Winter is still with us--the snow is still on the hills--but there is lots of time left for ham radio! Take advantage of the "indoor" time remaining to complete a radio project (which you can bring to a meeting for show-and-tell) or chase some rare DX which you also can tell us about at club. It's not too early to start preparing for Field Day. It will be here before we know it!

Hope to see you all at the club meeting on Tuesday.

CUL, Jim, WA6OTP

I was surfing the web the other night and came across a great ham radio website: http://wa6otp.webjump.com. It belongs to none other than our illustrious president, Jim Mcnutt. It features his crystal sets, various homebrew projects, great photographs, and his "Ham Radio on the Trail" account of hiking through the wilderness with his wife, Karen, WA6OWE. Many of you heard Jim relate the "Reader's Digest" version of this adventure at the SOARC picnic last fall. Now you can read the full-blown story on his website. It's great reading!

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 your dues are not paid by the end of March, you will be dropped from the roster until your dues are paid.

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

73, Mike, N7GEI

Our special guest speaker this month will be Judi Hill from Lovejoy Hospice. She will be explaining the hospice concept and what Lovejoy Hospice does to help members of our community. Hospice care is available to anyone, regardless of age or economic situation. This is something that will touch the lives of nearly every one of our members in some way. Volunteering to help with the hospice program is another way we can give back to our community.

If anyone is interested in bringing in their boat anchors for a show-and-tell this month, give me a call. What I'm looking for really doesn't matter as long as the radios (or test equipment) are tube-type and really ancient. Brush the spiders off and be prepared to do five minutes of discourse on the old potmetal.

I'm bringing in a bit of history--some local color, I guess-- a 50+-year-old National HRO-W. I'd like to talk about it for perhaps 10 minutes. If there are enough entries, I hope to also do this in March with a second wave of boat anchors (on parade).

Let me know and I will organize the list of presenters, allocate times, and get back with you on the show-and-tell.

Tnx, Bill, WX7U

(underpaid) Program Director of the yacht "SOARC"

(next meeting is February 20th)

Western Belles is a 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. 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 March 3^rd at Elmer?s Pancake & Steak House, 175 NE Agness Avenue, Grants Pass, next to the I-5 Foothill Exit.

73, Wilma, W1LMA, and Anita, KC7MGH

Ever wonder how many hams are out there? Here are the numbers from the AC6V website.

1917 - about 6,000

1928 - about 17,000

1936 - about 46,000

1950 - near 90,000

1956 - over 140,000

1958 - about 160,000

1963 - over 250,000

1977 - 327,000

1989 - over 500,000

1997, June - 678,473

2001, January 1 - 682,240

73 From Rod, AC6V, in San Diego

(via Bill, WX7U)

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

73, Bill Tyner, WX7U

The Salem Hamfair has officially been changed to the Rickreall Hamfair (that's where it is actually held). It will be this Saturday, February 17^th. The front doors of the main building will open at 0700 for pickup of pre-registration packets and for day-of-event ticket sales. The sales floor will open at 0900. Admission price is $7.00. This is billed as "Oregon's biggest, best computer/electronics swapmeet" with many dealers present. Icom is bringing its Funmobile and there also will be Ham Radio Outlet, StarFire Tec, Capital Engraving, Emergency Communications Supply, and many more.

There will be swap tables (with or without power), self-contained RV camping spaces, and additional commercial vendor spaces available.

There will be a Country Store where you can sell your gear with help from the Salem Amateur Radio Club. For more information on this, contact Chris Portal, KD7BCV, at 503-838-2653 or ciportal@teleport.com.

No VE testing is planned.

For more information, call Dick Smith, KK7OX, at 541-997-4074, or e-mail him at kk7ox@presys.com.

If That Phone Was Up Your Butt, Maybe You Could Drive A Little Better.

You're Just Jealous Because The Voices Are Talking To Me.

The Face Is Familiar But I Can't Quite Remember My Name.

Seen upside down on a Jeep: If You Can Read This, Please Flip Me Back Over.

Stoplight Signals Timed For 35mph--Are Also Timed For 70mph.

Heart Attacks--God's Revenge For Eating His Animal Friends.

Honk If You've Never Seen An Uzi Fired From A Car Window.

If You Can't Dazzle Them With Brilliance, Riddle Them With Bullets.

The Indians asked their Chief in autumn if the winter was going to be cold or not. Not really knowing an answer, the chief replies that the winter was going to be cold and that the members of the village were to collect wood to be prepared.

So the Chief went back to speed up his people to collect even more wood to be prepared.

A week later he called the National Weather Service again, "Is it still going to be a very cold winter?"

"Yes," the man replied, "it's going to be a very cold winter."

So the Chief goes back to his people and orders them to go and find every last scrap of wood they can find.

Two weeks later he calls the National Weather Service again: "Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very, very cold?"

"Absolutely", the weatherman replies, "the Indians are collecting wood like crazy!"

I learned my lesson several months ago when it comes to virus alerts. Now, when I get a virus alert, the first thing I do is a simple search for it. Lately, they all come back as hoaxes.

The "Virtual Card Virus" is the latest to hit this morning. I found it to be a hoax within 15 seconds of running it on a search. Unlike the "Snowwhite from Ha Ha Ha" event, which seems to have nailed several folks who have me on their e-mail lists, everything lately has been a hoax. It sure is worth it to debunk them when they arrive rather than mass e-mail everyone.

Which one is the virus, the actual software virus or the mass mailing done by concerned victims? Indeed, I've done it a couple of times and it occured to me then that often the real virus is the one instilled in the heads of the victims. The software is caught early and eradicated but the "concerned PC user" mailing friends can go on indefinitely.