Kendall Amateur Radio Society

KB5TX

Welcome to KARS

Welcome to the Kendall Amateur Radio Society (KARS).  We are an American Radio Relay League (ARRL) affiliated club and strongly support our National organization. 

We are located in the South Texas Section (STX), in Boerne, Kendall County, Texas around 30 miles NNW from Downtown San Antonio, off of I-10. Our Club was formed in October 1980.  We have a paid membership of 55, and  are growing for a number of reasons:

  • We offer a variety of ham radio activities to amateur radio operators in the Texas Hill Country and the greater San Antonio area.
  • We do things!  See Field Day, Community Activities and Club Activities.  Beyond public service, we use events to pass the experience of our older members to those younger and new to our Hobby..
  • We have subject matter experts in most aspects of our Hobby, and each is ready to help you.  Our skills run from technology, to CW, Phone and Digital, working HF contests, chasing DX, 50 MHz, VHF and above. 
  • We are congenial and welcoming.  Need help getting started in Amateur Radio?  We will help you.
  • We have 11 VEs and routinely test from Tech to Extra.  Make an appointment when you think you are ready.  Testing at KARS is open to any candidate.
  • Come visit us.  We meet the first Thursday of each month a 1900.  Follow this link for more information.

We are not a repeater club, but we have one of the most capable system of repeaters in the Texas Hill Country.  We operate four, each using the Club call-sign KB5TX.  Our coverage ranges from Kerrville to the North West, Fredericksburg to North, to Blanco to the North East, Schertz on the East side of San Antonio, to Helotes on West side of San Antonio.  Perhaps even a bit further into downtown San Antonio itself and to the South West of downtown.

  • VHF: 146.64 (-)  pl tone of 88.5.  DR-2 at about 1970 feet above MSL (110 feet AGL) on Tower Road at 29.86N, 98.77W.  Five miles north of Boerne.

  • VHF: 145.19 (-)  pl tone of 88.5.  DR-1 at about 1600 MSL near Sisterdale, TX at 30N, 98.43W. Fifteen miles north of Boerne.

  • UHF: 444.9 (+) pl tone of  88.5. DR-2 using the upper UHF antenna on Tower Road, with Wires-X.

  • UHF:  444.925 (+) pl tone of 88.5.  DR-2 using the upper UHF antenna at 1610 MSL near Sisterdale, TX at 30N, 98.43W..

KARS Net meets every Tuesday night at 7pm on the 146.64 repeater.  All are welcome.

Hot News

See the Sisterdale Story under Club Activities. 

Our meeting location  is 102 City Park Road, Boerne, TX 78006.  See the Meetings, Training and Testing link.

It is now easy for Members to pay their yearly club dues.  Pay by credit card through Square.  See http://kendall-amateur-radio-society.square.site/.

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.  Testing starts at 6:30pm.  Those wishing to test must arrive early and get your paperwork filled out.

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. Click Hot News at left for more

For the latest discussions, see our GROUPS.IO page here.

KARS Membership grew 10% during 2021.  We now have 55 active members.

Hit counter below was added in early 2021.  We crossed 10,000 hits in mid-January 2022, and are approaching 30,000 hits by the end of July 2022.

This website is current a/o September 4, 2022.  Latest content change:  Minor tinkering on the Home Page.  The Sisterdale Story under Cub Activities.  Presentation how to connect various radios for digital communication in the Presentations folder.
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 133 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 and at K5NOF.
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.  See this page also for an article about FELD-HELL by Mark Rosier, KE5GL.
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-1 repeater now installed at 140 feet AGL at Sisterdale, TX..  A second DR-2 UHF repeater (444.925 (+) PL 88.5) is now installed at 150 feet AGL on the same tower
Field Day

Forget all you once knew about Field Day rules.  New for 2022 and onward:  power limit 100W, home stations can work others for score plus any one else.  Others can work as Class A, B, C.  Scores from individual operations may be combined into an Aggregate Club Score by simply including the club name in their submission.
Club Activities This section tells you about various Club projects.  This is a "work in progress."  See how we removed, repaired and restored the LPA at K5NOF.  Next see the detail about Sisterdale tower.
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. Latest addition: Interfacing for Digital Modes by Don Udel, KI5AIU.
Meetings, Training and Testing See the link for our new meeting location.  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 the link at left for requirements.  Contact Brad Peace - N5PBP, bjpeace1960@gmail.com 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 support for the Tour de Boerne bike ride through north Kendall County.
Swap Meet

Want to list something?  Send text and picture to the webmaster, K5NOF@ARRL.net.

Administration.htm 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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KARS -- P.O. Box 1732 -- Boerne, TX 78006

For more information, email K5NOF@ARRL.net