The temperature is up for field day. Are you? Are you ready for club? I am. I look forward to hearing and seeing all the stuff about field day. We will have lots to talk about. I hope all of you can find someone to bring to club. New blood for our hobby is good. Get the kid from next door or down the street and bring them to club; let them see how radio folks can tell lies and eat donuts!

See you at club.

73, Jim, WA6OTP

Another successful Boatnik operation is over and everyone is looking forward to doing it again next year.

Field day is coming up next weekend and it should be a great time for all who participate.

It could be a hot, dry summer ahead and we all need to stay prepared for the unthinkable--forest fire. My brother lives near Monument, CO, and there is a forest fire burning in his part of the state. He and his wife are not in any danger and, fortunately, live in an area that is not heavily forested.

If you have anything to submit for publication in the Gnus, see the contact information below the masthead.

73, Mike, N7GEI

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We will be discussing field day preparations at the next meeting and swap some stories about past field day operations.

73, Cy, W7MQL

(Editor's note: Sheriff Dave Daniel had planned to be at our next meeting, but I haven't been able to confirm that he will be there. If he does appear, I'm sure our members will have a lot of questions about the recently-failed county levy. It would be interesting to see if there is some way our trained communicators could help out in this time of need.)

SOARC operators made their usual appearance in fine style at the Boatnik races held during Memorial Day weekend in Grants Pass.

Communicators involved in the jet boat races were N7KS (packet), N7YLB (tower), KB7NFY (sweep boat), KC7IXX, KC7TYS, KC7ULP, WB6CMA, KC7YKP, KB7EKF, KB7TSX, KD7IAB, KC7WEU, WA6OTP, WA6OWE, K7XI, KC7AND, W7MQL, KC7JJF, KK7OI, KI7RU, KK7BF, KC7JJG, KC7MGH, WB6YQP, N6DFV, KD7GBL, WB6WHM, KC7GLY, and Matt Eadie.

Hams involved in the hydroplane races were N7KS and N7ZWU (packet), KC7IXX (tower), WA6OWE (sheriff's boat), KD7GBL, KC7JJF, W7MQL, KD7IAB, KC7GLY, KI7RU, KK7BF, WB6YQP, N7DFV, KC7JJG, KC7MGH, KA7CZG, KB7TWL, WA6OTP, and Matt Eadie.

It's interesting to note that 19 hydroplanes started the races but only eight finished.

John Brown, WB6WHM, was net control for all of the races and many of the amateurs involved worked all three days of the long weekend.

Orla Goff, KC7GLY, operated a two-meter/440 crossband repeater on top of Onion Mountain during the races.

Thanks go out to all of the people involved in the Boatnik races, including the spotters who did a wonderful job. 

73, John, WB6WHM

QRPp CW is fun! Oh yeah! Try this on for size, folks: 250 mw on 40m with WB0UFF in Yuma. Sure, the guy said I was 2/2/9, but we made the trip. I put up my old original solid wire of G5RV design but added 16' of wire to each end (80m dipole config.) and changed the feed line to 450 ohm ladder line. The 16' additions hang vertically, so the antenna still fits between a couple of trees only 120 feet apart. It seems to have an omnidirectional component in the radiation pattern.

I made another contact at 4.5 watts with ZL2CD near Wellington on 15m. He gave me a 5/6/9, but local QRM put an end to our chat. The best one lately, though, was 900mw with W1MOZ in Bluehill, ME. I calculated 2.9 miles per milliwatt on that QSO.

OK, I kind of cheat. I'm using my Drake C-Line twins to pull off the contacts, but I use two different watt meters to corroborate the output. The Knight PS-2 measures on a 10-watt scale while the Drake W-4 is less easy but very accurate. Impossible to read plate amps at those power levels--the needle doesn't even kick! My Pixie kit QRPp is swamped by KAJO, so I can't use it from this site.

It's very important to match the antenna when running under 1 watt (QRPp). I match the 80m dipole absolutely flat, then dip the plate and readjust the T-4XC, then tweek the match some more, back and forth and back and forth until there seems to be absolutely nothing more to gain. Then, calling QRPp forever eventually brings a reply. The fun thing still is to jump into a pile-up, keying "QRPp, QRPp", and then hearing ditti dum dum ditti, sending again this time with the call and having the guy pick you out of all the megatonnage stations. That's what happened with my ZL. I like to think of the "big dogs" stewing in their own juices while the flea eats it's fill.

Why does the pile-up station bother to answer a pip-squeek on a straight key? He answers because you test him; you pose a challenge and I've found this seems irresistable to most everybody. Give it a try. Turn your power down and go fishing.

For all of you CW fanatics, I found a call for you in case you want to spend the bucks on a vanity call. Now mind you, this is for CW people only. Send this: K7ESE.

Wouldn't that be an easy one to hear in heavy QRM? You can thank me later.

73, Bill, WX7U (QRPp)

Western Belles is a new women's ham radio chat group that meets at 7:30 PM on the 1^st and 3^rd Thursdays of every month on the 147.300 repeater. They will have a luncheon on the last Saturday of each month and all lady hams are welcome to attend.

Please check in!

73, Wilma, W1LMA, and Anita, KC7MGH

All good Southerners already know this, but in fairness to those Yankees (northerners visiting the South) or Damn Yankees (northerners who visit the South and stay) who may venture South, there are some things you need to know. (Southerners who may have Yankees visiting, please pass this along.)

Having problems with the English language? Well, you're not alone.

REASONS WHY THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IS HARD TO LEARN:

1. The bandage was wound around the wound.
2. The farm was used to produce produce.
3. The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4. We must polish the Polish furniture.
5. He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7. Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
8. A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9. When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10. I did not object to the object.
11. The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12. There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13. They were too close to the door to close it.
14. The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15. A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16. To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17. The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18. After a number of injections my jaw got number.
19. Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20. I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21. How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

73, Gary, KB7FCI (Thanks also for the following.)

1. This rig puts out a big signal? It's 50 khz wide
2. This is a really good CW rig? It doesn't work on SSB
3. It seems to be a vintage regenerative type...It oscillates
4. I just re-tubed it...Got 'em from a questionable USED tube stock
5. I just aligned it...The slugs on the transformers are jammed
6. I don't know if it works...It doesn't work and probably never has
7. It doesn't CHIRP...Probably because it doesn't transmit
8. The audio sounds great...The 120-hz buzz is faithfully reproduced