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.

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

Eyeball QSO Party – Outdoor Sessions

The Thursday Eyeball QSO Party – Outdoor Sessions continue this week as we return to Brekke Park in Oak Park Heights. Brekke Park is located at 5500 Omar Avenue. From Osgood Avenue North, go west on Upper 56th St North to Omar Ave (1st left) then south on Omar into the park. Brekke Park worked out well for us this past Thursday. Plenty of space and there’s even two picnic shelters in the park. Eyeball QSO Parties run from about 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM.

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.

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 seventh time operating from the ghost town of White Rock, SD. 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 cluster, 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

The White Rock Special Event is as close as many of us will get to a “roughing it” DXpedition experience. The location has no electricity, no running water (unless it rains), and no toilets. It looks like we will have up to 10 members on the expedition team. At this point, 2 hardy souls are going for the full camping expedition. The rest are “roughing it” overnight in their hotel room at the nearby Dakota Magic Casino.

“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.

This week’s SARA activities