San Antonio Hams

From our friends up in Kerrville, comes the following useful information to make it easier to spot the ISS…

You can now spot the International Space Station (ISS) commanded by Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams without a telescope as it passes your house, thanks to NASA’s new SMS service.   “Spot the Station” will send you a text message as the ISS passes over your house.

The International Space Station is the third brightest object in the sky after the Sun and the Moon, however, most people still cannot tell where the orbiting laboratory is.

NASA will send an email or text message to those who sign up for the service a few hours before they will be able to see the space station, the US space agency said in a statement.   Once you know where to look, people should be able to see it easily – even without a telescope.

The service was launched to celebrate the 12th anniversary of crews living and working aboard the station presently commanded by Williams.

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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!

Title: 13th Annual Skywarn Recognition Day
Location: Austin/San Antonio National Weather Service Office – New Braunfels Airport
Description: The 13th Annual Skywarn Recognition Day 2012 will be December 1st – 0001 – 2400 zulu time or November 30th 1800hrs to December 1st 1800 hrs local time!

Title: Bandera 100K Ultra-Marathon
Location: Hill Country State Natural Area – Bandera, Texas
Link out: Click here
Description: 12th Annual Bandera 100k Ultra-Marathon held at Hill Country State Natural Area in Bandera County.
Communications over the last 8 years has been covered by Hill Country REACT and several other teams and individuals. The Amateur Radio community plays a valuable role during the event, providing real time tracking and safety for the participants and crews. Over the years, our role has increased from basic communications relays to an integral part of the timing, scoring and tracking of the participants.
This 24 hour event typically requires 15 – 16 Amateur Radio Operators in an environment that is similar to what an Emergency Communications Operator would experience in a disaster zone. UHF, VHF and Packet communications are used during this event.
Interested operators should contact the Communications and Safety Team coordinator – K5STX, Louis Upton at k5stx@arrl.net or 830-305-2889
Start Date: 2013-01-12
Start Time: 06:00
End Date: 2013-01-13
End Time: 07:00