St. Augustine Amateur Radio Society

Come Join us at the St. Augustine Lighthouse

On August 22th the St. Augustine Amateur Radio Society will be participating in the ILLW Event. You don’t need to bring any equipment. We will operate from approximately 9:00am until mid-late Saturday afternoon. Operation on Sunday is TBA. Come and enjoy amateur radio at the Lighthouse. Please be sure to wear your SAARS membership ID.

Set up will be on Saturday morning starting around 9:00 am. Tear down will be after we stop operating each day.

QSL information on QRZ.com –  callsign N4AUG

Our next meeting will be held at 6:30 pm, Tuesday, August 4, 2020 Online via Zoom. See Allen’s email for instructions.

We will be discussing the International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend which at this point is a go. Alan Alsobrook is going to be sharing some information on grounding and how it should be done properly to best protect your equipment from those static discharges we have been seeing and hearing.

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.

Please Note: Feel free to consume any food or beverages that catches your fancy, on camera.  😉

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.

Please Note: Feel free to consume any food or beverages that catches your fancy, on camera.  😉

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.

Map

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.

Please Note: Feel free to consume any food or beverages that catches your fancy, on camera.  😉

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.

Please Note: Feel free to consume any food or beverages that catches your fancy, on camera.  😉

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.

Please Note: Feel free to consume any food or beverages that catches your fancy.

Florida State Parks On The Air 2020
April 4th – 5th
8:00am till 6:00pm

Event Canceled.

Florida State Parks have canceled group events for the next several weeks.

Operators and Volunteers needed to help setup and take down.
More information will be available at the March 3rd SAARS meeting.

Faver Dykes State park is a great location for this event.
Plan on attending this year.