If you enjoy the outdoors and enjoy this crazy radio hobby, Summits On The Air (SOTA) is for you.  It’s like POTA on steriods and it brings out the further enjoyment of getting great exercise and tests your skills with lower power operations.  After all, who want to lug up heavy equipment and batteries up … Read more…

Success!  The JSCARC successfully completed our second 3PP this year.  This was our first route towards the south- activating Galveston Island State Park, the Justin Hurst Wildlife Management Area, and the Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge. It’s hard to plan an all-day club event due to everyone’s busy schedules and the fickleness of which Texas weather … Read more…

ARDF, or Amateur Radio Direction Finding, was successfully carried out last week! As part of our JSCARC Student Intern support, the JSCARC invited Sarah KC1VCT, Gavin KF8CHK, and Shirina KO6DOS to patriciate in a T-Hunt on Friday. Nov 1, 2024. We hid 3 fox transmitters on the Gilruth premises and had our intrepid hunters try … Read more…

David KB5PGY ran as point guard for this year’s JSCARC booth at the JSC Safety and Health Day held on October 31, 2024. Our booth was stationed inside Teague Auditorium, protected from the outdoor elements (bugs and heat) while basking in the wonderful indoor Air Conditioning. This annual event is a serious JSC event, which … Read more…

  It’s not too often the JSCARC gets visitors from overseas.  Last month, Ben OS4K, contacted us through our w5rrr.org website to inquire if a visit to the shack was possible.5000 miles later, Ben and his associate, Dr. Fabian Steinmann met us at the shack for a wonderful meet and greet. John AB5SS and I … Read more…

Keith KG5HOK successfully operated on his first POTA activation on Oct 30, at the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Park, US-3511.  Jeff AB4ME and Dave W5OC accompanied him for his first exposure as an activator. Using Dave’s FT991A 100W transceiver and a 20′ Sotabeam linked dipole, Keith made 20 QSOs across the USA on 20m … Read more…

JSCARC members Jeff AB4ME, Kelvin K5KGH, and Dave W5OC host 3 Student Interns for a soldering 101 tutorial and a few minutes on the air. Shirina, KO6DOS, was already a licensed tech, but never operated on HF.  With gentle encouragement from AB4ME, we got her for some fun SSB ragchewing with a ham out in … Read more…

Jerry N5FWB and David KG5URA hosted Scout Troop 990 at the JSCARC shack on Friday Oct 11. 8 talented scouts and Scoutmaster Tristan Cossey had an opportunity to visit and get on the air, just ahead of the official Jamboree On the Air (JOTA) this upcoming weekend.

There’s not too much to say here except we’re going to attempt our 2nd 3PP (3 Park POTA) roving adventure on Saturday November 2, 2024. The linked Power Point presentation provides the detailed information of our route plan and times.  (Note CW operators must use WARC bands after 1000CT.) If you’ve never tried a POTA … Read more…

Belton Hamfest hails as the largest hamfest in Texas held twice a year- Spring and Fall.  This venue is a conveniently located equi-distance from the surrounding big, populated cities of Houston, San Antonio, Dallas/FW, and a bit closer for Austin-ites. It’s still a boring 3.5-hour drive from Houston/Clear-Lake, assuming traffic is clear.  Sympathies to Keith … Read more…