As a 501c3 non-profit, KARS members provide assistance to Kendall County EMS, Boerne Police and
Kendall County Sheriff's Office along with other organizations local to Kendall County.
Amateur Radio Licensing Update During US Government Shutdown
The government shutdown began at 12:01 Eastern time on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, when Congress had not passed an
appropriations bill or other plan to keep the government funded for the new fiscal year (begins October 1).
The Federal Communications Commission, which issues Amateur Radio Service licenses, issued a Public Notice on Tuesday, September 30,
indicating that it would suspend most operations following a shutdown. “Aside from a few emergency and auction filing systems, all
other Commission electronic filing systems will be unavailable to the public until normal agency operations resume,” said the FCC Notice.
The FCC Notice indicates that the CORES registration system will remain available to the public and will not be affected by the shutdown.
Exam candidates can still register in CORES and be assigned an FCC Registration Number (FRN) at https://apps.fcc.gov/cores/userLogin.do.
The FCC's Universal Licensing System (ULS) databases are currently unavailable to the public. ULS and related systems (like the License Manager,
License Search, Application Search, etc.) are not accessible during the shutdown. Users cannot file applications with the FCC, or access
license data, including address information.
Call to Action
The ARRL is focused on reducing legal restraints on the ability of American Amateur Radio Operators to engage in the active practice and enjoyment of Amateur Radio.
One of the most insidious and increasing threats to the survival of Amateur Radio and our ability to serve our communities and Nation, as we are required to do by
Federal regulation, is the proliferation of private land use restrictions that prohibit the installation of outdoor antennas and that sometimes actually deny Federally
licensed Amateurs from operating any amateur radios, regardless of where their antennas are located — in their attics, hidden in trees, or mounted on their vehicles.
Federal law — since 1996 — has guaranteed to every American — except Amateur Radio Operators — the right to erect antennas outside or on their residences for the purpose
of TV reception, satellite TV and internet access, wireless internet access, and even wireless internet redistribution. But Amateur Radio operators are denied the equal
right to erect comparable antennas.
Since 2005, Federal law has also guaranteed to every American the right to proudly display the American Flag by installing flagpoles in their yards. But, despite that right
to install vertical poles in their yards — American Radio Amateurs are denied the right to use those vertical flagpoles as vertical antennas.
We believe the denial — to licensed Amateur Radio Operators — of the rights guaranteed to all non-Amateur Radio licensed American homeowners — the right to install antennas
on the land they own — is without justification and should not be permitted to continue.
To eliminate these private land use restrictions, the ARRL has worked over the past several years with our elected officials to draft Congressional legislation —
H.R. 1094 in the U.S. House of Representatives and S. 459 in the U.S. Senate — that, when passed will extend to all Hams the right to operate from their homes and the
right to install antennas on the land they own. We have bipartisan support for this legislation.
Bigfoot Special Event Oct 15-20th
The Radio Club of Tacoma ran a Bigfoot special event in conjunction with National Sasquatch Awareness Day. The special event will be on the air
from October 15, 2025, at 0000 Zulu (UTC) through October 21, 2025, at 2359 Zulu. Check out their website for details.
Belton HamExpo Oct 3rd-4th
Several members were spotted at the Temple Amateur Radio Club (TARC) HamExpo Oct 3rd & 4th in Belton, TX just south of Waco.
The floor was packed with vendors and was attended a lot better than this past Spring.
KARS POTA Activations
September 10-12, Jesse (W1BBT) and Jerry (N5SGM) had their first DX POTA activation at US-3020 Inks Lake State Park. Jesse was able
to make the top 5 activator list with 303 contacts, and Jerry was on fire with CW. On the way back home, they stoped as US-3034 Longhorn Cavern State Park
for a quick activation. Stay tuned for the next park these two will be headed to. Pictures
Flood Alert System
On Sept 2, 2025, Mark Chapman KJ5CBL, was invited by the Austin Police Department Emergency Management Office to attend a demonstration of a new early warning device that is designed to save lives during a catastrophic flooding event. Much like that of July 4, 2025 in Kerr, Hunt and Kendall counties.
The demonstration was held at Camp La Junta and Camp Vista in Hunt County. Two of these devices were donated by a company from Austin, River Sentry. The company is an upstart in response to the devastating floods we recently experienced. The technology behind these devices utilizes Meshtastic devices to transmit information using LoRA radios to other devices in the area as well as web based applications which would be located out of the flood area.
The devices activate within 7 seconds of a potential flood condition and activate a 130 decibel siren and warning light as long as the condition exists. The units are powered by a lithium battery that will continually alert for approximately 45 minutes. (See attached video) (warning loud!)
River Sentry donated two of these devices to Camp La Junta and Camp Vista on September 3, 2025. In an effort to help these facilities comply with the new state rules regarding emergency flood notification at camps such as these. Current prices are approximately $4500 per unit, depending on options.
These units will also be available to individual land owners who might be interested in purchasing one.
POTA Activation - August 17, 2025
Jesse (W1BBT) and Jerry (N5SGM) did a POTA (Parks on the Air) activation at the Old Tunnel State Park. Jesse made
60 FT8 contacts, and Jerry made his FIRST 3 CW POTA contacts. He rounded out the activation with 16 more FT8 contacts.
Jerry's (N5SGM) first POTA activation
Guadalupe River Flooding EOC Support - July 5-11, 2025
KARS would like to thank all of the volunteers that have supported our mission in providing valuable communications between
the search and rescue teams and the EOC. We have made an impression on the Kendall County officials, clearly demonstrating
our value add to their Emergency Operation mission as a strategic tool. KARS looks forward to supporting Kendall County
in any of their future needs.
Click the images below to see them in full resolution.
ARRL Field Day was a big success! Thanks to all
the prep work by Jerry (N5SGM), we were able operate 4 stations for the contest portion that made over 300 contacts
on both digital and SSB Phone. We also had several visitors stop by that we expect to see at our next meeting.
KARS would like to recognize the following organizations for supporting our ARRL Field Day:
The ARRL International Digital Contest was held June 7-8. The team had a blast over the 30 hours and managed
to rack up what we think is going to be an impressive score. Not all clubs report to HamDash,
but comapared to those that do we smoked the competition! The QSOs were so hot, Mark (WM3R) overheated the USB board on his radio early on. Impressive since
he was running QRP!
Unofficial Points Results:
Total: 14,948 points / 1,382 QSOs
By team member:
Jesse (W1BBT) did his second POTA activation at Guadalupe River State Park as part of the Texas State Parks
on the Air. The location sits at a trail head and got some foot traffic from inquisitive hikers.
Click here for pictures from the weekend.
In the beginning, the Museum had a single GVTC wireless modem inside the Art classroom. We began the expansion process a couple of years ago after a contractor ran an underground fiber optic cable from there to the log cabin.
With the expert help of Ben (K5AYR) and Mark (N5YZV), we installed mesh access points (APs) inside the cabin, and outside the cabin covering up the grassy area under the trees.
Later we added another AP with a high gain sector antenna outside of the Art classroom so that the Museum could run wireless point-of-sale terminals at the eastern gate (by the swimming pool)
for events such as Art Shows and Bierfest.
In the latest round of expansion, Jerry (W5MIG), Ben (K5AYR) and Dave (N7RF), with the help of museum director Russel Rust (who lives on Rust Rd right behind Al Walters’ ranch) extended the network from the cabin to the red barn with very compact 60-GHz building-to-building Ubiquiti bridge units. Inside the barn, we ran a splitter feeding an AP for barn events (parties, weddings, dances, bluegrass jams, etc.) and an outdoor 90-degree sector beam AP on the outside south wall of the barn for use during tractor pull events. We finished up on Thursday just in time for today’s antique tractor pull.
Russell assisted us by bringing a cherry picker over last weekend and running CAT6 cable across the barn rafters and also installed the mounting bracket for the tractor field AP on the outside wall of the barn.
60ghz Access Point Access Point on the backside of the barn
Winter Field Day is an exciting annual event for amateur radio enthusiasts, taking place on the last full weekend of January. The event is organized by the Winter Field Day Association which strongly believes that ham radio operators should practice portable emergency communications in winter environments. KARS will be participating in the event this year with plans to operate over the entire contest period.
Several members of KARS were involved in assisting the Boerne PD and Kendall County placing spotters in key locations to observe and report. Jesse (W1BBT) and Jim (W6TIR)
were located inside the EOC to operate net control and relay information while spotters were given the tactical callsigns:
Methodist - Greg (K5KYR) / Jerry (W5MIG)
Comfort - George (W5GRG) / Chris (KD5ZLR)
Alamo - Rick (N5RCT)
Sisterdale - Gavin (KI5MCD)
Kendalia - Rowland (K5TY)
Bergheim - Lloyd (KF5ZHW)
Pipe Creek - Marsh (WA5UBO)
Boerne Central - Ethan (KI5SLS)
Boerne West - Mark (KJ5CBL)
Boerne East - Dennis (KJ5EHE)
Additional assistance was provided by Don (KI5AIU) at the Sisterdale repeater ensuring we had a backup plan in the event the 146.640 repeater failed. The net provided key
information to Boerne PD, and Cheif Perez very much appreciated the effort of the entire KARS team.
Annular Eclipse - October 14, 2023
Public Service Assistance to Boerne Police for Solar Eclipses
On October 4th, KARS met with Captain Steve Perez of the Boerne Police Department regarding KARS
members assisting with the two eclipses passing over the area. Captain Perez would like to
incorporate our communications capabilities into their planning. He noted the cell phone system has
been overwhelmed during past events and he wants to ensure that doesn't hinder their response.
His minimum requirements from KARS are:
A station in the Emergency Operations Center (EOC)
A station on Main St to cover the Hill Country Mile Rod Run
A station at the Methodist Boerne Medical Center, Menger Springs, Boerne
* They could add additional assignments if we have enough interest from our members.
Call to Action
