PARSgram 2022-12-26

PARS BREAKFAST MEETING THIS COMING SATURDAY
Our next meeting will be at 0900 this Saturday, December 31st 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 Mike Marsh, K4NLC, 252-636-1257 or mike@marshconsulting.com.

For our final gathering of the year the business agenda will be short
and followed by our completely voluntary annual EXCHANGE of small GIFTS.
If you wish to participate, the gifts must be related to ham radio in
some way. No cans of Spam or Ham please! Put your imagination to work.
If you buy a gift, keep it inexpensive. If you already have a widget
like the one you unwrapped, swap it for something else.

Following the meeting there will be a practice FOX HUNT. Dick, K4JJW,
will have placed his fox transmitter somewhere close by, like within a
couple of miles of Brantleys. After the meeting he will turn it on
(146.590 MHz) for just one hour. It will be concealed but easily
accessible from the public roads around Oriental. No prizes, it’s just
for fun and practice. Bring your fox hunting gear to the meeting and
have an hour of fun. Maybe you will run across the Oriental Dragon if
he’s out early.

SOLAR NUMBERS TODAY
NOAA reported that solar activity was low during the 24 hour period
ending yesterday at 4 p.m. local. There are 6 numbered sunspot regions
on the Sun facing Earth this morning. There were 8 last Monday. The
Prediction Center expects solar activity to be low today through
Wednesday. There is a chance for M-class flares during the period.

Yesterday’s noon Solar Flux Index (SFI) observation at Penticton is
unavailable. Perhaps it was blocked by Santa’s sleigh as he returned to
the North Pole. Last Sunday it was 156. The index is predicted to
measure 135 today, 136 tomorrow and 138 on Wednesday. The SFI 90 day
trailing average was 133 yesterday. Same as last Monday.

The Earth’s geomagnetic field was quiet to unsettled yesterday. It is
expected to be quiet to unsettled today, reach minor storm levels
Tuesday and then active on Wednesday. The estimated Kp-index of 4.33
reported at 7 a.m. local this morning indicated unsettled geomagnetic
conditions. Geomagnetic storms are likely.

For today, we can expect fair to good operating conditions on the HF
bands 80 through 15 meters, fair day but poor night on 12 and 10.

For an explanation of the numbers used in our PARSgram, see the
excellent article written by Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA at
http://arrl.org/the-sun-the-earth-the-ionosphere.

DX THIS WEEK–
Extracted from ARLD051 DX news:
– NORFOLK ISLAND, VK9N. Marcelo, ZL1MTO will be QRV as VK9MTO from
December 29 to January 5, 2023. Activity will be holiday style on
20, 15, and 10 meters using SSB, FT8, and FT4, generally between
0600 to 1100z. QSL to home call.
– UK SOVEREIGN BASES ON CYPRUS, ZC4. Garry, 2M1DHG is QRV as ZC4GR
and has been QRV for the past week or so with reported activity on
40, 30 and 10 meters FT8. QSL via EB7DX.

HAM EQUIPMENT FOR SALE, TRADE, OR WANTED
For listing in the PARSgram send me your amateur radio related items
that are for sale, trade, or wanted. PLEASE let me know when you have
have sold your item or your listing is no longer needed. Listings will
EXPIRE AFTER 90 DAYS unless I hear otherwise.–Jim.

– For Sale: I have three SignaLink interfaces for digital sound card
modes given to me by a friend to sell for him. Each comes complete with
a USB cable and radio interface cable. Two have six-pin mini-DIN cables
for any radio with that standardized data port. One has a cable to
interface to a Baufeng UV-5R or equivalent radio (I believe it’s the
Kenwood standard mic plug). They sell new MSRP for $140 these days. He’s
wanting $60 for one. Great for Winlink, FM Packet radio, WSJTx and so
much more. The manual link:
https://www.qsl.net/kb7tbt/manuals/Tigertronics/SignaLinkUSB.pdf Lor
Kutchins, W3QA, kutchins@w3qa.net or 252-349-0466. (20221219)

– For Sale: Ameritron AL-811 3 tube has new 572b tunes. It works but
needs some work, possibly just some cleaning. I have extra 811 tubes
some might be good that can go with it. $ 400 obo. Cody Vanhook, KN4RFG,
can call or text (252) 229-4542 (20221212)

PARS CALENDAR:
* Dec 31, PARS MONTHLY MEETING and Annual Christmas Gift Exchange,
Saturday, 9am, Brantley’s Village Restaurant, Oriental. For more info,
contact Mike Marsh, K4NLC, 252-636-1257 or mike@MarshConsulting.org
* Dec 31, PRACTICE FOX HUNT, Saturday, Brantley’s Village Restaurant,
Oriental. Follows PARS meeting. For more info, contact Dick Goodwin,
K4JJW, rgoodwin41@suddenlink.net
* Jan 28, PARS MONTHLY MEETING, Saturday, 9am, Brantley’s Village
Restaurant, Oriental. For more info, contact Mike Marsh, K4NLC,
252-636-1257 or mike@MarshConsulting.org

LOCAL NETS OF INTEREST TO PARS MEMBERS:
* Wednesdays,”Pamlico Communications Net”, 7:30 pm local, N4ONC
(Oriental) Repeater, 147.210 + (CTSCC Tone Squelch 88.5).
* 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/
Our Web Master is Paul Jodoin, K4MMB, 561-308-3456, PARSwebman@gmail.com

In case we don’t see you at the meeting, we wish you a very healthy,
happy and rewarding New Year!

73, Jim AI4WL
——–
This email is sent to members and friends of the Pamlico Amateur Radio
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