PARS BREAKFAST MEETING THIS COMING SATURDAY
Our next meeting will be at 0900 this Saturday, May 30, at Brantley’s
Village Restaurant on Broad Street in Oriental. Please park on the side or
out back. Our meetings are held the last Saturday of each month except June
when the club participates in the annual ARRL Field Day or when in conflict
with a major holiday. We hope to see you all there. For more information
contact Pamlico Amateur Radio Society President Bill Olah, KR4LO, 249-0287
or w_olah@yahoo.com.
This month, Mike Marsh will review the club Field Day plan, Randy Davis
will update us on the new club generator and Glenn Everest and Mike will
show us how to use the field day logging program. The upcoming club Fox Hunt
will also be discussed.
SKYWARN ACTIVATED
The Newport National Weather Service Office activated SKYWARN on Thursday
afternoon, May 21. Heavy thunderstorms with damaging winds and hail plus
possible tornados were forecast for the area. Fortunately, our County was
bypassed by the storms. SKYWARN conducts simultaneous operations on most
local repeaters with announcements, check-in’s and storm/condition reports
from spotters handled on a round robin basis. Tom Corwin KI4NSP reported
that Ellie Finta KI4ELE, Mike Hurm K4HPS, Bill Flynn KC2NMK, and Jim
Hartmeyer AI4WL checked in using the Oriental repeater. Tom monitored the
repeater for coordinator, Janice Hopkins, KJ4JPE. Other members checked in
using the Grantsboro repeater. SKYWARN reports provide “ground truth” for
weather service forecasters to validate their observations and generate
warnings for communities affected.
NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER STATION TEST
(Courtesy of the ARRL Letter for May 21, 2015)
Amateur Radio station WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center in Miami will
conduct its annual station test on May 30, 1400 until 2200 UTC. The purpose
of this event is to test Amateur Radio station equipment, antennas, and
computers in advance of the 2015 hurricane season, June 1 through November
30.
“This event is will be good practice for ham radio operators worldwide, as
well as for National Weather Service (NWS) staff to become familiar with
Amateur Radio communications that are available during times of severe
weather,” said WX4NHC Assistant Amateur Radio Coordinator Julio Ripoll,
WD4R. WX4NHC also will conduct operator training.
WX4NHC will make brief contacts on various bands and modes, exchanging
signal reports and basic weather information, such as “sunny” or “rain,”
with any and all stations. WX4NHC will operate on HF, VHF, and UHF,
including APRS on 2 and 30 meters and WinLink (subject line must contain
“//WL2K”).
“We will try to stay on the recognized Hurricane Watch Net frequency of
14.325 MHz most of the time and announce when we QSY,” Ripoll said. “Due to
space and equipment limitations, we will have two to three operators per
shift,” he added. “We cannot be everywhere and on every mode at the same
time.” He suggested locating WX4NHC by using one of the spotting networks,
such as DX Summit.
WX4NHC also will be on the VoIP Hurricane Net (VoIP-WX) from 2100 until 2200
UTC and on IRLP node 9219 and EchoLink WX-TALK Conference node 7203. The
station also will operate on VHF and UHF repeaters in South Florida.
QSL cards are available via WD4R with an SASE. Do not send cards directly to
the National Hurricane Center.
SOLAR NUMBERS TODAY
NOAA reported that solar activity was very low during the 24 hours
ending yesterday at 5 pm local. The largest recent solar event was a B2
flare observed at 25/0115Z. There are 5 numbered sunspot regions on the disk
facing Earth. The sunspot count this morning is 74, just one less than the
75 reported by NOAA last week. The Solar Flux Index (SFI) is 99, well down
from in our last PARSgram. The forecast shows the SFI staying around 100
through Wednesday. According to the Space Weather Prediction Center, solar
activity is expected to stay very low through Wednesday
The Earth’s geomagnetic field was quiet yesterday. The geomagnetic
field is expected to remain quiet through Wednesday. The K-index was
reported by NOAA to be a very quiet 1 at 0800 local this morning.
THIS WEEK’S DX CHALLENGE
MARKET REEF, OJ0. Pasi, OH3WS will be QRV as OJ0W from May 23 to
31. Activity will be in his spare time on 40 to 10 meters using CW
and SSB. QSL to home call.
QSO QSO CORNER
This is the place to post contacts with DXpeditions, Special Event
Stations, or special QSO’s you would like to share.
Glenn N4LV reports that team “PARS of PAMLICO” did well in the February
2015 North America RTTY QSO Party. In our state, individual scores put
Glenn second, Mike Hurm K4HPS third, and Tommy Banks W4WMT, fourth.
Congratulations all.
Bill K2ONN was welcomed to the 6 Meter VHF operator ranks by Pete AG7C and
yours truly Sunday afternoon. Bill had just assembled his Moxon 2 element
beam antenna and was giving it a try on the calling SSB frequency when he
was heard by Pete. Pete was up in NJ but operating his Pamlico station
remotely. There are now at least 5 PARS folks (including Dick K4JJW and Bill
KM1C) awaiting the BIG Summer 6 Meter band openings just to come. ARRL’s
June VHF Contest is on the weekend of June 13-15 this year. If conditions
are right, the band can be fully packed with signals.
OTHER ACTIVITY ON THE RADIO:
This info is extracted from the 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 :
* 30/0000Z May-31/2359Z CQ WW WPX Contest (CW)
* 31/2000 local – Midnight QRP ARCI Hoot Owl Sprint (CW)
See the ARRL Contest Branch page
ARRL Contest Update http://www.arrl.org/The-ARRL-Contest-Update/ and the
WA7BNM Contest Calendar
for more info. Looking for a Special Event station? Be sure to check out the
ARRL Special Event Station Web page
a LIST OF STATE QSO PARTIES, see
http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/stateparties.html. (State QSO parties
and the W1AW Centennial Stations are a great way to get those last states on
your Worked All States (WAS) Award list.)
HAM EQUIPMENT FOR SALE, TRADE, OR WANTED
——————–
* FOR SALE–Hank Aaron WB4ROA, long time PARS member is moving. He is
selling much of his equipment. Brian Shepard K4LTE is handling the sale.
For a Yaesu FT-2000 and other Yaesu transceivers, DMU-2000 for $500, / RF
Mu-tuning kit 80/40m band for $300.00, and RF Mu-tuning kit 30/20m band for
$300.00.
Command Technologies Commander Amplifier 2KW for $1500.00.
Yaesu-7800R 2M/70cm Transceiver for $150.00.
Heil Headset Pro Set Quiet Phone with HC-5 mic for $80.00, retailed for
$155.00.
MXL Studio Condenser Microphone MXL-2003 for $100.00, retailed for $163.00.
Heil Hand Switch for $25.00.
Foot Switch for $20.00.
Array Solutions Six Pack ( remote antenna switch) 2 radios-6 antenna ports
per radio for $300.00, retailed for $450.00.
Array Solutions Rat Pack (remote antenna switch) 6 antenna positions for
$100.00, retailed for $250.00.
Astron SL-11 pwr supply for $50.00, retailed for $89.00.
Bencher Keyer for $150.00.
Plus lots of coax and cables-most coax uses N-connectors and were
professionally made by Cable X.
PL259 adapters for .50 cent ea. (28-total)
UHF Male Crimp (type PL259) connectors $2.00 ea. (37-total)
Type N Male crimp for RG8 $2.00 ea. (15-total)
PL259 Connectors $1.00 ea. (16-total)
PL259 UHF Male to female tee adapter connectors, $4.00 ea. (total-9)
BNC Male to UHF female connectors, $2.00 ea. (total-2)
Added items–
Palstar zm30 digital antenna analyzer, $200.00
ICOM M1V VHF Handheld radio with HM-125 speaker microphone and a new BC-119N
desk top charger, $175.00
Aceco FC-6002 RF Tracer, $150.00
Contact Brian at k4lte2@centurylink.net or at his cell 252-670-5531.
(20150511, 20150518)
* FOR SALE– MFJ-1796 1/2 wave vertical, 2-40 meters, except the 2 and
6 meter radiators have been misplaced. No guarantee they will be found. Does
come with manual and spare radiators. Has 2 QSOs to its credit. Includes a
couple 10 foot pipes for mounting. Assembled, and elements already trimmed.
SWR depends on location and height. $130, which is half the new price. The
price will come down until someone buys it.
Jim Scheer, W4NLD, Jim.scheer@gtri.gatech.edu, or cell or text at
253-876-3733 (20150420)
* FOR SALE — Shakespeare 5309-R VHF Antenna.Used.23 Feet.Two
piece.West Marine $599.00.Best reasonable offer.Ralph AC2GR 252-649-1212
(20150330)
* FOR SALE–[ Remaining major items from estate of Jim Reynolds,W4YLO.
Proceeds go directly to his widow, Peggy.]
ICOM PS-125 25 amp pwr supply. Orig. price $399
Price is $175.
ICOM PW1 High Frequency Linear Amplifier – HF/50 MHz All Band 1+kW
out. Automatic antenna tuner built-in. This was bought on Jan. 7,
2012,and has had little use. Has orig. box, manual, remote head and
cables. Original price $4,649.95 (cc invoice available).
Will sell for $3000 firm, – pickup in New Bern, can ship but buyer pays.
FOR INFO OR PIX contact Al, W8UT, email anchor@ec.rr.com
(20150330,20150413, 20150420)
——————–
(Send me your amateur radio related items for sale, trade, or wanted for
listing in the PARSgram. PLEASE let me know if your listing is no longer
needed. ITEMS listed will EXPIRE AFTER 90 DAYS unless I hear
otherwise.–Jim).
UPCOMING REGIONAL HAMFESTS:
A complete list can be found on your PARS Website, www.n4prs.org
PARS CALENDAR:
* May 30, PARS Monthly Meeting, Saturday, 9 am, Brantley’s Village
Restaurant, Oriental. Bill Olah, KR4LO, 249-0287 or w_olah@yahoo.com.
* Jun 20, Field Day Planning Meeting, Saturday,9 am, Brantley’s Village
Restaurant, Oriental, Mike Marsh, K4NLC, (252) 636-1257
* Jun 27-28, ARRL Field Day, Saturday, 2 pm – Sunday, 2 pm. Neuse Drive,
Oriental. Mike Marsh, 636-1257 or mike@marshconsulting.org
PARS NETS:
* Mondays, Pete’s “Swamp Talk” roundtable, around 8:15 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 10M voice
segment open to technician licensees and above. Radio related
topics/questions/issues welcomed.
* Wednesdays, Pamlico Emergency Net Practice and Rag Chew, 7:30 pm,
Oriental Repeater, 147.210 + (PL151.4).
PARS WEB SITE:
https://www.n4prs.org/
Web Master is Larry Wall, KK4SEO, wallmailbox@yahoo.com.
PARSgram ITEMS
We are always looking for items of interest to PARS members to put in
the PARSgram. If you run across a timely item or think of something you
believe would interest our folks, please send it to me. Thanks.
Please take this day to remember those who have died while serving the
United States of America.
Jim AI4WL