San Antonio Hams

Even though I always somehow seem to end up “in charge” of these types of events, I could NOT do this without all the help I get from other Ham Radio operators who “appear out of the woodwork” when I most need them.

Some of you volunteered, changed your personal plans, and showed up to help, even though you were hurting, such as Earlene Harris K5DEH who had just broken a rib a couple days before the event.  Some of you practically “demanded” that I allow you to participate!  🙂

GVAR’s 147.000 repeater cooperated with us all day, with no major glitches noticed.  GVARC had a couple of hams standing by monitoring the repeater, and the event, to be sure it stayed up and running.  We never needed to switch over to either backup repeater frequency.

The weather cooperated with us and we didn’t have many areas of the route with water on them. I know of at least one road that was reported as “wet, but just puddle, not running across the road.”  I promised Paul Yura & his crew that I’d try to get some even t-shirts if they “made the bad weather go away,” so I guess I need to keep that promise. J

I’m currently accepting “after action debriefing reports” from any hams who worked the event.  Please email those reports to me at tdc@sanantoniohams.org when you get the time.  There should be a volunteer party in a few months. If that happens, I’ll put the word out and collect your RSVP’s at that time.

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When: March 2nd and 3rd, 2013 0600 hrs briefing, 0700 event start
Where: Hill Country State Natural Area, Bandera, TX

Ham Radio support needed for the 2013 AERC Heart of the Hills Endurance Ride.
We will be providing communications and check point support during the event.
The team will be the eyes and ears of the Event Director by providing timely and accurate tracking of the horses/riders on the course and any safety/medical coordination as needed!

We have a briefing at 0600hrs at event control with enough time to disperse and set-up prior to the start.

Voice Communications will be on VHF simplex for the majority of the event. We do have access to an off-site repeater should HT communications be weak.

Packet: if you have portable packet capability, that is a plus, but not required! The set-up we use is similar to the Texas Water Safari program!

For more information or to volunteer, contact Louis – K5STX at k5stx at arrl dot com!

Hill Country REACT Team #4804 is the coordinating group of this event. All licensed Amateur Radio Operators with an interest in Public Service and Emergency Communications are invited to participate!

Thank You,
Louis – K5STX

Tighten up those seat belts, and start your SAG Van engines!

It’s that time again again for Ham Radio Operators to transplant their radios into large 15 passenger vans, or other vehicles, stick their magnetic mount antennas on the roof, turn on your amber light bars (optional, but handy to have), and start looking for those tired, but grateful, bicycle riders on the side of the road who need a lift to the nearest break point.

Riders might just be tired, they might be having mechanical issues with their bicycle, or they may have decided it was just to hot outside and wanted a ride in an air conditioned vehicle that might have some cool bottled water inside.  Or they just might like your smiling face!

April 20th-21st is the BPMS150 ride from Houston to La Grange to Austin. 

Two days, 13,000 bicycle riders, 50+  SAG vans, 12+ SAG Trucks with a school bus following them around like a little lost puppy, 150 Motorcycle Safety Marshals (all ham operators), more than 300 ham radio operators working together on a network of linked repeaters that stretch from Houston to La Grange on Saturday, and Houston to Austin on Sunday.

The famous phrase “Houston, We have a problem” has happened before, and every time it does, the hams come thru with a timely solution.

Unfortunately with this many riders, there is always a higher chance of something going wrong, but with the ham radio coordinated medics and law enforcement, response time has never been faster!

Hams from the San Antonio metro area have helped support this ride for many years, and in return, hams from this ride have come to San Antonio in October to help us with our local MS150 ride as well.  This ride builds friendships on and off the radio.

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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.

Title: 2013 AERC Heart of the Hills Endurance Event
Location: Hill Country State Natural Area – Bandera, Texas
Link out: Click here
Description: The AERC Heart of the HIlls is a 25 and 50 mile equestrian endurance event that test the horse and rider.
Hill Country REACT as well as members of other organizations have provided Amateur Radio Communications, Safety and Tracking for the last 3 years. Amateur Radio has become and important part of this event due to the remoteness and terrain, and our familiarity of the facility. In being able to consistently and accurately track the competitors at various checkpoints, we have become more than just a safety net!

Any licensed Amateur Radio Operator with interest in Public Service and Emergency Communications are invited to assist with this event. Events like this are the best way to test equipment and hone skills that would be useful during a disaster deployment.

This years event will be two days, with the major emphasis and need on Saturday March 2nd, as the largest group of competitors will be on this day. Sunday March 3rd will be the same course for the most part, but the expected group is smaller.

Communications for this event is typically VHF simplex voice and the utilization of a event specific packet spreadsheet utilized for tracking.

We need 8 – 12 operators for Saturday March 2nd and 5 – 8 on Sunday!

For more information or to sign up, contact Louis – K5STX at k5stx@arrl.net

Thank You!
Start Date: 2013-03-02
Start Time: 06:00
End Date: 2013-03-03
End Time: 15:00

Location:

Hill Country State Natural Area – Bandera, Texas

When: 12th and 13th of January 2013

Description:

It is that time of year, to start forming the roster and making preparations for the 11th Annual Bandera 100k Ultra-Marathon held at Hill Country State Natural Area in Bandera County.

Tejas Trails Communication Group – Sponsored by Hill Country REACT has been the lead team for communications for this event the past 8 years with the assistance of many hams from the San Antonio, Austin and other areas around the state..

This event typically requires 15 – 16 Amateur Radio Operators in a situation that is similar to what an Emergency Communications Operator would experience in a disaster zone. UHF, VHF and Packet communications are involved in this event.

This is a fun event with challenges. The participants of this event, are of a type you will not encounter at most other events we deal with throughout the year. Over the years, we have made some lasting friendships!

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Here is the list of hams who worked the marathon at what mile markers.    Dave Espinoza W5QS started out really early (before 4am) at the start line, acting as Net Control until 9am.  Lee Besing N5NTG was at mile marker 4 at 6am, and assumed Net Control duties at 9am, and continued until the race ended at 3:30pm when Lee was the last vehicle to cross the finish line. Literally the last person and vehicle, playing the Porky Pig tune “That’s all folks!”…

Here is the list…

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Okay, it’s time to unveil the full length, 140 minutes, runners video that we took at Mile Marker #4 on Camden Street.   It has minimal editing, mostly to add titles at the front / back, and a running date / location stamp during the video.  All sound is original once the video portion begins.  (The video file itself was more than 2gb in size, and it was only 640×480 screen size.)

I’ll be posting more info about the race itself, who the volunteers were from AARO and other ham volunteers, etc., in another post.

This post is just for the runners.    This is the view from Mile Marker #4 on November 11, 2012, starting around 7:45am, after all the bicycle riders are gone.  You can see the approaching lead vehicles, watch the guy and my son, David KD5MTJ, relocate the mile marker and clock closer to the curb, and hear all the spectator comments (uncensored) in the background.  The video with the bicycle riders is found here http://sanantoniohams.org/blog/?p=6394

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The following video was shot at Mile Marker #4 along the route of the 2012 San Antonio Rock and Roll Marathon, and is for the Bike Tour part of the event only, no runners in this clip.   The Bike Tour, with about 1,000 riders, started at 6:45am, before the 7:30am main start for the Marathon.

Ham Radio Operators from the Alamo Area Radio Organization (AARO) and other volunteers, staffed every mile marker along the routes to ensure the timing clocks were started accurately at 7:30am when the net control (Dave W5QS) gave the count down over the radio.  This year’s event started without a hitch, other than some timing clocks had dead batteries or other malfunctions, but the operational end of from the ham radio operator perspective went fairly smoothly this year.

We’ll be posting more videos and photos later this week, as we find more “free time” to do the editing. This was the short one, so be warned!

Saturday was the 43rd Annual Veterans Day Parade in Universal City Texas, and the ham radio operators from Hill Country REACT and other volunteers were there to help the UC Police Department manage the parade route.   Our “job” was to move the barricades or police crime scene tape into place, blocking selected major streets, side streets, and parking lot exits.  Our “job” was NOT to direct traffic, but to call in by radio whenever we had a “runner” that bypassed the barricades once they were in place.

This year, we had aerial maps of the route, to help the ham operators assist any drivers who didn’t know the back roads / alternate routes.  It’s amazing how many local residents ignore the big banners crossing Pat Booker Road for a month before the parade, or the posters placed at local businesses, and then get upset because they forgot to allow time to leave early before the parade, or to figure out an alternate way of getting from point A to point B during the parade.

This year we had about 2 dozen volunteers, mostly  ham radio operators, including 7 motorcycle marshals, to assist the UCPD.  I’ll get a full listing posted here later, but it’s already 1:40am in the middle of the night, and I still need to be up at 5am to go help out with the Tour de Gruene at my assigned location on River Road, just south of Sattler, Texas.

Here is a 28 minute video posted to YouTube.com by your’s truly, that I took during the start of the parade as the entries left the staging area onto the main route.  The route went down Pat Booker Road, from UC Blvd, almost all the way to Randolph AFB and FM78.  A map of the route is shown at the start of the video.  Enjoy!