SARA This Week Sept 10 – Sept 16
Here is your SARA update for this week!
General Class License Classes begin September 21
Fall is approaching and that means the SARA education team is preparing for the General Class License class sessions. Classes will begin Thursday September 21 and will run for 8 weeks, followed by a VE Session on Thursday Nov 16. The ARRL General Class License Manual Tenth Edition, updated for the new question pool now valid through June 30, 2027, will be the study guide for the class. For more information or to sign up for the class, contact Bob WØGAF at w0gaf at me dot com.
2023 ARRL MN State Convention Saturday October 14, 2023
The ARRL Minnesota State Convention will attract amateur radio operators from throughout the Upper Midwest for an all-day learning experience. It’s an important educational initiative that aims to develop a pool of radio operators ready to provide emergency communications in Minnesota communities. The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is the preeminent national organization supporting US Amateur Radio. It is through ARRL that ham radio partners with FEMA to support response recovery efforts in the wake of disasters.
The conference has been painstakingly designed to give you as much diversity of knowledge and subjects to enhance your ability to communicate effectively in whatever mode or operation you desire. Some of this you will already know, but maybe not completely. Even the most knowledgeable ham operator has some challenges of operations in their abilities.
Registration is now open. You may register until September 30th at the rate of $30.00 including lunch. Registrants from October 1 until the event will pay $40, lunch is included for those registering through October 8th.
There is limited availability – register early!
For more info, go to http://mnconvention.org
SARA is one of the sponsoring organizations of the 2023 ARRL MN State Convention.
SARA POTA Challenge ‘23
The August Challenge update is interesting! Have more hunters crossed into Legend territory? We currently have six folks in the Legends category, and we have one hunter who has topped 3000 QSOs. Will more activators surpass 100 activations? We already have one at the number. Results have been shared at the Sept 9 meeting and will be posted to the radioham.org website this week.
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.
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 Sept 10
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 Sep 11
08:15 Central (13:15 UTC)
Frequency: 3.856 LSB +/- QRM - SARA Two Meter Tuesday (TMT) Round Robin Ragchew Sep 12
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. - Board of Directors Meeting Wednesday Sep 13
6:30 PM
SARA Zoom Meeting Room - SARA’s Eyeball QSO Party Thursday Sep 7
6:00 PM to 7:50 PM
Conference Room, Stillwater Public Library 224 E 3rd Street.
There is political party town hall at the Library Thursday evening. Parking will likely be impacted.