PRESIDENT’S SOAPBOX
Boy, what a great PARS meeting we had on Saturday. I went into it feeling a little down as my efforts to get a STEM project going in the local schools has not worked out, and probably won’t happen until a faculty or administration advocate emerges. That sparked a vigorous discussion of other ways our club could showcase amateur radio in the community. Among the suggestions were setting up a special event station at Croakerfest, and setting up amateur radio in fire stations in the county as part of a program being promoted by FEMA. _…_ I want to thank Mike, K4HPS, for his years of service as our ARES coordinator. Mike is “retiring,” but will remain active in ARES in an advisory capacity. We welcome a different Mike, K4NLC, as our new ARES coordinator, who is already hard at work setting up training programs to bring us up to speed with the recent changes to the ARES structure and requirements. Check out Mike’s comments elsewhere in this PARSGram. _…_ Finally, the first of our quarterly VE test ssesions will take place this Saturday at 9:00 AM in the town hall. These sessions will be a great opportunity to get licensed or to upgrade. We have announced the session in the various media, but nothing works as well as word of mouth. So talk up amateur radio whenever you can. …_._ de WM3X, Bill Michne, 252-249-1175, drmichne73@gmail.com.
PAMLICO AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY (PARS) Mar 30, 2018 MEETING NOTES
* Twenty-eight PARS members, visitors and guests attended the breakfast meeting chaired by President Bill Michne, WM3X, at Brantley’s Village Restaurant.
* Bill presented the treasurer’s report on behalf of Treasurer Wally Wallace, KK4ASP. He noted that he still has some donated HF transceivers available for short-term loan or purchase with the proceeds going to the club.
* After over six years as Pamlico County ARES Coordinator, Mike Hurm, K4HPS, has retired.from the post Mike Marsh, K4NLC, has volunteered to take on the demanding task. On behalf of the members, Marsh thanked Mike for his years of service. He then spoke of the changes that ARRL has made to its program to keep in step with government and emergency services demands. He is organizing training sessions open to all those interested. (See discussion elsewhere in this PARSgram).
* Propagation Report: Solar activity continues to be very low. Although there has been some recent activity, we have been without Sunspots on 58 days in 2019 so far. For a period approaching the cycle bottom, there are a surprising number of DXpeditons scheduled this year. DX is still to be had, especially on the low bands and during the “gray line”. Both Bill and Jim, AI4WL, reported lots of activity on the bands during the recent QRP Sprint and the NC QSO Party. Apparently, there has not been much activity on the local repeater lately. Members were encourged to make some noise.
* President’s update–
– Bill reported he has reached a dead-end in his attempts to provide support to local STEM programs–this was after a very successful program at PCHS in 2017. He also received no response from the coordinator of the regional science fair. Discussion followed about school clubs, invitations to Field Day, articles in school newsletters with no viable way to stimulate interest evident. In contrast to this lack of interest, it was reported that Cartaret County has funded an initiative to provide equipment and training for fire and emergency personnel at four fire stations.
– Other ideas to expose the public to amateur radio and the service that it provides were raised. Bruce, K4ONC, noted opportunities such as Croakerfest, the Dragonboat Races, and the Old Front Porch Music Festival. Not only information booths, but special event stations were mentioned. Member interest will be explored.
– Quarterly VE Sessions are on track and Bill has been “field stocked” enabling “on call” testing. Notices have been placed in the local newspapers and on towndock.net as well as listed on the ARRL and N4PRS Web Sites. It was suggested that flyers be posted on local bulletin boards. The first session is coming up on Saturday, April 6.
* From the Floor- Bill Olah, KR4LO, reported that the Oriental Repeater is now operating on batteries solely charged by solar power. The panels were placed, the donated controller installed and, after a period of evaluation, it was found to be operating flawlessly.
* The meeting was adjourned at 0950.
ARES UPDATE/TRAINING
A much greater emphasis is being placed on training to more closely align with FEMA and DHS standards than has been required in the past.
To assist in accomplishing that goal, training will be held on the first Thursday of the month at Pamlico Community College, in the Brinson building (the middle building) in room 412 from 7 p.m. to no later than 9 p.m. Our first formative meeting is this Thursday, 4 April. Our May session will be on 2 May.
For more information contact Mike, K4NLC, Pamlico County ARES Emergency Coordinator, NCAUXCOMM at mike@marshconsulting.com or 252-636-1257
2019 CROAKERFEST
Vice President Bruce, K4ONC says…”I am looking for members that are willing to participate in the Croaker Festival this year. This would include having a booth and operating a special event station and maybe even having an entry in the parade. Anyone that is interested, please…email me. If I receive enough interest, I will organize a meeting to get things rolling.” Please contact Bruce at K4ONC@aol.com
HONDA GENERATOR RECALL
SOLAR NUMBERS TODAY
NOAA reported that solar activity was very low during the 24 hours ending yesterday at 5 pm local. There is one sunspot region on the sun facing earth this morning. It will soon depart. According to the Space Weather Prediction Center activity is expected to be low today through Wednesday . On Sunday, the reported Solar Flux Index (SFI) at Penticton was 70. The index is predicted to hold at 70 through Wednesday. The SFI 90 day trailing average remains 71.
The Earth’s geomagnetic field was quiet to active yesterday. It is expected to be quiet to unsettled today through Wednesday. The estimated Kp-index of 2 at 5 a.m. local this morning indicates quiet conditions.
We can expect fair daytime and good nighttime operating conditions on 80 and 40 meters for the next few days. Poor conditions will continue on the higher bands. For the 6 Meter band, most reported contacts were digital via meteor scatter. A few E-layer skip contacts were also reported.
THIS WEEK’S DX CHALLENGES
BOUVET ISLAND, 3Y0I. In case you have not been following this attempt, the team’s vessel was caught in high seas only 70 nautical miles off the island. The vessel was signficantly damaged, cargo shifted and navigational equipment lost. The crew is safe and they are returning to Cape Town. The DXpedition is not yet cancelled. More information may be found at https://rebeldxgroup.com
JUAN FERNANDES ISLAND, CE0. A group of operators are QRV as XR0ZRC from Robinson Crusoe Island, IOTA SA-005, until April 3. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and FT8. QSL direct to R7AL.
NORFOLK ISLAND, VK9N. Operators VK3QB, VK3HJ, VK2PN and VK3BDX will be QRV as VI9NI from April 1 to 14. Activity will be on 160 to 17 meters using CW, SSB and FT8. QSL via VK4FW.
THE GAMBIA, C5. A group of operators will be QRV as C5DL from April 1 to 15. Activity will be on 160 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and various digital modes, with three stations active. QSL via DL7DF.
OTHER ACTIVITY ON THE RADIO:
This info is extracted from the weekly ARRL Letter, from the WA7BNM Contest Calendar, the ARRL Contest Update or the ARRL Contest Corral. You can receive the Letter weekly via email as a member of ARRL.
* 06/1400-07/0200Z Apr 3.5-UHF Mississippi QSO Party, CW Ph Dig (www.arrlmiss.org)
** NEW FOR SALE**
– MFJ-259B HF/VHF SWR ANALYZER. Unit has some slight cosmetic paint scratches but is completely functional. Covers 1.8 to 170 MHz. $160.00.
– MFJ-949E VERSA TUNER II. Like new condition. Features cross needle SWR/POWER meter that reads peak or average power, has two coax outputs, and built-in dummy load. Maximum 300 watts. Includes manual. $100.00.
UPCOMING REGIONAL HAMFESTS:
***The 28th Annual Down East Hamfest in Kinston will be on Saturday April 6, 2019, from 8 am until 2 pm in the Lenoir Community College Gymnasium. For more info call Bill Highland at 252-347-1498 or go to www.downeasthamfest.org. ***
PARS CALENDAR:
* April 4, Emergency Communications Training for ARES, Thursday, 7-9 pm, Brinson Hall Room 412, Pamlico Comunity College, Mike Marsh, K4NLC, 252-636-1257 or mike@marshconsulting.org
LOCAL NETS OF INTEREST TO PARS MEMBERS:
* Mondays, Pete’s “Pamlico Swamp Roundtable” (“Swamp Net” for some), around 8 pm local, 28.463 MHz plus or minus, USB. This is an informal forum originally established to assist our new Hams. The frequency is in the 10 Meter Band voice segment open to technician licensees and above. Radio related topics/questions/issues welcomed.
* Tuesdays, Newport Weather Service SKYWARN Practice Net, 9:00 pm local, Oriental (147.210+ (PL151.4)) and all other local repeaters. Open net for severe weather warning and reporting continously monitored upon activation.
* Wednesdays, Pamlico Emergency Net Practice and Rag Chew/ARES, 7:30 pm, Oriental Repeater, 147.210 + (PL151.4).
* 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/
Web Master is Paul Jodoin, K4MMB, 561-308-3456, PARSwebman@gmail.com
YOUR PAMLICO AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY OFFICERS
President–Bill Michne, WM3X, 252-249-1175. drmichne73@gmail.com
Vice President–Bruce Perkins, K4ONC, 252-249-6015, k4onc@aol.com
Treasurer–Gail (Wally) Wallace, KK4ASP, 410-804-1750, wallyandwill@gmail.com
Secretary/Newsletter Editor–Jim Hartmeyer, AI4WL, 252-249-1984, jth350@embarqmail.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 and 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 offers a means to advertise radio equipment and other related items for sale or trade. Since PARS members may have limited internet access, the PARSgram has no attachments and kept relatively short. Go to the PARS Website at https://www.n4prs.org/ for longer news articles, photos, archived PARSgrams and more. 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. (20190303)
73, Jim AI4WL
--
This email is being sent to members and friends of the Pamlico Amateur Radio Society.
We are pleased that you asked to receive our weekly newsletter and hope that you
enjoy reading it. If you no longer wish to receive the PARSgram please let us know
by reply email or by email to jth350@embarqmail.com. Thanks.
|
|