This episode of HamTalk Live is brought to you
by Tower Electronics. For connectors, cables,
and more, call 920 -435 -2973 or visit pl -259
.com. And by ICOM, heard it, worked it, logged
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for more information about ICOM radios. Here
we go, welcome to Amtok Live Call in, let's talk,
Neil's your guy, Amtok li - Number one, it's
time for HamTalk Live. It's episode number 323,
the young ham of the year, 2023. Recorded on
September 7th, 2023. I am your host. My name's
Neil Rapp, call signs WB9VPG. Thanks for tuning
in to this episode. of HamTalk Live. Tonight
we're joined by Case Van Osprey, W0AAE and Don
Willbanks, AE5DW from Amateur Radio Newsline.
And last episode, Mark Brown in for BCD was here
to talk about the Huntsville Ham Fest. So if
you missed that show, you can listen anytime
at HamTalkLive .com or on your favorite podcast
app or on YouTube. So I'll be back with Case
and Don. right after this word from Tower Electronics
right here on HamTalk Live. His two cents is
worth $37 in change. He once ran a marathon because
it was on his way to Dayton. He works FT8 by
ear. He once worked North Korea on every band
in one minute using only a microwatt. He slowed
down his code speed to work a de -expedition
to 200 words a minute. He is, indeed, the most
interesting ham in the world. I don't always
put on my own PL259s, but when I do, I prefer
them from Tower Electronics. Stay resident, my
friends. Tower Electronics has all the adapters,
cables, connectors, and yes, PL259s you need
at a ham fest near you. Or visit pl -259 .com.
And on the Tower Electronics Hand Fest schedule,
Sunday, September 10th, they'll be in Findlay,
Ohio, and then they'll be at the Peoria Superfest
in Peoria, Illinois, September 16th and 17th,
and then Belvedere, Illinois on September 24th.
Or you can visit them online at PL -259 .com.
And don't forget, Tower Electronics is on Facebook
too. Right now, you can be taking a de -expedition
to North Korea and work the pile -up of the century.
But instead, you've decided to listen to HamTalk
Live. We thank you. And now, here's Neil Rapp
with more of the show. Welcome back to HamTalk
Live tonight, Case Van Osprey, W0AAE and Don
Wilbanks, AE5DW, both join us on the Orlando
Amateur Radio Club and Hamcation Zoom line. And
guys, it was great to see you here a couple of
weeks ago and we decided we'd get together now
to talk about what happened when we were together.
So Don, First of all, welcome back to the show.
Thank you, sir. Nice to be here. We had a great
time in Huntsville. It's always good to see you
and great to meet Case finally in person. I know
we've had him on Ham Nation a time or two. So,
Case, W -0 -A -A -E. Thanks for joining us here
tonight. Yeah, thank you very much, Don and Neil.
It's been great. And thank you for putting me
on tonight. Of course, Case is the current young
hem of the year. I'm sorry, Neil, go ahead. No,
you're fine. I was just going to say, just officially
say hi to Case here and great to see you again
in person because it's been a couple of years.
uh... but uh... it was it was great to uh...
to get this award here uh... off and running
and and don made the presentation so uh... we'll
we'll let don ride the bus you know drive the
bus here because he does that anyway so you know
well thank you neil yeah it was a box of crayons
away from him though right because i'll eat those
and then only understand what i'm saying that's
generally what i do around smart people and i'm
found there over in the corner Eating crayons,
but anyway and in case definitely qualifies as
one of the smart people you are Kind of remind
us again of a little bit about you and your just
a quick shot at your ham radio resume case if
you would yeah, well so back in 2018 I got my
technician license after quite a bit of time
of Wanting to get it, but I guess not going after
it but what really sparked it was a trip to a
broadcasting museum and that gave me the resilience
or I guess the gumption to say, okay, let's actually
do it. So I got my technician license in summer
of 2018, got my general in 2019 and I haven't
gotten my extra yet. And the reason is because
I never really have needed to. The only reason
why I need to is for contesting, which would
be to get extra extra privileges. But I haven't
I kind of want to explore more before I actually
go for it. It's just a time thing, I guess, especially
when you're in college. But everything from contesting
to satellite operating to high altitude ballooning
and medium altitude ballooning is pretty much
what I do. I I like pretty I like just delving
into different aspects of the hobby. Over the
years, I've participated in a multitude of contests.
I'm a CW operator, and I have my own satellite
equipment and everything like that. So just many
aspects I'm interested in. And what really drove
it was other youth, just learning from other
youth on the air, especially from past youth.
young hands of the year like Bryant Rascal, KG5HVO,
and Marty Salloway, and N1C. Those guys really
inspired me to go out and do my best in one aspect
of the hobby, which is contesting. And through
that, I've had a great time. I've won a few contests,
and I hope to continue to do that in the near
future as contesting season wrap. Amps up here
in the fall and the winter so I try to do it
true I try to do everything from Saturday operating
to Contesting and all the above and just explore
as much as I can Very good now. How old were
you in 2018 when you get your tech? Yes, that
was I was 14 years old back then So the aforementioned
Bryant rascal. He is a Cw monster. He's like
what it's 70 or 80 words a minute. He's he's
crazy I believe he's kind of ebbed off a little
bit because he's pretty busy with college as
well. He he did participate with K3LR at the
During the secret worldwide CW and I actually
texted him about it and he was I think he was
on the 15 meter Malt station. So yeah, he's he's
a He and even Tim Glorifies them incredibly.
Oh, yeah realizes how how good he is and everything
like that. So it's great He gets the praise and
everything and of course how yeah how Tim and
Bryant got together Yeah, that's a very cool
story. So what's your CW speed? Because you know
everybody said when you drop the CW requirement
from the test, it's going to die and there's
going to be nothing but old farts and sellers
tapping out brass. But no, we've got people like
you and Bryant that are the future of the hobby.
And what's your speed right now? So right now,
well, the highest I've ever gotten. which was
on RUFZ, which is typing in call signs and everything
like that, listening to them and typing in. That
was around 70 words a minute. My average is about
65 words a minute. And then on rag chewing, it's
like 35. And I suck at sending, so I usually
just try to receive, because it's for contesting,
obviously. So I have the computer do all the
sending and everything like that. That's it.
Clearly, clearly the news of the death of CW
has been greatly exaggerated. So more people
are doing it now than ever. But the interesting
thing is CW is actually really, really alive.
People say, yeah, people say it's dead. And it's
like, I beg to differ, because every single Wednesday,
there are three contests on Wednesdays for CW
ops, CW tees. And the bandages, the 15, 20 and
40 are just packed with signals. It's like see
here worldwide on the weekend. It's so much fun
to see. And so many guys, so many younger guys
are picking it up as well. I have I have a friend,
Charles A4 LS. He he is up in the 80s, I think
80 words a minute, something like that. And he's
probably 16, I think. So it's great seeing all
the younger guys really take it up and have a
gumption to pursue it, because it's something
new to them. And young brains, I guess. have
a gumption to go do hard things, so it's great
to see. I guess so. I can't think at 80 words
a minute. See, that's the thing is, now that
you're no longer forced to do it, more people
are wanting to do it because you don't have to
do it. Yeah, exactly. That's the whole psychology
about it, right, Neil? It is. And, you know,
this morning even, I was thinking of case because
I was listening to a a not to be mentioned syndicated
broadcast radio show that I typically listen
to in the mornings. And all of a sudden, here
comes the spot, Don. It's commercial. And it's
for a vinyl record company here in Cincinnati.
And it starts off with some CW. They're just
doing CW just to be doing and whatever. And I
was copying it and I'm like, it was CQT. And
I'm like, oh, somebody's been running CW ops.
Okay. So yeah, that's interesting. That's actually
really funny. That's good story. So I was like,
wait, they actually knew, knew what send and
CQT CQT. That's fine. At least it wasn't one
of the fake ones where they just, yeah, I have
no clue. Yeah. Right. Right. So, where are you
going to college now? You're a freshman, right?
Yes. Brand new. Yes, I'm brand new. I have not
experienced any, I guess, what is it called,
homesickness at all, actually. I'm surprised.
I thought I would have it. But I'm going to Iowa
State University in Ames, Iowa. It's a great
school. I'm going there for aerospace engineering
and learning so much right now. It's just a blast
meeting everybody. Uh, i've I actually found
a kid who is in my hometown. I mean that's not
a surprise since we're pretty close to each other
in regards to my hometown but um It was great
meeting him and I recognized him before I was
like I swear I recognize you and we got to know
we got to talking to each other and uh So and
he's in my major. So it's great. And there you
go. Yeah, it was it's been great labs been going
well and um Especially with my major. I am taking
aero 160 class right now and we're learning about
propulsion and stuff like that so it's it's just
uh you're great to finally do classes that you
enjoy i guess yeah exactly yeah Very good. Tell
us a little bit about the club because you're
actually sitting tonight where we're looking
at you on zoom and You're actually in the club
shack right now over at Iowa State, right? Yes
The club shack here to W zero ISU. We actually
have two calls. It's one of the oldest the oldest
Ham clubs is for University in the nation back
in the day the the first call sign that was issued
here was a kind of a fake one if I guess because
they have to see wasn't around. It was 9YI. Okay,
and and then I was changed to W zero y I so we
have two call signs now W zero ISU and then W
zero y I and the second one in the W zero y I
We have that one just because it's a kind of
a tradition thing and never really use it But
it's a nice call sign for contesting so I may
use it for that. Oh, yeah Yeah, so we have a
huge we have a great tradition here. We have
a ton of pictures that I've seen of From the
30s and 40s of guys at W at at ISU Iowa State
University Using the shack here and everything
so it's a it's quite an old old club However,
it's kind of lapsed over the years you could
say because they're only about five members in
the club It's kind of disappointing but I hope
to kind of invigorate other people into getting
involved especially with in within my major and
so We have two antennas on the roof, a dipole,
and yes, a 40 meter dipole and a 20 meter dipole.
We're also planning on putting up a tower, which
we have parts for, but it probably won't be a
thing for the next four years. And we have a
bunch of gear. I think we have at least 10 radios
just that I'm looking at right now. Old ICOMs,
we have a GAZE -2 FT -2000 in front of me right
now. and a bunch of mobile radios, like two FT
-817s and everything like that. So I have a lot
to choose from. And the nice thing is they let
us take this stuff out of the shack and use it.
So I can take it to my room or whatever and experiment
with it. So we just have a checkout log that
we can take stuff and take it back. So it's kind
of like a library full of equipment. It's a lot
of fun. And what? What I found very cool is because,
I guess because it is such an old club, it's
been around forever, you've got stuff from Yezu
brand Y, you've got stuff from Icom brand I,
you've got stuff from Kenwood brand K, you've
got a brand C set up in there as well, don't
you? Yes we do. Yeah, besides all the newer equipment,
we have vintage gear that's sitting up collecting
dust up in the storage room upstairs. And it
really stinks because it's a Collins S line.
And when I came in and saw it, it's probably
from the original, of course, when the club first
started and everything. And when I saw it, I
was like, what is this doing? A guy would pay
four grand just to have that, you know what I
mean? And I was like... What is this doing here?
And the guy's like, yeah, we're supposed to put
it in a display case. I'm going, screw the display
case. Put it on the air. Put it on the air. That's
right. Exactly. Yeah, it's like, this stuff is
original. What are we doing with this? If nothing
else, get on the Collins Nets. Yeah, exactly.
So yeah, the Collins Nets, yeah. So it's something
great. Probably not too many school clubs have
Collins S lines just laying around. Oh, yes.
Oh, no, I'm not even sure if this stuff still
works, but it's like, I don't care. We can, we
can fix it or whatever. Exactly. So somebody
will help you. That's for sure. Absolutely. Yes.
That's, that's amazing. Neil, any questions for
case? I'm yeah, let's let you get on the party.
We're good here. Well, you know, I remember Iowa
state being in, in school club roundup quite
a bit. And, you know, and I told, like I told
case and. dawn before the show, but that's what
happens at university clubs. You'll be going
great guns for four years and then all of a sudden
somebody leaves and everything sits for a while.
So maybe we can make a comeback again and they
just keep coming back. They do just keep coming
back over and over again, but I didn't realize
that they were on the old license system before
the prefixes. Yeah, that's cool, that's very
cool. Yeah, it was an interesting thing with
the president. He was, he's a meteorology, he's
getting his masters in meteorology and we had
a long conversation about the call sign here
and it was really interesting just to know with
knowledge about the traditions around here, so
it's pretty cool. Is there anything on the Iowa
State website about the Ham Club? Yes. Well,
you can look up just look up W zero. I think
the yeah W zero ISU and just on Google and it
comes up with campus amateur radio club and then
it shows the campus amateur radio club. We have
like a WordPress. website and everything like
that. So it's not really kept up to date, but
it's it's just kind of a thing. Actually, the
officer officers, you can see me on the treasure
already. So like that. Yeah. So it's not really
kept up to date, but it's but it's great to know
who we are and everything. So I'm going to be
on the radio a lot. Here during the weekends.
I was operating earlier a little bit not making
a few cues So hopefully I can operate a lot and
you put this call sign in the air like it deserves
Excellent. I want to ask you Your your first
trip to Huntsville was to accept the young ham
of the year award What was your impression of
the Huntsville ham fest? Oh, it was it was great.
It was actually more than I expected the night
before the ham fest i think that was that friday
yeah friday night um i i walked into the to the
von brown center and just seeing the massive
scale of it when i first walked in and then there
was more when you turn around the corner and
everything so it was going wow these are all
the all the cool um cool distributors of electronic
gear that I loved. I saw ICOM, Flex Radio. I
finally got to talk to the Flex Radio guy about
remote ham radio. It was just great because we
had a great conversation and everything. And
I didn't go to too many of the forums and everything
like that, which was all right. My dad went to
him because he's a big physics guy. So he was
really interested in propagation stuff. But I
didn't go to many of them because I was talking
to so many hams that I had met on the air. but
I never like actually met in person. So by the
end, I was very tired just from talking so much
with these guys and it was just great. I got
pulled away so many times from other people because
I don't know who to talk to next. So it was great.
I never ended up buying anything because I never
set my eye on something that I needed or wanted,
especially taking on the plane with me, which
is all right. But it was great just to be there
with all the guys and to see the old vintage
equipment that guys were selling. So yeah, great
to meet the A RRL CEO too. Had never met him
before and I was introduced to him the night
prior on Friday and yeah, it was just great.
So I assume, like a lot of other people that
I have recommended this HamFest to over the last
25 or 26 years or however long I've been going
since 1995, I assume you'll be wanting to come
back. Oh, definitely. Yes. It's a good one. It's
a great one. And I love the town, too. When I
walked in from the airport, I saw the aerospace
companies and everything. I was going, OK, this
place might be a place where I might work someday.
So I might as well take a look at the town. Yeah,
absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. It was great
going to the space and rocket center. I'd seen
any videos on it and everything. So it was great
to just see the seven five rocket sitting there
and learning about that from some knowledgeable,
knowledgeable people. So great. Very good. Well,
you're, you're, you're an amazing, I'm sorry.
Go ahead. I was going to say a friend of mine
in 4JN that I always see down at Huntsville,
he, he, uh, that's exactly what happened to him.
Uh, we, we met, uh, uh, in high school at a,
uh, athletic training camp and, uh, just found
each other on a repeater and, and, and met and
then, you know, he's going off to college and
I'm going off to college and. and uh... he's
you know thinking now i'm going to stay around
nashville and and all the sudden well You know,
all that aerospace engineering stuff's going
on in Huntsville. So he makes the move to Huntsville.
So that could be what happens to you. You may,
you may end up there and to get the award at
the Vaughn Braun Center. I mean, you know, it's
great name for it. The start of aerospace. So
talk a little bit about the phone call. You know,
when, when you, when you got the phone call,
talk a little bit about that. This is a fun story.
So I was coming home from Charleston, South Carolina.
I was moving my sister out to Charleston because
she completed her medical school and she was
out there for residency at Charleston and everything
like that. So I was moving her out there and
I was coming back and visiting an aunt of mine
or aunt and uncle of mine in Tennessee. And he's
a big pilot and everything. We got talking about
pilot stuff. But I told him, hey, later tonight,
I need to talk with this guy about Young Ham
of the Year, because, well, who is it? Mark?
Yeah, Mark NT3V emailed me and said, hey, we
need to get in touch, et cetera. And I was elated
because I was like, oh, this is interesting,
because when I applied the year before, I didn't
get this call and everything like that. And they
said, I was just in the final live. choosing
and everything like that so I was like oh this
is interesting I must be in the top two or whatever
and I'll try to make this sound good I guess
so because I didn't know I'd won and so that
night after we ate and everything I was up on
the deck of a beautiful night and I was talking
to Mark And just at the end of it, he just said,
oh yeah, by the way, you're Young Ham of the
Year. It's great to meet you and everything.
I was speechless because it was just amazing.
So it was on a vacation and everything like that.
And it was fun to just go downstairs and say,
hey, I won Young Ham of the Year. And my family
was really, really happy and everything like
that. So my aunt and uncle were kind of surprised
because it actually happened when I was there,
so it was kind of fun, and it was just amazing
to meet Mark for the first time and talk to him
about what I like in amateur radio and my high
school career and everything like that. Yeah.
Yeah, just sharing it with him was awesome. Those
are some fun calls. I certainly enjoy listening
to them when we have Mark's announcement on the
news line every year. Yes, it's great. All right,
well we're going to take a break and when we
come back we're going to talk some more with
Case Van Osprey W0AAE the reigning Bill Pasternak
Memorial WA6ITF Newsline Young Ham of the Year
and Don Wilbanks AE5DW right after this word
from ICOM America right here on HamTalk Live.
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what's up with the fifth dentist, but four out
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Live. Welcome back to HamTalk Live. Make sure
you check us out on Facebook, Twitter, or X,
or whatever they're calling it this week, and
Instagram. Before we get back to Case and Don,
it's time for the N9GSU Ham Radio Joke of the
Week. Now it's time for the HamTalk Live Ham
Radio Joke of the Week, the part of the show
where Rick tells us a ham radio joke. The HamTalk
Live Ham Radio Joke of the Week is brought to
you by QRM Labs. Now, here's Rick Garrett in
9GSU with today's HamTalk Live Joke of the Week.
I've been spending so much time sitting at my
desk on the radio. I decided it was time for
me to lose some weight and get in shape. So I
joined Nutrisystem and let me tell you, it really
works. The first week, I lost $200. Welcome back
to HamTalk Live. I'm here with Don Wilbanks AE5DW
from Amateur Radio Newsline and the winner of
the 2023 Bill Pasternak WA6ITF Memorial Amateur
Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year Case Van
Osprey W0AAE and he is starting his freshman
year at Iowa State in aerospace engineering and
Case, I know you got to bring home some hardware
from Huntsville. Don, actually, I'll let you
go through the sponsors and some of that stuff.
Yeah, very good. We've got some corporate underwriters,
corporate partners that we certainly rely on
that have been with us a couple for a long, long,
long time. CQ Magazine is one of the originals.
Yezu USA is one of the originals. Hile Sound
and Radio Waves Antennas also are corporate underwriters,
and we certainly appreciate their help. I think
that we still have to get you hooked up with
CQ because they were not at the Hamfest. Neither
was Radio Waves, unfortunately, but we will make
sure that those guys get in touch with you. But
what did you bring home from Yezu? Yeah from
yesu. I got an FT 70 dr from a yesu and also
and also a mobile rig from yesu I forget the
model number. This is ridiculous. I think it's
the FT 7800 I think yeah, I said something like
that, but it's a I haven't tested out the FT
the Mobile rig, but I have experimented with
the FT 70 dr and everything like that. Um that
we have a system fusion here at Iowa State that
At the repeater system and everything like that.
So, uh, it's been great kind of playing around
with that I've never really experienced a DMR
any D star anything like that. So, uh BHF UHF
digital modes have been a New thing that I should
probably get into because I need to get some
experience of that I have not played with that.
So it's um Just getting some knowledge in that
area and it's up to the races. I guess with with
that There's a little bit of an upgrade from
your Baofeng, huh? Yeah, no kidding. Yeah, as
I was telling you earlier... Oh, wait a minute.
Wait a minute. You said the word Baofeng. Hang
on. I know. I know. Here it comes here. I haven't
been able to play that in a long time. Okay,
go ahead. Yeah, but I'm used to a bow thing menu
system, which is really really small and it's
really I don't get why Tim always says the Chinese
radios have a horrible menu systems and going
yeah No, no, no, no, no, no, but I love my bow
thing But it's it's interesting getting to know
a new radio a new radio in your hand. That's
just a new menu system and everything like that.
So a lot of videos, a lot of YouTube videos I've
been going through and seeing, OK, how do you
turn up the volume? OK, it's this button. Right,
right. It's you feel kind of dumb, but at the
same time, you realize that it's just a new system.
Yeah, it's just a bit of a learning curve. It's
just something different. Yeah, it's something
different. So it's like flying a new airplane.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, flying a new airplane. Now,
not putting life at risk, I don't know. Maybe
not the best analogy, but yeah. You're going
to be an aerospace guy, so you know, it works.
It works. You get it, and that's all that matters.
Exactly. Yeah, so just putting all this stuff
to use has been great. And another thing, just
kind of off track what we're saying, but another
thing at Iowa State, we're putting up a satellite
here in a few years. It's supposed to launch
in 2024, a little CubeSat. I got in touch with
the people running that, and I'll be on the data
collection side. Oh, good. With regards to getting
data back from the satellite, because I've experienced
an amateur radio and will be... Transmitting
an amateur radio bands on 70 centimeters. So
that'll be good to get a few Get a few things
working with that and I'm also working on high
altitude balloon club here at ISU And they they're
they're also trying to get their ham license
because they want to actually get their data
back in the ham bands because I have a little
bit a little bit of experience with that and
radio sounds So just these minor little things
that amateur radio can do for you can be applied
to just everything in regards to college. Just
finding little things to do in college that you
have experience in is just amazing. And it kind
of feel important when you come into freshman
year and you have. Grad grads to grad students
coming to you and saying hey have you done this
before so yeah, I'm great Yeah, yeah, you got
a bit of hardware from Hile sound as well. Did
you yes? I did yes, I I had a previous Hile sound
headphones and our headset that I got for Christmas
a few years ago for my parents and this one's
even better This one's the step up from it. I
forget. It's the pro Who yeah pro 2 that's what
it's called. Yeah, it's pro 2 the one before
that was just one -sided head headset, right?
Right. Oh, and I also got one from youth on the
air for running something in 2020. So thank you
Neil for that and yeah, it's just great to have
a new headset for contesting because The one
that I was using prior to this, the HileSound
one, it just wasn't fitting my head as well.
It was like a vice on your head. You just feel
like you're getting dumber as the day goes on
because your head hurts so much. After doing
a 10 -hour contest for NAQP, I just want to go
to sleep immediately because my head hurts so
much. from a vice grip on your head. So it's
just great to have something new to play with
and that I can experiment with. And hopefully
it'll make my contesting experience better. Excellent.
Excellent. Well, it was such a treat to share
the stage with you and to get to know you and
meet your dad. And it's just I'm just I'm just
thrilled. You're a great ambassador for the hobby
case. You really are. And you fit right in. with
the Young Ham of the Year family. And you are
family now. Anything you need, just reach out
to us and keep us informed on your goings on
and with the club and what you're doing and everything.
And we certainly want to keep in touch with you.
Right, Neil? Absolutely. We certainly do. And
I'm going to ask Case to do a shameless plug
here because I know where he got some of that
experience, so to anybody out there listening
that might want to start getting some of this
experience, tell them where to go. Yeah, it's
both. Yeah, true. Cause I messed up one time
and put dot com on it. So I, okay, it's both.
So I made it both. So yeah, it is idiot proof.
Even I can find it. Yeah, exactly. It is the
it is the place to go. I came in as a freshman
a few, four years ago. Um, and I think I contacted
Neil the first time about our car. our contest
that we did. Remember that, Neil? Yeah, yeah.
The Youth on the Air, or what is it? Worldwide
Ten Minute Activity Contest, and I kind of got
fit in with that, and it's just been great. I
learned so much from Neil and Youth on the Air.
Meeting kids from all over the world and through
this organization has just been amazing. So any
leadership position that you need in amateur
radio, go to youthontheair .org, and Neil will
set you up. Um, I've been QSL manager, um, and
December Yoda month with coordinator and, uh,
getting to work with other youth like Brian's
and, um, uh, Blake has just, has just been great.
And, um, it's just, just the experiences is a
gift to us youth. Just been great. And I, uh,
as we call him a balloon boy that you got to
know. to start doing this high -altitude balloon
thing. Oh yes, yes, yes. Yeah, I've gotten into
high -altitude ballooning and what is called
amateur direction finding, ARDF, just because
I had never tried this stuff before. I thought
I knew everything coming into this camp and I
didn't, which is good. I was an ignorant little
fool, but I came in and... And I learned so much
and for ballooning and ARDF, it was worth it
just to go just for that because it inspired
something in me, especially in aerospace for
ballooning and everything like that, inspired
something in me to actually go out and pursue
other aspects of amateur radio that I had never
done before. So just that little tidbit of knowledge
was put into me. And I hope to carry that forward
into the future. Yeah, you got to meet Jack and
then you got to learn ARDF from one of the international
champions that lives just down the road, Bob
Fry to A6CZV. He was great. Yeah, he was absolutely
great. For his age, he's out, Don, he rides his
bike over to VOA and he's like three towns over
and he's out riding his bike and doing all this
stuff and running around on the field and everything
and I'm sitting there holding up my sign, yay,
go team. I understand. Yeah, it's a great it's
a great thing that that you spearhead Neil the
youth on the air thing It's it's it's it's amazing
and it's a great way to give back to the hobby
because I know yeah I mean you've been in the
hobby since you were five years old You were
at one point the youngest ham on the planet.
I believe back when you were first licensed,
right? He's the record Yeah. No, I think he does.
No. Oh, was it passed by like a four -year -old?
Yep. Yep. Couple of months. Couple of months,
but yeah. Okay. Oh, boy. Oh, yeah. I think I
saw it. He has a KE0 call. Yeah, I did see that.
Yeah. Yeah. There's been a few. There's been
a handful. Yeah. Not too many, but a few. You've
given so much to the hobby, Neil, that I just,
on behalf of everybody listening, I want to thank
you for everything that you do for the hobby,
because you do a lot. Yes, you do. A lot. A lot.
Both in front of and behind the scenes, so thank
you so much. Well, thank you. I wasn't fishing
for compliments. I was fishing for recruitment
for you to camp. Recruitment, yeah. But thank
you. Nicely deserved. But it's so nice to be
able to see that, you know, and, you know, Case
was like, oh, you know, we did that, we did that
ARDF thing, we did that balloon thing, and now
all of a sudden, you know, it's spreading. And
that's the whole... And that's the whole point
of Yoda is not that we're out there doing it,
but they're out there doing it and making it
spread. And that's the result that we're always
looking for. So it's always great to hear that
because that's exactly what our goal is. So,
Kase, you've done a great job with all your work.
I know you're going to be transitioning out of
some of that. as you're in college, but we know
that you won't be too far away and you're going
to keep getting called back over and over again.
So you just have to, you know, tell us know when
you have to, but we're going to keep asking.
Uh, but I know, uh, the next few years are going
to be, uh, time consuming and I, I get that been
there, done that. And, uh, so I wish you the
best in that and, and echo what Dawn says, you
know, if there's something that you need, if
there's something that we can help with why,
uh, we're just a phone call away and don't have
to take to do it. Or you just want to call up
and say hi and hey, listen to the cool thing
I just did. Yeah, we want to hear that too. I
will have many of those. I hope that. Thank you
guys. Yeah, it's been great. Thank you. Congratulations
again. We're very proud of you, Case. We really
are. I appreciate it. Case, any final words here
before we go? I don't think so. I just want to
thank everybody that's helped me this far. If
it's one organization at home... That really
helped me in amateur radio. It's Minnesota Wireless
Association. They got me plugged in my first
time contest and everything like that. And the
guys helped me set up my own station at home.
And they've been helping me along the way. Just
and one one guy. Part of that is Scott Wright,
KZRMD, one guy that you know very, very well.
So those guys, they're just a blessing. And they've
put so much so put forth so much knowledge on
to my head, I guess. And Sadly, they can't come
to all the ham fest down south because it's just
hard to travel from up north down south now and
everything like that. But it's just great that
they put so much effort into me. And I hope to
exemplify that in amateur radio from now on.
So thank you guys up north in Minnesota land.
So thank you. Yeah, just again, a great ambassador
for the hobby. And there he is, your 2023 Bill
Pasternak, WA6ITF Memorial Amateur Radio Newsline
Young Ham of the Year. Neil? All right. Well,
guys, thanks so much for doing this recap. It's
kind of fun to do it a little bit afterwards.
So it's something different and had a little
time to reflect on on what happened. And we even
we even survived the we even survived the trip
for barbecue. So, you know. Yeah, that was good.
I smelled like fire afterward. I didn't realize.
Yeah, I think we all do. I think we all smell
smoke. I was like, what is that smell? Why do
I smell smoke? For those of you who have never
been to Dreamland BBQ in Huntsville, Alabama,
they have an open pit and it is inside. Their
open charcoal pit is inside. And so, yeah, when
you leave, you smell like you've been to a cookout.
Great stuff. I highly recommend it. Yeah, it
was it was good and I was and I was glad they
had some some stuff to accommodate case because
uh, cases vegetarian. So always, it was always
like, okay, we got to take care of case. We got
to get, get him to take care of it. I'm pretty
flexible with my dietary. Yeah, you are everything.
But, uh, it was great to see that, uh, that worked
out because it's about barbecue there. Yeah,
it is, but it was pretty good. I have to admit.
So I'll take that. Alright guys, well thanks
so much for being on the show. We appreciate
it and we're gonna take care of some business
here but thanks for being here and we'll be looking
forward to seeing you again soon. Thanks for
having us. Yeah, thank you. Well, that's a wrap
for this edition of HamTalk Live. I'd like to
thank my guest, Case Van Osprey, W -0 -A -A -E.
and Don Wilbanks, AE5DW and everybody out there
in cyberspace for listening. Almost seven and
a half years ago I started doing this show because
I wanted to get back into broadcasting just for
the fun of it. Doing a live call -in talk show
was something I had always wanted to do. I heard
an ad on broadcast radio for Spreaker and the
rest as they say is history. I was recovering
from a health issue and I needed an outlet. I
wanted to share my connections with some wonderful
people I've met in ham radio over the years and
seek out some new ones. As time went on the recovery
became more and more complete and life was taking
a change, but for the better. A point came where
I realized that the live call -in talk show format
that I wanted wasn't working. So about a year
and a half ago, I changed the format to eliminate
the live aspect of the show But even since then
life has become busier and busier and have a
new wife in a new town and a new job and Youth
on the air started taking more and more of my
time instead of less as I had anticipated and
As a result the hammer talk live schedule just
became pretty sporadic It's been clear for a
while that I just don't have time to do everything
anymore and that this show was probably going
to end. Well, today that day has arrived. Tonight's
episode is the final regular episode of HamTalk
Live. The archive will stay online for a few
years at least and hopefully it can still be
a valuable resource for some time to come. I'll
still have the platform available for broadcasts
in order to maintain the archive, so I might
surprise you with an episode here and there for
special occasions, but otherwise, this show is
now drawing to a close. I want to thank my sponsors
over the years, The Ham Station and Tower Electronics
that started with me from the very beginning
of the show, and then ICOM America for coming
on board when The ham station's time started
coming to an end. I'm grateful that they believed
in me and the show and they're still great friends
and I want to thank all of them for helping out
with the show and making it break even at least
so that it wasn't an expense to me. I want to
thank all of the wonderful people who gave their
time and expertise to be guests on the show and
even braved those live phone call segments back
in the day. Thanks to Andy Morrison, K9AWM, my
booth announcer, and Barry Kent, WA9ZWA, for
doing some recording production as well. And
of course, thanks to Rick Garrett in 9GSU. that's
been doing the Joke of the Week segment the last
few years and I want to thank my wife Julie for
tolerating my absence for all those Thursday
nights when I was doing the live shows and other
nights when I was doing the pre -recorded shows
and also taking care of Hammy the mascot, taking
care of the pig suit. But most of all I want
to thank you my faithful listeners who've been
most gracious and supportive and it's hard to
say that this is coming to an end because many
of you come up to me at HamFest and tell me how
much you love the show and I do too but unfortunately
I'm just spread too thin right now. There's just
too much going on. I'm going to continue my duties
with amateur radio news lines so that'll keep
scratching my broadcasting itch. uh... yoda is
expanding rapidly uh... in in size and area and
and hopefully age even uh... and so i'm going
to continue to help it grow and become more sustainable
with youth leadership uh... so i'm not going
away uh... but it is time to sign off ham talk
live at least for now so as we say on the show
for now this is neil rap wb9 vpg Sing 7 3, 7
5, and may the good DX be yours.