Welcome To The Richardson Wireless Klub

We promote Amateur (Ham) Radio to the public in Richardson TX and the surrounding North Texas area as a useful, life-long hobby. We also serve the Richardson TX community by providing self-supporting special event, severe weather and emergency communication networks and capabilities.

Our club is comprised of over 350 amateur radio operators in Richardson, North Dallas, the surrounding communities, around Texas and even out of state, with a wide range of radio and technology skills and interests. We provide our members with many opportunities to increase knowledge and enjoyment of amateur radio through fun, fellowship and unique learning experiences. Our members include hams ranging from teenagers to radio pioneers in their 80s! The Richardson Wireless Klub has been an ARRL affiliated club since 1957 and is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

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  May 3 RWK Balloon Launch Status Update
  by Chip Coker KD4C
  April 29, 2025
  By Chip Coker KD4C We’re watching the weather and air currents very closely – and crossing our fingers – and it looks like we should be “on” for our planned High Altitude Balloon Launch this Saturday, May 3rd. We will make the final decision on Thursday, so “Stay Tuned to this message”! As a reminder, we would love to have you participate, either at the launch site, as part of a tracking team, or from your shack, where you can watch the balloon progress, receive the various payloads, and potentially earn the “Worked All Payloads” award/QSL! We also posted instructions…
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• RWK Balloon Launch Announcement – Saturday 5/3
  by Andrew Koenig KE5GDB
  April 29, 2025
  The Richardson Area Balloonatics will be launching a high-altitude weather balloon this coming Saturday, weather and upper atmosphere conditions permitting. The launch will be from Aubrey (details below), just north of the DFW metroplex, but near apogee at ~100,000ft we expect coverage to include most of Texas and Oklahoma, with some Arkansas and Louisiana coverage as well. The flight is expected to last around 2.5 hours (9:00AM to ~11:00AM ascent, and on the ground by noon). We will have a special event QSL card if you receive data/images from the balloon or make contact through the DMR repeater. We’ll also…
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• 
  How To Participate In The May 2025 RWK Balloon Launch From Your Shack
  by Andrew Koenig KE5GDB
  April 29, 2025
  By Chip Coker KD4C There are several ways that you can participate in the May 2025 RWK Balloon Launch. If you want to participate from the comfort of your shack, here’s what you can do: Follow the launch on VHF 2M Radio and Watch the Balloon Progress You can listen to the launch status on the 147.12 Repeater and the 146.52 Simplex channels. We will make periodic announcements prior to and during the launch. If everything goes according to plan, the launch should be around 9am and ascent should be for the next 2 hours (9am-11am). We expect balloon pop…
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Latest RWK General Meeting Announcement & Recording

• General Meeting – April 2025 – RWK Spring HA Balloon Launch & Solar Power for Your Shack

  Please join RWK on Monday Apr 14th for our General Meeting. 

  Our April Meeting will have two short topics instead of one big program.  Hopefully most of you know that RWK is doing another High-Altitude Balloon Launch sometime soon (hopefully May 3^rd), similar to our successful launch and recovery from last fall. So we will give an overview of what we are planning for that launch and how you can participate, either at the launch or by working the various payloads (and earning the soon-to-be-prestigious “worked all payloads” award).

  After that, I will be giving a short “work-in-progress” on a project to run my shack radios totally off of solar/battery power.  Until I get a decent hail storm and can replace my roof, whole-house solar is out for me, so this is the best that I have come up with. It might be something that you want to consider as well.

  In-person VE Testing begins at 5:30 and the RWK Social Hour begins at 6pm.  Please enjoy coffee and cookies and chat with other members!  If you have radio questions, please be sure and stop by our Radio Operating position – we’ll try to show you some new things and help you get answers.  At 7pm we will begin our main program. 

  As usual, the meeting will be In-Person and the main program will be simulcast on Zoom for those that do not want to attend in-person.  We will also have a recording available on the K5RWK.org website after the meeting is over.

  Please wear your RWK Nametag!  We have lots of members and everyone needs a little help in matching callsigns to smiling faces.  If you can’t find (or don’t have) your RWK nametag, we will have blank paper nametags and you can order a replacement for a nominal charge.  I’d like everyone to introduce themselves to at least two members that they haven’t previously met face-to-face!

  Meeting Location: St. Barnabas Church, 1220 West Belt Line Road, Richardson TX 75080.  Park in the rear parking lot and enter from the rear.  Click this for the map.

  We look forward to seeing you on Monday!

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  If you can’t come in person and want to attend on Zoom, you can use the following link:

  Topic: RWK Social Hour/General Meeting Zoom invitation

  Time: RWK Main Program starts at 7:00 PM

  Join Zoom Meeting

  https://zoom.us/j/94737740567?pwd=QllKd1Ava0lma3FtbDVwdDZKVGlMUT09

  Meeting ID: 947 3774 0567
  Passcode: 081381

• General Meeting – March 2025 – Easy Digital Ops With DigiPi

  Please join RWK on Monday Mar 10th for our General Meeting. 

  We all know that digital operating modes have really transformed ham radio in the last few years, and now represent the majority of QSOs on the HF bands. But it can be a challenge to install and configure all the different pieces of software and interfaces that are required to make the various digital modes possible. Luckily someone has done all the hard work. Craig KM6LYW has created the DigiPi project. DigiPi is an easy-to-use amateur radio data transceiver hotspot for Raspberry Pi. All radio data modes are easily accessible over wifi via your phone or web browser. Make FT8, JS8Call, APRS and packet modes work like any other mobile phone app. Hookup a DigiPi to your rig and instantly have access to radio SMS, EMail, and texting. Ultra-light, low-power makes it indispensable for Summit and Park operations. Craig will show us how DigiPi can make digital modes easy and portable.

  Meeting Recording

For all previous RWK Meetings, see the General Meetings page.

Check out the Presentation Archives. There are tons of presentations from Klub meetings over the years. Scan through them and you will be sure to find something interesting.

RWK Newsletter – The Chawed Rag

The RWK publishes a monthly on-line newsletter, “The Chawed Rag“, for members and others interested in the Klub’s activities.

• 
  The Chawed Rag – April 2024
  by Chip Coker KD4C
  April 30, 2024
  Here’s The Chawed Rag for April 2024. We’ve got a huge solar storm, what’s to become of MFJ, more on the hackable Quansheng UV-K5(8) HT, RWK Newest Hangout, Tracking the Skies Overhead, an update from W5RLP, the usual upcoming events and news and so much more. Hope you enjoy! – KD4C
• 
  The Chawed Rag – March 2024
  by Chip Coker KD4C
  March 28, 2024
  Here’s The Chawed Rag for March 2024. We’ve got a potential Baofeng killer, FCC changes, upcoming hamfests, rebuilding the K5UTD antennas, spring antenna maintenance, the usual upcoming events and news and so much more. Hope you enjoy! – KD4C

Previous Chawed Rags can always be found here.