PAMLICO AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY (PARS) MAR 25, 2023 MEETING NOTES
* Nineteen PARS members, visitors and guests attended the 9 am Saturday
breakfast meeting chaired by President Mike Marsh, K4NLC, at Brantley’s
Village Restaurant.
* Awards and Upgrades: Dick Goodwin, K4JJW reported earning his 8 Band
Worked All States award.
* Mike delivered the Treasurer’s report on behalf of Wally.
* AI4WL’s Propagation Report: Sun activity is currently low with a
slight chance for M-class flares. The good news is that the solar flux
90 day average continues to rise, now 171 vs 166 last month. We just
experienced a severe G4 level storm caused by a glancing CME bringing
auroras as low New Mexico across to the Virginia State Line. DX: Look
for Sable Island, Norfolk Island, and Niue on the bands this coming week.
* Danny at Lupton’s in Stonewall is trashing most of his low band
equipment, mobiles, base units, and old VHF business radio equipment. He
has many HAM Icom units for parts. All free.
* On National Vietnam Veterans Day, Mar 29th. American Legion Post 275
Radio Team, N3TAL, will operate a Special Event Station on 7.275(+/-)
from 1300-2300 EDT. Send SESE for special QSL card.
* ARES/Pamlico Communications Net: Mike reported four Wednesday night
practices and 8 to 10 WinLink check-ins each week.
* Bruce, K4ONC, advised that the Pamlico Communications Team will next
meet next Saturday, April 1st, 0900 at Oriental VFD Station 19. The
focus will again be on DMR. Bring your radio if you need help.
* Paul reported the N4PRS web site is doing well despite ongoing
attempts by outsiders to do harm. There were 163 users in the past 30 days.
* Repeater update:
– The Arapahoe repeater is functioning well. Go there if the N4ONC
(Oriental) repeater fails. The Oriental repeater is showing its age but
temporary fixes are in place. Lately, it has been stable.
– A XLX digital reflector on a server with Debian Linux has been
assembled at the Kershaw site thanks to Wayne, KO4OJC, Lor, W3QA, and
server equipment scrounged by Trip, KI4KEB. XLX is a piece of software
originally created only for D-Star and DMR that runs on a Linux server
that can be linked to and from other repeaters and hotspots via the
internet supporting cross mode (protocol) communication. They are now
waiting for a transcoder. “A work in progress” according to Wayne.
* Bill Michne, WM3X, is back on the Amelia Earhart story, at least the
radio piece. He will reveal his findings at our June meeting.
* The Fox Hunt scheduled for April 15th was rescheduled to May 27th,
right after the May PARS meeting. In discussion, it was found that the
April Hunt would be in direct conflict with the Oriental Boat Show and
other weekends also have event conflicts. The members present also opted
for a two hour single stage event. [See more elsewhere.]
* Charlie, KO4YWM, drew the winning number for a Brantleys Gift Certificate
* There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:40 am.
FOX HUNT UPDATE
Big Changes. After some discussion at Saturday’s PARS meeting and the
realization the Oriental Boat Show is the April 15th weekend it was
decided to change the date to Saturday, May 29th and have it right after
the May meeting. It was also decided to make it a one stage event
instead of two. So think about it. You have lots of time to make or
improve your radio direction fox finding equipment. Check your calendar
and coordinate with your team mate(s) then let Dick Goodwin, K4JJW, know
at rgoodwin41@suddenlink.net that you plan to participate. We need
about 10 participants or teams to make it a meaningful event. Expect a
picnic lunch and three prizes for winners. Tentative schedule:
Date….Saturday May 29, 2023
Where…Oriental Fire Station
Time….10:30 to 12:30
Picnic lunch….12:45
3 Prizes to be awarded
SOLAR NUMBERS TODAY
NOAA reported that solar activity was low during the 24 hour period
ending yesterday at 5 p.m. local. There are 8 numbered sunspot regions
on the Sun facing Earth this morning. There were 6 last Monday. The
Prediction Center expects solar activity to be low today through
Wednesday with a 10% chance of an M-class flare each day.
Yesterday’s noon Solar Flux Index (SFI) observation at Penticton was
- Last Sunday’s was 143. The index is predicted to measure 160 today,
155 tomorrow and 145 on Wednesday. The SFI 90 day trailing average was
172 yesterday. It was 170 last Monday.
The Earth’s geomagnetic field was quiet to unsettled yesterday. It is
expected be unsettled today, quiet to unsettled Tuesday and then quiet
on Wednesday. The estimated Kp-index of 1 reported at 5 a.m. local this
morning indicates quiet geomagnetic conditions.
For today, HF conditions are expected to be good during the night on 80
-15 Meters, poor during the day. The best conditions during the day are
likely to be found on 17-10 meters. Twelve and 10 meters will close at
night.
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 THIS WEEK–
Extracted from ARLD012 DX news:
-RWANDA, 9X. A large group of operators are QRV as 9X5RU near Kigali
until April 7. Activity is on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB, and
FT8 with several stations. This includes being active on Satellite
QO-100. QSL via LoTW.
-SABLE ISLAND, CY0. A group of operators are QRV as CY0S until March
- Activity is on 160 to 6 meters, including 60 meters and 2 meter
EME using Q65, using CW, SSB, RTTY, and FT8 with three stations
active. QSL via WA4DAN.
-NIUE, E6. Janusz, SP9FIH and Leszek, SP6CIK plan to be QRV as E6AF
and E6CI, respectively, from March 26 to April 9. Activity will be
on 40 to 10 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY, and FT8. QSL via Club Log.
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.–Jim.
No listings. All items have been sold, traded, given away or put back up
in the attic. Send me one.
PARS CALENDAR:
* Apr 1, 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
* Apr 29, PARS MONTHLY MEETING, Saturday, 9am, Brantley’s Village
Restaurant, Oriental. For more info, contact Mike Marsh, K4NLC,
252-636-1257 or mike@MarshConsulting.org
* May 27, PARS MONTHLY MEETING, Saturday, 9am, Brantley’s Village
Restaurant, Oriental. For more info, contact Mike Marsh, K4NLC,
252-636-1257 or mike@MarshConsulting.org
* May 27, PARS FOX HUNT, Saturday, Time TBD, Oriental VFD Station 19 on
Straight Rd. For more info and to sign up, contact Dick Goodwin, K4JJW,
rgoodwin41@suddenlink.
LOCAL NETS OF INTEREST TO PARS MEMBERS:
* Wednesdays,”Pamlico Communications Net”, 7:30 pm local, N4ONC
(Oriental) Repeater, 147.210 + (CTSCC Tone Squelch 88.5).
* 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
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