It's already club meeting time again! Please let your friends know that I will be teaching a technician ham radio license class beginning March 20th at 7:00 pm at the regular meeting site.   It will be open to all who want to become hams and any licensed operators who might want a refresher course.  I will supply the study guide.

Hope to see you all at club.

CUL, Jim, WA6OTP

The air is warming and several events are just around the corner. Another tree planting is under the belt and we're looking forward to Boatnik. After that is Field Day and then our annual club picnic/potluck (and swapfest?). Next will be Crop Walk and JOTA, and before we know it, it will be time for Santa to pay us another visit!

Don't forget to pay your dues! If you can't make it to a meeting, just mail a check to the post office box.

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

73, Mike, N7GEI

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.

Our next luncheon will be at 11:30 on March 1st at La Fuente Family Mexican Restaurant, 820 NE E Street, just down from the Black Forest in the Grants Pass Shopping Center.

73, Wilma, W1LMA, and Anita, KC7MGH

SOARC-sponsored ARRL VE license exam dates for 2003 will be May 30, September 26, and November 28.

The tests will be administered at 6:30 PM at the Senior Programs Center (our regular meeting place) at 4th and C Streets in Grants Pass.  VE's will be coming at 6:00, as per custom.  Remember, the front door to the building may be off of B St., but it is locked and access is from the parking lot doors that are off of C Street.  Entry is made into the parking lot from either C or B Street access points.

Don't forget--we will need a copy of your driver's 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 April 1987.  It's surprising what will pass for proof nowadays. Walk-ins are welcome.

73, Bill Tyner, WX7U

VE Liaison

Once again members of the local ham community assisted area scouts and students as they spent three days planting trees. Each year the youngsters gather to help reforest a patch of county land and their transportation coordination is handled via amateur radio.

On February 6^th, 349 students from Jerome Prairie, Parkside, Madrona, and St. Anne?s Schools and Brighton Academy were transported to the end of Hornet Lane to plant trees. Hams participating were K7WHM, KK7BF, KC7IXX, and N7KS.

On February 7^th, 151 students from Highland, Manzanita, and Rogue River Schools took their turns with the assistance of K7WHM, KK7BF, and KD6NCM.

The last day, February 8^th, 240 Boy and Girl Scouts wrapped up the event with help from K7WHM, KK7BF, KC7IXX, W7MQL, and KB7TSX.

Our children, and their children, can only benefit from this type of worthwhile activity and amateur radio is the better for being involved. Many thanks to all who participated.

AMATEUR RADIO COMMUNITY MOURNS LOSS OF COLUMBIA ASTRONAUTS

The flags of the United States, the ARRL and the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) are flying at half staff at ARRL Headquarters as the Amateur Radio community has joined the rest of the world in mourning the loss of the seven shuttle Columbia astronauts. Through the Space Amateur Radio EXperiment (SAREX) and, more recently, the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) programs, amateurs have enjoyed a special relationship with the astronaut corps, many of whom are licensees. Three of the Columbia astronauts were Amateur Radio operators, and the ARISS program is a joint effort of ARRL, AMSAT and NASA.

"The ultimate in public service was just given by these astronauts," said ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP. "It's a sad thing that's occurred, and our thoughts are with the families of the astronauts who died doing what they loved. They were part of us."

Haynie, who was in Florida last weekend for the Miami Tropical Hamboree, said the news of the Columbia incident cast a pall over the festivities. "You could feel it in the crowd," he said. Haynie led those attending the ARRL forum in a moment of silence in remembrance of the lost crew members.

The STS-107 crew, headed by Commander Rick Husband, included Pilot Willie McCool, Mission Specialists Kalpana "KC" Chawla, KD5ESI; David Brown, KC5ZTC; Laurel Clark, KC5ZSU, Michael Anderson, and Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut.

"The world has lost seven great heroes," said ARISS International Chairman Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, a NASA employee, in extending condolences to the families and friends of the STS-107 crew. Bauer said the Columbia catastrophe "clearly demonstrated the challenging and sometimes sobering aspects" of human spaceflight.

"Our quest for space must continue despite these tragic losses," he said.

Built in 1981, Columbia was the oldest shuttle in NASA's fleet and was the first to carry Amateur Radio. Retired astronaut Owen Garriott, W5LFL, became the first ham to operate from space in November 1983. Thousands heard W5LFL, and hundreds had direct QSOs with him on 2 meters. Refurbished in 1999, Columbia was on its 28th space mission. Columbia carried no Amateur Radio gear on its last mission into space, however.

HAMS ASSIST IN SEARCH FOR COLUMBIA DEBRIS

In Texas this week, Amateur Radio Emergency Service and SKYWARN volunteers have been assisting federal, state and local officials and relief organizations in their search for shuttle Columbia debris and remains of the crew members.

"Ham radio has proven to be the only reliable communications options during the recovery effort," said Public Information Officer Tim Lewallen, KD5ING, of the Nacogdoches Amateur Radio Club. "The communications systems used by other federal and state organizations cannot penetrate 'The Pine Curtain' as we know it in East Texas," he said. He said even local authorities were having problems with their radio gear.

Lewallen says federal authorities have requested that every survey team have at least one Amateur Radio operator along to help keep the recovery efforts coordinated and organized.

Lewallen also cited the reliability of EchoLink connections among the various groups as key to getting the operation up and running and keeping it running smoothly. He suggested that prospective volunteers visit the North Texas Section Web site http://www.arrl.org/sections/?sect=NTX for additional information.

HIGH SPEED MULTIMEDIA HAMMING COULD BE THE NEXT BIG THING

High-speed multimedia hamming via the "Hinternet" could be the next big thing for Amateur Radio. That's the hope of the ARRL High Speed Multimedia (HSMM) Working Group, which is adapting the highly popular IEEE 802.11b Part 15 wireless Internet protocol to Part 97 amateur operating.

"We expect it to be nothing less than revolutionary!" says John Champa, K8OCL, who chairs the ARRL HSMM Working Group--a subset of the League's Technology Task Force. The Working Group's new "High-Speed Digital Networks and Multimedia" page http://www.arrl.org/hsmm/ recently premiered on the ARRL Web site.

Champa's team is calling the specific techniques, software and hardware involved "the ARRL 802.11b protocol" to distinguish it from the unlicensed, commercial protocol. Systems employ direct-sequence spread spectrum techniques and operate in the 2.4 GHz range. The term "Hinternet" (ham + Internet), Champa says, is a user-friendly way to refer to the development of high-speed Radio Local Area Networks (RLANs) capable of simultaneously carrying audio, video and data signals. "The development of the ARRL 802.11b protocol will significantly enhance Amateur Radio, especially with respect to emergency communication and support of public service activities," Champa predicted. He and his HSMM Working Group colleagues also expect that it will attract many technically oriented users of the Internet and wireless LANs to get their amateur tickets.

In addition to emergency communication, Hinternet applications could include two-way streaming video, full-duplex streaming audio, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) applications such as eQSO, EchoLink, iLink and IRLP, and digital voice. As on the wired Internet, communication can be point-to-point, point-to-multipoint and multicast at high bandwidth.

"An emergency volunteer equipped with a laptop or a wireless PDA (personal digital assistant) with a microphone and a small video camera now has the tools to be a mobile set of eyes and ears in the midst of a communications emergency," says Working Group member Kris Mraz, N5KM.

POPTRONICS CEASES PUBLICATION

Poptronics Magazine--which evolved from the former Popular Electronics and Electronics Now magazines?ceased publication with the January 2003 edition (Vol 4, No 1).

"After 94 years of publishing electronics magazines, Gernsback Publications is no longer in operation," said Larry Steckler, Poptronics' editor in chief and publisher. "Negotiations are under way to provide an alternative publication to Poptronics subscribers."

Steckler says a new on-line edition of Poptronics will soon be available. Poptronics Interactive, a separate on-line, paid subscription site announced in the October issue of Poptronics, also is scheduled to return soon, Steckler said. The company plans to post the latest information on its Web site http://www.Poptronics.com. The site has been undergoing "remodeling," but Steckler said it should be back in operation by the end of January.

Many veteran amateurs may recall the "Carl and Jerry" stories by John T. Frye, W9EGV (SK), which appeared in Popular Electronics in the 1950s and 1960s. The tales involved the ham radio-related exploits of a couple ofteenaged hams.

NEW LEAGUE BROCHURE TARGETS KIDS

A colorful, new, kid-tested ham radio brochure is available from ARRL Headquarters. "Leap into Amateur Radio" aims at an elementary school audience and introduces youngsters to the hobby.

"Amateur Radio is an exciting hobby that lets you meet new people of all ages--and have a great time!" the full-color, tri-fold flier emphasizes.

"Getting started is easy!"

1. Get 24 boxes of condoms & randomly put them in people's carts when they aren't looking.
2. Set all the alarm clocks in house-wares to go off at 5 minute intervals.
3. Make a trail of tomato juice on the floor to the rest rooms.
4. Walk up to an employee and tell him/her in an official tone, 'Code 3 in house-wares,' ... and see what happens.
5. Look right into the security camera and use it as a mirror while you pick your nose.
6. While handling guns in the hunting department ask the clerk if he knows where the antidepressants are.
7. Dart around the store suspiciously while loudly humming the theme from 'Mission Impossible.'
8. Hide in the clothing rack and when people browse through say 'PICK ME! PICK ME!'
9. When an announcement comes over the loud speaker assume the fetal position and scream 'NO! NO! It's those voices again.'

And last but not least,

10. Go into a fitting room and yell loudly ... 'Hey! We're out of toilet paper in here!.'