Starting with our June 17th meeting, SARA is launching a focus on new hams called “I got licensed during COVID, now what?” All area hams, whether members or not, are invited and encouraged to participate.
For the next six months, SARA is going to focus its content and events at new area hams whether they are a SARA member or not. The pandemic gave people a lot of downtime to pursue things they never had time to before and the number of new hams in the Akron area has exploded. So far, we have the following items planned.
June 17th Meeting – “I Got Licensed During COVID – Now What?” Session 1 Lightning Talks  (15 minutes per topic max)
- What is Field Day and Why Should I Go?
- Repeater Etiquette and Tips
June 26-27th SARA Field Day
- Door prizes for all visitors between 2p and 5p including two J-Pole antennas from our build, a few SARA t-shirts, and probably a few other things
- Invited meal / fellowship time
- Mentors / Station control operators for Technicians with a designated operating time
- VHF 6m/2m Station from 2p-5p to contact local hams who don’t come
- Satellite QSO educational opportunity
July 15th Meeting –Â “I Got Licensed During COVID – Now What?” Session 2 Lightning Talks (15 minutes per topic max)
- New Hams: Getting past a Baofeng handheld
- A First, Basic Shack – Cutting Through the Marketing
- Why Upgrade to the General Class License
August 19th Meeting –Â “I Got Licensed During COVID – Now What?” Session 3 Lightning Talks
- Building Simple USEFUL Antennas
- Logging Software and What to Look At
- QSLing: A Ham Tradition
September – Antenna Testing Day: Bring out your HT, mobile, or VHF antenna and we’ll test its far-field efficiency and gain
September 16th Meeting –Â “I Got Licensed During COVID – Now What?” Session 4 Talk
- Scott Yonally N8SY ARRL Great Lakes Division Vice Director
September/October – Some simple build project TBD
October 21st Meeting –Â “I Got Licensed During COVID – Now What?” Session 5 Talk
- Uses of Radio: Eric Marang WD8KNL – “What time is it? Time keeping and WWV”