PARS BREAKFAST MEETING THIS COMING SATURDAY
Our next meeting will be in the back room of Brantleys Village
Restaurant on Broad Street in Oriental at 0900 Saturday, June 28. Please
park along the side or out back. We hope to see you all there. Come
early for breakfast with your fellow hams. For more information contact
Pamlico Amateur Radio Society President Bruce Perkins, K4ONC,
252-626-2730 or K4ONC@aol.com
Expect a report out on the recent COMMEX; plans for the Hurricane
Preparedness Forum and Croakerfest; repeater and pico balloon updates,
DX, a reminder on reporting your Field Day score and more. Always lots
to talk about plus a chance for a Brantleys Gift Certificate.
LAST REMINDER – HURRICANE COMMUNITY FORUM ON WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25TH
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 2025 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, June 25th from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. Afterwards, I will say a
few words about the General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS).
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 EMERGENCY/COMMUNICATIONS NET
Bill KR4LO, our controller for the month of June, counted 14 WinLink
check-ins and 18 net check-ins for the Pamlico Emergency/Communications
Net last Wednesday, June 18th. After the regular net and with no notice,
Bill asked the check-ins to switch to 147.52MHz simplex. By our PACE
Plan, this is a secondary contingent voice mode. It would be used if
better modes are not available. Eight stations were able to make the
switch and were checked in by Bill. Others may have not been heard by
Bill but could have passed traffic through a relay. This Wednesday be
prepared to switch to either the “DMR post-net net” or the GMRS
repeater. Either way, it will be a directed net. Please listen for
guidance from the controller during the PCN. EchoLink users, please wait
for your turn on the PCN. You will be called after all others.
SO WHERE IS SHE NOW? THE GREAT EASTERN BALLOON ‘ROUND-ABOUT CONTINUES
NC4ES–the Greenville balloon–is still up there and headed our way. She
is traveling very slowly and making a few side trips. Last Monday she
was a few hundred miles off our West Coast. On Sunday afternoon, after
wandering around northern Mexico and bouncing off our southern border,
she was drifting north over central Kansas. Last spotted over Ft. Riley
(a big training center and home of the 1st Infantry Divison), the little
balloon is now close enough to be heard. Her little 20mw WSPR signal on
20 meters has been received by our trackers: KR4LO, AI4WL, K1AUG, N1ZLE
and likely others. If you have a radio and WSJT loaded on your computer,
give it a shot. She should be within range for several days.
SOLAR NUMBERS TODAY
NOAA reports that solar activity was low during the 24 hour period
ending yesterday at 5 p.m. local. The Space Weather Prediction Center
expects solar activity to be low with a 30% chance 45% for M-class
flares and a slight chance for X-class flares through Wednesday.
There are 5 numbered sunspot regions on the Sun facing Earth this
morning. There were 8 last Monday, 5 the Monday before.
Sunday’s noon Solar Flux Index (SFI) observation at Penticton was 125,
last Sunday’s was 161. The index is predicted to measure 125 today, 120
Tuesday and 125 on Wednesday. The more important SFI 90 day trailing
average was 146 yesterday. It was 149 last Sunday.
The geomagnetic field was quiet to active yesterday. The SWPC expects
the field to be quiet to active again today and tomorrow, then reach
active to minor storm levels Wednesday. The planetary K-index at 5 a.m.
this morning was 1.33 indicating quiet conditions.
Look for fair conditions during the day on 80 to 40, good at night; good
day and night on 30 to 15; and fair day, poor at night on 12 and 10M.
Expect 6 Meter Es activity with openings into Europe and South America,
especially during the afternoon. Go to
https://www.n4prs.org/looking-up/ for the latest observations.
DX THIS WEEK–
Extracted from ARRL’s ARLD025 DX news and DXWorld.net:
–LESOTHO, 7P. Mark, KW4XJ and Arina, KO4PZT are QRV as 7P8AB and 7P8NB,
respectively, until the end of June. QSL via KW4XJ.0 to 6 meters using
CW, SSB, and FT8.
–FRENCH POLYNESIA, FO. Nobby, G0VJG is QRV as FO/G0VJG from Bora Bora,
IOTA OC-067, until June 26. Activity is on 80 to 6 meters using CW, SSB,
and FU8. QSL via LoTW.
–WEST KIRIBATI, T30. Members of the Rebel DX Group are QRV as T30TTT
from North Tarawa until September 8. Activity is on 160 to 6 meters
using CW, SSB, FT8, and FT4 with up to 10 stations active. QSL via LoTW.
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 if your listing is no longer needed. Listings
will EXPIRE AFTER 90 DAYS unless I hear otherwise. Thanks, Jim.
–NEW LISTING FOR SALE: Recently some of our members have expressed
interest in learning Morse code, both sending and receiving. On the
receiving side it’s easy to determine how you are doing, you either copy
it correctly or you don’t. Learning to send properly is a different
matter. Good code sending requires correct spacing of dots and dashes
in letters, letters in words, and words in sentences. Enter the MFJ-461
POCKET CW READER. This little device has gotten some poor reviews on
eham.net for not copying code accurately. But the fact is the unit is
designed to accurately copy what is sent. I have personally tested it
against the code sent by W1AW for CW bulletins and code practice at
various speeds. This is highly accurate machine sent code and the
little MFJ gadget copies it accurately at all speeds. So if you want to
send code really well just practice sending a brief text repeatedly
until the machine copies it without (your) error. Price $40. Bill
Michne, WM3X, 252-671-6703, drmichne73@gmail.com. (20250623)
–FOR SALE: POTA/Field Day package, $550.00. Includes all the accessory
gear that you need for a high quality POTA/Field Day packaged station.
It’s a plug and play set-up. Just plug in your transceiver (IC-7300 or
similar) and you will be on the air in minutes with 100w, all day long.
Multi-band, 80-10m. New cost of components was $1200+, package price is
$550. Package includes:
1. Marine/RV deep cycle 27dc 180A battery in a portable battery box that
includes a digital amp meter and volt meter, and 4 Anderson Power Pole
outputs.
2. Battery Booster, MFJ-4416-C mounted on battery box. The booster is
electronically quiet and rated at 25 amps cont. It works great and will
keep the system output at a constant 13.8V even when the battery voltage
drops to 10.8v. Lots of capacity for full power, all day long.
3. Max Gain Systems, MK-4-HD heavy duty 25′ fiber glass push up mast,
4′ locking sections.
4. Drive on mount for the 25′ Max Gain mast.
5. ICOM AH-4 auto-tuner, 200w, 160-10m (on base of mast)
6. 50′ of pre-wired connecting power cable and RG-59 coax…all cables
needed to get on the air.
7. Inverted L antenna (on storage reel) reconfigurable, 54’/83′, #18
“silky” wire, 100′ 1/8″ Dacron rope.
Contact: Dick Goodwin, K4JJW, rdgjg1964@gmail.com 252-633-7873
Fairfield Harbour (20250519)
–FREE: ICOM IC 700. Marine SSB, old, free, probably good for parts
only. Does not tx on 8. Glenn Sikes, KG4RYZ, New Bern, 305-744-8000
(20250519)
PARS CALENDAR:
* June 25, Hurricane Preparedness Forum, Wednesday, 6:30pm-8pm, Oriental
Town Hall. For more info, contact Bruce Perkins, K4ONC, 252-626-2730 or
K4ONC@aol.com
* June 28, PARS MONTHLY MEETING, Saturday, 9am, Brantley’s Village
Restaurant, Oriental. For more info, contact Bruce Perkins, K4ONC,
252-626-2730 or K4ONC@aol.com
* June 28-29, ARRL Field Day, home operation. To add your score to those
of other PARS members for a combined club score, list your club
affiliation as “Pamlico Amateur Radio Society, LTD”. For more info,
contact Bill Michne, WM3X, 252-249-1175 or drmichne73@gmail.com.
* July 5, PAMLICO COMMUNICATIONS TEAM (PCT) 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
REPEATER/NODE STATUS
(See www.n4prs.org/frequencies/ for set-up)
N4ONC VHF FM Oriental (147.210MHz+ CTCSS 88.5Hz) — Operational
N4ONC (old KR4LO) UHF FM Oriental — Down for repair/replacement.
GMRS Repeater (Ch 21, Rptr 7 or 462.700MHz+ PL 131.8Hz) — TEST
NC4ES VHF DMR Arapahoe (NC4ES Network) (147.285MHz+ CC1) — Operational
NC4ES VHF FM Arapahoe (147.285MHz+ CTCSS ENC 88.5Hz/DEC 100Hz)–Standby
NC4ES UHF DMR (NC4ES Network) Florence — Operational
WM3X-ONC VHF C4FM/WIRES-X NODE Oriental– Down, computer failure.
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 WEBSITE: https://www.n4prs.org/
Our Web Master is Paul Jodoin, K4MMB, PARSwebman@gmail.com
73, Jim AI4WL Editor
——–
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