| Hot News |
KARS Meeting 4
November. Location TBD. Hot News and The "Meetings, Training and Testing
page will be updated when we know more.
For those wishing to
test. Please register beforehand. Do not walk in and
expect to be tested.
We need to know you are coming. You must complete the FCC
requirements before you can test. See "Meetings, Training and
Testing" below. The room will open at 6pm. Only VE’s
supervising tests will be allowed to enter at this time. Testing
starts at 6:30pm. Those wishing to test must arrive early and get your
paperwork filled out. Because we have a
meeting at 7pm, we can not offer the next test if you pass.
New Repeater at
Sisterdale, TX. We will shortly install
an UHF repeater at 150 feet AGL at the Volunteer Fire Department in
Sisterdale, Texas. The radio and cans are under test at Fair Oaks
Ranch. All will be moved to Sisterdale when testing is complete.
RF Calculation.
Jim - W6TIR, found and quick and easy way to calculate R.F. Exposure.
Read about the process by clicking on Hot News at below-left. Then
return here and click on
this link: http://hintlink.com/power_density.htm.
Fill out the form and press "calculate." This process was developed by Paul
Evans, W4/VP9KF.
How to connect your PC. From
ARRL, 28 April, 2021. Bob, N6TV, has updated his presentation "Everything
You Need To Know About USB and Serial Interfaces" for 2021. His
presentation includes the history and evolution of serial ports, chipsets to
prefer and those to avoid, how to use software tools to troubleshoot issues
you might encounter, and how to best utilize the built-in USB to serial
functionality that has been built into some modern rigs to support CAT, CW
keying, and RTTY keying. This is a must read for anyone wishing to connect
their radio and legacy equipment to a PC and logging software,
particularly a PC without serial ports.
Current NOAA sunspot and solar flux information.
For Current Sunspot and Radio Flux improvement for Cycle
25, see
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/solar-cycle-progression.
For the latest discussions, see our GROUPS.IO page here.
From the ARRL Letter 7/29/2021. A
suggestion how to call DX on FT8 when all you need is the confirmation.
See Hot News at the left.
This website is current a/o 09 October,
2021. |
| Introduction |
The seed for Amateur Radio was planted in the 1890's,
with
Marconi experiments in wireless telegraphy. Soon he was joined
by hundreds; now thousands worldwide. This page tells you what we are about 132 years
later.
|
| Radio
Choices |
Many new to Amateur Radio wonder what radio
to choose after their hand-held. Here
is information about Yaesu, Icom and Flex, along with links to others.
There is more about Flex in the Presentations folder.
Think about your first station as making an investment toward the
future. Try to make it a foundation upon which to grow. |
| Station Design for HF
to 50MHz |
Our members
operate stations from simple to elaborate. We can give you ideas for
yours and help you with your station design. See
station layouts at N7RF, K5NOF and at K9ROD. |
| Station Design for VHF |
The Hill
Country has many locations that are good for VHF and UHF. With
proper antennas and low loss coax, one can work much further than could be
imagined.
|
| QRP |
Want to get
started in QRP? We do that. KARS past President, Bob Rosier - K4OCE, recently inducted into the QRP
Hall of Fame, tells you how.
|
| Weak
Signal World &
Digital |
New modes like
FT4 and
FT8 seem to be the fastest growing segment of our hobby. See this
page for FT4 and FT8 updates from Dave Moore, N7RF.
|
| Space |
See the Presentations Folder for information about ARISS --
Amateur Radio on the International Space
Station. The ISS call sign is presently NA1SS. Downlink
frequency:145.8 MHz. Astronaut: Shannon Walker KD5DXB. See
https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html for
latest information. |
|
Contesting and DX |
This page encourages one to get on HF and
to work contests. You will find an ARRL link to nine pages of information how to
begin contesting along with all the do's and don'ts. This page also
provides some "how to" ideas about contesting and working DX,
plus how to find who is on
the air and find current propagation reports.
|
|
Software LoTW
& Club Log |
This subject
discusses Ham software, how to get the rare one in the log and then how to get the
confirmation. We can help you get started
with LoTW and Club Log. |
| Repeaters |
The 444.9
and 146.64 are both DR-2 repeaters located ten miles north of Boerne on Tower Road.
145.19 is a DR-2 repeater located at Fair Oaks Ranch. Click on "Presentations" to see
the roadmap developed in 4/2018 and followed to get to where we are today.
We will shortly install an UHF repeater at 150 feet AGL at the Volunteer
Fire Department in Sisterdale, Texas. |
|
Field
Day
|
The COVID-19 pandemic-modified ARRL
Field Day rules
from 2020 continued this June with the addition of a power limit
of 150 Watts imposed on Class D (Home Stations) and Class E (Home
Stations-Emergency Power) participants. Now Field Day is over so now
we will wait to see how we did. |
|
DIY (Do It Yourself) |
Our presentations folder became crowded, so we stripped
out a collection of "Do It Yourself" projects developed by various members
of KARS. Informational items remain in "Presentations &
Discussion." Latest addition in DIY shows how KARS member
Gavin, KI5MCD installed his Yaesu FT-857D in his Jeep Wrangler. |
|
Presentations & Discussions |
We have frequent programs on a variety of amateur radio
subjects. Those most recent: Echolink Comes to KARS, Don Udel,
KI5AIU. Corky Sarvis, WB5CIT about Station
Grounding. Don Udel, KI5AIU, "What is Winlink (and why should I care?)" |
| Meetings,
Training and Testing |
We normally meet the first Thursday of each month, and
can provide testing for Tech to Extra before the general meeting. We
have 11 Volunteer Examiners. Register beforehand so we know
you are coming. See Training, Meetings
and Testing for requirements.
Follow the "testing" link for phone number and email
address of Brad Peace - N5PBP for an
appointment. You do not need to be a member of our club to test.
We are open to all. |
| Links |
Here are links to various websites of interest. New
content, a compilation of various HP test articles and various Tektronics
books on how to use various items of test equipment from Steve, W5SCL. If you
want to hear how ship to shore CW was done before the "night of nights" on
12 July 1991, check out the
Maritime Radio Historical Society. |
| Community Activities |
We have a
strong association with Kendall Co. EMS, the Kendall County Sheriff's
Department and other organizations. See our communication plan for
interoperability with local agencies.
|
| Swap Meet |
A Club member has a friend in IL
who is looking for Drake gear in good to excellent condition. TR-4,
TR4C, TR-4CW as well as a L-4B, etc. If you have Drake gear you want to
sell, contact Jim Nelson, W6TIR, <jnelson78240@satx.rr.com>
with the type of equipment and condition. He will forward this
information to the buyer. All further discussions will be between
buyer and seller. Want to list something? Send text and picture to the webmaster,
K5NOF@ARRL.net. |
|
Administration |
Our home page became cluttered so we consolidated
a bunch of stuff into a new "Administration" folder. See this file for KARS membership application. Meeting
agenda template. Mailing address and current list of Officers and
Directors. Script for the VHF net. Constitution and By-laws.
History of KARS. |
| Ideas
for Improvement |
Please direct your flaming arrows at
the webmaster.
A web site lives or dies depending on its content. Judging from the
hit-counter, we must be doing pretty well. Your ideas are welcome.
K5NOF@arrl.net
|
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You are visitor number
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KARS
-- P.O.
Box 1732 -- Boerne,
TX 78006
|
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For
more information, email K5NOF@ARRL.net
|
