CHARLES (CHARLIE) LETOURNEAU, KB3HYD, SK
Charles E. Letourneau, 76, of Minnesott Beached passed away at his home on
Monday, February 17, 2014. Charlie held an Amateur Extra Class license and
was a member of the Pamlico Amateur Radio Society since moving to the county
from Maryland. Charlie retired from military service in 1979 after a long
and admirable career. He enlisted in the Navy in 1955. After initial
training, his first assignments were as a radioman on submarines. Charlie
ultimately retired as a Navy Commander after 18 years of commissioned
service, initially as a Surface Warfare Officer, then as an aviator. His
last assignment was on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations. After
military retirement, he was a project manager for several government
contracts. He spoke five languages fluently. Charlie was a sailor,
fisherman, and gardener. Our condolences go to his wife Shirley and the
rest of his family.
SKYWARN ACTIVATION–SEVERE WEATHER WEEK TORNADO DRILL
The 2014 North Carolina Severe Weather Awareness Week began yesterday, Mar
2nd, and will run through Saturday. The statewide Tornado Drill will be
conducted on WEDNESDAY, March 5th AT 0930 local time. The NOAA Alert for the
Tornado Drill will replace the regular weekly test over NOAA Weather Alert
Radios, SKYWARN WILL BE ACTIVATED AT THAT TIME. As during weekly practices,
Janice, KJ4JPE, the net controller, will call the net on each of the
local repeaters in turn starting with the Trenton repeater. She will use a
special script for the Tornado Drill. Schools, businesses, work places, and
families across the state are being strongly encouraged to participate in
this drill. If there is actual severe weather occurring on the morning of
March 5, 2014, the statewide tornado drill will be postponed. The
alternate date for the drill is Friday, March 7, 2014 at 9:30 AM EST. For
more information, contact Janice Hopkins, KJ4JPE, at hopkinszoo1@msn.com.
N4PRS WEB SITE FORUMS
Larry, KK4SAO, has posted a question in the forums, under the Technical
Questions and Information forum, about solar auxiliary power. This is a
topic of interest to many hams, particularly when the components for a
system can now be obtained at a reasonable cost. There have been other
postings on the web site that might interest you, If you haven’t logged on
recently, check it out, https://www.n4prs.org.
SOLAR NUMBERS TODAY
NOAA reported that solar activity was low during the 24 hours ending
Sunday night at 5 pm local. The largest recent solar event was a C8 event
observed at 02/0012Z from Region 1982. There are currently 10 numbered
sunspot regions on the disk. The Sunspot count this morning is 170 down 15
from the 185 we saw last Monday morning. The Solar Flux is at 161 also down
from the 172 NOAA reported last Monday. That said, solar activity is
expected to be moderate low with a 70 percent chance for M-class flares and
a 25 percent chance for X-class flares through Wednesday. The Solar Flux is
expected remain around 165 through Wednesday.
The Earth’s geomagnetic field activity ranged from quiet to unsettled
over the weekend. The estimated planetary K-index at 10 am local today
was 2. The geomagnetic field is expected to be quiet through Wednesday.
DX CHALLENGE FOR THE WEEK
TRISTAN DA CUNHA AND GOUGH ISLAND, ZD9. Pierre, ZS1HF is QRV as
ZD9M from Gough Island while on work assignment. Activity is in his
spare time on the HF bands using SSB and various digital modes. QSL
via ZS1A.
QSO CORNER
This is the place to post contacts with DXpeditions, Special Event
Stations, or special QSO’s you would like to share.
It wasn’t quiet on 10 Meters over the weekend: sideband signals
cheek-by-jowl from 28.300 all the way up to 28.860 MHz and above. The other
bands were active too… all because of the ARRL DX Contest and great
propagation. If you didn’t play in the contest, it certainly was a good
time to “cherry pick”.
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 :
* Mar 7-8 — Worldwide EME Contest
* Mar 7-8 — RSGB Commonwealth Contest (CW)
* Mar 7-8 — Straight Key Weekend Sprintathon
* Mar 7-8 — AGCW QRP Contest (CW)
* Mar 7-8 — QRP ARCI HF Grid Square Sprint (CW)
* Mar 7-8 — EA PSK63 Contest
* Mar 7-8 — Idaho QSO Party
* Mar 9 — North American Sprint (RTTY)
* Mar 9 — Wisconsin QSO Party
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/7 in
Washington State and W1AW/0 in Kansas are QRV until 2359z on 4
March. In addition, W1AW Centennial Stations W1AW/7 in Idaho and
W1AW/4 in Kentucky will be QRV starting at 0000z on March 5. They
will be active until 2359z on March 11.
(Courtesy of the ARRL DX Bulletin)
HAM EQUIPMENT FOR SALE, TRADE, OR WANTED
——————–
* SALE PENDING FT-857 separation kit, with all cables and
instructions, brand new in the box.
——————–
* 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:
* 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) Contact Mike Hurm 249-1122 or Mike Marsh 636-1257 for
info.
* May 3, DownEast Hamfest, Saturday, 8 am-3 pm, Lenoir Community College,
Kinston, NC. Gene Rybolt 252-523-0988, Janice Hopkins, KJ4JPE
hopkinszoo1@msn.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