Metrocrest Amateur Radio Society

Home
United States
Carrollton, TX
Metrocrest Amateur Radio Society

MARS: Metrocrest Amateur Radio Society.

02/22/2026

Dale Hiatt K5MAY demonstrated Chameleon’s MPAS Lite antenna system at MARS’ February 21 2026 Play Day.

01/31/2026

Tower Trouble
During a windstorm on Christmas afternoon, the abandoned 100-foot tower belonging to the late Lee Cheever, W5IG (SK) fell due to a guy line failure. Fortunately, it fell toward the back alley rather than on the house and no injuries were reported. Unfortunately, it took out some power/communication lines prompting a 911 call. ONCOR was called in to restore power in short order.
What remained was still a hazard for Lee’s wife, Ann, WB5NAX. With help from Jack O’Toole, KG5AGO, MARS hams were alerted and on January 2, Ron Reeves, NN5R, David Gilpin, K5GIL, Andy Smolenski, WI5YLX, Dave Lane, N5GDL, George Williams, KG5GXU, Bill Clements, K5PEC, Andy Parcel, KE5KOF, Tom Yenny, K5LOL, Kim Walter, K1MME, and Kevin Grantham, N5KRG, made a coordinated effort to remove the mangled tower.
Lee was a long time MARS member who passed away October 13, 2016. His love of Amateur Radio and all things in physics and engineering will be remembered as his nickname, “W5 Inspector Gadget.” As an accomplished inventor and experimenter, he designed and built many unique projects that you can enjoy on YouTube. https://www.kb5a.org/lee-cheever. For more about Lee visit https://www.kb5a.org/archives-12.

01/20/2026

*** Winter Field Day Update ***
Well, it seems Texas weather doesn’t want to play nice with MARS’ plans for Winter Field Day. The National Weather Service is predicting 60% rain on Friday with wind gusts up to 20 mph. Adding windchills in the low 40s makes it not safe to install outdoor antennas across the street from the church. As temperatures drop through the night, high chances of snow, freezing rain and sleet make outdoor activities dangerous.
As a result, we will probably not participate as a club in Winter Field Day. We’ll make a final decision Thursday morning. Monitor this website for updates.
But WFD continues. You can make your own contacts all over the world from the warm comfort of your shack. We encourage you to operate Winter Field Day from home as a single operator using your own call sign. You’ll be operating in category 1H. Read the rules, log your contacts and let us know your challenges and successes.
This is a hard freeze folks. Temps will not get above freezing until Monday. Make your grocery store run early. Protect your pipes, plants, pets and livestock. Plan to stay off the roads but on the air this weekend.
For more weather information, visit https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Carrollton&state=TX&site=FWD&lat=32.9881&lon=-96.8967

12/13/2025

Fun, Fellowship and Fine Dining—
Over 40 hams and guests were at Carrollton's American Legion Post 597 for our annual Christmas Party December 11. Gregory Maddra, KG5CKX, won the big raffle prize: a Kenwood TH-D75A portable. Many pictures on our website, https://www.kb5a.org/ ...

11/12/2025

The Hams from MARS had a great time at the Carrollton Festival at the Switchyard. The "Kid Code Key" was a big hit and folks learned about Amateur Radio. We're looking forward to 2026. More pictures on our website. https://www.kb5a.org/

08/15/2025

At our August 14 meeting, Bob Linker, W5SQA, was presented a Lifetime Achievement Award for his decades of service and leadership to Amateur Radio. The award was presented by Darrell Crimmins, KG5E, Dave Lane, N5GDL, and David Gilpin, K5GIL. Bob is a founding lifetime member of MARS.

07/23/2025

MARS Hams gathered at the Josey Ranch Lake Library July 19 for a “Build-a-Thon” to assemble a uSDX 5-Band multimode QRP transceiver.

06/18/2025

Carrollton Recognizes Amateur Radio
At the June 17, 2025, Carrollton City Council Meeting, Mayor Steve Babick declared the week of June 22-29, 2025, to be “Amateur Radio Week.” Leading up to ARRL Field Day, the proclamation recognizes amateur radio operators and their public service in times of emergencies and community events.
MARS President Andy Smolenski, KI5YLX, and Immediate Past President David Gilpin, K5GIL, were on hand to accept the certificate on behalf of the Metrocrest Amateur Radio Society. Carrollton Emergency Management Specialist Ryan Owusu-Ansah participated in the ceremony.
Earlier this month, the City of Farmers Branch issued its own “Amateur Radio Week” proclamation.
MARS will work Field Day June 28 through 29 from the First Baptist Church of Farmers Branch. More details are on our EVENTS page.

(L-R) David Gilpin, K5GIL; Carrollton Mayor Steve Babick; Andy Smolenski, KI5YLX; and Carrollton Emergency Management Specialist Ryan Owusu-Ansah

06/03/2025

In the runup to ARRL Field Day, June 28–29, the cities of Carrollton and Farmers Branch have each declared the week of June 22 through 29 to be “Amateur Radio Week.” In separate proclamations the cities recognized the contributions of amateur radio operators in times of emergency and providing communications for charitable public events.
Farmers Branch Mayor Terry Lynne issued his designation on May 30. Carrollton Mayor Steve Babick will present the Carrollton certificate to MARS President Andy Smolenski, KI5YLX, during the City Council meeting on June 17 at 7:00 PM at City Hall.
Many thanks go to Immediate Past President David Gilpin, K5GIL, Kevin Grantham, N5KRG, Carrollton Emergency Management Coordinator Elliott Reep, K5EJR, Assistant to the City Manager Grace Currie, Farmers Branch Emergency Management Coordinator Luke Parten, KI5WJM, Farmers Branch Deputy City Secretary Erin Flores, and to Mayor Babick and Mayor Lynne for their support.

04/13/2025

Saturday, April 12—
MARS’ Texas State Parks on the Air (TSPOTA) team at the Johnson Branch Unit of Ray Roberts State Park.
More pictures on the website https://www.kb5a.org/

04/01/2025

MARS plans to activate the Johnson Branch Unit of Ray Roberts Lake State Park during Texas State Parks on the Air. As in past years, we will be in the pavilion near the Nature Center. While the event runs through Sunday, we will work in the park only Saturday, April 12, but we expect to make a lot of contacts and have a lot of fun.
A complete FAQ is on our EVENTS page. If you’d like to join us, there’s a sign up link on the page. Hope to see you there!

03/21/2025

The recent wind storms caused our antennas high atop the Carrollton Regional Medical Center to assume some crazy angles. Damage was done to the folded dipole arrays for our 145.210 standby repeater and our 444.075 machine, as well as to our Winlink antenna and the DMR machine. An antenna belonging to the CRMC was also tilted.
On March 16, MARS repeater mavens Dave Lane, N5GDL, Ron Reeves, NN5R, Andy Smolenski, KI5YLX, and tower climber David Darcy, KF5LKG, ventured to the roof to straighten the arrays and replace the DMR and Winlink antennas. Interestingly, all stations continued to function despite the less-than-ideal conditions.

Address

PO BOX 110034
Carrollton, TX
75011

Website

https://www.kb5a.org/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Metrocrest Amateur Radio Society posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Want your organization to be the top-listed Non Profit Organization in Carrollton?