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SPARCS.US is about Ham Radio emergency communications services on the Texas Gulf Coast and Rio Grande Valley and for the most part in Cameron and Willacy County. The “Amateur Radio Service” may be a hobby to some operators but according to the F.C.C. Ham Radio, or “Amateur Radio” is a “Service” created and administered by F.C.C. rules and regulations since the early 20th century. At no place in the rules and regulations is it called a “hobby”.
This site features news and information about the “South Padre Area Communication Services” or “SPARCS”, a Texas ham radio communications Non-profit corporation.
This site will sometimes include information pertaining to “RACES, ARES, Skywarn and other Ham Radio based emergency communications groups such as MARS and SHARES. Due to the lack of representative and enthusiastic ARES following here in our area this is one of the only ways that Hams have been able to stay abreast of emergency communication development.
We report on emergency communications and related activities inside Cameron and Hidalgo Counties in Texas, and throughout the State. Our Rio Grande Valley area includes counties of Jim Hogg, Starr, Zapata, Brooks, Kenedy, Willacy, Hidalgo and Cameron all known to Texans as the “Lower Rio Grande Valley” or “RGV”. The area also includes Cameron and Willacy Coastal County areas featuring South Padre Island, Port Isabel, Los Fresnos, San Benito, Brownsville, Harlingen and McAllen. The “Lower Rio Grande Valley” is a basic metropolitan trade area and home to approximately 1.2 million population on the U.S. side of the border. Sister cities on the border in Mexico are Matamoros, Progresso and Reynosa. Welcome on board “SPARCS”!
