PAMLICO EMERGENCY NET (ARES) PRACTICE
The Pamlico Emergency Net meets Wednesday nights at 7:30 pm local
time on the Oriental repeater (147.210 MHz, CTCSS/PL tone 151.4, standard
offset). Mike Hurm, K4HPS, our ARES County EC will be calling the net. We
urge you to check-in for the announcements and to stick around for the ‘rag
chew” that follows.
60M NEWS — CUBAN AND CANADIAN HAMS ALLOWED ON 60 METER BAND, FCC PROPOSAL
Although few PARS Members may be dabbling with 60M operation, they
should be aware of recent changes outside of the United States. Of special
import is Cuba’s limit on 60 Meter traffic in declared emergencies:
Effective January 22nd, 2014, the Cuban Regulatory Agency allows all
Cuban hams to operate on the 60m band between 5418-5430 kHz, a 12 kHz
continuous segment. They are allowing CW, SSB and the digital modes limited
to PSK31/PSK63. Transmitting power is limited based on the class of license:
10W limit for Novices and 50W for others. The law makes an emphasis on
emergency communications: when Cuba declares an emergency situation, all the
traffic on the 60m band must cease and only emergency nets are allowed; in
this situation 100W maximum power is allowed to any station on the net to
maintain reliable links for emergency. (From the [DX] Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin
#1148)
Canadian amateur radio operators have finally been assigned
five channels on 60 meters at 5332 kHz, 5348 kHz, 5358.5 kHz, 5373
kHz, and 5405 kHz. Operations are to take place on a
non-interference principle using CW, USB, RTTY and Data with a
maximum bandwidth of 2.8 kHz and 100 watts ERP.
Elsewhere, Unión de Radioaficionados Españoles (URE) General Secretary
Salvador Bernal, EA7SB, reported recently that Spain’s telecommunications
regulatory agency has authorized the use of several 60 meter frequencies
through June 30, 2014.
In the Czech Republic, up to 10 radio amateurs are being permitted to
operate on 60 meters on an experimental basis until the end of 2014. This
experimental phase of 5 MHz operation follows an initial trial that ended
two years ago. (From the Jan 23 ARRL Letter)
Today Hams in the USA and most of the world have a few discrete 60-Meter
channels. A more traditional band is a small part of the proposal that the
FCC is preparing as the US’s submission to WRC-15, the World Radio
Conference coming in November, 2015. That new ” 60 Meter Band” would be a
portion within the 5250 to 5450 kHz range. This would be on a secondary
basis as is the channelized allocation today. That set of “draft
recommendations” is open for public comment until February 18. More
information was in the Jan 30 ARRL Bulletin: ARLB003 FCC Opens Brief Window
for Comments on WRC-2015 Draft Recommendations. More details are on the ARRL
Web site.
SOLAR NUMBERS TODAY
NOAA reported that solar activity was high during the 24 hours ending
Sunday night at 5 pm local with three M-class solar flares and three CMEs.
Almost all of the explosions were produced by monster sunspot AR1967. The
largest solar event yesterday was a M4/1b event
observed at 02/0931Z from Region 1967. There are currently 3 numbered
sunspot regions on the disk. The Sunspot count this morning is 163, well up
from the 109 we saw last Monday morning. The Solar Flux is 190,about 50
points higher than the 138 reported last Monday. The Solar Flux could rise
to over 200 by Wednesday–that could indicate even F2 propagation on 6M!
NOAA predicts Solar activity is likely to be moderate to high with a 50%
chance for X-class flares through Wednesday. AR1967 has a ‘delta-class’
magnetic field that has energy for strong eruptions. The growing
complexity of the region has prompted NOAA forecasters to boost the odds of
X-flares to 50% during the next 24 hours. Because AR1967 is near the center
of the solar disk, any eruptions will be squarely Earth directed.
The Earth’s geomagnetic field was quiet to unsettled over the weekend.
The estimated planetary K-index at 7 am local today was 1. Geomagnetic
conditions are expected to be quiet to unsettled today, quiet to active on
Tuesday and back to quiet on Wednesday. According to spaceweather.com, a big
CME expected to sideswipe Earth’s magnetic field on Feb 2nd did not arrive
on time. A new analysis by NOAA forecasters suggests it will reach Earth on
Feb. 4th instead. Its arrival could spark minor geomagnetic storms and
auroras for those up north on Tuesday. Flares and CME’s from the now Earth
directed monster Sunspot may be much more of a concern.
DX CHALLENGE FOR THE WEEK
SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE, S9. A group of operators will be QRV as S9TF
from Principe, IOTA AF-044, from February 1 to 12. Activity will be
with three stations on 80 to 10 meters. QSL via IK5CRH.
AMSTERDAM AND ST. PAUL ISLANDS, FT/Z. A large group of operators
are QRV as FT5ZM for two weeks. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters
using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via N2OO. (Amsterdam and St. Paul Islands,
extremely isolated with no permanent residents, is almost equidistant from
Cape Town and Perth in the southern Indian Ocean. Logging the DXpedition in
even one slot will be a true challenge. This entity won’t be visited again
for a long time so it’s a Challenge Holdover! Go work ’em while you have a
chance.)
QSO CORNER
This is the place to post contacts with DXpeditions, Special Event
Stations, or special QSO’s you would like to share.
Glenn, N4LV, has kept an eye on the on-line logs for FT5ZM,
Amsterdam/St. Paul. On Saturday he reported: “Noticed in the on-line log
for FT5ZM that Dick K4JJW, Tommy W5XMT, and myself have bagged Amsterdam &
St. Paul [Friday night], although it takes some chair time to do it. Looking
for AI4WL in the log. (Two of mine were at 100w – 1 SSB and 1 CW, from
around sunset until around 11:30pm, so go for it.).” So it just happened
that I had worked FT5 that same evening and wrote Glenn. In a following
post he said, “You worked them on 20m exactly 7 minutes after I did last
night and about 15 minutes after Tommy. Have worked them 6 times now – twice
on 30m CW because the first one didn’t show up in the log. Got the first
one (20m CW) on the first day of the operation which shocked me with all the
yahoo’s and lids on – that was bad! The rest were all yesterday and waiting
to see if they all show up in the log. Hearing them on 12m this morning but
not able get them to bite yet. Great fun though.” So true Glenn, so true!
Glenn also found David, N4ENE’s contacts hidden in the log.
Who else from PARS has logged FT5ZM?
OTHER ACTIVITY ON THE RADIO:
This info is extracted from the ARRL Letter, from the WA7BNM Contest
Calendar or the ARRL Contest Corral. You can receive the Letter weekly via
email as a member of ARRL :
* Feb 7-9 — YL-OM Contest
* Feb 8 — Asia-Pacific Sprint
* Feb 8 — FISTS CW Winter Sprint
* Feb 8-9 — YLISSB QSO Party
* Feb 8-9 — CQ World Wide RTTY WPX
* Feb 8-9 — Worldwide EME Contest
* Feb 8-9 — Dutch PACC Contest
* Feb 8-9 — Straight Key Weekend Sprintathon
* Feb 8-9 — OMISS QSO Party
* Feb 8-9 — New Hampshire QSO Party
* Feb 8-9 — RSGB – First 1.8 MHz Contest
* Feb 8-9 — AM QSO Party
* Feb 9 — Milwaukee FM Simplex Contest
* Feb 9-10 — Classic Exchange
* Feb 10-14 — ARRL School Club Roundup
All dates & times, unless otherwise stated, are UTC.
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
are a great way to get those last states on your Worked All States (WAS)
Award list.)
SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS. W1AW Centennial Stations W1AW/0 in
Minnesota and W1AW/5 in Texas are QRV until 2359Z on 4 February. In
addition, W1AW Centennial Stations W1AW/4 in Georgia and W1AW/KH6 in
Hawaii will be QRV starting at 0000z on February 5. They will be
active until 2359z on 11 February.
(Courtesy of the ARRL DX Bulletin)
HAM EQUIPMENT FOR SALE, TRADE, OR WANTED
——————–
* FOR SALE Cushcraft R 7 antenna, $125 Please
contact Charlie Overcash, WA4GSI, at 249-1257 or
charlie@dockline.net. (20131230)
——————–
(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).
PARS CALENDAR:
* Feb 22, PARS Monthly Meeting, Saturday, 9 am, Brantley’s Village
Restaurant, Oriental. Bill Olah, KR4LO, 249-0287 or w_olah@yahoo.com
* Mar 15, Lucky Charms Walk/Run, Oriental, (PARS Community Service)
* Mar 22, PARS Monthly Meeting, Saturday, 9 am, Brantley’s Village
Restaurant, Oriental. Bill Olah, KR4LO, 249-0287 or w_olah@yahoo.com
* Apr 4,5,6, 2014 Cycle NC Coastal Ride, Oriental and Pamlico County (PARS
Community Service)
PARS NETS:
* Mondays, Pete’s “Swamp Talk” roundtable, around 8:15 pm local, 28.463
MHz plus or minus, USB. An informal forum originally established to assist
our new Hams, this freq. is in the 10M voice segment open to technician
licensees and above. Radio 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/
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 think
would interest our folks, please send it to me. Thanks
73, Jim AI4WL