SKYWARN APPRECIATION DAY ON SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7
SKYWARN Appreciation Day is this coming Friday, Dec 6th from 7pm
through Saturday, Dec 7th at 7pm at the National Weather Service office just
off US-70 on Roberts Road in Newport. Head over, get the tour, and spend
some time operating the office’s HF station in the NWS QSO Party. NWS
Newport will provide lunch on Saturday, Dec 7th. SKYWARN Recognition Day
began in 1999 by the National Weather Service and the American Radio Relay
League. It celebrates the contributions that volunteer SKYWARN radio
operators make to the National Weather Service. The official webpage for the
event is: www.wrh.noaa.gov/mtr/hamradio. For more information contact John
Hopkins, KJ4JPH, at hopkinszoo1@msn.com.
PAMLICO AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY (PARS) NOVEMBER 2013 MEETING NOTES
* 29 members and guests attended the November meeting last Saturday at
Brantley’s Restaurant in Oriental.
* President Bill Olah KR4LO reported on behalf of Wally KK4ASP, Club
Treasurer, that the club is solvent with 22 members already paid up for
2014.
The club coffers were helped by those who contributed to the purchase of the
transceiver for deployment to the Pamlico EOC in emergencies.
* President Bill Olah KR4LO noted on behalf of Mike KK4HPS, our ARES EC,
that the College evacuation center radio is limited to a single band. Perry
Cheatham, KG4QHM, confirmed that and advised that the Delamar Center at the
College, although equipped with the newest antenna with coax routed to the
conference room, is not used. The building is not certified by the Red
Cross because it lacks emergency power. In an emergency, Perry reports to
the Chemistry building that has emergency power. There is an older but still
good 2M antenna mounted outside on a telephone pole. The coax is routed to
one of the laboratories. Perry now has a key to get into to the lab when the
site is activated. Access used to be problematic. He uses his own radio
there now but would welcome a back-up that could be stored on site. He would
also welcome a second operator that could take over if needed.
* Jim Hartmeyer, AI4WL, reported Winter Sporadic E Layer Propagation is
beginning on 6M. Reports of Trans Equatorial Propagation into South America
have been on the rise. The highest Sunspot numbers in a decade were reached
on November 17th (SN of 282). They have since declined. The 10 and 12 Meter
bands remain very active for several hours during daylight hours. To insure
receipt of the PARSgram keep him advised of email address changes.
* Eleven PARS members and a number of NBARC members visited the Edward R.
Murrow Transmitter Station on Nov 20th according to Bill Olah. He remarked
that it was quite a thrill to walk into a transmitter that uses 2 foot tall
tubes and capable of 500 KW–it was down for maintenance. (As noted in last
week’s PARSgram, this is the last VOA Shortwave transmitter site in the US.
The others including two in the Greenville area, have been decommissioned.
Photos of the trip should be on the PARS web site soon.)
* Janice Hopkins, KJ4JPE, briefly discussed SKYWARN APPRECIATION DAY,
actually an annual two day event. This year it will be held on 6-7th of
December. She invited all to tour the National Weather Service Newport
Office, operate the station HF radio in the “contest” between the NWS
offices, and enjoy lunch on Saturday with the staff. Bill Morine, N2COP, NC
Section Manager, is expected to visit on Saturday.
* Dick Goodwin, K4JJW, briefly talked about his “Vari-Ten” Antenna
Tensioner and offered early models to members for “beta testing”. The
device is a better alternative to the brick/pulley method of tensioning wire
antennas to eliminate sag in the horizontal plane. It will also protect
the antenna system from snapping with end support (tree) movement. Two
models are available based on antenna weight. (Dick is the second PARS
member to offer unique products to the amateur radio community. For more
information, contact Dick at rgoodwin41@suddenlink.net. The other product
is the very successful “Air Boss Antenna Launcher” designed and sold by
Bill Olah, see www.kr4loairboss.com.)
* The new PARS Website, http://n4prs.org, is on line with over 30 members
registered according to Larry Wall KK4SEO, our club WebMaster. Photos of the
2008 and 2010 Field Days and the VOA visit are coming. Larry is looking for
more activity on the forums.
* The December PARS meeting (Dec 28) will feature the annual gift exchange.
Gifts should be ham related valued at $10 or less. Station grounding
will be discussed at the January meeting.
REDNECK HAM OPERATOR:
You are a Redneck Ham Operator if….
1. One leg of your dipole is tied to the outhouse.
2. Needle nose pliers are needed to turn your transceiver on and off.
3. You paid more for your mobile antenna than you did for your wife’s
wedding ring.
4. You paused for ID every ten minutes while on your honeymoon.
5. Your spouse asks, “Honey, do you love me?” Your response is “Roger Roger
Roger!”
6. Your trailer home is part of your antenna.
7. Your mobile radio costs more than the vehicle it’s mounted in.
8. Your power supply consists of jumper cables hanging out the window
of your shack connected to the battery of your truck.
9. Your HF rig is the latest Kenwood or Icom and your desk mike came from
Radio Shack.
10. Your idea of RF is REAL FINE audio.
11. Your homebrew amplifier resembles a moonshine whisky still in Alabama.
12. Your TV antenna and 10 meter beam are one and the same.
13. You own a linear amplifier but not a lawn mower.
(Courtesy of Jamie, KJ4JK. Originally in our PARSgram of June 30, 2008)
SOLAR NUMBERS TODAY
NOAA reported that solar activity was low during the 24 hours ending Sunday
night at 5 pm local. The largest solar event of the period was a C1 event
observed at 01/1121Z. There are currently 7 numbered sunspot regions on the
disk. The Sunspot count this morning is 104 up from the 69 of last Monday;
the Solar Flux is131, little changed from last week. The Solar Flux is
expected to stay about the same through Wednesday, perhaps rise a few
points. NOAA predicts Solar activity to be low with a slight chance (20%)
for M-class flares through Wednesday.
The Earth’s geomagnetic field was quiet to active over the weekend. The
estimated planetary K-index at 7 am local today, 25 November, was zero.
Geomagnetic conditions are expected to be quiet today, quiet/unsettled on
Tuesday and quiet again on Wednesday.
LAKSHADWEEP ISLAND, VU7AG.last week’s challenge was finally heard in
Whortonsville Sunday afternoon. Surprisingly, the station was heard on
7.165 MHz probably via Gray Line propagation. The DXpedition will be on
Laccadive, IOTA AS-011, off the west coast of India until December 10.
DX CHALLENGE FOR THE WEEK
ASCENSION ISLAND, ZD8. A group of operators will be QRV as ZD8UW
from Green Mountain from December 2 to 6. Activity will be on 40 to
10 meters using CW and SSB and possibly WSPR. QSL via M0OXO. The island
played a important role as a stop-over/refueling point for aircraft during
WWII.
QSO CORNER
This is the place to post contacts with DXpeditions, Special Event
Stations, or special QSO’s you would like to share.
No reports were received from PARS members this past week.
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 :
* Dec 5 — NRAU 10 Meter (all modes)
* Dec 6 — NCCC Sprint, CW
* Dec 6-8 — ARRL 160 Meter Contest, CW
* Dec 7 — TARA RTTY Melee
* Dec 7 — Wake-Up! QRP Sprint, CW
* Dec 7-8 — SKCC Weekend Sprintathon, CW
* Dec 7-8 –TOPS Activity Contest, CW
* Dec 7-8 — EPC Ukraine DX Contest, PSK
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
——————–
* SOLD Beckman Industrial 60 MHz Oscilloscope model 9106
——————–
* WANTED Microphone that will work with an Icom Transceiver, IC-745. Please
contact Charlie Overcash, WA4GSI, at 249-1257 or
charlie@dockline.net.(20131202)
——————–
(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:
* Dec 6-7, SKYWARN Appreciation Day, 7 pm Fri – 7 pm Sat, NWS
Newport-Morehead City
* Dec 28, 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, wallmailbox@yahoo.com.
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