SARA Work Party 3
2020 S.A.R.A. EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
Split Rock 2013
2014 SARA Officers
SARA Work Party 2
May 14th Fox Hunt! What Fun!
The Joe Simonet WØTBC Memorial Award
New Radio Gear For Some SARA Members!
2017 SARA Officers
Kilo Parks Award

SARA This Week Jan 23 – Jan 29

SARA holds on-air ragchews every day of the week. In-person gatherings are suspended through February. Virtual meeting details can be found in the “This Week’s SARA Activities” section below.


IMPORTANT NOTICE

In-person meetings of SARA are suspended through the end of February due to the current COVID surge. This includes the weekly Eyeball QSO Party at the Stillwater Public Library, 2nd Saturday Breakfast, and the February 12 Monthly Meeting.

The February monthly meeting will be a virtual session via our WEBEX video conference room. Virtual Eyeball QSO Parties will be held on Thursday Jan 20 and Feb 10, virtual Manhattan Projects Fri Jan 28 and Fri Feb 25, Tech Topic Thursday Feb 3, and virtual board meetings on Wed Jan 12 and Wed Feb 16.


2022 SARA Member Dues are DUE

Membership in the Stillwater Amateur Radio Association runs from Jan 1 – Dec 31. You may renew or extend your membership at any time.  

Annual Dues are $20/year for a regular membership, and $10/year for associate membership. Family memberships begin at $30 for two family members and $10 for each additional family member.  As of 01/22/22, we have 101 members current for 2022 or beyond: Mayor Rudy, Craig Morris, AAØU, ABØR, AD6QT, ADØSN, AGØH, KAØHYR, KAØNKU, KAØOBI, KB9TBB, KB9WTB, KBØPCF, KBØUXV, KC9GEJ, KCØOIO, KD9AZE, KD9OIV, KD9TVL, KDØEAP, KDØHBU, KDØJTG, KDØPKY, KDØQHX, KDØVKB, KDØWGH, KDØZWM, KE5VXM, KEØGOM, KEØIYF, KEØIYN, KEØMUW, KEØN, KEØOGI, KEØQAQ, KEØQQM, KEØQQN, KEØROH, KEØROK, KEØRZZ, KEØSCA, KEØVOS, KFØAQF, KFØCCL, KFØDIV, KFØDQU, KFØEKD, KFØEXO, KFØGPQ, KIØB, KØAIF, KØCFL, KØFHB, KØGCP, KØGW, KØHAS, KØSON, KØVOB, KØZZT, KSØJ, KT9C, N5JLZ, N5LB, N9ILW, N9JNQ, N9TOW, NØANP, NØBJE, NØBM, NØCIC, NØCQ, NØDRX, NØDXH, NØDZQ, NØEBQ, NØMR, NØNKL, NØODK, NØTCH, NØUC, NØUHR, VE3MXJ, W2SAD, W3QLC, W9LHG, WA1BFS, WAØTDA, WB9OKQ, WBØMOA, WDØAKZ, WDØGUP, WN4GMT, WØDIK, WØELC, WØGAF, WØGIB, WØMCQ, WØOXB, WØSU, WØWTP, WQØN

If you are among those NOT listed, there are 3 ways to pay your dues, in person at a SARA meeting, via postal mail to the club address, or online via PayPal (there is a small surcharge to cover transaction costs). You can begin the membership renewal process here: radioham.org/sara-membership-application-renewal-page/. Please select your renewal option to be directed to the proper form. If you are a current member and have a new callsign, have moved, change an email address or phone number, please “update” option. Once you have completed and submitted the form, you will go to a page with the payment options. If you choose to mail your dues, the club’s mailing address is provided. Those who haven’t renewed by January 31 will be dropped from the membership roster and will no longer receive email communications from SARA.


Ice-olation Station WØJH Feb 19 – 21

In the interest of the health and safety of our members, we are bringing back the Ice-olation Station WØJH for a return engagement for 2022. We will use a “Distributed Operating System” (DOS) format. Each operator will be scheduled to participate from their own QTH. Each Op will have selected agreed upon time(s) when and where they can operate. Each Op must operate in accordance with their license class and use the club’s call sign, WØJH. We will have multiple stations simultaneously using the same call sign, operating on different bands.

When, Where & What

  • Days: Feb. 19, 20, 21 (Saturday – Monday)
  • Times: 0800 – 1759 local; 1400 – 2359 UTC (some variations depending on mode & band)
  • Bands/Frequencies: Anywhere (Published: 80m (3.860), 40m (7.260), 20m (14.260), 15m (21.360))
  • Modes: SSB, CW & Digital
  • Scheduling
    • Sign-up will be done online via signupgenius.com
    • Signing up is simple
      • Review the available slots and determine when you can operate, what mode(s) & bands. All time slots listed are 1 hour.
      • Select the open time/band/mode slot or slots you wish to operate (1 hour shift increments are commonly recommended)
      • click on the “SUBMIT AND SIGN UP” button at the bottom of the SignUpGenius screen
      • provide your callsign in the box or boxes
      • then click “SIGN ME UP”
      • confirmations and reminders are automatically sent from SignUpGenius.com
  • Logging
    • We strongly encourage Ops to use computer-generated logging programs (especially N3FJP ACLog and others) with ADIF export capabilities
    • For those without computer logging, talk with one of us about recommendations, details.

We will also leverage our ZOOM capabilities with the SARA conference room open each day during operating hours. We found that this helped facilitate operator handoffs with ease. An “Afterglow” decompression session will occur on ZOOM each evening.


Technical Topic Thursdays

SARA members have exclusive access to the Technical Topic Thursday playlist on SARA’s YouTube Channel.

The February 3rd Tech Topic Thursday will present “Gridtracker,” freeware software that complements WSJT-X and tracks grids and more in realtime and logs.

Coming May 5th: Tim Duffy K3LR of DXEngineering for a Tech Topic Thursday on Coax.

If you have a suggestion for a technical topic, contact Mike KFØCCL via email at kf0ccl at protonmail dot com. We are always looking for ideas for technical topics.


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. 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.


SARA Connections

We offer multiple ways to stay connected with SARA. They include groups.io, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

SARA groups.iohttps://groups.io/g/StillwaterMNAmateurRadioAssoc (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 Jan 23
    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 Jan 24
    09:00 Central (15:00 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 Jan 25
    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 Virtual Eyeball QSO “Manhattan Project”  Friday Jan 28
    Time: 7:00 PM Central  (01:00 UTC)   
    SARA ZOOM Room