SARA This Week Dec 31 – Jan 6
Tech Topic Thursday: Using RCForb to access WØJH remote station
The WØJH Remote Station, located in Hayward, WI, is online with limited TX access at this time while testing operation of the station continues. The station is limited to 75 watts transmit power and 80M to 6M for HF.
A Tech Topic Thursday session on accessing and operating the WØJH remote station via RCForb software will be held January 4th, beginning at 6:15 PM. Pat WAØTDA will moderate the session and show us how to set up and use the RCForb client software to access and operate the WØJH remote station and others. This will be a combined in-person and virtual Zoom session during the weekly Eyeball QSO Session at the Stillwater Public Library that evening.
This remote station is accessible to current SARA and Courage Kenny Handihams members. You need to have a General, Advanced or Extra class license to use the remote station. Contact Pat WAØTDA at his email wa0tda at gmail dot com for access permission.
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.
Annual Membership Dues
The club’s roster count wraps at 153 for 2023. As of this bulletin, 113 are paid for 2024 (and beyond in some instances).
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 <<
Annual Meeting and Election of Officers Jan 13, 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
SARA White Elephant Exchange Party (SWEEP) January 13, 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 the radioham.org website. >> CLICK HERE << to view the update page.
It’s the last hours for the SARA POTA Challenge ‘23. Challenge ‘23 ends at 23:59 UTC Dec 31 (5:59 PM CST). Where will you be on the final results boards? The final results will be announced at the SARA POTA Challenge ‘23 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 ‘23.
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. The website is being developed and likely will go live this coming week.
The SARA POTA Challenge ‘24 starts Jan 1st UTC! The leader board resets to zero at 0:00 UTC Jan 1. We’re all in this together!
This week’s SARA activities
SARA’s on-air, in-person, and virtual activities are a great way to stay connected with others.
- “Sunday Fusion” Digital Voice Hangout Dec 31
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 3.813LSB +/- QRM
Alternates: 21.316 MHz +/- QRM (USB) 50.166 MHz +/- QRM (USB)
- SARA Monday Morning 75-meter Ragchew Jan 1
08:15 Central (14:15 UTC)
Frequency: 3.856 LSB +/- QRM - SARA Two Meter Tuesday (TMT) Round Robin Ragchew Jan 2
7:00 – ~8:00 pm Central (or until we finish!)
SARA Repeater 147.060+ MHz (DCS/DTCS 026 Normal)
1stTuesday 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 “Tech Topic Thursday” Eyeball QSO Party Thursday Jan 4
6:00 PM – 7:50 PM Central
“Using RCForb to access the WØJH remote station” Moderator: Pat WAØTDA
Conference Room
Stillwater Public Library, 224 3rd Street, Stillwater
and Zoom Livestream