PARS FOX HUNT AND PARS PICNIC – THIS COMING SATURDAY!!!!
The Spring FOX HUNT and PARS PICNIC are this Saturday, May 30th. ALL
local hams and their families ARE INVITED. The FOX HUNT and BBQ picnic
are FREE. This will be a two-stage hunt involving both VHF and UHF. The
hunters will start out looking for the Fox on VHF. Upon locating the
first Fox, they will then be provided the UHF frequency for the second
Fox. This is a timed event. Prizes will be awarded for finding one
and/or both Fox transmitters. After the hunt, all participants will meet
for the AWARDS AND FREE BBQ PICNIC AT THE ORIENTAL RECREATION PARK
located behind the fire department near the dog park.
Hamburgers and hot dogs will be grilled at the Oriental Park off
Straight Rd. behind the Fire Station. Please bring a side dish or
dessert to share, folding chairs, and any special beverages you want.
Water will be available. The FOX HUNT runs from 9a-noon. HUNTERS MUST BE
AT THE FIRE STATION BY 0845 for check-in and a quick briefing. The
BRIEFING STARTS AT 9AM SHARP. The PICNIC STARTS AT NOON or soon
thereafter. You don’t have to do the Fox Hunt to enjoy the picnic.
PLEASE RSVP BY TUESDAY, May 26th to chief cook Mike Marsh, 252-636-1257,
or mike@marshconsulting.org. He needs to know how much to buy!
REPEATER UPDATE
A quiet week. We got ahead of ourselves reporting the call sign change
for the “Wayne’s World” KO4OJC Yaesu System Fusion (YSF) repeater. It
will soon change to N4ONC to reflect Oriental Repeater Group ownership.
Sorry for any confusion. Also, as use of the repeater has increased some
users have noticed intermittent interference when receiving
transmissions in the FM mode. It is likely from activity on the Oriental
repeater. The reverse does not seem to occur. A fix is planned.
NET NEWS
Monday night Pamlico C4FM Net on May 18th. Eight folks participated on
the round-table hosted by KO4OJC (AC2GR, KR4LO, KR4ABZ and AI4WL with
K2ONN by RF, and KM4PA and K1AUG both by Wires-x). Good to have Bill
K2ONN visiting the County for a week. Discussion again revolved around
impact of the new 2.0 Yaesu Wires-X repeater software not yet
implemented here. For local users via RF the repeater’s on 145.390MHz.
Remote users can join via the Wires-X room–for now it’s still
“KO4OJC-Room 3” (ID 64163).
For the Communications/Emergency Net last Wednesday, May 20th, we
recorded 16 WinLink and 22 voice check-ins. Two of the voice were by
EchoLink (Bill K2TNO and John KR4LEW), five were short-time. This time
Ray asked us to tout our favorite rig. Surprising how many mentioned
mobiles. The Yaesu FT-991 “appliance” and the IC-7300 were on the list
of course. Look for Ray to cause us to think again this week… ANOTHER
REMINDER that net participants are requested to update their radios with
the new frequency for the Oriental FM/C4FM-YSF repeater. Make sure you
put in the CTCSS tone (both encode and decode) to avoid the dreaded buzz
saw.
Six folks were on the DownEast/Pamlico Six Meter net on Thursday hosted
by WA4GSI (K4ONC, KO4OJC with KM4PA, K4JJW and AI4WL). Lots of talk
about the improved 6M propagation–the summer E-layer skip season is
here. We are finally hearing sideband; lots of FT8 users are working
multi-hop Es into the west. Not much activity into Europe yet. Timing is
critical, often openings are brief. [A quick look at
https://www.dxmaps.com/ will tell you what you need to know.-ed]
Use any antenna that will resonate and join us if you can, Thursdays at
8pm on 50.200 MHz USB. BTW, we’re using horizontal polarization.
SOLAR NUMBERS TODAY
NOAA reported 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 today, Tuesday, and Wednesday with a
chance for M-class flares… A repeat of last Monday’s forecast.
There were 6 numbered sunspot regions on the Sun facing Earth yesterday
at noon. There were 7 last Sunday.
Sunday’s noon Solar Flux Index (SFI) observation at Penticton was 133,
last Sunday’s was 104. The index is predicted to measure 140 today, 145
Tuesday and 150 on Wednesday. The SFI 90 day trailing average was 125
yesterday. It was 124 last Sunday.
The geomagnetic field was quiet yesterday. The SWPC expects the field to
be quiet today, quiet to unsettled Tuesday and Wednesday. The planetary
K-index at 5 a.m. this morning was 1.67 indicating quiet conditions.
The 6 meter band had CONUS openings most afternoons last week, sometimes
staying open into the early evening. [It was great to hear all the folks
checking-in to the Gulf Coast 6 Meter Net (2030 local on 50.150MHz) last
Thursday night. Johnnie KD5AXU has been running the net out of
Covington, LA since at least June 15, 2012 when I first logged in.-ed]
Current conditions (1145Z/25 May): Fair day on 80 and 40 Meters, good at
night; good day and night on 30 & 20; good day and night 17 & 15; fair
day, poor at night on 12 and 10. Please go to
https://www.n4prs.org/looking-
DX THIS WEEK–
Extracted from ARRL’s ARLD020 DX NEWS and DXWorld.net:
–NAMIBIA, V5. Eric, N7XOB, is QRV as V5/N7XOB while visiting Namibia
until June 19. He will operate SSB on or near 7165 and 14265 kHz from
various locations.
–CAMBODIA, XU. The XU7AMO team at the National Polytechnic Institute of
Cambodia has launched regular weekly operations on the HF bands and the
QO-100 satellite. Look for activity every Wednesday at 0500 UTC on 15
meters SSB, and every Friday at 1200 UTC on QO-100 SSB.
–ASCENSION ISLAND, ZD. M0HXC (also ZB2KX) will be active from Ascension
Island as ZD8KX during May 25-29, 2026. QRV using an IC-705 and EFHW
antenna (66ft / 20m). This will be a low power activity on CW, SSB &
FT8/4/2. QSL via LoTW.
–AlSO look for Chatham Isl ZL7IO, Tonga A31WW, Juan Fernandez 3G0Z, and
more. For the details, see www.DXWorld.net.
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.
NEW FOR SALE: Six meter beam, $50, WA4GSI Charlie Overcash, 919-210-5168
(20260525)
FOR SALE: I have a SquareSDR v1 for sale. This is the original version,
not the v2 which was released last month and costs almost $600 (when
available). The Square SDR (https://www.wideservis.cz/squ
upgraded design of the Hermes Lite 2 using better components and with
the N2ADR filter board built in, eliminating a common failure point of
the original HL2. Runs Thetis and multiple slices on older PCs no
problem. Software sees it as identical to the HL2.
I’m the original owner of this radio, and it has worked extremely well
the entire time. This is an incredible little radio with an unbelievable
price to performance ratio. $400 for PARS members. You can see this
radio on my QRZ page at https://www.qrz.com/db/N1IG. Ant Crook N1IG, at
N1IG@proton.me or 240-575-3700 (20260427)
PARS CALENDAR:
* May 30, SPRING FOX HUNT and Picnic, Oriental VFD Station 19/Oriental
Dog Park. Straight Road, Oriental. Alternate date, June 6.
* Jun 6, 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
* Jun 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
SELECTED LOCAL REPEATER/NODE/BEACON STATUS
(See www.n4prs.org/frequencies/ for set-up)
N4ONC VHF FM Oriental (147.210MHz+ CTCSS 88.5Hz) — Operational
KO4OJC VHF FM/C4FM-YSF/Wires-x Oriental (145.390MHz- FM CTCSS 100.0Hz)
— Operational. Call will change to N4ONC soon.
N4ONC UHF FM Oriental (444.350MHz+ ENC 88.4Hz) — Operational
GMRS Repeater WSFL439 Oriental (Ch 21, Rptr 7 or 462.700MHz+) — Standby
NC4ES DMR Arapahoe (NC4ES Network)(147.285MHz+ CC1) — Operational
NC4ES FM Arapahoe (147.285MHz+ 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
NOTE: The WM3X-ONC WIRES-X node will be unavailable thru May 27.
KE4TZN Aurora FM/C4FM-YSF/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 N4ONC Oriental FM/C4FM/WIRES-X repeater
(145.390MHz). Those outside RF range may join via Wires-X room
“KO4OJC-Room 3″ (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 as the “Pamlico Emergency Net”
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-director
PARS WEBSITE: https://www.n4prs.org/
Our Web Master is Paul Jodoin, K4MMB, PARSwebman@gmail.com. You can find
archived PARSgrams, articles, meeting notes, propagation information,
and photos of PARS activities there. Paul welcomes articles and
especially photos of member activities.
I wish you a thoughtful Memorial Day.
73, Jim AI4WL Editor
——–
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