SARA This Week Nov 1 – Nov 7

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SARA This Week Nov 1 – Nov 7

Here is your weekly SARA update!

SARA’s Fall General Class License Upgrade Prep Class Session 8

SARA’s General Class license upgrade class final session this Thursday Nov 5 will be in the Conference Room at the Stillwater Public Library. Bob WØGAF covers Chapter 6 Digital Modes. Class begins at 6:00 PM.

SARA Eyeball QSO Party

The Eyeball QSO Party Thursday Nov 5 will be at the Baytown Township Hall, 4020 McDonald Dr N, Stillwater, MN 55082. The Eyeball begins at 6:00 PM.

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. You can find all the 1st Thursday Topics in the 1st Thursdays Technical Topics playlist.

We are always looking for topic ideas and discussion leaders for future 1TTT nights. If you have a suggestion or are willing to lead a discussion, please let drop me an email at kc0oio2002@gmail.com. We need topics and volunteers for December and beyond!

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 (0:00 UTC).

  • Nov 5, 2026 NO 1st Thursday Tech Topic Night
    due to the upcoming Remembering the Edmund Fitzgerald Special Event Nov 6 – 8, we will not have a Tech Topic on this evening, rather the session will be an Eyeball QSO Party.
  • Dec 3, 2026 1st Thursday Tech Topic Night
    “Let’s talk about … Building A Reverse Beacon Network Spotter” led by Keith ACØVW

“Remembering the Edmund Fitzgerald” Special Event Station November 6-8, 2026

WØJH will again be operating from the grounds of Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, in Lake County Minnesota, Grid Square EN47, and will qualify for POTA US-2524 & US-8095, ARLHS USA-783.  

For the 22nd consecutive year, a crew of nearly 40 SARA members will be operating to commemorate the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald with the loss of her entire 29-man crew. November 10th will be the 51st anniversary of the tragic loss. The Fitz passed Split Rock Lighthouse on her final voyage.

Due to staffing and site access, we expect this to primarily be an SSB daytime operation. While most activity is expected to be on 20m, we intend to devote some time to contact closer stations on 40m or 80m early and perhaps later in the day.

Suggested Frequencies: (with 20m & 40m being more active)
SSB:  3.860, 7.260, 14.260, 21.360, 28.360 MHz (+/– 10 kHz)

We anticipate WØJH being on the air from when we can get set up ~19:00 to ~22:30 UTC on Nov 6th, and ~16:00-22:30 UTC on other days of the event. Due to limited internet access at the site, we would appreciate being posted on appropriate sites when you hear us. 

No Digital or postal QSL cards please. Our logs will be uploaded to LOTW, QRZ, & POTA after conclusion of the event.

We will again offer a free confirmation certificate, sent as a pdf for valid contacts. To receive your confirmation, send an email request as soon as possible to W0JHFitz@outlook.com with the following information.

* Your Call Sign
* Date of QSO (UTC date)
* Time of QSO (UTC time) 
* Band or Frequency
* Mode

Any email received without the above information may be returned for clarification or discarded.

Submit certificate requests promply as late requests won’t be fulfilled.

Certificates will be sent out approximately 3 weeks after conclusion of the event.

SARA VE Team Exam Session November 12

SARA’s VE Team will be conducting an in-person Amateur Radio Exam Session on Thursday November 12. The session will be in the Auditorium B at the Boutwells Landing 13575 58th Street North, Oak Park Heights, MN 55082. Test session begins at 6:00 PM, check-in will be open 20-30 minutes before.

Pre-registration is required. Email ve-team@radioham.org to register for this session and indicate the license level exam (Tech, General, or Extra) you plan to take. The Exam session fee is $15.

The SARA POTA Challenge

Summer is coming to an end, but that hasn’t slowed down our POTA hunters and activators. September numbers are now available on the SARA website. >> CLICK HERE << to view the most recent posted results.

Important Note: The POTA group has changed the minimum number of hunter contacts required to be included in the data feed we use to calculate our totals. You now need a minimum of 100 hunted parks to be included in the data feed. We will continue to include anyone that has been on the reports with less than 100 parks, but new challenge participants will need to make 100 contacts before they are included in these reports. A reassessment of how we collect the Hunters data for the 2027 Challenge is planned. Please reach out to Bob – W0GAF or Brian – KB9TBB if you have questions.

The Parks on the Air resource page is a great place to get your POTA questions answered.

To participate in the POTA Challenge, there are two simple steps required.

– Register for an account at parksontheair.com
– Go out and work some parks

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 Nov 1
    19:00 Central (Daylight Time) (01:00 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 (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 Nov 2
    08:00 Central (14:00 UTC)
    Frequency: 3.856 LSB +/- QRM
  • Two Meter Tuesday (TMT) Round Robin Ragchew Nov 3
    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.
  • General Class License Course Session 8 Thursday Nov 5
    6:00 PM
    Conference Room
    Stillwater Public Library 224 E 3rd St, Stillwater
  • Eyeball QSO Party Thursday Nov 5
    6:00 PM
    Baytown Township Hall, 4020 McDonald Dr N, Stillwater, MN 55082
  • Remembering the Edmund Fitzgerald Special Event Station WØJH Nov 6, 7, 8
    Split Rock Lighthouse State Park Trail Center near Beaver Bay, MN
    Suggested Frequencies: (with 20m & 40m likely being more active)
    SSB: 860, 7.260, 14.260, 21.360, 28.360 MHz (+/– 10 kHz).
    Friday Nov 6 ~19:00 to ~22:30 UTC
    Saturday Nov 7 and Sunday Nov 8 ~16:00-22:30 UTC