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Issue 93 — JANUARY 2001

Monthly Newsletter of the Southern Oregon Amateur Radio Club

SOARC, P.O. BOX 1164, GRANTS PASS, OREGON 97528
VISIT THE SOARC WEBSITE AT: http://www.qsl.net/soar/SOARC/
EDITOR: MIKE WRIGHT, N7GEI, 432 GRANDVIEW AVE., G. P., OR 97527
PHONE: 541-471-0440 E-MAIL: n7gei@msn.com

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The President's Corner

I want to thank everyone for a great year! The increased attendance and participation by club members was most rewarding. I?m looking forward to even better things to happen for SOARC in the year ahead.

Let?s all do our part to get even more local hams involved in our meetings and activities. The important thing to remember is not how many more amateurs attend our meetings, but how many more hams are available to share their experiences and knowledge with the rest of the group. If you have to, go out of your way to invite someone who hasn?t been attending our meetings to come with you next Tuesday.

CUL, Jim, WA6OTP

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2000 SOARC Officers and Board

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Welcome From Your Editor

Christmas and New Year's pass all too quickly! Most of us get so wrapped-up in the holidays that they come and go before we have a chance to really enjoy them. One thing that my wife and I try to do is shop for presents all year. Clearances, closeouts, and other sales, particularly during the week after Christmas, are a great opportunity to save money, also. Anyway, I hope you all had a great holiday season and that you will have an exciting new year.

Don't forget that dues are now due. You can give your money to the treasurer at the club meeting or send your check to the SOARC post office box.

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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NEXT CLUB MEETING
TUESDAY, 16 JANUARY
1900
SENIOR CENTER
3RD & B STREETS
GRANTS PASS

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Coming Attractions

This month will be our annual election of club officers and directors. Our president has presented us with a slate of members to vote on. Also, don't forget to bring any projects you would like to show-and-tell.

73, Cy, W7MQL

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Calling All Ladies

Western Belles is a women's ham radio chat group that meets at 7:30 PM on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of every month on the 147.300 repeater. Please check in!

The ladies get together regularly for lunch and all female hams are invited to attend.

The next luncheon will be at 11:30 AM on February 3rd at The Black Forest Restaurant, 820 NE E Street, Grants Pass, next to the Grants Pass Shopping Center.

73, Wilma, W1LMA, and Anita, KC7MGH

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Fair Radio Sales

Our president's show-and-tell at the November meeting featured a telescoping antenna similar to one I purchased about 40 years ago from Fair Radio Sales in Lima, Ohio. I had recently seen an advertisement for this business in one of the ham radio magazines and, since many of those present were unfamiliar with this great source of surplus electronic equipment, I called them to order a catalog. I told them about SOARC and they sent me several catalogs to share with our members.

If you would like one of their catalogs and a current sale flyer, see me at the January club meeting.

These people stock all kinds of military and civilian surplus plus older parts like tubes and even galena crystals.

I used to order all kinds of surplus items just to play around with them--lifeboat radios, radiosondes, antennas, microphones, and military radio sets.

73, Mike Wright, N7GEI

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2001 VE Exams

2001 SOARC amateur radio license exams will be conducted at 6:30 PM at the Senior Center on January 26th, April 27th, July 27th, and November 30th.

73, Bill Tyner, WX7U

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Tip to Mitigate Cold Solder Joints

A cold solder joint occurs when the solder is heated enough to melt, but the material being soldered is not hot enough to bond the solder with the material. To mitigate producing cold solder joints, heat the material being soldered, not the solder. Hold the solder next to the material being heated. When the material is heated sufficiently, the solder will melt. For example, if you are soldering a wire to a post, heat the post while holding the solder next to the opposite side of the post. When the post is heated sufficiently to melt the solder, the solder will melt and bond the wire and post.

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New FCC System Yields Fast License Grants

QST de W1AW
ARRL Bulletin 51 ARLB051
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT December 28, 2000
To all radio amateurs

The FCC's new system to handle batch filed amateur applications from Volunteer Examiner Coordinators has cut processing time from hours to minutes. The FCC inaugurated the more rapid amateur license application processing system December 28.

''Way to go, FCC!'' said an enthusiastic ARRL-VEC Manager Bart Jahnke, W9JJ, after his office fed its first batch of license applications into the system. Jahnke says processing of five dozen ARRL-VEC applications took about 50 minutes. The W4VEC in North Carolina and Central America VEC also took advantage of the new system for the first time.

Except for a two-hour window right after midnight each day, the speedy new system looks for VEC submissions each hour on the half hour. With FCC license grant processing now measured in terms of hours instead of days, the major factor now determining the time from exam to license grant is how quickly VE teams get their test results to their VECs.

The FCC has been estimating a processing window of up to 90 minutes, depending on volume and arrival time. License grant results should be available immediately on the Universal Licensing System Web site, http://www.fcc.gov/wtb/uls, using the license search option. Once a grant is in the FCC database, the licensee has operating privileges.

Applications processed by the FCC one day will appear in the public update (''zip'') files the following morning. Public call sign servers on the Internet should be able to update within 24 hours after FCC action--rather than the 48 hours that's now typical.

On-line filings from individuals, weekend filings and FCC-manually processed applications filed to Gettysburg will continue to be handled as they are now. These are batched for midnight processing, and weekend filings will not queue up until Monday midnight.

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THINGS YOUR GRANDMOTHER MAY NEVER HAVE TOLD YOU...

1. Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugar cone to prevent ice cream drips.
2. Use a meat baster to "squeeze" your pancake batter onto the hotgriddle and you'll get perfectly shaped pancakes every time
3. To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes.
4. To prevent egg shells from cracking, add a pinch of salt to the water before hard-boiling.
5. Run your hands under cold water before pressing Rice Krispies treats in the pan and the marshmallow won't stick to your fingers.
6. To get the most juice out of fresh lemons, bring them to room temperature and roll them under your palm against the kitchen counter before squeezing.
7. To easily remove burnt on food from your skillet, simply add a drop or two of dish soap and enough water to cover bottom of pan, and bring to a boil on stove-top..
8. Spray your Tupperware with nonstick cooking spray before pouring in tomato-based sauces and there won't be any stains.
9. When a cake recipe calls for flouring the baking pan, use a bit of the dry cake mix instead and there won't be any white mess on the outside of the cake.
10. If you accidentally over-salt a dish while it's still cooking, drop in a peeled potato and it will absorb the excess salt for an instant "fix me up."
11. Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting in the refrigerator and it will keep for weeks.
12. Brush some beaten egg white over pie crust before baking to yield abeautiful glossy finish.
13. Place a slice of apple in hardened brown sugar to soften it.
14. When boiling corn on the cob, add a pinch of sugar to help bring out the corn's natural sweetness.
15. To determine whether an egg is fresh place it in a pan of cool, salted water. If it sinks, it is fresh, but if it rises to the surface, throw it away
16. Cure for headaches: Take a lime cut it in half and rub it on your forehead. The throbbing will go away.
17. Don't throw out all that leftover wine: Freeze into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces.
18. If you have a problem opening jars: Try using latex dish washing gloves. They give a non-slip grip that makes opening jars easy.
19. Potatoes will take food stains off your fingers. Just slice and rub raw potato on the stains and rinse with water.
20. To get rid of itch from mosquito bites, try applying soap on the area and you will experience instant relief.
21. Ants, ants, ants everywhere ... Well, they are said to never cross a chalk line. So get your chalk out and draw a line on the floor or wherever ants tend to march. See for yourself.
22. Use air-freshener to clean mirrors. It does a good job and better still, leaves a lovely smell to the shine.
23. When you get a splinter, reach for the scotch tape before resorting to tweezers or a needle. Simply put the scotch tape over the splinter, then pull it off. Scotch tape removes most splinters painlessly and easily.
24. Now look what you can do with Alka Seltzer. Clean a toilet. Drop in two Alka-Seltzer tablets, wait twenty minutes, brush and flush. The citric acid and effervescent action clean vitreous china.
25. Clean a vase. To remove a stain from the bottom of a glass vase or cruet, fill with water and drop in two Alka-Seltzer tablets.
26. Polish jewelry. Drop two Alka-Seltzer tablets into a glass of water and immerse the jewelry for two minutes.
27. Clean a thermos bottle. Fill the bottle with water, drop in four Alka-Seltzer tablets, and let soak for an hour (or longer, if necessary).
28. Unclog a drain. Clear the sink drain by dropping three Alka-Seltzer tablets down the drain followed by a cup of Heinz WhiteVinegar - Wait a few minutes, then run the hot water.

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