This page last updated on Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Club Activities

The San Angelo Amateur Radio Club holds regular monthly meetings on the second Thursday of each month beginning at 7:30 p.m. at the clubhouse located at 5513 Stewart Lane, Mathis Field (see the map on the W5QX page).   All amateurs and persons interested in amateur radio are invited to attend the club meetings.  We try to have a program of general amateur interest following the business portion of each meeting.

Current club news and upcoming events are reported on the Concho Valley Two Meter Net which meets every Monday night at 8 p.m. on the club's 146.34/.94 repeater (W5QX/R).  This net is conducted by the club's emergency coordinator and all amateurs are welcome to check into this net.

The SAARC has been an affiliate of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) since 1954 and an ARRL Special Service Club since 1986.  We periodically conduct classes for people wishing to obtain an amateur radio license and we also can offer advanced classes in Morse code and theory for licensed amateurs wishing to upgrade their present license.  Our two 2-day Technician license classes in 2006 yielded 24 newly licensed radio amateurs.

The club also sponsors FCC amateur radio license testing under the auspices of the ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC) program.   See the events calendar for testing dates.   Glenn Miller/AA5PK serves as ARRL VE Team Liaison.

Club member participation in the National Weather Service’s SKYWARN™ program is vital to our local NWS office.  Even with the installation of the NEXRAD Doppler radar in 1995, trained, on-scene, eyewitness spotters are essential in confirming what the radar is "seeing."  The radar room of the local weather service office is equipped with VHF/UHF gear to communicate directly with spotters in the field, including volunteer firefights and REACT.  The NWS office obtained the call sign N5NWS, which is used during SKYWARN™ operations. Weather spotters receive annual basic and advanced spotter training provided by meteorologists from the San Angelo NWS office.  Our 2010 training was held on March 6.

A lightning safety briefing provided by the US Army.

In April 2011, members assisted with communications support to Building Together a community-wide event where teams assist the disadvantaged with home improvement repairs.

In October 2010, the club celebrated its 85th anniversary with a picnic at the clubhouse.  Members, past and present, came out to enjoy the food, conversation and cake and ice cream.  Tom Earnest/W5UFO treated us all to home-made ice cream churned in his vintage ice cream maker cranked by a 1920 Fairbanks-Morse kerosene-powered, single-cylinder engine.

In October 2010, the clubhouse and club station was opened to host scouts for Jamboree-on-the-Air.

In December 2010, several club members operated N5NWS in the National Weather Service's SKYWARN™ Recognition Day.

December brings the club's annual "Eatin' Meetin'" when members and their families and friends get together for a casual dinner and present the annual awards.

ARRL Field Day is the club’s main operating activity.  Field Day always promises to be an interesting time for the neophyte as well as the seasoned amateur.  And, it nearly always promises to bring us wind, rain, hail, or some other sort of foul weather at least one day of the Field Day weekend.  The 2011 Field Day event was held near the KOA campground.

From the archives:

In May 2002, club members met at the QTH of Phil/W5RP to tour his antenna farm and radio shack.  Click here for photos of the tour.  Even though this didn't happen in 2005, the tour of Phil's place was worth keeping.

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