Here is the SARA weekly update!
New Ham Night May 8
The annual New Ham Night Thursday May 8th at 6:00 PM. The event will be outdoors at Valley View Park 5421 Osgood Avenue in Oak Park Heights. All newly licensed amateur radio operators are welcome!
We’ll have a program that will cover topics such as choosing a radio, getting on the air, “My First Year” experiences from recently licensed hams, available resources, and more. A “Get on the air” net will be held on the SARA repeater beginning around 7:15 PM to give you the chance to make that all-important 1st contact!
Please bring an HT or two to assist the new folks during the Get On The Air session.
Handheld radio programming will be available. There will be a display of mobile radio installations and portable radio kits.
Radios in the Park 2025 starts May 8!
The popular “Radios in the Park” Eyeball QSO Party series for 2025 will begin May 8th with SARA’s annual “New Ham Night” at Valley View Park in Oak Park Heights and continues through Sept 11. Folks start to gather around 5:30 PM and we wrap up by 8:00 PM every Thursday evening.
Here is the partial schedule through the end of June:
May 8th Valley View Park 5421 Osgood Avenue, Oak Park Heights
(Google Maps Plus code: 25JX+35V Oak Park Heights, Minnesota)
“New Ham Night” welcoming new or recently licensed amateur radio operators
May 15th Otto Berg Memorial Park 90th St N & Norell Ave N, Stillwater
(Google Maps Plus code: 35H9+MWC Stillwater, Minnesota)
May 22nd Brown’s Creek Park 8312 Neal Ave N, Stillwater – trail parking area
(Google Maps Plus code: 35C4+39V Stillwater, Minnesota)
POTA site for Brown’s Creek State Trail US-9386 and/or Brown’s Creek Aquatic Management Area US-10721
May 29th Valley View Park 5421 Osgood Avenue, Oak Park Heights
(Google Maps Plus code: 25JX+35V Oak Park Heights, Minnesota)
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
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.
SARA Monthly Meeting May 10
The final monthly meeting of the 2024-2025 cycle will be this Saturday May 10 at 9:15 AM. We are scheduled to be in Auditorium A at Boutwells Landing 13575 58th Avenue North in Oak Park Heights.
Dale WØDHZ will present his program “Alternate Power for Amateur Radio with LiFePo4 Batteries”.
Note: SARA does not hold a monthly 2nd Saturday meeting the months of May, June, and July.
SARA 2nd Saturday Breakfast May 10
The monthly breakfast is at Perkins Restaurant 2050 Frontage Road in Stillwater at 7:30 AM, although many arrive early.
Although SARA does not hold a monthly 2nd Saturday meeting in the months of May, June, and July, the monthly breakfast is held every month.
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
SARA’s Summer Activities
Look forward to the following SARA activities this summer:
June 14 SARA POTA Activity Day in conjunction with MN POTA Day
This SARA POTA Activity features a 5-park “Poker Run” Rove wrapped up with a dinner at a local restaurant. Collin KEØIYN and Brian KB9TBB are leading the MN POTA Day efforts. Be sure to check out mnpota.com for more information from MN POTA team!
June 28 – 29 ARRL Field Day 2025 “Radio Connects”
SARA’s Field Day operation will be at Baytown Township Hall. Co-chairs Ray NDØG and Tim KFØJEL are planning to have WØJH on the air the full 24 hours this year. Check out the upcoming May Signals from SARA for more details. Watch for the Field Day schedule sign-ups via SignUpGenius.
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.
“How To Chase DX – A DX Primer” presentation now online
The video recording of Greg KØGW’s presentation during SARA’s April meeting has been posted to the SARA YouTube channel. >> Click Here << to view the video. >> Click Here << to download the PDF of the presentation slide deck.
The SARA POTA Challenge
The SARA POTA Challenge 2025 monthly numbers for March are posted on the radioham.org website. >> CLICK HERE << to view the most recent results for 2025.
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 May 4
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 May 5
Frequency: 3.856 LSB +/- QRM - SARA Two Meter Tuesday (TMT) Round Robin Ragchew May 6
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 “NEW HAM NIGHT” May 8
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Valley View Park
5421 Osgood Avenue, Oak Park Heights
(Google Maps Plus code: 25JX+35V Oak Park Heights, Minnesota) - SARA 2nd Saturday Breakfast May 10
7:30 AM
Perkins Restaurant
2050 Frontage Road, Stillwater - SARA Monthly Meeting May 10
9:15 AM
Boutwells Landing Auditorium “A”
13575 58th Street North, MN 55082
Oak Park Heights (Stillwater)
>> CLICK HERE << to join the Zoom livestream
