Andy Littlejohn W5ROX has accepted an appointment as Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator For ARCHES.   ARCHES is an amateur radio Hospital project in central Texas spanning multiple Districts.

Tom Whiteside N5TW

ARRL South Texas Section Emergency Coordinator

Howard B. Watson Jr. N3TNQ has signed up to be EC for Hidalgo County in District 3 replacing Jeff Teer KA7LEX.  Thanks Howard!

Tom Whiteside N5TW

ARRL South Texas Section Emergency Coordinator

Jim Russell NQ5L has been appointed as ASEC for Task Force Operations.  This is really an acknowlegement of what he has been doing for some time for really all the ARES Texas Rapid Response Task Force teams.  Jim has direct responsibility for Team Austin and a larger coordinating role in all our STX task force preparations and operations.

Tom Whiteside N5TW

ARRL South Texas Section Emergency Coordinator

Thanks to Al Kirchner KE5OIZ for accepting the position of ARES EC for Williamson County.  Al replaces Jim Russell NQ5L who has been EC for three and a half years plus doing double duty driving Team Austin for the Rapid Response Task Force and serving in the Communications Coordination Group (CCG).   Jim is going to continue in his role with Team Austin plus the CCG.

Tom Whiteside N5TW

ARRL South Texas Section Emergency Coordinator

Welcome two new RMS Packet servers in the section:  KD5REJ-10 on 145.010 is in Laredo and running RMS Relay.   W5CZI-10 is also on 145.010 and is located just North of Brownsville.  If you add a new RMS Packet station, be sure to tell me so I can add it to the status page.

Tom Whiteside N5TW

ARRL South Texas Section Emergency Coordinator

Lufkin now has a second RMS Packet Node on the air, thanks largely to Kris, K5KRK.

The call sign is K5KRK-10.

It is operational 24/7 on 145.070 MHz running 50 watts into an omnidirectional antenna at the Angelina County Emergency Operations Center downtown.  The antenna is on their tower at 85 feet so should provide excellent local coverage.  It also has emergency backup power.

Please test it and try it out and let us know your findings! 

73,

Mike - WD5EFY

Texas Public Safety Commission names State Operations Center after Jack Colley

The Texas Public Safety Commission voted unanimously Thursday to name the State Operations Center in honor of Jack Colley, the former assistant director of the Texas Division of Emergency Management. Colley died of a heart attack in May. The State Operations Center will now be known as the Jack Colley State Operations Center.

The State Operations Center (SOC) is the headquarters for the state's emergency response whenever disaster strikes. The SOC houses a multitude of communications and warning systems and coordinates state response to accidents or incidents occurring in Texas on a 24/7/365 basis.

Don Dudley AC5YK has been appointed as DEC for District 7 replacing long time DEC Joe Fisher K5EJL.  Many thanks to Joe for at least 20 years service as District 7 DEC!   Don will will be acting EC for Travis county until he can replace himself in that slot.

Tom Whiteside N5TW

ARRL South Texas Section Emergency Coordinator

Thanks to Sid N5ZKD for accepting the EC position for the Harris County NW Unit replacing Wayne Talley KE5VRJ effective immediately. 

Tom Whiteside N5TW

ARRL South Texas Section Emergency Coordinator

Lou Everett WA5LOU called last Wednesday with the news that his wife had taken a job in Indiana that started today.   She has specialized skills and was not able to find the kind of work needed locally and this has forced them to relocate.

Lou was a scheduled speaker at the Saturday 7290 picnic and wanted to hold off any announcements until his leaving was announced there. 

It is really impossible to come close to acknowledging Lou’s contributions to the section / state and he has been a real friend and mentor to me in his role as Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator for HF Operations.  Folks cannot think of an emergency operation in recent memory where Lou was not a net control for many hours.   And he was a regular icon on ARES and Texas Traffic nets and was net manager for the Texas Traffic net.   He used charm and grace backed by skill to keep things moving.  He has also kept the nets populated with good quality net control stations.

I told Lou we expect check ins from Indiana and for him to take the net if the band goes long…   I’m sure he would appreciate hearing from you.

Tom Whiteside, N5TW

ARRL South Texas Section Emergency Coordinator