SARA This Week: March 28 – April 3

SARA gathers daily via on-the air nets and ragchews. We also gather virtually for the weekly SARA Eyeball QSO Party or Tech Topic Thursday session, the monthly General member, and Board meetings. Although we’d love to gather in-person, our current on-air and virtual gathering plan remains the best choice for the health and safety of all our members. We look forward to being able to meet again in person in the coming months, starting with our tri-weekly outdoor “Radios in the Park” Eyeball QSO parties which begin April 29th.

SARA’s groups.io email reflector growing

The newest benefit for SARA members, the StillwaterMN AmateurRadioAssoc group on groups.io. https://groups.io/g/StillwaterMNAmateurRadioAssoc is gaining members. You to can join the group!

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 an 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.

https://groups.io/g/StillwaterMNAmateurRadioAssoc

Technical Topic Thursday

The  April 8th session will feature John Kruk K9UPC, National Sales Manager for Yaesu, for a discussion on System Fusion and more on April 8th. The May13th session will be with, Joe Eiesenberg KØNEB, CQ Magazine’s kit building editor for an evening of “Kit Building Techniques for Success.” The June 10th is planned to be a live in-person session at the Radios in the Park gathering that evening, which we also intend to stream on Webex.

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

SARA’s Radios in the Park gatherings begin back April 29th. We meet on select Thursday evenings this spring & summer at Valley View Park, 5421 Osgood Ave N in Oak Park Heights starting around 5:30 PM until 8:00 PM. The dates are April 29, May 20, June 10, July 1, July 22, Aug 12, Sept 2, and Sept 23. 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 including masks and social distancing. Attending the event will be your choice. We are also planning to utilize our Webex platform to stream live from the site for those who can not make it out to the park. More details to come.

Word is that the brand-new IC-705 QRP transceiver will make an appearance with it’s proud owner at that first session. The May 20th session will feature a “Tailgate Swap Fest” so bring your :surplus” amateur radio gear and help it find a new home.

Monthly Meeting Format Change

The monthly Saturday meeting format will change starting with the April 10th meeting. The meeting program will now be presented at the start of the meeting at 9:00 AM. A brief business meeting will now follow the program.

Our guest speaker for April is Don WIlbanks, AE5DW. Don will be sharing a presentation about the history and production of Amateur Radio Newsline. Don is a principal member of the AR Newsline team as well as a regular on Ham Nation.

The guest speaker for May is Frank Howell K4FMH, a presenter on the ICQPodcast, with a presentation “Does price but performance or satisfaction in an HF Rig?” Looking at performance reports from the Sherwood list and then compiling user ratings and reviews from eham.net and other sources, Frank has prepared an interesting look at price vs performance vs satisfaction.

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. A reminder that SARA activities refrain from discussions of political, religious, racial, or other inappropriate topics. We are a multi-cultural, multi-generational association with a shared interest in amateur radio – let’s be sure to keep it that way.