SEMARC is a general interest amateur radio club based in Cottage Grove, Minnesota.

Our mission statement is

The South East Metro Amateur Radio Club (SEMARC) is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) organization under the laws of Minnesota. The Club was formed in 1988 and has been in continuous operation since then. SEMARC is a general interest amateur radio club devoted to serving its members, the amateur radio community in general, and the broader communities in which our members live. It is affiliated with ARRL (The National Association for Amateur Radio®) and supports the member, educational, charitable and education programs of that association.

SEMARC has, and as essential to its mission, will continue to offer programs that support the community, as with our youth education and student scholarship program; public service and emergency communications, especially the city of Cottage Grove; participating with the Washington County Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) organization; serving as a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved partner in providing testing opportunities for those wanting to obtain their licenses; and encouraging members and others to explore the technical, operating, mentoring, service and international goodwill opportunities that are part of the Amateur Radio Service, as articulated by the FCC.

Our public service participation includes special events for the city of Cottage Grove. In the past our members have participated in "Darien's Dash", "The Woodbury Country Mile", "Strawberry Fest", National Night Out and other charitable events requiring radio communications.

The club maintains three (3) repeaters on the 2 meter band. The first is 146.985 with standard (-) offset and no access tone. The transmitter and the receiver are both located in Cottage Grove, MN. The second is 147.180 with standard (+) offset and access tone of 74.4 Hz for FM and DCS 023 for digital located in Newport, MN. The third is 147.180 with a standard (+) offset and access tone of 100 Hz located in Forest Lake. The pair of 147.180 repeaters is used during ARES callouts and may not be available for general amateur use during those times. Otherwise all amateur operators have use of our repeaters.

For fun, we operate during the annual amateur radio "Field Day" in June, Winter Field Day in January, and Parks On The Air® (POTA) through the summer. We also have special events like Fox Hunts, and Special Events such as commemorating the U.S.S. Ward naval ship or the anniversary of Minnesota statehood.

SEMARC is proud to offer a $1000 scholarship in support of a local high school senior who is a licensed amateur radio operator and will be attending a two-year or four-year technical school, college or university. For more information visit our Scholarship page.

Meetings are held at 7:00 p.m. on the last Tuesday of every month except June and December at the St. Luke Lutheran Church in Cottage Grove.  The club draws members primarily from South Washington and Northern Dakota Counties but everyone is welcome.  Our meetings include a short business meeting and programs that are educational or simply entertaining.

Join us for a new activity known as the "Fireside Chats". We meet virtually on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays. For more information, click here.

Join us for our monthly breakfast at 7:30 a.m. on the 3rd Saturday at the North Pole Restaurant in Newport.

Join us! Click here for a membership application.