PRESIDENT’S SOAPBOX
I recently had an opportunity to be reacquainted with my best friend
from high school. Jim, K2IRO, was already licensed when I met him on
that first day of our freshman year, while I was anxiously awaiting my
Novice ticket from the FCC, which back then took a couple of months! We
spent that first year working DX on CW, Jim on 20 meters (he was already
a General) and I on 15 meters. I upgraded to General before my Novice
year was up (it was either up or out). The remainder of our high school
careers were spent building Heathkits and chasing DX, which was easy
since Cycle 19 peaked during our senior year. Anyway, he just sent me a
book called “The Rod Newkirk Collection,” after a few reminiscences and
jokes about becoming old timers. He invited me to share the book with
other OT’s in the club, which I am happy to do. The book is a series of
1 or 2 page snippets of Newkirk’s radio life and is very entertaining,
especially for OT’s. I will circulate the book among our members in the
order in which I receive answers to the following questions: what and
when was Cycle 19, and who was Rod Newkirk? de WM3X, Bill Michne,
252-249-1175, drmichne73@gmail.com.
DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL SPECIAL EVENT STATION — AFTER ACTION REPORT
From Vice President Bruce Perkins, K4ONC:
First, I want to thank those PARS members who gave up their Saturday and
participated in the N4PARS Special Event Station at the Dragon Boat
Races at River Dunes this past weekend. Those members were Paul, K4MMB;
Jim, AI4WL; and Tom, KI4NSP. We began setting up the station around
0700hrs and tore down at 1530 hrs. The radio equipment was an IC-7300,
powered by a Bioenno Power 12V 30Ah battery, and a Buddipole antenna in
both a dipole and later a vertical configuration. Our number of contacts
were disappointing, only 4-5, but the camaraderie was great! Several
factors may have contributed to the few contacts: propagation, which was
up and down–mostly down; we were between several loud portable
generators at the food trucks; and the antenna did not tune properly.
But the contacts we did make on HF were from Georgia, Wyoming, Colorado
and North Carolina (our very own WA4GSI from his QTH, thanks Charlie).
On the positive side, we made a number of personal contacts, face to
face, with folks who walked up to inquire as to what we were doing. Of
them, two gentlemen were from Michigan, one of whom was a HAM; Tom
(K8TF) and Ellie (KI4ELE) Finta’s daughter, Sue; and two young boys, Ace
and Eric, from Havelock. Jim showed them our HF set up and gave a simple
explanation of amateur radio. I then introduced them to the UHF/VHF
radio. And with the help of Bill (KR4LO) at his QTH, both Ace (10yrs)
and Eric (14yrs) had QSO’s with Bill. They got a real kick out of those
contacts. It was interesting when they both showed up at our station
with their mother, Eric was very timid and shy. When they left he was
much more talkative and personable. Hopefully we have two new HAM’s in
the making. Thanks Bill!
Overall, the four of us had a good time but we will have to re-evaluate
the physical location of our station if we plan on doing it again next
year. Thanks again to Paul, Jim, Tom and especially Bill for their
participation.
73,
Bruce – K4ONC
PAMLICO EMERGENCY NET/ARES
From Mike Marsh, K4NLC:
Wednesday evening ARES check-in at 1930 on the Oriental repeater –
147.210 + (PL151.4). Please try and send a WinLink check-in to N4PRS
before the check-in and please try to utilize one of the modes other
than telnet – ARDOP usually works pretty well for me. KQ4ET is usually a
good gateway. The quick check-in form is at the bottom of the General
forms option under the Standard Templates selection. After normal
check-in I will send a test message via Fldigi as we have in the last
few weeks so, once again, please have your computers turned on and the
Fldigi program fired up.
ARES monthly training meeting is 15 August in room 411 of the Brinson
building (the middle one) at PCC. All are welcome. Topics will focus on
the upcoming SET and tweaking Fldigi/Flmsg setups to work more reliably.
This directly impacts our ham hurricane preparedness.
Right now we are scheduled to hold our hurricane season SET on 21
August. Fldigi will be a big part of the SET this year. If we continue
to have a difficult time gaining access to the conference room at the
Bayboro courthouse, we may have to schedule the SET for a daytime run. I
will try to keep everyone informed as we get closer to the date.
Thanks!
Mike – K4NLC
SOLAR NUMBERS TODAY
NOAA reported that solar activity was very low during the 24 hours
ending yesterday at 5 pm local. There are no sunspot regions on the sun
facing earth this morning. Activity will continue to be very low
according to the Space Weather Prediction Center. On Sunday, the
reported Solar Flux Index (SFI) at Penticton was 68. The index is
predicted to register 67 today through Wednesday. The SFI 90 day
trailing average is down to 68.
The Earth’s geomagnetic field was quiet to unsettled yesterday. It is
expected again be quiet to unsettled today and then quiet on Tuesday and
Wednesday. The estimated Kp-index of 1 at 5 a.m. local this morning
indicates we are currently experiencing quiet conditions.
We can expect fair daytime and good nighttime operating conditions on 80
and 40 meters for the next few days. Poor conditions will continue on
the higher bands. For the six meter band, expect the openings to be
fewer and less intense as the Summer Es season draws to a close. Meteor
scatter has provided most of the current activity. The Perseid meteor
shower peaks tonight.
For an explanation of numbers used in our PARSgram, see the excellent
article written by Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA at
http://arrl.org/the-sun-the-earth-the-ionosphere.
HAM EQUIPMENT FOR SALE, TRADE, OR WANTED
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. Listings will EXPIRE AFTER 90 DAYS unless I hear otherwise.–Jim.
**For Sale**
– Ameritron ALS-606 600W Solid State Linear Amplifier with Power Supply.
New, 2 months ago, I have 2 of them and only need one! Priced at $1,600.
It can be seen and tried at my QTH in Comfort (Jones County), NC. Will
deliver as far as New Bern. For more info contact Terry Brown, KE4ULF at
terbrw@yahoo.com (20190520)
**For Sale**
– Kenwood TS-870SAT Transceiver. Works and looks as new. Has hand mic
and power cable, no box. $650.
– Ameritron ATR-20 Antenna Tuner. Has new roller inductor, works
perfectly. Condx is 9 out of 10! Asking $175.
Contact Don Smith, KJ4RB at kj4rb@embarqmail.com or 252-568-4011 (If no
answer please leave message). (20190520)
PARS CALENDAR:
* Aug 15, Emergency Communications Training for ARES, Thursday, 7-9 pm,
Brinson Building Room 411, Pamlico Community College, Mike Marsh, K4NLC,
252-636-1257 or mike@marshconsulting.org
* Aug 21, Annual Simulated Emergency Test (SET) for Pamlico Emergency
Net/ARES members, Wednesday, 7:30 pm, Oriental Repeater, 147.210 +
(PL151.4). Transmission of message using NBEMS is planned. See
http://www.arrl.org/nbems For more info contact Mike Marsh, K4NLC,
252-636-1257 or mike@marshconsulting.org.
* Aug 31, PARS MONTHLY MEETING, Saturday, 9am, Brantley’s Village
Restaurant, Oriental. For more info, contact Bill Michne, WM3X,
252-249-1175 or drmichne73@gmail.com.
* Sep 28, PARS MONTHLY MEETING, Saturday, 9am, Brantley’s Village
Restaurant, Oriental PARS MONTHLY MEETING, Saturday, 9am, Brantley’s
Village Restaurant, Oriental. For more info, contact Bill Michne, WM3X,
252-249-1175 or drmichne73@gmail.com.
LOCAL NETS OF INTEREST TO PARS MEMBERS:
* Mondays, Pete’s “Pamlico Swamp Roundtable” (“Swamp Net” for some),
around 8 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 10 Meter Band voice segment open to technician licensees and above.
Radio related topics/questions/issues welcomed.
* Tuesdays, Newport Weather Service SKYWARN Practice Net, 9:00 pm
local, Oriental (147.210+ (PL151.4)) and all other local repeaters. This
net for severe weather warning and reporting is continously monitored
upon activation.
* Wednesdays, Pamlico Emergency Net Practice and Rag Chew/ARES, 7:30
pm, Oriental Repeater, 147.210 + (PL151.4).
* 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/
Web Master is Paul Jodoin, K4MMB, 561-308-3456, PARSwebman@gmail.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.
73, Jim AI4WL
——
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