Here is your SARA weekly update!
Eyeball QSO Party
The Eyeball QSO Party returns to the Stillwater Public Library Conference Room starting November 13 through at least the end of January 2026 (90 days is as far as we can schedule with the library.)
November 13 Stillwater Public Library Conference Room
November 20 Stillwater Public Library Conference Room
November 27 Thanksgiving – NO Eyeball QSO Party
December 4 1st Thursday Technical Topic Night at Baytown Town Hall
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
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. 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 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). The following schedule is subject to change.
- Dec 4 1st Thursday Tech Topic Night
“Let’s Talk About … Pico Balloons” led by Brian KB9TBB - NO January 1, 2026 session – Happy New Year!
- Feb 5, 2026 1st Thursday Tech Topic Night
“Let’s Talk About … Meshtastic” led by Collin KEØIYN - 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 … Antenna Analyzers” led by Joe KCØOIO
“Remembering The Edmund Fitzgerald” Special Event Nov 7-10
The SARA team of nearly 40 members are operating from the Trail Center through Monday. Large crowds are expected at the Split Rock Lighthouse Historical Site and the State Park on Monday Nov 10. The SARA team will be onsite early Monday and not leaving the park until the end of our operations.
WØJH is 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.
November 10th is the 50th Anniversary of the tragic loss of this famous ship and her entire 29-man crew. This will be the 21st consecutive year the Stillwater Amateur Radio Assn (SARA), has operated to commemorate the loss of the Edmund Fitzgerald. The Fitz passed Split Rock Lighthouse on her final voyage.
Please read below and use this address only for confirmation certificates for this event: W0JHFitz@outlook.com
We have 2 stations assigned to operating on SSB, primarily ~3.860MHz, 7.260MHz, 14.260MHz, 18.160MHz, & 21.360MHz, + or – depending upon band conditions. While 20m routinely produces the most contacts for us, we have been known to spend time on other HF bands, including 10m. We also expect to have a 3rd station, that will also spend time operating on FT8 as well as SSB.
WØJH will be ~15:00 (or earlier) – 22:00 UTC on Sunday and Monday.
Confirmation certificates for valid contacts will only be sent by email as a pdf and will be sent to the email address from which your request was made. Logs will be uploaded to LOTW, QRZ, and POTA.
There are at least two other groups using several call signs operating Edmund Fitzgerald special events during November. Be sure you have the correct call of stations you work and follow the correct confirmation process for that station. We will only be using one call and can only confirm contacts with WØJH.
Submit certificate requests promptly, as the incoming request email will likely no longer be monitored beyond 30 days following conclusion of the event. For confirmation certificates, send an email to: W0JHFitz@outlook.com and include the following information:
* Your Call
* 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. No QSL Cards or postal requests please. Certificate requests from SWL stations should include the call sign of at least one station we were in contact with during the time you heard us, and a brief synopsis of the conversation you heard.
Certificates for valid contacts will be sent as a PDF file to your email address beginning approximately 3 weeks following conclusion of the event. We design a new certificate for each of our events, and that process can’t begin until the end of the event.
VE Exam Session Nov 13 6:00 PM
The SARA VE Team will be conducting an Amateur Radio License Exam session starting at 6:00 PM Thursday evening November 13. The session will be held in Auditorium B at Boutwells Landing 13575 58th Street North, Oak Park Heights 55082. Please use the North Parking Lot and Entrance off 58th Street North.
(No Walk-ins / Register ahead)
Contact: Sheldon E. Mann
Email: n0drx@hotmail.com
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. September 2025 numbers have now been posted to the website. Please note, the tabulators are having to review the data and hand merge participants with fewer than 50 contacts manually due to POTA data changes explained below.
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.
The monthly numbers were not available in time to share at the November monthly meeting due to the short timeframe with the meeting falling on November 1. Watch the website for the updates!
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
- Remembering the Edmund Fitzgerald Special Event Station Nov 9
Split Rock Lighthouse State Park
Beaver Bay, MN
On-air: ~15:00 to ~22:00 UTC
~3.860MHz, 7.260MHz, 14.260MHz, 18.160MHz, & 21.360MHz, + or – depending upon band conditions and time of day (expect 75 meter and/or 40 meters near the start and end of the day for close-in stations) - NO “Sunday Fusion” Digital Voice Hangout Nov 9
19:00 Central (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 10
Frequency: 3.856 LSB +/- QRM - Remembering the Edmund Fitzgerald Special Event Station Nov 10
Split Rock Lighthouse State Park
Beaver Bay, MN
On-air: ~15:00 to ~22:00 UTC
~3.860MHz, 7.260MHz, 14.260MHz, 18.160MHz, & 21.360MHz, + or – depending upon band conditions and time of day (expect 75 meter and/or 40 meters near the start and end of the day for close-in stations) - Two Meter Tuesday (TMT) Round Robin Ragchew Nov 11
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. - SARA Board of Directors Meeting Nov 12
6:30 PM (0030 UTC)
Zoom Meeting Room
>> CLICK HERE << to join the Zoom meeting. - Eyeball QSO Party Nov 13
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Conference Room
Stillwater Public Library
224 3rd St N, Stillwater - VE Amateur Radio Exam Session Nov 13
6:00 PM
Auditorium B
Boutwells Landing (North Entrance)
13575 58th Street North, Oak Park Heights 55082
