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 ~8:30AM.  The 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. 

Upcoming Events

27 Oct 2026;
08:00PM -
SFTARC Net
29 Oct 2026;
07:30PM - 08:30PM
Tech Night - PORTABLE  OPERATION
03 Nov 2026;
08:00PM -
SFTARC Net
10 Nov 2026;
08:00PM -
SFTARC Net
14 Nov 2026;
08:00AM -
SFTARC business meeting
14 Nov 2026;
08:00AM - 05:00PM
2026 Nixa ARC Hamfest - Saturday, November 14th, 8:00AM
17 Nov 2026;
08:00PM -
SFTARC Net

   Larry Woodworth, WØHXS, passed away this morning, October 21, 2025, in Overland Park, KS. 

     Larry will be greatly remembered for his passionate advocacy of the Ensor Park and Museum and wireless pioneers Marshall and Loretta Ensor.

     Larry was issued WNØHXS as a high school student in 1952 and WØHXS in 1953. In 2001, after he retired, he became a volunteer at the Ensor Park and Museum. He was inspired to do what he could to help tell "the story of the Ensor family," particularly the radio adventures of Marshall and Loretta. In 2002, Larry Woodworth and Larry Thomas founded the Marshall Ensor Memorial Organization Amateur Radio Club, whose purpose was "to promote The "ENSOR PARK & MUSEUM" of Olathe, Kansas, to amateur radio operators and to the public both near and far away and to assist The Museum by caring for its historic radio equipment and by cataloging and guarding the documents, exhibits, and other information pertaining to Marshall H. Ensor, original callsign 9BSP, and Loretta Ensor, original callsign 9UA."
     Larry's passion was such that he became the Museum Manager. Not only did he train and manage the volunteer tour guides from two local amateur radio clubs, but he promoted the museum by speaking, writing magazine and newspaper articles, and inviting reporters to cover newsworthy events at the museum. He supervised the care and display of the old radios and other artifacts, and he organized a project to reach out and try to make contact with those radio amateurs whose radio-contact confirmation cards (QSL cards) were contained in the Ensor archives. His goal was to research the thousands of QSL cards at the museum and return copies of the originals to any of the operators who were still licensed. That effort culminated in the return of over 200 QSL copies to their original senders from as long ago as 1923. What a thrill it was for those "old-timers" to recall the magic of radio waves hurtling through across the nation and around the world! Larry carefully cataloged their responses and stories relating to the importance of ham radio in their lives and careers. All of this is now preserved at the museum.
     In October of 2020, during the Covid pandemic, Larry was honored via Zoom for his service to the Ensor museum in a ceremony conducted at his home. He was presented a D-104 trophy microphone with the inscription "Mo-Kan Council of Amateur Radio Organizations, Inc., In recognition of outstanding effort and meritorious service to the Amateur Radio Community in the Kansas City Region, Larry Woodworth, WØHXS, Who has advanced the art and science of Amateur Radio and brought credit and success to the Amateur Radio Community."


Thank you Larry, and may you rest in peace.

Trail Bytes

Midwest Division Town Hall Sept 24. 2026
01 Oct 2026

The Santa Fe Trails Amateur Radio club hosts a monthly virtual Tech Night.  For the September Tech Night we asked members to join in an ARRL Midwest Division...

B-25 Project and Miltary Radios
29 Aug 2026

Mike Laney (KEØGHU) presented a talk on the B-25 Project and the radios used in the WW II bomber. Mike included several stories about the B-25 in WW II and the airmen who...

Field Day at Lake Olathe (Mid 1990s)
26 Aug 2026

This newspaper article about Field Day at Lake Olathe is from the mid 1990's. I found it in some of my old storage boxes. Some interesting old memories. The following...

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...

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...