The Joe Simonet WØTBC Memorial Award
Ice Station WØJH 2014
SARA Field Day 2011
Split Rock 2013
SARA Does Skywarn
SARA Work Party 2
2020 S.A.R.A. EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
2017 SARA Officers
SARA Work Party 3
AGØH 2013

SARA This Week: Jan 9 – Jan 15

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.

See below for “Ice-olation Station WØJH changes.


Officers for 2022

Congratulations to elected to serve as an officer for SARA

President: Joe Heitzinger KCØOIO
Vice President: Bob Jensen WØGAF
Secretary: Dave Iverson N9JNQ
Treasurer: Rich Smith ADØSN
Director 2022-2023: Brad Harris VE3MXJ
Director 2021-2022: Zack Zaccagnini AAØU (mid-term)

The Board of Director appoints the Trustee at the first board meeting following the election of officers.


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 01/08/22, we have 101 members current for 2022 or beyond.

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 Jan 31 will be dropped from the membership roster and will no longer receive email communications from SARA.


Ice Station WØJH to changing to Ice-olation Station WØJH

Ice Station WØJH had been planned to return to the shores of Lake Elmo this year, but 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 again 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 (instructions for Online Scheduling via Signup Genius to follow)
    • Determine when you can operate, what mode(s) & bands
    • Sign-up will be done online (1 hour shift increments are commonly recommended)
  • 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 WEBEX 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 WEBEX each evening.


Introducing: SARA POTA Challenge ’22

With the growing popularity of the Park On The Air (POTA) operations (see parksontheair.com), I announce the SARA POTA Challenge ’22.

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 being 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

Bob WØGAF and Brian KB9TBB are leading the team putting together the SARA POTA Challenge. There will be an introductory session during the Jan 20 VIrtual Eyeball QSO Party to present the Challenge, provide guidance for signing up with parksontheair.com, provide guidance on how to download park QSO information from the POTA page, and some tips for hunting and activating.


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 9
    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 10
    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 11
    Time: 7:00 – ~8:00 pm Central (or until we finish!)
    SARA Repeater 147.060+ MHz (DCS/DTCS 026 Normal)
    1st Tuesday EMERGENCY POWER NITE – operate off the grid from back-up power sources for extra credit!
    The Tuesday evening on-air round robin ragchew
    An HF Afterglow follows with the Top Band Ragchew on 160 meters
  • SARA Virtual Board of Directors Meeting Wednesday Jan 12
    Time: 7:00 PM Central  (01:00 UTC)   
    SARA WEBEX Room
    Link will be emailed to members