Here is your SARA weekly update!
Annual Membership dues reminder for 2026
SARA hit 200 members this past week!! The current member total still stands at 200, with 135 of whom are paid through 2026 or beyond.
SARA memberships run on a calendar year basis, from Jan 1-Dec 31. Annual dues for membership received after January 1 will not extend membership beyond December 31, so nothing is gained by late payment. Per person dues for regular membership is $20/yr, and associate/family membership is $10/yr.
Membership renewals can be made online through the radioham.org website, by snail mail by printing the application form and including your check, or in person at the monthly SARA meeting or Weekly Eyeball QSO Party. When using the online option, upon completing the application, you can then pay online with a credit card where you will incur a small convenience fee (currently $1.25), or to avoid that fee just send the form electronically and snail mail the proper dues amount in US dollars by check made out to SARA. Membership updates are made only when funds are received to match the application. Considering current postage and questionable reliability of our current postal service, the postal option would be the least favorable option.
Eyeball QSO Party
The weekly Eyeball QSO Party is at the Stillwater Public Library Conference Room through the 26th of February 2026 (90 days is as far as we can schedule with the library), with the exception of holidays and 1st Thursdays (Tech Topic Night)
December 11 Stillwater Public Library Conference Room
December 18 Stillwater Public Library Conference Room
December 25 Christmas Day – NO Eyeball QSO Party
January 1 2026 New Year’s Day – NO Eyeball QSO Party
For those attending the Eyeball QSO Party or the “afterglow” at Carbone’s Pizzeria this week, please bring a new, unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots. Carbone’s is a collection site for Toys for Tots and we’d like to fill their boxes to overflowing Thursday.
SARA Monthly Meeting and Nomination of Officers Dec 13
The December meeting of the Stillwater Amateur Radio Association is this Saturday Dec 13 at 9:15 AM, We will meet in Auditorium A at The Gables at Boutwells Landing (North Entrance) 13575 58th St North, Oak Park Heights.
Our program this month will feature Patrick Bolan KJ7ZSU from Geochron. Patrick’s presentations typically include:
- A brief history of Geochron’s mechanical clock since 1964 and its connection to U.S. Presidents
- An exploration of the digital Atlas features, including the Ham Radio Bundle.
- How Patrick resurrected the old company by visiting dozens of Ham Radio operators around the country.
- To any in attendance, Geochron will provide a special offer – good for 10 days. Be sure to attend to find out more!
The constitution and by-laws of the Stillwater Amateur Radio Association call for the election of officers at the annual meeting of the Association. The January business meeting is designated as the annual meeting. The offices of President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer are elected annually. One 2-yr board member is also elected each year.
Nomination of officers will be held at the December 13 monthly meeting with the election to be held at the January 3, 2026, meeting. Only full members can hold an office as per the Constitution and By-Laws. Associate and Family members are not eligible.
Your current officers are:
President Joe Heitzinger KCØOIO
Vice President Bob Jensen WØGAF
Secretary Allan Boucher KFØMNS
Treasurer Dave Leikam KØAIF
Director ’24-’25 Brian Schousek KB9TBB
Director ’25-’26 Collin O’Connor KEØIYN (mid-term, not up for election)
VP Bob WØGAF is not seeking reelection this year. We all need to thank Bob for his years of service on the Board.
1st Thursday Technical Topic Nights “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.
We are always looking for topic ideas and discussion leaders for future 1TTT nights. If you have a suggestions or you are willing to lead a discussion, please let drop me an email at kc0oio2002@gmail.com.
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 (00:00 UTC).
- NO January 1, 2026 session – Happy New Year!
- Feb 5, 2026 1st Thursday Tech Topic Night
“Let’s Talk About … Pico Balloons” led by Brian KB9TBB - Mar 5, 2026 1st Thursday Tech Topic Night
“Let’s Talk About … Logging Workflows” led by Dale WØDHZ - Apr 2, 2026 1st Thursday Tech Topic Night
“Let’s Talk About … Meshtastic” led by Collin KEØIYN - May 7, 2026 1st Thursday Tech Topic Night
“Let’s Talk About … Antenna Analyzers” led by Joe KCØOIO
The SARA POTA Challenge
The latest SARA POTA Challenge 2025 monthly numbers available are posted on the radioham.org website. >> CLICK HERE << to view the current results for 2025. October 2025 numbers have now been posted to the website.
POTA recently raised the minimum contacts returned in the Top Hunter search to 50 Hunter contacts. This is a limitation placed on the hunter database by POTA. For the remainder of 2025, we will continue to carry all those who’ve been listed as participants with more than 10 contacts that we have as of the August report. Unfortunately, the threshold will change for the 2026 Challenge, not by our choice, but because of what data we can extract from POTA’s database.
SARA members who have registered on the POTA website https://parksontheair.com/# (sign up is under the Help/Getting Started tab) are automatically included in the SARA Challenges.
Meeting Program Team
The team with Zack AAØU, Dave N9JNQ, and now joined by Greg KDØEAP, plan and schedule the programs for our monthly meetings. Their efforts are intended to provide quality presenters and presentations for SARA! They welcome suggestions for future programs. The team is lining up some exciting programs for April and May! Do these hints: Arecibo and AO-91; mean anything to you? We’ll all get to learn more about each of them in the coming months!
The team has secured the following programs for our meetings through February:
- Geochron with Patrick Bolan KJ7ZSU December 13
- SARA White Elephant Exchange Party January 3, 2026
- SARA POTA Challenge 2025 Awards Ceremony February 14, 2026
- ARRL Volunteer Monitor Program with Riley Hollingsworth K4zdh
This week’s SARA activities
- “Sunday Fusion” Digital Voice Hangout Dec 7
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 (02:00 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 Dec 8
Frequency: 3.856 LSB +/- QRM - Two Meter Tuesday (TMT) Round Robin Ragchew Dec 9
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. - Eyeball QSO Party Thursday Dec 11
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Stillwater Public Library Conference Room
224 E 3rd Street, Stillwater 55082 - 2nd Saturday Breakfast Dec 137:30 AM
Perkins Restaurant
2050 Frontage Road, Stillwater 55082 - SARA Monthly Meeting Saturday Dec 13
9:15 AM
Auditorium A
The Gables at Boutwells Landing (North Entrance)
13575 58th St North, Oak Park Heights, 55082
Program: Patrick Bolan KJ7ZSU from Geochron
