SARA This Week Nov 19 – Nov 25
Here is your SARA update for this week!
WØJH Remote Base Station Antenna Party Success
A work crew spent the day on a beautiful Saturday setting up the new WØJH Remote Station near Hayward WI November 18th. Brian KB9TBB, Theresa W8PBO, and Vicki KB9UXW are hosting the station. Bob KFØHZG, Bob WØGAF, Tim KFØJEL, Ray KFØEKD, Chris KEØQQN, Mark KEØQQM, Greg KØGW, and Joe KCØOIO made the road trip and provided the additional labor to build and install a 300-ft “OXB Special” center-fed zep multi-band dipole, customize the equipment cabinet, set up and test out the station.
Watch for a report on the antenna party, with photos, in the December Signals from SARA.
SARA Thanksgiving Virtual Happy Hour Friday Nov 24
We will have a virtual “Manhattan Project” or Happy Hour this Friday evening via Zoom. Join us for an evening of fellowship.
SARA’s Black Friday “Manhattan Project” Happy Hour begins at 7:30 PM CST (01:30 UTC).
There is NO Eyeball QSO Party this Thursday. Have a Happy Thanksgiving with your family and friends.
Nominations and Election of Officers for 2024
SARA’s officers are elected annually during the Annual Meeting of the Association held in January each year. The offices of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and one director (2yr term) are open for election at that time. Nominations will be made during the December monthly meeting. Our Treasurer Rich, ADØSN, will be stepping down at the end of his current term. If you are willing to serve SARA as an officer, please contact me or one of the current Board members for details of the position.
The future of “Signals from SARA”
Pat WAØTDA will be retiring as editor upon completion of the December 2023 issue. Now is the time for SARA to determine the future of our newsletter and how it factors in with all of our communications paths including this weekly bulletin, our radioham.org website, the StillwaterAmatuerRadioAssociation groups.io reflector, SARA’s Discord server, and SARA’s Facebook page. This important discussion will look at numerous questions including continuing the newsletter, what schedule: current Sept – May monthly, bimonthly, quarterly, twice a year? How can we improve/expand content and more contributors?
A hybrid in-person/online forum to discuss the future of Signals from SARA along with better use of our additional communications streams will be held on Nov 30. This forum is during the Thursday Eyeball QSO Party (in-person) and will also be online via the SARA ZOOM Teleconference Room. The meeting will begin at 6:15 PM CST (00:15 UTC)
If you have suggestions or comments now, please reach out to me or any of the Board members to share them with us. Feedback from the membership will be critical to the future of Signals from SARA!
Annual Membership Dues
Annual dues for 2024 and beyond are being accepted now. Individual memberships are $20/year, Family memberships are $30/year for the 1st two members and $10/year for each additional family member. Associate memberships are $10/year. Dues can be paid in person, via mail, or online via Paypal. Visit the membership application/renewal page on radioham.org >> CLICK HERE <<
SARA POTA Challenge ‘23
The October recap along with some interesting charts is available on the radioham.org >> CLICK HERE << to view the update page.
There are just 6 weeks left to the 2023 SARA POTA Challenge. Where will you be on the final results boards. The 2023 final results and awards ceremony will be held during the February 10, 2024 SARA meeting.
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.
SARA is sponsoring the MN POTA Activity Day. The date will be Saturday June 8, 2024, from 10:00 AM (15:00 UTC) to 6:00 PM CDT (22:00 UTC). The objective is to activate as many MN POTA entities as possible during that day. There will be no scoring. The web domain mnpota.com has been secured and the website will be built in the near future. Mark your calendars now.
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 Nov 19
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: 3.813 LSB +/- QRM or 1.966 LSB +/- QRM
Alternates: 21.316 MHz +/- QRM (USB) 50.166 MHz +/- QRM (USB) - SARA Monday Morning 75-meter Ragchew Nov 20
08:15 Central (14:15 UTC)
Frequency: 3.856 LSB +/- QRM - SARA Two Meter Tuesday (TMT) Round Robin Ragchew Nov 21
7:00 – ~8:00 pm Central (or until we finish!)
SARA Repeater 147.060+ MHz (DCS/DTCS 026 Normal)
1stTuesday 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 Thanksgiving Virtual “Manhattan Project” Happy Hour Social Nov 24
6:30 PM CST (00:30 UTC)
SARA’s Zoom Teleconference Room