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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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:
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:
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.
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:
