SARA This Week Jan 6 – Jan 13
Here is your SARA update for this week!
Annual Meeting and Election of Officers January 13, 2024
The Annual Meeting of the Stillwater Amateur Radio Association is Saturday January 13. 2024. The meeting will be held in Auditorium B at Boutwells Landing 13575 58th Street North in Oak Park Heights, MN 55082. Please use the North parking lot and entrance off 58th Street North. Boutwells Landing may require face masks in public spaces in the facility. Please bring your own mask. The meeting will be livestreamed via the SARA Zoom Teleconference Room. To request the link to join the meeting via Zoom, contact KCØOIO president at radioham dot org.
SARA’s officers are elected annually during the Annual Meeting of the Association. 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
Director 2023-2024: Brian Edgell KØPU (continuing for 2nd year of term, not up for election)
Trustee: is appointed by the new Board at it’s 1st meeting
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
The November recap is available on the radioham.org website. >> CLICK HERE << to view the update page.
The SARA POTA Challenge ’23 is complete! Where will you be on the final results boards? The final results will be based upon the 2023 data drawn from the POTA database as of January 7, 2024. This is necessary to allow adequate time to order, produce, and receive the prizes from our vendor. Results of the SARA POTA Challenge ’23 will be announced at the 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 Challenges.
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 started Jan 1st UTC and the leader board has reset as of 0:00 UTC Jan 1. Hunters and activators have been at it in earnest!
Ice Station WØJH Feb 17 – 18 – 19, 2024
The Ice Station WØJH will be on the air once again Presidents Weekend in February, regardless of the condition of the ice on Lake Elmo (still very much open as of this bulletin, but cold ice-making temps are in the forecast!)
The 2024 planning crew is already coordinating logistics for the event on Lake Elmo, MN. TNX to our gracious hosts Dave (KØAIF) and Anne (KØVOB), their lake-front property and QTH on Lake Elmo Avenue is the location for the event. This is the ninth year for the event and occurs over President’s Day weekend.
We’ll be setting up and operating from a portable ice fishing, tent-type shelter and also from SARA’s self-contained communications trailer. The portable shelter will be on the east side of Lake Elmo; the trailer will be on land, across the road near the parking area. Both stations are kept cozy with portable heaters. The shelter and all gear will be taken down and stowed each evening.
We’re looking forward to having this year’s newly licensed hams and recently upgraded Generals and Extras participate. At least stop by to see our portable set-ups. We can almost guarantee you’ll come away learning a bit about portable HF operation!
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 Jan 7
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 8
08:15 Central (14:15 UTC)
Frequency: 3.856 LSB +/- QRM - SARA Two Meter Tuesday (TMT) Round Robin Ragchew Jan 9
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 Eyeball QSO Party Thursday Jan 11
6:00 PM – 7:50 PM Central
Conference Room
Stillwater Public Library, 224 3rd Street, Stillwater - SARA 2nd Saturday Breakfast Saturday Jan 13
7:30 AM
Perkins Restaurant, 2050 Frontage Road, Stillwater, MN 55082 - Annual Meeting of the Stillwater Amateur Radio Association Saturday Jan 13
and SARA White Elephant Exchange Party (S.W.E.E.P.)
9:15 AM
Auditorium B
Boutwells Landing (North Entrance)
13575 58th Street North
Oak Park Heights, MN