I arrived at the Belton Bell Expo Center at 5:30pm on Friday for early setup. Half a dozen hams had their outdoor tailgates (a term used for ham who sell stuff outdoors, orginating from selling from the lowered tailgate of a truck) already going and a healthy population of RVs were already parked in the … Read more…

Jeff Harbour, AB4ME, volunteered to 3D print CW straight keys for the club.  9 members have ordered the keys, so Jeff has been working overtime with his 3D printer, making these unique keys available at a ridiculous price of $5. Jeff found the design online on Thingiverse at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3167343, designed by Torbjorn Skauli, LA4ZCA. Using his … Read more…

The 2023 Spring semester JSC Student Ham Radio Internship Committee kicked off with a JSCARC sponsoried “Soldering 101” class.  Utilizing W5OC’s bulk buy of Kelvin LED Flashing Kits, which is comprised of 12 components including 2 2N2222A transistors, 2 LEDS, 2 electrolytic caps, 4 resistors, a SPST switch and a 9v battey holder, this kit has … Read more…

POTA #10 @ Galveston Island Park This blog post is dedicated to David Kimbrell KG5URA, who got up early in the morning, packed and ready to activate at the Galveston Island State Park… but his truck battery was dead due to a faulty alternator.  Luckily it happened in his driveway. Who would have thought we’d have … Read more…

N5LOW and KG5URA plan to set the bar with kite antennas for this upcoming POTA activation on March 11. N5LOW already had huge success last month, using his kites and a 20m end fed half wave wire antenna.  He noted that the kite lift was poor and better lift would have given the antenna some … Read more…

Who:  Anyone!  to date- KG5URA, N5LOW, AB5SS, AD5CQ, K5RG confirmed; W5OC tentative What: Activation of POTA K-3013 Galveston Island Park (and IOTA W5/NA-143) When:  Saturday March 11, 2023 0800-1200 CT Where:  Galveston Island State Park, Picnic Shelter  29.20437467939392, -94.9566918792423  https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/galveston-island/map How:  $5 entrance fee into GISP, or purchase a $70 year long pass for free entry to 89 state parks for … Read more…

   To purchase (JSCARC members only), please authorize your PayPal remittance of $5 / kit to http://paypal.me/w5rrr/5 This is another JSCARC initiative to encourage hams to (re)learn morse code.  Additionally, this is an example of creative processes to design, develop, build and test our ham radio accessories. Jeff AB4ME is offering his 3D printing expertise to … Read more…

What a great day for portable ops @ Galveston Island State Park (GISP).  This earmark’s the club’s 9th POTA activation. The intrepid JSCARC members, N5LOW, AB5SS, K5RG, and myself (W5OC) had a blast working multiple pileups with hot HF band activity on CW, SSB and FT8. With a weary cold and windy forecast the day … Read more…

Wow, we had a bumper crop of members bring in projects for this month’s Show N Tell session. This is especially why attending the meetings pays huge dividends- to be able to see, touch, share, and converse about interesting projects.  Here’s an abbreviated summary: John AB5SS Rotary Attenuator   (Note, I forget to take photos … Read more…

Who:  Anyone!  to date- KG5URA, N5LOW, AB5SS, AD5CQ, W5OC confirmed; K5RG tentative What: Activation of POTA K-3013 Galveston Island Park (and IOTA W5/NA-143) When:  Saturday February 11, 2023 0800-1200 CT Where:  Galveston Island State Park, Picnic Shelter  29.20437467939392, -94.9566918792423  https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/galveston-island/map How:  $5 entrance fee into GISP, or purchase a $70 year long pass for free entry to 89 state parks for … Read more…