Technician License Prep Classes continue
SARA’s Spring Technician License Classes continue with Session 2 Thursday evening, March 12. Class isheld at the Stillwater Public Library, 224 3rd Street E, Stillwater, MN 55082, from 6:00 PM to 7:50 PM for 8 weeks through April 23. The SARA VE Team will conduct an Exam Session on Thursday April 30th.
The ARRL Ham Radio License Manual 5th Edition is the textbook for the class. You can order a copy direct from the ARRL at https://home.arrl.org/action/Store/Product-Details/productId/2003373064 or from Amazon http://home.arrl.org/action/Store/Product-Details/productId/2003373064.
The current Technician Class exam question pool expires June 30, with a new question pool being effective July 1. Now is the time to act, before the question pool expires!
You can still sign up for the class, email Bob WØGAF via email at w0gaf at me.com
SARA Monthly Meeting Saturday March 14
SARA’s March monthly meeting will be this Saturday morning beginning about 9:15 AM. We meet in Auditorium A at Boutwells Landing, North Entrance, 13575 58th Street North, Oak Park Heights, MN 55082
Our guest presenter this month is Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH. Riley has been licensed since 1961. He retired from the FCC in 2008, having spent the previous 10 years as administrator of the FCC’s enforcement program in the Amateur Radio Service. Since 2019, he as administered the ARRL/FCC Volunteer Monitor program for the ARRL. This is a new phase of FCC cooperation and enforcement in the Amateur Service. The program has around 160 Volunteer Monitors who began monitoring in March 2020. They are averaging several thousand hours a month listening to our bands–HF and other frequencies. The goal is for Amateur radio to last 100 years and remain an important part of the American communications infrastructure. This is sure to be an interesting presentation on program’s efforts to keep our bands healthy and to maintain amateur radio’s great reputation.
If you can’t join us in person, this meeting will be livestreamed via SARA’s Zoom meeting. >> CLICK HERE << to join the livestream meeting Saturday morning.
The 2nd Saturday Breakfast precedes the meeting. Join us at Perkins Restaurant, 2050 Frontage Road, Stillwater at 7:30 for food and fellowship ahead of the monthly meeting.
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.
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).
- Mar 5, 2026 1st Thursday Tech Topic Night
“Let’s Talk About … Logging Workflows” led by Dale WØDHZ
The video and slide deck links will be posted once post-processing of the video is complete. They will be provided in next week’s bulletin. - 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 - Aug 6, 2026 1st Thursday Tech Topic Night
“Let’s Talk About … Cloud-based logging with Wavelog led by Collin KEØIYN
Eyeball QSO Party
The weekly Eyeball QSO Party is at the Stillwater Public Library Conference Room through the 16th of April 2026 and then April 30th, except for 1st Thursdays (Tech Topic Night). The April 23rd session will be at another location due to room availability at the Library that evening.
Radios in the Parks will return May 14 as we move the Eyeball QSO Party outdoors to various parks in the area. We’ll begin with the annual New Ham Night at Valley View Park on May 14 and continue through Sept 10. Full schedule will be shared as we get closer to May. I am looking for suggestions for parks to visit this summer.
SARA to host Metro Skywarn training session March 28
SARA will host a session of Metro Skywarn storm spotter training on Saturday March 28. The session will be in the Margaret Rivers Room A & B at the Stillwater Public Library beginning at 10:30 AM. Registration for the 3-hr session is required by Metro Skywarn. You can register for this session at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1982900251029?aff=oddtdtcreator
Metro Skywarn has a total of 12 training sessions scheduled this spring, 7 in-person and 5 on-line. Can’t attend the March 28 session, check out https://metroskywarn.org/training/ for more options.
Hands On Ham Radio on World Amateur Radio Day – A Ham Radio Open House April 18
SARA will be hosting a Ham Radio Open House in conjunction with World Amateur Radio Day April 18. The Stillwater Public Library has welcomed this event and will be promoting it on their event calendar for April.
“Celebrate World Amateur Radio Day with a hands-on, drop-in event for all ages on Saturday, April 18, from 11 AM–3 PM on the Library Terrace! Local amateur radio enthusiasts from Stillwater Amateur Radio Association will share how ham radios work, demonstrate different types of equipment, and scan the airwaves so you can actually “see” the radio signals all around us. Visitors will have the chance to listen in and even attempt live connections with people across the U.S. and around the world.
This free, family-friendly event is perfect for curious minds of all ages. SARA members enjoy making radio science accessible and fun, from educational sessions and classes, to operating outdoors in parks, trails, and landmarks, and combine electronics and computers in new, experimental radio research projects. They’ll also share details about their exciting upcoming club project: building and launching a radio balloon 80,000 feet into the atmosphere to travel the globe. Stop by anytime during this interactive afternoon of science and discovery!”
We will be looking for volunteers to help with day’s activities. Brian, KB9TBB has offered to spearhead this event. Planning and promotion will continue at upcoming Eyeball QSO sessions. Please consider joining us plan and execute this wonderful opportunity to promote amateur radio and SARA.
Pico Balloon Club Project?
The “Let’s Talk About … Pico Balloons” session, led by Rich ADØSN, has piqued interest of the prospect of building and launching a PICO balloon as a club project. The ad hoc balloon team will be making a presentation at the March 14 meeting pitching the plan to our members. The plan would focus on a launch during one of our Radios in the Park Thursday evening session. Wouldn’t it be fun to track WØJH via WSPR and APRS as it circumnavigates the globe, hopefully multiple times?
To learn more about Pico balloons and the concept of the project, check out the 1st Thursday Tech Topic from earlier this month. >> CLICK HERE << to view the recording of the session on our YouTube channel. The PDF document is available to download from the radioham.org website by >> clicking here <<
The SARA POTA Challenge
Results for February 2026 can now be viewed, >> CLICK HERE << to view those results.
The SARA POTA Challenge 2026 is well underway! At some point in the summer of 2025, POTA 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. Therefore, the hunter threshold has changed to the minimum 50 for the 2026 Challenge, not by our choice, but because of what 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.
This week’s SARA activities
- “Sunday Fusion” Digital Voice Hangout Mar 8
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 Mar 9
Frequency: 3.856 LSB +/- QRM - Two Meter Tuesday (TMT) Round Robin Ragchew Mar 10
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. - Technician License Prep Class Thursday Mar 12
6:00 PM
Conference Room
Stillwater Public Library
224 3rd Street E, Stillwater, MN 55082 - Eyeball QSO Party Mar 12
6:00 PM
Margeret Rivers Room A&B
Stillwater Public Library
224 3rd Street E, Stillwater, MN 55082 - 2nd Saturday Breakfast Mar 14
7:30 AM
Perkins Restaurant
2050 Frontage Road, Stillwater, MN 55082 - SARA Monthly Meeting Mar 14
9:15 AM Central (14:15 UTC)
Auditorium A
Boutwells Landing – North Entrance
13575 58th Street North, Oak Park Heights, MN 55082
Program: ARRL Volunteer Monitor Program with Riley Hollingsworth K4ZDH
