Ice Station WØJH 2014
SARA Work Party 1
New Radio Gear For Some SARA Members!
Fitzgerald Crew 2011
SARA Field Day 2011
SARA Work Party 2
AGØH 2013
Split Rock 2013
2018 WØTBC Memorial Award-NØDRX
2014 SARA Officers

SARA This Week Aug 22 – Aug 28

Good Morning!

SARA holds on-air ragchews every day of the week. Details can be found in the “This Week’s SARA Activities” section below. and virtual meetings via WEBEX including the Tech Topic Thursday session, the monthly member meeting, monthly Board meeting, and event planning meetings.

Over the summer season, outdoor Eyeball QSO Parties allow SARA to gather outdoors weekly. The weekly outdoor Eyeball QSO Party is at a local Stillwater-area park beginning around 6:00 PM until 8:00 PM.

We also hold virtual meetings via WEBEX including the Tech Topic Thursday session, the monthly member meeting, monthly Board meeting, and event planning meetings.


SARA White Rock Ghost Town & Tri-State Marker Special Event Station 2021

Tri-State Special Event out in the ghost town of White Rock, SD is August 27 – 29.

This will be the sixth time operating from the ghost town of White Rock; previous events were held in 1999, 2000, 2002, 2012, 2015 and 2019. We first ran this event 22 years ago in 1999 using a special WØA callsign. The town of White Rock was established in 1884 and was once a thriving farming community with a peak population of 600 people; with 7 grain elevators, 3 hotels, 4 saloons, 2 banks, a large department store, 2 drug stores, 2 churches, a 12 grade school, railroad depot, post office as well as other mercantile establishments. White Rock is the most northeastern community in SD and the tri-state point where SD, ND & MN meet is nearby. The current population is 2!

While our primary base station will be in the town of White Rock, we expect conditions will allow us to have a secondary station at times at the SD/ND/MN tri-state marker. SSB will be our primary mode, but digital modes may also be used. While we will have a few people camping in White Rock that may operate some during the evening, this is primarily going to be a daytime operation with intention to be up and running by 1400 UTC on Saturday 8/28 and Sunday 8/29. One of the stations in White Rock will likely become established on 20m and will likely be kept busy enough to stay there most of the day. We encourage anyone who works us, to spot us on the spotting networks, as we won’t be self spotting and the more folks we work, the happier we will be. We have about a 4hr drive to White Rock and need time to set up on Friday 8/27, but plan to be operational late in the day on Friday. Would appreciate being able to make a few contacts then to be sure we are ready to go for the weekend, so if you are available on Friday 8/27 mid to late afternoon, you may be able to work us for an early contact for the event.

This Special Event has also been listed as an APE (August PSK Expedition) with the PODXS Ø7Ø Club. Details on the Ø7Ø Club’s APE program can be found here:  http://www.podxs070.com/ape-august-psk31-expedition. Look for WØJH around the PSK31 frequencies on 40 – 20 – 15 meters on Saturday and Sunday. WØJH is Ø7Ø member #1905.

Suggested Frequencies:
SSB:  3.860, 7.260, 14.260, 21.360 MHz (Tune +/– 10 kHz if QRM)
PSK:  7.070, 14.070,  21.070 MHz

Operating Schedule, Frequencies & Modes
Friday, 8/27: ~3:00 – 7:00* pm Central Time (~2000 – 2400 UTC) … BONUS: this is NOT published in QST
Saturday, 8/28: 9:00 am – 7:00* pm (1400 – 2400 UTC)
Sunday, 8/29: 9:00 am – 7:00 pm (1400 – 2400 UTC)
* Ops, especially campers, may operate 24 hours if they wish.
SARA 160m special sked (~8:00 pm on 1.966 MHz) … BONUS: this is NOT published in QST

Note: Jim (WØELC) will be our “SARA Member Relay Station” back here in the Cities. As we operate on different bands and frequencies; Jim will relay info to SARA members via the SARA repeater and text messaging. This will greatly improve the changes for our members to make contact with us at this event.


Eyeball QSO Party – Outdoor Sessions

The Thursday Eyeball QSO Party – Outdoor Sessions continue this week. We learned that soccer season has begun at Brekke Park this past Thursday. The pavilion was available, but parking was at a premium.

This week we will move the session to Autumn Hills Park, 5697 Norwich Parkway, Oak Park Heights MN 55082

I suggest bringing a lawn chair along in case the pavilion is in use by other groups. Eyeball QSO Parties run from about 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM.

Radios in the Park 2021

The next SARA Radios in the Park is Thursday September 2. RITP is held at Valley View Park, 5421 Osgood Ave N in Oak Park Heights starting around 5:30 PM and going until around 8:00 PM.  Reservations for the pavilion have been secured with the City of Oak Park Heights. We are required to follow all State and CDC health and safety guidelines. Please help us comply with these guidelines. Attending the event is your choice.

This RITP session will focus on the use of various types of manual antenna tuners. Get some  elmering and hands-on experience on how to match your antenna to the 50-ohm load your radio is expecting. This is a perfect session for the new/newer HF operator, as well as those of use with plenty of years behind us. We’ll have a few radios, antennas, and tuners set up for operators to get in there and learn the nuances of antenna tuners. Learn how to use different types of tuners: tapped inductor, roller inductor, differential T roller inductor and even an automatic antenna tuner.

Radios in the Park has scheduled dates of Sept 2, and Sept 23 at Valley View Park.

Monthly General Meetings to resume in September

The monthly 2nd Saturday meeting of the Stillwater Amateur Radio Association is set to resume on Sept 11. Boutwells Landing has notified us that we are booked for the usual meeting room for September through December, however they have not advised us of COVID-19 protocols. Given the current surge in the Delta variant, a senior residential care facility is likely to be extremely cautious when it comes to outside visitors and use of their facilities. It may be necessary to conduct our September entirely via Webex or possibly outdoors. The Board will continue to monitor developments with Boutwells.


“Remembering the Edmund Fitzgerald” Special Event Station 2021 

The 17th annual “Remembering the Edmund Fitzgerald” Special Event is scheduled for Oct 29 – 31. The Trail Center at Split Rock Lighthouse State Park has been reserved for the weekend. The Mariner Motel in Silver Bay is the primary lodging, and there is also the AmericInn in Silver Bay and with more lodging choices up and down Highway 61. And tent camping is available at the State Park for the more hardy. More to come as we get closer to the dates.

There is the possibility that we will offer opportunities for off-site operating time slots for SARA members who may wish to operate from home, particularly in the CW and digital (FT8, PSK) modes. Planning for the event will spin up in September after the White Rock expedition.


Amateur Extra Class License Upgrade Study Group

SARA and the South East Metro Amateur Radio Club (SEMARC) are considering a joint offering of an Amateur Extra Class license study group. The study group concept is not an instructor-led class, rather group members each take a weekly session / license manual chapter from the license manual and serve as the group leader for that chapter. This helps focus group members through increased interaction and discussion. The clubs can make available facilitators that would add particular insight to the topic discussion each week.

SARA has facilitated successful Amateur Extra Class study groups in the past. A joint offering from SARA and SEMARC will increase the number of participants and enhance the study group experience. If you want to upgrade to Amateur Extra Class and are interested in this potential study group, please let me know via email ASAP so that plans can be finalized for a study group yet this Fall.


This week’s SARA activities

SARA’s on-air and virtual activities are a great way to stay connected with others. These activities provide healthy social contact while maintaining personal distancing.
  • “Sunday Fusion” Digital Voice Hangout August 22
    19:00 Central (00:00 UTC)
    SARA Repeater 147.060+ MHz (DCS/DTCS 026 Normal)
    or connect via WIRES-X to the W0JH-Room 63969
    (the YSF reflector US SARA-QRX-FCMG 64144 remains offline due to technical issues)
    System Fusion digital voice hangout to expand use and familiarity with the digital voice capabilities available on the WØJH repeater.
  • SARA Top Band Ragchew 
    Nightly
    20:00 Central (01:00 UTC)
    Frequency:  1.966 LSB +/- QRM
    Alternates: 21.316 MHz +/- QRM (USB) 50.166 MHz +/- QRM (USB)
  • SARA Monday Morning Ragchew August 23
    08:15 Central (14:00 UTC)
    Frequency:  3.856 LSB +/- QRM
  • The Lunch Room – Informal Ragchew
    Daily (Monday thru Friday)
    12:00 Central
    SARA Repeater 147.060+ MHz (DCS/DTCS 026 Normal)
    – anyone can open the Lunch Room
  • SARA Two Meter Tuesday (TMT) Round Robin Ragchew August 24
    Time: 7:00 – ~8:00 pm Central (or until we finish!)
    SARA Repeater 147.060+ MHz (DCS/DTCS 026 Normal)
    The Tuesday evening on-air round robin ragchew
    An HF Afterglow follows with the Top Band Ragchew on 160 meters
  • SARA Two Meter Wednesday Round Robin Ragchew August 25
    Time: 9:00 PM Central
    SARA Repeater 147.060+ MHz (DCS/DTCS 026 Normal)
    The Wednesday evening SARA Ragchew on the SARA repeater
  • SARA Eyeball QSO Party Thursday August 26
    Time: ~5:30 PM to 8:00 PM Central
    Autumn Hills Park, 5697 Norwich Parkway, Oak Park Heights MN 55082
  • White Rock, SD Ghost Town & Tri-State Marker Special Event Station
    Friday August 27 – Saturday August 28 – Sunday August 29
    See details at the top of this news posting.