PARS BREAKFAST MEETING THIS COMING SATURDAY
Our next meeting will be in the back room of Brantley’s Village
Restaurant on Broad Street in Oriental at 0900 Saturday, March 28th.
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
On the agenda: the Spring Fox Hunt and Picnic, new and old local
repeaters, DXpeditions in April and another chance for a Brantleys’ Gift
Certificate.
NET NEWS
Charlie, KO4YWM, reported that there were 16 WinLink and 21 voice
check-ins to the Pamlico Communications/Emergency Net last Wednesday,
March 18th. WinLink check-ins included AC2GR, K1AUG, K4HPS, KR4ABZ,
AB1OU, K2ONN, K4NLC, K4ONC, KO4OJC, KR4LO, AI4WL, K4LTE, KO4YWM, KW1ZRD,
and WM3X. AC2GR and W3QA used EchoLink for their voice check-in.
Monday night C4FM Net. On March 16th, eight folks participated in the
weekly roundtable hosted by KO4OJC. Besides Wayne, they were Ralph
AC2GR, Mark K1AUG, Ray KR4ABZ, Bill WM3X, Bill KR4LO, Louise KR4CYB and
Jim AI4WL. PL tones, “best antennas”, Nano (and conventional) vector
network analyzers were all talked about. For local users via RF it’s on
146.310MHz and remote users via Wires-X room “KO4OJC-Room 3” (ID 64163).
About 10 days ago, Wayne and Bill replaced the Baird Creek Yaesu YSF
repeater with the newest model, a DR-2X. It brings some fixes and
additional capabilities. They are still making adjustments. Let Wayne
know if you notice any issues.
And, with the help of Wayne last Wednesday, John KE4TZN was able to make
the Aurora C4FM repeater play on Wires-X. It seems there are some not
well documented controls and settings. The DR-2X is definitely not
plug-n-play. Thanks Wayne!
Learn more about the Aurora C4FM/YSF KE4TZN repeater and others on the
NC-VA Fusion network at https://www.ncvafusion.org/home.
BIT BUCKET
In case you missed it, Paul K4MMB has added some different and
interesting NEW PROPAGATION TOOLS on his “Looking Up” page. He’s also
posted another year of PARS history with all the notes from our meetings
in 2025. He calls it “WHAT WENT ON”. Start by reading about PARS’
beginnings as remembered by our first President, John Knauth,
KF4-Old-Iron-Pot.
SOLAR NUMBERS TODAY
NOAA reports that solar activity was very low during the 24 hour period
ending yesterday at 5 p.m. local. The Space Weather Prediction Center
expects solar activity to be low today, Tuesday, and Wednesday. There is
a chance for an M-class flare today, a slight chance on Tuesday and
Wednesday.
There were 7 numbered sunspot regions on the Sun facing Earth yesterday
at noon. There were 6 last Sunday.
Sunday’s noon Solar Flux Index (SFI) observation at Penticton was 120,
last Sunday’s was 109. The index is predicted to measure 120 today, 120
Tuesday and 122 on Wednesday. The more important SFI 90 day trailing
average was 141 yesterday. It was 142 last Sunday.
The geomagnetic field reached severe storm levels yesterday. The SWPC
expects the field be unsettled and reach major storm levels today, be
quiet to active Tuesday and then quiet to unsettled Wednesday. The
planetary K-index at 5 a.m. this morning was 1.67 indicating quiet
conditions.
Current conditions (23/1131Z): Fair during the day on 80 and 40 Meters,
good at night; good day and night on 30 & 20; fair day and night 17 &
15; fair day, poor at night on 12 and 10. Please go to
https://www.n4prs.org/looking-up/ for the latest observations.
DX THIS WEEK–
Extracted from ARRL’s ARLD011 DX NEWS and DXWorld.net:
–SABLE ISLAND, CY0. A group of operators is QRV as CY0S until March
31. Activity is on 160 through 6 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY, FT8, FT4,
and EME on 23 centimeters. QSL via LoTW.
–AUSTRAL ISLANDS, FO. A group of operators is QRV as TX5EU from
Raivavae Island, IOTA OC-114, until March 25. Activity is on 80 through
6 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY, FT8, and FT4 with three stations.
–MACAU, XX9. A large group of operators is QRV as XX9W until March 31.
Activity is on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY, and FT8. This
includes some Satellite activity as well.
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 60 DAYS unless I hear otherwise. Thanks, Jim.
FOR SALE: Yaesu SP-2000 external speaker with protective cover. Perfect
condition. $100.00. Sam/Dave Bacon at davebacon1943@gmail.com. (20260302)
PARS CALENDAR:
* Mar 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
* Apr 4, 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
* May 30, SPRING FOX HUNT and Picnic, Oriental VFD Station 19/Oriental
Dog Park. Straight Road, Oriental. Alternate date, June 6.
SELECTED LOCAL REPEATER/NODE/BEACON STATUS
(See www.n4prs.org/frequencies/ for set-up)
N4ONC FM Oriental (147.210MHz+ CTCSS 88.5Hz) — Operational
GMRS Repeater Oriental (Ch 21, Rptr 7 or 462.700MHz+) — Operational
NC4ES DMR Arapahoe (NC4ES Network)(147.285MHz+ CC1) — Operational
NC4ES FM Arapahoe (147.285MHz+ CTCSS ENC 88.5Hz/DEC 100Hz) — Standby
NC4ES DMR Florence (NC4ES Network)(445.6625MHZ- CC1) — Operational
WM3X-ONC C4FM/WIRES-X NODE Oriental (145.530MHz smplx) — Operational
KO40JC FM/C4FM/WIRES-X Baird Creek (146.310MHz- FM CTCSS 131.8) —
Operational.
KE4TZN/Aurora FM/C4FM/WIRES-X (145.270MHz- FM CTCSS 131.8) —
Operational.
KE4TZN/Aurora DMR (PRN Network) (440.550MHz+ CC1) — Operational
Cedar Isl Mark’s Beacons: K4FWS/b FM14ux 144.282 CW; K1MAP/b FM14ux
222.055 CW; K1MAP/b FM14ux 432.305 CW (Very low power for rcvr,
propagation tests)
LOCAL NETS OF INTEREST TO PARS MEMBERS:
* Mondays, “Wayne’s World C4FM Net”, 7:30 pm local, using the C4FM
digital mode on the KO40JC FM/C4FM/WIRES-X repeater, Baird Creek
(146.310MHz). Those outside RF range may join via Wires-X room
“KO4OJC-Room 3″ (DTMF ID 64163). This is a round-table open to all.
Discussions vary with member interest. 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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