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:
Since I saw you last, I have taught 15 new ham radio operators and planted my garden. How about you?
Come share your life with people who already have at least one thing in common with you. Bring someone you know who is interested in learning more about ham radio to the meeting. Let the enthusiasm of the crowd rub off!
See you at the meeting.
73, Jim, WA6OTP
Boatnik is coming up fast! Please sign up to help with comms if you are available. More about this on Tuesday night.
Next up is Sea Pac—the ARRL Northwestern Division Convention—June 18-20 at Seaside, OR. Lots of exhibits, huge flea market, seminars, workshops, luncheons, banquet, lots of great door prizes, and VE exams. For details, go to www.seapac.org or contact J. D. Fort, K7JDF, at 503-259-0269.
Field Day follows and gives everyone a chance to participate in some way. If you can’t help with the set-up or tear-down, you can come out to eat and/or operate.
Don’t forget to buy your tickets for a chance at the four radios to be given away at the annual joint SOARC/JARS Swap Meet and Potluck on the first Sunday of August at Lake Selmac. See President Jim at the meeting for your tickets.
The White City VA Domiciliary has been spared the axe! Many area hams depend on the medical and other facilities there to keep them going at low cost. Did you know that they have a ham radio station on site? Check it out. Also visit the museum while there.
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 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.
Our next luncheon will be at 11:30 on Saturday, June 5th, at The Sub Shop, 947 NE D St., in the Grants Pass Shopping Center, just down from Gottschalks.
NEXT CLUB MEETING
1900, TUESDAY, 18 MAY
SENIOR CENTER
3RD & B STREETS
GRANTS PASS
The SOARC VE test sessions for the rest of this year will be held on July 30th and November 26th.
The exams are conducted at 1830 on the last Friday of the month in the Senior Center cafeteria (our regular meeting place). Volunteer examiners should be there at 1800.
The exam costs $12.00 and is available to all, first come, first served, with no reservation necessary.
73, Bill Tyner, WX7U, VE Liaison
| SOARC Officers: | |
|---|---|
| President: Jim McNutt, WA6OTP, 479-5630 |
Vice President: Dennis Recla, WA5KTC, 955-1704 |
| Secretary: Sean Smithers, N7ZWU, 476-7964 |
Treasurer: Ann Randall, KB7TGO 476-2456 |
| Board of Directors: | |
| Mike Wright, N7GEI, 471-0440 |
Anita Malmstrom, KC7MGH, 476-2339 |
| Michael Kelley, N6ZOC, 597-2155 |
John Stubbe, K7VSU, 479-3718 |
| Ken Wages, KH6CQH, 472-1112 |
|
Jordan Webb, KI4AVG, of Knoxville, Tennessee, had a feeling he should take his 2-meter handheld transceiver along on an April 30 field trip. Heading off with his eighth-grade class to remote Abrams Falls in Tennessee's Smoky Mountains, the 13-year-old decided to throw his handheld into his backpack--just in case.
"I didn't think I would have to use my Icom V-8, but I packed it anyway," Webb told ARRL.
As it turned out, while swimming, Vine Middle Magnet School classmate Christopher Drinkard was pulled under the water of Cades Cove by strong currents from Abrams Falls. Webb and another classmate, Zach Hubbs, jumped into the water to help Drinkard when Webb remembered the radio in his backpack.
Webb alerted a teacher that he had his radio and hoped that if he could get to high-enough ground, he might be able to call for help. After scrambling up a hill, he was able to contact Jim Bond, K6SPY, in Knoxville. Bond alerted authorities to the situation, and emergency medical personnel were able to respond relatively quickly to the isolated area. If someone had had to hike out, it would have taken considerably longer. Unfortunately, despite rescue workers' quick response, Drinkard did not survive.
Tennessee Assistant Section Manager David Bower, K4PZT, observed that the incident occurred in a part of the Smoky Mountains where cell phones typically don't work. "Ham radio was the means used to request help when this emergency first happened," he said.
A ham for about one year, Webb is a member of the Anderson County Amateur Radio Emergency Service, the Radio Amateur Club of Knoxville and several other ham radio groups in the Knoxville area.
Anderson County ARES Emergency Coordinator Jeff Yawn, KF4UVT, said Webb has spent Kid's Day in his shack, and he called him "a fine, upstanding young man."
"I know he did all he could to help his friend," Yawn added.
The International Morse code officially gained a new character on May 3.
That's when the now-familiar "@" symbol joined the Morse lexicon as the letters "AC" run together (.--.-.). Known as the "commercial at" or "commat," the @ symbol never rose to the level of usage that demanded a unique Morse character until it gained currency as a critical component of e-mail addresses during the past decade or so.
The change has attracted some attention in the media, including mentions on National Public Radio's All Things Considered and in The New York Times.
Freeware:
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
An audio editor that handles recording and editing of WAV, AIFF, and MP3 files and more.
Allows you to store all or part of the current state of your audio mixer controls in a settings file, and to restore the mixer to that state whenever you want. Very useful if you are using a sound card DVK or RTTY, PSK31, or SSTV programs.
Useful Websites:
http://users.otenet.gr/nathsam/index.htm
Lots of information about circuits and component data sheets.
www.w8ji.com/baluns.baluntest.htm
Comparison testing results of various baluns; airwound coax, ferrite bead ”current”, and voltage baluns.
SWL Websites:
A lot of links:
Technical discussions on low band receiving.
Thanks to Elmer Seutter, W6IGK. I would have used this sooner, except I kept misplacing it!
The WA7ABU repeater users are hosting a chili cook off and electronics swap meet starting at noon on May 23rd at 1290 Commercial Way SE in Albany, OR. The location is just east of I-5 on Highway 20, next to Lassen Chevrolet, and will last until they are done!
For more information, contact Steve at 541-928-2207 or check their website at http://www.qsl.net/wa7abu.
Talk-in frequency is 145.290.
By Newspaper Columnist Mike Steed
(With Some Proven Uses Added By J. Hayes)
Yes, the product used for all manner of lubrication is now fifty years old. WD-40 is made in San Diego in the Peoples Republic of California. Borrowing heavily from the research done by R. J. Igneizi of the San Diego Union-Tribune and the company's press releases, I can tell you that "every week, more people use WD-40 than dental floss", according to CEO Garry Ridge. I personally don't see how WD-40 would be as effective as dental floss but there's a lot I don't understand in this world. It is found in eight out of 10 American homes and sold in 160 countries. There are more than one million cans produced each week and probably just as many uses.
The product began from a search for a rust preventative solvent and de-greaser to protect missile parts. WD-40 was created in 1953 by three technicians at the San Diego Rocket Chemical Company. It' name comes from the project that was to find a "water displacement" compound. They were successful with the fortieth formulation, thus WD-40.
The Corvair Company bought it in bulk to protect heir Atlas missile parts. The workers were so pleased with the product, they began smuggling (also known as "shrinkage" or "stealing") it out to use at home. The executives decided there might be a consumer market for it and put it in aerosol cans. The rest, as they say, is history.
It is a carefully guarded recipe known only to four people. Only one of them is the "brewmaster." There are about 2.5 million gallons of the stuff manufactured each year. It gets it's distinctive smell from a fragrance that is added to the brew. Ken East says there is nothing in WD-40 that would hurt you.
Here are some of the uses:
(to be continued)