We need everybody at the February meeting, Tuesday the 23rd. Please show up!!
Because he needs a phone with bigger keys 😉
Mary KU5Z, Jason KS5TX, Richard N5YPJ and Erik K5WW went to Amistad National Recreation Area (aka. “Amistad Lake”) to participate in the National Parks on The Air event and had loads of fun, this past Saturday!
Photo taken during Jason’s pre-visit on January 29, 2016.
Our wonderful President, always 3 steps ahead of everyone else, spent the night in Del Rio (at an undisclosed location), just so he could be in the park at the crack of dawn. And he was!
KS5TX says “good morning, Amistad!”
Yawn!! Too early for most other Texans; but that (among many other reasons) is why Jason’s the President! 😉
Here’s a picture of the poor fishermen below our position:
All about that bass (but no Meghan Trainor in sight!)
Jason decided to change our operating location at the very last minute; because the spot he had picked the day before, upon arrival, was occupied by a big Bud RV, there for the fishing tournament. Thanks, Bud, for parking in our spot. After all these years you still aren’t any “Wiser”, are you…?
But: nothing wrong with the new location Jason picked! A few hundred feet downhill, roof over our heads, great view of the lake!
Wherever we went, there we were.
That’s almost half the CARC shack, right there!
Unable to wait for the crowd to arrive Jason set up everything by himself, in no time at all. Barely an hour later he had set up two radios and two antennas, interfaced the laptops and made sure the weenies were on ice:
You’ll see the HF vertical in one of the next photos.
And he also made this photo, just to make sure everyone knows how much stuff he hauled around and unloaded:
That’s a lot of stuff! (food and drinks not pictured)
A little after 10 AM and the first visitor shows up. Richard N5YPJ – without a jacket! 😉
And one HF vertical, hiding in the back.
By lunch time Jason had already made several dozen QSOs on 40 SSB! Soon after that these two showed up:
Mary KU5Z (l) and Erik K5WW (r).
Actually, that was after a brief intermezzo of watching fish getting counted and weighed. Somebody won big bucks that day (no, they’re not really “poor” fishermen); but nobody bothered to clean up the wet spot!
It got a bit windy that afternoon; but after a 70+ degree day we weren’t complaining:
K5WW (l) and KS5TX (r).
In case it hadn’t “hit you” yet: yes, Jason even brought those two desk chairs!
Another photo of the beautiful lake, by Mary:
Diablo East
More wind!
K5WW (rear) and KS5TX (front)
6 o’clock, very windy and getting colder:
KU5Z, so cold she’s ready to go!
But we stayed just little longer; and around 6:30 PM Mary snapped this photo of the sun disappearing again:
KU5Z says “Good night, Amistad”.
Another hour later it was all over. It got way too windy and cold (and we weren’t really prepared for that!). Yet, some people never know when to quit:
Where’d the pile-up go???
After 251 QSO with the US, Canadia and Puerto Rico we packed our bags, poles and coaxes and headed back home. It was a whole lotta fun!!!
Thanks to everyone involved, organizers, planners, callers, heavy haulers and visitors.
Oh, and: cold hotdogs can be tasty too 😉
Click on “Amistad, here we come!” below for travel directions.
This weekend we’ll be participating in the ARRL’s National Parks on The Air event from the Amistad Recreational Area (or “park”, as we locals call it) in Val Verde county! It was designated RC01 on the ARRL’s list and has not been activated yet this year; so we should have lots of callers.
The weather should be good, so no need to postpone it any longer! Consider yourself invited; for more information use the Contact Us form or call the President’s number listed on that page, please.
Brief directions to the site: from Del Rio head North on Veterans Blvd. / Highway 90. When you get to the ramp to Highway 277 (the “Y”) stay on Highway 90 and continue 7 miles. Then turn right into the Diablo East entrance:
Travel one mile on paved road towards the boat ramp and we will be located on the left near the restrooms:
There are hundreds of parking spots available; so don’t hesitate to bring your friends!
And if you come: BYOB. 🙂
The meeting was called to order at 7:15 PM.
Attending: David W5DUH, Jason KS5TX, Jim AB5JK and Erik K5WW.
Our always-generous President opened the meeting by uncorking (and sharing) a fine bottle of Dom Perignon champagne. Nice! 😉
We discussed the progress regarding the issue of the horrible radio interference at the club shack. After weeks of search and research we found that the interference originates at one or more transformers in an alley a few blocks to our northwest, and pinpointed the problem pole(s). In late December the APE people were informed of our findings and conclusions; and much to our surprise (it was “the holidays” after all!) they showed up at the club shack two days later to check out things. Unfortunately our main guy was out of reach at the time; so the AEP crew headed back home, closing the work order because of “no problem found”. AEP was once again contacted on Friday the 22 of this month (after finding out the work order had been closed) and in agreement with the Uvalde supervisor we will try to meet with him and his crew this week to demonstrate the problem and hopefully get this issue resolved soon. Stay tuned for more!
Also discussed: our participation in the ARRL’s National Parks on the Air event. It’s gonna happen soon; stay tuned for late breaking news even more!!
The Treasurer’s report showed no change from last month; but that is being worked on. We are going to try a new brand of potting soil.
The meeting was adjourned around 8 PM or so.
Hohoho! No, wait, that was last month…
The January meeting will be on Tuesday the 26th, same place, same time. You are invited!
On the agenda, among other things: case # 942998939.
