San Antonio Hams

Received the following list of prize recipients from SARC President JC Smith N5RXS today via email.  The San Antonio Radio Fiesta was held Saturday, January 10th, out in Schertz, Texas at the Knights of Columbus Hall at 509 Schertz Parkway.  The parking lot overflowed, the meeting room was jam packed, and a good time was had by all who attended.  More info soon as it gets posted to their club’s  www.w5sc.org web site.

Here is the list of prize winners.  Grand / Major prize winners did not need to be in attendance at the time of drawing in order to win.

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To the Bandera 100K Ultra-Marathon Radio Team!

The expression of Thanks and Gratitude for our efforts in support of this event, cannot be properly expressed in words!  The comments about the efforts of the team have been nothing but positive, appreciative and supportive! 

We managed to again increase the level of communication amongst the Aid Stations and Race Controls, with only a few minor glitches.  The smoothness of knowing where the final batch of runners on the course, and continual updating allowed for early and incident free shutdown of all Aid Stations, well in advance of the traditional times! 

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 A great ham radio event has been revived that will provide a weekend of fun and excitement to every ham that participates.  The New Mexico QSO Party, an operating event designed for new and experienced hams alike, will take place on the first weekend of February (Feb 7-8, 2009).

The purpose of this HF and 6-meter event (both of which every ham has privileges to operate on) is to get on the airwaves and have a great time with hams from across New Mexico and the nation.  Simply put, NM hams contact as many hams (inside and outside NM) as possible.  Non-NM hams contact as many NM hams (only) as possible.  Essentially, New Mexico hams will find themselves on the “other” side of the pileup, with stations across the country and perhaps world wanting to make contact with the Land of Enchantment for the duration of the event.  And what good operating event can’t be without awards?

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Due to availability problems at Garner State Park, Bexar Operators Group – “Operation Deep Freeze” have changed it’s location. We will now be operating from Choke Canyon State Park, near the town of Three Rivers. Our operation will be from the Calliham Unit and we have reserved a screened shelter. All operators are welcome. Bring a sleeping bag and personal grub if you wish to join in on this mid-winter field operation.

Click here for a PDF map of park.

The Bexar Operators Group will be operating W5BOG during the “North American QSO Party” on January 17-18th 2009. This is a SSB only contest.

See original posting below for details and contact info.

2009 “Straight Key Night” begins at 7:00 p.m. EST December 31, 2008 and runs for 24 hours through 7:00 p.m. EST January 1, 2009 (0000 – 2400 UTC January 1, 2009).

SKN is more of an operating event and not a contest and you don’t need to operate during the entire event. To participate, simply send “CQ SKN” or listen for CQs that have SKN in them. The object of this friendly event is to enjoy some good old-fashioned QSO fun, using straight keys and not keyers or computers. The emphasis is on rag-chewing rather than fast contest-style exchanges.

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The Bexar Operators Group will be operating W5BOG during the “North American QSO Party” on January 17-18th 2009. This is a SSB only contest. We have tagged this as “Operation Deep-Freeze” as we will be operating from a field location, CHOKE CANYON STATE PARK (Three Rivers) – CALLIHAM UNIT (Screen Shelter Area) – NOTE LOCATION CHANGE!   This is a 12 hour event and, as in the past, we will continue to do field testing/experiments of different antenna systems to further our knowledge of short-term, deployable antennas and to enhance our camping abilities. 

If anyone is interested in joining, please email alonestaryank@aol.com with your interest. 

Hello all and Happy Holidays from Wade W5ERX

More questions have been raised as to the status of the donation for the 147.14 repeater.  I addressed this issue not long ago but it was brought to my attention a couple of days ago that all of you may not have received this information. For this reason I am sending this to as many individuals as I have e-mail addresses for.  If I have missed anyone please share this with them as soon as possible.

A few months ago Hill Country REACT received a check in the amount of $482.55 from Greg Lewis/ Unusual Suspects. This money  was earmarked as a donation for the 147.14 repeater.  This entire amount was placed into the REACT account to be held in trust for the repair on the repeater.  Other funds were raised from other hams up thru the Austin Summerfest held in August 2008, bringing the total up to about $750 or so in donations. Read the rest of this entry »

I attended the 2008 Christmas party AARO with my lovely bride, Pat, and have the following report and photos to share.   

Lots of awards were given out in the form of certificates to former officers and members who had “done stuff” during the past year.  

I won’t try to keep up with that list here, but…

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It was 35 degrees outside on a Sunday Morning, December 7th, but ten ham operators got up before the sun did, and drove over to the SE side of San Antonio for the annual San Antonio Road Runners 10 Miler Mission Run.   The event started and ended at the Mission County Park #2 on Padre Drive, near VFW Blvd.  The course ran down Mission Parkway, south of Military Drive, and then continued south of Loop 410 for a total of 5 miles, then returned.

The event had about 270 registrants this year, but 20 “no-shows” brought the number of runners down to about 250.  There were a  dozen or so “relay runners” who were supposed to run out to the 2.5 mile park and return, then let their partner run the same 2.5 out and back to finish.

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Basic talks are underway to help our “Wounded Warriors” find a new path within the military, unencumbered by their physical restraints. Bob Hejl, W2IK – NNN0KSI (MARS Ecom), who works at CFI (Center For The Intrepid) at BAMC/ Ft. Sam, has begun discussions with officials at BAMC and CFI for ways in which our soldiers can redirect their abilities by using amateur radio as a stepping stone with their next goal being communications careers within the armed forces or in the private sector after their military careers are completed.

Planned are a special events/demo station so soldiers can see the possibilities of communications and the vital roles they can assume during an emergency or in everyday military communications work. Tri- Service MARS operations will also be integrated so they can get an actual “taste” of  military communications in a relaxed atmosphere.

An amateur radio course will be offered with actual “hands on” operation using W2IK’s portable MARS Ecom station. After the classes have been completed, there will be on base testing so many can obtain their amateur radio licenses.

If any local ham or group is interested in this project, please write W2IK at alonestaryank@aol.com.