Club History

The first meeting of the San Angelo Radio Club was held in the summer of 1922. The membership was largely formed by curious and enthusiastic people who were excited by the possibilities of the radio communications industry and hobby that was emerging worldwide.

Our research has uncovered countless fascinating stories of San Angelo amateurs who went on to make significant impacts in the radio/television broadcast industries, radio retail commerce, and public safety radio, both locally and nationwide. Public service by local amateur radio operators is exquisitely documented in the local newspapers, including disaster response, storm spotting, civic event support, civil defense, STEM education, and promotion of the amateur radio hobby.

A significant amount of work is still underway to collect and preserve these stories. If you’d like to help with that effort, or you have a story you would like us to hear and preserve, please email us at contact@w5qx.org.

Radio Pioneers of San Angelo Exhibit – January 2024

The San Angelo Amateur Radio Club partnered with Angelo State University’s Mayer Museum, located on the ASU Campus.

The Club curated a 2,000 ft² museum exhibit that told the story of local radio pioneers, including: radio amateur operators, retail radio businesses, public safety radio innovators, and broadcast radio stations that formed in the Concho Valley area in the 1920s and 1930s. There were artifacts from every decade of the last 100 years as well as interactive displays to help illustrate how radio works. The exhibit ran from January 2024 to July 2024.

West Texas Collection Digital Archive

In tandem with the exhibit with the Mayer Museum, the club is also compiling all of our research into a comprehensive digital archive, which we plan to donate to Angelo State University’s West Texas Collection. The goal is to preserve the history and document the impacts of the pioneers of radio hobby/commerce upon our area.

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