SARA Home Page ~ last update:  13 May 2025 

Next Scheduled VE Testing  26 Jun 2025 @ 6:30 P.M.

YOU MUST 'PRE REGISTER' before 24 Jun !

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, which is a 'social event' meeting) at 7:00 PM local. We utilize 'Zoom meetings' for added convenience for members who can not physically attend. Meeting changes may affect some details so check our meeting schedule link as we post all current information there [watch 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 current calendar year) - so it is a "very low cost club", 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 or try their "call letters"@arrl.net]

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 frequently post items that are new and/or changing in this local ham's information area, you can use it to stay current on local ham items! {or just let us know and we can assist getting information spread to local  hams.}.    HINT#2:  for easy surfing of our site use the 'site map' 2: for easy easy surfing, check out our site map, use the 'drop down arrow' on the 'Home Page Link' on top menu.

To All SHIAWASSEE County Hams ~ We always require more EMCOMM Assistance! This is to ALL Shiawassee County Hams (not just club members). We have 200+ hams in the county and about 10 are active in the ARES activities (with most in SARA)! 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 fully 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. We NEED a Shiawassee County Emergency Coordinator [EC], previously EC was  Phil Bates, AC8FW - he resigned 09 Jan 2024, we can still use him as a contact, BUT we need someone to volunteer.  The 'open' position is currently supported by Kevin Middleton and Don Warner, the assistant ECs, who are just filling in for now.   WE NEED MORE EMCOM  HELP from ALL HAMS for Shiawassee county! The ARES group meets as part of the regular monthly SARA meetings, so come to a SARA meeting and check out our EMCOMM group capabilities. Equipment and other emergency capabilities for use in an emergency need to be 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 ~ usually in Oct] to further test and update our emergency operating skills!

We have a weekly 'Skywarn' 2m net at 7:00 PM on each Mondays (147.02 + .6 MHz - 100 Hz), on the N8VDH repeater. Stop in and check it out. We are looking for more local hams to attend and assist with this activity - are you interested?

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 {that is you} 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 go through here. If you join, you will receive emails sent to the group. These cover all the group's members - SARA hams, so is a "notification" area for local hams.

We hope to see you at a club meeting (in person) 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 connect access information.

W8QQQ Website is hosted on 'Google Sites'

SARA's Web presence moved to Google Sites {2022} and required a change into a simpler page structure. A June, 2023 announcement ~ leaves us waiting information on how the sale of 'Google Sites' to 'Square Space' might impact us. Open statements say - "the same structure for the next 12 months". We are still waiting for any potential changes (May-2025). Currently we have not seen any disruptions or major changes.

Website menu operation on a 'Google Site'...

The website menu on the top line on each page works by "clicking the down arrows" 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 down arrows"! The menus are 'layered' and can go several levels deep ~ this is a 'Google Sites' thing. Take your 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 individual path as you navigate the site's web {that is the reason we call it a 'Web"}. Try 'hovering' over links and make sure you know where you are going next! [Watch the lower left corner of your computer screen on most browsers]. This is a 'surfing area' that is quite different than our older 'historic sites', so we/you need more effort to stay safe. There has always been a major difference between 'local links' and 'external links'. For your Web safety, be sure you know where you are going. PLEASE Surf safely ,  there are very evil people out there! Some estimate that over 50% of computer security issues start by visiting sites that you had no intention of ever going to! Great care can not be over stated.