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Issue 108 — MAY 2002

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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President's Corner

Boatnik, Field Day, fire season... these are reasons enough to come to club.  Dues, A.R.E.S... these are reasons also.  Did you think I forgot jackets, hats, and badges?  The trailer has been upgraded and there will be all kinds of fun to be had.  Donuts!  Come to club.

73, Jim, WA6OTP

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Welcome From Your Editor

Check out the new JARS website at www.jars-orca.org. The 19^th JARS Swap Meet and Potluck is coming up August 4^th (flyer attached) and raffle tickets are already on sale for the door prizes which include three—count 'em—three Yaesu FT-1500 2m transceivers! For more details, contact Steve Grajeda, WB6YQP, at 479-4772.

A new local emergency calling frequency has been established at 144.150 simplex. If you can't reach 911or access the autopatch, try the new freq. Several local hams will be monitoring. This new freq. also will be used to alert local hams about developing emergency situations.

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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2002 SOARC Officers and Board

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NEXT CLUB MEETING
TUESDAY, 21 MAY
1900
SENIOR CENTER
3^RD & B STREETS
GRANTS PASS

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Coming Attractions

Ya, ya, ya...the new and improved SOARC trailer will be on display at the next meeting and there will be a walk-through and explanation  of all the new gadgetry. 

There also will be a small auction of additional items from the estate of N7SVH.  In addition, there will be a final run-through of the Memorial Day boat race program.  We all will be turning out and it will be the biggest SOARC/ARES event of all time!

Big news!  We have a brewing coffee pot now.  Not only can you have fruit punch, tea, or instant Yuban, now you can have brewed MJB!  And maple bars?  Yes!  Can anyone stand it?

73, Bill Tyner, WX7U

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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 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 on Saturday, June 8th, at Sizzler Restaurant, 1871 NE 7^th St., Grants Pass.

73, Wilma, W1LMA, and Anita, KC7MGH

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2002 VE Exams

It can't be true but it is--exam time is here!  Has it been nearly three months since the last one?  The next one will be May 31st at 6:30 PM at the Senior Services Center!  Just go into the parking lot off of 4th and C.  We will need a copy of your license (need to see picture ID) and a copy of any CSCE's you may hold and want to use (make sure they have been awarded within the one-year time limit).  Anyone who will grandfather into general class needs proof of their license status prior to 4/87.  It's surprising what will pass for proof nowadays.

A quick rundown of the license categories is pretty simple.  If you pass the written technician test, you will be entitled to the technician license.  Add to that five wpm and you will have the technician w/HF privileges license.  Successfully add the written general class exam and you are a general.  Add the amateur extra exam and you are then an extra class amateur.  But, unless you do the code, you will never get past technician no matter how many written tests you take.

As always, VE's will assemble at 6:00 to coordinate and prepare for the crush. 

The remaining dates for SOARC-sponsored ARRL VE license exams for 2002 are August 30 and November 29.  Walk-ins are welcome.

Come by and test your code speed.  SOARC still offers code speed certification tests rewarded by a very attractive certificate to attest to your Morse prowess.

73, Bill Tyner, WX7U

VE Liaison

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Website To View ISS

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/osf/station/viewing/issvis.html

This will tell you when ISS is going to be visible at your location.  When you go, punch in your country (hint: choose USA) then city.  It looks like any town over 20,000 population is listed (like Grants Pass).  The next pass for us is only a few degrees above the horizon, but, if the night is clear, it will be going W-S 16 degrees for five minutes at dark.  Ten degrees is about one fist high, when held out at arm's length, so 16 degrees is not quite two fists up from the horizon.

73, Bill, WX7U

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ARRL To Process Members' FCC Forms

ARRL members daunted by the FCC's Universal Licensing System, http://wireless.fcc.gov/uls, can ask Headquarters to file their license renewal or change-of-address applications free of charge. ARRL members wishing to take advantage of this service should download Form NCVEC 605 (that's the form used by volunteer exam coordinators) from the ARRL Website http://www.arrl.org/fcc/ncvec605c.pdf, print it, fill it in, and mail it to: ARRL VEC, 225 Main St., Newington CT 06111. The response of those wanting ARRL to process renewals has been very positive. For the first three months of 2002, ARRL handled 1721 applications for members?up from 514 for the same period in 2001. The ARRL VEC staff now can process any member's FCC license application request, except for a vanity call sign application. Remember: Renewal applications may only be filed within 90 days of your license expiration date.

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DX Convention Invitation

On behalf of the Willamette Valley DX Club, I'd like to invite all members of the Southern Oregon Amateur Radio Club to the Northwest's premier DX Convention which will be held August 2 - 4, 2002, near Portland, Oregon.

The 2002 Pacific Northwest DX Convention will be held at the Monarch Hotel, 12566 SE 93rd Ave., Clackamas, OR  97015. For reservations, call 800-492-8700. Online reservations can be made at http://monarchhotel.citysearch.com. Make your reservation early as the DX Convention rate is only available until July 12th.

Friday night, we open up registration and there will be a Hospitality Suite.

On Saturday, we have a full day planned!  Don't know the order yet, but here are some of the presentations:  be among the first to hear about WRTC-2002 from Ward, N0AX; discover the latest happenings at the ARRL; learn about sloping antennas for 160 meters from Rudy,
N6LF; listen spellbound to Lew, W7EW, as he talks about the trip to VP8GEO and VP8THU.  Of course, there will be dinner, a dinner speaker, and a Hospitality Suite.

The convention wraps up Sunday morning after breakfast and the final presentation.

As always, there will be PRIZES throughout the convention. Full details and a registration form will be on our website, http://www.wvdxc.org/convention.htm, shortly.

Any questions can be addressed either to me or to the
Convention Chairman, Al Rovner, K7AR, k7ar@arrl.net, or 360-256-7437.

73, Lisa Zeug, K7UQT

2002 Pacific Northwest DX Convention

Publicity Chairman

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Movie May Feature Ham Radio

Amateur Radio is poised to hit the big screen yet again in a movie tentatively titled Phenomenon II. Phenomenon debuted in 1996 and featured John Travolta and his ham operator friend Forest Whitaker. In one scene, Travolta's character appears to be able to copy RTTY transmissions by ear. For the original Phenomenon movie, ARRL provided several props for the ham radio shack. The sequel is still in the very early stages of development. A researcher working on checking facts in the script contacted ARRL to ask if operators actually used the term "CQ" when initiating contacts. She also told ARRL Media Relations Manager Jennifer Hagy, N1TDY, that the possibility exists for the creation of a television series based on the Phenomenon movies. Hagy offered further assistance if needed.

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Make Your Hamfest Swing!

Too many hamfests these days are getting boring.  There is too much ancient junk to look through, too many guys selling bits for computers that won't work, too many hotdogs, too many hamburgers, and, worst of all, too much beer.  This page was designed to help your hamfest go with a swing.  Forget about all the old stuff and do something different for a change! Check out these ideas.

SPOT THE CONTAMINANT

This is something the whole family can join in with.  Get the XYLs and the Juniors to make batches of cookies.  Nothing strange in that, you might say.  Here comes the difference.  Into each batch of cookies the chef places a special ham radio contaminant.  The following list is just a suggestion based on those that have worked before:

Solder globules

Silicon Grease

Ferrite Beads

Switch cleaner

Short pieces of wire (Contestants must guess A.W.G. (or S.W.G.), metal used and nature of insulation.  This should be easy because every ham has a place in their teeth where they can strip the insulation from any gauge of wire.)

Super Glue

Transformer Varnish.

NOTE - Please do not use the contents of semi-conductor cans or radioactive tubes.  This could be dangerous.

At the hamfest each ham samples the contents of each plate, blindfolded, and guesses the contaminant used.  The winner is the one who guesses the most correctly or who stays on his or her feet the longest.

DODGE THE BURN

This is a great game and guaranteed to provide a laugh.  A pre-arranged morse code message is sent continuously through a 1 KW transmitter at sixty words per minute.  Contestants with portable receivers tuned to the transmitting frequency have to touch the transmitting antenna as many times as possible during the sequence.  The contestant with the most touches and the most fingers left at the end, wins.

NOSTRIL GUESSING

My brother who was once a keen G operator but who now distributes RF from the State of New Jersey, once stuck a hot soldering iron up one of his nostrils.  That caused him to say 'Ouch' and 'Oh dear' and 'What a silly billy I am.'  However, he still breathes easier through one side of his nose than the other.

'What has this got to do with Hamfests?', I hear you ask.  Well, cold soldering-iron nostril guessing is great fun.  All you do is supply each blindfolded contestant with a cold iron and they have to guess whose nose they are violating.  Obviously, this could be dangerous, so judges must make sure that the insertion is no more than half of an inch.  (Metric friends please convert).  A word of warning: Anyone who switches on an iron during this event is obviously disqualified!

SPOT THE FREQUENCY

Get one of the club members to loan a modern rig to the group.  Carefully remove all of the frequency determining components and increase each of them by a third of their original value.  Re-solder and fire up the transmitter.  The person with his receiver pretuned closest to the transmit frequency wins.  For safety reasons it is suggested that the output power be kept below one kilowatt and that spectators should take steps to avoid any fall-out from components which explode.

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Your Ad Could Be Here

If you have anything ham or computer-related that you would like to advertise for sale or trade, or if you are looking for a part, assembly, radio, manual, or other ham or computer-related item, give your editor a call at 471-0440 or e-mail him at n7gei@aol.com.

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Surfin': Look, Ma, No Radios!

By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
QST Contributing Editor
Visit a Web site where you can learn how to do ham radio without a radio.

By way of the Internet, you can make Amateur Radio contacts without a radio. If your computer is equipped with a microphone and a soundcard, all you need is the right software and you can talk to hams on the other side of the planet via their local repeater or simplex channel.

Gateways provide the link between the Internet and radio worlds and the gateways are two-way streets. That means that if you are within radio-shot of a gateway, you can use your transceiver to communicate through that local gateway to talk with the hams that are connected to the gateway via the Internet. If your radio has DTMF capabilities, you can use its tones to command the gateway to connect with other gateways located throughout the world. Thus, you can contact another ham who is on the air within radio-shot of the remote gateway via this RF-to-gateway-to-Internet-to-gateway-to-RF link.

You can learn all about the Internet-ham radio connection at the "Amateur Radio Voice-Links via the Internet" Web page built by Andy, GJ7JHF. Andy's page describes how all this works and lists some of the software that makes it work. His software description concentrates on iLink and eQSO and briefly mentions Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP), I-Phone, TeamSound, and PalTalk. GJ7JHF also addresses the question, "Is it really ham radio?" According to GJ7JHF, if RF is involved (and it is), then it really is ham radio!

Editor's note: Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, of downtown Wolcott, Connecticut, is an ARRL Life Member and an incessant contributor to QST and QEX (586 pieces in 25 years), not to mention the author of five ARRL books, contributor to a bevy of other ARRL titles, and the new editor of Packet Status Register, the quarterly newsletter of Tucson Amateur Packet Radio (TAPR). First licensed in 1969 as WN1LOU, he upgraded to WA1LOU in 1971. Stan began using computers with Amateur Radio in 1978 when he bought a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model I computer and wrote BASIC programs to dupe contests and calculate antenna bearings. A virtual beach boy, Stan has been surfing the radio dials as long as he can remember. Instead of surfing all over Manhattan and down Doheny way, however, he now surfs the Internet searching for that perfect page. To contact Stan, send e-mail to wa1lou@arrl.net.

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Yeah, I Remember!

Stroll with me...close your eyes...and go back...before the Internet...before bombings, aids, and herpes...before semiautomatics and crack...before SEGA or Super Nintendo...way back??

I'm talking about sitting on the curb, sitting on the stoop...about hide-and-go-seek, Simon says, and red-light-green-light.  Lunch boxes with a thermos...chocolate milk, going home for lunch, penny candy from the store, hopscotch, butterscotch, skates with keys, jacks and Cracker Jacks, hula hoops and sunflower seeds, wax lips and mustaches, Mary Jane's, saddle shoes, and Coke bottles with the names of cities on the bottom.

Remember when it took five minutes for the TV to warm up. When nearly everyone's Mom was at home when the kids arrived home from school.

When nobody owned a purebred dog.  When a quarter was a decent allowance. When you'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny.

When your Mom wore nylons that came in two pieces.  When all of your male teachers wore neckties and female teachers had their hair done everyday and wore high heels.

Remember running through the sprinkler, circle pins, bobby pins, Mickey Mouse Club, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Kookla, Fran and Ollie, Spin and Marty...Dick Clark's American Bandstand...all in black and white and your Mom made you turn it off when a storm came.

When around the corner seemed far away, and going downtown seemed like going somewhere.  Climbing trees, making forts, backyard shows, and lemonade stands.

Cops and robbers, cowboys and indians, and staring at clouds, jumping on the bed, pillow fights, ribbon candy, angel hair on the Christmas tree, Jackie Gleason, white gloves, walking to the movie theater, running till you were out of breath, laughing so hard that your stomach hurt...remember that?

Not stepping on a crack or you'd break your mother's back ... paper-chains at Christmas, silhouettes of Lincoln and Washington, the smells of school, of paste and Evening in Paris.

What about the girl who dotted her i's with hearts? (that was before that stupid smiley face)!

The Stroll, popcorn balls and sock hops?

Remember when there were just two types of sneakers for girls and boys - Keds and PF Flyers, and the only time you wore them at school was for gym. And the girls had those ugly gym uniforms.

When you got your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped, without asking -- all for free -- every time!  And, you didn't pay for air either, and you got trading stamps to boot!

When laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels hidden inside the box.

When it was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents.  When the worst thing you could do at school was flunk a test or chew gum.  And the prom was in the gym or the lunchroom and you danced to a real orchestra.  When they threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed -- and did! When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited you when you got home.

Basically, we were in fear for our lives, but it wasn't because of drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc.  Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat!  But we survived because their love was so much greater than the threat.

Remember when a '57 Chevy was everyone's dream car -- used to cruise, peel out, lay rubber, scratch off or watch the submarine races?

When people went steady; and girls wore a class ring with an inch of wrapped Band-Aids, dental floss, or yarn coated with pastel-frost nail polish so it would fit their finger.

When no one ever asked where the car keys were because they were always in the car, in the ignition, and the car and house doors were never locked!

Remember lying on your back on the grass with your friends and saying things like "That cloud looks like a..."  And playing baseball with no adults needed to enforce the rules of the game.

Remember when stuff from the store came without safety caps and hermetic seals, because no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger.

And, with all our progress, don't you just wish, that just once you could slip back in time and savor the slower pace...and share it with the children of today?

So send this on to someone who can still remember Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Laurel and Hardy, Howdy Doody and The Peanut Gallery, The Lone Ranger and Tonto, The Shadow Knows, Nellie Belle, Roy and Dale, Trigger and Buttermilk... As well as the sound of a real mower on Saturday morning, and Summers filled with bike rides, baseball games, bowling, visits to the pool ... and eating Kool- Aid powder with sugar from the palm of your hand.

There, didn't that feel good?  Just to lean back and say: "Yeah...I remember......."

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