Jeffery A Walter – KE5FGA
ARRL STX SEC
Upper Lake Livingston Wireless Association - Polk County Area ARES
Tropical Storm Beryl Response
July 8-13, 2024
James 'Skip' Straus - W5TXT
ARES® District Emergency Coordinator - STX District 2
Hello EC’s, DEC’s, ASEC’s and other interested parties,
Ms. Lorna Flansburg, KI5FIZ, has accepted the position of Emergency Coordinator (EC) for Robertson County in District 5 of the South Texas Section. District 5 is composed of Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Leon, Madison, Robertson, and Washington counties. Ms. Flansburg replaces Mr. Jim Hanks, W5CYN, who served as EC for 2 years. Lorna’s appointment was recommended by DEC 5 Mike Wisby KA5HIA and is approved by Section Manager Mr. Stuart Wolfe KF5NIX.
Most recently, Lorna has served as the Robertson County AEC. As the AEC, she has called the weekly Robertson County ARES net on the W5KVN Franklin repeater every week for over a year and organized the group's meetings and activities.
Lorna is a member of both Brazos and Robertson County ARES, and a RACES member. First licensed in 2019, she upgraded to Extra in 2021.
Lorna has served as the Treasurer of the Bryan Amateur Radio Club since 2021. She is also the ARRL VE Liaison for the club, coordinating the monthly Ham License Exam sessions.
She is the DX District Chair/Treasurer for the YLRL (Young Ladies Radio League.)
Lorna is a US Army veteran and a retired federal employee.
This appointment was effective July 8, 2024.
Welcome Lorna.
Regards to all,
Jeffery A Walter – KE5FGA
ARRL STX SEC
Hello ASEC’s, DEC’s, EC’s and other interested parties,
Mr. Elwin Rozyskie, JR, KI5VKS, has accepted the position of Emergency Coordinator (EC) for Medina County in District 6 of the South Texas Section. District 6 is composed of Bandera, Edwards, Kerr, Kinney, Medina, Real, Uvalde, and Val Verde County. Mr. Rozyskie was nominated for the position by DEC 6, Mr. Joseph Craft, KI5IQE, and approved by the STX Section Manager Mr. Stuart Wolfe, KF5NIX.
Elwin is a 1979 graduate of Georgia Tech, where he took a Bachelor of Industrial and Systems Engineering degree, with a minor in Mathematics. He then entered service as a Combat Engineer in the US Army, after graduating from both Airborne and Ranger training.
Elwin transferred to the Air Force in 1985, where he served in all areas of the Civil Engineering career field. He retired in 2016 after 42 years of combined service and assignments in over 20 countries. He also completed the USAF Incident Manager Course and served as a USAF EOC Director for five years and Fire Marshal for 14 years.
From 2016-2022, Elwin served as a Supervisor of Security at Metropolitan Hospital in San Antonio, TX.
Elwin fully retired in 2022 to become more involved in public service. He is actively involved with both church and civic affairs, serving both as a Deputy Voter Registrar and as an Assistant Election Judge.
Elwin joined the Medina County Amateur Radio Club in May 2022. He holds Amateur Extra and GMRS licenses.
Elwin has served as an AEC for Medina County. His equipment consists of VHF, UHF, and HF radios.
Elwin has passed the FEMA IS-100, IS-200, IS-700 and IS-800 courses. He also completed the revised EC-001 Course (Basic).
Elwin is married and he and his wife Thelma live in Castroville, TX, with numerous dogs and other animals.
This appointment was effective June 9, 2024.
Welcome Elwin.
Regards to all,
Jeffery A Walter – KE5FGA
ARRL STX SEC
Texas Senators and Matagorda Co. Judge Bobby Seiferman comments over Beryl Failures. See Judge Bobby Seiferman's highlighted reference about STX ARES's contribution during the county's communications loss on page 4.
Rick WB8FVB has found us a link and verified the time marks below:
Hello ASEC’s, DEC’s, EC’s and other interested parties,
Mr. Randy Leftwich, K5RWL, has accepted the position of Emergency Coordinator (EC) for Jefferson County in District 9 of the South Texas Section. District 9 is composed of Jasper, Jefferson, Hardin, Newton, Orange, Sabine, San Augustine and Tyler counties. Randy replaces Mr. Kirk Mahaney, N5WKM who is the new District 9 Emergency Coordinator (DEC). Randy’s appointment is approved by the Section Manager Mr. Stuart Wolfe KF5NIX.
Randy tells his story:
I have been in Southeast Texas all of my life. I am married to Laurie Leftwich, and we share 4 children and 10 grandchildren.
I am retired from DuPont, where I was in process operations and helped form our Emergency Response Team and was a Team Leader in our Corporate Regional Response Team.
I was first licensed as an Amateur Radio Operator in 2008, became General Class in 2009 and was drawn into ARES and RACES immediately. My amateur radio interest continued as I got into MARS and SHARES.
I have served as a Net Control for several Local and STX ARES, RACES, NTS, MARS and SHARES nets and have served as Jefferson County AEC for several years.
This appointment was effective May 21, 2024.
Welcome Randy.
Regards to all,
Jeffery A Walter – KE5FGA
ARRL STX SEC
Hello ASEC’s, DEC’s, EC’s and other interested parties,
Mr. Kirk Mahaney, N5WKM, has accepted the position of District Emergency Coordinator (DEC) for District 9 of the South Texas Section. District 9 is composed of Jasper, Jefferson, Hardin, Newton, Orange, Sabine, San Augustine and Tyler counties. Kirk replaces Mr. Brian Cater, KC5YSM, who made the recommendation. Brian served for many years and is still active in radio albeit scaled back. Kirk’s appointment is approved by the Section Manager Mr. Stuart Wolfe KF5NIX.
Kirk tells his story.
I was born and raised in Southeast Texas and have been married to Amanda for 42 years. I was first licensed in February 2006 and now hold an Extra Class license. I joined the Jefferson County Amateur Radio Club and the ARES group soon after I received my technician license in 2006.
In April of 2013, I became the ARES EC for Jefferson County.
I am retired from the automotive dealership industry. I spent the last 12 years supporting a fleet department specializing in selling and building law enforcement vehicles in Texas.
My previous hobbies included drag racing, duck hunting, and fishing.
This appointment was effective May 21, 2024.
Welcome Kirk.
Regards to all,
Jeffery A Walter – KE5FGA
ARRL STX SEC
Click on the link for the latest repeater information used by STX by county.
ICS 205 Severe Weather Repeaters
Here is the link for the HF information used by STX.
ICS 205 Severe Weather HF Only
Jeffery A Walter – KE5FGA
ARRL STX SEC
Hello ASEC’s, DEC’s, EC’s and other interested parties,
Mr. Timothy J Lewellen, WX5GC, has accepted the position of Emergency Coordinator (EC) for Hardin County in District 9 of the South Texas Section. District 9 is composed of Jasper, Jefferson, Hardin, Newton, Orange, Sabine, San Augustine and Tyler counties. Tim replaces Steve Fletcher, N5BOY, who served for 4 years and is still active in radio. This appointment was recommended by the District 9 Emergency Coordinator (DEC) Mr. Brian Cater, KC5YSM and approved by the Section Manager Mr. Stuart Wolfe KF5NIX.
Mr. Lewellen is married and a graduate of San Jacinto College with 40 years in industrial process instrumentation, transitioning from pneumatic to electronic controls, and automated control systems.
Tim’s interest in electrical circuitry was sparked in 1974 with a crystal radio kit from where else, Radio Shack. Moving on to CB in the late 70’s into the 80’s. Tim remarks “My interest in radio waned probably due to use of it all day on the job”. “In the late 90’s it resurfaced due to Y2K influences, and I took my technicians license test and was licensed on 11/17/1998.” “Later taking my General and Extra exams and becoming interested in Emergency Communications and then hurricane communication issues.” “I operated at the Houston / Galveston weather office, at the site before where they are located now.” “During Tropical Storm Allison, I relayed flood water depths from hams in the field to the hydrology desk, since all of their gauges were not reporting.” “I have been involved in EmComm issues ever since.”
Tim is presently active on the Texas Traffic Net, the 7290 Net daily and South Texas ARES Net on HF. Additionally, with the JCARC net and the Jefferson County ARES net on Wednesday night. “I am the ARES WinLink net control station, generating an ICS 309 report after the net and sending it to the Jefferson County EC and AEC.”
“I am looking forward to heading an active ARES group with a willingness to serve the agencies that may require our assistance.” “I am writing this to you while taking flooding and damage reports for NWS LCH or EM in Hardin County.”
This appointment was effective May 21, 2024.
Welcome Tim.
Regards to all,
Jeffery A Walter – KE5FGA
ARRL STX SEC
Below is an excerpt from an email from an ARRL Section Manager that should be a wake-up call for ALL of us to join the ARRLSTX and STXARES email groups so our ARRL Leadership has a backup email system to contact you. Currently, the ARRL.org and possibly the ARRL.net email systems are down.
For the few ARRL members that have signed up to get Division and Section News your ARRL Director and Section Manager cannot email you using the ARRL email system until it is fully restored. It doesn't matter what email address the ARRL has on file for you.
To Join our Groups.io Email List:
I encourage those using @arrl.net addresses to update them to a real email address you check often.
For ARRL Members Only
As you may know, various IT systems at ARRL have been down for nearly three weeks due to an outage that began on or about May 15. My May 21 newsletter was not sent out through the ARRL mail system and I am not currently able to directly communicate with members except by entering individual email addresses. Because the ARRL email system is down I cannot communicate with 2812 NC ARRL members who receive my newsletters through the ARRL mail system.
Hello to all EC’s, DEC’s, ASEC’s and other interested parties,
Mr. Emmett "Ray" McCoppin, N5SRF, has accepted the position of Emergency Coordinator (EC) for San Jacinto County in District 2 of the South Texas Section. District 2 is composed of Angelina, Houston, Polk, San Jacinto, Trinity, and Walker County. Recommended by DEC 2 Mr. James “Skip” Straus, W5TXT, DEC for District 2, the appointment is approved by the STX Section Manager Mr. Stuart Wolfe, KF5NIX.
A former county commissioner for San Jacinto County, Ray has been a Ham Radio operator since 1994. Originally licensed as a Technician Plus having passed the 3a element, morse code 5
WPM, Ray most recently upgraded to General license class.
“I was a successful IT business consultant, working mainly on larger capital projects for Fortune 500 companies including I.E. DuPont, Conoco, Northrop, EDS, Raytheon, Wal-Mart, Hughes, and Tyson”. “These projects included the implementations of large computer software systems like SAP, SharePoint, and others”. “I am retired now and have been using my talents as a volunteer with my church, Ham Radio ARES, and the American Red Cross”.
Ray earned his associate degree from Lamar University In Beaumont, TX. Go Cardinals!
Ray volunteers as an American Red Cross Disaster Services Technology (DST) as a HAM Radio Operator Liaison/Operator, Ray has performed the following duties:
distribution.
The appointment was effective April 25, 2024.
Welcome Ray,
Regards to all,
Jeffery A Walter – KE5FGA
ARRL STX SEC
Hello to all EC’s, DEC’s, ASEC’s and other interested parties,
Mr. David C. Hancock, KJ5AWJ, has accepted the position of Emergency Coordinator (EC) for Trinity County in District 2 of the South Texas Section. District 2 is composed of Angelina, Houston, Polk, San Jacinto, Trinity, and Walker County. David is believed to be the first EC for Trinity County. Recommended by DEC 2 Mr. James “Skip” Straus. W5TXT. DEC for District 2, the appointment is approved by the STX Section Manager Mr. Stuart Wolfe, KF5NIX.
David tells his story:
I spent a great deal of time on the radio in my younger years as a member of the Military Police. Those radio protocols are very similar to what is in practice on ham bands. I was first licensed as a technician in May of 2023 and then as a General in late June 2023.
I belong to the Upper Lake Livingston Wireless Association and the Walker County Amateur Radio Group. I regularly participate in their weekly nets and meetings. I currently have 2-meter, 70 cm, 10- and 6-meter bands and have acquired a dual band to install in my primary vehicle. I plan to add other HF bands to my base station in the future.
I find amateur radio is a great hobby and have learned that it is a way I can serve my rural community in times of need.
Being the county's first EC will allow me to help establish accepted operational procedures, recruit additional ARES members, and stress the importance of amateur radio to the community.
The appointment was effective May 21, 2024.
Welcome David,
Regards to all,
Jeffery A Walter – KE5FGA
ARRL STX SEC
We heard what attendees were saying:
All this for the same great price of $5 admission and covers both days.
The Lewisville Amateur Radio Association will handle all tailgating.
All times are available on the website.
Check us out at dfwhamexpo.com
SKYWARN Weather Spotter's Field Guide and a list of SKYWARN classes held by the National Weather Service offices in South Texas:
Austin/San Antonio https://www.weather.gov/ewx/skywarn
Corpus Christi https://www.weather.gov/crp/skywarn
Houston/Galveston https://www.weather.gov/hgx/skywarn_schedule
A message from our West Gulf Division Director, John Stratton N5AUS. Our Oklahoma/Texas leadership supports this Motion. However, they are currently in the minority. Feel free to contact the leaders that John lists below and contact your friends outside the region so they can review this information and take appropriate action:
“No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the Legislature is in session.”
A centuries old truism often attributed to Mark Twain — it is applicable to any elected organization with the power to alter the lives and rights of others — public, private, or governmental — including the ARRL Board of Directors.
While the Agenda for the Board Meeting is always published before a Board meeting, the many motions to be considered by the Board have rarely ever been published before a Board Meeting. The most recent and notorious exception occurred before the January 2018 Board meeting when the Executive Committee and Lisenco motions intended to juice the 2017 “Code of Conduct” were leaked to the general Membership. The overwhelming Membership outrage resulting from the unintentional disclosure was instrumental in the punitive proposals being withdrawn. The 2017 Code of Conduct was itself overturned by a newly elected Board in January 2019.
The Members’ voices were heard — and their wishes were honored.
It is my belief, that of a small minority of Directors, and Vice Director Lee Cooper’s, that the Members should be permitted to have advance notice of the substantive matters to considered by the Board of Directors at its meetings.
To that end, the West Gulf intends to publish to its website the substantive motions scheduled to be considered at the January Board meeting and subsequent meetings.
It is our intent to discuss each known January 2024 motion in a separate email, although we will publish to the website each motion as it becomes available.
At present, there are three known motions. The Agenda for the January Board meeting and each of these three motions are available for review and download at: https://westgulfdivision.org/motion
The first motion we wish to discuss is the:
Motion To Honor Membership Contracts
In July 2023, the Board voted to raise the annual dues from $49 to $59 and to eliminate the delivery of a printed copy of QST or On The Air, effective January 2024, unless a Member paid an extra $25/year.
The West Gulf Division, the Atlantic Division, the Southeastern Division, and the Southwestern Divisions voted against both proposals, but the two proposals passed by an 11-4 vote.
While a dues increase was long overdue and actually needed, the West Gulf Division voted against it because it was tied to the termination of the delivery of a printed copy of QST/On The Air unless a Member paid an extra $25/year.
The four divisions argued it was a breach of the ARRL’s legal contract with those Members — both annual memberships and 3-year memberships — to terminate their promised printed copy of QST/On The Air before their membership contracts expired. The membership applications in use at the time promised, in writing, the delivery of QST/On The Air magazines by “standard mail.”
Besides the risks attendant upon a breach of contract, Article 11 of the ARRL Articles of Association prohibits the Board from terminating or reducing the rights of any Member. The stripping of the delivery of printed copies of QST/On The Air from unexpired Memberships constitutes a reduction in the rights of the affected Member.
Both the Membership Application and Article 11 are promises — and the League should stand on its promises. That is the reason we have filed the Motion To Honor Membership Contracts.
The ARRL is a membership organization, and the opinions of the Members are important.
I have been asked by each of the West Gulf Division Section Managers — NTX SM Steve Smith (KG5VK), STX SM Stuart Wolfe (KF5NIX), WTX SM Dale Durham (W5WI), and OK SM Mark Kleine (N5HZR) — to share that they each support the Motion To Honor Membership Contracts.
If you believe the Motion has merit and it should pass, it would be important for you to share your support for the Motion with the ARRL President, Rick Roderick, and the other Directors. All of their email addresses can be found on Page 15 of QST or at http://www.arrl.org/divisions . If you choose to share your views, please be respectful — we choose to disagree, but need not be disrespectful.
John Robert Stratton
N5AUS
West Gulf Division Director
Lee H. Cooper
W5LHC
West Gulf Division Vice Director
December 26, 2023 — Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) announces a special SSTV experiment to be held this week. The ARISS Voice Repeater will be the downlink for enthusiasts, and several ARISS-selected ground stations around the world will serve as SSTV uplink stations. Two special images will be transmitted on 437.800 MHz using PD120 formatting.
This limited experiment will be conducted on several passes over Europe, Australia, and the USA between Wednesday, December 27 and Saturday, December 30, 2023.
Go to www.ariss.org and ARISS social media posts to monitor for pass information.
ARISS hopes enthusiasts will have fun downloading the images and follow along with the event.
**IMPORTANT: Please, all hams should hold off from using the ARISS Voice Repeater for voice contacts during the event times.
About ARISS:
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC), Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation program (SCaN), and the ISS National Lab—Space Station Explorers. The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics topics. ARISS does this by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities take part in hands-on learning activities tied to space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see http://www.ariss.org.
Media Contact:
Dave Jordan, AA4KN
ARISS PR
Find us on social media at:
Twitter: ARISS_Intl
Facebook: facebook.com/ARISSIntl
Instagram: ariss_intl
Mastodon:
Check out ARISS on Youtube.com.
ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® reports that earlier today, the FCC Commissioners unanimously voted to amend the Amateur Radio Service rules to replace the baud rate limit on the Amateur HF bands with a 2.8 kHz bandwidth limit to permit greater flexibility in data communications.
Full article on ARRL website: ARRL Hails FCC Action to Remove Symbol Rate Restrictions
The STX Section Communications Plan 3.7
Dated: September 21, 2023
Jeffery A Walter - KE5FGA
ARRL STX SEC
STX ARES has a PUBLIC email group on Groups.io at; https://stxares.groups.io Membership is free and open to all hams, ARES members, and other EmComm members to join.
Note that your messages posted to the group are forwarded to 600+ members of the group. Due to the private nature of some of our Served Agencies, the emails are not open to the Public.
To join this group use use the Join This Group button or Log In If You Are Already a Member.
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We also have subgroups for all 15 Districts. To join them repeat the above steps above for the one(s) you want to join.
ARRLSTX has a PUBLIC email group on Groups.io at; https://arrlstx.groups.io Membership is free and open to all including non-hams for those that have not gotten their license yet.
Note that your messages are posted to the internet for ALL to see. This lets visitors visit before joining.
To join this group, simply use the above link and use the Join This Group button or Log In If You Are Already a Member.
You will need to enter an email address that you wish to get the group emails. Please do not use
You will need to confirm that you got the email sent to your email address.
You can change your Subscription Options to select how often you will get emails; Individual, Full Featured Digest (rich text formatting), Plain Digest, or Daily Summary. You can change these settings later.
Finally, so that the Group Owners know who you are please send an email to the Group Owner at
Make sure to check your inbox and spam folder and reply to the confirmation email.
All new members will be moderated until you are verified by one of the moderators. Once verified you will be unmoderated. These steps help keep Spammers from joining the group.