A NEW APPROACH TO FIELD DAY
ARRL Field Day is coming the weekend of June 25 and 26. In the past PARS
mounted a full operation with multiple stations, temporary antennas, and
generator power. This was accompanied by good food, plenty of heat and
mosquitoes, and the occasional thunderstorm. It was all great fun. But
over the last few years participation has been waning. Last year we
struggled to get enough operators to keep two transmitters on the air for
just a few hours. After considering the amount of effort that goes into
setting up such an operation, several of our members concluded that we
wouldn’t have enough operators to justify it. So, sadly, PARS will not have
a classical Field Day operation this year.
But WAIT! Don’t scratch the event off your calendars just yet. A few of
our members have volunteered to open their stations to host guest operators,
just as we did for the North Carolina QSO party. This is an opportunity for
our members, and even ham radio wannabes, to operate a working amateur
station for an hour or two, more or less, with the assistance of an
experienced operator at their side!
Field Day is a relaxed fun event during which hams try to contact as many US
and Canadian stations as they can. As a guest operator you may even, if you
wish, use your own call sign (within the limits of your license), keeping
and submitting your own log. You can visit more than one host station to
try different radios, antennas, and modes. Single sideband? Plenty of
that. FM? Sure. Digital? Lots of PSK31 and maybe even some RTTY. Morse
code? There will be some slow speed operators and all will slow down for
you if you ask. And your host can help you with the copy. You can even try
making QRP contacts. Even experienced operators can be guest operators to
try out new stuff, or even visit the guest QTH to help the guest get on the
air with their own stuff (we call this the “traveling host”).
What a great way to do Field Day! Operate on your schedule in an air
conditioned bug free environment. Enjoy the fun of Field Day operating
without the hassle. We will have more to say about it at the next PARS
meeting on Saturday, May 28. See you there! (WM3X, N4LV, AI4WL, KJ4JK)
NO PLANNING MEETING THIS MONTH
There will be no planning meeting Saturday, May 21. Our regular PARS
meeting is at 0900 May 28 at Brantley’s Village Restaurant.
SOLAR NUMBERS TODAY
NOAA reported that solar activity was low during the 24 hours ending
yesterday at 5 pm local. The most recent activity was a B5 flare at
0913Z this morning. There are 5 numbered sunspot regions on the disk facing
Earth. The sunspot count is 78, back up from the 42 reported by NOAA last
week. The Solar Flux Index (SFI) was 108 at noon yesterday, also up from the
84 recorded a week ago at Penticton. According to the Space Weather
Prediction Center, solar activity is expected to be low for the next three
days with a slight chance for M-class flares. The NOAA forecast has
the SFI slowly dropping to 100 on Wednesday. The 90 day trailing average is
93, down one from last week.
The Earth’s geomagnetic field activity was quiet to active yesterday. The
field is forecast to reach minor storm levels today when the Earth enters a
stream of solar wind flowing from a coronal hole on the sun. On Tuesday it
should be quiet to active and unsettled on Wednesday. The Kp-index was
reported to be a quiet 3 at 8 a.m. local this morning. Geomagnetic storms
reaching the G1 level are likely.
Expect good conditions on 30 and 20 Meters and fair to poor on the higher
bands. Poor day and fair night conditions expected on 80 and 40. According
to DXmaps, 6 Meters has been active this morning with hams using E layer
skip and meteor scatter. For the 6 Meter Sprint Saturday night, stations
were spotted in the Mid-west and south late, but were very weakly heard in
Whortonsville.
THIS WEEK’S DX CHALLENGE
CONGO (REPUBLIC OF), TN. Phil, F5MVB and Joe, F5AOW will be QRV as
TN2MP and TN2BJ, respectively, from Brazzaville from May 15 to 23.
Activity will be on 20 to 10 meters, and possibly 40 and 30 meters,
using CW and SSB. QSL to home calls.
QSO CORNER
This is the place to post contacts with DXpeditions, Special Event
Stations, or special QSO’s you would like to share.
Nothing…
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 :
* 21/0600-21/2100Z May UN DX Contest, CW Ph, 2.5-28 MHz
* 21/0800-22/1100Z May NZART Sangster Shield Contest, CW, 3.5
* 21/1200-22/1200Z May Aegean RTTY Contest, Dig, 3.5-28
* 21/1200-22/1200Z May EU PSK DX Contest, Dig, 3.5-28
* 21/1200-22/1200Z May His Majesty King of Spain Contest, CW 1.8-28
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–
The following equipment is being sold because I no longer have the time to
use it or the space to store it. Unless otherwise noted, all units are
fully functional at or above their manufacturer specifications.
Cosmetically they are 9+ out of 10, showing only signs of routine use.
Asking prices are based on the average of recent completed transactions for
the same or similar units on eBay, or are approximately one half of the
original price, and are believed to represent the current market value.
Pictures are available on request. Shipping if necessary is not included.
Local pickup is preferred. All sales are final. Contact Bill Michne at
252-249-1175 or billmichne@embarqmail.com.
Heathkit HW-9 CW QRP transceiver. Covers 250 kHz of the following bands:
80, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10 meters. Includes PSA-9 power supply,
HFT-9A antenna tuner, and HM-9 SWR/watt meter. I am the original
owner/builder. The transceiver circuit is original with the exception of
the replacement of two capacitors in the keying circuit to improve the
keying wave shape, as recommended by AB7MY. Using only simple wire
antennas, in the last year I have worked all states and 27 DX entities with
this rig. $400.00.
Yaesu FT-897 HF/VHF/UHF all mode transceiver. Maximum power outputs are:
160-6 meter, 100 W; 2 meters, 50 W; 70 cm, 25 W. Includes the FC-30
automatic antenna tuner, YF-122C narrow filter for CW/digital modes, and
MMB-80 mounting bracket. Does not include the internal batteries for
portable operation as I never purchased them. $700.00.
Ten Tec Omni VI HF transceiver. Includes the matching Ten Tec power
supply/speaker, the narrow filter for CW/digital modes and an Astatic D-104
microphone. This radio has outstanding audio characteristics on transmit.
$1200.00.
Ten Tec Titan 425 legal limit linear amplifier. This unit consists of a
lightweight desktop RF deck containing the two 3CX800A7 ceramic tubes and a
separate remote power supply with hypersil transformer. The RF deck can be
switched between HV ranges, the higher one for full legal limit output, and
the lower one for high duty cycle modes such as RTTY. The unit features an
overdrive limit circuit to protect the tubes, and a rapid switching circuit
for preventing “hot switching” during QSK and VOX operation. $1200.00.
Kenwood TS-830S ham band transceiver. Includes the matching SP-230 speaker,
the VFO-230 digital VFO, and the MC-50 microphone. The unit has a full
complement of Fox Tango filters for both CW/RTTY and SSB operation
installed. These filters have very steep skirts to provide exquisite
selectivity. This is a hybrid radio, mostly solid state, but with tubes in
the driver and final amplifier stages. The sale includes two sets of
replacement tubes. I recently had the radio professionally restored to full
original specifications. $800.00.
Kenwood TS-940S solid state 160-10 meters transceiver and general coverage
receiver. This radio does not transmit, and has limited receive function.
If the transmit function can be reestablished it is probably worth
repairing. Otherwise it is good for parts. $75.00.
Realistic DX-300 shortwave receiver. It works, but would benefit from some
internal tweaking and alignment. $25.00.
(20160509)
*FOR SALE — Back on the list:
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. (20160509).
* FOR SALE — BX Free Standing Tower, rotor/controller and Mosley
Yagi Antenna
A) Tower-Mod.- BX 40Ft – 5-8Ft sections – with tilt mounting base plate and
wall mounting bracket.
B) Antenna – Mosley 3 element MOD. TA-33 JR (20-10-15)
C) Hi-gain CD-45-11 Rotor & Controller with 140+Ft control cable.
D) Mast – 7’6″ X 2″ .
E) Needs–New Thrust Bearing, suggest a Glen Martin Eng. model TB-25 (Has 6
lock down mast bolts) Grad 5 or higher – Nuts, Bolts, Washers for tower
assembly. Documentation included. Asking–$650.00 ( estimated new —
1800+ ) Contact — Dan Baker (N6XWF) @ (252) – 249-2922
(20160411)
(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
PARS CALENDAR:
* May 28, PARS Monthly Meeting, Saturday, 9 am, Brantley’s Village
Restaurant, Oriental, Bill Olah, KR4LO, 249-0287 or w_olah@yahoo.com.
* Jun 25-26, ARRL Field Day. PARS activity at host stations.
* Jul 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.
PARSgram ITEMS
We are always looking for items of interest to PARS members to put in
the PARSgram. If you run across a timely item or think of something you
believe would interest our folks, please send it to me. Thanks.
73,
Jim AI4WL