Kendall Amateur Radio Society

KB5TX

Welcome to KARS

Welcome to the Kendall Amateur Radio Society (KARS). We are in the South Texas Section and located in Boerne, Kendall County, Texas around 30 miles NNW from Downtown San Antonio.  Our Club was formed in October 1980.  We have a paid membership of 55.  We are growing because we offer a variety of ham radio activities to amateur radio operators in the Texas Hill Country and the greater San Antonio area.  Additionally, we are growing because we have 11 VEs, and we routinely test from Tech to Extra.  Testing at KARS is open to any candidate.  Follow this link for more information.

ARRL Affiliation

We are an American Radio Relay League (ARRL) affiliated club and strongly support our National organization.  Our skills run from technology, to CW, SSB and Digital, working HF contests, chasing DX, 50 MHz, VHF and above.  Need help getting started in Amateur Radio?  Come see us.  We have Elmers willing to help in a variety of subjects shown below.  Come meet the subject matter experts.

 

We are not a repeater club, but we have one of the most capable system of repeaters in the Texas Hill Country.  We provide the following repeaters using the Club call KB5TX.

VHF: 146.64 (-)  pl tone of 88.5.  DR-2 at about 1970 feet above MSL (110 feet AGL) on Tower Road.
 
VHF: 145.19 (-)  pl tone of 88.5.  DR-1 at about 1600 MSL (140 feet AGL) near Sisterdale, TX.

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 1610 MSL (150 feet AGL) near Sisterdale, TX.

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

Hot News

The Kendall Amateur Radio Society (KARS) will conduct Field Day activities at the K5NOF ranch commencing Saturday 25 June through Sunday 26 June.  We are not in this for the score but to HAVE FUN.  Our objectives are:

·         Provide operating experience for our new members.

·         Give these members opportunity to learn how to set up in the field and to see various equipment in operation.

·         Observe various mode of operations (CW, SSB, Digital) and then sit in the seat and try themselves, with a control operator if appropriate.

·         Enjoy the congeniality of the event.

Field Day 2022 is complicated because of the Tour de Boerne bike ride occurring on Saturday, 25 June.  With 55 paid members, we have enough people to do both.  KARS members will provide communications at check points along the route.  At the same time, we will have a strong on-the-air Field Day presence.

There will be eight or so check points along the route.  When ride supervisors confirm the last rider is clear, KARS communicators can join the field day operation at the K5NOF ranch or at home as individuals.

Setup at K5NOF will commence at 7 PM Friday evening, however, most of the setup effort will occur early Saturday morning.  On the air operation will commence at 1 PM Saturday.  We will break for dinner (Hamburgers, potato salad, beans) at 5 PM and resume operation around 6 PM.

The public is invited to join us on early Saturday afternoon between 1 PM and 4 PM.  Members of the Boerne Police Department and the Kendall County Sheriff's Office are encouraged to drop by anytime.  Address:  48 Rust Lane, Boerne.

Rust is off TX Hwy 46, five miles east of Main Street.  From the east, Rust Lane is 4.5 miles west of the intersection of TX Hwy 46 and FM 3351.  Turn north to Number 48 on the left.  Pass through an open gate and then follow the pavement through a second open gate and into the ranch.

New Repeater at Sisterdale, TX.  FLASH.  Sisterdale is on the air.   See more on the Repeater page.

Looks like we have a permanent place to meet.  This will be the Pioneer House at The Agricultural museum and arts center.  The address is 102 City Park Road, Boerne, TX 78006.  See more at the link below left.

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..

This website is current a/o 18 Jun 22.  Latest content changes:  Notification about Sisterdale repeater, and our plan for Field Day 22. 

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, 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.  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.  See our present plan.
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 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 communication plan for interoperability with local agencies.  
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