Published - GROVES — Groves, Texas could get world-wide publicity through an amateur radio club working to mount radio antennas atop city water towers.

Groves gets the goods for emergency communication project


The Port Arthur News (Port Arthur, Texas)

By Darragh Doiron (409-729-NEWS)

Staff writer

(GROVES, TX) — Groves could get world-wide publicity through an amateur radio club working to mount radio antennas atop city water towers.

The Triangle Repeater Association, a local radio club, approached city council in March about placing equipment on tall towers and Christopher Boone, a radio supporter with SETX Telecom, a local telecommunications company, called the response “overwhelming.”

“The city went above and beyond to help us in securing the building and giving us space on the water towers,” Boone said.

Boone said TRA will have radios that will transmit locally and worldwide and “publicize the city of Groves on the amateur radio bands.”

Groves City Manager D.E. Sosa said the city can use this kind of support after hurricanes and other emergencies.

Boone said the system can be used as emergency backup for public service groups. He invited interested parties to contact the group at W5APX@att.net or go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/setxham and join the free e-mail list.

A repeater is a station that retransmits signals from high locations to improve walkie talkie and mobile communications. Boone said the TRA originally existed in the 1970s supporting the original Port Arthur 146.94MHz amateur radio repeater (WA5YUS and later WR5AEX).

Local Motorola dealer Arthur Kay, owner of Kay Radio and Electronics, founded the original club in the early 1960s, and it folded in the late 1970s, as did the repeater, because of a loss of operating sites, according to Boone.

Boone, whose call sign is WB5ITT said he will guide operations of the reformed TRA and will be operating repeaters and other gear under Kay's old ham radio call sign, W5APX, now assigned to the club by the Federal Communications Commission. Boone was the last secretary-treasurer of the original TRA at age 16.

Groves city councilman Kyle Hollier said he supported the project and photographed a donated POD arrival that will be used to store equipment during installation.

Jim and Donna Wade own the PODS franchise in Beaumont and said they were honored to help.

POD being delivered 8/19/2009 to water tower at the “Pea Patch” golf course in Groves, TX

L-R above: KD5QDO; N5STK; WB5ITT (trustee of W5APX and TRA); Donna and Jim Wade of “PODS of SETexas:; Groves, TX City Manager D.E. Sosa. Both pictures by Kyle Hollier, KE5ZQJ of Hollier Photography, Groves, TX and City Councilman for Groves .

(TRA note: The POD will eventually house a 10mtr GE MSTR II repeater transmitter, 6mtr Midland Syntech II repeater and WACOM WP604 duplexer; the duplexer donated by WB5RFK and Temple-Eastex, a backup 2mtr split site repeater covering a 400ft main site 2miles north and various link equipment/packet gear as well as storage for other sites. Eventually a Wi-Fi backbone between all 4 water towers will be added providing the city and ham gear with a wireless backbone and cameras at all tower sites for security, On another water tower 1.5 miles east, there will be the 10mtr GE MSTRII receiver, automated CW beacons on 6, 2 and 432 MHz signing “W5APX EL39BW Groves, TX” in the ID along with satellite receivers for the WB5ITT 224.5 and 444.5 repeaters (Main 220 and UHF repeater site is 20 miles to the north on a 300ft building top) and associated UHF link gear for the repeaters The water towers are rated for 300+MPH winds and stand 180ft AGL tall. Special mounts are being donated to prevent any welding to the tower and damage to the paint and other protective coatings)

Many people have worked behind the scenes to make this happen…and TRA wishes to thank the City of Groves for its very open and generous support of this project!!!

Christopher Boone, WB5ITT
TRA Trustee, W5APX