class for some of their hospital employees and area volunteers to create a new batch of hams.    Of course, using HF would require a ham license of at least General class.

If you would like to help, please email me at info@sanantoniohams.org with the words “Karnes County” in the subject line.  I’ll forward your information to John Taylor KE5HAM (STXARES District 10 DEC)  in Victoria.

Bexar County ARES has scheduled another Field Examination session for the ARRL Emergency Communications course to be held on December 1, at 5pm at the San Antonio Red Cross in classroom 3. The address is 3642 E Houston St. 78219.

So, if anyone would like to study up and take the test let us know.

Ref: http://www.arrl.org/emergency-communications-training

So far we have 1 ham interested. The requirements are: Identification (FCC license not required), there is the standard ARRL fee of $15, cash, and you must provide the dates of your completion of the FEMA course prerequisites, ICS-100 and 700.

73 Ray 210-845-2288

Hi Ya’ll

The next regularly scheduled GVARC sponsored test session will be held on 22 Nov 2014 at the New Braunfels Fire Dept Training facility at 1311 Industrial Blvd, Suite A, New Braunfels, TX 78130 at 1000.

Come one, Come all! You don’t need an appointment. Walk Ins are allowed. Bring your original license with you if you have one and preferably two copies, however, we can usually make copies on site if we need to. Last time in Sept there was a problem and since I leave the copy tasks up to Darren/WD5GQT I will have to check with him to see if the problem has been fixed or is fixable before the 22nd.

Also bring two forms of ID, here we usually get your drivers license and in the Texas of Today your CHL is usually the number two choice. If you are not licensed to carry I can accept many different forms of identification as a second ID. I have had to resort to using a birth certificate as the only means of ID before so if there is a question in this area please contact me. I can afford to be somewhat liberal in this area.

If you are a first timer testing for a new license, bring your ID and we will take care of the rest. As always one test will costs you $15 and if you pass that one you can take the next test in the sequence without paying a second time. If however you fail an element and wish to take it over using another version of the test we have on file you would need to pay another $15. Usually that isn’t a problem.

This is also a call for certified ARRL VEs who can help out. Please drop me an email if you can help so I can plan accordingly.

—
Gary S. Tangrady
USAF Retired
k5gst01@gmail.com

2014 Quarter One GVARC VE Test Session

The next regularly scheduled GVARC test session will be held on January 4th, 2014 at the New Braunfels Fire Department Training Facility located at 1311 Industrial Drive Suite A, New Braunfels, TX 78130.
The session will begin at 10:00am and conclude at 2:00pm, or when candidates stop arriving.

Please have these items with you when you arrive to take your test:

• $15 – Cash, check, or money order (We can’t accept plastic quite yet)
• Two forms of identification – State issued ID card, plus something like a CHL, school ID, passport, etc.
• Your currently held license or CSSE — if you have one.

Note:  This is strictly a testing session. No test material will be taught or reviewed.

The VE team will be monitoring the 147.000 repeater if you need any assistance in finding the testing location.

Please contact the GVARC VE Team if you have any questions.

More details can be found here… http://gvarc.org/2013/12/07/gvarc-qtr4-VEsession.html

FIELD DAY IS JUNE 22-23rd 2013

I’m currently compiling a list of clubs or individual stations who are making plans for Field Day 2013.  If you want me to share your location and hours of operation (some clubs don’t run full 24 hours, and/or shut down during the night and resume in the morning), please send an email to info@sanantoniohams.org with “Field Day 2013” in the subject line to get my attention. 

Info updated 06/11/2013

Please include any details you want shared, such as a talk-in frequency especially if you are on private property or a hard to find location.  Let us know if there are any admission fees (such as operating from a public or private park, etc.).  If you require RSVP, please provide the official contact info for that purpose.  If you are limiting the hours of operation, such as taking a recess during the middle of the night and resuming the next morning, let me know that also.  I know you don’t just want folks to show up for meal time, especially if they aren’t a member of your club.

After sifting thru the thousands of emails on my computer, I also visited the ARRL official site locator page to see what I could see.

And then I looked for San Antonio / Central Texas area on the map, and said “double wow!”  I know of several clubs not shown on this map, as of today as of 06/11/2013, who plan on conducting a FD event.  Click on the screen shot to the right for details.  The little red map parkers are those FD locations registered as of 06-01-2013 with ARRL.  The little comment boxes are the locations that I’m aware of, where clubs are planning their event.  I’ve added some event stations below, from Bandera,  San Marcos, Austin, Kerrville and Corpus Christi, that do not show up on the San Antonio metro map image that I posted here.

VE Testing Notes: There will be 2 VE Test Sessions active the morning of Field Day in the San Antonio metro area: 

• SARC will be conducting a VE Test Session at 10am on June 22nd, at the Great Northwest Library off Grissom Road & Timberwilde Rd on the NW side of San Antonio. This is their normal date / time / location for such test sessions.  Contact Pat AD5BR at 210-273-5927 or hamtests@gmail.com for info.  Pat will have FD information available that morning for the new hams to go visit afterwards.
• GVARC will be conducting a VE Test Session sometime during the day on Saturday, June 22nd, at the site of their Field Day. See location info listed below. 

CLUBS known to be participating in Field Day in South Central Texas include…

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Guadalupe Valley Amateur Radio Club (GVARC) is now offering the opportunity to test for your FCC Amateur Radio License through the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Volunteer Examiner (VE) program.

When: April 6, 2013, Testing starts at 10:00 am.

Location: New Braunfels Fire Department Training Center Emergency Operations Center (1311 Industrial Dr. Suite A New Braunfels, TX 78130)

Exam Fee: $15.00 – Payable by cash or personal check

Requirements: Photo ID or 2 alternate forms of identification, plus your Social Security Number (SSN) or Federal Registration Number (FRN – Free registration on FCC.GOV website).   Note: Testing for License class upgrade also requires applicant’s ORIGINAL License or Certificate of Successful Completion and an additional photocopy of such documentation.

Morse code is not required for any Amateur Radio License

Contact: Gary S. Tangrady K5GST – Volunteer Examiner (VE) via email – K5GST01@gmail.com
or call one of the VE’s at phone – (210) 619-6217

GVARC is now sponsoring an ARRL affiliated VE Team and will conduct test sessions on a quarterly or more frequent basis as the demand for such requires.

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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ONE-DAY HAM RADIO REVIEW COURSE
For Amateur Radio Technician License Exam
Saturday, June 16, 2012
8:30 a.m. to ~6:00 p.m.

COST: $75 – Includes book, continental breakfast, lunch, and fee for one 35-item multiple-choice exam given at the end of the day (or $55 if you already have book)

TARGET AUDIENCE: Anyone wanting to earn their entry-level ham radio license

COURSE BOOK: Study and bring to class (7th edition, ISBN 978-0-945053-62-0) Technician Class, EFFECTIVE July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2014, by Gordon West.

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Just got the heads up from Andrew Watson, president of Alamo Area Radio Organization, that his club has locked in the date of  Saturday, April 9, 2011, at Incarnet Word University.

We (AARO) have co-sponsored nine one-day CRASH REVIEW courses with the Southwest Research Corporation’s ham radio club.  We have received confirmation on room scheduling at the Univ. of the Incarnate Word for Saturday, 9 April 2011. 

The anticipated cost will be $50, which includes a continental breakfast, a box lunch from Jason’s Deli, and $15 fee for the test that goes to the American Radio Relay League and is filed with the Federal Communications Commission.

Download the flyer here…  TechFlyer_040911wUIWmap

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