Thanks for taking the time to take a look at the Bloomington Amateur Radio Association.

We are a group of amateur radio operators based out of Bloomington, MN. Monthly meetings are held the first Tuesday of every month (except July and August).

KDØCL

West Bloomington 147.090+ Tone: None Central Bloomington Analog/Fusion 443.175+ DCS: 165

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Become an Operator

Looking for information on how to become an amateur radio operator? Find information on upcoming classes, exams as well as study information for all levels here.

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2024 Club Officers

President: Rolf Krogstad NRØT Vice President: Martha Krogstad KEØTL Secretary: Dan Royer KEØOR Treasurer: Brian Gaffney KNØWN

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Next BARA mtg Jan. 27th

PLEASE NOTE:  Change of meeting date.

Because of precinct caucuses, our normal 1st Tuesday of the month meeting for February has been changed.

BARA’s next meeting is on Tuesday January 27th at 7 pm in the Haeg Conference Room in the Bloomington Civic Plaza.  Join us in person or via Zoom.  A Zoom link will be made available via the BARA email list on the afternoon of the meeting.

Our discussion topic will be the upcoming Minnesota QSO Party (MnQP) sponsored by the Minnesota Wireless Association (MWA).  A number of BARA members are also MWA members.The MnQP takes place annually on the first Saturday of February.  This year the MnQP falls on Saturday February 7th and runs from 8AM to 6pm CST.  You do not need to be a member of BARA or MWA to participate in this on-the-air event.More information at https://www.w0aa.org/mn-qso-party/

What is the MnQP?
Operators inside Minnesota try to contact as many other amateur radio stations as possible within Minnesota in addition to working as many other US states and Canadian provinces over a 10 hour period.  

Operators outside of Minnesota try to work as many Minnesota stations and as many of the 87 counties as they can.  State QSO parties are great for earning awards like Worked All States (WAS) or Worked All Counties, and are typically low key, less intense than major contests.

73
Rolf  NR0T
BARA President 

Meeting on January 6, 2026

The January 2026 meeting of BARA will be at 7pm on Tuesday, January 6th.

The meeting will be in the Haeg Conference Room at the south end of the second floor of the Bloomington Civic Plaza.

The program will be a discussion of operating while using a kite to support an antenna.

For the meetings in 2025-26 there will be a door prize at each of the meetings.

We look forward to seeing you at our upcoming meetings.

Meeting on January 6, 2026

The January 2026 meeting of BARA will be at 7pm on Tuesday, January 6th.
The meeting will be in the Haeg Conference Room at the south end of the second floor of the Bloomington Civic Plaza.

The program will be a discussion of operating while using a kite to support an antenna.
For the meetings in 2025-26 there will be a door prize at each of the meetings.

We look forward to seeing you at our upcoming meetings.

Rolf NR0T

B.A.R.A. Oct. 1st, 2024 – “Fox Hunt”

The October meeting of B.A.R.A is Tuesday, October 1st. We will start the meeting with a hidden transmitter hunt, aka a Fox Hunt. Bring a 2 meter FM radio. While a small directional antenna is preferred, a rubber duck antenna can also be used.

Meetings are normally the first Tuesday of the month at 7pm in the Haeg Conference Room on the 2nd floor of Bloomington Civic Plaza (south end).

The November meeting will be on Tuesday, November 12th.
Note: The November meeting is always on the 2nd Tuesday of the month because election staff takes over the conference room on the first Tuesday.


See you at the meeting!
73, Rolf NR0T

Slides on Wires-X

Slides from the May 7th meeting have been posted. Click on “Membership” > “Monthly Club Meeetings” and then under the section header “Past Meeting Archives” click the link for past meeting archives.

The presentation was by Mike White N9UXC and explored the capabilities of our 443.175 Yaesu repeater and Wires-X.

May 7th meeting & Sunday night net

April 2nd Meeting

BARA meets on Tuesday April 2nd at 7pm. The meeting is on the upper floor of the Bloomington Civic Plaza in the Haeg Conference Room. This month’s presentation will feature Bill Mitchell, AE0EE (Minnesota Section Manager for the ARRL). He will give a presentation on his 2016 trip to HEARD ISLAND as part of of the VK0EK DXpedition.