Next Meeting: February 5, 2026 @ 7:00pm

Our next meeting will be February 5th at the Boerne Library. Check out our meetings page for more details.

Are you a newly licensed ham or want to become one? Join us at our monthly meeting for tips and tricks on everything from antennas, radio usage, digital modes and technical presentations.

Social Hour

Many members meet for dinner prior to the monthly meeting for social hour. We will meet at the
Hungry Horse Restaurant located at 109 Saunders St. at 5pm. Come join us for good food and conversation!

Public Events

KARS members have a history of providing assistance to Kendall County EMS, Boerne Police and Kendall County Sheriff's Office along with other organizations local to Kendall County.

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Social Media

Join us on Groups.io for conversation about all ham radio topics.

We also post events and updates on our Facebook page

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KARS 2m Net

Every Tuesday at 7:00pm the KB5TX 146.640mhz repeater hosts the Kendall County 2 Meter Net. All amateur radio operators are invited to join in net activities.

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ARRL Testing

We have 18 Volunteer Examiners capable of testing for technician all the way to extra class. Check out our testing schedule for new licenses and upgrades.

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Winter Field Day - January 24-25th

KARS will be participating again this year in the annual Winter Field Day as a 4M (4 station Mobile) team. We will be setting up at the Agricultural Museum with 2 stations located in the cabin, and 2 stations located in the Mobile Operations Center. To maximize our footprint and use up the entire 1000' diameter, the Mobile Operations Center will be located on the far side of the city pool parking lot. Jesse (W1BBT), Mark (W3MR), Dave (N7RF) and Rick (N5RCT) will be providing radio stations and antennas. Everyone is welcome to come out and operate for awhile or just observe. Even unlicensed and technicians can (legally) get on the HF bands as well under the supervision of licensed operators! Setup will begin at 7:00am local time on Saturday. The contest period begins at 10:00am and will go through 4:00pm Sunday. This year we will be using World Radio League to track logging for the contest. Use the WRL link to monitor our progress! If you plan on working WFD from home, try catching us on 70cm/1.25m/2m/6m simplex bands for those short range QSOs and help us achieve the 6 band objective!

UPDATE - January 20

Yesterday Jesse (W1BBT), Mark (WM3R) and Jerry (N5SGM) did a mock setup for the Mobile Operations Center. They were able to test working off grid and ensured that we would be able to operate on various bands including 40, 20, 15, 10, 6, 2 and the elusive 1.25m band on 223.5mhz. Weather looks as if it will be taking a turn for the worse, meaning Mother Nature will ensure we get the full Winter Field Day experience. For those that will be playing from home, we will be using the repeater to spot where we are at, so be sure to listen for our announcements.

UPDATE - January 22

The WFD team has been monitoring the weather situation for this weekend and will make a go/no-go decision this evening. Updates will be posted here once a decision is made and a bulk email notice will be sent out.

UPDATE - January 22

After watching the weather forecast for the past few days, we are a GO for Winter Field Day this year. Conditions will be safe enough to get the Mobile Operations Center to and from the site, so there will be a crew manning the radios. If you are participating in WFD from home, listen to the 146.640 repeater for frequencies and modes we are operating on. That will especially help us meet the minimum contacts required for credit on the 6m, 2m, 1.25m and 70cm bands. Keep track of how well KARS is doing by visiting https://worldradioleague.com under Contesting / Winter Field Day.

POTA Activation - January 17th

Jerry (N5SGM) and Jesse (W1BBT) were at Guadalupe River State Park activating US-3017 today betwen 11am and 1:30pm. Jerry made 2 CW/QRP contacts using his QMX Radio on 20m while Jesse made 18 FT8 contacts on 15m, including one to Mr. Trailwood 1.0 aka Jim (W6TIR). To finish up the activation, Jerry jumped on 15m FT8 and completed another 11 contacts. We had a few people check on us via the repeater. Even though we forgot our chairs, we improvised and other than a little wind it was a rather pleasant day out in the park.

2025 KARS Christmas Party & Dinner Recap

The Kendall County Amateur Radio Society held its annual Christmas Party and Dinner with a great turnout of 31 attendees, about half of whom were club members. As always, the club provided the turkey, expertly prepared by Marsh, WA5UBO. Members brought an outstanding variety of covered dishes, and the food was plentiful—no one went home hungry! The evening also included door prizes totaling approximately $177.00, generously provided by the club. This year, Rick (N5RCT) and Jerry (N5SGM) were each honored with a plaque in recognition of their many years of dedicated service to KARS. Congratulations to both—you are truly appreciated! In addition, the group collected $261.00 during the evening to donate to the Pipe Creek Volunteer Fire Department, in appreciation for their generosity in allowing us to use their facilities. Everyone had a great time, and we’re already looking forward to next year’s celebration.

73,
Marsh, WA5UBO

Why is there a cat chasing my mouse?

If you noticed a cat chasing your mouse, then you have found Neko. Neko was added to the website in late November 2025 to bring attention to the feral cat problem in Kendall County. Jesse (W1BBT) has had several feral cats dumped around his property that have brought his total feline count up to 13 16! Four inside cats were rescues (Kitty, Spooky, Ginger & Callie), and one indoor/outdoor cat (Frankie) was a former feral dump in 2003. This summer, another feral was dumped (Momma) and before we could get her spayed she brought us 3 additional kittens in August (Bootsy, Moo Moo and Minnie). October added Munchkin, in what appears to be a case of where his mom dumped him with us due to her injuries. She visits occasionally, along with Munchkin's 2 siblings, and what appears to be Bootsy's dad and Moo Moo's dad as they look identical other than size. If you or somebody you know is looking for a pet, please consider adopting. Shelters are overflowing with animals looking for their forever home. If you are looking for a cat, let me know and I can give you additional details.

Ham Radio Prep and World Radio League

KARS has become an official partner for Ham Radio Prep and World Radio League! The Ham Radio Prep program makes it fast, easy and fun to get your license in just a few hours of study time. Use the coupon code KB5TX and get 10% off!

World Radio League allows you to log your contacts, compete in contests, track your analytics, and much more! If you've looked at WRL in the past, definitely take another look. The development team has been rapidly adding features lately, and it gets the W1BBT seal of approval for POTA activations in addition to shack logging. Use the coupon code KB5TXWRL for special offers.

Click on the respective logos to visit their websites!

W1BBT's General Funnies for Extra Laughs!

Check daily for the latest funny found on the internets.

DX Corner

Several members of KARS are members or working on becoming members of the DX-100 club (Confirmed QSO with over 100 countries) There are several DX expeditions that setup temporarily in remote locations in order to obtain QSOs with sometimes uninhabited islands or other locations that normally have no radio operators. Below is a calendar of of planned expeditions from DX News.

Contest Calendar

Listed here are links to contests that are currently in progress or will start within the next 7 days. These links are provided via an RSS Feed from the WA7BNM Contest Calendar. KARS is participating in contests that are in bold with blue backgroud.

Contest Name

Dates