• SOARC Home
• » 2002 Wireless Gnus
• » Issue 110 - July

Issue 110 — JULY 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

—

President's Corner

OK, July is here with a bang!   Field Day came and went in a rush in more than one way.  We did very well for our club.

The heat is upon us.  The trees and grasses beg for water.  The lunatics amongst us play with matches.  And it is time to clean and repack your grab-to-go bag.

Thg July club meeting will be here on Tuesday.   We will turn on the fans and complain.  No shoes, no shirt, no problem!  We aim to please. 

CUL, Jim, WA6OTP 

—

Welcome From Your Editor

At the last meeting the question was posed "What happened on March 4, 1952?". Do you know the answer? That was the date of the first SOARC meeting. We were 50 years old on March 4, 2002, and didn't know to celebrate our golden anniversary! Happy anniversary to us! Maybe some of our younger members will be around to celebrate the SOARC centennial in 50 more years.

Attendance has been running about average even into the summer months. That's great, but we can do even better. There are several hundred hams in this area, most of whom have never been to a SOARC meeting! Invite a friend, neighbor, relative, or co-worker to go with you to the next meeting. There are many still in the area who have been active members in the past but don't attend now. A little enthusiasm and encouragement go a long way.

Two picnics coming up:

1. On August 4th, JARS is having its 19^th Annual Swap and Potluck at Lake Selmac. Great raffle and door prizes! Activities are scheduled from 9:00 to 3:00, with the potluck set for 1:00. For more information, call Steve, WB6YQP, at 479-4772.
2. The annual SOARC picnic will be at 1:00 on September 7^th at Whitehorse Park. There will be a sign-up sheet for food at the next SOARC meeting. The club will provide the sausages and hot dogs, as usual. You need to provide your own table service(s) for both picnics.

Enjoy the summer weather! It may be hot, but it sure beats cold rain!

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

73, Mike, N7GEI

—

2002 SOARC Officers and Board

Calling All Ladies

73, Wilma, W1LMA, and Anita, KC7MGH

—

2002 VE Exams

The next VE exams will be held August 30th at 6:30 PM at the Senior Services Center!  Just go into the parking lot off of 4th and C Streets.  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 date for SOARC-sponsored ARRL VE license exams for 2002 is November 29th.  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

—

Classified Ads

FOR SALE: A complete antenna system. Ten-foot triangular tower with Swan TB3A  10-15-20M beam; above this is a KLM seven-element 6M beam; CDR rotator and control box; four stainless steel cable guys. All for $300.

Cy, W7MQL, 471-0522, cypotts@rascals.org.

--

FOR SALE: Isopole 2M antenna with 30-foot pipe mast, support at house eaves; has rigging for the apex of a 40M

inverted vee. All for $75.

Cy, 471-0522

--

FOR SALE: 40M inverted vee antenna, complete with approximately 40 feet of RG8X. $25.

Cy, 471-0522

--

NEED a spare or starter HT? I have Kenwood

3500 & 2500's. Cheap!

Cy, 471-0522

—

E-mail Tax Scam

According to an alert from the IRS, a scam is being conducted via e-mail to obtain confidential information from taxpayers.

A number of taxpayers have received e-mail from a non-IRS source indicating the taxpayers were "under audit" and needed to complete a questionnaire within 48 hours to avoid the assessment of penalties with interest. The e-mail message referred to an "e-audit" and referenced IRS Form 1040. Taxpayers were asked to provide social security numbers, bank account numbers, and other confidential information.

According to the IRS, it does not conduct "e-audits", nor does it notify taxpayers of pending audit via e-mail. Such e-mail messages simply are not generated by the IRS and could actually be attempts at identity theft.

The IRS advises that those receiving such e-mail messages should not provide any of the requested information. Additionally, the IRS advises that recipients of this type of e-mail message should contact the IRS office in their area to report such contact.

—

You Asked For It?

At a recent meeting, I told you about a shielded-loop antenna. Several people have asked me for a schematic which is reproduced below.

Dimension X is 32 inches for the 80M band and 60 inches for the 160M band, with the same trimmer capacity used on both bands. The feeder cable can be either RG-58 or RG-59 coax.

73, Jan, K6FM

—

10-4, Good Buddy

The following is an actual letter. The original was typewritten, and all spelling and grammar have been carefully left intact, including errors.

To Mr. (name omitted)

District Manager for Alabama
Radio Shack
3300 N. Pace Blvd
Pensacola, FL. 32505

Dear Sire,

This letter is complain about the problems I have having with the ham radio model number 19-1101 I had got from your company Radio Shack. I had this shipped special to me from your store 1096 Eastdale Mall Montgomery Alabama. I was got this because I think that i would get transmitt furthur that I did with the TRC 217 40 channel walkie talkie.

The problem that had first was when I was going to hook this radio HTX-1000 to the antenna the conektor on the radio was wrong it wouldn't attach to my cable. I was able to hook it finally by making a small change in in the connektor. As soon as I tried to use it there was no sound coming at all. This happened for two days and I never did get to talk to anybody the whole two days. That day the cable company came knocking my door and said there was something causing problems at my house and disconnekted my radio from the cable line. you knew when i brought the Radio that I was going to use that for my antenne. You didn't tell me not to why not?

Next time I decided to put the HTX-1000 in my automobile I thought I would see how it worked their. I hooked it to my CB-antenna and at least I could hear people. But what happens now is no one wants to talk to me because they says you have to have a licencs to talk to them. Why? I dont have to have a licencs to talk on my CB. They'll talk to me there. Anyhow it don't matter much anymore because somebody done took the radio HTX-1000 from my automobile.

What I would like for you Radio Shack to do is refund my money because I don't have the radio anymore and its not my fault i dont and I think you should give me back my money. Also the cable company here says that I hurt something in there line and want to be paid fix it. It will cost $27482.98 to fix the equipment they say was damaged because you didn't tell me not to hook it to the cable. Please remit to me the check for $27758.53 for damages due. To save this matter from going to court the check must be in my hand by June first or I will turn this over to my attorneys of law.

Thank you

(name withheld)

—

Field Day 2002

--N7GEI

—

---