W5ECO - Houston ECHO Society

Welcome! The Houston ECHO Society is a general interest amateur (ham) radio club serving greater Houston Texas, founded in 1974 to provide autopatches and assist with emergency communications. ECHO stands for Emergency Communications by Ham Operators. Today cell phones have replaced most of the autopatches on repeaters, but emergency communications is always of importance to the community.  ECHO maintains repeaters that may be used in times of emergencies as well as providing a pool of trained radio operators to assist in that effort. Houston is hurricane prone, so hams are vital if the area is hit by storms and bad weather. Click on a link below to learn more about ECHO. The club call is W5ECO. Photos of some of our activities are at the bottom of this page and on our photos page.

• Next club meeting -- The Monday, November 9 ECHO meeting presentation will be by Jim Burrough Jr., N5DTT, with a PowerPoint on his experiences at the recent WRTC 2026 for TDXS. WRTC in ham radio stands for the World Radiosport Team Championship, a top‑tier, on‑site amateur‑radio contesting event held every four years. It’s widely known as the “Olympics of Amateur Radio.” What WRTC is A worldwide, invitation‑only competition where the best contest operators form two‑person teams and compete under identical station conditions to determine pure operator skill. All teams operate with
  Identical antennas Identical power limits (typically 100W) Similar terrain On‑site referees Secret callsigns revealed only at the start This removes station advantages and focuses entirely on operator ability.
  
• ECHO newsletters for 2026
  
• ECHO is always looking for amateur radio presentations. If you have a specialty contact martingblaise at gmail dot com. Presentations can be in person or by ZOOM. Direct all "snail mail" correspondence to: Houston ECHO Society, Attn: Mike Nault, 2016 Peppermill Rd., Houston TX 77080-5541.
• For national information on ham radio visit the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL).
• Houston Area Hamfest Information
• More club info: ECHO membership application 
• Club bylaws 
• Possible topics for ham radio presentations 
  
• ECHO has a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/W5ECO/  
  
• Ham Radio Web Sites/Resources                                                                  

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latest update 7/21/2026