Radios in the Park 2025
The final session of the popular outdoor “Radios in the Park” Eyeball QSO Party is upon us! 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.
Sept 11th Pioneer Park 515 2nd St N, Stillwater
(Google Maps Plus code: 356R+7J Stillwater, Minnesota)
The Eyeball QSO Party resumes Thursday September 18 at the Lake Elmo Public Library Meeting Room A+B beginning at 6:00 PM.
SARA Monthly Member Meetings resume Sept 13
September brings the return of our monthly meeting, usually on the 2nd Saturday of the month. Our first meeting of the season is this Saturday, September 13! Our monthly meetings are held in Auditorium A at The Gables at Boutwells Landing, 13575 58th Ave North in Oak Park Heights, MN 55082. Meetings begin about 9:15 AM and are livestreamed via Zoom.
The program for this month’s meeting will be “Mapping and Planning POTA Activations – A Case Study” by Joe KCØOIO.
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.
We are looking for topic ideas and discussion leaders for future 1TTT nights beginning in October. 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.
- Oct 2 1st Thursday Tech Topic Night
“Let’s Talk About … Operating at SARA Special Events”
In preparation for the upcoming 4-day “Remembering the Edmund Fitzgerald” special event at Split Rock Lighthouse State Park Nov 7 – 10, this will be a hands-on training session. The intent is to familiarize operators with the logging software ACLog, working with the station equipment, and experiencing the sounds and challenges of operating as a logger and station operator during one of our special events. Those attending the Remembering the Edmund Fitzgerald event for the first time are encouraged to attend this session. Lessons learned here are also used during the Fr Metcalf WØJH special event in January and the Ice Station WØJH special event in February. The session will be livestreamed and recorded for sharing on our YouTube station.
We are looking for additional Tech Topics and presenters for December and beyond. It is likely that the Nov 6 session at the Baytown Town Hall will be a normal eyeball QSO session as many of the usual participants may be preparing for the Split Rock weekend departure the next morning.
General Class License Upgrade Class begins Sept 18
SARA’s education team will be presenting our fall General Class license upgrade class starting September 18 and lasting 8 weeks through November 6. Sessions will be held at the Stillwater Public Library 224 3rd Street North from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. To register for the class, email Bob WØGAF at w0gaf at me dot com. Share the word!
North Star Radio Convention Oct 11
The 3rd annual North Star Radio Convention is coming up quickly! The Convention will be held at the Hennepin Technical College in Brooklyn Center on Saturday October 11th. Doors open at 8:00 AM. The Convention is recognized as the ARRL MN Section Convention.
20 informative breakout sessions are scheduled, there is sure to be something of interest to everyone. Our own Collin KEØIYN is presenting two of them; “From Club Challenge to State Events – The Creation of MNPOTA” and “Equipment Setups for POTA”; and member Dale WØDHZ is presenting “Amateur Radio Logging and Logging Workflows.”
New this year will be a Swap Fest running from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM. The ARRL Forum and the Youth Lounge are returning as well.
>> Click here << for the North Star Radio Convention website for more information and to register for the 2025 Convention. Early registration is open now and the cost is $15.00 per person. After September 26, the cost goes up to $25.00 per person. You will also have the option to add a Subway lunch selection for an additional $12.50.
SARA has been invited to host a new GOTA-style station to encourage folks to get on the air from the North Star Radio Convention. SARA will set up our Eskimo shelter and a full station outside. The primary focus is getting the youth and newer hams a chance to operate HF.
Joe, KCØOIO will be leading our team for the Convention’s GOTA station. I will be looking for some help with setup, staffing the station (1-hour segments) throughout the day, and teardown. I will also need some people to help cover the club’s info table inside the cafeteria. We will also need someone to transport the club equipment trailer to and from the Convention site that day.
“Remembering The Edmund Fitzgerald” Special Event Nov 7-10
Plans are well underway for operating several WØJH stations at this year’s big event at Split Rock! We’ll be operating from the Split Rock Lighthouse State Park Trail Center and SARA’s Comms Trailer.
Monday November 10th, 2025 marks the 50th Anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. SARA will have an extended 4-day operation and will be on the air on the 10th.
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 July 2025 numbers are now up on the website. The August numbers will be presented during the Sept 13 meeting and shared online the following week.
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 Sep 7
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 Sept 8
Frequency: 3.856 LSB +/- QRM - SARA Two Meter Tuesday (TMT) Round Robin Ragchew Sept 9
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 Sept 11
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Pioneer Park
515 2nd St N, Stillwater
(Google Maps Plus code: 356R+7J Stillwater, Minnesota) - SARA 2nd Saturday Breakfast Sept 13
7:30 AM
Perkins Restaurant
2050 Frontage Road
Stillwater, MN 55082 - SARA Monthly Meeting Sept 13
9:15 AM
Auditorium A
The Gables at Boutwells Landing
13575 58th Street North
Oak Park Heights, MN 55082
