PRESIDENT’S SOAPBOX
Field Day 2019 is in the history books! All the equipment worked flawlessly. We were a little light on the total number of contacts made, in no small measure due to the poor propagation conditions. Bill, KR4LO, our GOTA guy, reports having heard only one station on 15 meters for the entire event. The 6 meter station struggled on Saturday, but seemed to open up a bit on Sunday. On 20 meters SSB QSO’s were also hard to come by. The CW station fared the best, with many contacts on both 40 and 20 meters. New this year was a station set up for email via WinLink, which included interactive tutorial sessions by Lor, W3QA. Also new this year were the used equipment tables. A lot of great stuff found new homes. But the real highlight of the event was the dinner. The Shrine guys put on a barbecue (pork and chicken) which was among the best I’ve ever had. And folks were still raving about the dessert pudding the next day. I would like to thank each one individually who participated to make this event what it was, and would do so in this column except I’m sure I would miss someone. However, I would like to particularly thank Mike, K4NLC, for the outstanding job he did with the antenna system, the dinner arrangements, and the general interaction with the Shriners. Well done, all! I will have a complete report of the event at the July PARS meeting. de WM3X, Bill Michne, 252-249-1175, drmichne73@gmail.com.
ARES TRAINING
The next emergency communications training session for ARES/AUXCOM will be Thursday, August 1, at Pamlico Community College. For more information contact Mike Marsh, K4NLC, 252-636-1257 or mike@marshconsulting.org
SOLAR NUMBERS TODAY
NOAA reported that solar activity was very low during the 24 hours ending yesterday at 5 pm local. There are no sunspot regions on the sun facing earth this morning. Spaceweather.com reports this is our 36th day in a row without a sunspot. Activity will continue to be very low through Wednesday according to the Space Weather Prediction Center. On Sunday, the reported Solar Flux Index (SFI) at Penticton was 67. The index is predicted to be 67 for today through Wednesday. The SFI 90 day trailing average is down one to 71.
The Earth’s geomagnetic field was quiet yesterday. It is expected to be quiet to unsettled today and Wednesday, quiet to active on Tuesday due to solar wind. The estimated Kp-index of 1 at 5 a.m. local this morning indicates quiet conditions.
We can expect fair daytime and good nighttime operating conditions on 80 and 40 meters for the next few days. Poor conditions will continue on the higher bands. For the Field Day weekend conditions were generally poor. The six meter band was closed except for a short–about an hour–Es opening each day. On Saturday, our path was into Michigan, on Sunday into South Florida. Signals were few, strong and then gone.
For an explanation of numbers used in our PARSgram, see the excellent article written by Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA at http://arrl.org/the-sun-the-earth-the-ionosphere.
HAM EQUIPMENT FOR SALE, TRADE, OR WANTED
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. Listings will EXPIRE AFTER 90 DAYS unless I hear otherwise.–Jim.
**For Sale***
– Ameritron ALS-606 600W Solid State Linear Amplifier with Power Supply. New, 2 months ago, I have 2 of them and only need one! Priced at $1,600. It can be seen and tried at my QTH in Comfort (Jones County), NC. Will deliver as far as New Bern. For more info contact Terry Brown, KE4ULF at terbrw@yahoo.com (20190520)
**For Sale**
– Kenwood TS-870SAT Transceiver. Works and looks as new. Has hand mic and power cable, no box. $650.
– Ameritron ATR-20 Antenna Tuner. Has new roller inductor, works perfectly. Condx is 9 out of 10! Asking $175.
Contact Don Smith, KJ4RB at kj4rb@embarqmail.com or 252-568-4011 (If no answer please leave message). (20190520)
**For Sale**
– CUSHCRAFT 17B2 2 METER SSB ANTENNA
Original cushcraft , not MFJ version, in the box sealed for $150.00 they list for mid $300’s now. It is 31 ft long when assembled. Contact Don Smith, KJ4RB at kj4rb@embarqmail.com. (20190409)
** For Sale**
– MFJ-259B HF/VHF SWR ANALYZER. Unit has some slight cosmetic paint scratches but is completely functional. Covers 1.8 to 170 MHz. $160.00.
– MFJ-949E VERSA TUNER II. Like new condition. Features cross needle SWR/POWER meter that reads peak or average power, has two coax outputs, and built-in dummy load. Maximum 300 watts. Includes manual. $100.00. Contact Bill Michne, WM3X, 252-249-1175, drmichne73@gmail.com. (20190401)
PARS CALENDAR:
* July 6, FCC License Examination/VE Session, Saturday 9am, Oriental Town Hall, Oriental. Bill Michne, WM3X, 252-249-1175 or drmichne73@gmail.com.
* Jul 27, PARS MONTHLY MEETING, Saturday, 9am, Brantley’s Village Restaurant, Oriental. For more info, contact Bill Michne, WM3X, 252-249-1175 or drmichne73@gmail.com.
* Aug 1, Emergency Communications Training for ARES, Thursday, 7-9 pm, Brinson Building Room 412, Pamlico Comunity College, Mike Marsh, K4NLC, 252-636-1257 or mike@marshconsulting.org
LOCAL NETS OF INTEREST TO PARS MEMBERS:
* Mondays, Pete’s “Pamlico Swamp Roundtable” (“Swamp Net” for some), around 8 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 10 Meter Band voice segment open to technician licensees and above. Radio related topics/questions/issues welcomed.
* Tuesdays, Newport Weather Service SKYWARN Practice Net, 9:00 pm local, Oriental (147.210+ (PL151.4)) and all other local repeaters. Open net for severe weather warning and reporting continously monitored upon activation.
* Wednesdays, Pamlico Emergency Net Practice and Rag Chew/ARES, 7:30 pm, Oriental Repeater, 147.210 + (PL151.4).
* Thursdays, “DownEast/Pamlico Six Meter Net”, 8 pm local, 50.200 MHz, USB. A non-directed open net to promote operation on the ‘Magic Band’.
(For more nets see www.arrl.org/arrl-net-directory-search )
PARS WEB SITE: https://www.n4prs.org/
Web Master is Paul Jodoin, K4MMB, 561-308-3456, PARSwebman@gmail.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
——
This email is sent to members and friends of the Pamlico Amateur Radio Society. We are pleased that you asked to receive our weekly newsletter and hope that you enjoy reading it. If you no longer wish to receive the PARSgram please let us know by reply email or by email to jth350@embarqmail.com. Thanks.