Another year almost gone. In November we will take nominations for officers and board members to be elected in January. There will be several positions open. What would like to do for your club?

Someone you know is interested in ham radio. Become their Elmer and get them started right in the greatest hobby in the world!

See you at the meeting.

73, Jim, WA6OTP 

My wife's been back in Kentucky for the past month visiting her family, so it's been a very busy time for me without my right hand to help me! We appreciate them more when they are gone for a while. I came close to burning out the microwave, but the only real damage, so far, seems to be a squeaky carousel. My dad doesn't complain because anything I fix is better than what he used to prepare for himself (he made tomato soup out of tomato paste and water). Of course there is always the big last-minute house cleaning before she gets back, after letting the place go for a month. It sure is great to have her back home.

Invite someone to the club meeting. They might hear or see something that sparks an interest in our hobby. Don't forget to pay for their coffee and donuts.

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

73, Mike, N7GEI

At the next SOARC meeting, Galen Kelm, KE7LM, will provide more information on the upcoming transmitter hunt at Riverside Park in Grants Pass.  Galen will talk about what equipment to bring (as a minimum, an HT for two meters) and where everyone will meet that Saturday morning.  He will answer any questions about what a walking transmitter hunt is all about.  It should be interesting and we hope to have a good turn out.

Elmer Seutter, K6IGK, will be checking to see how many members would be interested in having a wire antenna construction project.  We could put together an antenna such as a G5RV-style multi-band wire antenna for 80 to 10 meters.  One can be built for about $10 to $20, depending upon how good a junk box someone has.  It's a basic design that requires about 125 feet of wire, 30 feet of 300 ohm twin lead, and three insulators, plus a length of coax (mini-RG8) of a length to go from the twin lead to the ham shack/radio.  Designs can run from crude to fancy --they all work.

Coming up is the SwapToberfest starting at 9:00 AM on October 23rd at the Polk County Fairgrounds in Rickreall, Oregon.  It's on old hwy 99, 10 miles west of Salem.  This is usually bigger than the February version each year.

Elmer Sutter, K6IGK, gave a very informative talk on the basic design of antenna tuners (transmatches) and what their function is in providing a "match" between the antenna and the transmitter to reduce the SWR to a range that does not cause the internal protective circuits of the radio to shut down or reduce power.  He also discussed how the tuner works when used with a random length of wire (long wire antenna) and how this provides a multi-band antenna with some gain, depending upon what your operating frequency is and the length of wire used.

Ken Wages thanked those who  particpated in Field Day and talked a little about the great activities of this year's Field Day and some of the things that we need to work on in preparation for next year.

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, October 2nd, at Taqueria Mexico, 137 SE H St., Grants Pass.

The last SOARC VE test session of the year will be held on November 26th.

The exams will be 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

I am working on getting a group together to practice T- hunting. I am planning a session for Saturday, September 25, at 10:00 AM at Riverside Park in Grants Pass.  This will be a get-acquainted day and practice and there will be no need for equipment other then a two meter HT. I am planning on using 146.565 for the T. Call me if you are interested or see me at the next SOARC meeting. My contact information is in the roster.

73, Galen Kelm, KE7LM 

An unidentified signal that's been showing up on the 40-meter phone band on or about 7238 kHz has mystified amateurs in the western US and Canada, where it's been heard frequently for the past few weeks. Although it resembles a steady carrier, a closer inspection suggests that the intruding signal actually is a series of closely spaced signals. Don Moman, VE6JY, in Edmonton, Alberta, says the signal is quite loud at his QTH.

"This signal looks a lot more interesting than it would sound--just a broad tone/hum/buzz, depending on where you tune," he said. One spectrogram from VE6JY showed perhaps a half-dozen or more discrete signals. "It's certainly loud enough out here, peaking broadly south-southwest from Edmonton," he said. Moman was using a 5-element Yagi and was hearing the signal at 10 dB over S9.

That conforms with observations reported by Bob Gonsett, W6VR, at Communications General Corp (CGC). He says engineers at the CGC lab in Fallbrook, California took a quick look at the intruder September 6 at around 2120 UTC and found "several closely-spaced CW carriers--perhaps from one specially modulated transmitter, perhaps from transmitters at different locations," he reported. CGC reported the signals appeared on 7238.063, 7238.150, 7238.237, and 7238.412 kHz, with the 7238.237 kHz signal being "the strongest of the group."

While no one's sure what it is, the FCC HF Direction Finding Facility has been able to determine that it's coming from somewhere north of Prescott, Arizona, and west of Interstate 17. FCC monitoring indicates the "buzz" is centered on 7238.1 kHz with a bandwidth of about 1 kHz and spikes spaced at about 90 Hz apart.

Reports to the International Amateur Radio Union Region 2 Monitoring System indicate the signal has been heard from about 1700 to 2130 UTC, although Moman reported hearing it at around 0300 UTC and said the signal even went off the air for a few seconds while he was listening to it. Jack Roland, KE0VH, in Colorado also heard the signals for a couple of evenings this week. "Something is not right there," he remarked.

High Noon Net Manager Bill Savage, N5FLD, in Albuquerque, New Mexico said several net participants--in Nebraska, Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming, Minnesota and Arizona--were able to hear the mystery signal.

Stan Burghardt, W0IT (ex-W0BJV), of Watertown, South Dakota, died August 22. He was 93. He was the founder of Burghardt Radio Supply, Inc. (now Burghardt Amateur Center). Licensed in 1931 as W9BJV (which became W0BJV in 1946), Burghardt remained active on the air--especially on 6 meters--until his death. He also had been active in satellite work and was a member of ARRL, AMSAT, and SMIRK.

Burghardt started out selling ham radio parts in 1937 and in the 1950s expanded his Watertown operation into a popular Amateur Radio equipment supplier. The company has been a regular QST advertiser for the past 50 years, and many early ads featured a photo of Burghardt with his signature. Burghardt sold the business to Jim Smith, W0MJY, but he remained active in the company until January, 2002. A service was held September 1.

Worldly Wisdom

1. Flies or bees bothering you? Spray them with hairspray and they will take a quick dive.
2. Sealed envelope - Put it in the freezer for a few hours then slide a knife under the flap. The envelope can then be resealed (hmmmmmm...).
3. Use empty toilet paper roll to store appliance cords. It keeps them neat and you can write on the roll what appliance it belongs to.
4. For icy door steps in freezing temperatures: get warm water and put Dawn dishwashing liquid in it. Pour it all over the steps. They won't refreeze. (wish I had known this for the last 40 years!)
5. Crayon marks on walls? This worked wonderfully! A damp rag dipped in baking soda and they come off with little effort (elbow grease that is!).
6. Permanent marker on appliances/counter tops (like store receipt blue)--rubbing alcohol on paper towel.
7. Whenever I purchase a box of S.O.S Pads, I immediately take a pair of scissors and cut each pad into half. After years of having to throw away rusted , unused and smelly pads, I finally decided that this would be much more economical. And now a box of S.O.S pads last me indefinitely! In fact, I have noticed that the scissors get sharpened this way!
8. Opening brand new jars can be a feat in itself. Well, I have found a way to make it the easiest thing to do. Instead of banging a jar of jam, pickles, etc., with a knife until it loosens up, I simply reach into the drawer and pull out the handy nutcracker. It adjusts to the size of the jar and I simply give it a good twist and off pops the lid!
9. Blood stains on clothes? Not to worry! Just pour a little hydrogen peroxide on a cloth and proceed to wipe off every drop of blood. Works every time!
10. Use vertical strokes when washing windows outside and horizontal for inside windows. This way you can tell which side has the streaks. Straight vinegar will get outside windows really clean. Don't wash windows on a sunny day. They will dry too quickly and will probably streak.
11. Spray a bit of perfume on the light bulb in any room to create a lovely light scent in each room when the light is turned on. Place fabric softener sheets in dresser drawers and your clothes will smell freshly washed for weeks to come. You can also do this with towels and linen.
12. Candles will last a lot longer if placed in the freezer for at least three hours prior to burning.
13. To clean artificial flowers, pour some salt into a paper bag and add the flowers. Shake vigorously and the salt will absorb all the dust and dirt and leave your artificial flowers looking like new! Works like a charm!

(to be continued)