Section News

Skywarn Weather Spotter Class - FREE!!

February 27, Saturday (One Day)

10:30 am - 3:30 pm

Stillwater Public Library (224 Third Street North, Stillwater)

Technician License Class - FREE!!

March 4, Thursday (First Day)

6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Stillwater Public Library (224 Third Street North, Stillwater)

:: There are 9 weekly sessions.

:: A licensing exam will be held May 6.

Please go the Stillwater Amateur Radio Association (SARA) website at www.radioham.org for information and flyers.

IARU Region 2 Requests Frequencies Be Kept Clear After Massive Earthquake Strikes Haiti

On Tuesday, January 12 at 4:53 PM Haiti time (2153 UTC), a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit 10 miles (15 kilometers) west of Port-au-Prince, the island nation's capital. Communications in and out of Haiti have been disrupted. No word has been received as of yet from any of Haitian Amateur Radio operators. The ARRL encourages US amateurs to be aware of the emergency operations on the following frequencies: 7.045 and 3.720 MHz (IARU Region 2 nets), 14.265, 7.265 and 3.977 MHz (SATERN nets), and 14.300 MHz (Intercontinental Assistance and Traffic Net); the International Radio Emergency Support Coalition (IRESC) is also active on EchoLink node 278173.

IARU Region 2 Area C Emergency Coordinator, Arnie Coro, CO2KK, is coordinating a multi-national response by hams. There are organized nets on 7.045 and 3.720 MHz; amateurs are asked to monitor the frequencies, but to also keep them clear of non-essential traffic. Amateur Radio operators should also be aware that emergency traffic pertaining to the Haitian earthquake is expected on the SATERN frequencies of 14.265 MHz, 7.265 MHz and 3977 MHz, according to SATERN's leader, Major Pat McPherson. The Salvation Army is accepting health and welfare traffic requests on its Web site.

The St. Paul Radio Club is presenting an Extra Class upgrade program in
February and March.

The classes will be held from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm on eight Tuesday nights,
beginning on Feb. 9 and continuing each Tuesday until March 30.

The classes will be held in Roseville, at the Roseville Fire Station at
2701 North Lexington Avenue. That's a block north of the intersection of
Lexington and County Road C. It's about a mile north of Highway 36.

The classes will use a "discussion group" format, rather than straight
lecture. People will be expected to have read the chapter before the
class.

The book will be the ARRL License Manual for the Extra Class, 9th edition
(green cover). It should be purchased in advance of the first class from
either Radio City or www.arrl.org .

There is no fee for the class. People are requested to reserve a spot by
email to me at: allan AT cs.com.

Don't forget the annual St. Paul Radio Club Annual Auction to be held on Friday, January 15, 2010. It is held at the University of St. Thomas at will start at 7:00 pm. Go to the SPRC website for details at http://www.stpaulradioclub.org

Owatonna Steele County Amateur Radio Club announces a Technician License Class session to be held Tuesday evenings from February 9, 2010 through March 4, 2010. The class will be held at the Owatonna Fire Station on Main Street at Cedar Avenue. Contact Tom Karnauskas on 507-444-9133.

You can prepare for your first Amateur Radio License in just days. The course is based on the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) book "Ham Radio License Manual, Level 1, Technician" (1st edition). Students will need to purchase the textbook on their own. The book we will be using is the “ARRL Ham Radio License Manual, The American Radio Relay League, Inc. (ISBN: 0-87259-963-9) #9639”. The text is available at Radio City, 2660 County Road I, Moundsview, MN 55112 (1-800-426-2891) for $24.95. You can order online at: www.radioinc.com. It is also available through the ARRL at www.arrl.org. Course Preparation is important. Please take the time to read the book in advance of the classroom sessions.

Amateur radio operators "Hams" who hold the FCC Technician Amateur Radio License have privileges on all Amateur frequencies above 50 MHz. With the Technician license you can operate FM voice, SSB, Amateur TV, Satellite, IRLP, and many other modes. The most popular mode is FM voice on the 2 meter VHF and 70 Cm UHF bands

Technicians can help the community by assisting in public service events, search and rescue, and disaster communications. Hams have fun communicating with each other and by participating in field day and other group events.

The instructors for the course are all licensed Hams. A team teaching approach will be used so that you will always see a familiar face.

There is free parking and a Cafeteria available on site. The VA Medical Center is located near the crossroads of Hiawatha Avenue/Highway 55 and the Crosstown Freeway/Highway 62 at One Veterans Drive, Minneapolis, MN 55417 (www.mapquest.com). The Metro city bus and Light Rail Train stop in front of the VA Medical Center.

Pre-registration is required and interested students should contact David.Adriansen@va.gov via e-mail or at (612) 467-3019 to register for this course. The course is free except for the cost of the $24.95 textbook and a $14.00 examination fee payable by check or money order to “ARRL.” The exam fee will be collected by the Test Examiners on December 13 prior to the end of course test.

I will be hosting a One-Day Class for Technician Class amateur radio license.

Where: Great River Energy-Elk River, Minnesota
When: October 24 from 8 to 4 followed by VE testing
Cost: Free class, the VE exam will cost $15

This class has a success rate of about 95%. Instructions include teaching to the questions, plus radio theory, safety, and regulations.

If you're interested please contact me at K0MJS@arrl.net and I will send you the class materials, maps, and directions.

73,
Mike - KØMJS

SARA (Stillwater Amateur Radio Association) will be holding a study class for taking the FCC test for General Class license starting Sept 17th 2009.

The class will be weekly on Thursday evenings (except MEA week in October) from 6 to 8pm and will be held most weeks at the Stillwater Library where we have our eyeball meetings. The class will be based upon the ARRL license guide. You can purchase them on your own, or Greg will be able to obtain a copy of you (please contact him for details at the email address at the end of this message).

Following the last class we will conduct a VE test session the week before Thanksgiving at Boutwell's Landing (the location of our monthly member meetings). Further details on the test date will follow as it approaches.

For further information on the class please contact Greg Widin at k0gw (at) arrl (dot) com. Check the SARA site at http://news.radioham.org/ for more information.

The SPRC (St. Paul Radio Club) has just made this announcement regarding their fall license class schedule.

Technician level [entry level] classes will begin on Tuesday, October 6 and run throughout October and November, ending on December 1. We will meet every Tuesday at 6:30 pm and be finished by 8:30. We will meet in the Roseville Fire Hall, which is 1 block north of the
intersection of Lexington and County Road C. Books will be available there for $25.00, or you can get one at Radio City in Mounds View or directly from the ARRL. The book is The Ham Radio License Manual, published by ARRL.

You may contact me at allankmn(at)cs.com.

I look forward to seeing you.

Allan Klein, WØNLY

This notice is to inform the ARRL Minnesota Section membership of an important personnel change. Effective immediately, Mr. Dan Anderson, KDØASX is appointed to the position of Section Emergency Coordinator to replace Frank Karnauskas, N1UW.

Frank Karnauskas, our current SEC, asked me to find a replacement for him over a year ago as he has had some family issues that prevent him from spending as much time as he would like in this job. In spite of both of us looking for a suitable replacement, we did not find that person until very recently. Dan came forward just a week ago with this idea and we agree that he would do a great job. He has a suitable background and is a strong amateur radio advocate.

Dan Anderson, KDØASX, (Pictured here) formerly ARRL Minnesota District 5 DEC, is also the Nobles County Emergency Management Director. Having won 2007 Region 5 Outstanding Emergency Manager of the Year by the AMEM (Association of Minnesota Emergency Managers), he has successfully placed on behalf of Region 5 AMEM more than $60,000 worth of repeaters in District 5 using Homeland Security grant dollars. He has also worked on behalf of the region's hospitals, health clinics, long-term care facilities and public health agencies to create an amateur radio emergency communications system between these entities. He is also active in regional and statewide public safety interoperable communications planning, serving as a subcommittee chair charged with developing and funding a strategic technology reserve of equipment in case of catastrophic failure of public safety interoperable communications within the state.

Arl N. Weinrebe, KDØBJW, will replace Dan as District Five DEC where he was currently serving as Assistant DEC.

Please welcome Dan to this new and important assignment. Dan will be actively recruiting volunteers to fill out vacancies in the emergency communications field organization and you may submit your information to him at danderson1@iw.net.

We are very grateful for Frank’s many contributions and his years of service and we all wish him well. Frank will continue to work as as Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator.

Governor Tim Pawlenty has issued a proclamation for Amateur Radio Operator Recognition Days to be June 27 and 28, 2009. Click on the thumbnail to get to the full sized PDF file. You may print this and display at your field day event.

The MS Society events manage to raise a great deal of money for this very worthwhile society. Amateur radio does play an important role in providing communication for these events. This is your opportunity to help !

Go to their official web site for all the information you will need to participate.

It must reported with regret, the loss of Rich Beebe, NØPV, the South Dakota Section Manager. Rich passed away suddenly on March 15, 2008 at the age of 46. His funeral was held on Friday March 20 in Sioux Falls, SD.

There will be a field day locator sight again this year. Go here and put in your field day information so everyone can find your event. This has worked so well in the past, it will probably become a permanent fixture. This helps all of us that want to visit your location but often it takes more time to find the details than actually visit. Field Day Station Locator Service

The Stillwater Amateur Radio Association, (SARA) will again be offering its Technician License Class, meeting weekly from March 5 to April 30. The class will meet each Thursday from 6 to 8 pm. The class is free but the students must have a copy of the ARRL Ham Radio License Manual, 1st Edition. This book is available from the ARRL at www.arrl.com or locally at Radio City.

New location this year is the Stillwater Public Library at 224 Third Street North in Stillwater, MN. We will be using the conference room, Room 230 in this beautifully remodeled and expanded library. There is off-street parking available free to library patrons under the first floor of the library. Please contact Greg Widin for registration at email address: gpwidin (at) comcast.net.

The St. Paul Radio Club (SPRC) will be holding its General License upgrade class on Monday nights between March 9 and April 27 at 7:00 pm, in Roseville. The first night will be held in the Paper Birch Room in the maintenance building across the parking lot from City Hall. All other sessions will be in the Burr Oak room in the lower level of the City hall itself.

There is no fee for this class but students are required to get a copy of the ARRL General Class License Manual. This is available at Radio City and from the ARRL at www.arrl.org.

Students should register with allankmn@cs.com . If too few student register, the class may be cancelled.