HAM RADIO FOR MARINERS, THE DAYS BEFORE GPS AND NOW
(Extracted from towndock.net –“What’s Happening”)
A special exhibit at Oriental’s History Museum, “Hey Mate, where are
we?” Navigation Before GPS shows the tools and traditional navigational
methods for coastal piloting and off-shore cruising, from the days before
GPS.
Helping with the evolution to GPS were early electronic aids for the
boater – LORAN systems, Radio Directional Finders, hand-held radio VHF/FM
transmitter/receivers. Then and now, HAM radios are a way to function in
emergencies & exchange messages. On Sunday, March 13 at 2pm, TOM FINTA
[K8TF], OF THE PAMLICO AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY, will talk about using Amateur
Radios while on long or short cruises. Also, the daily radio nets for
weather and cruising conditions, and safety communications for the boater as
well as those on shore.
You can see the exhibit now-thru May – the museum is at: 35° 1′ 49.5372” N
76° 41′ 34.2528” W on your GPS or, if you navigate by chart and local
knowledge, 802 Broad Street – at a diagonal from the Post Office. For more
information contact the museum at 252-249-1870 or museum@dockline.net.
Museum hours are: Friday 11-3, Saturday 1-4, Sunday 1-4. Admission is always
free. (Thanks to Tom, KI4NSP, for the pointer and heads-up)
SOLAR NUMBERS TODAY
NOAA reported that solar activity was very low during the 24 hours ending
yesterday at 4 pm local. The largest recent solar event was a B2 flare
observed at 0546Z this morning. There are 5 numbered sunspot regions on the
disk facing Earth. The sunspot count this morning is 68, well up from the 38
reported by NOAA last week. The Solar Flux Index (SFI) was 96 yesterday at
noon, not much changed from the 93 in the last report from Penticton.
According to the Space Weather Prediction Center, solar activity is expected
to continue to be very low for the next three days with only a chance for
C-class flares. The NOAA forecast has the SFI staying around 95 through
Wednesday. The 90 day trailing average remains at 107.
The Earth’s geomagnetic field reached major storm levels yesterday due to
high solar winds. The field is forecast to be unsettled today, then quiet
to unsettled on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Kp-index was reported to be a
quiet 2 at 7 a.m. local this morning.
Expect good conditions on 30 and 20 Meters and 40 at night, fair to poor on
the higher bands. However, we found 15 and 10 Meters very active yesterday
afternoon with the ongoing ARRL International SSB DX Contest and good
propagation on 17 into Eastern Europe and the Med.
DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME (DST)
Remember to change your clocks next weekend. It is supposed to be Spring so
“spring forward”. If you are working DX early Sunday morning March 13th,
the official time for the change is 2:00 AM local. Daylight Saving Time
will end on Sunday, November 6th at 2:00 AM
THIS WEEK’S DX CHALLENGE
SAN ANDRES AND PROVIDENCIA, HK0. A group of operators will be QRV
as 5J0P from San Andres Island, IOTA NA-033, to March 21st.
Activity will be on the HF bands and 6 meters. QSL via SP6IXF.
VK0EK HEARD ISLAND DXPEDITION
The team should be underway from Cape Town March 10th enroute to Heard
Island. Operation is scheduled to begin sometime around/between March
20th-April 10th. You can see the current status of the effort on the main
website <www.heardisland.org>, and on the blogsite <www.vk0ek.org>. Check
out VK0EK.ORG for helpful hints on frequencies and propagation.
QSO CORNER
This is the place to post contacts with DXpeditions, Special Event
Stations, or special QSO’s you would like to share.
Sam/Dave KD2T is a happy ham. He worked 3XY1T Guinea, on the top-band, 160
Meters, CW last Monday night. A few others worked the group on 20 and 17.
Tom, KI4NSP, made the trip on 17, last Tuesday.
OTHER ACTIVITY ON THE RADIO:
This info is extracted from the ARRL Letter, from the WA7BNM Contest
Calendar, the ARRL Contest Update or the ARRL Contest Corral. You can
receive the Letter weekly via email as a member of ARRL :
* 12/1400-12/2000Z Mar AGCW QRP Contest, CW 3.5-28 MHz
* 12/1400-13/2000Z Mar Oklahoma QSO Party, CW Ph Dig 3.5-50
* 12/1500-13/1500Z Mar Stew Perry Topband Challenge, CW 1.8
* 12/1900-13/1900Z Mar Idaho QSO Party, CW Ph Dig 1.8-28
* 13/0000-13/0400Z Mar North American Sprint, RTTY 3.5-14
* 13/0000-13/0400Z Mar North American SSB Sprint Contest 3.5-14
* 13/1800-14/0100Z Mar Wisconsin QSO Party, CW Ph Dig, all bands
See the ARRL Contest Branch page <http://www.arrl.org/contests/>, the
ARRL Contest Update http://www.arrl.org/The-ARRL-Contest-Update/ and the
WA7BNM Contest Calendar <http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/index.html>
for more info. Looking for a Special Event station? Be sure to check out the
ARRL Special Event Station Web page<http://www.arrl.org/special-events>. For
a LIST OF STATE QSO PARTIES, see
http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/stateparties.html. (State QSO parties
and the W1AW Centennial Stations are a great way to get those last states on
your Worked All States (WAS) Award list.)
HAM EQUIPMENT FOR SALE, TRADE, OR WANTED
——————–
* FOR SALE — Yaesu FT-450 Transceiver, MD 100 desk mike and a Pyramid
35 amp power supply. All for $550 and the FT-450 alone for $450. All you
will need is an antenna to be on the air. Charlie Overcash, WA4GSI,
charlie@dockline.net or 252-249-1257. (20160118).
(Send me your amateur radio related items for sale, trade, or wanted for
listing in the PARSgram. PLEASE let me know if your listing is no longer
needed. ITEMS listed will EXPIRE AFTER 90 DAYS unless I hear
otherwise.–Jim).
UPCOMING REGIONAL HAMFESTS:
A complete list can be found on your PARS Website, www.n4prs.org
* RARSfest 2016 and North Carolina Section Convention, Saturday April 2, NC
State Fairgrounds, Raleigh. See www.rars.org/rarsfest for more info.
* 26th Annual Down East Hamfest , Saturday, April 23, Kinston, NC
Details will be on http://www.downeasthamfest.org later.
PARS CALENDAR:
* Mar 19, Pamlico Fox Hunt, Saturday, 9:30 am, Brantley’s Village
Restaurant, Oriental, Bill Olah, KR4LO, 249-0287 or w_olah@yahoo.com.
* Mar 26, PARS Monthly Meeting, Saturday, 9 am, Brantley’s Village
Restaurant, Oriental, Bill Olah, KR4LO, 249-0287 or w_olah@yahoo.com.
* Mar 26, SKYWARN Training, 10 am, Brantley’s Village
Restaurant, Oriental, Greg, KM4DZM, 252-322-1033 or gwadsworth1@yahoo.com
* Apr 30, PARS Monthly Meeting, Saturday, 9 am, Brantley’s Village
Restaurant, Oriental, Bill Olah, KR4LO, 249-0287 or w_olah@yahoo.com.
PARS NETS:
* Mondays, Pete’s “Swamp Talk” roundtable, around 8:15 pm local,
28.463 MHz plus or minus, USB. This is an informal forum originally
established to assist our new Hams. The frequency is in the 10M voice
segment open to technician licensees and above. Radio related
topics/questions/issues welcomed.
* Wednesdays, Pamlico Emergency Net Practice and Rag Chew, 7:30 pm,
Oriental Repeater, 147.210 + (PL151.4).
PARS WEB SITE:
https://www.n4prs.org/
* Chief Editor and Administrator is Greg Wadsworth KM4DZM, 252-322-1033 or
gwadsworth1@ yahoo.com
* Web Master is Larry Wall, KK4SEO, wallmailbox@yahoo.com.
ABOUT THE PARSgram
The PARSgram is a weekly email publication for members of the Pamlico
Amateur Radio Society (PARS), an association of amateur radio operators
located in, near, or from Pamlico County, North Carolina. The PARSgram
contains announcements and information about current and planned activities
of the Society and other items of specific interest to its members. Except
to summarize information related to Solar Activity or announce expeditions
of amateur radio operators to unique distant places, special event stations,
and contests, it does not generally repeat information available elsewhere.
The PARSgram does offer a means to make known to its subscribers radio
equipment and other related items for sale or trade. Since PARS members may
have limited internet access, the PARSgram is sent in text format and kept
relatively short. Log on to the PARS Website at https://www.n4prs.org/ for
longer news articles, photos, archived PARSgrams and more. We are always
looking for items of specific interest to our members to put in the
PARSgram. If you run across a timely item or think of something you think
would interest our folks, please send it to me at jth350@embarqmail.com. —
Jim Hartmeyer, AI4WL, Editor (20150406)
73,
Jim, AI4WL