About Us
Mission Statement:
To provide technical, training and financial support to Amateur Radio operators, clubs and related organizations in the state of Utah for the purpose of providing communication support for public service events, community service projects, emergency service organizations and government agencies in the event of public emergencies as well as provide for the expansion and enrichment of the Amateur Radio hobby.
UtahSAG is a Utah 501(c)3 registered non-profit corporation with the purpose of supporting Amateur (HAM) radio organizations and operators in the state of Utah who provide communications support for charity events such as Cycle for Life (The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation) and Ride with the Angels (Angel Hands Foundation). In the past we had the honor of supporting The Tour de Cure (American Diabetes Association), The Summit Challenge (The National Ability Center), Tim Wangsgaard Memorial Ride/Ride 4 Education (Utah School Employees Association), and Scouting for Food (Utah Food Bank) .
In addition to these charity events we also support public century bicycle rides that make donations to charity organizations such as Front Runner Century (Crohn's and Colitis Foundation as well as Air Force and Navy Family charities), The Wildflower Pedalfest (Utah Bicycle Collective), The Huntsman sportsfest (Huntsman Cancer Institute), Little Red Riding Hood (Huntsman Cancer Institute) and other public events such as marathons, parades and community holiday ceremonies.
UtahSAG also makes it's members and equipment available to local public service and community organizations such as police and fire departments, when requested, in the event of public emergencies as well as the National Weather Service of Utah to provide weather information from around the state during emergency weather conditions.
By supporting these events UtahSAG provides services to around 8,000 event participants each year. SAG services include transportation, food/water, and general care so that the participants can enjoy the event they are participating in.
UtahSAG is comprised of a three person board of directors, all of whom are HAM radio operators, as well as an informal association of over 450 HAM radio volunteers throughout the state and including operators in Idaho and Nevada.
You can view upcoming events that members of UtahSAG are involved with by going to the Events list or the Calendar.
The Events list shows the near future upcoming events while the calendar shows the events for the entire year.
From supporting events such as this century bicycle ride
To assisting when disaster strikes, such as the Corner Canyon or Machine Gun Fires.
Show off proudly
Official UtahSAG name badges are now available from The Ham Badgers. The badges are available in a medium size (approximately 1.25x2.5", $10) or large size (approximately 2x2.5", $12) with either pin or magnet fasteners (the large is available with dual magnet fasteners, top and bottom for an additional cost).
Due to the custom artwork and coloring these are only available in the shown color and size options.
NEWS AND OTHER ARTICLES ABOUT UTAHSAG AND EVENTS
In this section we will post articles about UtahSAG and the events we support
“Tornado” award a breeze for hams in SLC - Mike McAinsh KI7MTI
"Everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it."
You’ve probably heard this lament at least once in your life. Amateur radio operators may not be able to change the weather, but thousands of hams from across the nation stand ready to respond to weather emergencies and keep lines of communications open when normal communications are disrupted. SKYWARN Recognition Day honors the contributions that hams make to maintaining vital communications between the National Weather Service (NWS) and emergency management in times of crisis.
From 0000 until 2400 UTC on Friday, December 7th (5:00 PM Friday until 5:00 PM Saturday, MST) amateur radio operators from around the Salt Lake metropolitan area gathered at the local NWS office by the airport to operate the local NWS station, WX7SLC. We had stations on HF, VHF, and UHF, utilizing FM, SSB, PSK 31, and ECHOLINK. The goal was to contact other amateur weather stations, or interested hams working out of their own shacks.
I picked up Denzii Melvin KD3NZI and Jeff Beckstrom KJ7JAB from their homes in the southwestern suburbs, and we made our way to the NWS office in thick fog and heavy traffic. Arriving a bit late for our shift, but no worse for the wear, we were greeted by Rian Mc Kee KF7QGY who oriented us to the sign-in procedure and directed us to the conference room where the stations were set up. Mickey Applebaum KE7NZA who organized this event for Salt Lake City, was making last-minute adjustments to equipment. Dan Lundwall N7XDL and Troy Buchanan N4HAM were already making contacts, using PSK 31.
Since the use of repeaters is allowed during this event, I chose to make contacts over 2 meter VHF, utilizing the intertie. The first station that I contacted was WX7PIH in Pocatello, Idaho. For the next four hours, I was either piggybacking on their contacts or they were piggybacking on mine!
Four hours passes quickly when you’re having fun, and when 9 o’clock rolled around, Jeff, Denzii, and I bade 73 to the others and headed for home. While driving south to drop off Denzii and Jeff, I made a contact with WX7PIH just before they shut down their station for the night. After dropping off my two friends, I made a contact with WX7SLC, upping our total contact count by one.
WX7SLC earned the “EF5 Tornado” award thanks to the 36 hams who kept the station on the air for the full 24 hours of the event, and made 61 NWS contacts. Overall, WX7SLC made 242 contacts including contacts in Puerto Rico, Australia, Germany and the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia in Canada.
“It's great to have the participation for SKYWARN Recognition Day as this shows our commitment as ham radio operators for supporting our local NWS office and staff,” Mickey stated, adding that UtahSAG appreciates donations to its “go fund me” page to help with equipment upgrades, and also to help clubs maintain their repeaters around the valley. That page can be found by clicking “more” at the top of UtahSAG’s web page. Mickey also maintains a calendar of events throughout Utah and surrounding states of interest to hams at the website.
The highest award for this event is the “Category 5 Hurricane” for making 80+ NWS contacts.
