HURRICANE COMMUNITY FORUM ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 22ND
This year is expected to be a very active Hurricane season. With that in
mind, the Pamlico Amateur Radio Society (PARS) in conjunction with the
Town of Oriental is sponsoring the 2024 Hurricane Community Forum. This
presentation by Erik Heden, Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the
National Weather Service in Newport, will be held at Oriental Town Hall
on Wednesday, May 22nd from 6:30 to 7:30pm.
I encourage you to attend this forum and get your questions answered
regarding this upcoming Hurricane season and what YOU can do to protect
yourself, family and property. As an amateur radio operator, you may be
called upon to provide vital information to the local authorities
regarding the specific conditions in your immediate area via our Pamlico
Communications Net.
I also encourage you to inform your neighbors of this forum and ask them
to attend. If they are not aware that you are an amateur radio operator,
make them aware of your capabilities during a time of disaster.
Communications is key! You can pretty much count on the fact that power
and landline phones may not be available during and immediately after a
hurricane. Cellphone service is not always a guarantee in the short
term. Get prepared for the season and make sure that you are ready to
communicate!
Any questions regarding this valuable informational forum, please
contact me at K4ONC@aol.com or my cell 252-626-2730.
73 and Stay Safe,
Bruce Perkins – K4ONC
President – PARS
Pamlico County AuxComm Coordinator
PAMLICO AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY (PARS) APR 27,2024 MEETING NOTES
* Twenty-two members, visitors and guests attended the 9 am Saturday
breakfast meeting chaired by President Bruce Perkins, K4ONC, at
Brantley’s Village Restaurant.
* There were no upgrades or new licensees reported for the month.
* Bruce delivered the Treasurer’s report on behalf of Wally. The meals
for the Fox Hunt were paid for and reimbursement made for the two
additional solar panels installed at the Kershaw repeater site.
* AI4WL’s Propagation Report: Solar activity has been moderate and will
continue that way for the next day or so. M-class flares are expected,
X-class possible. The geomagnetic field is generally quiet. The 15 and
17 meter bands remain the most reliable for DX propagation both day and
night. The lower HF bands good at night, higher bands good during day.
* According to Bruce and as reported by Lor, W3QA, the Eastern Express
may well become the “Arctic Express”. It’s on its 3rd lap ’round the
world floating mostly north toward and nearing the coast of Greenland.
For the past two days, K4NLC, KR4LO and AI4WL received the 20mW signal
on 20M from the little balloon. At such a high latitude, the sun window
is short and the tracker may not transmit for a while.
* Paul, K4MMB, reported the PARS Web site had “188 looks” during the
past 30 days. Look for new EASTERN EXPRESS NC4ES page with photos and
more on www.n4prs.org.
* ARES/PCN. Bruce thanked Charlie WA4GSI, for running the Wednesday PCN
nets in April. Beaufort Bill, W2TNO, raised his hand to call the net in
May. The next Pamlico Communications team meeting is on Saturday, May 4.
* The solar array at the Kershaw tower has been expanded to four panels
basically doubling the speed at which the two 100 amp LIPO batteries can
be charged. Thanks to Mike, K4NLC, for getting and installing the panels
and Bill, KR4LO, for securing Mike’s ladder.
* Thanks went to two Bills and one Mike for their efforts to make the
Spring FOXHUNT a success. Bill Olah found a good den and made sure the
fox would not bite during the hunt; Mike procured and cooked some fine
hamburgers and dogs for lunch; Bill Schrader, K2TNO, made the prize
certificates, and Jim, AI4WL held back the hounds at the fire house. All
of them hope for more participants at the next fox hunt, perhaps in the
fall. Kudu’s went to Paul Manganaro KO4MHM, hunting solo, who found the
fox one second quicker than the team of Beasley, Beasley, and Beasley.
* Bill, KR4LO, recommended the club again auction donated equipment,
some of it fairly high value, that is accumulating after evaluation
and/or repair. At least 3 TenTec Jupiters are now ready to go and “lots
of other stuff”. We probably would get more for the equipment if sold on
line but difficult to find someone to list it. Bill, K2TNO, suggested a
“Dutch Auction” approach. Other ideas included, listing the stuff in
advance on the PARSgram (and sharing the info with nearby clubs),
holding the sale at the the fire house or even town hall but not after a
PARS meeting. Possibly in conjunction with a tailgate sale.
* Dick Goodwin presented his findings after he recorded and analyzed
the radio signal from the Canadian Time Standard Station CHU near Ottawa
before, during and after the Eclipse. He came up some fascinating
results, yet to be fully understood. He was looking for a frequency
dopler-shift but found none. He did find that the CHU signal was strong
and steady before the “total eclipse”, “fluttered” during the umbra
(full eclipse) period, then had much greater perturbation for over an
hour as the penumbra period ended. Lots of questions, lots of
discussion. He was pressed to send his charts and “findings” to those
“scientists” doing Eclipse related propagation studies.
* Bill, K2TNO, and Mike, K4NLC participated in a University propagation
study during the eclipse. Bill operated during the eclipse QSO party.
Their data was sent to hosting organizations to be aggregated with that
of many other hams. Bill noticed an effect, much like E-layer skip that
extends the communications path, that occurred on 40 meters (and only
40) during the eclipse.
* Phillis Schrader, drew the winning number for a Brantleys Gift
Certificate; Ken Boniface WA2AII, a slate PARS coaster; and Bruce, a
Yaesu logo baseball cap.
* There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 10:30 am.
WHERE IS SHE NOW? DAY 39 (or so)
Good question, where is she now? Since we did not see any spots Sunday,
and since her last report was when she was just over Nuussuaq, Greenland
around 3 pm our time Saturday on winds flowing northeast, estimates of
her position put her somewhere in the upper part of Greenland. For now,
we wait for someone to spot her. It might be days until someone hears
her weak signal at that latitude.
As our loyal followers know, pico balloon call sign NC4ES-6, the Eastern
Express, is making her third lap around the world.
And then’s there’s Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.
According to Wikipedia, it is the world’s largest island of 836,300
square miles and with a population of just 56,661 . The flight of the
Eastern Express offers us many geography lessons, Greenland is certainly
one of them. Seventy-five percent of Greenland is covered by glacial ice
restricting it’s citizens to living along the rugged mostly treeless
southwest coast. Even there the density is sparse, like 27 people per
100 square miles. They live in tiny settlements, in a few larger
villages and in the capital, Nuuk. Because of all the fjords, there
are no roads connecting them. Transport is by water or air. Greenlanders
speak “Greenlandic”. Nuuk is a modern city that has a population of
17,638. It’s roughly like Pamlico County having a population of about
100 spread out along its rivers, creeks and the sound. In case you
didn’t guess already, fishing is the biggest industry at 90 percent. It
has a thriving tourist industry. And it’s cold, but not too extreme. In
Nuuk, it averages in the mid-40s during the short summer, the mid-teens
during the winter. Weather.com reports it was a rainy 37 degrees Sunday,
38 today with rain, and a freezing 30 degrees expected on Tuesday.
Apparently, according to Google, you can get to the international
airport in Nuuk in 11 hours 15 minutes flying out of Raleigh. I wouldn’t
bet on it. Don’t forget your coat.
You can follow the journey of the “Eastern Express” on the web at
www.wspr.rocks or https://aprs.fi/info/?call=NC4ES-6. Congrats go to
Matt WU2V, Chris Cieszko, Lor W3QA, and Bruce K4ONC–The NC4ES Eastern
Express Team.
SOLAR NUMBERS TODAY
NOAA reports that solar activity was moderate during the 24 hour period
ending yesterday at 5 p.m. local. There was a M-class flare that
produced a short HF blackout over the Pacific around 9 p.m. last night.
The Space Weather Prediction Center expects solar activity to be low
today through Wednesday with a 35% chance for M-class flares. There are
8 numbered sunspot regions on the Sun facing Earth this morning. There
were 17 last Monday, 10 the Monday before.
Sunday’s noon Solar Flux Index (SFI) observation at Penticton was 140,
last Sunday’s was 217. The index is predicted to measure 135 today, 135
Tuesday and 130 on Wednesday. The SFI 90 day trailing average was 163
yesterday. It was 161 last Sunday.
The geomagnetic field was quiet to active yesterday. The SWPC expects
the field to be quiet to unsettled today and Tuesday, quiet to active on
Wednesday. The planetary K-index at 5 a.m. this morning was 2.00
indicating quiet conditions.
For today, propagation is expected to be much the same: fair to good
during the day, good at night on 80 to 20; good on 17 and 15, and fair
day, poor night on 12 and 10M.
For an explanation of the numbers used in our PARSgram, see the
excellent article written by Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA at
http://arrl.org/the-sun-the-earth-the-ionosphere.
DX TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK–
Extracted from ARLD017 DX news:
–EASTER ISLAND, CE0. A group of operators are QRV as 3G0YA until May
- Activity is on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB, and FT8.
–MARIANA ISLANDS, KH0. Operators JA6REX, JH6HZH and JA6VQA are QRV
as KH0/JA6REX, KH0/W6HZH, and WH0B, respectively, until April 30.
Activity is on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB, FT8, and FT4.
–MARKET REEF, OJ0. Bjorn, LA1UW, Tor, LA3WAA, Stian, LB5SH, and
Kristoffer, LB0VG are QRV as OJ0/home calls to May 4. Activity will be
on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB, and FT8 with four stations.
HAM EQUIPMENT FOR SALE, TRADE, OR WANTED
Send me your amateur radio related items that are for sale, trade, or
wanted and your contact information. PLEASE let me know when you have
have sold your item or your listing is no longer needed. Listings will
EXPIRE AFTER 90 DAYS unless I hear otherwise. Thanks, Jim.
–FOR SALE: Hy-Gain AV-640 Patriot 25.5ft HF 8-Band Antenna. This
antenna uses quarter wave stubs on 6, 10, 12, and 17 meters and loading
coil and capacity hats on 15, 20, 30 and 40 meters. No ground radials
are needed. Check full description online. Antenna is currently ground
mounted and I will assist in removing. $300 Bruce Perkins @252-626-2730
or K4ONC@aol.com. (20240429)
–FOR SALE:
- Kenwood TM-V71A Dual Band 2meters 440 $350
- Kenwood TM-281A $70
- TH 9000 Pi-Ps TYT Mobile with TYT Mike $70
Selling for a friend. All in good shape. Charlie Overcash, WA4GSI,
919-210-5168. (20240401)
–SOLD: MFJ-259B antenna analyzer. Bill Michne, WM3X.
PARS CALENDAR:
* May 4, PAMLICO COMMUNICATIONS TEAM MEETING, Saturday, 9-10:30am,
Oriental VFD Station 19 on Straight Rd vic. NC-55. All are welcome. For
more info, contact Bruce Perkins, K4ONC, 252-626-2730 or K4ONC@aol.com
* May 25, PARS MONTHLY MEETING, Saturday, 9am, Brantley’s Village
Restaurant, Oriental. For more info, contact Bruce Perkins, K4ONC,
252-626-2730 or K4ONC@aol.com
REPEATER/NODE STATUS
(See www.n4prs.org/frequencies/ for set-up)
N4ONC VHF FM Oriental — Operational
N4ONC (old KR4LO) UHF FM Oriental — Operational
NC4ES VHF FM/DMR Arapahoe — Operational/test. PL: Dec 100Hz/Enc 88.5Hz
NC4ES UHF DMR Florence — Operational.
WM3X-ONC VHF C4FM/WIRES-X NODE Oriental (145.530 simplex)– Operational
LOCAL NETS OF INTEREST TO PARS MEMBERS:
* Mondays, “Pamlico 10 Meter Net, 7:30 pm local, on or near 28.464 MHz,
USB. A non-directed net for technicians and above. Radio
topics/questions/issues welcomed.
* Wednesdays,”Pamlico Communications Net”, 7:30 pm local, N4ONC
(Oriental) VHF Repeater, 147.210+ (CTSCC Tone Squelch 88.5). A directed
net open to all. Net activates on call during emergencies.
* Thursdays, “DownEast/Pamlico Six Meter Net”, 8 pm local, 50.200 MHz,
USB. A non-directed open net to promote operation on the ‘Magic Band’.
(For more nets see www.arrl.org/arrl-net-directory-search )
PARS WEB SITE: https://www.n4prs.org/
Our Web Master is Paul Jodoin, K4MMB, 561-308-3456, PARSwebman@gmail.com
73, Jim AI4WL Editor
——–
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