San Antonio Hams

The San Antonio Fiesta Commission announced on March 13th that they were postponing Fiesta until the month of November. Of course that caused the Wildflower bicycle event to get postponed as well.

The rescheduling will possibly cause conflicts with Wurzfest in New Braunfels, but since the Tour de Gruene ride event was cancelled in 2019, it is unlikely to cause problems with the Wildflower ride.

The BikeMS Ride to the River event will be the month before, in October, so there ought not to be much of an affect there either. The Wildflower isn’t a fundraiser ride on the scale of the BikeMS ride, so folks who solicit their friends for the BikeMS BikeMS won’t need to do it again so quickly.

The  Tour de Gruene is an annual 2 day bicycling event with all radio communications being coordinated by the GVARC  Ham Radio Club.  Hams are stationed at key / critical intersections or locations where rider safety may be at risk.  They are also stationed at break points to report on supply or rider pickup requests.

The 2013 event was held on Saturday, November 2nd, and Sunday, November 3rd.  (Next year it will be on November 8&9th.) I only worked the event on Sunday morning, so the attached photos were  from that date only.   I heard reports that what I experienced on Sunday was also repeated on Saturday, in terms of riders “jumping” off the bridge at River Crossing #4 to avoid “making a new friend” with an oncoming vehicle.    At the time this article was posted, you could still view the 2013 course maps online at this link.  The 2013 route was unusual, in that area road construction on the normal route force a major change in the route direction. In fact, they started up on River Road in Sattler, Texas, at the VFW Post (River Road & FM2673) instead of in downtown Gruene, Texas.
Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re bored and you know it, charge your batteries, dust off those emergency go-kits sitting in the garage, and get your radios programmed to work these upcoming events.  Even if you aren’t bored, it’s still that time of year anyway.

I know more help is really needed for the two upcoming bike rides on September 21st and October 12-13th. I’m pretty sure that all of the other events will be grateful for some extra ham help as well.

Where available, I have listed email address links for the contact person. If you don’t see a contact link, or are unsuccessful in contacting them, please feel free to contact me direct for more info or help. – Lee N5NTG

• September 21st – OLPH Wildcat Ride and Run – Jeremy KE5ELI
• September 28-29th – Texas QSL Party
• October 5th – Belton HamExpo
• October 5th – BikeMS150 San Antonio Training / Briefing meeting for hams / volunteers at 10am – Lee N5NTG.
• October 12-13th – BikeMS150 San Antonio. 2 day event. SARO Ham Club. Charlie KC5NKK
• October 19th – JOTA at the McGimmsey Scout Park. SARC Club – Bob K5AUW
• October 19th – Alamo Area Law Enforcement Explorer Competition (AALEEC) at SW High School – Dave W5QS
• October 26-27th – Cactus Rose Run (36 hour 5:30am Sat -5:30pm Sun) – Bandera Hill Country State Natural Area (100 mile). REACT Team – Louis K5STX
• November 2nd – UC Veterans Day Parade. REACT Team – Lee N5NTG
• November 2-3th – Tour de Gruene – GVARC ham club. Mike WQ5C
• November 17th – San Antonio Rock & Roll Marathon – AARO – Lee N5NTG
• December 6-7th – National Skywarn Recognition Weekend – New Braunfels NWS Office – 24 hour event (6pm-6pm) over 2 days – Louis K5STX
• December 14th – Christmas Parade at Canyon Lake / Sattler – REACT – Wade W5ERX
• January 11th – San Antonio Radio Fiesta – (Schertz TX) SARC Club – W5SC.ORG – Rowena KF5JCZ
• January 11-12th – Bandera 100K Run at Hill Country State Natural Area (state park) 24 hour event over 2 days – Louis K5STX

We are fortunate that the Ham Radio community has members willing to help with multiple other non-profit or public service type events through out the year. 

Here is a (not so) short list of the major 2013 events that hams from the San Antonio metro area can usually be found helping with. Contact links for future events are included, but contacts for past events aren’t included since it’s too late for this year.  If you know of an event that ought to be on this list, please contact the webmaster by email.

• January 12-13 – Bandera 100k Endurance Run – coordinated by REACT
• January 12 – San Antonio Radio Fiesta  Hamfest (Schertz)  – coordinated by SARC
• January 19-21 – Big Bend 50 Run (Big Bend National Park)
• March 2 – MS Walk  – coordinated by SARO – Contact N5MYN
• March 2-3 – Heart of the Hills 36 hour Ride (HCSNA – Bandera) coordinated by REACT – Contact K5STX
• April 19-20 – CASI Ladies State Championship Chili Cook-off (Seguin) coordinated by REACT – Contact K5STX
• April 20-21 – Houston’s BP150 BikeMS (Houston – Austin) (2 days) – Contact N5NTG
• April 25 – Fiesta Battle of the Bands –  coordinated by SARO – Contact N5MYN
• April 28 – Wildflower 100 Bicycle Ride (1 day, San Antonio) – coordinated by REACT- Contact N5NTG
• May 4 – Special Olympics Spring Games Region 21 coordinated by REACT  – Contact N5NTG
• May 4 – Run for the Hills 5k Run (Bulverde) – coordinated by REACT– Contact K5STX
• May 11 – ADA Tour de Cure Bicycle Ride (1 day, San Antonio) –  coordinated by REACT – Contact N5NTG
• May 26 – 3rd Annual American  Hero 25k Run / Relay / Concert  – coordinated by REACT – Contact N5NTG
• June 8 – Texas Water Safari (Canoe race from San Marcos – Gulf Coast) (5 days) – Top of route assignments coordinated by SARO– Contact WB5ZJQ
• July 4 – Canyon Lake Fourth of July Parade (Startzville) coordinated by REACT – Contact K5STX
• September 7 – Children’s Transplant Bicycle Ride (Helotes – Boerne) coordinated by REACT- Contact N5NTG
• October 12-13 – BikeMS – Valero Alamo Ride to the River Bicycle Ride (2 days) – coordinated by SARO- Contact N5NTG
• October 31 – Canyon Lake Halloween Event (Sattler) – coordinated by REACT – Contact N5NTG
• November 2-3 – Tour de Gruene (New Braunfels / Canyon Lake) – – coordinated by GVARC – Contact K5GST
• November 9 – Universal City Veterans Day Parade (date may change to Nov 2) coordinated by REACT – Contact N5NTG
• November 17 – San Antonio Rock & Roll Marathon (date change updated 01/26/2013) – coordinated by AARO – Contact N5NTG
• December 6-7 – National Skywarn Recognition Day (24 hrs, New Braunfels NWS Office)  – coordinated by NWS – Contact K5STX
• December 14 – Canyon Lake Christmas Parade (Sattler, TX) – coordinated by REACT- Contact K5STX

For more info about the above list of public service events, or to volunteer for an event, please click on the CONTACT link for the specific event, or contact info@sanantoniohams.org.

We’ll work on getting all of these events, plus any others as they get listed, into the calendar on this website.  In the meantime, if you want to voluteer, don’t be bashful! It’s lots of fun, and a different way to make new ham radio friends!  If you know of an event that wasn’t listed here, but should be, please contact us to get it added into the calendar.

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!

Read the rest of this entry »

Hams have the opportunity all year round to use their communications skills & equipment to help out the community & have fun while doing it.  SARO is very active in these events, and helping out with others. There are three major bike tours originating near San Antonio, plus the big daddy of them all that runs from Houston to Austin on the third weekend of April. To keep up on what’s happening in the local  ham world, stay tuned to SanAntonioHams.org/blog.

If you know of any ham related events not included in the list below, please contact Lee N5NTG at info@sanantoniohams.org.  Better yet, why not register as a user on this site, then ask Lee N5NTG to bump your status up so you can directly post your own articles and photos?

Coming up Fall 2011, to a start line near us, will be the following events/ opportunities:

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m looking for volunteers to help with communications during the Spring Tour de Gruene Team Fondo on Saturday, March 5, 2011, from 10am – 3pm. 

The event takes place in & around Gruene, FM 306, Sattler, and River  Road. This is the first year for this event, and I think we can use as many stations as possible.  We will be using 2 meter Ham Radio with the 147.000 repeater, in fixed locations.  Mobile radios with external antennas may be needed in some locations due to terrain.  At this time, we do not anticipate the need for any mobile units.

Thanks,
 –Mike WQ5C
pfeufferm@gmail.com

The Tour de Gruene is Saturday, 10/30 and Sunday 10/31.

1) The tour will start a 8am Saturday. I believe that the route will be similar to last year, but have not seen the maps yet.

2) The individual time trial race is unchanged. Riders leave from Camp Huaco Springs @ the 1st crossing on River Road at 2:01pm Saturday. Ride 8 miles up river & return the same way.

3) The two man time trial race on Sunday is unchanged. Riders start at 8:01am & go every 30 seconds. The leave Gruene, ride up River Road, across 2763, and return down 306 to Gruene.

Volunteers usually get a t-shirt & a ticket to Wurstfest, assuming they are available. Sometimes they run out.

The URL is for more info is: http://www.tourdegruene.com

We need as many stations as possible for the morning events, but can cover Saturday afternoon with myself & 1 or 2 other stations. Please let me know which event(s) you can help out with, and your t-shirt size.

Thanks,
–Mike WQ5C
pfeufferm@gmail.com

The following 155 photos were taken and provided by Gary K5GST. Some were taken on Day 1 (Saturday 10/31) and others were taken on Day 2 (Sunday 11/01). 

If you see two riders grouped together wearing the same outfit, those photos were likely taken on Day 2 during the Team Trials. 

Those with single riders  or a few riders not wearing same outfit, were likely takend on Day 1 during the Individual Team Trials.

I’ve edited his photos that were taken sideways, so they would view correctly on your screen… -Lee

Enjoy!
Read the rest of this entry »