SARA This Week June 4 – June 10
Here is your SARA update for this week!
SARA’s Summer of Radio in the Parks Thursday
The Eyeball QSO Party is outdoors for SARA’s Summer of Radios in the Park season. We gather at various area parks on Thursday evenings through early September.
The schedule of park locations and dates will be:
June 8: Valley View Park, 5421 N Osgood Ave, Oak Park Heights
Field Day Site Survey and planning
June 15: Pioneer Park, 515 2nd St N, Stillwater
June 22: Sunfish Lake Park, 3554 Kelvin Ave N, Lake Elmo
June 29: Valley View Park, 5421 N Osgood Ave, Oak Park Heights
July 6: Autumn Hills Park, 5697 Norwich Pkwy, Oak Park Heights
July 13: Birkmose Park, 329 Front St (park entrance is on Coulee Road east of Second Street S., up the road from the Dairy Queen), Hudson, WI
July 20: Valley View Park, 5421 N Osgood Ave, Oak Park Heights
July 27: Brekke Park, 5500 Omar Ave N. Oak Park Heights
August 3: Washington Park, 915 Abbott St W, Stillwater, MN
August 10: Valley View Park, 5421 N Osgood Ave, Oak Park Heights
August 17: St. Croix Boom Site Scenic Overlook on Hwy 95 north of Stillwater
(St Croix National Scenic River K-0673 activation)
August 24: Otto Berg Park, 90th and Norell, Stillwater Township
August 31: Valley View Park, 5421 N Osgood Ave, Oak Park Heights
Sept 8: Browns Creek State Trail (K-9386) at Browns Creek Park 8312 Neal Ave N, Stillwater
In case of inclement weather, Collin KEØIYN has offered the “shed” and “The Diner” at his QTH on Osgood Ave south of Valley View Park as a covered location for those evenings.
Suggestions are welcome! If you know of a good park location in the area, drop me a note at kc0oio2002@gmail.com and I will add it to the list.
SARA POTA Activity Day 2023
Saturday June 10 is the SARA POTA Activity Day. This is the 2nd annual multi-op/multi-park day. Some of our experienced activators have committed to set up at a POTA entity for the day. They will provide mentoring opportunities for those who want to try activating for the first time and build skills for the novice activator. For the more experienced activator, a chance to attain the Rover Warthog (5 parks activated in one UTC day) is also planned.
- Brian KB9TBB is going to be at the St. Croix Boom Site State Wayside on Hwy 95 north of Stillwater to activate the St. Croix National Scenic River K-0673. The Wayside is the northernmost of the three Boom Site lots. Brian states “I’ll certainly be lofting my 66 foot EFHW, but probably also a 33 footer, ham sticks, and maybe a wolf river coil. All are welcome to plug their radios into my antennas or make some contacts with my rig.”
- Bob WØGAF and Brad VE3MXJ are teaming up at the Browns Creek State Trail (K-9386) from the trailside at the Browns Creek Park 8312 Neal Ave N, in Stillwater. They’ll be available for mentoring new and novice activators.
- Dave WØOXB plans to be at a fixed, portable site at Afton State Park, K-2466 (6959 Peller Ave S, Hastings, MN 55033). “Look for me somewhere near the lower (southern) parking lot. My focus will be more on set-up than on POTA operating at this site. Hands-on “Show ‘n Tell” to include:
- Antenna types & installations
- Useful gear & hardware
- Questions encouraged
- On-demand quizzes & stories as necessary
- Joe KCØOIO is planning a minimum 5-park rove for the those interested in the challenge of quick activations from multiple locations in a single day. The goal is to activate at least 5 POTA entities to attain the POTA Rover Warthog award. I plan to head north to the St. Croix Falls area with stops at the Ice Age Trail K-4238, St. Croix National Scenic River K-0673, Osceola Bedrock Glades K-8216, Balsam Branch State Wildlife Area K-4270, then move south and stop at a St. Croix Wetland Management District K-0604 site. Coming back into Minnesota, Gateway Overview State Trail K-9385 and Browns Creek State Trail K-9386 could be in play. This rove features stops with NO admission fees.
Join the club for our SARA 2nd Saturday breakfast at Perkins, then spend the day activating area parks. We will wrap up the day with a dinner/afterglow session at Acapulco Mexican Restaurant, 1240 W Frontage Rd, Stillwater, MN around 5:30-6:00 PM.
SARA POTA Challenge ‘23
It’s the final day of the POTA Plaque Event and the bands have been busy with activations. At this moment (13:30 UTC June 4), the POTA Spots page is showing 45 activations on 20 meters! POTA On!
Bob WØGAF shared the preliminary May numbers with participants this morning. A couple of hunters have surpassed 2000 QSOs! CW hunters are pressing ahead as well as 2 are near or over 500 QSOs logged. And KEØN continues to be an activator powerhouse with 95 activations and over 4900 QSOs logged.
Saturday August 12 will be the first ever SARA-sponsored POTA Meetup Day at Wild River State Park (K-2529) near Almelund, MN. POTA enthusiasts from east central MN and west central Wisconsin are invited to come out and meet up with fellow POTA participants. We have reserved the Picnic Shelter at the Park. A picnic lunch is planned. Hot dogs and brats will be available, please consider bringing something to share (chips, salads and desserts). A collection will be taken to defray the costs of food, supplies, and site.
Dave WØOXB has checked the location out and sent me pictures. Plenty of space and numerous “antenna supports” in the immediate area, plus a very nice pavilion. The park is large with plenty of additional spots to set up and operate, including 2-fer possibilities along the St. Croix River. There will be an opportunity for everyone to work each other within the park using HTs on 2 meters and 70 cm. Bring your HT! More details are coming.
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 Challenge 2023.
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.
ARRL Field Day 2023 June 24 & 25
ARRL Field Day is always held on the 4th full weekend in June. Field Day is ham radio’s open house. Every June, more than 40,000 hams throughout North America set up temporary transmitting stations in public places to demonstrate ham radio’s science, skill and service to our communities and our nation. It combines public service, emergency preparedness, community outreach, and technical skills all in a single event. Field Day has been an annual event since 1933 and remains the most popular ham radio event.
The Stillwater Amateur Radio Association will be participating in Field Day on Saturday June 24 and Sunday June 25 at Valley View Park in Oak Park Heights. This is a new Field Day location for us, although the park is very familiar.
Preliminary plans have us setting up Saturday morning (time to be determined) and operating in Field Day from 1:00 PM (1800 UTC) until about sundown (around 0200 UTC). We will resume operating Sunday around 9:00 AM (1400 UTC) until 1:00 PM (1800 UTC), with teardown to follow.
Our Field Day chair, Bob WØGAF, is planning to have 2 stations operating as WØJH 2A MN. Bob is expecting expanded participation at the CW station following SARA’s CW study group in late 2022. Plans may also incorporate a GOTA (Get on the Air) station given the number of new licensees from the April 27 VE session.
The food and beverage plan are being developed. We have secured an “adult beverage” license for the weekend.
SARA’s Field Day is one of the leading events on our annual activity calendar. Come out and join the fun of ARRL’s oldest operating event as SARA joins the hundreds of clubs and thousands of hams getting on the air throughout the Americas that weekend.
The Thursday June 8 Summer of Radios in the Parks Eyeball QOS Party will be at Valley View Park and is our Field Day site survey and planning night.
This week’s SARA activities
SARA’s on-air, in-person, and virtual activities are a great way to stay connected with others.
- “Sunday Fusion” Digital Voice Hangout June 4
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
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 (01:00 UTC)
Frequency: 1.966 LSB +/- QRM or 3.813 LSB +/- QRM
Alternates: 21.316 MHz +/- QRM (USB) 50.166 MHz +/- QRM (USB) - SARA Monday Morning 75-meter Ragchew June 5
08:15 Central (13:15 UTC)
Frequency: 3.856 LSB +/- QRM - SARA Two Meter Tuesday (TMT) Round Robin Ragchew June 6
7:00 – ~8:00 pm Central (or until we finish!)
SARA Repeater 147.060+ MHz (DCS/DTCS 026 Normal)
1st Tuesday 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’s Summer in the Parks Thursday June 8
~5:30 PM to 8:00 PM
Valley View Park, 5421 N Osgood Ave, Oak Park Heights
Field Day Site survey and planning.