PARS BREAKFAST MEETING THIS COMING SATURDAY
Our next meeting will be at 0900 Saturday, March 30, in the back room of
Brantleys Village Restaurant on Broad Street in Oriental. Please park
along the side or out back. We hope to see you all there. Come early for
breakfast with your fellow hams. For more information contact Pamlico
Amateur Radio Society President Bruce Perkins, K4ONC, 252-626-2730 or
K4ONC@aol.com
The ever changing repeater situation always has something new going on.
Expect to get the latest on the “Eastern Express”, the NC4ES-6 pico
balloon. Lots more to talk about plus a chance for a Brantleys Gift
Certificate.
NC4ES EASTERN EXPRESS BALLOON RIDES AGAIN!
[Although provided for this week’s PARSgram, given the earlier launch
date, this announcement was sent to our active PARS members last week.
The “Eastern Express” was launched on schedule last Thursday and as I
write this on Sunday afternoon, it is over the Bay of Biscay, just off
the coast of France. It has “gone to sleep” for the night and we hope to
hear its wake-up call just before you read this on Monday morning…
Update, 7:45 am Monday, the Express has just past over Grenoble heading
east.-ed.]
From Lor Kutchins, W3QA:
Our last successful balloon, NC4ES-4, circumnavigated the earth in
April, 2021, and went down in Iran on its second lap.
This week on Thursday, March 21, the surface weather and jet stream look
favorable for our next launch. This one is NC4ES-6. If you care to
follow along as we attempt another multi-lap earth-orbiting flight,
initial spots and map following can be done at this link:
http://wspr.rocks/balloons/
Enter “NC4ES” in the Balloon Callsign field and click the search button.
We will be setting up other mapping and social media following options
on flight day and we will keep you informed as those get set up.
Keep your fingers crossed for a successful launch and ascent. Failures
are common and frequent. Our tracking beacon and telemetry will use the
WSPR protocol on 20M.
Matt McMahon, WU2V
Lor Kutchins, W3QA
Bruce Perkins, K4ONC
The NC4ES Eastern Express Team
[In a subsequent email, Lor added the following:
…”Currently, flight monitoring is available in a simple format at
APRS.fi <http://aprs.fi/>. Search for NC4ES-6 there. More data with
telemetry spots and mapping can be played with at LU7AA.org/wsprx.asp
<http://lu7aa.org/wsprx.asp> . Look for ‘NC4ES’ in the small typeface
list of call signs and click it to load the display filter with our
data. In a few moments the screen will populate with information on the
receiving WSPR stations, the actual data received, and a map with lots
of options. This flight is not instrumented beyond basic tracker
sensors, so you won’t find other information like temperatures,
pressures, and other measurements in our data stream.” Enjoy! -ed]
BIT BUCKET
Congratulations to Mark Landow on passing his Technician License exam
administered by the PARS VE team. Mark’s new call is KQ4QDL. And as he
was walking out the door of the exam room he was carrying a new General
Class License Manual. We wish him all the best for his future in
amateur radio. Bill Michne, WM3X.
SOLAR NUMBERS TODAY
NOAA reports that solar activity was high during the 24 hour period
ending yesterday at 5 p.m. local. The Space Weather Prediction Center
expects solar activity to be moderate today through Wednesday with a 1
in 4 chance for X-class flares, an 85% for M-class flares. Radio
blackouts at the R2 level are expected today. There are 7 numbered
sunspot regions on the Sun facing Earth this morning. There were 6 last
Monday, 5 the Monday before.
Sunday’s noon Solar Flux Index (SFI) observation at Penticton was 195,
last Sunday’s was 151. The index is predicted to measure 200 today, 205
Tuesday and 210 on Wednesday. The SFI 90 day trailing average was 163
yesterday. It was 163 last Sunday.
The geomagnetic field reached severe storm levels yesterday. A CME
struck our magnetic field Sunday at 1437Z causing a severe G4-class
storm, the strongest since 2017. The SWPC expects the field to be reach
severe storm levels again today, then reach minor storm levels tomorrow.
It is expected to quiet down on Wednesday. The planetary K-index at 5
a.m. this morning was 3.33 indicating quiet conditions now.
For today, propagation is expected to be much the same as last week but
can turn poor quickly on the HF bands with strong flare activity. This
does not bode well for hearing the “Eastern Express” 20 milliwatt
signal. Try anyway, but then we may have to wait until the balloon is
back over the USA to hear it again. Suggest using WSJT-X in the WSPR
mode, select 20 Meters (14.095 Mhz).
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 TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK–
Extracted from ARLD012 DX news:
–EAST KIRIBATI, T32. A group of operators will be QRV as T32EU from
Kiritimati Island, IOTA OC-024, to March 27. Activity will
be with three stations on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY, and
FT8.
–BENIN, TY. Operators F5NVF, F5RAV and M0NPT are QRV as TY5C from
Cotonou until March 29. Activity is on the HF bands using CW, SSB, and
FT8. This includes being active on Satellite QO-100.
–LESOTHO, 7P. Members of the EI DX Group are QRV as 7P8EI from
Maseru until March 29. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters using CW,
SSB, and various digital modes with up to eight active stations.
–GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, HC8. Rick, HC1MD and Maria, HC1MM are QRV as
HD8MD and HD8MM, respectively, until March 29. Activity is on 40 to
6 meters using CW, SSB, FT8, and FT4. (Grid Locator
EI59ec).
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. Thanks, Jim.
–FOR SALE: MFJ-259B antenna analyzer covering 1.8 – 170 MHz. The unit
includes the MFJ-66 dip meter adapter coils for determining the resonant
frequency of LC circuits. It also includes ten rechargeable NiMH AA
Energizer cells, and an AC adapter for using the analyzer and charging
the batteries, as well as complete operating manuals. I am selling
because I need an instrument that covers up to 500 MHz. The price to
PARSGram readers is $125. Bill Michne, WM3X, 252-671-6703, or
drmichne73@gmail.com. (20240219)
–FOR SALE:
- Yaesu FT2DR handheld, digital/analog C4FM includes radio, antenna,
box and data cable $300 obo
- Kenwood TS-820S, operational with strong tubes gives 100+ watts out!
Includes radio, kenwood box, power cord, hand mic and spare donor parts
rig $475 obo
- I’m looking for a backup/ secondary hf + 6m solid state rig so I will
be open to trades or working out a deal if your interested in any of my
listed items!
Contact Cody, KN4RFG, at 252-229-4542 or codyakamudduck2005@gmail.com
(20240122)
PARS CALENDAR:
* Mar 30, PARS MONTHLY MEETING, Saturday, 9am, Brantley’s Village
Restaurant, Oriental. For more info, contact Bruce Perkins, K4ONC,
252-626-2730 or K4ONC@aol.com
* Apr 6, PAMLICO COMMUNICATIONS TEAM MEETING, Saturday, 9-10:30am,
Oriental VFD Station 19 on Straight Rd vic. NC-55. All are welcome. For
more info, contact Bruce Perkins, K4ONC, 252-626-2730 or K4ONC@aol.com
* Apr 20, PARS SPRING FOX HUNT, Saturday, Time TBA, Check-in, start, and
lunch at Oriental VFD Station 19 on Straight Rd vic NC-55. All are
welcome but you must register. More info to come.
REPEATER/NODE STATUS
(See www.n4prs.org/frequencies/ for set-up)
N4ONC VHF FM Oriental — Operational
N4ONC (old KR4LO) UHF FM Oriental — Operational
NC4ES VHF FM/DMR Arapahoe — Non-operational
NC4ES UHF DMR Florence — Operational on the NC4ES.org Network
WM3X-ONC VHF C4FM/WIRES-X NODE Oriental (145.530 simplex)– Operational
LOCAL NETS OF INTEREST TO PARS MEMBERS:
* Mondays, “Pamlico 10 Meter Net, 7:30 pm local, on or near 28.464 MHz,
USB. A non-directed net for technicians and above. Radio
topics/questions/issues welcomed.
* Wednesdays,”Pamlico Communications Net”, 7:30 pm local, N4ONC
(Oriental) VHF Repeater, 147.210+ (CTSCC Tone Squelch 88.5). A directed
net open to all. Net activates on call during emergencies.
* 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
73, Jim AI4WL Editor
——–
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