PARS BREAKFAST MEETING THIS COMING SATURDAY
Our next meeting will be at 0900 Saturday, February 25th at Brantley’s
Village Restaurant on Broad Street in Oriental. Please park along the
side or out back. We hope to see you all there. For more information
contact Pamlico Amateur Radio Society President Mike Marsh, K4NLC,
252-636-1257 or mike@marshconsulting.com.
Expect to hear more about repeaters at the meeting, something about hot
10 meter activity, likely more about the Bouvet bust, and a word or two
about one busted balloon. Missed last meeting, we might even learn about
care and feeding a 24/7 C4FM WiresX node.
Bruce promises that there will be a drawing for that Brantley’s
Restaurant gift certificate this month and perhaps another for something
else.
BIT BUCKET
* Our North Carolina QSO Party (NCQP) is this coming Sunday, February
26th. (Please pardon my use of the wrong calendar last week. But then
only Jamie King, KJ4JK noticed.) Here’s what you need to know– The
party is from 10 am to 8 pm on Sunday, Feb 27, 2023. The exchange is
call sign and county, “Pamlico” or “PAM” for us. Signal report is
optional. Bands are 80/75 through 2M; no 160 or WARC bands. Modes
include phone, CW, Digital but no FT8/4. The complete rules are at
www.ncqsoparty.org/rules. This year the 120th anniversary of the Wright
Brothers first flight is being recognized. The suffix of the bonus
stations when combined will spell out the word W-R-I-G-H-T.
* Our Oriental Repeater Group folks had a busy couple of days last week.
Lor W3QA, Wayne KO4OJC, Bill KR4LO, and Bruce K4ONC spent Wednesday and
most of Thursday setting up a microwave link from the Arapahoe
(Arlington Place) tower to the nearby QTH of Bill Cresswell, K4ONN to
access the internet in the near future. Their efforts were successful.
Thursday afternoon they trouble-shot a Oriental Repeater outage that
started Tuesday late or Wednesday morn. The gremlin was found. Be sure
to say thanks to these fine folks that let us keep talkin’.
SOLAR NUMBERS TODAY
NOAA reported that solar activity was low during the 24 hour period
ending yesterday at 4 p.m. local. The largest solar event was a C6
lightning bug yesterday morning. There are 5 numbered sunspot regions on
the Sun facing Earth this morning. There were 12 last Monday. The
Prediction Center expects solar activity to be low again today through
Wednesday with for M-class flares expected and a slight chance for an
X-class flare.
Yesterday’s noon Solar Flux Index (SFI) observation at Penticton was
- Last Sunday’s was 200. The index is predicted to measure 160 today,
150 tomorrow and 140 on Wednesday. The SFI 90 day trailing average was
163 yesterday. It was 157 last Monday.
The low activity reported yesterday does not represent our past active
week. On Friday, just after 3pm, there was an X2 flare that lit up most
of the USofA, Mexico and well out into the Pacific. The resulting HF
blackout from the R3 event lasted over an hour. When 10 meters
disappeared, your editor thought he broke another radio. But then, after
a quick check with Paul, K4MMB, who also watched the signals disappear,
a glance at the SWPC Radio Communications Dashboard
(https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/communities/radio-communications) showed a
big red blob over us. Not to worry… just come back later.
The Earth’s geomagnetic field was quiet to unsettled yesterday. It is
expected to reach minor storm levels (G1) today, then quiet to active
Tuesday and Wednesday. The storms today are the product of Friday’s X2
solar flare. Only a glancing blow by the CME is expected. The estimated
Kp-index of 2.67 reported at 7 a.m. local this morning indicated quiet
geomagnetic conditions.
For today, the pundits say we can expect good operating conditions on 80
through 15 meters during the night but not good during the day. They
will be good day and poor at night on 10. But just like our weather
forecasts, not necessarily so.
For an explanation of the numbers used in our PARSgram, see the
excellent article written by Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA at
http://arrl.org/the-sun-the-earth-the-ionosphere.
DX THIS WEEK–
Extracted from ARLD007 DX news:
–TIMOR-LESTE, 4W. Satoshi, JH2EUV is QRV as 4W/JH2EUV until March 3.
Activity is on 40 to 10 meters using FT8. QSL to home call.
–TOGO, 5V. Eric, F5LCX is QRV as 5V23LE until February 25. Activity
is holiday style on the HF bands. QSL to home call.
HAM EQUIPMENT FOR SALE, TRADE, OR WANTED
Send me your amateur radio related items that are for sale, trade, or
wanted and your contact information. PLEASE let me know when you have
have sold your item or your listing is no longer needed. Listings will
EXPIRE AFTER 90 DAYS unless I hear otherwise.–Jim.
-FOR SALE OR TRADE–DAIWA SWR & POWER METER CN-501V (for VHF & UHF)
Cross needle Meter. Brand New. Never been used. Santa brought the
wrong model! will swap for a comparable HF model. Michael Hurm K4HPS,
252-675-9436 or mhurm@aol.com. (20230220)
PARS CALENDAR:
* Feb 25, PARS MONTHLY MEETING, Saturday, 9am, Brantley’s Village
Restaurant, Oriental. For more info, contact Mike Marsh, K4NLC,
252-636-1257 or mike@MarshConsulting.org
* Mar 4, PAMLICO COMMUNICATIONS TEAM MEETING, Saturday, 9-10:30am,
Oriental VFD Station 19 on Straight Rd vic. NC-55. AUXCOMM & ARES–All
are welcome. For more info, contact Bruce Perkins, K4ONC, 252-626-2730
or K4ONC@aol.com
LOCAL NETS OF INTEREST TO PARS MEMBERS:
* Wednesdays,”Pamlico Communications Net”, 7:30 pm local, N4ONC
(Oriental) Repeater, 147.210 + (CTSCC Tone Squelch 88.5).
* 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/
Our Web Master is Paul Jodoin, K4MMB, 561-308-3456, PARSwebman@gmail.com
Have a great Presidents Day.
73, Jim AI4WL
——–
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