PARSgram 2013-11-04

VOICE OF AMERICA TRIP, WEDNESDAY NOV 20
Bill Olah KR4LO has arranged for a tour of the VOA transmitter site.  It is
located between Vanceboro, Ayden and Washington NC.  The trip is set for
Wednesday November 20th with the tour to begin at 9 am.  Plan to be at the
site 10 minutes earlier. PARS members may want to form car pools.
Directions:  Go north on Rt.17 from New Bern past Ernul and Vanceboro.
About 10 miles north of Vanceboro turn left on NC102. Follow the signs to
the Robert R.Murrow transmitting station. They will take you about 4 miles
on NC102 to a right turn on Leary Mills Rd, then go about a mile.  Turn left
on Gaskins Rd. Go another mile and turn right on Voice of America Road.
Turn right at the facility entrance. If the gate is closed use the phone to
gain entry.  Bring your camera and questions.  The big rig is capable of
500KW but coasts along at 250KW to be “energy efficient”.  Bill will be
monitoring the Oriental Repeater that morning. For more info contact Bill
KR4LO, 249-0287 or w_olah@yahoo.com.

NEW CALL SIGNS
The Federal Communications Commission licensing folks expeditiously
processed  the exam results from the PARS VE Session on October 24th.  The
results were posted on the 30th with the issuance of license grants and
call signs.  You might just hear these folks on the W4SLH Oriental Repeater
very soon:
Dave  Mauney, KK4UTL, General
Jack Russell, KK4UTK, Techican
Ralph Harris, KK4UTF, Tech
Judah Emory, KK4UTJ, Tech
Joe Glorioso, KK4UTH, Tech
Carol Glorioso, KK4UTG, Tech
Torrey Neill,  KK4UTI, Tech.

Word has it that Torrey is applying for a vanity call with his initials:
KA4TMN.  Charles Eatmon KJ4ZKL already a tech, passed the General Class exam
and Gaspar Kiraly, KK4NLG, a student in the Winter General course, passed
his exam to upgrade and became an Extra Class Licensee. They kept their
previously issued calls, at least for the present. Again, congratulations.
We look forward to hearing from you.

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). Although we had a quiet Hurricane season, it’s still a good idea
to make sure your emergency set-up is working.  Why not just check into the
Pamlico net using back-up power during a practice this month.  Mike Hurm
KK4HPS, our Pamlico County ARES EC, and his helpers do a great job calling
the net every Wednesday night.

JOIN  PARS NOW, GET TWO MONTHS FREE
If you are not currently a member of the Pamlico Amateur Radio Society
(PARS) and wish to become one please contact our Treasurer, Wally Wallace ,
KK4ASP, at 410–804-1750 or send her an email at wallandwill@gmail.com.  She
will happily send you our membership materials.  Those wishing to join now
will receive their membership for the balance of 2013 at no charge in return
for payment of dues for 2014.

NORTH CAROLINA SECTION NEWS
ARRL North Carolina Section Manager, Bill Morine reminds us that
“ARRL members can get delivery of the NC Section monthly newsletter by
logging into their member profile at
http://www.arrl.org/Users/edit#!/edit-info-email_subscriptions and
clicking on “News and information from your Division Director and
Section Manager”. This newsletter is not copyrighted, so it can be
reproduced and used in club newsletters or forwarded to anyone. Current
and past issues of the North Carolina Section Newsletter can be found on
the section’s website at www.ncarrl.org .”  You can reach Bill N2COP at
n2cop@arrl.org

SOLAR NUMBERS TODAY
NOAA reported that solar activity was at moderate levels for the 24 hours
ending Sunday night at 5 pm local. The largest solar event of the period was
a M5 event observed at 03/0522Z Nov from Region 1884. There are currently 7
numbered sunspot  regions on the disk. The Sunspot count is 143 well down
from the 206 we saw last Monday.  The Solar Flux was 144 this morning down
over 20 points from the 165 reported last week. It is expected to drop to
135 by Wednesday.  NOAA predicts solar activity will be low with a chance
for
M-class flares and a slight chance (10%) for an X-class flare through
Wednesday . All that said, the Flux trailing average has risen a couple of
points to 118 due to the increased solar activity during the past two weeks.
Conditions on the HF bands have been very good.  The 10 Meter ham band was
loaded with activity before sunrise on Sunday, not normal most mornings for
this solar cycle.

The Earth’s geomagnetic field was quiet to unsettled over the weekend.  The
estimated planetary K-index at 7 am local today, 4 November, was 2.
Geomagnetic conditions are expected to be quiet today and tomorrow,
unsettled on Wednesday. Solar wind flowing from a growing coronal hole could
reach Earth on Nov. 6-7.

RF propagation should be best on the 15 and 17 Meter bands and good at night
on the 20 – 40 Meter bands according to the pundits.

DX CHALLENGES FOR THE WEEK–ONE NEW, ONE HOLD-OVER
CE0Y, EASTER ISLAND. Operators Jose/CE0HYO, Gustavo/CX2AM, Humberto/CX3AN,
Gustavo/CX3CE, Mario/CX4CR, Gen/EA5HPX, Francisco/EA7FTR and Carlos/LU2NI
are now active as XR0YY from Hanga Roa, Easter Island, until November 7th.
Activity will be on 160-6 meters using CW, SSB and the Digital modes. They
have 3 stations operating simultaneously. QSL via EB7DX. Their Web site
is available at:          http://easterisland2013.com

5J0, SAN ANDRES ISLAND. Members of the “DX Friends” are now active from
San Andres Island (NA-033) as 5J0R until November 10th. Activity will be
on 160-6 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. Suggested frequencies are listed
in OPDX.1132. QSL via EA5RM direct (see Web page). You can use the OQRS
(see Web page) for direct and Bureau cards. Visit their Web page at:
http://www.dxfriends.com/SanAndres2013

QSO CORNER
This is the place to post contacts with DXpeditions, Special Event
Stations, or special QSO’s you would like to share.

On Saturday, Tom KI4NSP reported, “….I got 5J0R [PARSgram Challenge]
yesterday on 15m split….and 10m split today….tom   nsp.”  So look south
for the big pile up or wait a few days until it gets smaller, same for XR0YY
Easter Island, and also Wake Island, K9W Wake Island, another one not to
miss.

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 :
*  Nov 9-10 — Worked All Europe DX Contest, digital
*  Nov 9-10 — 10-10 Fall Digital QSO Party, digital
*  Nov 9-10 — Japan International DX Contest, SSB
*  Nov 9-10 — OK-OM DX Contest, CW
*  Nov 9-10 — Straight Key Weekend Sprintathon, CW
*  Nov 9-10 — Kentucky QSO Party, SSB+CW+digital
*  Nov 9-11 –CQ WE (Western Electric), SSB+CW+digital
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.)

HAM EQUIPMENT FOR SALE, TRADE, OR WANTED
——————–
* NEW For Sale Yaesu FT-450D, 100W HF&6M Transceiver with built in tuner,
new in box. $750.00, Dennis Had W4USR 919-469-4630 home, 919-345-2223 cell
or w4usr@att.net (20131028)
——————–
* FS Beckman Industrial 60 MHz Oscilloscope model 9106
asking $100 but make an offer, Jamie King KJ4JK, 252-514-7497,
kj4jk@arrl.net (20130722/20131104)
——————–
* FREE  From D & Don Wogaman KB1NDV & KC8MID a bit of nostalgia: A copy of
The Radio Amateur’s License Manual (64th edition) published in 1970 in
decent condition considering it’s age. Don’t let this gem go to the recycle
bin. email:  dndonwogs@gmail.com  or call 252-249-1930  located in Oriental
We can send a photo if needed. (20130701/20130819)
——————–
(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:
*  Nov 20, VOA Facility Tour, Wednesday, 9 am, Robert R. Murrow Transmitter
Station. Bill Olah, KR4LO, 249-0287  or w_olah@yahoo.com
*  Nov 30, PARS Monthly Meeting, Saturday, 9 am, Brantley’s Village
Restaurant, Oriental. Bill Olah, KR4LO, 249-0287  or w_olah@yahoo.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

ABOUT THE PARSgram
The PARSgram is a weekly email publication for members of the Pamlico
Amateur Radio Society (PARS), an association of amateur radio operators
located in, near, or from Pamlico County, North Carolina.  The PARSgram
contains announcements and information about current and planned activities
of the Society and other items of specific interest to its members.  Except
to summarize information related to Solar Activity or announce expeditions
of amateur radio operators to unique distant places, special event stations,
and contests, it does not generally repeat information available elsewhere.
The PARSgram does offer a means to make known to its subscribers radio
equipment and other related items for sale or trade.  Since PARS members may
have limited internet access, the PARSgram is sent in text format and kept
relatively short.  We are always looking for items of specific interest to
our 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
at jth350@embarqmail.com.  — Jim Hartmeyer, AI4WL, Editor (20121126)

Jim, AI4WL