SARA This Week Feb 27 – March 5
In-person gatherings and meetings of SARA resume this week. The Spring Technician license classes begin Thursday March 3 at the Stillwater Public Library. The Eyeball QSO Party resumes March 10 at the Library. The 2nd Saturday breakfast at Perkins and in-person Monthly Meetings return March 12.
SARA holds on-air ragchews every day of the week.
Technician License Classes start March 3
SARA will conduct an 8-week in-person Technician License class on Thursday evenings beginning March 3. Classes will be held at the Stillwater Public Library from 6:00 PM to 7:50 PM. The current Technician Class license exam question pool expires June 30, 2022. The textbook is the ARRL Ham Radio License Manual 4th Edition, available online from arrl.org, ham radio retailers, and Amazon. If you know of someone interested in getting the amateur radio license – tell them about our class and have them attend the 1st session this Thursday or contact SARA’s Training & Education Chair Bob Jensen WØGAF at w0gaf@me.com.
SARA POTA Challenge ’22
The Challenge is underway! We’ve already had activators out there. And hunting parks doesn’t get any easier than it is. I’ve heard one member has made it a personal goal to work at least one POTA activation as a hunter each day. Check POTA spots regularly for activations.
The goal of this club activity is to encourage SARA members to get on the air; as a park activator, as a park hunter, or both. Awards are planned for both activators (most parks, activations, qsos & park to park) and hunters (most parks, most qsos). Contacts with all POTA stations count. And it doesn’t get any easier for hunter credits as only the activator needs to submit their activation log. Be sure to sign up for an account at parksontheair.com.
Bob WØGAF and Brian KB9TBB are leading the team putting together the SARA POTA Challenge. If you are planning to participate, drop them an email to let them know you are taking the challenge. Bob’s email is w0gaf at me dot com and Brian’s email is kb9tbb at arrl dot net.
Technical Topic Thursdays
The March 3 session will be an Open Forum. Stumped by antennas, radios, propagation, RF in the shack …. join the session and let us help each other gain a better understanding of our hobby. This is a scheduled Zoom meeting. See the weekly email member bulletin for information for the SARA Technical Topic Thursday Open Forum
Time: Mar 3, 2022 07:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Coming May 5th: Tim Duffy K3LR of DXEngineering for a Tech Topic Thursday on Coax.
Metro Skywarn 2022 Training Schedule
The 2022 Metro Skywarn training schedule has been posted! Training will be online again this year. Metro Skywarn will be monitoring the pandemic and if it is safe to hold in person training, we will try to offer a couple of classes.
One registration per household (i.e. one Zoom license). If your household needs to use more than one Zoom license (i.e. multiple computers or tablets), you may sign up for more.
Classes will be 3 hours and PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED! We will be sending the Zoom and registration links to those who are registered.
If you did not take training last year, you are due this year. If you took a class last year and still want to attend this year, you are welcome to join!
The calendar and list schedule can be found at https://metroskywarn.org/calendar/
The direct link to sign up is at:https://www.eventbrite.com/o/metro-skywarn-inc-7885991211
Coming in May: SARA’s Summer in the Parks
Starting May 12, the weekly Eyeball QSO Party moves outdoors for the summer months. We will visit different Stillwater-area parks throughout the summer with Eyeball QSOs, POTA activiations, hands-on radio, POTA portable operating tips and tricks, Mobile Station Show-n-tell, and more possibilities. Valley View Park in Oak Park Heights will be a regular location, on the schedule for May 12 (New Ham Night), June 2, June 23, July 14, Aug 4, Aug 25 and Sept 25. Other weeks could see us at Lowell Park in downtown Stillwater along the St Croix National Wild & Scenic River, Afton State Park, along Brown’s Creek State Trail and Gateway State Trail for “Late Shift” POTA activations. Watch the SARA This Week bulletins for details each week.
SARA Connections
SARA groups.io: https://groups.io/g/StillwaterMNAmateurRadioAssoc for SARA members only
SARA YouTube Playlists: SARA members only
SARA on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/527705810939785
SARA on Instagram: sararadioham
SARA on Twitter: @saraW0JH
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 Feb 27
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
Alternates: 21.316 MHz +/- QRM (USB) 50.166 MHz +/- QRM (USB) - SARA Monday Morning Ragchew Feb 28
09:00 Central (15:00 UTC)
Frequency: 3.856 LSB +/- QRM
- SARA Two Meter Tuesday (TMT) Round Robin Ragchew Mar 1
Time: 7:00 – ~8:00 pm Central (or until we finish!)
SARA Repeater 147.060+ MHz (DCS/DTCS 026 Normal)
Emergency Power – operate off-grid
The Tuesday evening on-air round robin ragchew
An HF Afterglow follows with the Top Band Ragchew on 160 meters
- SARA Technician License Class Session 1 Thursday March 3
Time: 6:00 PM – 7:50 PM Central
Stillwater Public Library - SARA Technical Topic Thursday Virtual Session Thursday March 3
Time: 7:00 PM (01:00 UTC)
SARA’s ZOOM Conference Room