As it has been a little while since my last newsletter to the South Texas Section there have been a few changes, as well as several Hamfests and Tailgate events created for our section. I am looking forward to visiting as many as I can squeeze in this year.
There have been several new EC’s appointed and a few DEC’s as well this year. We still have a few openings for EC’s throughout the section, so if you are interested check out the map on our ARRL STX Depot website to see what is available:
https://www.arrlstxvps.org/vault_area/vault_gateway/site_gateway/vault_map.php
If you are interested in becoming an EC, please look over the requirements at the link below to decide if it is for you. If you are an EC and submitting your monthly reports, Thank you. If you are not submitting your monthly reports or have nothing to report then simply put you have nothing to report when submitting your report. Every EC needs to be submitting a report each month:
http://www.arrl.org/emergency-coordinator
If you would like to join ARES in your local county, please sign up at the ARRL STX Depot site at the link below. As soon as you register, your local EC will look over your application and approve you as a member:
https://www.arrlstxvps.org/vault_area/vault_gateway/site_gateway/vault_gateway.php
During this past year the number of reported traffic nets have increased in number, and as such, we as the South Texas Section have been able to report back to ARRL HQ’s a significantly higher number of Amateur Radio operators who are learning how to send and receive traffic. Also, the number of training sessions for handling traffic has increased, and I applaud the effort on everyone involved. I say this as I personally see the results as some of these training, and exercises involved myself as one or more of the individuals receiving the messages.
If you would like to learn more about traffic handling, please contact the ARRL STX Section Traffic Manager
Ron Bosch – KE4DRF at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
There are several newsletters each ARRL member can subscribe to each month, and there has been a new one that has only been out for a few months now. It is the ARRL Club News and can be found under your Edit Email Subscriptions tab under your profile.
If you are a club with news you would like to see in the ARRL Club News newsletter, please submit it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
The clubs that are holding online or virtual meetings and would like any of your Section or Divisional leaders to attend, please send an invite to them. I am including our info below.
- West Gulf Division Director – John Stratton – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- West Gulf Vice Director – Lee Cooper – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- ARRL STX Section Manager – Stuart Wolfe – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- ARRL STX Section Emergency Coordinator – Jeff Walter –This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- ARRL STX Traffic Manager – Ron Bosch – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Thank you,
Stuart Wolfe – KF5NIX
ARRL South Texas Section Manager
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Mr. Mike McCue W5ATN has accepted the position of Emergency Coordinator (EC) for Milam County in District 7 of the South Texas Section. This appointment was recommended by Section Manager (SM) Mr. Stuart Wolfe. Mike replaces Stuart, now the STX SM, who had served as EC since May 10, 2017.
I'm KF5END/Ted. I have officially been a HAM since January 2010 when I passed my Technician exam. Over the course of the next year, I passed the General and Extra.
I have always been around electronics and have owned a scanner since the late ‘80s. I never had any interest in CB and did not know what a HAM was until a HAM explained it to me.
I spent many summers at my grandmother’s and would always run across various tubes, capacitors, resistors, and other various components. I always enjoyed playing with them but did not have any real idea what they were, other than their names. My grandfather had passed before my arrival and I later learned that he was a EE and often worked on radios and televisions, though no one can verify if he was ever a HAM.
Read more: Assistant Section Manager - Scouting - Ted Iglehart KF5END
I am an ARRL ETP instructor for the ARRL Teachers' Institute and a Curriculum Development Specialist with the CYBER.ORG based in Bossier City, LA; an education non-profit funded by a federal grant that trains teachers in cybersecurity, computer science, and related topics. I became an ARRL Life Member in 2014. I have also been serving as ARRL Education Assistant Section Manager for South Texas (STX) since Spring 2017. Prior to that, I was Education ASM for North Texas (NTX) from 2013-2017.
Even if you're not in my ARRL Section and you're looking for ways to get amateur radio into a classroom, I'm always happy to help!
Read more: Assistant Section Manager - Education - Tommy Gober N5DUX
I became interested in amateur radio during a drive back from Ardmore OK in 2004. We had just completed SAG support for the SAM's Club MS150 from Frisco (near Dallas) to Ardmore.
Mike Hardwick N5VCX placed an HT in my van for me to listen to for our 10 van conga line trip drive back to Dallas. I have been hooked since. I must also give a tip of the hat to Susan KB5ICO, Chuck N5GCQ, and David N5SRC.
I couldn’t wait to mimic my public service friends by purchasing an ICOM 2720 and the study material for my technician license. I was several months of listening to conversations and police frequencies before deciding it was time to take the test. The test was administered by Mr. John Moore KK5NU and his VE team.
My friends told me to join a club. The push to join ARES came from Mr. Dale Walker AA5DW (SK) at a Northwest Amateur Radio Society (NARS) meeting. I joined and met Mr. Ken Mitchell KD2KW, who was a member and the D14 Emergency Coordinator. He pointed me to Mr. Hal Merritt KD5HWW who was the EC for the Northwest quadrant (now unit) for Harris County. Somewhere along the way Hal dropped a W from his call.
Read more: Section Emergency Coordinator - Jeffery Walter KE5FGA
Amateur Radio is magic. Behind the magic is physics. Your Technical Specialists are here to help you with the physics.
In the South Texas Section of the ARRL, we have a growing group of Technical Specialists who have been solving problems for most of their lives. Technical Specialists have a depth of knowledge that can save you time and energy and get you back to enjoying our hobby. They are here to help you.
Does your club have a club call sign?
Is it used for Field Day, QSO parties, other contests, Special Events, like JOTA, Schools on the Air, Hamfest Talk-in, or on your club repeater(s)?
Most of us know that ARRL members use their This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. but this can be requested for your This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
To set this up just have a Club officer fill out the on-line form and submit it to the ARRL. If your club doesn't have a call they will get the club's initials and 3 numbers.
Stuart Wolfe, KF5NIX, has been appointed ARRL South Texas Section Manager. He succeeds Paul Gilbert, KE5ZW, of Cedar Park, who has stepped down as Section Manager to become ARRL Director of Emergency Management.
Wolfe, of Rockdale, Texas, will complete the remainder of Gilbert’s term. Wolfe’s appointment as Section Manager begins on October 1 and extends until September 30, 2021. ARRL Radiosport and Field Services Manager Bart Jahnke, W9JJ, made the appointment after consulting with ARRL West Gulf Division Director John Robert Stratton, N5AUS, and receiving recommendations from Gilbert, West Gulf Division Vice Director Lee Cooper, W5LHC, and others in the South Texas Section.
Stuart Wolfe currently serves as South Texas ARRL Affiliated Club Coordinator and Emergency Coordinator. He is the founding member and President of the Milam Amateur Radio Club. He is also active as a Volunteer Examiner and teacher of amateur radio licensing classes.
Assistant Section Manager (ASM) - Databases
Frank Aguilar N5SSH
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Previously served as:
- Webb County Emergency Coordinator (EC)
- STX District 13 District Emergency Coordinator (DEC,)
- STX Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC)
- Assistant Section Manager (ASM) to Lee Cooper W5LHC
- Assistant Section Manager (ASM) to Paul Gilbert KE5ZW
How I serve the Amateur Radio community:
Read more: Assistant Section Manager - Data - Frank Aguilar N5SSH
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