SARA This Week Dec 24 – Dec 30
Happy Holidays!
Here is your SARA update for this week!
Election of Officers for 2024
SARA’s officers are elected annually during the Annual Meeting of the Association held in January each year. The offices of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and one director (2yr term) are open for election at that time. Nominations were made during the December monthly meeting. The slate of nominees for 2024 are:
President: Joe Heitzinger KCØOIO
Vice President: Bob Jensen WØGAF
Secretary: Dave Iverson N9JNQ
Treasurer: Dave Leikam KØAIF
Director 2024-2025: Brad Harris VE3MXJ
Annual Membership Dues
Annual dues for 2024 and beyond are being accepted now. Individual memberships are $20/year, Family memberships are $30/year for the 1st two members and $10/year for each additional family member. Associate memberships are $10/year. Dues can be paid in person, via mail, or online via Paypal. Visit the membership application/renewal page on radioham.org >> CLICK HERE <<
Remote Station WØJH
The WØJH Remote Station, located in Hayward, WI, is now online with limited TX access at this time as we are testing operation of the station. At present, the station is limited to 75 watts transmit power and 80M to 6M for HF. To access the remote station you will need to establish an account with remotehams.com and then download and install RCForb client from remotehams.com. It is available for Windows (download from remotehams.com) and Android (Google Play). Sorry, it is not available for IOS devices. This remote station will be accessible to current SARA and Courage Kenny Handihams members. You to have a General, Advanced or Extra class license to use the remote station.
A hybrid Tech Topic Thursday session on accessing and operating the WØJH remote station will be held January 4th, beginning at 6:15 PM. This will be an in-person / virtual Zoom session during the Eyeball QSO Session that evening.
SARA White Elephant Exchange Party (SWEEP) January 14, 2024
Don’t miss the ever-popular, always fun SWEEP! There are plenty of laughs and lots of surprises. He didn’t make an appearance last year, so now we must double down on the question “Where’s Porky?” While some folks may not believe pigs can fly, most SARA members know otherwise. Would be really great if this little flying porker could talk as well. Just think of the fantastic tales of his travels he could pass on to the membership since he first appeared. A reliable source has informed me that he will be flying in for the party!
As if you need a reason to participate, consider these benefits:
- Clean your shack of something(s) you no longer need or want!
- Go home with something more useful/desirable than you started with!
- Have FUN with guaranteed SURPRISES! (TMI Alert: As a SARA member once said, “I laughed so hard, I almost wet my pants!”)
- This little piggy went wee, wee, wee all the way home – where was the Flying Ham the past couple of years and where will he land this time?
Each participant should bring at least one wrapped “White Elephant” gift to exchange. (The more you bring; the more you can leave with. You can bring up to 4 gifts.) This should be something related to Amateur Radio, in a broad sense, that’s maybe collecting dust in your Shack. It may be something you no longer use/need; and that someone else could use. (Please be prudent in your selections, electronic waste is still likely electronic waste to the next person)
SARA POTA Challenge ‘23
The November recap is available on our radioham.org website >> CLICK HERE << to view the update page.
There are less than 7 days left for the 2023 SARA POTA Challenge. Where will you be on the final results boards? The 2023 final results will be announced at the POTA Challenge Awards Ceremony during the February 10, 2024 SARA meeting.
If you are a SARA member AND have registered on the POTA website https://parksontheair.com/# (sign up is under the Help/Getting Started tab), you are included in the SARA Challenge 2023.
A thorough source of information for those that want to get started POTA hunting or activating is also found on the POTA website. The https://docs.pota.app/ page is a great resource of all info for POTA. Start with the Getting Started with POTA page and go from there.
SARA is sponsoring the MN POTA Activity Day. The date will be Saturday June 8, 2024, from 10:00 AM (15:00 UTC) to 6:00 PM CDT (22:00 UTC). The objective is to activate as many MN POTA entities as possible during that day. There will be no scoring. The web domain mnpota.com has been secured and the website is being developed.
This week’s SARA activities
SARA’s on-air, in-person, and virtual activities are a great way to stay connected with others.
- NO “Sunday Fusion” Digital Voice Hangout Dec 24
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 Top Band Ragchew
Nightly
20:00 Central (02:00 UTC)
Frequency: 1.966 LSB +/- QRM or 3.813 LSB +/- QRM
Alternates: 21.316 MHz +/- QRM (USB) 50.166 MHz +/- QRM (USB) - NO SARA Monday Morning 75-meter Ragchew Dec 25
08:15 Central (14:15 UTC)
Frequency: 3.856 LSB +/- QRM - SARA Two Meter Tuesday (TMT) Round Robin Ragchew Dec 26
7:00 – ~8:00 pm Central (or until we finish!)
SARA Repeater 147.060+ MHz (DCS/DTCS 026 Normal)
1st Tuesday 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. - SARA Eyeball QSO Party Thursday Dec 28
6:00 PM – 7:50 PM Central
Conference Room
Stillwater Public Library, 224 3rd Street, Stillwater