Welcome

arrlAn ARRL Affiliated Special Service Club

The Santa Fe Trail Amateur Radio Club is a general-purpose club with the goal of promoting and supporting the educational and operational aspects of ham radio through ham radio classes, on-the-air events, and hands-on activity. THE SATURDAY BREAKFAST MEETINGS ARE HELD  AT PERKINS IN GARDNER EACH SATURDAY. YOU ARE WELCOME TO JOIN US 6:30 AM TO ~8:30AMThe monthly business meeting is the 2nd Saturday of each month. This meeting is a hybrid meeting in which you can attend in person at Perkins in Gardner or you can attend via a Zoom connection. Additionally, the club holds a Tech Night presentation via Zoom the last Thursday evening of each month at 7:30 pm. Log in to the web site and select the "Links/Zoom Links" menu to find meeting links or contact a club officer. 

KS QSO Party Sign Up Sheet

KS QSO 2023

SFTARC (KSØKS) Kansas QSO Party (8/29 and 8/30)

Sign up to operate as KSØKS via the "Sign Up Sheet" link.

Upcoming Events

18 Aug 2026;
08:00PM -
SFTARC Net
21 Aug 2026;
12:00PM - 07:00PM
Joplin Hamfest 1
22 Aug 2026;
08:00AM - 02:00PM
Joplin Hamfest 2
22 Aug 2026;
09:00AM - 03:00PM
Huntsfille, AL Hamfest
22 Aug 2026;
09:00AM - 03:00PM
Huntsfille, AL Hamfest
25 Aug 2026;
08:00PM -
SFTARC Net
27 Aug 2026;
07:30PM - 08:30PM
Tech Night - B-25 Mitchell Bomber and the Effect of WWII on Ham Radio
wb0cnk

     We're well into the outdoor summer events for the club this year. The Olathe Ensor Foundation's Ensorfest25 on May 10th was another huge success, with attendance approaching 250. Many of you volunteered to help set up and staff positions as well as enjoying the wide range of events throughout the day.

     On the following Saturday, May 17th, more than a dozen club members will have traveled to the club's favorite POTA event at the National Tallgrass Prairie Preserve near Strong City, KS. Later on June 28th and 29th, I hope many of you will take time to share in the club camaraderie while we participate in the Field Day activities. Field Day is a great opportunity to learn about emergency preparedness as well as a variety of interesting antennas. Contact Larry KDØRIU, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or Jim KØNK , at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you'd like to help set up or just operate. Last year operators made well over 400 contacts, including 8 different countries across 3 different continents. 

     Tech Night on May 29th will be a presentation by GeoChron President Patrick Bolan, KJ7ZSU. It will be a brief history of their famous geographic wall chronometer and their current Digital Atlas & Ham Radio Bundle. For the Zoom address, see our website or contact Jason, KFØISL, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Trail Bytes

Military Radio - Pat, KFØOYS
13 Aug 2026

Pat, KFØOYS presented a talk on Military Radios for the SFTARC July 2026 Tech Night.He presented details for a simple radio made from readily available parts.

Kansas QSO Party Signup
08 Aug 2026

      Good Day to the Santa Fe Trail Amateur Radio Club.  It is that time of year again for the Kansas QSO party.  I am Jeff Darby,...

FD in Clolorado - Ex Honeywell-Olathe Hams
12 Jul 2026

Several retired Honeywell-Olathe employees now live in Colorado and belong to their local Chaffee Lake Amateur Radio Association.  The local paper wrote up this very...

Field Day at a Ham Radio Landmark
03 Jul 2026

Brian, WQØA, presented a video on his YouTube channel titled "Field Day at a Ham Radio Landmark | Ensor Museum, Santa Fe Trail ARC & More". The video started with an...

Introduction to Grounding for Ham Radio
02 May 2026

At our April 30th, 2026, tech night, George McCarville, WB0CNK, covered essential grounding techniques for ham radio, focusing on safety, lightning, and RF grounding. Key...

Understanding 12V DC Power for Radio Amateurs
30 Apr 2026

     In the March 2026 tech night discussion, Tom Apalenek WA2IVD, highlighted that the commonly referenced "12V" is actually 13.8V, accounting for a ±15%...

Tech Night - 3D Printing
08 Mar 2026

This is a presentation of 3D printing and the technologies involved in the process. It was presented by Howard Cripe - N0AZ for the February 26th Tech Night of the Santa Fe...

Chasing Radiosondes or Radios from Heaven!
30 Jan 2026

The SFTARC Tech Night for January 2026 was a presentation by Mike Laney (KEØGHU) on Chasing Radiosondes. Mike provided details about the devices used, web sites used...