W5SFA Main Page

Last edit: 3/24/2025 by N5RWK

  

March-April 2025 Announcements 

The March club meeting will be on Wednesday, March 26, 2025 at the Cielito Lindo Mexican Restaurant in Bellville.  We'll be in the back room as usual.  Dinner is at 6, Meeting starts at 7.

The April club meeting will also be at Cielito Lindo, on Wednesday April 30.

Club meetings are always held on the lAST Wednesday of the month (except for Nov & Dec)

 JOIN THE CLUB! 

New members are always welcome!  You don't need to be a radio expert, all you need is to have an interest in radio communications.  For your convenience, you can complete the following application form and mail it to the address above, or bring it to the next club meeting.

                  Membership Application (PDF) 

Upcoming, Current and Past Events: 

Belton Hamexpo is fast approaching, Friday April 4 and Saturday April 5.

Balloons!  Remi and Nathalie have been launching a number of pico balloons.  N5ATH-14 (launched 1/18) is on its 5th lap.  Other balloons active are W5IKD-16 (launched 3/16, first lap) and W5SFA-15 (launched 3/20, first lap).  Click on the links to open the tracking page.

Solar Eclipse Photos from April 8, 2024 - Follow this link:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/iBF3oHELGsZ6dt9M9

 Emergency Management Frequencies and Nets: 

This page has some good info for Harris County and the surrounding region: https://stxd14ares.org/frequencies/

VE Testing News: 

Our group is affiliated with W5YI-VEC for administering tests.  If you are a prospective ham, or already a ham looking to upgrade your license, send an email to info at w5sfa.org for information or to schedule your test.

Note that the FCC is now charging a $35 fee for new licenses, renewals and vanity calls.  License upgrades and changes of address are exempt from this new fee.

There is a new online Technician Class license class video available on Youtube at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J09O0ypZt84&list=PLs_Ab58w9LI90iwhvS6mnn06rkpX3LDjz (this will open a new window on your browser)
This class covers the latest 2022-2026 question pool.
 
Repeater News: 
The Bellville repeater system (C4FM on UHF and Analog on VHF) are now connected to our XLX multiprotocol server on the internet.  This allows DMR users to communicate on the repeater system via a hotspot/internet connection.  It also allows users with Yaesu C4FM digital radios to connect to the repeater via a hotspot, enabling long-distance communication via the internet.  Hotspots are a small, inexpensive transceiver typically based on a Raspberry Pi with an RF board and connects to the internet usually with a wifi connection.  For an overview and some basic instructions on how to set up a hotspot see this PDF file.

The Wires-X link on the Bellville repeater has been retired, since the XLX server has replaced this functionality.  The XLX server has been moved and is now housed in the Bellville shack.  

Note that the Columbus repeater is Digital C4FM only, FM analog will not work!  The Columbus repeater has a DG-ID of 01.
 

 Club Officers for 2024-2025: 
 

President:          Bev Cucuzza, KB8PRC

Vice-President:  Gary Baldwin, KF5ZRT

Secretary/Treasurer:  Kathy Croker, KB5ITB

 W5SFA Weekly VHF Net: 

The Stephen F. Austin Radio Club weekly net meets every Tuesday at 7:00 PM on the Club's Bellville VHF repeater (analog FM) or the UHF repeater (C4FM digital).  See the REPEATERS link to the left for frequencies.  All licensed hams are welcome to participate.

Net Control Schedule:

1st Tuesday:  KF5ZRT Gary

2nd Tuesday: KG5NCL John

3rd Tuesday: KE5FN Jim

4th Tuesday: N5RWK Roger

5th Tuesday (if there is one):  N5RWK Roger

                       .

 Stephen F. Austin Radio Club List serve (reflector) information: 

http://mail.w5sfa.org/mailman/listinfo/w5sfa_w5sfa.org

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