Here is your SARA weekly update!
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 schedule through July:
June 5th Baytown Township Hall 4020 McDonald Dr N, Stillwater
(Google Maps Plus code: 2554+4M Stillwater, Minnesota)
“Field Day Planning – Site and operations”
June 12th Lily Lake Park 1208 Greeley St S, Stillwater
(Google Maps Plus code: 25WH+CVP Stillwater, Minnesota)
June 18th Valley View Park 5421 Osgood Avenue, Oak Park Heights
(Google Maps Plus code: 25JX+35V Oak Park Heights, Minnesota)
June 26th Rotary Park 2290 2nd St N, North St Paul
(Google Maps Plus code: 2262+G5 North St Paul, Minnesota)
POTA site for US-9385 Gateway State Trail
July 3rd Baytown Township Hall 4020 McDonald Dr N, Stillwater
(Google Maps Plus code: 2554+4M Stillwater, Minnesota)
July 10th Valley View Park 5421 Osgood Avenue, Oak Park Heights
(Google Maps Plus code: 25JX+35V Oak Park Heights, Minnesota)
July 17th Autumn Hills Park 5697 Norwich Parkway, Oak Park Heights
(Google Maps Plus code: 25J7+5W Oak Park Heights, Minnesota)
July 24th 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
July 31st 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
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.
1st Thursday Technical Topic Nights “Let’s Talk About…”
1st 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 1st Thursday Technical Topic Nights are held at the Baytown Township Hall, 4020 McDonald Dr N, Stillwater, MN 55082, beginning at 6:00 PM.
- June 5 1st Thursday Tech Topic Night
SARA Field Day Onsite Planning – Field Day Co-chairs Ray NDØG and Tim KFØJEL. This session will not be livestreamed. - July 3 1st Thursday Tech Topic Night
NO formal topic – Radios in the Park at Baytown Township Hall - August 7 1st Thursday Tech Topic Night
Let’s talk about… “Oscilloscopes” led by Dan KEØIYF
ARRL Field Day 2025 “Radio Connects” June 28 – 29
Get ready SARA members for ARRL Field Day, June 28 and 29! This year’s theme is ‘Radio Connects’. Amateur Radio certainly does connect, both on the air and in person.
ARRL Field Day is the most popular on-the-air event held annually in the US and Canada. On the fourth weekend of June, more than 31,000 radio amateurs gather with their clubs, groups or simply with friends to operate from remote locations. If you’re interested, here is a link to Field Day rules.
There’s lots to look forward to this year!
New Location
We are holding Field Day at the Baytown Township Hall, located at 4020 McDonald Drive North. The site will be fantastic for the event. The facility has a refrigerator, small kitchen and restrooms. There is a large room with recently updated technology that can be used for displaying Club information and real-time logging statistics.
Outside there is a covered shelter that we plan to use for the SSB station. We will setup a tent shelter for the CW/SSB station and another one next to the trailer for the GOTA (Get On The Air) station.
The new site also enables us to operate overnight! Look for a sign up if you are interested in operating during the night shift.
New Club Technology
As many of you know the club has some new technology of its own. Three new laptop computers with external monitors, new mice and keyboards will all be in use on Field Day. Special thanks to Collin KE0IYN for getting them all set up ahead of the event. We will once again be leaning on Collin to lead the networking setup on Field Day, as well!
Yagi Antenna
We are excited to add a beam antenna to the mix. The antenna, a hy-gain TH-3JRS tribander (20, 15, 10) has performed admirably in testing. Mounted on a tripod at 25 feet, the SWR was almost exactly as advertised in the manual. Test contacts were made coast to coast and received some excellent signal reports. Special thanks to Rich AD0SN for making it possible to use the antenna and tripod.
Here’s where we all come in. There’s plenty for everyone to do, so take a look at some of the things that you can help with below. Be thinking about how you want to participate and watch for an email with links to online sign-up logs soon!
1) Operators and loggers for the SSB, CW and GOTA stations. We also need to determine who will be on-site overnight.
2) Food: The club is providing hamburgers, hot dogs, and bratwurst, as well as ice and bottled water.
We need volunteers to sign up to bring a dish to share! Some suggestions:
Fresh fruit, Chips/Dips, Bars and cookies, Pickles and olives, Veggie tray, Jello salad, Noodle salad, Paper plates, Plastic forks/spoons/knives, Tablecloths and napkins
3) Gas grill – We need someone to bring a gas grill. The club will supply the propane.
4) Set-up and break-down crews on Saturday and Sunday. Since we plan on operating overnight, there should be minimal breakdown on Saturday evening and minimal setup on Sunday morning.
5) Final cleaning crew on Monday to give the Township Hall a good ‘post event’ cleaning
6) We need a volunteer to transport the club trailer from Bob K0AIF’s place in Lake Elmo to the Township Hall and then back again after the event.
The high-level schedule is as follows:
Saturday, June 28
9:00AM – Setup crews on site. On air at 1:00PM. Coffee and donuts provided.
7:00PM – Make any setup changes for overnight operations.
Sunday, June 29
8:00AM – Setup crews on site to make any setup changes for daytime operations.
1:00PM – Tear down and full pack up. Possible afterglow once done!
The 2025 Field Day sign up links have been sent direct to SARA members. There are 3 different signups:
1) Setup and Breakdown, 2) Food, and 3) Radio Operator and Logger.
Please take some time to look them over and decide how you will help make the 2025 ARRL Field Day a big success!
So, mark your calendars for June 28th and 29th, as the Stillwater Amateur Radio Association hosts the annual ARRL Field Day at Baytown Township Hall!
If you have any questions or suggestions, please reach out to Ray Speltz, NDØG, speltzraymond at gmail dot com; and Tim Grotheer, KFØJEL, timgrotheer at gmail dot com; your SARA Field Day co-chairs.
MN POTA Day & SARA POTA Activity Day
It’s time once again for the Minnesota POTA DAY! Put Minnesota on the map and fill the airwaves with CQ’s from Minnesota parks!
On June 14th, 2025, everyone is invited to head to their nearest or favorite state park and activate it! This is the second FREE PARKS DAY of the year; where no admission fee is required to enjoy one of the many fabulous state parks in Minnesota. Head on out and activate, get your club involved, and make a difference and make Minnesota heard on the air!
Once again, the Stillwater Amateur Radio Association (SARA) will be activating multiple parks for the POTA Poker Run as part of this great day from 10am-5pm. Come to each of the 4 activation sites (with one site a 2-fer), earn 10 contacts, and get a poker card for each, and join SARA afterwards for dinner at Acupulco’s in Stillwater at 6pm for announcement of the winners of the poker run. Must be present to win! SARA will be activating at four sites:
* Afton State Park (Afton, MN) (US-2466) R6W5+PC Hastings, Minnesota
* Gateway Trail at Rotary Park in Oakdale (US-9385) 2262+G5 North St Paul, Minnesota
* St. Croix National Wild & Scenic River at the St. Croix Boom Site (US-0673) 36P7+2R Stillwater, Minnesota
* Brown’s Creek Trail (US-9386) and Brown’s Creek Aquatic Management Area (US-10721) At Brown’s Creek Park (2fer site!) 3594+R8 Stillwater, Minnesota
Each site will have gear set up and a control operator – all you need is yourself and a logging sheet. SARA is looking for skilled activators who may want to assist in setup or as control ops at each site.
Last year the MN POTA DAY activities created a noticeable jump in POTA activity, so let’s do it again!
SARA’s Summer Activities
Look forward to this SARA activity this summer:
August 9 SARA WØJH Station at “Britfest” Car Show in Hudson
We’ll be promoting amateur radio during the annual “Britfest” Car Show along the St. Croix in Hudson. This will also be a WØJH POTA activation of US-0673 St. Croix National Wild & Scenic River. Brian KB9TBB is the lead for this event. If you want to join the team, contact Brian via email at brian@schousek.com.
This week’s SARA activities
- “Sunday Fusion” Digital Voice Hangout June 1
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 June 2
Frequency: 3.856 LSB +/- QRM - SARA Two Meter Tuesday (TMT) Round Robin Ragchew June 3
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. - Radios in the Park June 5
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Baytown Township Hall
4020 McDonald Dr N, Stillwater
(Google Maps Plus code: 2554+4M Stillwater, Minnesota)
“Field Day Planning – Site and operations”
