Here is your SARA weekly update!
Frozen Ice Station WØJH Feb 14 – 16, 2026
WØJH returns to air for the Frozen Ice Station WØJH Special Event Saturday Feb 14, Sunday Feb 15, and Monday Feb 16. The cold weather and minimal snow have ensured adequate ice thickness to be on the lake again this year. This is the eleventh year for the event and occurs over President’s Day weekend.
This year’s event is being led by our host Dave KØAIF and Bob WØGAF. The Special Event operates from Dave’s (and his YL Anne KØVOB) their lake-front property and QTH at 2641 Lake Elmo Avenue North is the location for the event.
Set up each day begins about 9:30 AM and we hope to have the stations on the air around 10:00 AM (16:00 UTC) to 4:00 PM (22:00 UTC) daily. We will operate 2 stations, one from SARA’s nice insulated and heated Eskimo portable shelter on the frozen surface of Lake Elmo and the other from our heated trailer on dry (snowy?) land, across the road, near the big barn and windmill. There is ample, free parking for ~20 vehicles.
The shelter and all gear must be taken down and stowed each evening. Very important after-hours critiquing/networking sessions will be held routinely.
Access to the portable shelter station is not handicap-accessible and can be challenging for able-bodied folks due to the ice. The inland station will operate from SARA’s self-contained communications trailer.
We’re looking forward to having this year’s newly licensed hams and recently upgraded Generals and Extras participate, especially those with little or no HF operating experience. You can learn the “ropes” by watching and logging – then, when you’re ready, you can grab the microphone. There will be plenty of Elmers on hand to gladly assist … plus, they’ll be free to answer any questions. Even if you can’t stay to operate, at least stop by to see our set-ups. We can almost guarantee you’ll come away learning a bit about portable HF operation operating at Special Events!
Interested in Learning/Operating Digital HF? From the SARA cozy trailer, we can operate both digital and SSB modes. An operator and logger, using the Icom IC-7300 transceiver connected to a laptop, will be available for demonstration and hands-on instruction for visitors/onlookers.
Dates / Times / Schedule:
Saturday, 2/14: 9:30 am Setup, operating until ~4:00 pm
Sunday, 2/15: 9:30 am Setup, operating until ~4:00 pm
Monday, 2/16: 9:30 am Setup, operating until ~4:00 pm
SignUpGenius is the tool to manage the operator and logger schedule for the Event. >> CLICK HERE << to go to the sign up page for Ice Station WØJH 2026 and sign up now!
Frequencies: 3.860, 7.260, 14.260, 21.360, 28.360 MHz
Tune +/– 20 kHz if QRM
SSB and digital operation will used
1st Thursday Technical Topic Nights “Let’s Talk About…”
1st Thursday Technical Topic Night features a technical presentation and discussion based upon the level of interest in the club and the willingness of someone to prepare and lead the session. The sessions are livestreamed via Zoom for those who choose to join the session virtually; and are recorded and posted to the SARA YouTube channel for future viewing and reference. You can find all the 1st Thursday Topics in the 1st Thursdays Technical Topics playlist.
We are always looking for topic ideas and discussion leaders for future 1TTT nights. If you have a suggestion or are willing to lead a discussion, please let drop me an email at kc0oio2002@gmail.com.
The 1st Thursday Technical Topic Nights are held at the Baytown Township Hall, 4020 McDonald Dr N, Stillwater, MN 55082, beginning at 6:00 PM Central (00:00 UTC).
- Feb 5, 2026 1st Thursday Tech Topic Night
“Let’s Talk About … Pico Balloons” led by Rich ADØSN
>> CLICK HERE << to view the recording of the session on our YouTube channel. The PDF document is available to download from the radioham.org website by >> clicking here << - Mar 5, 2026 1st Thursday Tech Topic Night
“Let’s Talk About … Logging Workflows” led by Dale WØDHZ - Apr 2, 2026 1st Thursday Tech Topic Night
“Let’s Talk About … Meshtastic” led by Collin KEØIYN - May 7, 2026 1st Thursday Tech Topic Night
“Let’s Talk About … Antenna Analyzers” led by Joe KCØOIO
Eyeball QSO Party
The weekly Eyeball QSO Party is at the Stillwater Public Library Conference Room through the 16th of April 2026 (90 days is as far as we can schedule with the library), except for 1st Thursdays (Tech Topic Night). The April 23rd session will be at another location due to room availability at the Library that evening.
Radios in the Parks will return in May as we move the Eyeball QSO Party outdoors to various parks in the area.
Technician License Prep Classes begin March 5
SARA’s Spring Technician License Classes begin Thursday evening, March 5. Classes will be held at the Stillwater Public Library, 224 3rd Street E, Stillwater, MN 55082, from 6:00 PM to 7:50 PM for 8 weeks through April 23. The SARA VE Team will conduct an Exam Session on Thursday April 30th.
The ARRL Ham Radio License Manual 5th Edition is the textbook for the class. You can order a copy direct from the ARRL at https://home.arrl.org/action/Store/Product-Details/productId/2003373064 or from Amazon http://home.arrl.org/action/Store/Product-Details/productId/2003373064.
The current Technician Class exam question pool expires June 30, with a new question pool being effective July 1. Now is the time to act, before the question pool expires!
To sign up for the class, email Bob WØGAF via email at w0gaf at me dot com.
SARA to host Metro Skywarn training session March 28
SARA will host a session of Metro Skywarn storm spotter training on Saturday March 28. The session will be at the Stillwater Public Library beginning at 10:30 AM. Further details will be shared once they are announced by Metro Skywarn.
The SARA POTA Challenge
The SARA POTA Challenge 2025 final results were revealed at the February meeting. They will be posted on the radioham.org website soon. >> CLICK HERE << to view the results through Nov 2025. January’s results have not yet been compiled but will also be shared online as soon as they are ready.
An overview of the numbers for 2025:
- Challenge Participants: 75
- Hunter QSO: 82,859
- Qualified Activations: 2,627
- Parks Activated: 1,568 (not unique parks)
- Activator QSO: 87,102 (by 51 activators)
The SARA POTA Challenge 2026 is well underway! At some point in the summer of 2025, POTA raised the minimum contacts returned in the Top Hunter search to 50 Hunter contacts. This is a limitation placed on the hunter database by POTA. Therefore, the hunter threshold has changed to the minimum 50 for the 2026 Challenge, not by our choice, but because of what we can extract from POTA’s database.
SARA members who have registered on the POTA website https://parksontheair.com/# (sign up is under the Help/Getting Started tab) are automatically included in the SARA Challenges.
This week’s SARA activities
- NO “Sunday Fusion” Digital Voice Hangout Feb 8
19:00 Central (01:00 UTC)
SARA Repeater 147.060+ MHz (DCS/DTCS 026 Normal)
or connect via WIRES-X to the W0JH-Room 63969
System Fusion digital voice hangout to expand use and familiarity with the digital voice capabilities available on the WØJH repeater. - SARA Evening HF Ragchew
Nightly
20:00 Central (02:00 UTC)
Frequency: 3.813LSB +/- QRM
Alternates: 1.966 MHz +/- QRM (LSB), 21.316 MHz +/- QRM (USB) 50.166 MHz +/- QRM (USB) - SARA Monday Morning 75-meter Ragchew Feb 9
Frequency: 3.856 LSB +/- QRM - Two Meter Tuesday (TMT) Round Robin Ragchew Feb 10
7:00 – ~8:00 pm Central (or until we finish!)
SARA Repeater 147.060+ MHz (DCS/DTCS 026 Normal)1stTuesday of each month is Emergency Power Night – participants are encouraged to operate the stations on emergency power.
The Tuesday evening on-air round robin ragchew, featuring the “Ask the Elmer” segment. The group leaders focus on encouraging any and everyone, especially those new to the airwaves, to join the session via the repeater. - Eyeball QSO Party Thursday Feb 12
6:00 PM
Conference Room
Stillwater Public Library
224 3rd Street E, Stillwater, MN 55082 - Frozen Ice Station WØJH Feb 14 – 16, 2026
9:30 AM Setup
On air ~10:30 to 4:00 PM CST (16:30 to 22:00 UTC)
from the frozen surface of Lake Elmo
2641 Lake Elmo Avenue North
