PAMLICO AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY (PARS) DEC 2014 MEETING NOTES
* Twenty-four PARS members and guests attended the breakfast meeting chaired
by President Bill Olah, KR4LO, at Brantley’s in Oriental last Saturday.
Business was dispatched quickly in favor of the Christmas End of Year Gift
Exchange.
* There was no treasurer’s report. “Wally” Wallace KK4ASP was out of town.
Bill assured those present that the Society was solvent.
* He updated the group on plans for a club “Fox Hunt”. The control unit
has been assembled; portable “hunter-antennas” being built. A first hunt is
being considered for an early Spring day with a noon lunch to follow. [Of
course, the well hidden Fox must be found first.]
* After hearing that Torrey Neill had to step down, Greg Wadsworth, KM4DZM,
volunteered to pick up the Public Relations effort for PARS.
* Jim, AI4WL, gave a quick report on current Solar conditions and VHF
operations. He thanked those who contributed to the PARSgram during the
year. He also noted that the big DXpedition Navassa Island is set for late
January 2015. The long-quiet entity is number one the Club Log most wanted
list.
* Bill advised there is an auction of equipment planned for the January
meeting. Some equipment is very high value and would provide a greater
benefit to the club treasury if sold on Ebay. He asked for help from
someone that is”Ebay proficient”.
* Bill Michne WM3X reported that the General License Course is on track.
It starts on Monday, January 5th at Pamlico Community College.
* John Hopkins KJ4EJH advised that there would be no SKYWARN Net on
Tuesday, January 30th. He also solicted help for the Neusiok Trail Run on
Saturday, January 3rd, 2015.
* The meeting concluded with the exchange warm wishes for the holiday and
the coming New Year.
NEUSIOK TRAIL RUN COMMUNICATIONS HELP NEEDED
The Neusiok Trail Run is being held for a fourth year in the Croatan
National Forest on Saturday, January 3rd, 2015. Communications support is
required for safety and event control. The Neusiok trail is 21.5 miles long
running from the Pine Cliff Recreation area on the Neuse river (Just East of
Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point) to Oyster Point Campground east of
Newport, NC. Negotiating the course abundant with wild life and leg twisting
obstacles will be a big challenge for the runners. More information can be
found on the race website: http://www.neusioktrailrun.com/Home.html. If you
can find the time to help at one of the command points or outposts during
this worthy event please contact Keith Stroud at
keith.stroud@wasteindustries.com of the Carteret County ARS,
NO WEDNESDAY NIGHT NET THIS WEEK,
NEXT PAMLICO EMERGENCY NET (ARES) PRACTICE, JAN 7, 2015
Due to New Year’s Eve falling on Wednesday night this
year, there will be no practice net until Wednesday January 7, 2015. Hope
to hear you then.
The Pamlico Emergency Net normally meets Wednesday nights at 7:30 pm
local time on the Oriental repeater (147.210 MHz, CTCSS/PL tone 151.4,
standard offset). Contact Mike Hurm, K4HPS, at 252-249-1122 or at
mhurm@aol.com for more information about the net and the Pamlico County
Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) program.
NO SKYWARN PRACTICE NET THIS WEEK
Janice Hopkins, KJ4JPE, SKYWARN Net Controller advises that there will be no
SKYWARN Net this Tuesday. The next practice will be on Tuesday evening,
January 6, 2015, at 9 pm local time. The net is conducted in a “round
robin” style on several repeaters in ENC including the Oriental and
Grantsboro Repeaters. For more information and a list of all the repeaters
used, go to www.mhxskywarn.org.
GENERAL CLASS LICENSE UPGRADE COURSE–
PLEASE ENCOURAGE ANYONE YOU THINK INTERESTED
PARS’ amateur radio General Class upgrade course is scheduled for Monday
evenings beginning January 5 and ending March 2 with the exam to be held at
Pamlico Community College, 5049 Highway 306 South, Grantsboro, NC 28529.
THIS IS A CHANGE IN LOCATION. We will be using Room 412 in the Brinson
Building, the middle building of the complex. The classes will run
6:30-8:30 PM. Students do not need a Technician Class license to take the
course, but must pass the Technician Class exam before taking the
General Class exam. [They may do both at the same exam session.] The
course fee is $30.00, which includes the textbook, the ARRL General Class
License Manual, 7th edition. If you choose to obtain the textbook on your
own, the course fee is waived. The exam fee is $15.00. To register,
contact Bill Michne by phone (252-249-1175) or email
(billmichne@embarqmail.com).
SOLAR NUMBERS TODAY
NOAA reported that solar activity has been low during the 24 hours
ending yesterday at 4 pm local. The largest solar event of the period was a
C3 event observed at 28/1759Z. There are currently 7 numbered sunspot
regions facing Earth on the disk. The sunspot count this morning is 108 down
from 159 reported by NOAA last Monday, and 179 the week before. The Solar
Flux Index is 133 well down from the 206 in last week’s PARSgram. According
to the Space Weather Prediction Center, solar activity is expected to be low
with through Wednesday with a 25% chance for M-class flares today and 20%
chance for an M-class flare on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Earth’s geomagnetic field activity has been quiet to active during
the past 24 hours. The geomagnetic field is expected to vary between
quiet and unsettled through Wednesday. The K-index was reported by NOAA to
be a quiet 3 at 0700 local this morning. No geomagnetic storms are expected
during the next 24 hours.
THIS WEEK’S DX CHALLENGE
This week’s challenge courtesy of Dave, N4ENE:
DxFriends Team will lead a dxpedition to the Sovereign Military Order of
Malta supporting the fundraising project to provide medical assistance to
the migrants in the Mediterranean Sea.
The team will be composed by Tony/EA5RM (team leader), Frank/DL8YHR,
Javi/EA5KM, Manuel/EA7AJR, Eugene/EA5HPX, Fabrizio/IN3ZNR,
Giorgio/IZ4AKS, Francesco/IZ7KHR, Luca/IW0DJB and Jun/JH4RHF and it will be
on air with the call-sign 1A0C.
Activity is planned from Dec. 28th , 2014 to Jan. 6th 2015 and it will
be concentrated on HF to provide a QSO especially to North American West
Coast and Japan.
After the installation of all the HF antennas the team will try to erect
a station in 144 & 432 MHz for E.M.E. ready from moonrise to moonset.
QSL via IZ7KHR following the instruction on www.1A0C.com
QSO CORNER
This is the place to post contacts with DXpeditions, Special Event
Stations, or special QSO’s you would like to share.
Nothing heard except the hiss of the wind off Santa’s 2 Meter whip.
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 :
* January 1 — ARRL Straight Key Night
* January 1 — New Year’s Snowball Contest (SSB, CW)
* January 1 — SARTG New Year RTTY Contest
* January 1 — AGCW Happy New Year Contest (CW)
* January 2 — NS Weekly Sprint
* January 3 — 070 PSKFest
* January 3 — QRP ARCI New Year’s Sprint (CW)
* January 3 — EUCW 160 Meter Contest
* January 3-4 — WW Peace Messenger Cities (SSB, CW)
* January 3-4 — ARRL RTTY Roundup
* January 4 — ARRL Kids Day
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.)
SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS. W1AW/3 in Pennsylvania and W1AW/0 in Iowa
are QRV until 2359z on December 30. This concludes the ARRL
Centennial QSO Party W1AW/portable station operations.
(Courtesy of the ARRL DX Bulletin)
HAM EQUIPMENT FOR SALE, TRADE, OR WANTED
——————–
* FREE — Coax. Belden 8281 video cable (blue jacket), 78 ft piece; RG-59U
two pieces (yellow jacket). Pick up in Morehead City or New Bern, contact
Stephen Freeman, KK4JOP, 252-725-3845. (20141215)
* FOR SALE — WIRE ANTENNA — “Radioworks” Carolina Windom 40 — Specs
and installation requirements can be found on the Radioworks site. Total
length is 66 feet. This antenna is 4+ years old but was only in the air 1
year. Requires a tuner (or an older radio with real tuning knobs). Although
wire is weathered, the balun and matching unit are like new, and all
connections were kept sealed where required. Retails new for about
$140……..yours for $40 CASH, … no offers please. Picture available
on request. Located in Greenville, with free delivery to Oriental.
Contact Don Corley, WA4DX , at 252-916-7085. (20141208)
* FOR SALE–DRAKE R-8A communications receiver in like-new condition; no
cosmetic flaws, all knobs and meters intact, nesting spiders chased out.
Asking price $500. Comparable to those on Ebay advertised at $695.
Contact Jamie King KJ4JK at (252) 514-7497or kj4jk@arrl.net (20141006)
* FOR SALE/FREE– Last items from Jim Reynolds’ (W4YLO)
station. Jim Reynolds W4YLO is in a care center with late stages of
Parkinson’s disease. His wife would like to sell his shop tools and
equipment and gain back the garage. If you have any interest in these items
please call me, Ed Valentine, and set up a visit time to view them.
– Free, Two large paper format printers. With software and cables. Come
look and take.
– One HP3570 Scanner 8/12 X 10 inch, software and USB cable. $10.
– Dentron Super Tuner ( Rated very good tuner in QRZ) $145.
– Radial Arm Saw 14 inch blade. Made by Delta With a few blades. $250.
– Sorenson Power Regulating Transformer. 6 in x 6 in x 18 in long @ 75 lbs.
1000VA $20.
– Icom AH4 Antenna Tuner $250.
– Bird Power Meter Replacement Slug Socket and in-out connectors $65
– Xantrex True Charge Dual 20 Amps. With remote metering. $165.
– Xantrex 1500 Inverter. $98.
Contact Ed Valentine W2YPM at 252 637-3161 or
w2ypm@earthlink.net for information and pricing.
(20140602/20141222)
——————–
(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 HAMFESTS:
* February 7, 2015: Richmond Frostfest, Richmond Raceway Complex,
Richmond, VA, http://www.frostfest.com
* April 4, 2015: 43rd Annual RARSfest/North Carolina State Convention,
Raleigh Amateur Radio Society, State Fairgrounds,
Raleigh, NC, http://www.rars.org/rarsfest
PARS CALENDAR:
* Jan 5 – Mar 2, PARS General Class License Preparation Course, Monday
evenings,6:30-8:30 PM, Room 412 in the Brinson Building,Pamlico Community
College, 5049 Highway 306 South, Grantsboro. TO REGISTER FOR THE COURSE
contact Bill Michne, WM3X, at 252-249-1175 or by email at
billmichne@embarqmail.com. DON’T WAIT to register, materials need to be
ordered!
* Jan 31, PARS Monthly Meeting, Saturday, 9 am, Brantley’s Village
Restaurant, Oriental. Bill Olah, KR4LO, 249-0287 or w_olah@yahoo.com.
* Mar 2, 2015, Amateur Radio License Exam Session, Technician, General, and
Extra, Monday evening, time TBA. Room 412 in the Brinson Building, Pamlico
Community College, 5049 Highway 306 South, Grantsboro. For more information,
and TO REGISTER FOR THE EXAM, contact Bill Michne, WM3X, at 252-249-1175 or
by email at billmichne@embarqmail.com.
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
believe would interest our folks, please send it to me. Thanks.
Wishing you all a Very Happy New Year,
Jim AI4WL