SARA This Week Aug 16 – Aug 22

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SARA This Week Aug 16 – Aug 22

Here is your weekly SARA update!

2026 SARA’s Radios in the Park

Radios in the Park, SARA’s outdoor eyeball QSO party, is winding down with just 4 more outdoor sessions scheduled through September 10th. Folks start to gather around 5:30 PM and we wrap up by 8:00 PM every Thursday evening.

Here is the rest of the schedule: (click on the Google Maps Plus link for the location).

August 20th   Birkmose Park         50 Coulee Road, Hudson, WI 54016
(Google Maps Plus code:    X68W+XF Hudson, Wisconsin)

August 27th   Brown’s Creek Park  8312 Neal Ave N, Stillwater – trail parking area
(Google Maps Plus code:    35C4+39V Stillwater, Minnesota)
POTA site for Brown’s Creek State Trail US-9386 and/or Brown’s Creek Aquatic Management Area US-10721

Sept 3rd        Baytown Township Hall     4020 McDonald Dr N, Stillwater
(Google Maps Plus code:    2554+4M Stillwater, Minnesota)
1st Thursday Tech Topic Night; “Let’s Talk About … Wavelog”

Sept 10th      Pioneer Park 515 2nd St N, Stillwater
(Google Maps Plus code:    356R+7J Stillwater, Minnesota)

SARA / MVARA POTA Meetup and Picnic August 15th!

Yesterday’s meetup with the MVARA Frontenac State Park was a fun event for all who made it out to the park. It turned into a bit of SARA takeover of the Emcomm bus operating stations. Initial log results have the contact total using WØJH right at 100. MVARA’s capabilities included the bus with 4 identical operating stations, a towable 50-foot crank-up tower with a tri-band beam, and really interesting tunable dipole capable of 160-6 meters called the Tun-A-tenna from TenTec (the length of the dipole wires are adjustable remotely).

For those who missed it, there may be another chance to visit the MVARA bus this fall at the North Star Radio Convention.

1st Thursday Technical Topic Night “Let’s Talk About…”

1st Thursday Technical Topic Night features a technical presentation and discussion based upon the level of interest in the club and the willingness of someone to prepare and lead the session. The sessions are livestreamed via Zoom for those who choose to join the session virtually; and are recorded and posted to the SARA YouTube channel for future viewing and reference.

The 1st Thursday Technical Topic Nights are held at the Baytown Township Hall, 4020 McDonald Dr N, Stillwater, MN 55082, beginning at 6:00 PM Central (23:00 UTC).

  • Sep 3, 2026 1st Thursday Tech Topic Night
    “Let’s Talk About … Cloud-based logging with Wavelog led by Collin KEØIYN
  • Oct 1, 2026 1st Thursday Tech Topic Night
    “Let’s Talk About … 3d Printing and ham radio” led by Leslie KD9ZMI
  • Nov 5, 2026 NO 1st Thursday Tech Topic Night
    due to the pending Remembering the Edmund Fitzgerald Special Event Nov 6 – 8, we will not have a Tech Topic on this evening
  • Dec 3, 2026 1st Thursday Tech Topic Night
    To Be Determined!

SARA’s Fall General Class License Upgrade Prep Class

SARA will be conducting a General Class license upgrade class again this Fall. The classes will be held on Thursday evenings beginning September 17. Sessions will run from 6:00 PM to 7:50 PM and will be at the Stillwater Public Library, 224 Third Street North.

The SARA instructor team uses the ARRL General Class License Manual for the class. You can order the manual direct from the ARRL store at https://home.arrl.org/action/Store/Product-Details/productId/2009476073 or from Amazon >> click here << in Kindle ebook or the spiral-bound print editions.

Interested in the class? Send Bob WØGAF an email w0gaf at me dot com to get on the class roster.

This week’s SARA activities

  • “Sunday Fusion” Digital Voice Hangout August 16
    19:00 Central (Daylight Time) (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 Evening HF Ragchew
    Nightly 
    20:00 Central (01:00 UTC) 
    Frequency: 3.813LSB +/- QRM 
    Alternates: 1.966 MHz +/- QRM (LSB), 21.316 MHz +/- QRM (USB) 50.166 MHz +/- QRM (USB)
  • SARA Monday Morning 75-meter Ragchew August 17
    08:00 Central (13:00 UTC)
    Frequency: 3.856 LSB +/- QRM
  • Two Meter Tuesday (TMT) Round Robin Ragchew August 18
    7:00 – ~8:00 pm Central (or until we finish!) 
    SARA Repeater 147.060+ MHz (DCS/DTCS 026 Normal)1stTuesday of each month 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.
  • Radios in the Park August 20
    6:00 PMBirkmose Park
    50 Coulee Road, Hudson, WI 54016
    (Google Maps Plus code: X68W+XF Hudson, Wisconsin)