ISOLATED NORTH CAROLINA HAM USES HAM RADIO TO GET HELP IN HOUSE FIRE
INCIDENT:
(Courtesy of and quoted from the ARRL Letter for March 31, 2016)
A ham living on remote Cedar Island off the coast of North Carolina recently
used Amateur Radio to summon help after a fire broke out in his house. “A
station came on the [Pamlico Amateur Radio Society] repeater asking if
anyone could contact the local fire department,” said Bill Michne, WM3X, who
lives in Oriental, North Carolina. “The signal was broken up but readable
after repeats. What I learned was that the station was in Stacy, the
operator’s house was filling with smoke, and that he had no telephone to use
to call for help.” Michne said he got the other ham’s address and contacted
911, which called out the Stacy Fire Department. “The fire apparatus arrived
within a very short time,” he added. The fire was said to have been
contained to the attic, and damage was not severe. The grateful ham was Mike
Clutter, KM4COD, an occasional check-in to a local ARES net, who lives
part-time on Cedar Island. — Thanks to Bill Michne, WM3X, and to Jamie
King, KJ4JK
SOLAR NUMBERS TODAY
NOAA reported that solar activity was very low during the 24 hours ending
yesterday at 5 pm local. The largest recent solar event was a B3 flare
observed at 0006Z this morning. There are 3 numbered sunspot regions on the
disk facing Earth. The sunspot count this morning is 38, up 15 from the 23
reported by NOAA last week. The Solar Flux Index (SFI) was 82 yesterday at
noon, down a few from the 88 reported a week ago. According to the Space
Weather Prediction Center, solar activity is expected to continue to be very
low for the next three days with a slight chance for C-class flares. The
NOAA forecast has the SFI dropping to 78 on Wednesday. The 90 day trailing
average has dropped below 100 to 99. We just missed having a clean Sun with
no sunspots showing on Saturday.
The Earth’s geomagnetic field activty reached major storm levels yesterday
due to solar winds. The field is forecast to be quiet to unsettled today,
become active for a period tomorrow and unsettled on Wednesday. The
Kp-index was reported to be a quiet 1 at 5 a.m. local this morning. No
space weather storms are predicted for the next 24 hours.
Continue to expect fair conditions on 30 and 20 Meters and fair to poor on
the higher bands. Good conditions should continue for 40M at night. There
was considerable activity on 6M last night into early this morning according
to postings on DXmaps. Starting early with a TEP opening into South America,
E-layer skip produced numerous contacts of over 1000 Km in the mid-West and
into the East.
THIS WEEK’S DX CHALLENGE
JUAN DE NOVA, EUROPA, FT/J. A group of operators are QRV as FT4JA
from Juan de Nova Island, IOTA AF-012, until April 11. Activity is
on 160 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY, and TEP and EME on 6
meters. QSL via F5CWU.
VK0EK HEARD ISLAND DXPEDITION–Continuing
A large group of operators are QRV as VK0EK until April 10. Activity will
be on 160 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via M0URX.
You can see the current status of the DXpedition on the main website
<www.heardisland.org>, and on the blogsite <www.vk0ek.org>. Check out
VK0EK.ORG for recent press releases and photos.
QSO CORNER
This is the place to post contacts with DXpeditions, Special Event
Stations, or special QSO’s you would like to share.
No reports received… nada.
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 :
* 09/1200-10/2359Z Apr SKCC Weekend Sprintathon, CW 1.8-50 MHz
* 09/1400-10/0200Z Apr New Mexico QSO Party, CW Ph Dig 1.8-50
* 09/1800-10/2359Z Apr Georgia QSO Party, CW Ph Dig 1.8-50
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
* 26th Annual Down East Hamfest , Saturday, April 23, Kinston, NC
Details at http://www.w4amc.com/pictures/2016downeasthf.pdf
PARS CALENDAR:
* Apr 30, PARS Monthly Meeting, Saturday, 9 am, Brantley’s Village
Restaurant, Oriental, Bill Olah, KR4LO, 249-0287 or w_olah@yahoo.com.
* May 28, 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