Posted: 08 Mar 2010 10:05 AM PST

March 8, 2010

Taking the frozen plunge

By LISA SIMPSON STRANGE Glasgow Daily Times

GLASGOW — Volunteers in Glasgow and Bowling Green took the plunge and raised more than $16,000 for Junior Achievement on Saturday.

The fifth annual Penguin Plunge went on simultaneously in the two cities with the Glasgow event taking place at the National Guard Armory.

JA program manager Rose Mary Byrd said the 53 local plungers raised "a little over $6,000" and the Bowling Green group totaled about $10,000 in donations.

Participants had to raise a minimum of $50 each from sponsors to gain the privilege of plunging into the icy water Saturday morning. Jumpers had sunny skies and moderate weather, but event officials kept the pool cool by adding multiple bags of ice right up until the time the jumpers lined up.

Barry Perkins, dressed as Spider-man and representing Temple Hill Elementary, said he took the plunge for Byrd, who does an awful lot for his school.

Chase Williams donned an ape suit for his jump. He also credits Byrd for his participation.

"My girlfriend, Brittany Hinkle, is Rose Mary's granddaughter. She asked and I said, 'Of course,'" Williams said.

Williams, who represented South Central Rural Telephone, also took Best Plunger honors in the awards presentation.

Connie Crabtree, from Howdy 106.5, won the Emperor Penguin award for being the individual who raised the largest amount of money. She collected $858 from sponsors.

Lloyd Bean, who jumped with other staff members from the Barren County Correction Center, was named Grand Penguin as the oldest person taking the plunge.

East Barren Volunteer Fire Department took the Flock of Plungers prize for having the largest number of jumpers from one organization for the second year in a row.

Toreka Pulou and Lacie Gentry, '80s Punk Rockers from Bluegrass Cellular, were the Costume Contest winners.

The Smurfs from American Engineers, Richard Tutt, Amber Leeson, Dennis Mitchell and Eva Perkins, won Fabulous Flippers honors as the group raising the largest amount of money. The blue crew collected $565.

The People's Choice award went to Emily Watson and Sonia Berman, the Double Your Luck team from Bluegrass Cellular.

Judges for the event were Ann Stewart, Brad Bailey, Denise Yates Curry, and Tonya Collins.

Participants represented the following organizations and businesses: Bluegrass Cellular Glasgow and Scottsville; American Engineers; South Central Bank; Commonwealth Broadcasting; Disney World's Give-A-Day; Pockets The Clown, sponsored by Edmonton State and South Central banks of Scottsville and BB&T Bank; The Three Bears from Jelly Stone RV Camp; Barren County Schools; Barren County jailers and sheriff's offices; East Barren Volunteer Fire Department; Kiwanis Club; Barren County Progress; Southern States; Mike's Cycle World; Dinosaur World; Big Moose's Barbecue; South Central Rural Telephone; Farmers Rural Electric Cooperative; 44 Market; the Struggling Artist Club; Derek Williams of Tator's B.B.Q.; the Boy Scouts of America; and Citizens First.

Sponsors for the event included Bluegrass Cellular and T.J. Samson Community Hospital. Pools of Leisure donated the use of the pool and the Glasgow Fire Department, Glasgow Water Company and Lessenberry-Do-It Center prepared the stage. Announcers Kelly McKay and Julie Ann Williams from Commonwealth Broadcasting emceed the plunge. Bluegrass Cellular also provide blankets for all the jumpers.

A few friendly challenges were sent out between organizations including volunteer fire departments and Farmers Rural Electric and South Central Rural Telephone.

Drawings were conducted for the bucket of prizes and many plungers won gifts from J.M. Smucker, Extreme Gymnastic, Auto Car Spa, Platinum Salon and Spa, Houchens IGA, Cracker Barrel, Maria's, Hot Rod's, Predators, and WKU tickets.

Funds raised in the annual Penguin Plunge are used to promote financial literacy in the classrooms of Barren, Warren, Allen, Logan, Simpson, and Hart counties, according to Byrd, and she thanked all the participants for their help in continuing to make the program successful.

"They all are just great to come out and volunteer their time and resources to make this happen," Byrd said.

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Datebook business calendar (March 8) - Corvallis Gazette-Times

Posted: 08 Mar 2010 07:49 AM PST

Business calendar published Monday, March 8, 2010:

Today: A property-casualty pre-licensing class for insurance professionals will be offered through the Linn-Benton Community College Small Business Development Center and PacWest Insurance School. Classes will be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today through Friday on the second floor of the Calapooia Center, LBCC, 6500 Pacific Blvd. S.W., Albany. This 40-hour class is a State of Oregon required class that allows the licensee to take the state examination to sell auto, home, boat, motorcycle, RV and commercial lines of insurance. For more information or to register, contact the PacWest Insurance School at 541-971-9566.

Tuesday: Corvallis Chamber of Commerce Greeters, 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., hosted by Downtown Dental, 142 S.W. Second St.

Tuesday: Employer's Guide to Civil Rights Laws and Workplace Harassment, educational seminar, 8:30 a.m. to noon, Central Willamette Community Credit Union headquarters, Albany. Presenter: Jennifer Germundson, the Bureau of Labor and Industries manager of technical assistance for employers. To avoid claims of workplace harassment and discrimination, managers and supervisors need to understand the protections under state and federal civil rights law. Learn about protected classes, recognizing unlawful behavior, conducting an investigation, communicating policies and expectations to employers, and BOLI enforcement policies. Cost: $59 per person, or $49 per Albany, Corvallis or Lebanon Chamber of Commerce members. To register, contact Greg Ivers, 541-967-2171, Ext. 264, or greg.e.ivers@state.or.us.

Tuesday: Ribbon cutting, 9:45 to 10:15 a.m., Springhill Country Club, 155 Country Club Lane, Albany.

Thursday: Downtown After Hours, 5:30 to 7 p.m., Mod Pod, 115 N.W. Second St. The Downtown Corvallis Association's monthly networking social provides an opportunity to get acquainted with DCA members in a relaxed atmosphere. Those attending are asked to bring an item for a prize drawing.

Friday: "Become a Legacy Family Business," 7:30 to 9:30 a.m., Allison Inn & Spa, 2525 Allison Lane, Newberg. Presented by the Austin Family Business Program, College of Business at Oregon State University. Author/expert Dr. Lee Hausner, senior managing director of First Foundation Advisors and internationally recognized business consultant and family wealth adviser, will give the keynote address. Cost: $35. Register at www.familybusinessonline.org. For more information, call 541-737-3326 or 800-859-7609.

Saturday: A noncredit traffic control flagger certification course will take place from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Fireside Room, Calapooia Center, Linn-Benton Community College, 6500 Pacific Blvd. S.W. in Albany. After meeting all requirements, students can be certified to flag traffic in Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Washington. Job-finding information will be provided in class. Cost: $80, includes all materials, certification test and card. Minimum qualifications: at least 18 years of age and possess a valid driver's license. For more information or to register, call the LBCC Business, Healthcare and Workforce Division at 541-917-4923.

April 12 and 13: Oregon Employer Council Annual State Conference for Business, the Nines Hotel, Portland. The conference is open to all business people, and will cover topics of importance to business owners, managers, supervisors and human resource professionals. Continuing education credits are offered. Early registration fee: $279, includes education sessions and handouts, most meals, and networking opportunities. After March 12, fee is $329. One-day fees available. For more information and to register, see www.OEC.org, or call Marney Roddick, 503-947-1305.

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Reviews Summary for Elecraft K3 - eHam.net

Posted: 08 Mar 2010 03:25 AM PST

In almost 55 years as a ham, I've owned a lot of rigs and used others at club stations. Many of them have been great rigs -- including an SX101 and Heath Apache(in the 50s), Drake Twins (in the 60s), a Ten Tec Omni (when it was brand new), an Omni V, TS850s, FT1000MPs, K2/100s, and now the K3/100. I own two K3/100s, one with the second RX, all loaded with filters, antenna tuner, and XV interface. I haven't yet used the XV interface for XVs. :)

I'm primarily a contester who does occasional DXing and ragchewing, and I participate in multi-transmitter setups on Field Day, for the California QSO Party (CQP), for multi-transmitter contesting, and this spring on a DXpedition. Especially for these multi-transmitter setups, my HF radios need to be of the highest quality. They need to be very clean (no clicks or phase noise) and very resistant to intermod at very high signal levels. I work a lot of CW, SSB, and RTTY, and I've used the K3 on PSK31.

The K3s are simply the best ham rigs I've ever used, and nothing else is close. In a CQP setup last fall, we had two good beams up 60 ft for 20 and 15M, 100 ft apart and pointed east. We were able to run these with good 500W amps on the same band (one CW, one SSB) and work the strong stations (S7 and above). To hear the weaker stations, we had to move one rig to the other band.

I have friends who have had them on DXpeditions and in contest multi-setups with the same results. In our contest club, NCCC, the guys either own K3s or wish they owned K3s. :)

In addition to RF performance, the K3 has built-in EQ for both TX and RX and built-in RF speech processing, so you can make virtually any mic sound good, anything from hi-fi to very competitive. There's electronics built in to accept CW keying and PTT from the serial port (as generated by your logging software).

Rather than depend on crystal filters for IF selectivity, the K3 does it with DSP. Changing the IF bandwidth is as simple as rotating the bandwidth control. If you use your rig in strong signal environments (contesting, very close neighbors a few kHz away), you'll want one or more roofing filters to protect the DSP (and AGC) from overload. 8-pole filters, made by Inrad, are available in more than a half dozen bandwidths ranging from 12kHz (for FM) to 200 Hz. There are spaces for five filters. I settled on 2.7 kHz and 1.8 kHz for SSB, 400 Hz and 250 Hz for CW. Remember that you can still set the IF narrower -- these filters only protect the DSP from strong signals outside their bandwidth. Indeed, the DSP still sounds very good at 50 and 100 Hz bandwidth!

All radio mfrs have developed a user interface that works for them, and their users learn it. If you've always owned Icoms, that interface will seem most logical to you. In addition those radios named above, I've also owned Icom 746s, so I'm sort of familiar with all of them. The K3 is closest to the K2 -- if you've owned a K2, you'll be comfortable with the K3 almost immediately. All PRIMARY functions of operating are available from front panel knobs and buttons which are well labeled and intuitive. Secondary functions, like switching from mic to line inputs, setting EQ functions, turning on bias for electret mics, are accessed through a two-tier menu system.

Elecraft made the decision to begin selling K3s before all of their promised features had been implemented in software. That's been very good for K3 owners, because we get the world's best ham rig sooner, AND because Elecraft has been very good about updating software, putting it on their website, and making it VERY easy to install. If you have internet access, their utility program can automatically check for updates and install them. Without access, the update can be installed from a disc.

Software and firmware updates are well tested, and rarely cause problems.

I've told you what I like. Now, what I don't like. The audio and digital interface to the radio is the radio's only negative -- it's full of pin 1 problems, the input transformers are unshielded, so they pick up hum from power transformers in power supplies near the rig, and the 600 ohm resistors inserted between the output stage and the transformers causes severe distortion at only modest output levels. Some of this has been fixed in running mods, but you have to pay for them.

The user interface to the second receiver needs work -- there are some functions that are either difficult to access or not available. The second RX is shut down when transmitting, so you cannot listen down the band for your next QSO in a separate RX antenna while transmitting on the main VFO. On the other hand, the second RX is equal to the main RX, so it can be used in diversity mode (a BIG plus).

The radio is good on 6M, but serious 6M operators will want to add a good preamp. It's easy to insert one at rear panel patch points. Elecraft now makes one that also provides switching for separate RX antennas. I already owned a good ARR preamp, so used it instead.

Elecraft is well known for an active online presence, and sponsor an online email reflector. If users can't solve a problem (not common, but it happens) the user receives prompt attention from owners of the company, who monitor their email reflector every day.

If money is tight, you can buy the K3 stripped down and add modules later. You can buy it as a kit of pre-tested modules that screw and plug together and save about 15% of the cost.

Bottom line -- you can buy a lot more expensive radio, but you can't buy a BETTER one, and the K3 will outperform any of its competitors in terms of output cleanliness and receiver strong signal handling by a wide margin. I'm in the process of gearing up for a DXpedition, and we've made the unanimous decision that it will be all K3s.

73,

Jim Brown K9YC

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