Sign up for TPR Today, Texas Public Radio's newsletter that brings our top stories to your inbox each morning.
A large crowd packed into the Schertz Civic Center Saturday morning for Radio Fiesta Weekend, where ham radio operators come to buy, sell, meet up and talk about their favorite hobby — amateur radio.
Inside, tables were crowded with radios, microphones, antennae, wiring and all the gadgets that excite amateur radio operators.
Besides looking at equipment, many attendees were deeply involved in "rag chewing" a ham radio term for talking endlessly about amateur radio amongst themselves.
Brian Havran is with the Katy Amateur Radio Club in Harris County. He said the hobby is expanding more and more with new technologies.
“You can talk local with a repeater. You can talk worldwide on lower frequencies. A guy over there is selling some moon bounce equipment where you send your signal up to the moon. It bounces back down to the earth.”
Some other modes of amateur radio communication include digital modes, where text is sent over the airwaves digitally, using satellites to relay messages around the world and even talking with amateur radio operators on the International Space Station.
Havran was selling several pieces of what is known in the amateur radio world as “Silent Key“ equipment.
“Just about everything we got here has come from members who have passed away, and their widows gave it to us," he said. "If we didn’t sell it. she was going to throw it away kind-of-deal.”
A popular item at the event for sale were what are known as “Go boxes.” Dennis Kendricks custom-builds the boxes that are designed to power radio equipment out in the field using battery power.
“Certainly, go anywhere that you've got, capability of, carrying the box to, you know, so to carry the box, turn it on, you got power. “
Elijah Judd had a large armful of equipment he had purchased.
“I came here looking for interesting hardware — which I found a few things — and also just to meet a few friends.”
The annual Radio Fiesta is sponsored by the San Antonio Radio Club, which was founded in 1919 and is one of the oldest amateur radio clubs in the country.
