PAMLICO AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY (PARS) JUN 29,2024 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. We were surprised by the visit by long
time and most distant member, Mark Casey, K1MAP who drove over from his
QTH at Cedar Island. Mark now shares his time between Springfield MA,
Cedar Island, and Gainsville Florida.
* There were no upgrades or new licensees reported for the month.
* Bruce delivered the Treasurer’s report on behalf of Wally. He noted
that expenditures have drawn down the club’s account by about half since
the start of the year. Some relief is anticipated by forthcoming sale of
donated equipment.
* AI4WL’s Propagation Report: Solar activity has been low the past
several days, however Sunspots have significantly increased as has the
likelihood of solar flares. The solar flux 90 day average has increased
to 178 from last month’s 169. Numerous CME’s, some significant, have
resulted in intense geomagnetic storms this past month, one at G4 level
yesterday. Member’s observations have ranged from very good to very poor
operating conditions. Paul has added a real-time propagation page
“Looking UP” to the PARS site. It has current solar data and indicated
HF & VHF conditions. The 15 and 17 meter bands remain the most reliable
for DX propagation both day and night.
* Paul, K4MMB, reported the PARS Web site had 180 visitors in the past
30 days, about average. Craig the Croaker on his tractor will represent
PARS in next Saturday’s Croakerfest parade. Paul and Craig will be on
the Oriental repeater. Please give them a call. Let the crowd hear you.
* ARES/PCN. Bruce passed along KUDU’s to Wayne KO4OJC for running the
Wednesday PCN net in June. Wayne agreed to continue in July, Charlie,
WA4GSI will take the net in August. Early WinLink net check-ins to N4PRS
are encouraged. Controllers will make the last check for WinLink
messages at or just before 7pm. During June nets, back-up connectivity
was exercised. Some members had difficulty communicating via the
Arapahoe repeater, probably not realizing the encode and decode tones
differed. Because FM transceivers vary in access tone capability and
setup, Lor highly recommended referring to the radio’s manual. [See
PARSgram 2024-06-24 for more].
* AUXCOMM/Pamlico Communications Team. The PCT meeting in July will
have a review of the recent and highly successful EHPC COMMEX. Nearly
300 participated and, surprisingly, most were out of state (227). An
un-solicited well done YouTube video provides a players view. Team
members are encouraged to watch the video before the meeting.
[Episode #109 at https://WAVETALKERS.COM]
* Old Business: Equipment sales. At last months meeting, an auction of
donated equipment, some of higher value, was discussed. This equipment,
includes transceivers and at least one amplifier. The proceeds from sale
of the equipment will go to support PARS or to the Oriental Repeater
Group. It was proposed that the auction follow the club meeting on 27
July. After further discussion today, it was agreed that the auction
should be delayed to August 3rd and that it be held inside at Station 19
VFD. It will be a silent auction with reserve (starting bid) and “bid
step” specified. Biding would start at 9am, end at 11am. Neighboring
clubs will be notified and their members invited to bid on the equipment.
* From the floor:
— Lor advised the Eastern Express pico balloon is still alive. Since
its last report, based on wind direction, it should be over the
Northwest Territory of Canada and slowly moving southeast toward the
Great Lakes. NORAD now recognizes and apparently tracks amateur radio
balloons.
— Field Day, four attendees participated in Field Day. A couple were
using it to prepare for Hurricane Season.
— For show and tell, Cedar Island Mark, K1MAP, showed and talked about
the very feature loaded and cheap Quansheng 5W HT. Frequency coverage
ranges from 50-600MHz. Need to download and install firmware. It extends
the frequency range to 13-1300MHz and much more.
— Bill, K2TNO showed and talked about the improved Wolf River Coils
whip antenna; says it will be great for POTA operation. Price varies
with configuration.
* Jim, AI4WL, had the winning number for a Brantleys Gift Certificate;
Dodge Hickman, KJ4CFE, an ARRL Band Plan card.
* There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 10:56 am.
JULY PAMLICO COMMUNICATIONS TEAM MEETING – EHPC 2024 Hurricane Exercise
On June 13, 2024, the Eastern Healthcare Preparedness Coalition (EHPC)
in Greenville, NC and the North Carolina Auxiliary Communications
Eastern Region (AUXCOMM) in Kinston, NC, collaborated to conduct an
interoperable Communications Exercise (COMMEX). This 2024 Hurricane
Communications and Information Sharing Exercise was extended to
statewide partners and federal agencies within North Carolina, and
subsequently to all FEMA Region 3 and 4 Auxiliary Communications and
SHARES stations. The primary objective of this exercise was to bolster
preparedness for the upcoming 2024 Hurricane season.
The EHPC COMMEX is an all-hazards exercise primarily focused on
healthcare across the region. It included various play lanes designed to
challenge participants with real-life scenarios encountered in their
respective fields. The participants included public safety agencies;
healthcare facilities; state agencies ie Highway Patrol, AUXCOMM, etc.;
and federal agencies ie USCG, etc.
This event included 98 total participants from 52 agencies in North
Carolina. And 227 stations and/ or agencies outside NC sent Winlink
Hospital reports from 16 other states.
An online amateur radio group, Wavetalkers.com, made a YouTube
presentation on this particular COMMEX. Since the Pamlico Communications
Team (PCT) will be discussing this exercise in greater detail during our
next meeting on July 13th, I encourage you to view this video ahead of
time. It runs approximately 1 hour and 25 minutes. The video is Episode
#109 at https://WAVETALKERS.COM.
PCT Meeting, Saturday, July 13th 0900hrs, Southeast Pamlico Vol Fire
Department, Station 19, Oriental.
Bruce Perkins – K4ONC
Pamlico Co AUXCOMM
WHERE IS SHE NOW? EASTERN EXPRESS DAY 102 (or so)
Again, the little balloon has dropped out of sight. NC4ES was last heard
on Tuesday, 25 June around 4pm our time. She was then in grid CP39mk,
just east of Tuktoyaktuk village, the Canadian Northwest Territories
floating very slowly southeast. Still near the artic circle, sunlight is
dim, nearby WISPR receiving stations few. If, in fact, she continues
moving southeast we should see reports of her location fairly soon.
Lap number 4 is a slog!
SOLAR NUMBERS TODAY
NOAA reports that solar activity was loe during the 24 hour period
ending yesterday at 5 p.m. local. The Space Weather Prediction Center
expects solar activity to be low today through Wednesday with a chance
for M-class flares. There are 15 numbered sunspot regions on the Sun
facing Earth this morning. There were 11 last Monday, 7 the Monday before.
Sunday’s noon Solar Flux Index (SFI) observation at Penticton was 174,
last Sunday’s was 196. The index is predicted to measure 180 today, 180
Tuesday and 175 on Wednesday. The SFI 90 day trailing average was 179
yesterday. It was 176 last Sunday.
The geomagnetic field was quiet to unsettled yesterday. The SWPC expects
the field to be quiet to active today, tomorrow and on Wednesday. The
planetary K-index at 5 a.m. this morning was 2.00 indicating quiet
conditions.
For the next several days, propagation is expected to be poor to fair
during the day, good at night on 80 to 20; good on 17 and 15, and good
day, poor night on 12 and 10M. Check the PARS website for the latest!
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 DX-World.net, ARLD024:
— Wallis & Futuna, FW7JV to July 2nd. High tech remote operator
operation. Low band antenna testing.
— Minami Torishima, JG8NQJ/JD1. There for work, Take will be QRV for
approx 3 months. Mostly CW, some FT8.
— CAMBODIA, XU. Tom, DL7BO is QRV as XU7GNY until July 21. Activity is
on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB, and FT8.
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.
–Free to a good home: 43′ Zero Five antenna with swivel mounting plate,
UNUN, and stainless steel baseplate and hardware. I’ll help take it
down. It’s about 17 years old and has logged thousands of QSOs. Call
Bill Cresswell at 410-598-6457.
PARS CALENDAR:
* July 13, 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
* July 27, PARS MONTHLY MEETING, Saturday, 9am, Brantley’s Village
Restaurant, Oriental. For more info, contact Bruce Perkins, K4ONC,
252-626-2730 or K4ONC@aol.com
* Aug 3, PARS SILENT AUCTION, Saturday, 9-11am, 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
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. PL: ENC 88.5Hz/DEC 100Hz
NC4ES UHF DMR (NC4ES Network) 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, PARSwebman@gmail.com
73, Jim AI4WL Editor
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