SARA Home Page ~ last update:  1 Dec 2023

Next Scheduled VE Testing  28 Dec 2023 @ 6:30 P.M.

Shiawassee Amateur Radio Association [SARA]

Welcome to our web site! Our [SARA] is a non-profit amateur radio organization in lower central Michigan (Shiawassee County) and dedicated to public service, emergency communications, and the advancement of amateur radio through education and technical excellence. Our club call sign is W8QQQ - listen for "Quack-Quack-Quack" on the air and give us a call ! [We also use Quebec-Quebec-Quebec & Queen-Queen-Queen].

Check out our 'club details' on "SARA Club History". 

SARA invites anyone with an interest in amateur radio or public service to come to our meetings and/or join our club. We hold  meetings at the James P. Capitan Building in Corunna. Meetings the Second Tuesday of each month (except December) at 7:00 PM local. We utilize 'Zoom meetings' for added convenience for members who can not physically attend. Meeting changes may affect details so check our meeting schedule link as we post all current information there [look for any changes]. Dues are $15.00 a year prorated at a 1/2 year interval rates. You can find our membership application here. For any new licensee - we give a period of 'reduced club dues' (free till end of calendar year) - so it is "very low cost", come check us out and join our local group. You can join us at any of our monthly meetings or at other times. Direct any questions to Dennis Phillips, KC8ETW, SARA Treasurer at KC8ETW (email) or email us at W8QQQ <at> arrl.net. [Hint: most SARA members can be reached with email by using their "call letters"@yahoo.com.]

Shiawassee Amateur Radio Association Members ~ HINT:  The "SARA Announces" link on the main menu will have items that you may wish to check frequently. We post items that are new and changing in this local area for  hams, you can use it to stay current! {or just let us know if you want to spread any information to local  hams and we can assist.}

NOTE: To All SHIAWASSEE County Hams ~ We always require more EMCOMM Assistance! This is for ALL Shiawassee County Hams (not just club members). We have 200+ hams in the county and about 10 in the ARES activities! Please review and report your status for the SARA's ARPSC [ARES/RACES] Local Inventory Form.  We try to keep a log of capabilities and contact information for Emergency Management in Shiawassee County. In general, if you are not  'preapproved' for EmComms [ARES and Skywarn] you may not be able to assist in an emergency, so it is very important to preregister which is free and has no 'strings'. You can <email> data to:   W8QQQ <at> arrl.net or to Shiawassee County Emergency Coordinator [EC] who is Phil Bates, AC8FW. He works directly with our Homeland Security contacts. Let Phil know if you would be willing to assist with county EMMCOMs / Skywarn.  WE NEED MORE EMCOM  HELP from ALL HAMS for Shiawassee county! The ARES group meets in months: Jan/Mar/May/Jul/Sep/Nov which is 'every other or odd month' prior to the regular SARA meetings (which are every month), come to a meeting and check out our EMCOMM group. Equipment and other emergency capabilities for use in an emergency need to cataloged and logged to allow quick deployments when required by Homeland Security. We wish county hams would help for Field Day in June and Simulated Emergency Tests {SET] to further test and update our skills!

SARA's Social Grouping ~ Google

We have a Google Group that is open for anyone to join. SARA's Google Group is called "W8QQQ" and we invite anyone interested to join us. It is free to join. Click on the link to get started. If you join you will get electronic notifications on some important 'local' ham information whenever it is published (meeting notifications, events, etc.). Additionally, club emails on current topics for all Shiawassee area Hams.

We hope to see you at a club meeting soon! or a Zoom check in as it is really easy. Check out the top menu link path "SARA Club Items" - "Meetings" page for current status and more Zoom access information.

W8QQQ Website is hosted on 'Google Sites'

SARA's move to Google Sites {2022} required a change into a simpler page structure from earlier designs. In the 'move' we lost some of our past features, but we will work on keeping as many as practical. Previously the page was maintained in "raw html" code and we controlled all details in how Web pages were presented, now Google limits some of the details utilized. Remember this is free labor for our just a hobby and can take away from the communication aspects at our root interest. {June, 2023 ~ awaiting information on how the sale of 'Google Sites' to 'Square Space' may impact us. Open statements say - "the same structure for the next 12 months". We will see what happens.}

Website menu operation...

The website menu on the top line on each page works by "clicking the down arrows" in at the end of a menu topic. {Note: Clicking the 'Menu Text' and the 'drop down arrow' list items are DIFFERENT actions, very important if you are using a cell phone.} You may not properly (as intended) move through the site unless you "click on those arrows"! The menus are 'layered' and can go several levels deep ~ it is a 'Google Sites' thing. Take you time and/or use the site search feature to assist you (the little spyglass in upper right corner). Like nearly all Web Sites, the links are "interactive" and there is no single path through the information ~ only your path as you navigate the site's web. Try 'hovering' over links and make sure you know where you are going next! [Watch the lower left corner of your screen (computer). This is a area that is different than our 'historic sites so we need more efforts. There is a major difference between 'local links' and 'external links'. Surf safely!