SARA This Week Sept 11 – Sept 17
Good morning!
Be sure to take time today to pause and remember those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 as well as those who continue to suffer with and succumb to 9/11-related illnesses.
Here’s SARA’s happenings this week.
SARA’s Summer in the Parks
The final Summer in the Parks Outdoor Eyeball QSO Party is this Thursday, September 15th at Valley View Park. We’re going to talk about and demonstrate the System Fusion CF4M digital voice modes of Digital Narrow (DN) and high fidelity voice (VW). Gaining an understanding of our repeater and Yaesu System Fusion radios use Automatic Mode Select (AMS) to automatically select the mode (Analog FM, DN or VW). We will also show how System Fusion digital voice works in simplex.
Those with System Fusion capable radios including HTs can preprogram the simplex frequency of 147.525 and enable the AMS feature.
The Eyeball QSO Party returns to the Stillwater Public Library on September 22nd.
SARA POTA Challenge ’22
The Challenge has proven to be a great activity for SARA. Hunters and activators alike are enjoying getting on the air and working POTA parks. The Fall season is a great time to visit parks across the region!
Activators: be sure to post planned activations on the POTA Scheduled Activations. Activators can also drop a note to the SARA groups.io page to give members advance notice. If you are not on the groups.io, sign up now at https://groups.io/g/StillwaterMNAmateurRadioAssoc.
Be sure to check POTA spots regularly for activations.
The goal of this club activity is to encourage SARA members to get on the air; as a park activator, as a park hunter, or both.
SARA POTA Awards are planned for both activators (most parks, activations, QSOs & park to park) and hunters (most QSOs). We have created Legends and Leaders divisions for hunters. The super performing Legends are out in front of the pack and are challenging each other. Those with 500 Hunter QSOs move into the Legends division. That means the Leaders still have a chance to claim top spots in their division. Now is your chance to get back in the running. Contacts with all POTA stations count. And it doesn’t get any easier for hunter credits as only the activator needs to submit their activation log. Be sure to sign up for an account at parksontheair.com.
The September standings were shared at the Sept 10 meeting and will be available on our website sometime Sept 11.
The next big SARA POTA activity will be up at Split Rock Lighthouse State Park Nov 4 – 6 for the Remembering the Edmund Fitzgerald Weekend. WØJH will be activating both the state park K-2524 and the Gitchi Gammi State Trail K-8095. And individual operators can get activator credit as well while operating as WØJH.
General License Study Class to begin Sept 22.
SARA’s Education & Training team will be conducting a General License study class this fall. Classes will begin on Thursday Sept 22 and will run 8 weeks. The VE Exam Session is planned for Thursday Nov 17. Classes will run from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. Classroom space is being arranged at the Stillwater Public Library. If interested, contact Bob Jensen WØGAF at w0gaf@me.com. The class is open to all so spread the word to friends and family.
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.
- “Sunday Fusion” Digital Voice Hangout Sept 11
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)
Due to poor local propagation, the SARA Top Band Crew will QSY (move) to 75m. Look for us AROUND 3.820 to 3.826 MHz (depending on QRM). This change is temporary until the 160m and 75m band conditions change.
Frequency: 1.966 LSB +/- QRM AROUND 3.820 to 3.826 MHz (depending on QRM).
Alternates: 21.316 MHz +/- QRM (USB) 50.166 MHz +/- QRM (USB) - SARA Monday Morning 75-meter Ragchew Sept 12
08:15 Central (14:00 UTC)
Frequency: 3.856 LSB +/- QRM - SARA Two Meter Tuesday (TMT) Round Robin Ragchew Sept 13
7:00 – ~8:00 pm Central (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 Summer in the Parks Outdoor Eyeball QSO Party Thursday Sep 15
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Valley View Park – 5421 Osgood Avenue N, Oak Park Heights, MN 55082