Fitzgerald Crew 2011
New Radio Gear For Some SARA Members!
2019 SARA Executive Officers
SARA Field Day 2011
Release to Listen Award 2013
WØJH 2004
Split Rock Lighthouse 2012
2014 SARA Officers
2021 W0TBC Memorial Award
Ice Station WØJH 2014

SARA This Week June 27 – July 3

Field Day 2021 – June 26-27 – Final Hours

ARRL Field Day Logo 2021.jpg

The SARA Field Day operation continues until 1:00 PM today at Autumn Hills Park. There’s still time to stop by and join in the Field Day fun. A small but good group of members assisted with set up yesterday. Several new members stopped by to explore the action, learn about the antenna, radio operation, working the busy band, logging, and to meet SARA members.

There is no food plan this year. Please bring your own food and beverage. Bottled water will be provided by SARA. Also, we do not have an alcoholic beverage permit this year, so no “adult beverages” are allowed in the park by city ordinance.

Whether or not you choose to join us onsite, you can still work from home stations again this year. Submit your own logs and points totals to the ARRL referencing SARA-MN for the compiled club score. The rule waiver allowing working other Class D and Class E stations as valid contacts remains in place FD2021. Maximum power for Class D & E stations is limited to 150W.


SARA holds daily on-air nets and ragchews. 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 July 10th at 7:30 AM.

Over the summer season, outdoor Eyeball QSO Parties will allow SARA to gather outdoors weekly. The weekly Thursday Eyeball QSO Party – Outdoors Sessions continues this week with Radios in the Park! The weekly outdoor Eyeball QSO Party will be held at a local Stillwater-area park beginning around 6:00 PM until 8:00 PM.

As we gradually resume our regular in-person meetings, our current on-air, virtual, and in person gathering plans continue to be the best choice for the participation as well as health and safety of all our members.


Radios in the Park 2021: Tailgate Swapmeet

SARA’s Radios in the Park: Tailgate Swapmeet is this Thursday July 1st. Buy, sell or trade ham radio gear! Got something you ‘d like to move along, come on out! Looking for something to add to your gear, come on out! Looking to see your ham radio friends, come on out!

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.


Thursday Eyeball QSO Party – Outdoor Sessions

The Eyeball QSO Party – Outdoor Sessions continue Thursday evening beginning around 6:00 PM until about 8:00 PM. This week we’ll gather for the Radios in the Patk: Tailgate swapmeet at Valley View Park. Hope to see you there!


Sunday Fusion

“Sunday Fusion” SARA’s digital voice hangout is every Sunday evening at 7:00 PM. “Sunday Fusion” makes use of the System Fusion C4FM digital voice capabilities of the repeater along with WIRES-X and YSF connectivity, It is an informal “hangout” for those who want to explore the System Fusion capabilities of their radios. “Sunday Fusion”  is a System Fusion C4FM digital voice-only hangout.

Join the group hanging out on System Fusion direct via the repeater or connect via WIRES-X to the W0JH-Room 63969. Tonight at 7:00 PM

Unfortunately, the YSF node is offline until further notice.


Technical Topic Thursday Videos

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

Sessions available include (click on session to go direct to the YouTube video)


SARA’s groups.io email reflector

https://groups.io/g/StillwaterMNAmateurRadioAssoc.

This group is an email reflector for all things SARA and amateur radio. You can post questions, projects, activities and amateur radio experiences that you can share with SARA members are encouraged. This is a SARA members-only group and requests to join will be approved based upon your current membership status.

Topics are only limited in that they are to be amateur radio-related. Questions about antennas, steps to “tuning up” an antenna, how to use a piece of test gear, tracking RFI issues, programming a radio, figuring out a new radio, showing a new piece of gear, SARA events and activities, licensing questions, … the list is endless!

Sign up now and start sharing your questions and sharing your knowledge.


SARA Special Event Stations for 2021

SARA will have two Special Event operations for later 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.

The Tri-State Special Event out in the ghost town of White Rock, SD is scheduled for 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 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.


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.
  • ARRL Field Day – Sunday June 27
    SARA Field Day Site: Autumn Hills Park in Oak Park Heights
    On-air: by 9:00 AM (14:00 UTC) Sunday to 1:00 PM (18:00 UTC)
    Teardown 1:00 PM
  • “Sunday Fusion” Digital Voice Hangout June 27
    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 June 28
    Time: 08:15 Central (14:00 UTC)
          Frequency:  3.856 LSB +/- QRM
  • The Lunch Room
    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 June 29
    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 June 30
    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: Tailgate Swapmeet Thursday July 1
     Time: ~5:30 PM to 8:00 PM
           Valley View Park,  5421 Osgood Ave N, Oak Park Heights MN 55082