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This was a productive year for the San Luis Valley Amateur Radio Association. We had over a dozen new or upgraded licensees. Great attendance at our meetings continues and several new faces are consistently showing up.

The Club preformed several Parks on the Air (POTA) activations in various locations around the Valley. These included Smith Reservoir State Wildlife Area, Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge, Terrace Reservoir State Wildlife Area and the Rio Grande National Forest. We earned several POTA awards with these activities.

We participated in ARRL’s Field Day at the Boys and Girls Club in Alamosa at the end of June. It was a good event with lots of participation.

Our Club suffered a huge loss this past summer when we were advised of the death of our Club President, James McCloskey, AD0LV. Jim was a great guy, always willing to lend a hand. He participated in many Club activities and will be greatly missed. To honor Jim, we voted to set up a memorial fund designed to aid those under 18, with the costs of their testing, to become a licensed amateur radio operator.

By unanimous vote the SARA Officers and Directors for 2024 are:
President: Rick Syring, WY0R
Vice President: Justin Spencer, KF0JNX
Secretary: Susie Syring, KF0KTP
Treasurer: Loren Howard, AB8ZZ
Trustee: Dave Newmyer, N0KM
Net/QSL Director, Lyle Tuoti, KF0NID
ARES/Emcomm Director: Don McDonald, N0HQD
Program Director: Justin Spencer, KF0JNX
Marketing/PR: Adam Lock, WA2JAL

73’s,

Rick Syring WY0R
President, SARA

As the club knows, for personal reasons I opted to not seek a second term as President of the San Luis Valley Amateur Radio Association. There’s absolutely nothing wrong and everything is going extremely well with the group. As those of you who have led active non-profits know, it can be a lot more work behind the scenes than one might typically expect. And given the current state of our lives at this juncture, KF0GDV and I feel like this is the best decision for us. We will absolutely continue to remain active and supportive of SARA and all of its endeavors. I’ve also agreed to remain in a support role for all things internet related, to the group. But the reality of it is, it’s time for me to take a step or two back and focus more on other local projects we’re involved with. Too, this gives others in the club the opportunity to take the reins and continue our ever increasing momentum. And given the oncoming officers and board for 2023, I am confident the group is in very good hands and will continue to flourish.

Reflecting back on this year with the group, I’m very pleased with how far we have come and what people have been able to learn. We licensed several new hams and had many upgrade their licenses as well. It is my belief that Amateur Radio in the San Luis Valley continues to gain traction as more and more people come forward expressing an interest in the hobby. Our monthly meetings continue to be well attended and new faces pop in periodically, only to become familiar faces over time.

Throughout the year, it has been a distinct pleasure to both help and watch as people learned to solder coax connectors, build antennas from scratch, make their first over the air contacts, troubleshoot equipment issues, learn about foxhunting, activate POTA locations, build go bags, and so much more. We participated for the 3rd year in a row in Field Day and despite all of the rain, had a good time and were able to introduce to hobby to several people. In addition to this, the City of Monte Vista recognized and designated June 20-26, 2022 as Amateur Radio Week.

We added a new 70cm & a GMRS repeater to the group in Alamosa, with possible plans for even more in the future. The new ham repeater now expands handheld coverage to the two largest towns in the San Luis Valley. Several folks are working towards ARES related goals and a basic structure for EMCOMM has been re-established and is moving forward. More focus is being given to HF related items too, something that has been of concern to some of the longer licensed hams in the group. To me, that is one of the beauties of what we do, there are so many varied aspects of ham radio that everyone seems to find something special that interests them. I encourage our new officers and board to continue this trend of inclusiveness in what is available to do and learn.

I believe the group as a whole is even better represented across the various age groups as younger hams continue to join our ranks as well. This is very encouraging and I hope to see this trend continue as we grow into the future. We have a variety of opportunities to reach younger people, connecting with them is an absolute must.

By unanimous vote in each and every case, the SARA Officers & Directors for 2023 are:

• President: Jim McCloskey, AD0LV
• Vice President: Rick Syring, WY0R
• Secretary: Justin Spencer, KF0JNX
• Treasurer, Loren Howard, AB8ZZ
• Trustee, Dave Newmyer, N0KM
• Net/QSL Director, Zane Stephenson, KF0GBL
• ARES/Emcomm Director, Donald McDonald, N0HQD
• Program Director: Justin Spencer, KF0JNX
• Testing/Training Director: Matthew Bowker, KD0THF

I close my last club blog by thanking all of you for allowing me to serve as your President this year. When first licensed back in the mid-70’s, I never would have dreamed that I would one day have an opportunity to lead an amateur radio group. You are all such a wonderful and knowledgeable group of people; I remain humbled by the experience. It has truly been a pleasure and honor to serve and help guide the group forward this year. And I’m very proud of our officers and directors for 2022. They’ve not only learned new skills, but stepped up as well to help when & where it was needed. I know for certain that I have added significantly to my list of solid acquaintances and good friends. Blessings one and all…

Adam Lock, WA2JAL
Past-President, SARA

Every Thursday evening throughout the year, we host an open net, starting at 8:00PM-MT. As of this writing, the net is usually held on the 449.625 Mhz repeater located in Monte Vista. While this is not primarily a traffic handling net, we will of course acknowledge and pass emergency or priority traffic.

Our new Net Director Zane, KF0GBL has set up a really easy way for operators to volunteer to be Net Control. You can sign up here. We urge all of our club members to try their hand at being Net Control, it’s great practice. And we even have a general guideline available on how to conduct the net. Sign up today! Thank you.

It’s been another wonderful year for our group. Even though we’ve not had a lot of time to post on our website, the monthly views & visits continue to grow at a very good rate. Our Facebook Group continues to be engaging and we’ve grown to 70 active members. Additionally, more and more people are reaching out to us to find out about amateur radio and how they can become licensed and involved.

We had several POTA (Parks On The Air) and SOTA (Summits On The Air) activations, both as a club and individually. We were the first group ever to activate the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge and Sargent’s Mesa/Soldier’s Stone in Saguache County. This particular activation gained national attention and was featured on Amateur Radio Newsline & 100 Watts and a Wire. Additional activations this year included Playa Blanca State Wildlife Refuge, Zapata Falls, and Smith Reservoir. We even got on the air for Monte Vista’s first Cinco de Mayo Celebration on May 5^th, right on Adams Street in the downtown area.

For various reasons, we shut down our 2-meter repeater earlier this year. Our repeater on 70cm remains quite active with coverage across the San Luis Valley. In November, we were finally able to hook up the 70cm repeater to SkyHub Linked System, increasing our reach by tying into their repeater system. As of this writing it is down temporarily due to a power supply issue, but should be back on the air very soon.

We hosted our second Field Day operation in June at Chapman Park in Monte Vista. It was a wonderful event with many people stopping by from across the San Luis Valley to find out more about our group and amateur radio in general. We even made the front page of the Monte Vista Journal.

Sadly, we suffered a great loss in late August when we were advised that club member Erik Dunn, NA0ED had suddenly passed away. Erik was a wonderful man, a key member of our group and instrumental in pulling together our Field Day, POTA operations and more. Erik is deeply missed by our club.

We had a very nice sendoff for our outgoing President Bob Galey, NO1PB. Bob moved out of the area in late November and before he left, we voted unanimously to make him an honorary lifetime member of our group. Bob was a key part of our starting up in the first place and served as our President for the first two years. We’re indebted to his service and it was an honor to work with him, both in getting this group started as well as growing it to it’s current state.

We continue to offer quarterly testing to obtain or upgrade your license. This year, we helped 7 people obtain their license and 6 upgrade to another level, including one new Extra. We will continue this in 2022, offering testing at our January, April, July and October meetings. If you’re interested in finding about testing or upgrading, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. You can email: SLVHamRadio@Gmail.com for more.

Finally, we held elections at this months meeting for the 2022 Officers & Directors At Large. For this coming year, the officers and directors are:

-President: Adam Lock, WA2JAL
-Vice President: James McCloskey, K9SGT
-Secretary: Michael Benevidez, KF0AXN
-Treasurer: Loren Howard, AB8ZZ
-Trustee: David Newmyer, N0KM
-Contest/Net/QSL Director: Zane Stephenson, KF0BGL
-Training/Testing Director: Timothy Chittum, KE0GVP
-EmComm: Donald McDonald, N0HQD

73’s until next time…

Adam Lock
WA2JAL
President-Elect, SARA

Thanks to Dave NØKM and Bob NO1PB for the additions of the 447.100 (pl 77.0) between Center and Del Norte CO, and the 449.625 (pl 94.8) in Monte Vista. Both provide coverage of their respective local towns and the San Luis Valley. A map and more information on these and all repeaters that are a part of the SkyHub Link System is on their webpage. Special thanks to Jack, KE0VH and all the other folks with SkyHub for helping us get hooked up.

On July 17, 2021 The San Luis Valley Amateur Radio Association activated W0C/LG-027, known locally as Sargent’s Mesa for the first time ever! Operating under the K0SLV club call letters, numerous contacts were made on HF and 2-meters. A dozen members of the cub made the trek up to the 11,722′ Sergent’s Mesa peak, which is now officially logged in the SOTA Atlas.

This activation even caught the attention of other entities in the amateur radio world, including Amateur Radio Newsline and 100 Watts & A Wire.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9eU-pJnFLc&t=182s

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Some pictures of the day. The club intends on continuing to pursue new SOTA and POTA activations in the coming months.

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Pictures are courtesy of fellow hams Timothy Chittum and Erik Dunn.

The San Luis Valley Amateur Radio Association (SARA), operating under the club call sign K0SLV, will be will be participating in a national amateur radio exercise from 10:00AM on Saturday until 10:00AM on Sunday, June 26 – 27. The event is ARRL Field Day , an annual amateur radio activity organized since 1933 by ARRL, the national association for amateur radio in the United States. The local SARA radio group was formed in late 2019 and this is the second year that they will be participating in Field Day. They will be set up in the pavilion in Chapman Park, 300 W Prospect Avenue, Monte Vista, and welcome the public to come out to learn more about amateur radio.

Hams from across North America ordinarily participate in Field Day by establishing temporary ham radio stations in public locations to demonstrate their skill and service. Their use of radio signals, which reach beyond borders, bring people together while providing essential communication in the service of communities. Field Day highlights ham radio’s ability to work reliably under any conditions from almost any location and create an independent, wireless communications network.

Some hams will also use the radio stations set up in their homes or taken to their backyards and other locations to operate individually or with their families. Many hams have portable radio communication capability that includes alternative energy sources such as generators, solar panels, and batteries to power their equipment.

“This year’s event is also noteworthy given that a particularly active hurricane season is predicted. “Hams have a long history of serving our communities when storms or other disasters damage critical communication infrastructure, including cell towers,” said event coordinator Erik Dunn (NA0ED). “Ham radio functions completely independently of the internet and phone systems and a station can be set up almost anywhere in minutes. Hams can quickly raise a wire antenna in a tree or on a mast, connect it to a radio and power source, and communicate effectively with others,” Dunn added.

During Field Day 2020, more than 18,000 hams participated from thousands of locations across North America. According to ARRL, there are more than 750,000 amateur radio licensees in the US, and an estimated 3 million worldwide.

Among the tenets of the Amateur Radio Service is developing and practicing skills in radio technology and radio communications, and even contributing to international goodwill. Hams range in age from as young as 9 to older than 100. For more information about ARRL Field Day and ham radio, contact the San Luis Valley Amateur Radio Association via email at: SLVHamRadio@Gmail.com or visit their website: K0SLV.com

Here is a write up in the Monte Vista Journal from 2020.

Please note that our June and July 2021 meetings are being delayed by one week. Accordingly, the June board meeting will be held on Thursday, June 3 at 12:30PM via Zoom. The club meeting will be on Saturday, June 12 at 10AM at Calvary Baptist Church. Our July board meeting will be held on Thursday, July 1 at 12:30PM via Zoom. The club meeting will be on Saturday, July 10 at 10AM at Calvary Baptist Church.

Other notable events coming up are a Parks on the Air activation on Saturday, May 15. We will be activating the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge. Participants will be meeting at Calvary Baptist Church at 9:30AM, then driving out to the refuge. All are welcome to attend.

We’re still working on Field Day 2021. Tentative plans are to hold the event at Chapman Park in Monte Vista. Our application to reserve the park has been submitted to the city Parks & Recreation Department and we expect to hear something from them soon.

As life continues to return to more normal sense, the San Luis Valley Amateur Radio Association is actively planning new events to attend and/or participate in.

Here are some links to recent club discussions:

• Colorado Volunteer Mobilizer: https://covolunteers.state.co.us/
• CW Academy: https://cwops.org/cw-academy/
• Cinco de Mayo Cultural Celebration: https://optimystics.org/cinco-de-mayo/
• Field Day 2021: http://www.arrl.org/field-day
• Parks On The Air: https://parksontheair.com/
• Loren Howard (AB8ZZ) Podcast Interview: https://slvoices.com/2021/03/31/monte-vista-chamber-business-spotlight-april-2021/

If you are planning on becoming active in ARES or local emergency communications, you will need to go through ICS 100, 200, 700 & 800 training. You can start here. Once completed, you’ll need to register with the Colorado Volunteer Mobilizer Group. For more information, please email Phil Schechter, W0OJ. Phil is also an instructor for CW Academy and would love to talk to you more about this special group.

Plans are already under way to set up at Chapman Park on June 26 & 27, 2021 for Field Day. More information will be forthcoming as we get the space reserved and move forward with planning.

We are also planning on setting up a Special Event Station and provide communications support for the Cinco de Mayo Cultural Celebration in downtown Monte Vista on May 5, 2021. If you can help out, please email Adam Lock, WA2JAL.

The club will be activating the San Luis Lakes State Wildlife Area for Parks On The Air on April 24, 2021. The group will meet in Loaf & Jug in Alamosa at 9:30AM. Please keep in mind that a valid hunting or fishing license is required for everyone 18 or older accessing any state wildlife area, effective July 1, 2020.

We will also be activating the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge on May 15, 2021 at 10:00AM. We’ll meet at the new pull out on Highway 15 and Road 8 South. If you are interested in being a part of these activations, email Erik Dunn, NA0ED for more information.

Our groups own Loren Howard, AB8ZZ is also the CEO of San Luis Valley Rural Electric Corporation and Ciello internet services. To learn more about SLV REC, Ciello and Loren, you can listen to this podcast. He even mentions our club, K0SLV.

Our website and social media outlets continue to do well. As of April 4, we’ve had over 43.5-Thousand Page Views and over 5,000 unique visitors to our website. And we have 55 unique and active members in our Facebook Group.

Finally, if you’re a part of the San Luis Valley Amateur Radio Association and are interested in writing future blogs, please email Adam Lock, WA2JAL for more information.

73’s until next time…

Adam Lock
WA2JAL
Secretary, SARA

Even in this crazy year, the San Luis Valley Amateur Radio Association continues to thrive and grow. Here’s a brief overview of 2020.

-There are now over 50 people on our monthly email and in our Facebook Group. We’ve been contacted by many others in this region, expressing interest in joining our group and obtaining their license.

In March we put our first repeater on the air, on 449.625. This repeater continues to be a blow-torch all across the San Luis Valley.

-We participated in Field Day back in late June and had a wonderful turnout for the 24-hour operating period. Some of our members were able to get on the air for the first time ever.

-At the end of June, we put our second repeater on the air, on 146.940. We moved forward in November with linking this repeater to AllStar, allowing access to other repeater networks/nodes around the country.

-Many in our group participated in an Emergency Communications Drill in October.

-Over the course of this year, several people obtained their license for the first time and many others upgraded to General and Extra Class. We also had a number of folks become Volunteer Examiners.

-At our December meeting, officers were elected for the coming year. They are:

Bob Galey-President.
Dave Newmyer-Vice President/Trustee.
Adam Lock Sr.-Secretary.
Michael Benavidez-Treasurer.

-Our group also celebrated their first official year in December. Many of our members got on the air after the meeting to activate the K0SLV call letters, in celebration of one year.

Our next meeting is scheduled for Saturday, January 2, 2021 at 10:00AM. This meeting will be via Zoom. Testing to obtain or upgrade your license is scheduled for the same day at 12:00PM, by appointment only.

73’s until next time…

Adam Lock
WA2JAL
Secretary, SARA