PAMLICO AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY (PARS) JANUARY 2014 MEETING NOTES
* 26 members and guests attended the January meeting at Brantley’s
Restaurant in Oriental last Saturday.
* President Bill Olah KR4LO gave the financial report on behalf of Wally
KK4ASP, Club Treasurer.
* Mike KK4HPS, our ARES EC, was unable to attend the meeting. Bill
reminded everyone that the Pamlico Emergency Net meets on the W4SLH Oriental
repeater every Wednesday evening at 1930 hours for a short practice session
and rag chew. [See PARS Nets below.]
* Jim Hartmeyer, AI4WL, noted he is changing computers and to let him know
if you don’t receive your PARSgram. It normally is sent out on Mondays. He
then reported that the VHF bands have been abnormally quiet this Winter
season so far. Some Sporadic E Layer Propagation is occurring as is Trans
Equatorial Propagation into South America from the southern states. Although
there are 9 Sunspot Regions facing earth, no sunspots are active and the
Sun’s K-Ray output seems to have flatlined. The Solar Flux Index on Saturday
was 136 and the bands appeared quiet. The big DXpedition to Amsterdam Island
in the southern Indian Ocean should be operational soon. He reminded
everyone about the rise in postage starting January 26th.
* According to Larry Wall KK4SEO our club WebMaster, over 30 members are
registered on the new PARS Website, http://n4prs.org but there is no
activity on any of the forums. Bill Olah suggested that “For Sale” and
“Wanted” sections be added to the site.
* Meeting planners are looking for suggestions for presentations at our club
meetings. Bill asked those interested to stay for the discussion on
grounding, both RF and DC. Dave Bacon KD2T suggested a round table on
DX’ing, also a discussion of QSL’ing and logging. He’s looking for those
pearls to make the tough contacts and get response on QSL requests. Then
there are those many logging programs to sort out….
* Jack Russell KK4UTK, member of the PARS Fall 2013 Technician
Class, was recognized for his recent upgrade to General Class.
* All of the equipment donated to PARS by the Estate of Ross Knowles KG4AWF
(SK) was auctioned off except the IC-W32A Dual Band HT. The members agreed
that the transceiver could be better used for short term loan to new Hams
or otherwise used for instructional purposes.
* After the formal meeting was adjourned, Bill led the group in a “show
and tell” discussion on DC grounding and lightning protection. He also
covered the need for RF grounds in certain conditions.
* Bill offered to lead the round table on DX’ing, logging, and QSL’ing at
the February meeting.
Again, meeting planners are looking for suggestions for presentations at our
club meetings. What do you want to talk about, discuss, learn, or even
build? Let Bill or Randy know, put a comment on our N4PRS Web Site, or reply
to this PARSgram. Thanks.
NOAA EXTREME WEATHER INFORMATION SHEET
Jamie King, KJ4JK, from the warmth of Travelers Rest in Florida, passed
along the link to this must-have information sheet. It is a two page
list of key email addresses, phone numbers and more for National, State, and
County emergency offices and services. It includes emergency broadcast radio
stations with their frequencies as well as the NOAA Weather Broadcast
frequencies. Get one for your desk:
http://service.ncddc.noaa.gov/rdn/www/activities/weather-ready-nation/newis/documents/East-Central-North-Carolina.pdf
SOLAR NUMBERS TODAY
NOAA reported that solar activity was low during the 24 hours ending Sunday
night at 5 pm local. However, two old sunspots, AR1944 and AR1946, which
produced big flares three weeks ago, are about to return from their trip
around the farside of the sun according to SpaceWeather.com.The largest
solar event in the most recent 24 hours was a M1 event observed at 27/0211Z
from Region 1960 . There are currently 8 numbered sunspot regions on the
disk. The Sunspot count this morning is 109, down from the 118 we saw last
Monday morning. The Solar Flux is 138,about 10 points higher than last
Monday. The Solar Flux could rise to 160 by Wednesday. NOAA predicts Solar
activity is likely to be low with a 20 to 35% chance for M-class flares
through Wednesday.
The Earth’s geomagnetic field was quiet to unsettled over the weekend. The
estimated planetary K-index at 7 am local today was zero. Geomagnetic
conditions are expected to be quiet to unsettled today, quiet to active on
Tuesday and back to quiet on Wednesday. There are no large coronal holes on
the Earthside of the sun.
DX CHALLENGE FOR THE WEEK
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.)
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…
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 1 — Triathlon DX Contest (RTTY, SSB, CW)
* Feb 1 — Minnesota QSO Party
* Feb 1 — AGCW Straight Key Party
* Feb 1-2 — Vermont QSO Party
* Feb 1-2 — 10-10 International Winter Contest, SSB
* Feb 1-2 — EPC WW DX Contest
* Feb 1-2 — Black Sea Cup International
* Feb 1-2 — British Columbia QSO Party
* Feb 1-2 — Delaware QSO Party
* Feb 1-2 — Mexico RTTY International Contest
* Feb 2 — North American Sprint, CW
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/2 in New York
and W1AW/5 in Oklahoma are QRV until 2359Z on 28 January. In
addition, W1AW Centennial Stations W1AW/0 in Minnesota and W1AW/5 in
Texas will be QRV starting at 0000z on 29 January. They will be
active until 2359z on 4 February.
(Courtesy of the ARRL DX Bulletin)
HAM EQUIPMENT FOR SALE, TRADE, OR WANTED
——————–
* FOR SALE: Equipment from estate of W4EHF–
IC-725 HF All Band transceiver orig box manual 295.00
IC-756 Pro HF/50MHz All band Transceiver orig box manual 1100.00
IC-756 Pro II HF/50MHz All Mode Transceiver no box manual 1300.00
FT-270 R/E VHF FM Transceiver box manual 95.00
MFJ-949E Deluxe versa Turner box manual 100.00
Contact Bill Finch, AI4TN, 252-341-3189, finchwc@gmail.com (20131223)
——————–
* 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.
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