The next meeting will be held at 6:30 pm, Tuesday, July 7, 2020 Online via Zoom. See Allen’s email for instructions.
Program: Setting up and using WINLINK by Russ Langel, K4HRL.
We will try to monitor the repeater during the meeting but it can be difficult to do this successfully. If you need help try to contact someone in the meeting for assistance.
As of 6/22/20, SAARS official Field Day activities have been canceled due to increased concerns over COVID. Please operate and make Field Day contacts from your home QTH and submit a log to the ARRL showing your organization the be the “St Augustine Amateur Radio Society”.
The St Augustine Amateur Radio Society plans to work Field Day this year from the home QTH of N4RRR, DJ Finch. He resides at 2525 Deerwood Acres Dr., St Augustine, FL 32084. The ARRL has eased several of rules for 2020 only to allow a bit of an alternate Field Day. The map link is below. The club will provide Hamburgers and hotdogs for lunch and dinner. A number of people are planning to bring rigs and other equipment. The main thing you need to bring to participate is yourself and a willingness to participate. Though there should be plenty of equipment, if you definitely want to operate, you should bring your rig. K3GO will be the band master and NN2T along with N4RRR will be managing the antennas.
There are three main rules for SAARS this year:
1. Be respectful of others and allow them their personal space for their safety and yours.
2. It is DJ’s home and he makes the rules.
3. Have Fun!
We hope to see you there? All are welcome.
The SAARS VE Team held its first exam session in 6 months on Saturday morning, June 6, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Team conducted the exam in the outdoor pavilion behind the Memorial Evangelical Lutheran Church on US 1 South. Test areas were disinfected prior to the arrival of candidates. Face masks were distributed and social distancing was practiced during the session.
We now have two new Technician Class license holders, Dennis Smith and Diane Wise. John Albertson, KN4UBT successfully upgraded to Extra Class. Congratulations to all participants.
Volunteer Examiners Russ Langel, K4HRL; Dennis Fernandez, N4KPI; and Rod Heikkinen, AB4EW during the SAARS/ARRL Test Session.
The next meeting will be held at 6:30 pm, Tuesday, June 2, 2020 Online via Zoom. See Allen’s email for instructions.
We will be discussing Field Day, possible repeater acquisition and the Christmas Party.
We will try to monitor the repeater during the meeting but it can be difficult to do this successfully. If you need help try to contact someone in the meeting for assistance.
A past member and Past President has become Silent Key. You can find his obituary at :
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/staugustine/obituary.aspx?n=william-lawrence-squire&pid=196156392
The next meeting will be held at 6:30 pm, Tuesday, May 5, 2020 Online via Zoom. See Allen’s email for instructions.
The theme is going to be DMR and other VHF/UHF digital modes.
We will try to monitor the repeater during the meeting but it can be difficult to do this successfully. If you need help try to contact someone in the meeting for assistance.
The next meeting will be held at 6:30 pm, Tuesday, April 7, 2020 Online via Zoom. See Allen’s email for instructions.
The program this month will be:
Show and Tell Night. Members are invited to show off a project, an item, their shack, or whatever. No one is required to show anything. Our far away members can participate just as well as the local members.
Florida State Parks have canceled group events for the next several weeks.
The next meeting will be held at 6:30 pm, Tuesday, March 3, 2020 in the St. Augustine Airport Conference Center, 4730 Casa Cola Way, St. Augustine. (map)
The program this month will be:
Digital Night, FT8, logging to LOTW by John Smith K3GO
Winter Field Day will be held at the St. Johns County Emergency Operations Center at 100 EOC Drive | St. Augustine, FL. (Map)
Saturday operations will be 9am – About 10pm . Formal WFD operations will begin at 2 pm in the afternoon.
We will have a robust power connection to the trailer that will allow us to run most anything we need. The trailer has enough space that we could set up three stations with little problem other than audible noise. It is presumed that at least one of these will be on the permissible digital modes (FT8 is not permissible as its message structure does not fit the required information exchange).
We have a good OCF dipole available in the trailer, but will need some additional antennas. There are some other antennas in the trailer but details are unknown. There are some light poles in the parking lot that could support a dipole. The trees are more like bushes. I think we will be able to figure it out.
Everyone should bring a good chair or two as well as there own snacks and drinks. Many fast food restaurants are close by. Leann has strongly hinted that St Auggies Doggies may take care of us with some food. If she does, we will certainly owe her a debt of gratitude.
