Straits Area Amateur Radio Club
Welcome to the Straits Area Amateur Radio Club Home Page. The SAARC serves the northern portion of Michigan's Lower Peninsula and the southeastern portion of the Upper Peninsula. We are dedicated to providing Northern Michigan with reliable emergency communications as well as supporting local community events.
The SAARC meets every third Tuesday of each month in room 106 of Petoskey High School at 7:00 P.M. We also host the Bill DeMay K8GUG Memorial Net every Monday evening at 8:00 on our repeater frequency 146.68 MHz (-) pl 110.9.
In addition, as a service to the Amateur Radio community, we provide testing for hams who wish to upgrade their licenses or for newcomers to the hobby who want to get their first ticket. Please go to the UP Coming Events page to schedule a testing session and for additional details. The testing location is in room 106 of Petoskey High School. A fee of $15 is charged to cover the cost of testing materials.
Upcoming SAARC Meetings:
Tuesday January 15 - 7:00 pm - Room 106 Petoskey High School. This month we will be talking about our winter camp out at the Andreae Cabin.
January 18 - 20 - Winter Camp and North American QSO Party at the Andreae Cabin. We will be having a potluck lunch at 12:30 on Saturday. Come join us even if it is just for the day. Here is a link to the sign-up sheet with directions to the cabin.
Tuesday February 19 - 5:30 pm at Filmore's - This is our annual get together at Filmore's in Petoskey for dinner. We have the back room reserved for 5:30 pm. Bring the family.
Tuesday March 19 - 7:00 pm - Room 106 Petoskey High School. This month Rick Pagel WD8ASH will be presenting on the Raspberry Pi and how to use it with Ham Radio.
Tuesday April 16 - 7:00 pm - Room 106 Petoskey High School - Jack will present a video on the 3X5A Dxpedition to Guinea, West Africa for the CQWW DX Contest.
Tuesday May 21 - 7:00 pm - East Park Petoskey - Radio in the park. Bring your portable radio and make some contacts or just come and check out the different portable set ups. Feel free to come early and bring a picnic to share with your family and friends (this is a great way to introduce someone to Amateur Radio).
Tuesday June 18 - 7:00 pm - The Field Day site - Come join us for a campfire up at the Field Day site. Bring your marshmallows and roasting sticks, lawn chairs, etc. and come check out our plans for Field Day. (If it is rainy we will meet at the high school.) Map to the Field Day Site.
June 22-23 - Field Day. Plenty of room to camp and play radio. We will be setting up on Friday and camping out for the weekend. Be sure to join us. Map to the Field Day Site.
Tuesday July 16 - 6:30 pm at the repeater site - This is our annual clean up at the repeater site. Bring your mower, rake, weed whacker, etc. and help us show our appreciation to the owners who graciously donate space for our repeater.
Tuesday August 20 - 6:00 pm - Club Picnic - Spring Lake Park M-119 Petoskey. Bring a dish to pass. Club will be bringing the BBQ.
Tuesday September 17 - 7:00 pm - Room 106 Petoskey High School. Mini Swap - Bring any items you have to sell or trade!
Tuesday October 15 - 7:00 pm - Room 106 Petoskey High School. Club Project - Adam N8APX will show us how to construct a portable antenna for 2m 440 MHz. Bring 5 feet of 450 Ohm ladder line and a section of rg8x (or similiar) coax)
Tuesday November 19 - 7:00 pm - Room 106 Petoskey High School. Election of officers.
Tuesday December 10 - Christmas Party! 6:00 - Room 106 Petoskey High School. $5 per person and bring a finger food to share. Renew your dues for just $15, only at the Christmas party.
Have a friend who wants to get his license? Check out Dan KB6NU's free study guide here.