SARA This Week July 18 – July 24
Good Morning!
Good news for the upcoming monthly 2nd Saturday meeting season, Boutwells Landing has notified SARA that they have booked Auditorium A for our meetings Sept 11, Oct 9, Nov 13, and Dec 11. Details regarding health & safety requirements at the facility will be shared once they are provided by the staff at Boutwells. A plan for streaming the in-person monthly meetings via Webex will be developed for those unable to attend the meetings in-person.
The Stillwater Public Library has resumed booking rooms for group meetings, however, they are only open until 7:00 PM at present. Until the Library restores it’s pre-Covid closing time SARA will continue the Outdoor Eyeball QSO Party as long as weather permits.
SARA holds on-air nets and ragchews every day of the week. We hold a mix of in-person outdoor Eyeball QSO Parties and virtual meetings via WEBEX including the Tech Topic Thursday session, the monthly member meeting, monthly Board meeting, and event planning meetings.
The SARA 2nd Saturday Breakfast at Perkins is back! A lot of the same friendly faces continue to provide great service at Perkins. They are happy to have us back and will be expecting us every month on the 2nd Saturday. Next breakfast date is August 14th at 7:30 AM.
Over the summer season, outdoor Eyeball QSO Parties will allow SARA to gather outdoors weekly. The weekly outdoor Eyeball QSO Party is at a local Stillwater-area park beginning around 6:00 PM until 8:00 PM. It’s Radios in the Park this Thursday July 22 at Valley View Park from ~5:30 PM to 8:00 PM.
Field Day 2021
The SARA Field Day entry has been submitted to the ARRL. The total claimed score is 556 points: 153 Phone QSOs times 2x battery power multiplier = claimed score of 306 plus 250 bonus points. Thanks to all who helped out or visited the SARA Field Day site this year. ANd thanks to Bob WØGAF for heading up the effort again this year.
Those who worked from home stations this year, please reference SARA-MN when submitting your logs and points totals to the ARRL. All scores referencing SARA-MN will be compiled by the ARRL to determine the club aggregate score.
Radios in the Park 2021
SARA’s Radios in the Park: The next session will be July 22. Let’s bring out the portable stations, spread out in the park, and have some fun making QSOs!
RITP is held at Valley View Park, 5421 Osgood Ave N in Oak Park Heights starting around 5:30 PM and going until around 8:00 PM. Reservations for the pavilion have been secured with the City of Oak Park Heights. We are required to follow all State and CDC health and safety guidelines. Please help us comply with these guidelines. Attending the event is your choice.
Radios in the Park has scheduled dates of July 22, Aug 12, Sept 2, and Sept 23 booked at Valley View Park.
Group Build Project in the offing?
The growing interest in portable operations such as POTA (Parks on the Air) along with some interest in building your own antenna has led to some interesting discussions at the Outdoor Eyeball QSO Parties over the past few weeks. The idea of offering a “SARA” End-fed Half Wave antenna kit is gaining traction. A parts list and pricing are being gathered. Watch for more on this build project soon.
SARA Special Event Stations 2021
SARA is planning two Special Event operations this year: the Tri-State Special Event from White Rock, SD and the 17th consecutive “Remembering the Edmund Fitzgerald” Special Event from Split Rock Lighthouse State Park.
There is still time to join the team for The Tri-State Special Event out in the ghost town of White Rock, SD August 27 – 29. The White Rock Special Event is as close as many of us will get to a “roughing it” DXpedition experience. The location has no electricity, no running water (unless it rains), and no toilets. That said, there are options for overnight accommodations: camping on-site (tent and RV) or a hotel room at the nearby Dakota Magic Casino. We set up at least one station in town and another part-time station about a mile north at the marker for the borders of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota.
The 17th annual “Remembering the Edmund Fitzgerald” Special Event is scheduled for Oct 29 – 31. The Trail Center at Split Rock Lighthouse State Park has been reserved for the weekend. More to come as we get closer to the dates.
Upcoming Public Service Events looking for help
A number of Public Service opportunities are available in the coming weeks for those interested. I have attached a PDF listing some of the upcoming events across the west Metro. I’ve done the Tour-De-Tonka for a few years now and find it an enjoyable morning. Check the list out and considering volunteering some time to assist at one or more of these events.
This week’s SARA activities
- “Sunday Fusion” Digital Voice Hangout July 18
Time: 19:00 Central (00:00 UTC)
SARA Repeater 147.060+ MHz (DCS/DTCS 026 Normal)
or connect via WIRES-X to the W0JH-Room 63969
or the YSF reflector US SARA-QRX-FCMG 64144. (temporarily offline)
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
Time: 20:00 Central (01:00 UTC)
Frequency: 1.966 LSB +/- QRM
Alternates:
21.316 MHz +/- QRM (USB)
50.166 MHz +/- QRM (USB) - SARA Monday Morning Ragchew July 19
Time: 08:15 Central (14:00 UTC)
Frequency: 3.856 LSB +/- QRM - The Lunch Room – Informal Ragchew
Daily (Monday thru Friday)
Time: 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 July 20
Time: 7:00 – ~8:00 pm (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 Two Meter Wednesday Round Robin Ragchew July 21
Time: 9:00 PM
SARA Repeater 147.060+ MHz (DCS/DTCS 026 Normal)
The Wednesday evening SARA Ragchew on the SARA repeater
- SARA Radios in the Park Thursday July 22
Time: ~5:30 PM to 8:00 PM
Valley View Park, 5421 Osgood Ave N, Oak Park Heights MN 55082