Antenna Preparation Party!

As some of you may know, NARS has partnered with the Lone Star Community College Tomball Campus to put on a fox hunt. David Holden, WJ9O, has courageously stepped up to lead the event along with Vice President Kyle Vann, K5KNV. In preparation for this Dale Schmirler, KN5DS, and Glen Reeves, KJ5WGR, agreed to help out with cutting and pre-drilling antenna components to make it easier for LSC students to assemble. It was discovered that David had a garage full of tools so we all coalesced there one morning and got to sawing.

I think the usual recommended advice is measure once and cut thrice isn’t it? Fortunately for us, the required specificity of dimensions fell somewhere short of perfect. The best part might have been since these were all antennas built from scratch and not purchased kits, having multiple bolts left over after a test assembly wasn’t a bad thing. It was a good time all around though with many laughs and only minimal blood letting.

Looking to the future, there will be an introduction to amateur radio and fox hunting class along with antenna assembly session at Lone Star Tomball on Tuesday, April 21 at 1:30pm. The very next Saturday, April 25, we will be at Spring Creek Park at 9am with a load of LSC students eager to conduct their very first fox hunt. Current expectations are for 10-20 students. We are asking for volunteers to come out and help out.

If you have a spare VHF handheld radio or scanner that has a prominent S-meter and fully charged batteries, we would love to borrow it. The current plan is to have students either pair up or possibly search in waves depending on how many receivers we can round up. You can contact either David or Kyle (k5knv@hamradioemail.com) if you’re willing to bring a radio for the fox hunt day.