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 Hamtok Live Callin' let's talk,
Neil's your guy Hamtok Live, here we go on Hamtok
Radio Everyone, it's time for HamTalk Live. It's
episode number 316, Hamvention Preview 2023,
recorded on April 17th, 2023. I'm your host,
Neil Rapp, WB9VPG. Thanks for tuning in to this
episode of HamTalk Live. Tonight, we're joined
by Michael Coulter, W8CI from the Dayton Hamvention.
Last episode Glenn Norman W4YES and Terry Beard
KO4WFP were here to talk about CW with CICR So
if you missed that show you can listen anytime
hamtalklive .com or on your favorite podcast
app or on YouTube so make sure you check that
out and We're talking with Michael Coulter tonight
about Hamvention and speaking of Hamvention,
let me remind you that the National Voice of
America Museum of Broadcasting will have their
usual extended hours once again during Hamvention.
On Thursday and Friday the hours will be 1 to
9 p .m. and then on Saturday of Hamvention they'll
be open from noon until 9. and then Sunday noon
to five. So if you want to go after Hamvention
on Friday or Saturday, they're open until nine
o 'clock. If you get there early or you leave
a little late, stop by. It's something that is
well worth your time. And if you need a list
to remind you of the times, just go to wchvoa
.org slash Hamvention And they'll have all the
times listed there. They've got the Drake exhibit.
If you're a Drake fan, they've got a whole collection
of the Drake stuff from the RL Drake factory.
The restored WLWO transmitter. So that was the
overseas transmitter, the shortwave. And then
all the other exhibits will be open as well.
And you can make a few queues at the Ham Shack.
So admission is $10 at the door and be sure to
check that out. And they've got the new venue
open as well. So that's pretty cool. Now, as
far as Hamvention goes for us, HamTalk Live will
have a live broadcast on Hamvention Eve, as we
always do. With weather traffic the latest news
from Dayton. So all the last -minute stuff We'll
have it for you right here on ham talk live.
We also hope to have the new Green County sheriff
to talk about traffic. Of course, we remember
Gene Fisher Okay was the can't say GCS that Became
a silent key, but the new sheriff is also working
with hamvention quite a bit. So We'll hopefully
be talking with him and others during Hamvention
Eve, so make sure you tune in for that. Well,
right now we have Michael on the line, so we'll
get to that and we'll come back and talk to him
right after this word from Tower Electronics
right here on HamTalk Live. Jerry, what's up,
man? I haven't seen you at SunBucks in a while.
I used to see you every morning getting coffee.
What's up? Well, I can't afford Sunbucks five
days a week anymore. I had to spend my money
on PL259s. You know, those antenna projects I've
been meaning to do. I had to do them before my
HOA finds out I have antennas. That's too bad,
Jerry. I miss seeing you and catching up over
coffee. You should get your PL259s from Tower
Electronics. They have great stuff. Jerry, you're
back! Oh, QRM Heterodyne Frappuccino. That's
a good choice. How's it going? Did you get all
those antennas up before the HOA police showed
up? Yeah, I got them all done. Thanks for telling
me about Tower Electronics. Now I can have my
coffee. I just saved a bunch of money on my PL259s
by switching to Tower Electronics. Don't get
caught without PL259s. Visit Tower Electronics
online at pl -259 .com or at a HamFest near you.
Or give them a call at 920 -435 -2973 and be
sure to pick up some power poles, adapters and
cables too. And the Tower Electronics HamFest
schedule. Coming up, May 6th, they're in Cedarburg,
Wisconsin, May 7th, Sandwich, Illinois. Then
they'll be at Hamvention, May 19th through 21st
in Dayton, Ohio. But you can visit them anytime
at PL -259 .com. All the information you need
for your trip to Dayton. It's Hamvention Preview
here on HamTalk Live. Hey, welcome back to ham
talk live tonight Michael Coulter w8 CI joins
us on the Orlando amateur radio club and hamcation
zoom line Michael is the official spokesperson
of the Dayton hamvention and resides in Zeno,
Ohio He's a past president of the Dayton amateur
radio association and the ham fish Hamvention
general chair back in 2011 and 12. And he's currently
the treasurer and board member of DERA and finance
chair for Hamvention. And this year is also co
-chairing the awards and the forums for Hamvention,
among other things, as if he didn't have enough
to do. So Michael, welcome to HamTalk Live again.
Hey, Neil. I'm really happy to be here. Love
your program. Love how organized it is and what
you do for the Ham radio community. I think we're
all grateful. Well, thank you and we're very
grateful for the job of all of those volunteers
at Hamvention. I know everybody's excited about
this year. I know I've heard from a lot of people
that are planning on attending this year that
haven't been there for a few years with COVID
kind of being behind us or at least much less
of a threat. But I know that there's one key
volunteer. That that we're sad to say has become
a silent key. So before we get started, Michael,
could you say a few words about Ron Kramer? Yeah,
Ron Kramer. He was our current vice president
on the Darrow board. He's also a past general
chairman and assistant chairman. And he works
tirelessly. I mean, we have a a core team. He
was on the executive committee with us for Hamvention.
And boy, what a wonderful man, a wonderful human
being, really. He was kind to everyone. He would
listen to people's issues and he'd work through
them. And just a very well -respected guy. And
it was sudden and stunning. to lose him. He was
at a meeting on a Friday night. Matter of fact,
I had even talked to him after the meeting. We
did a phone call because we were trying to figure
out an issue for Hamvention that we thought we
ought to take care of. He was going to call me
back. I said, boy, this is funny. He hadn't called
me back this morning. Well, he just dropped over
and they kept him alive, I think. I don't know,
almost a week, but what a tragic loss. What a
tragic loss. Thanks for asking, Neil. Yeah, I
know Ron did a lot of work with some of the contracts
and things like that. And I know that's a big
loss to the Hamvention community. So just wanted
to... Have you say a few words? I know I just
saw him at hamcation not too much before that
happened and this was just very Very saddened
and shocked to to hear the news about about Ron
but on a more upbeat note I've heard that You've
got quite a number of new exhibitors and some
that have been absent for a while but now feel
like it's safe to return or are returning for
a variety of reasons. So, tell us how things
are going over in the exhibits. Well, it's funny,
you know, the inside exhibits chairman was just
still here at my house last evening or taking
care of some business. And he was telling me
that everything's nearly sold out at this point,
which is pretty amazing. We are very excited
about that. And we're urging everybody, if you're
a vendor and you haven't signed up, I think there
are a few spots, but not many at this point.
But that's going really, really well. And I will
say that one of the great things that is happening
at Hamvention is when the vendors come, it's
not just a few tables that they set up, really
beautiful, beautiful exhibits and useful and
they think these things through in terms of placement
and the people that they're gonna use and very
professional. I really admire what's happening
there with inside exhibits but yeah, it's gonna
be great. Yeah, we're we're working on our area
over in the the Yoda booth Getting that ready
to go and heiress will be next door to us again
and get some Small forums going on. We'll talk
about the the ham vincen official forums here
after the break, but Just trying to get everything
ready to go and and we're gonna have our youth
social hours again So we'll talk about that But
I know you've got something else new that's going
on with some area restaurants. So, um, and that
kind of ties into the bussing. So, so fill us
in on this, this new idea. Well, I know you,
uh, there are certain foods that you like to
get and sometimes we don't have it. Well, you
mentioned it to me every time I see it. So I
thought I'd bring it up for at any rate. At any
rate, we're going to make it easier for people
to get, if they don't want to eat, you know,
the great food that we're going to have there.
And believe me, we have, if you're out in the
center area there at Hamvention, you know, near
the flag poles, and you'll smell that wonderful
aroma, you know, it really kicks in at about,
I don't know, 1045, 11 a .m. And it just makes
You just want something great to eat and you're
cooking it right in front of you and it's and
it is Really amazing everything that everything
there from homemade noodles homemade ice cream,
you know the cattle producers pork producers
We've also Put a cap on the price of bottle of
water We don't want people gouged five or six
bucks for a bottle of water, especially if it
gets warm out but to the point We're going to
have bus service that goes into downtown Xenia,
and they'll be stopping at various restaurants
within Xenia. So you may want to take a look
at what's happening with that one. There's some
information on the website. We plan to even increase
that information. But you'll be able to take
a bus, go get something to eat downtown Xenia,
and get the bus back. So we thought we'd give
that a try. The people of the city of Xenia have
been so helpful to us and they have to put up
with the fact that we bring in 32 ,000 people
and the population of the city of Xenia is only
about 26 ,000. So they want to show off a little
bit too on how well they can prepare food and
how well they take care of that beautiful little
city. Well, yeah, you know, we're always talking
about the cheesecake on a stick because it goes
way back to her arena and everything But but
I meant I got a message the other day actually
from from one of my newsline colleagues that
that was talking about key lime pie on a stick
and So, you know, we said well, maybe that's
the hamcation thing, you know being in Florida
and everything, you know down near the keys and
And they were like, no, no, no, no. Hamvention
needs both. So I don't know. We've got several
cheesecake on a stick vendors now. So maybe we'll,
maybe we'll have to expand. Just put in your
request. Put in your request and we'll find the
truck. Well, there's always, always plenty of
good food trucks there. at Hamvention if I only
had a way to get more time to visit more variety
shall we say. I usually end up with whichever
one is the shortest line but they're all fabulous
and so it'll be great to have those again as
well as the bus option so that's some cool stuff.
All right. Well, um, you know, before we take
a break here, Michael, I know that volunteers
are the heart of, of Hamvention and you couldn't
have it without them. So, um, I know you love
to talk about your, your volunteers, so please
do. Well, thank you. I do. I, I'm just a spokesperson
and a volunteer as well. And, um, It's a joint
effort running Hamvention, and it's a labor of
love. I was thinking about this the other day,
the fact that the ARRL, they consider themselves
headquarters. But we've heard it said that Hamvention
is sort of the mecca of amateur radio. It's where
everybody comes to meet. It's where there's so
much that goes on there, and it wouldn't happen
really without volunteers. are volunteers that
are working there. You've got volunteers from
other organizations that come in and they have
activities throughout the evening all over the
area. And if you are one of those people that's
having an evening activity, just let us know.
We'll make sure we get it on the website so people
can see that. And I wanna say hello to especially
my friends. Hazel and Jeff Everett that do, I
mean they have just, they've been a long time
volunteers and I'd like to name everybody but
just gonna pick them right now because they help
kind of prod everybody along to make sure that
they're done on time and do it in such a wonderful
way and always trying to thinking of things.
Anyway, speaking of volunteers, we are still
in need of a few more volunteers and even golf
carts was needing some volunteers. So you can
go to our website, hamvention .org and look up
volunteers and fill out a form and put in an
application and there are some benefits that
go along with that and that's all on the website.
But I'm glad you asked about the volunteers,
did you? so many of them do so much work and
I don't know how to thank all of them but we
try. Back to you Neil. Yeah you need those golf
cart drivers because they they do a lot of running
and so that's always something that I know that
some of my friends do that are you know they're
driving in four or five six hours to get there
and and they're going to volunteer an afternoon
to to drive the golf carts around and it's kind
of fun. So, um, that's, that's good that you
have some benefits for them as well. So yeah,
and make sure you check that out. Hamvention
.org under, under the volunteers. Um, yeah. Uh,
and you know, we're working, you know, for youth
on the air, we're going to have, have some time
there, but we're, we're hosting a Youth Social
Hour on Friday and Saturday. Again, it went really
well last year. So we're bringing it back again.
So at noon on both Friday and Saturday, the young
people can stop by the area behind the Yoda booth
there and we've got free snacks and drinks for
them. And it's just a chance to get to meet other
young hams that maybe uh... you know they've
they've heard or or you've heard and and talked
to you on the air and chance to uh... meet up
and i know we've had a lot of the uh... yoda
camp alumni now uh... meet there and and kinda
catch up with everybody and and just kinda gives
you a place to hang out and and get uh... a little
uh... little food and drink as well and uh...
i know tony sent me the information on the collegiate
dinner that's coming up so that's on saturday
evening i believe it is so uh... those things
will be popping up on the website so make sure
you you take a look at that website and uh...
they'll have all those listed there and we've
got a little thing for the youth program uh...
you know all the things that are going on invention
specifically for youth will have that hanging
up in the, in the Yoda booth there. So, uh, well,
we're going to talk forums and we're going to
talk awards, but first we're going to take this
break and we'll come back with Michael Coulter,
W8CI right after this word from ICOM America
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Q .S .O. in Dayton. And welcome back to HamTalk
Live. Be sure to check us out on Facebook, Twitter
and Instagram. We'll be sending out some more
stuff here as we get closer to Hamvention, I'm
sure. But right now, before we get back to Michael,
it's time for the HamTalk Live 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. My
homeowners association was trying to make me
take my antennas down, so I hired a lawyer. I
went to his office and said, how much do you
charge? He said $5 ,000 for three questions.
I said, isn't that a lot? He said, yes it is.
Now, what's your third question? This has been
the Ham Talk Live. Ham radio joke of the week
with Rick Garrett in 9GSU. Tune in again next
week for another joke from Rick. We are back
with Michael Coulter, WHCI, the spokesperson
of the Dayton Hamvention. We're going to talk
about forums and awards here in a minute, but
first, we've got a few other things that everybody
needs to keep in mind. So Sunday is free, free,
free, free. Tell them how to get in for free.
Excuse me, we do that for a couple of reasons,
but more importantly, there's a lot of people
in our area, maybe within a couple hundred miles
of Hamvention that are really curious, what's
this all about? And Hamvention is open nine to
one. And then of course at one o 'clock we had
a prize drawing. But there's no age limits on
coming in on Sunday with a free. in getting a
free ticket, just go to the ticket booth and
we'll give you the free pass to get in. You will
not be eligible for a main prize, but if you
know some people and you want them to come meet
you and walk around a little bit with them, or
if you want to bring your, I don't know, just
bring kids, well kids are free anyway, but you
can bring whoever you want and they'll get in
free. And what a great way to introduce people.
to amateur radio. Although that's a, it's like
drinking out of a fire hydrant. There it is.
Yeah. So you're drinking straight out of the
hydrant on that one, but that's, that's a good
thing. I've always remember a friend of mine
saying that, you know, that was his first ham
fest. And it's like, then you go to the other
ones and it's like, wait a minute, this isn't
like Dayton. So, uh, we're lucky to have it in
our backyard here, more or less. Uh, let's talk
a little bit about buses too. I know, uh, you've
got some of the remote parking still going on.
So let's talk a little bit about buses. Right.
I want to be sure that people, uh, are looking
at the website, you know, it's currently constantly
being updated and that's a hamvention .word.
So We are getting the bus routes kind of set
and it will be, I haven't looked the last few
days if they're actually on the website yet or
not, but they will be. And also, while I'm talking
about that website and buses, be sure to download
the app. We're gonna have the events app and
you'll see it on the webpage. how to download
that app, but it'll tell you when the forums
are, it'll have all kinds of information that
you can link to, and I would strongly urge, before
you come to Hamvention, because there's so much
to do, and it's so big, that you plan it out
a little bit, like, I wanna see this forum, I
wanna see that forum, I wanna see this vendor,
I wanna see that vendor, and they should have
the locations will be in there, the vendors.
or, you know, we're going to try to get evening
activities in there and a lot of, a lot of things,
bus schedules. Um, so be sure to download that
app because we're going to have it, try to have
it jam packed with good information as well as
the website. So, uh, I wanted to get that information
out to you as well. And there's still a few hotel
rooms around. So tell, tell people how they could
find those. Yeah, that's exactly right, Neil.
We have, I was talking with the Convention Visitors
Bureau just a couple of days ago, and they said
that, yeah, there's some people that can't make
it, and they cancel their rooms, and that frees
some rooms up. So they will have that information.
You can get on our website, of course, and then
link right into all that information. But the
Convention and Visiting Bureau, they even come
to our planning meetings. Really a great group
there to help us out in Greene County and to
make sure that we have everything that we need.
Actually, when I mention people in Greene County,
I want to mention the different outlying cities
and communities, including Xenia, and the elected
officials and other officials within. Green County
and even over in the Montgomery County that are
always putting out a helping hand to make sure
that ham bench continues to be a success. Okay,
so check that out. The Convention and Visitors
Bureau and HamTalk Live will be live on Thursday
night. We'll get you ready for everything. So
if there's any last -minute announcements that
come across the website or uh... weather and
traffic and all that kind of thing as we do each
year will we'll get you ready on thursday night
uh... for that but uh... of course that the uh...
hamvention dot org is is the official word so
uh... make sure you check out uh... both of those
Well, Dayton always has quite the list of top
-notch forums and this is something that you
were added to a little more this year, the forums
task, and so let's talk about the forums and
some of those that will be taking place this
year. Yeah, they are all posted now on the website
and I will tell you there's a lot of tough decisions
We have a lot of requests from people, you know
to do forums And we have some really exciting
ones going on. I know We'll start off with We'll
have parks on the air. We're going to have Tapper
in there. We're going to have What is this news
line thing that you're part of? Yes, so amateur
radio news line used to have this thing called
the town hall where we'd bring in elected officials
or some expert on something and and do kind of
a question and answer kind of thing and we've
been wanting to bring that back and So this year
we're bringing it back. So Paul Brown WD9 GCO
We'll be moderating that and I'll be helping
him out a little bit with the moderating of the
audience questions, but we've got three good
topics. Riley Hollingsworth is no stranger to
the town hall. He did a lot of those back when
he was at the FCC. He's going to be talking about
the volunteer monitor program that ARRL has and
he'll take questions on that. Mark Smith from
Halibut Electronics is going to be talking about
an open standard for headphones, headsets, the
headset interface to kind of standardize that
for EMCOM and that kind of thing. So he'll be
talking about that. Then we also have Rod Stafford,
Vice President of International Affairs of ARRL
be talking about some international stuff and
taking questions on that. So I'll be a part of
that one, but there's a long list here. So go
right ahead, Michael. Well, I'm not going to
read every one, but you know, you're in another
one too with Carol Perry. And I don't know, let's
see, you're going to have to get, she has an
instructor's forum and then it seems like get
done with that. You're really going to have to
hightail it down to make a... I am? Yeah, as
soon as I leave the instructors forum I'll be
headed straight over to the town hall, but in
the instructors forum I'll be talking about Yoda
and some of the resources that instructors can
use, so that'll be fun. Well, and also in looking
at forums we've got One on high -altitude balloons
and amateur radio. We've got kit building with
Joe, Joe Eisenberg. We have, I'll tell you a
really great one is gonna be with Brandon Pelliquin.
He's our National Weather Service, one of the
chief forecasters down there. And that's near
and dear to my heart because I am a net control
operator at the National Weather Service in Wilmington,
Ohio. south half of Ohio, northern Kentucky,
and eastern Indiana. They are absolutely dedicated
to amateur radio and the communications that
amateur radio provides. So that, he always puts
on a great form. And then we have, in keeping
with our theme this year, we have an innovation
forum, and that's gonna happen. on Friday and
of course Tim Duffy K3LR will have the antenna
forum which is a pretty big deal and lots of
great information and we'll have John Stratton
is going to be he's from ARRL. ARRL by the way
has got a lot of forums that they're going to
have as well and I just want to you know ask
everybody to take a look at some of these great
forums we've got at the DX Forum that's gonna
be on Saturday. Well, let's see, when does that
start? Right at the late Saturday morning, 1130
till almost 1 .50 p .m. And Jay, Jay Slough,
K4ZLE, he is going to have a great DX Forum and
he's gonna have some real surprise guests there
from some of the big DXpeditions that have just
gone on. But please take a look at all the different
things that are going on at the forums. I can't
even read them all, there's so many. I don't
want to take that much time doing it, but we
hit on, I know what Neil thinks is probably the
most important too. But there are a bunch and
there's the Youth Forum and Collegiate Forum
and just all kinds of stuff. So, yeah, check
it out at the website. And I think I could spend
all day in the forums and never see anything
else. Neil, let me mention one thing about forums
is that I think, you know, from what I've read
in the history and the lore of Amvention, But
that is what initially made Dayton so big, was
the fact that they started off at the Biltmore
with very interesting forums where people could
come in and learn something new, and that is
still going on. And to me, forums is one of the
most important things at any kind of a ham fest.
I mean, it's great to, there are so many good
aspects, but that is a really, Uh, a wonderful
aspect. I, you know, I, I sometimes I wish him
benching was longer so that I could get through
everything, but a little younger that I can hike
the whole thing, you know, plus get everything
I need to get done. So, but it is what it is.
It's wonderful to be an event where you're not,
where you're almost not going to be able to walk
through everything. I don't know how there's
time. Some people do it through this to them.
I've never been able to do it. I'll tell you
that. And like I said, I could sit in the forums
all day long, I think, if you know, and always
have one that I'm interested in. So that's a
great list. So check it out at hamvention .org
or on the app. So last thing we're going to talk
about today. And we'll be talking about more
Dayton stuff as the weeks go on. We'll be talking
about different forums in depth and some of the
things that are going to be happening. And like
I said, HamTalk Live will be live the night before.
But the last thing on our agenda for today are
the award winners. But before we talk about the
HamVenture award winners, we want to talk about
a very special award for your general chairman.
Yep. Yeah, Jim Storms, AB8YK. And Jim's been
doing an awful lot with youth for many, many
years. And he was given this award for several
different things he was involved with. And you
might want to talk a little bit about this too,
because I believe you were also down in Orlando
to watch him receive this award. I was. So Jim
was the recipient of the Carol Perry Educator
of the Year award this year and very well deserved
for a variety of reasons. And I'm still trying
to figure out how he does all this stuff and
is the general chairman this year. Yeah, he is.
He's busy as well. Of course, that's his passion.
He's been working with youth. This is his first
year as general chairman. We only allow a person
to be a general chairman for two years and there's
different reasons for that. That's our tradition
and we pretty much go with that. I just want
to say Jim is worked so hard with, I think he's
been a leader in different jamborees for radio
licensing and things like that. He's been a partner
in the founding of the Dave Coulter DX Youth,
Youth De -Expedition, the Dave Coulter Youth
De -Expedition, and they go to generally Central
America for that. You know that I know that he
has the same last name as me and now is my little
brother and I miss him and he You know, he's
left a legacy in radio, but he's been He was
one of the co -founders with a few other people
in that particular organization as well Anyway,
just kudos to Jim if you've seen give him some
kudos All right. Well the hand -vention is recognizing
some award winners, so let's hear about those.
All right, Ham Benson gives out four, we consider
pretty major awards for, and they're open internationally,
and we do get international winners. It seems
like every year there's somebody on the international
scene that wins. But the first one I want to
talk about is the Special Achievement Award,
and that's this year's recipient is Dr. Jason
McDonald. into Tango Papa Alpha. He's a real
active amateur extra class operator. He began
his life as an RF engineer. And then, can you
believe this, he changed careers to become a
trauma surgeon. So his radio interests range
from operating to international disaster response
and his true passion is working with youth to
promote amateur radio. Sounds familiar, Neil.
You like to do that. Dr. McDonald has been instrumental
in promoting international friendship and community
through amateur radio by forming scouting clubs
in Canada, the Philippines, and Florida. And
to date, more than 500 youth in these clubs have
been licensed and are on the air. We are proud
to see him win this award, the special achievement
award. So let's move on to the amateur radio
club of the year. And being a member of the amateur
radio association and a few other clubs in the
region, I really respect what gets done in an
amateur radio club. I know we have a lot of individual
achievement awards, but a lot of these individual
achievement awards can't really happen without
some kind of impetus or a motivation from a radio
club. But the winner this year is the Delaware
Radio Association and they've been around since
1930 and they serve the Trenton, New Jersey metropolitan
area. Couple things about this club. They tripled
in size over the last six years due to the wide
range of amateur radio activities and events
they offer. They consider themselves, and it
appears to all of us, they are an all -purpose
club. And they do everything from public service
events to operator training, mentoring, scouting
events, informational monthly meetings, boat
events, and the operation of a world -class club
station. I'm really pleased to see this club
win on the Delaware Valley Radio Association.
I mean, from the pictures they sent along, just
an outstanding club. And one thing aside, I will
mention that, I will tell you that, as I mentioned
before, that clubs are near and dear to my heart.
And then, so, I don't know, several years ago,
I started the club of the year award at Daris.
I'm always happy to see these great clubs and
people trying to figure out how they can win
that award. And I believe you have, you have
some, a forum on that too. Oh, yeah. Yes, I do.
Well, it isn't really my forum is, is our Ohio
section manager and, um, Tom, Tom sly, really
wonderful guy. And, um, you know, he's a guy
that works hard and, and, uh, You know, one of
the things that he does, he, he's always highlighting
clubs throughout the state of Ohio and passing
on great information. And he's going, he has
a lot of information about that. And I'm going
to kind of stand by in that for him to help him
a little bit because I've a little bit experience
with clubs myself, but not as good of a problem,
I don't think. And then we've got the technical
achievement award. Oh yeah, that's right. Dr.
James Brekel, W -A -3 -F -E -T. What an amazing
guy. Now, he's a retired professor emeritus from,
where did he go? Penn State University. And he's
been involved in advancements and using antennas.
He also did a lot of work on the numerical electromagnetic
code, better known as the NEC. Now being retired,
he serves as a consultant to the Army, Air Force,
and Navy on many antenna -related projects. I'm
not gonna give you all his information, but I
will tell you that he's worked with Joe Taylor
and K1JT Angel WP3R and Pedro Pizar and T4A,
and they collaborated on how to use Aircebo's
1000 foot dish to do a moon bounce. He's also
been a frequent presenter at Handvention, and
he'll be in some forums there, so be sure to
check those out. I believe he'll be in Tim Duffy's
forum on antennas. Another amazing thing that
I, this just really gets me is the fact that
there is an antenna test range named after him,
and he sent in a picture of himself next to the
sign, and it's called the James K. Brekel antenna
test range. Just an amazing fella. Really really
deserves this award I know not a lot of people
know of him and he continues to be an excellent
source for antenna information Well, our final
one is the amateur of the year. So that's That's
one of the big ones. So tell us yeah. Yeah it
is but you know They're all big ones that and
none of these awards are hard are easy to get
When we judge these things, and there's just
a few of us who judge them, and we look for what
delivers the most to ham radio. It's not having
the biggest antenna in your neighborhood, and
it's not making the most contacts of anybody.
It's what do you contribute to the greater good
of amateur radio that would really help a lot
of people? Well, amateur of the year award, for
this year, it goes to Karsten Doward, Delta Mike
9 Echo Echo. And he's been active in amateur
radio, European amateur radio, through WRTC and
Yoda for 30 years. So I don't know if you know
him or not, but he's another one of your guys
out there working on it. But recently, he spearheaded
a group called the DM9 Echo Echo Helping Hands.
It's a movement to provide amateur radio equipment
to war torn Ukraine by collecting donations and
delivering them personally throughout to the
communities in Ukraine. He sent, I don't know,
tons of equipment being radios, power banks,
solar packs, first aid to Ukraine. You can imagine
the time going into plan that pack pack all that
stuff the documentation Accessing permits and
just so much that happens, but that's not all
when he comes back He oftentimes brings back
war refugees to havens in Germany including his
own family's hotel He helps these people find
work You know, he has a really nice station there.
He helps make sure they can get on the air But
more importantly, he's trying to give back to
the great hobby. He says that the world is very
small when you have a radio license. You talk
to the world and eventually you also visit people
in other countries. And you always learn more
about culture when you know people there. And
radio is great to learn languages, even if it's
only a few friendly phrases. So I've talked to
Carson. and he's gonna have a forum there as
well to talk about all these things. Maybe sort
of reluctantly, he's a really fantastic photographer,
but I urge you to take a look at his forum and
the meeting when he's there. What a great way
to give back to amateur radio. To me, that's
a very high level. He's helping lots of people,
he's setting a great example, and I don't know.
To me, I guess, Sort of being maybe I have a
little bit of a bias because I'm a former Peace
Corps volunteer Quite quite a story. So Karsten,
congratulations and look forward to seeing all
of the award winners and hearing about all the
award winners at Hamvention 2023 May 18th, 19th,
20th, correct? No, 19, 20, 21 Those are my days.
Actually, I come in on the 17th. I don't know
what I'm talking about. But anyway, 19th, 20th,
and 21st, hamvention .org has this information
and a whole lot more. And Michael, thanks for
coming on the show and talking about it once
again. And I'm sure we'll check in again right
before. invention starts and check in for any
last minute updates, but thanks for taking the
time to tell us what's going on. Oh, thank you,
Neil. It's been really a pleasure, always a pleasure
to get to meet up with you and talk with you.
And, you know, I know you have an extremely busy
schedule and all the things you're trying to
do. to do and important things you're doing to
support amateur radio. I know you've got Yoda
activities going on. You've got the news line
activities going on. You've got God knows what
else you got going on. I know you're busy. I
see your name popping up and I know everybody
appreciates your contributions as well. So with
that, I wish you a very good seven three and
I'll look forward to our next time, Neil. Alright,
I look forward to it and I look forward to seeing
you in person once again here in about a month.
So that is a wrap for this edition of HamTalk
Live. I'd like to thank my guest, Michael Coulter,
W8CI. from the Dayton Hamvention. And everybody
out there in cyberspace for listening, I invite
you back next time for a list of all of our upcoming
guests, go to HamTalkLive .com. So for now, this
is Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, saying 73, 75, and may
the good DX be yours. To you and your family
I'll be seeing you further down the line