Kendall Amateur Radio Society

KB5TX

Welcome to the Kendall Amateur Radio Society (KARS). We were formed in October 1980, and have a current membership of around 70. Our club offers a variety of  ham radio activities and fellowship for amateur radio operators in Boerne, Texas, the surrounding Hill Country, and north west San Antonio.  We are an American Radio Relay League (ARRL) affiliated club and strongly support our National organization.

Our meeting location is the Emergency Management Services (EMS) Building Training Room, 1175 N. Main St., Boerne, TX 78006. Meetings are held on the first Thursday of each month and convene at 7:00 PM.  Enter through the door at the Southeast corner of the building.

We have frequent programs on a variety of amateur radio subjects ranging from software for Amateur Radio to operating techniques, and can help you get started in Amateur Radio. The links at left-below are designed to give you ideas. Our skills run from technology, to CW, SSB and Digital, working HF contests, chasing DX, 50 MHz, VHF and above. Both experienced and new Hams will find a home with us, and we will welcome your participation.

Flash:  Most of us have been together for Field Day (more about this later).  KARS monthly meeting for July is CANCELLED.  Out next meeting will be held Thursday, August 2nd.
Hot News See this page for longer enduring items of interest:  1)  Bob Rosier, K4OCE has been inducted into the QRP Hall of Fame.  2) DXpeditions -- see DX for latest on Baker, Ducie and Bouvet.
Introduction  The seed for Amateur Radio was planted in the 1890's, when Marconi began his experiments in wireless telegraphy. Soon he was joined by hundreds.  This section tells you what we are about 126 years later.
Station Design for HF to 50MHz Our members operate stations from simple to elaborate.  We can give you ideas for yours.
Weak Signal World & Digital New modes like MSK144 and FT8 seem to be the fastest growing segment of our hobby.
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.
Repeaters We are not a repeater club but none the less, we own and operate two repeaters.  See this section for the improvements currently underway.
Field Day Field Day - 2018 commences at 1800Z, June 23.  We will commence set up 24 hours beforehand and operate for 24 hours.  You will find all the pertinent information here.
DX This page will provide some "how to" ideas and tell how to find who is on the air.
QRP Want to get started in QRP?  KARS past President, Bob Rosier - K4OCE, recently inducted into the QRP Hall of Fame, tells you how.
LoTW and Club Log This subject discusses Ham software, how to get the rare one in the log and then how to get the confirmation.
Technology Amateur radio technology has come a long way since the spark transmitters of 100 years ago.  See this page for how to use WSJT-X On A Raspberry Pi 3.
Training and Testing We provide direction, mentoring and when you are ready, testing.
Community Activities We have a strong association with Kendall Co. EMS, the Kendall County Sheriff's Department and reach out to other organizations, such as the Boy Scouts of America.
Current News Letter You will find our latest news letter here.
Swap Meet Have something to sell or trade?  Provide text and pictures in .jpg format to the Webmaster for posting.
Officers In addition to information in the footer, you will find the mailing address, email address, and a listing of KARS officers for 2018 here.
Links Here are links to various websites of interest.  If you want to hear how ship to shore CW was done just 20 years ago, check out the Maritime Radio Historical Society.
Constitution and By-Laws Our Constitution and By-Laws are current as of Summer, 2016.  These are updated for approval by the membership as circumstances dictate.
History of the Club KARS commenced informally around 1975 and was formally incorporated in 1980.  See this link for all the details.
Ideas for Improvement All flaming arrows should be directed at the Webmaster.

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

info@kb5tx.org