SARA This Week July 6 – July 12

ARRL Field Day 2025 “Radio Connects” June 28 – 29

SARA’s ARRL Field Day was success. Looks like total contacts was 416, but the total points have yet to be tabulated.

I’ve heard very positive comments about the location at Baytown Township Hall, it sounds like the facility exceeded expectations. And we left the building better than we found it following a thorough deep cleaning Monday morning.

I missed out on Field Day this year because of a family commitment, but from what I saw and heard, we had many positive connections with visitors, youth and adult alike!

This year’s theme was ‘Radio Connects’. Our Field Day participation this year showed that amateur radio certainly does connect, both on the air and in person.

My sincerest thanks to Ray Speltz, NDØG, and Tim Grotheer, KFØJEL, your SARA Field Day co-chairs; for a job well done.

Radios in the Park 2025

The popular outdoor “Radios in the Park” Eyeball QSO Party series continues through Sept 11.  Folks start to gather around 5:30 PM and we wrap up by 8:00 PM every Thursday evening. Note that locations may change due to weather forecasts.

Here is the remaining schedule:

July 10^th       Valley View Park      5421 Osgood Avenue, Oak Park Heights
(Google Maps Plus code:    25JX+35V Oak Park Heights, Minnesota)
Build Project Night: 40M loading coil for portable vertical antennas (POTA)

July 17^th        Autumn Hills Park    5697 Norwich Parkway, Oak Park Heights
(Google Maps Plus code:    25J7+5W Oak Park Heights, Minnesota)

July 24^th       St. Croix Boom Site State Wayside         Highway 95 north of Stillwater
(Google Maps Plus code:    36P7+2R Stillwater, Minnesota)
POTA site for US-0673 Saint Croix National Wild and Scenic Riverway and US-12395 St. Croix Boom Site Unique Area

July 31^st       Valley View Park      5421 Osgood Avenue, Oak Park Heights
(Google Maps Plus code:    25JX+35V Oak Park Heights, Minnesota)
Mobile and Portable Show-n-tell

August 7^th     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 … Oscilliscopes”

August 14^th   Sunfish Lake Park    3554 Kelvin Ave North, Lake Elmo
(Google Maps Plus code:    233W+2F Lake Elmo, Minnesota)

August 21^st   Valley View Park      5421 Osgood Avenue, Oak Park Heights
                   (Google Maps Plus code:    25JX+35V Oak Park Heights, Minnesota)

August 28^th   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 4^th        Baytown Township Hall     4020 McDonald Dr N, Stillwater
                   (Google Maps Plus code:    2554+4M Stillwater, Minnesota)

Sept 11^th      Pioneer Park 515 2^nd St N, Stillwater
(Google Maps Plus code:    356R+7J Stillwater, Minnesota)

The full schedule of parks and dates is posted on SARA’s Discord server and published in the April and May issue of Signals from SARA newsletter.

SARA 2^nd Saturday Breakfast this Saturday

SARA’s monthly breakfast is this Saturday July 12. Join the group at Perkins in Stillwater for food and fellowship. 7:30 AM until about 9:00 AM.

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

1^st Thursday Technical Topic Nights feature a technical topic 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 1^st Thursday Technical Topic Nights are held at the Baytown Township Hall, 4020 McDonald Dr N, Stillwater, MN 55082, beginning at 6:00 PM.

August 7 1^st Thursday Tech Topic Night
Let’s talk about… “Oscilloscopes” led by Dan KEØIYF

The SARA POTA Challenge

The latest SARA POTA Challenge 2025 monthly numbers are posted on the radioham.org website. >> CLICK HERE << to view the most recent results for 2025. The May 2025 numbers are now up on the website.

Just a reminder, we are only able to track participation for those with a minimum of 10 Hunter contacts, a limitation placed on the hunter database by POTA.

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.

This week’s SARA activities

“Sunday Fusion” Digital Voice Hangout July 6
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 Evening HF Ragchew
Nightly 
20:00 Central (01:00 UTC) 813LSB +/- QRM 
Alternates: 1.966 MHz +/- QRM (LSB), 21.316 MHz +/- QRM (USB) 50.166 MHz +/- QRM (USB)

SARA Monday Morning 75-meter Ragchew July 7
08:15 Central (13:15 UTC) 
Frequency: 3.856 LSB +/- QRM

SARA Two Meter Tuesday (TMT) Round Robin Ragchew July 8
7:00 – ~8:00 pm Central (or until we finish!) 
SARA Repeater 147.060+ MHz (DCS/DTCS 026 Normal)1^stTuesday 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 July 10
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Valley View Park
5421 Osgood Avenue, Oak Park Heights
(Google Maps Plus code: 25JX+35V Oak Park Heights, Minnesota)
Build Project Night: 40M loading coil for portable vertical antennas (POTA)

SARA 2nd Saturday Breakfast July 12
7:30 AM
Perkins Restaurant
2050 Frontage Road
Stillwater, MN 55082