PARS FIELD DAY 2016
So, we’re wondering who got on the air and made some Field Day contacts
this weekend. As planned, several PARS members were “hosts” to less active
hams at their home stations. Word has it, several others also operated class
D home stations in the cool. If you did, please reply to this PARSgram or
otherwise let us know how it went. We’re betting that collectively we made
more contacts than we did last year in the steamy heat. Reportedly, more
than a few log pages were filled. We all had a good time!
The “hosts” met at Brantley’s on Saturday morning to get their monthly
cholesterol fix and coordinate. Besides last minute details, thoughts were
tossed around for next year. Here are a few of them: If we do it from home
again, we can have a regular PARS meeting that Saturday morning or even meet
for lunch before splitting up to get into the “contest”. Maybe, instead of
operating from home, if we have enough RV’s in the club we could operate in
the cool AC down by the Neuse. Then, there’s the annual PARS Field Day
Social and Dinner. That went by the wayside this time. There may be a
better, less busy time of the year, to gather…
Other activities also came up. This is also the time of Croakerfest–it’s
always the first weekend in July. What about getting a Special Event Call
and putting up a station in the park. Certainly, that would give lots of
exposure for ham radio and for Oriental. Given the exposure, we would have
to think about a License Class soon after. What about participation in
Pamlico Heritage Day? Jamboree-on-the-Air? The Fox Hunts?
Do let us know if you worked the contest or otherwise got involved. We’ll
try for a short report out next Monday.
MEMBER’S INTERESTS
At the rectangular “roundtable” Saturday, we mused about what our folks got
out ham radio, their interests, their involvement. Jamie King, KJ4JK,
collected our membership renewal applications right away and totaled up all
those checkmarks. Here’s what he found:
“I have competed a review of all of the 2016 membership forms’ activity
choices, and the below attached is the summary for members’ choices. There
were a number of forms wherein the choices were all left blank, and a few
with everything checked.”
[I counted 61 member families on our roster–Jim].
—- Interest/Activity count from 2016 Membership form —
ARES Emergency Service 26
Antenna design and/or building 25
HF bands 24
Skywarn weather service support 21
Boating radio 21
DX and/or awards (WAS, DXCC, etc) 19
Community Service event support 18
Contesting 18
Antique/old radio (AM, tubes, etc) 16
Digital radio 15
CW/Morse Code 14
Circuit design and/or building 13
VHF/UHF bands 12
Education/Elmering 9
Ragchew and nets 9
Microwave radio 1
Working QRP (less than 5 Watts PEP) 1
County hunting 1
Note: Due to the way the survey was phrased, the 2016 membership form count
is skewed (e.g. contesting, DX, and ragchew are combined; VHF/UHF and
microwave are combined, and so on. I have done my best to sort it out
according to personal knowledge of who does what, but that is neither
complete nor completely accurate. There are also a number of blank forms in
the file. Jamie, KJ4JK.
SOLAR NUMBERS TODAY
NOAA reported that solar activity was very low during the 24 hours ending
yesterday at 5 pm local. The most recent activity was a B5 flare at 0958Z
this morning. There are NO numbered sunspot regions on the disk facing
Earth. The sunspot count is ZERO. The face of the Sun has been blank for
five days in a row! The Solar Flux Index (SFI) was 77 at noon yesterday,
down from the 85 recorded at Penticton a week ago. According to the Space
Weather Prediction Center, solar activity is expected to be very low for the
next three days with only a slight chance for C-class flares. The NOAA
forecast has the SFI rising slightly to 80 by Wednesday. The 90 day trailing
average is down one more to 90.
The Earth’s geomagnetic field has been quiet to unsettled over the weekend.
The field is forecast to remain quiet through Wednesday. The Kp-index was
reported to be a quiet 1 at 8 a.m. local this morning.
With a very inactive Sun, expect only fair conditions on 30 and 20 Meters,
poor on the higher bands. Poor day and only fair nighttime conditions are
expected on 80 and 40. Despite reports of PARS members making lots of Field
Day contacts, band conditions were not good for Field Day weekend. Most of
those contacts were on the 40 and 20 Meter bands and made with stations this
side of the Mississippi. Few signals were heard above 20 Meters on Saturday,
however, on Sunday 15 Meters was fairly active. The VHF bands were terrible.
Only four contacts were made from Whortonsville on 6 Meters, all tropo (2
NC, 1 SC, and 1 into VA).
THIS WEEK’S DX CHALLENGE
JAMAICA, 6Y. Larry, WO7R is part of the VHF Pirates DXpedition and
active as 6Y7R until July 8. Activity is holiday style on the HF
bands. They are active as 6Y5AZ on 6 and 2 meter EME. QSL via
operators’ instructions.
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 :
* 01/0000-01/2359Z Jul RAC Canada Day Contest, CW Ph 1.8-144 MHz
* 02/0000-02/0400Z Jul FISTS Summer Slow Speed Sprint, CW 3.5-28
* 02/1100-03/1059Z Jul DL-DX RTTY Contest, RTTY 3.5-28
* 02/1500-03/1500Z Jul Original QRP Contest, CW 3.5-14
* 02/2000-03/2000Z Jul PODXS Ø7Ø 40 Meter Firecracker Sprint, Dig 7
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–Hy-Gain AV-680 Patriot-Plus HF Vertical Antenna, covers
6,10,12,15,17,20,30,40 and 80 meters. Requires no ground radials, comes
with it’s own counterpoise. About 2 years old, this was my temporary
antenna during my move, I now am putting up more dedicated antennas.
I built a simple mounting system that allows me to raise and lower by
myself if ever needed. It will remain operational here if you are
interested in seeing it’s performance.
I am open to offers, trades, etc.
Gary Mitchelson, NC3Z/4, 252-745-0655 or n3cz@arrl.net (20160620)
* 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 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. (20160509)
*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. (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:
* Jul 30, PARS Monthly Meeting, Saturday, 9 am, Brantley’s Village
Restaurant, Oriental, Bill Olah, KR4LO, 249-0287 or w_olah@yahoo.com.
* Aug 27, 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