PAMLICO AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY (PARS) April 29, 2023 MEETING NOTES
* Twenty-three PARS members, visitors and guests attended the 9 am
Saturday breakfast meeting chaired by President Mike Marsh, K4NLC, at
Brantley’s Village Restaurant.
* Awards and Upgrades: Dick Goodwin, K4JJW, reported receiving his
certificate for the 8 Band Worked All States (WAS) award.
* Mike delivered the Treasurer’s report on behalf of Wally.
* AI4WL’s Propagation Report: The Sun has been relatively quiet after
last weekend’s strong geomagnetic storms. The G4 level (KP index of 8
plus) storms degraded HF radio especially on the lower HF frequencies
and at the poles. Propagation is unsettled this a.m. Look for the
Spratly Islands, Fiji, and Guinea Bissau this coming week. The
DXpedition to the Western Kiribati T3OUN continues. Bruce, K4ONC,
mentioned the propagation tool, hf.dxview.org recently. Another old
standby is pskreporter.info/pskmap.html. There is no need to transmit,
just plug in your grid (e.g.FM15) instead of a call sign and your
band(s) of interest.
* ARES/Pamlico Communications Net: Mike reported four Wednesday night
practices. Up to 17 have checked in, 6-8 on WinLink. He reminds all to
use the Arapahoe repeater when the Oriental repeater is unavailable.
* Bruce, K4ONC, advised that the Pamlico Communications Team will next
meet on Saturday, May 6th, 0900 at Oriental VFD Station 19. The focus
will again be on DMR and the other digital modes.
* Lor reminded all of the EHPC hurricane preparation exercise this
coming Thursday, May 4th. All hams can and are encouraged to
participate. Being a member of ARES or AUXCOMM is NOT REQUIRED. Use of
WinLink is encouraged but not required! [More elsewhere]
* Paul reported the N4PRS web site activity is “about average”. There
were 145 users in the past 30 days with 287 pages visited.
* Repeater update: Lor, W3QA, reported replacing a weak controller
module in the aging but otherwise robust custom built Oriental repeater.
Software is being updated. He advised waiting to buy any new VHF/UHF
radio. The updated repeater will be able allow use of new digital
protocols such as C4FM, DMR, D-star via an ordinary FM analog radio.
Network linking will be possible. At first, the updated repeater will
operate as it has in the past. New capabilities will be added slowly.
Tutorials will be provided. The Oriental repeater should be back on the
air in a week to 10 days.
* Fox Hunt: Fourteen have signed up so far for the Fox Hunt which will
follow next month’s PARS meeting. A single leg is planned with a
staggered start. It begins around 1030 and ends 2 hours later. Lunch
will follow. Prizes will include a dual band antenna and MFJ dual time
clock. Contact Dick [address at calendar below] to participate.
* Wayne, KO4OJC, has had great success remotely operating his station
using just a new app on his iPhone. It’s also available for an iPad. At
this time, it only works for 3 Icom radios IC705, 9700, and 7610. Get it
from https://roskosch.de (iPhone app is sdr-control mobile and iPad is
sdr-control)
* Bill, WM3X, shared his research into complying with the new FCC RF
Exposure Rules. Most stations will likely be within the MPE (Maximum
Permitted Exposure) limits but we should evaluate our station to comply
with the FCC rule that is effective May 3, 2023. The ARRL provides a
very simple tool at http://arrl.org/rf-exposure-calculator to quickly
comply. Proof of being within the MPE should provide liability
protection in the unlikely case that it is needed. Fill in the blanks,
let the tool calculate, save a copy. That’s it.
* Mike drew attention to an important 30 day ARRL survey starting 1 May
encouraging member participation as the league officers consider a
dues increase. The survey will include some short questions about
raising dues and modifying the way some membership benefits are bundled.
Take it at www.arrl.org/take-dues-survey
* Lor, W3QA, drew the winning number for a Brantleys Gift Certificate;
Charlie, KO4YWM, won a “PARS Coaster” crafted by Rick, NN2S.
* There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 10:09 am.
HURRICANE COMMUNICATIONS PREPAREDNESS EXERCISE OPEN TO ALL
A statewide hurricane preparedness exercise is this Thursday, May 4th.
If you have not signed up in NCTERMS (terms.ncem.gov) for the upcoming
exercise as part of ARES or AUXCOMM, you can still–and are encouraged–
to participate. This is a pre-hurricane readiness exercise where
situational awareness “ground truth” may be needed.
The Scenario: Tropical storm Amy is forecasted to hit Central Florida
the Gulf Coast late on May 2, 2023 with moderate impacts. During the
same period, Hurricane Warner is expected to gain strength to a
dangerous CAT 3 Hurricane. The current forecast is to make impacts along
the Carolinas. Both of these storms are expected to cross paths and
stall in the Western Carolina’s. Sustained hurricane winds are almost
certain along the Carolina coast with gusts to 135 mph. Hurricane force
wind gusts are expected well inland along with severe flash flooding
potential inland. Coastal areas are forecasted to experience life
threatening storm surge. Expect moderate to severe infrastructure damage
across the Southeast. Wide scale power and internet outages are imminent
starting early May 3rd.
Although WinLink responses and messages are encouraged, they are not
required. Stations are to send simulated messages to three SHARES
Winlink accounts (NCS862@winlink.org, NCS851@winlink.org and
NCS396@winlink.org) according to the instructions. The instructions and
more are on our NC4ES.ORG web site on the “Alerts” page. If you have
difficulty with the web version, please reply to this email for a copy.
For more information contact Lor Kutchins at lor.kutchins@gmail.com.
PARS QRZ PAGE UPDATED
Check out our N4PRS page on QRZ.com. Paul, K4MMB, has recently had a
chance to freshen it up with some great new photos and more.
SOLAR NUMBERS TODAY
NOAA reports that solar activity was moderate during the 24 hour period
ending yesterday at 5 p.m. local. There are 6 numbered sunspot regions
on the Sun facing Earth this morning. There were 6 last Monday, 9 the
Monday before. The Prediction Center expects solar activity to be low
today through Wednesday. There is a 40% chance for M-class flares each day.
Yesterday’s noon Solar Flux Index (SFI) observation at Penticton was
- Last Sunday’s was 135. The index is predicted to measure 155 today,
150 tomorrow and 145 on Wednesday. The SFI 90 day trailing average was
158 yesterday. It was 159 last Monday.
The geomagnetic field has been at quiet to unsettled levels for the past
24 hours. Conditions are expected to be quiet to active today, tomorrow
and Wednesday. The estimated Kp-index of 2.67 reported at 5 a.m. local
this morning indicates quiet geomagnetic conditions.
In the near term, HF conditions are expected to be good during the night
on 80-15 Meters, poor to fair during the day. The best conditions during
the day are likely to be found on 17-10 meters. Twelve and 10 meters
will be poor at night.
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 TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK–
Extracted from ARLD017 DX news:
–SPRATLY ISLANDS. Gil, 4F2KWT will be QRV as DX0NE from Kalayaan
from April 30 to May 9. Activity will be on 160 to 10 meters using
CW, SSB, and FT8. QSL via IZ8CCW.
–GUINEA BISSAU, J5. Carlos, CT2GQA is QRV as J5JUA until the end of
May. Activity is on 15 to 10 meters using mostly FT8. QSL to home
call.
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 your listing is no longer needed. Listings will
EXPIRE AFTER 90 DAYS unless I hear otherwise.–Jim.
FOR SALE: Two complete restored vintage stations. Plug and play, ready
to go as illustrated on K4JJW’s QRZ.com page. It’s not getting enough
use and I’m selling everything as a single package at a very reasonable
$1400 price, way under going market prices. About 25 separate pieces of
gear, all cables, manuals, spare tubes, restoration notes, operating
desk. Everything operates as it should. Major gear…Johnson Ranger,
EICO-720, Drake 2B, ICOM R71A, Digital VFO, Timewave DSP, SDR/Uno SDR
receiver, About 15 additional accessory items, too much to list here.
Contact Dick Goodwin K4JJW at rgoodwin41@suddenlink.net or 252-633-7873
for a complete description and list via email. (20230417)
PARS CALENDAR:
* May 6, PAMLICO COMMUNICATIONS TEAM 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 27, PARS MONTHLY MEETING, Saturday, 9am, Brantley’s Village
Restaurant, Oriental. For more info, contact Mike Marsh, K4NLC,
252-636-1257 or mike@MarshConsulting.org
* May 27, PARS FOX HUNT, Saturday, Time TBD, Oriental VFD Station 19 on
Straight Rd. For more info and to sign up, contact Dick Goodwin, K4JJW,
rgoodwin41@suddenlink.
* Jun 24, PARS MONTHLY MEETING, Saturday, 9am, Brantley’s Village
Restaurant, Oriental. For more info, contact Mike Marsh, K4NLC,
252-636-1257 or mike@MarshConsulting.org
REPEATER/NODE STATUS
(See www.n4prs.org/frequencies/ for set-up)
N4ONC VHF FM Oriental — Down for upgrade. Est rtn 8 May.
KR4LO UHF FM Oriental — Operational
NC4ES VHF FM/DMR Arapahoe — Operational
NC4ES UHF DMR Florence — Operational
WM3X-ONC VHF WIRES-X NODE Oriental — Operational
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
73, Jim AI4WL
——–
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