WEBVTT 00:00:02.279 --> 00:00:05.219 This episode of HamTalk Live is brought to you 00:00:05.219 --> 00:00:08.640 by Tower Electronics. For connectors, cables, 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:15.539 and more, call 920 -435 -2973 or visit pl -259 00:00:15.539 --> 00:00:20.239 .com. And by ICOM, heard it, worked it, logged 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:25.460 it. Visit www .icomamerica .com slash amateur 00:00:25.460 --> 00:00:49.670 for more information about ICOM radios. Hello 00:00:49.670 --> 00:01:05.150 everyone! It's time for HamTalk Live. It's episode 00:01:05.150 --> 00:01:11.549 number 314, The HamSci Conference 2023. This 00:01:11.549 --> 00:01:15.790 was recorded on Thursday, February 16th, 2023. 00:01:16.090 --> 00:01:21.040 I'm your host, Neil Rapp. My call sign is WB9VPG. 00:01:21.060 --> 00:01:23.859 Thanks for tuning in to this episode of HamTalk 00:01:23.859 --> 00:01:26.659 Live. Tonight we're joined by Dr. Nathaniel Verzell, 00:01:26.780 --> 00:01:32.959 W2NAF, and Gary McKeaton, AF8A. Last time here 00:01:32.959 --> 00:01:35.680 on the show, I was live in Orlando at Hamcation 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:39.540 2023 with Michael Colley, the chairman of Hamcation, 00:01:39.799 --> 00:01:44.640 W4ORL, thanks to the entire Hamcation team for 00:01:44.640 --> 00:01:46.840 all the hospitality. And if you missed the show, 00:01:47.260 --> 00:01:50.480 You can listen anytime at HamTalkLive .com or 00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:55.260 on your favorite podcast app or on YouTube. So 00:01:55.260 --> 00:02:00.939 that's what's been happening. Happy to be back 00:02:00.939 --> 00:02:07.060 too. Got a little allergy mess going on when 00:02:07.060 --> 00:02:09.740 I got back. So I've been kind of fighting that 00:02:09.740 --> 00:02:12.800 off a little bit, but it's great to get down 00:02:12.800 --> 00:02:17.360 there and great to be back with you all. once 00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:23.080 again. But we'll get back to the show and back 00:02:23.080 --> 00:02:26.099 with Nathaniel and Gary right after this word 00:02:26.099 --> 00:02:29.460 from Tower Electronics right here on HamTalk 00:02:29.460 --> 00:02:34.800 Live. Jerry, what's up, man? I haven't seen you 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:37.719 at Sunbucks in a while. I used to see you every 00:02:37.719 --> 00:02:41.219 morning getting coffee. What's up? Well, I can't 00:02:41.219 --> 00:02:44.300 afford Sunbucks five days a week anymore. I had 00:02:44.300 --> 00:02:48.060 to spend my money on PL -259s. You know, those 00:02:48.060 --> 00:02:50.759 antenna projects I've been meaning to do. I had 00:02:50.759 --> 00:02:54.060 to do them before my HOA finds out I have antennas. 00:02:54.960 --> 00:02:57.419 That's too bad, Jerry. I miss seeing you and 00:02:57.419 --> 00:02:59.800 catching up over coffee. You should get your 00:02:59.800 --> 00:03:03.259 PL -259s from Tower Electronics. They have great 00:03:03.259 --> 00:03:11.740 stuff. Jerry, you're back! Oh, QRM Heterodyne 00:03:11.740 --> 00:03:14.840 Frappuccino. That's a good choice. How's it going? 00:03:15.240 --> 00:03:17.340 Did you get all those antennas up before the 00:03:17.340 --> 00:03:21.080 HOA police showed up? Yeah, I got them all done. 00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:23.639 Thanks for telling me about Tower Electronics. 00:03:24.020 --> 00:03:26.840 Now I can have my coffee. I just saved a bunch 00:03:26.840 --> 00:03:30.939 of money on my PL259s by switching to Tower Electronics. 00:03:31.259 --> 00:03:34.400 Don't get caught without PL259s. Visit Tower 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:39.159 Electronics online at PL -259 .com or at a ham 00:03:39.159 --> 00:03:43.199 fest near you or give them a call at 920 -435 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:46.719 -2973 and be sure to pick up some power poles, 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:51.340 adapters and cables too. And on the Tower Electronics 00:03:51.340 --> 00:03:53.879 ham fest schedule, Dalton George is coming up 00:03:53.879 --> 00:03:57.330 on February 25th. March 4th will be in Cave City, 00:03:57.550 --> 00:04:01.729 Kentucky. March 19th, Maumee, Ohio. March 25th, 00:04:01.889 --> 00:04:05.689 Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Or visit them online at 00:04:05.689 --> 00:04:12.349 PL -259 .com. HamTalk Live. The longer you listen, 00:04:12.870 --> 00:04:23.519 the later it gets. Welcome back to HamTalk Live. 00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:28.319 Tonight, Dr. Nathaniel Frisell, W2NAF, and Gary 00:04:28.319 --> 00:04:33.459 McKitton, AF8A. Join us on the Orlando Amateur 00:04:33.459 --> 00:04:36.779 Radio Club and Hamcation Zoom line. Dr. Nathaniel 00:04:36.779 --> 00:04:40.279 Frisell, W2NAF, is an assistant professor. at 00:04:40.279 --> 00:04:42.699 the University of Scranton in physics where he 00:04:42.699 --> 00:04:44.839 teaches digital signal processing fundamental 00:04:44.839 --> 00:04:47.839 physics and electromagnetics and he is the lead 00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:51.519 organizer of HamSci a project that explores how 00:04:51.519 --> 00:04:53.600 amateur radio can help us understand more about 00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:56.600 the physics of the ionosphere and he was the 00:04:56.600 --> 00:05:00.500 2019 Dayton Hamvention amateur of the year and 00:05:00.500 --> 00:05:05.310 Gary McKeaton AF8A is a dedicated CW operator 00:05:05.310 --> 00:05:08.569 in Mayfield Village, Ohio, just outside of Cleveland. 00:05:08.589 --> 00:05:13.649 And he is the amateur radio coordinator for HamSci's 00:05:13.649 --> 00:05:20.050 2023 and 2024 solar eclipse QSO parties and Gladstone 00:05:20.050 --> 00:05:24.069 signal spotting challenges. So guys, thanks for 00:05:24.069 --> 00:05:28.230 joining us tonight. You're welcome. It's a pleasure 00:05:28.230 --> 00:05:33.079 to be here, Neil. Good to be a part of it. Well, 00:05:33.139 --> 00:05:36.040 Gary, we're gonna talk to you about some of these 00:05:36.040 --> 00:05:39.399 solar eclipse Q so parties coming up here in 00:05:39.399 --> 00:05:43.620 just a little bit but first things first Nathaniel, 00:05:43.620 --> 00:05:48.600 this is Is this the third year for the? Ham side 00:05:48.600 --> 00:05:54.139 conference fourth year with This is a six year 00:05:54.139 --> 00:05:57.620 Ham side workshop. Yeah time flies. So I know 00:05:57.620 --> 00:06:01.050 the sixth year for uh... the hands -on workshop 00:06:01.050 --> 00:06:04.730 and it has grown and uh... it will be the fourth 00:06:04.730 --> 00:06:08.750 the fourth one that's in person the fourth in 00:06:08.750 --> 00:06:12.490 person what okay that's good we had to do a virtual 00:06:12.490 --> 00:06:16.470 for two years here's your virtual book this is 00:06:16.470 --> 00:06:19.410 our six annual conference and it's our fourth 00:06:19.410 --> 00:06:25.069 in person one so uh... i was looking at the uh... 00:06:25.149 --> 00:06:30.730 the agenda and wow, you've got quite the agenda 00:06:30.730 --> 00:06:36.170 for this. Some really cool topics and a lot of 00:06:36.170 --> 00:06:39.569 them. So just give us a little bit of a rundown 00:06:39.569 --> 00:06:42.529 of what the HamSci Conference is and what's going 00:06:42.529 --> 00:06:46.529 to be happening this year. And you're staying 00:06:46.529 --> 00:06:49.550 home at Scranton this time, right? We are staying 00:06:49.550 --> 00:06:52.889 home at Scranton, yes. So yeah, the HamSci Workshop 00:06:52.889 --> 00:06:57.129 is an annual workshop that the aim is to bring 00:06:57.129 --> 00:07:01.110 together professional space scientists with the 00:07:01.110 --> 00:07:05.350 amateur radio community. And so it's really a 00:07:05.350 --> 00:07:08.649 blend of these two communities. The workshop 00:07:08.649 --> 00:07:11.089 is funded by the National Science Foundation 00:07:11.089 --> 00:07:17.389 and ARDC. And we have many different topics pertaining 00:07:17.389 --> 00:07:21.750 to amateur radio and radio science. So it's going 00:07:21.750 --> 00:07:24.310 to be over two days this year. It will be March 00:07:24.310 --> 00:07:27.589 17th, Friday, March 17th and Saturday, March 00:07:27.589 --> 00:07:32.649 18th, 2023. And the Friday day is organized very 00:07:32.649 --> 00:07:36.050 much like a scientific conference where you have 00:07:36.050 --> 00:07:39.930 fairly fast paced oral presentations all day 00:07:39.930 --> 00:07:42.569 long. So we've got 20 minute oral presentations 00:07:42.569 --> 00:07:46.209 and we split it up into different topics. We 00:07:46.209 --> 00:07:48.899 have In the morning, we're talking about the 00:07:48.899 --> 00:07:51.939 Hampside Personal Space Weather Station. Then 00:07:51.939 --> 00:07:54.860 we're going to be talking about ionospheric modeling 00:07:54.860 --> 00:07:57.800 and traveling ionospheric disturbances. In the 00:07:57.800 --> 00:08:02.100 afternoon, we have the Festival of Eclipse Ionospheric 00:08:02.100 --> 00:08:05.120 Science and the Solar Eclipse QSO parties. And 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:07.839 then in the late afternoon, we talk about solar 00:08:07.839 --> 00:08:10.519 flare impacts and radio astronomy in the aurora. 00:08:10.980 --> 00:08:12.899 And I think one of the things that's really neat 00:08:12.899 --> 00:08:16.120 about this conference is we really get to fly 00:08:16.269 --> 00:08:18.949 people in from all over the country and now even 00:08:18.949 --> 00:08:21.750 all over the world to come talk about the things 00:08:21.750 --> 00:08:24.610 that they're studying. So we just have a very 00:08:24.610 --> 00:08:29.290 wonderful diverse speaker list of people who 00:08:29.290 --> 00:08:33.149 are both experts in their fields. We have students, 00:08:33.649 --> 00:08:35.549 we have amateurs, they're all coming together. 00:08:35.590 --> 00:08:39.649 It's very exciting. Well anytime you can mix 00:08:39.649 --> 00:08:43.409 science and ham radio I'm all over it being the 00:08:43.450 --> 00:08:49.389 the chemist that I am, but it's a great opportunity 00:08:49.389 --> 00:08:53.610 to share all these things and find out what everybody 00:08:53.610 --> 00:08:58.809 else is doing and get some ideas even. I agree. 00:08:59.529 --> 00:09:02.909 And we have a number of invited speakers as well. 00:09:03.990 --> 00:09:06.309 So on Friday night, we're going to have a banquet. 00:09:06.470 --> 00:09:09.009 We have a keynote speaker, Dr. Patricia Reif. 00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:15.259 She's a professor at Rice University, and she's 00:09:15.259 --> 00:09:19.100 also the founder of the Rice Space Institute. 00:09:19.820 --> 00:09:22.860 And she's going to be giving a keynote talk of 00:09:22.860 --> 00:09:25.779 forging bonds between amateurs and professionals. 00:09:26.279 --> 00:09:29.659 And she's really neat because she is really quite 00:09:29.659 --> 00:09:33.559 famous in the space physics community. She's 00:09:33.559 --> 00:09:36.299 an American Geophysical Union Fellow, and she 00:09:36.299 --> 00:09:39.820 also has a very strong history in amateur radio. 00:09:40.179 --> 00:09:43.000 She has developed amateur radio courses at the 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:46.139 collegiate level, and she uses amateur radio 00:09:46.139 --> 00:09:48.600 as a way of teaching physics and space physics. 00:09:49.299 --> 00:09:52.379 And then on Saturday morning, we have Dr. Joseph 00:09:52.379 --> 00:09:56.480 Huba of Syntech Technologies and formerly of 00:09:56.480 --> 00:09:59.620 the Naval Research Laboratory. He is the developer 00:09:59.620 --> 00:10:03.389 of a physics -based ionospheric model called 00:10:03.389 --> 00:10:06.690 SAMI -3 which we're going to be using for studying 00:10:06.690 --> 00:10:10.730 the upcoming eclipses and also Jesse Alexander 00:10:10.730 --> 00:10:14.309 WB2 -IFS from the Naval, I'm sorry, from the 00:10:14.309 --> 00:10:17.889 National Radio Astronomy Observatory, the NRAO, 00:10:18.110 --> 00:10:20.809 and he's running a special program to bring in 00:10:20.809 --> 00:10:23.730 underrepresented peoples into amateur radio. 00:10:23.970 --> 00:10:25.970 So it's really exciting to have all these people 00:10:25.970 --> 00:10:30.669 come. Wow, that sounds like some great topics. 00:10:31.129 --> 00:10:35.070 and some great people presenting them. And then, 00:10:35.629 --> 00:10:39.250 that's Friday. What's Saturday look like here? 00:10:40.149 --> 00:10:42.970 Well, Saturday starts off with the invited speakers, 00:10:43.129 --> 00:10:46.330 Joe Hube and Jesse Alexander. And then we have 00:10:46.330 --> 00:10:50.909 a few more oral presentations. NASA had a space 00:10:50.909 --> 00:10:53.909 apps hackathon challenge earlier this year where 00:10:53.909 --> 00:10:57.950 they challenged people in 48 hours to come up 00:10:57.950 --> 00:11:02.470 with some sort of new technique for studying 00:11:02.470 --> 00:11:06.549 the ionosphere using amateur radio data and existing 00:11:06.549 --> 00:11:09.529 models. And so we have one of the winning teams 00:11:09.529 --> 00:11:12.549 from that group. They'll be coming to present 00:11:12.549 --> 00:11:16.129 their work and they're coming in from United 00:11:16.129 --> 00:11:19.990 Kingdom and from Poland and possibly from Egypt. 00:11:20.470 --> 00:11:24.429 Then we have some more general interest topics 00:11:24.429 --> 00:11:29.899 of history of de -exing and contesting. And we 00:11:29.899 --> 00:11:33.240 have one person who was participating in the 00:11:33.240 --> 00:11:38.919 AWRL propagation experiments in 1957, the International 00:11:38.919 --> 00:11:41.860 Geophysical Year. And in the afternoon, we have 00:11:41.860 --> 00:11:44.379 some more hands -on workshops. So Ed Hare from 00:11:44.379 --> 00:11:48.480 the AWRL headquarters, Ed Hare, W1RFI, he'll 00:11:48.480 --> 00:11:51.580 be coming giving a workshop on using propagation 00:11:51.580 --> 00:11:55.000 analysis software and antenna modeling to select 00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:58.600 antennas. for receive and transmit sites. We 00:11:58.600 --> 00:12:02.559 have Case Western Reserve University, their amateur 00:12:02.559 --> 00:12:04.700 radio club, WAEDU. They're going to be doing 00:12:04.700 --> 00:12:09.720 a number of hands -on workshops. We're going 00:12:09.720 --> 00:12:12.440 to have a tour where the new University of Scranton 00:12:12.440 --> 00:12:16.080 amateur radio station is being funded by the 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:18.340 ARDC. We have a tour of where that's going to 00:12:18.340 --> 00:12:22.360 be. We have exhibits of boat anchor equipment. 00:12:22.669 --> 00:12:27.029 from the 1930s up through the present. We're 00:12:27.029 --> 00:12:29.769 going to be giving tours of that, just all sorts 00:12:29.769 --> 00:12:32.809 of different things. And we have lots of posters 00:12:32.809 --> 00:12:36.610 to research posters, posters about local organizations. 00:12:37.230 --> 00:12:39.529 These are posters that are given by students, 00:12:40.350 --> 00:12:44.750 by other faculty members at the university, other 00:12:44.750 --> 00:12:47.309 students from other universities, quite a bit 00:12:47.309 --> 00:12:51.940 going on. And you can see the whole agenda. If 00:12:51.940 --> 00:12:55.799 you go to hamsi .org, there's a big banner that 00:12:55.799 --> 00:12:58.960 takes you to the conference web page. You can 00:12:58.960 --> 00:13:01.500 read the whole agenda there for yourself. And 00:13:01.500 --> 00:13:04.399 if you want, you can come to Scranton, and you 00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:07.419 can participate in person yourself. And if you 00:13:07.419 --> 00:13:09.659 can't make it to Scranton, we're making all the 00:13:09.659 --> 00:13:13.000 oral presentations still be available streamed 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:15.679 online. So you'll be able to join in virtually 00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:21.269 for free. Excellent excellent. Well, I know that 00:13:21.269 --> 00:13:24.149 you're excited about that tour of where the ham 00:13:24.149 --> 00:13:27.009 radio station is going to be you Shared some 00:13:27.009 --> 00:13:29.850 of those play. Yeah, and it's it's going to be 00:13:29.850 --> 00:13:35.230 one nice station. So You're excited about getting 00:13:35.230 --> 00:13:39.730 that going And then I have to put in a plug for 00:13:39.730 --> 00:13:43.750 one of our for one of our Yoda campers that that's 00:13:43.750 --> 00:13:46.590 showing up so Tell us a little bit about what 00:13:46.590 --> 00:13:51.830 Dylan's doing. Oh, Dylan Romero, he is one of 00:13:51.830 --> 00:13:54.870 the Youth on the Air campers and he's going to 00:13:54.870 --> 00:13:57.610 be talking about Youth on the Air at the Hamside 00:13:57.610 --> 00:14:00.090 Workshop. So he'll have a little booth and demonstration 00:14:00.090 --> 00:14:03.009 and he'll talk all about the camp. And he's actually 00:14:03.009 --> 00:14:06.269 not the only Yoda camper that's going to be there, 00:14:06.269 --> 00:14:09.370 right? Yeah, that's right. We have another one 00:14:09.370 --> 00:14:13.210 that you know very well. At Scranton, our very 00:14:13.210 --> 00:14:18.240 own Veronica Romanek. She will also be there. 00:14:18.419 --> 00:14:21.340 She'll be giving a presentation on her research, 00:14:21.340 --> 00:14:24.000 but I'm sure she'll also hang out at the Yoda 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:29.539 booth as well. And Dylan's working on a case, 00:14:29.720 --> 00:14:33.860 is that right? Yeah. So we are for the personal 00:14:33.860 --> 00:14:36.139 space weather station. We're still working on 00:14:36.139 --> 00:14:38.519 developing this tangerine software to find radio. 00:14:38.799 --> 00:14:41.940 So Dylan's going to help design a case that the 00:14:41.940 --> 00:14:45.330 electronics can go inside. So that is it. upcoming 00:14:45.330 --> 00:14:48.549 project that he's going to be working on. All 00:14:48.549 --> 00:14:51.889 right. Well, you know, one of the other things 00:14:51.889 --> 00:14:57.090 on the list is Gary. Gary, tell us a little bit 00:14:57.090 --> 00:15:00.090 about what you'll be talking about at the Hampside 00:15:00.090 --> 00:15:04.549 Conference. Sure. The solar eclipses that are 00:15:04.549 --> 00:15:08.470 coming up late in 2023 and early in 2024 across 00:15:08.470 --> 00:15:12.190 North America are great opportunities for researching 00:15:12.190 --> 00:15:16.889 how the sun and the ionosphere react and work 00:15:16.889 --> 00:15:19.970 against and work with one another. And the Solar 00:15:19.970 --> 00:15:22.289 Eclipse QSO party, there's a couple of events 00:15:22.289 --> 00:15:25.909 which will put a lot of amateurs on the air during 00:15:25.909 --> 00:15:29.029 those eclipses and will be generating a lot of 00:15:29.029 --> 00:15:31.470 data that Nathaniel and other researchers will 00:15:31.470 --> 00:15:35.230 be able to use to someday hopefully improve propagation 00:15:35.230 --> 00:15:38.230 forecasting and learn, well, who knows what about 00:15:38.230 --> 00:15:42.500 the ionosphere going forward. You know, that's 00:15:42.500 --> 00:15:46.139 one of the things about science is You study 00:15:46.139 --> 00:15:49.220 things and you never know what you may or may 00:15:49.220 --> 00:15:54.340 not end up with So you just you just don't know 00:15:54.340 --> 00:15:57.659 and so the more you study it the more you understand 00:15:57.659 --> 00:16:02.100 it the more Possibilities are there and so that'll 00:16:02.100 --> 00:16:05.679 be it'll be really cool. And I know This eclipse 00:16:05.679 --> 00:16:12.909 is going over almost exactly over my former QTH 00:16:12.909 --> 00:16:15.809 from just a couple years ago. So I may have to 00:16:15.809 --> 00:16:18.710 call up some friends and say, hey, can I come 00:16:18.710 --> 00:16:21.009 hang out in your backyard for a little bit or 00:16:21.009 --> 00:16:27.210 something? But we'll dive into those more here 00:16:27.210 --> 00:16:33.049 in just a little bit. So Nathaniel, tell everybody 00:16:33.049 --> 00:16:36.809 if they want to come to Scranton and hear about 00:16:36.809 --> 00:16:40.070 all this stuff, how do they do that? It's very 00:16:40.070 --> 00:16:44.490 simple, Neil. You just go to hamsci .org and 00:16:44.490 --> 00:16:46.690 you can follow the banner that takes you right 00:16:46.690 --> 00:16:49.750 to the conference page and you're able to register 00:16:49.750 --> 00:16:52.669 there. The hotel information is on there as well. 00:16:52.809 --> 00:16:55.350 So just follow the information there and you 00:16:55.350 --> 00:17:00.690 can come over to Scranton. And very shortly we'll 00:17:00.690 --> 00:17:03.909 also, the Zoom link is not posted yet but within 00:17:03.909 --> 00:17:06.009 the next week or so I'll get the Zoom link up 00:17:06.009 --> 00:17:10.700 there as well. Okay. Very good. Well, we're going 00:17:10.700 --> 00:17:14.779 to talk some more about the HamSci conference 00:17:14.779 --> 00:17:18.259 and the solar eclipse QSO parties with Nathaniel 00:17:18.259 --> 00:17:21.000 and Gary. We'll do that right after this word 00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:24.720 from ICOM America right here on HamTalk Live. 00:17:25.069 --> 00:17:28.769 Got cabin fever? Look no further and spring into 00:17:28.769 --> 00:17:31.369 the new year with ICOM. Whether out in the field 00:17:31.369 --> 00:17:34.289 or inside your ham shack, we have what you're 00:17:34.289 --> 00:17:37.049 looking for with one of our base stations, mobiles, 00:17:37.170 --> 00:17:41.109 or handhelds for the love of ham radio. 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Hear any transmission 00:18:23.210 --> 00:18:26.809 and listen to FM broadcasts with the loud 1500 00:18:26.809 --> 00:18:30.809 milliwatt speaker. The ICT10 is an excellent 00:18:30.809 --> 00:18:34.170 choice for any bug -out bag. This rugged portable 00:18:34.170 --> 00:18:37.240 meets or exceeds standard military testing. It 00:18:37.240 --> 00:18:41.079 has 5 watts output power on 2 meters and 70 centimeters, 00:18:41.400 --> 00:18:44.980 11 hours of operating time, 16 DTMF autodial 00:18:44.980 --> 00:18:48.599 memories, NOAA weather alerts and built -in CTCSS 00:18:48.599 --> 00:18:51.440 DTCS. And of course the rig that changed the 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:54.640 way entry -level HF is designed, the IC7300, 00:18:54.839 --> 00:18:57.579 the portable HF rig with base station features, 00:18:57.759 --> 00:19:02.339 the IC705, the ID5100 advanced dual -band mobile, 00:19:02.539 --> 00:19:06.319 the powerful ID52A dual -band HT with waterfall 00:19:06.319 --> 00:19:09.440 display and D -Star and more are all available 00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:14.220 from iCom America. Visit iComAmerica .com slash 00:19:14.220 --> 00:19:17.700 amateur for more information on iCom radios. 00:19:18.740 --> 00:19:23.339 Oh yeah, you're talking ham radio baby. You're 00:19:23.339 --> 00:19:39.200 listening to Ham Talk Live with Neil Rapp. And 00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:41.579 welcome back to HamTalk Live. Be sure to check 00:19:41.579 --> 00:19:45.000 us out on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You'll 00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:47.359 learn a little bit more about the show there, 00:19:47.420 --> 00:19:51.779 so be sure you do that. Well, right now we're 00:19:51.779 --> 00:19:55.420 going to get back to Dr. Nathaniel Frisell, W2NAF, 00:19:55.539 --> 00:19:59.579 and Gary McKeaton, AFAA, from AmSci. But first, 00:19:59.700 --> 00:20:02.890 it's time for the Choke of the Week. Now it's 00:20:02.890 --> 00:20:06.369 time for the HamTalk Live Ham Radio Joke of the 00:20:06.369 --> 00:20:08.750 Week, the part of the show where Rick tells us 00:20:08.750 --> 00:20:12.009 a ham radio joke. The HamTalk Live Ham Radio 00:20:12.009 --> 00:20:15.329 Joke of the Week is brought to you by QRM Labs. 00:20:15.630 --> 00:20:19.549 Now here's Rick Garrett in 9GSU with today's 00:20:19.549 --> 00:20:27.750 HamTalk Live Joke of the Week. I was having a 00:20:27.750 --> 00:20:30.359 terrible time getting my new radio to... pair 00:20:30.359 --> 00:20:33.480 up with the Bluetooth on my phone. I renamed 00:20:33.480 --> 00:20:50.559 the radio as Titanic and it's syncing now. All 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:52.819 right, we are back with Dr. Nathaniel Frizzell 00:20:52.819 --> 00:20:57.599 W2NAF and Gary McKeaton AF8A and we're talking 00:20:57.599 --> 00:21:01.019 about the upcoming HamSci activities. We have 00:21:01.019 --> 00:21:05.000 the conference coming up in March and again, 00:21:05.140 --> 00:21:08.339 make sure you check that out at HamSci .org if 00:21:08.339 --> 00:21:11.119 you want to go or if you want to attend virtually 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:15.619 you can do that as well. But Gary, let's talk 00:21:15.619 --> 00:21:18.940 a little bit about these solar eclipse queso 00:21:18.940 --> 00:21:23.299 parties and we had had one that hit north america 00:21:23.299 --> 00:21:25.740 and then some that that were outside of north 00:21:25.740 --> 00:21:28.799 america and now uh... we're going to be hitting 00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:32.880 uh... a big one here in the midwest so uh... 00:21:32.880 --> 00:21:35.519 tell us about these uh... queso parties coming 00:21:35.519 --> 00:21:39.440 up and what they're trying to accomplish okay 00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:42.240 so we've got two upcoming events in october of 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:45.150 twenty three october of this year we're going 00:21:45.150 --> 00:21:47.710 to have an annular eclipse, so most of the Sun 00:21:47.710 --> 00:21:50.289 will be covered by the Moon, and of course in 00:21:50.289 --> 00:21:54.069 April of 2024 we'll have a full eclipse transiting 00:21:54.069 --> 00:21:58.029 a good part of North America. And what Nathaniel 00:21:58.029 --> 00:22:00.529 and the other researchers have asked for is as 00:22:00.529 --> 00:22:05.589 much radio QSO or contact data as we can possibly 00:22:05.589 --> 00:22:08.619 gather during these eclipses. And what I mean 00:22:08.619 --> 00:22:11.319 is, you know, these QSO parties, which are a 00:22:11.319 --> 00:22:13.900 fairly common thing throughout the entire ham 00:22:13.900 --> 00:22:16.299 radio calendar during the year, they're a part 00:22:16.299 --> 00:22:19.519 of a very popular ham radio subculture called 00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:22.339 contesting. And that's where during a specific 00:22:22.339 --> 00:22:25.119 date and a specific time, a large number of amateurs 00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:27.140 will get on the air. In our case, it's going 00:22:27.140 --> 00:22:29.240 to be a short way over the high frequency bands 00:22:29.240 --> 00:22:32.539 and simply make contact with one another. The 00:22:32.539 --> 00:22:36.029 contacts are brief. They're very numerous. We'll 00:22:36.029 --> 00:22:38.549 have people in a 12 -hour period that will probably 00:22:38.549 --> 00:22:42.650 make over 1 ,000 contacts. And one of the elements 00:22:42.650 --> 00:22:46.789 of this contesting activity is that everyone 00:22:46.789 --> 00:22:49.190 will be recording the contacts as they make them. 00:22:49.230 --> 00:22:52.029 They'll be using logging software to keep track 00:22:52.029 --> 00:22:54.670 of their contacts. So this will give us data 00:22:54.670 --> 00:22:57.650 in a couple of different forms. One is after 00:22:57.650 --> 00:23:00.930 the contest, after the solar eclipse QSO party, 00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:03.940 The participants will submit their logs to a 00:23:03.940 --> 00:23:06.640 special website and we'll be able to extract 00:23:06.640 --> 00:23:09.420 all their contact data, who contacted whom, how 00:23:09.420 --> 00:23:12.200 far the contacts were, and of course what time 00:23:12.200 --> 00:23:16.460 relative to the solar eclipse. The second thing 00:23:16.460 --> 00:23:20.700 is there's always a lot of receiving stations 00:23:20.700 --> 00:23:24.960 out there in the real world. They're called CW 00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:28.700 skimmers or beacon receivers. There's a lot of 00:23:28.700 --> 00:23:31.779 different names for them. But many of those receivers, 00:23:32.039 --> 00:23:34.640 the data, the signals they receive and record 00:23:34.640 --> 00:23:37.579 are aggregated on some very well -known sites 00:23:37.579 --> 00:23:42.160 such as PSKreporter .info and the RBN, the Reverse 00:23:42.160 --> 00:23:47.079 Beacon Network. And again, after these eclipses 00:23:47.079 --> 00:23:50.579 pass over, the researchers will be able to extract 00:23:50.579 --> 00:23:53.319 the data out of those sites as well, and again, 00:23:53.460 --> 00:23:56.259 get the same kind of information. what contacts 00:23:56.259 --> 00:23:58.799 were made over what distances, over what time 00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:01.539 relative to the eclipses. And that'll give them 00:24:01.539 --> 00:24:05.500 an idea of how the Sun affected the ionosphere 00:24:05.500 --> 00:24:09.599 and how the ionosphere affected the propagation 00:24:09.599 --> 00:24:14.500 of radio signals. So that's the filler clip. 00:24:15.380 --> 00:24:19.279 Oh, yeah. So if people want to do their little 00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:24.380 part and participate, into scientific research 00:24:24.380 --> 00:24:27.099 or, you know, have an excuse to get on the radio. 00:24:28.019 --> 00:24:31.099 How do they do that? What do they do? Yeah, it's 00:24:31.099 --> 00:24:33.440 real simple. As Nathaniel said, you can go to 00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:36.500 hamside .org and the first banner you see is 00:24:36.500 --> 00:24:38.420 going to be for the upcoming conference. The 00:24:38.420 --> 00:24:40.500 second one will be something called the festivals 00:24:40.500 --> 00:24:45.039 of eclipse ionospheric science. And if you click 00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:47.200 on that banner, it'll take you to a page. It'll 00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:50.849 explain the rules. and some frequently asked 00:24:50.849 --> 00:24:53.789 questions regarding the Solar Eclipse QSO party, 00:24:54.089 --> 00:24:57.369 and also our second event, the Gladstone Signal 00:24:57.369 --> 00:24:59.230 Spotting Challenge, which is something new for 00:24:59.230 --> 00:25:02.650 this year. Yeah, so tell us a little bit about 00:25:02.650 --> 00:25:09.450 that. The GSSE is something that's specific to 00:25:09.450 --> 00:25:13.210 a mode that many people who are interested in 00:25:13.210 --> 00:25:15.789 propagation will play with. It's called WSPR. 00:25:17.160 --> 00:25:20.500 That's part of one of the Joe Taylor K1JT suite 00:25:20.500 --> 00:25:27.299 of low signal to noise ratio modes. And also 00:25:27.299 --> 00:25:30.299 there's some other similar modes called FST4W 00:25:30.299 --> 00:25:32.880 and the like. But these are folks who either 00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:36.740 one may set up very low power beacons and transmit 00:25:36.740 --> 00:25:41.160 these whisper and FST4W signals, which are then 00:25:41.160 --> 00:25:44.359 received by sites around the world and aggregated 00:25:44.359 --> 00:25:48.420 into these databases. And there's others, most 00:25:48.420 --> 00:25:51.000 of whom are ham, but some may also be short -wave 00:25:51.000 --> 00:25:53.660 listeners, who will set up receiving stations 00:25:53.660 --> 00:25:56.980 who will listen for whisper signals and FST4W 00:25:56.980 --> 00:25:59.759 signals, and again send them to these aggregation 00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:02.599 sites. So this is an opportunity for people who 00:26:02.599 --> 00:26:05.359 don't necessarily want to make live person -to 00:26:05.359 --> 00:26:08.980 -person contact, but who very much want to participate 00:26:08.980 --> 00:26:12.960 in the generation of signals and reception of 00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:16.299 signals and contribution to these large databases 00:26:16.299 --> 00:26:20.099 that the researchers will eventually turn to 00:26:20.099 --> 00:26:22.900 to try and figure out how the ionosphere reacted 00:26:22.900 --> 00:26:28.319 during the eclipses. That's some pretty cool 00:26:28.319 --> 00:26:34.940 stuff. Anything that we can use to measure what's 00:26:34.940 --> 00:26:39.750 going on is always beneficial, I know. uh... 00:26:39.750 --> 00:26:42.670 nathaniel's found some some very neat things 00:26:42.670 --> 00:26:46.369 throughout his research and uh... it's just a 00:26:46.369 --> 00:26:49.289 great opportunity for people to do that so so 00:26:49.289 --> 00:26:52.569 yeah the reverse beacon network and the uh... 00:26:52.569 --> 00:26:55.309 psk reporter takes care of you know a lot of 00:26:55.309 --> 00:26:58.990 the digital and cw reception so so what about 00:26:58.990 --> 00:27:02.430 sideband you just you cover that with the logs 00:27:02.430 --> 00:27:05.950 exactly and the participants live with the main 00:27:05.950 --> 00:27:08.920 source of data there And one other thing I'd 00:27:08.920 --> 00:27:11.380 like to mention too, just to give a little background 00:27:11.380 --> 00:27:14.240 and maybe an analogy to help people understand 00:27:14.240 --> 00:27:17.500 why we think this research is so valuable. If 00:27:17.500 --> 00:27:19.240 you look at terrestrial weather, you know, the 00:27:19.240 --> 00:27:21.240 stuff that's happening outside your window, the 00:27:21.240 --> 00:27:23.720 temperature, rainfall, precipitation, that sort 00:27:23.720 --> 00:27:28.039 of thing. When I was a kid, 50 years ago, weather 00:27:28.039 --> 00:27:30.279 predictions weren't all that accurate. They were 00:27:30.279 --> 00:27:32.539 good maybe a day or two out, but beyond that 00:27:32.539 --> 00:27:37.000 they were very, very suspect. But over the time, 00:27:37.480 --> 00:27:39.180 through the collection of a lot of data and a 00:27:39.180 --> 00:27:42.920 lot of research by the scientific community, 00:27:43.119 --> 00:27:46.420 statisticians and whatnot, terrestrial weather 00:27:46.420 --> 00:27:48.440 forecasting has improved tremendously, where 00:27:48.440 --> 00:27:50.319 even in a place where I'm at, near Cleveland, 00:27:50.880 --> 00:27:53.720 they can give pretty accurate 8 to 10 day forecasts. 00:27:54.559 --> 00:27:57.180 There's no reason we can't expect the same thing 00:27:57.180 --> 00:28:00.660 to happen with HF propagation forecasting. Today, 00:28:01.180 --> 00:28:06.549 it's very statistics based. It's not the greatest 00:28:06.549 --> 00:28:09.509 thing in the world. But if we do this kind of 00:28:09.509 --> 00:28:11.910 research, collect this kind of data, and learn 00:28:11.910 --> 00:28:14.829 about it and improve the models that we use to 00:28:14.829 --> 00:28:18.190 help make these predictions, the thought is that 00:28:18.190 --> 00:28:21.589 someday HF radio prediction will be as good as 00:28:21.589 --> 00:28:24.450 terrestrial weather prediction, and that'll benefit 00:28:24.450 --> 00:28:27.309 all hams and other users of the radio spectrum, 00:28:27.529 --> 00:28:30.490 whether it's GPS operators or Starlink or whoever 00:28:30.490 --> 00:28:32.690 it might be. So there's a lot of benefit to be 00:28:32.690 --> 00:28:41.569 gained. very well put. Just a lot of stuff that 00:28:41.569 --> 00:28:44.690 we can figure out from all this. So thank you 00:28:44.690 --> 00:28:49.109 for your support in being the radio coordinator 00:28:49.109 --> 00:28:54.410 for all this and making all this data available 00:28:54.410 --> 00:29:03.170 for us geeks like Nathaniel to process and get 00:29:03.170 --> 00:29:07.130 it. Uh, some kind of conclusion from it. So, 00:29:07.150 --> 00:29:09.450 all right, well, we're going to finish up here. 00:29:10.190 --> 00:29:13.390 Um, Nathaniel, you mentioned a couple of things, 00:29:13.390 --> 00:29:17.269 uh, that will be at the, uh, uh, conference. 00:29:17.430 --> 00:29:20.609 You've got a, a special event station and a test 00:29:20.609 --> 00:29:24.730 session too. Right. We sure do. So I'm working 00:29:24.730 --> 00:29:27.069 with the local amateur radio clubs and Murgos 00:29:27.069 --> 00:29:31.670 amateur radio club, K3YTL. in Wilkes -Barre and 00:29:31.670 --> 00:29:34.630 the Scranton Pocono Amateur Radio Club or SPARC 00:29:34.630 --> 00:29:38.549 in the Scranton area. And they are helping us 00:29:38.549 --> 00:29:42.150 out by putting together a special event station 00:29:42.150 --> 00:29:44.609 that will be on the air for the whole workshop. 00:29:44.690 --> 00:29:49.170 They'll be using the call sign W3USR, W3 University 00:29:49.170 --> 00:29:52.490 of Scranton Radio. And then we will also have 00:29:52.490 --> 00:29:56.269 a VE session Saturday afternoon. So we're really 00:29:56.269 --> 00:29:58.369 trying to get the ham radio into this conference. 00:29:59.619 --> 00:30:03.059 All right, and Gary any anything we left out 00:30:03.059 --> 00:30:07.619 here on the on the kyusu parties No, I just take 00:30:07.619 --> 00:30:10.359 a look at those pages especially hand side dot 00:30:10.359 --> 00:30:13.799 org slash eclipse Again, we've got all the details 00:30:13.799 --> 00:30:16.079 and a lot of background in case you're not familiar 00:30:16.079 --> 00:30:18.359 with maybe whisper or some of these other modes 00:30:18.359 --> 00:30:20.660 We've got some links that you can learn about 00:30:20.660 --> 00:30:22.930 maybe you'll get excited And there's also going 00:30:22.930 --> 00:30:25.789 to be some other events that maybe they're not 00:30:25.789 --> 00:30:28.410 fully defined yet, but we've got some other opportunities. 00:30:28.509 --> 00:30:30.509 Probably it'll pop up between now and the, and 00:30:30.509 --> 00:30:34.250 the October timeframe. All right. Very good. 00:30:34.750 --> 00:30:36.849 Well guys, thank you so much for being here. 00:30:36.849 --> 00:30:39.829 I appreciate your time. I know you haven't been 00:30:39.829 --> 00:30:44.829 on zoom enough today, so it's been great. Thank 00:30:44.829 --> 00:30:49.160 you. So enjoy being part of the podcast. Thanks 00:30:49.160 --> 00:30:52.200 for being here and taking some more time on Zoom 00:30:52.200 --> 00:30:57.940 today. I think we've all had our Zoom fill for 00:30:57.940 --> 00:31:01.559 the day. I think we've all spent all day on Zoom 00:31:01.559 --> 00:31:06.119 pretty much, but that's cool that you're doing 00:31:06.119 --> 00:31:10.519 that. So best of luck with the event and the 00:31:10.519 --> 00:31:15.700 QSO parties and look forward to hearing the results. 00:31:16.539 --> 00:31:19.640 And we have to have you back again, of course. 00:31:20.200 --> 00:31:23.460 Thank you. Yes, we'll be back. All right. Well, 00:31:23.460 --> 00:31:26.599 that is a wrap for this edition of HamTalk Live. 00:31:27.220 --> 00:31:29.319 I'd like to thank my guests, Dr. Nathaniel Frisell, 00:31:29.480 --> 00:31:33.880 W2NAF, and Gary McKeaton, AF8A, and everybody 00:31:33.880 --> 00:31:35.839 out there in cyberspace for listening. And I 00:31:35.839 --> 00:31:39.799 invite you all back next time. And to see our 00:31:39.799 --> 00:31:43.180 upcoming guests, just go to hamtalklive .com. 00:31:43.579 --> 00:31:46.920 So for now, this is Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, saying 00:31:46.920 --> 00:32:12.150 7 -3, 7 -5, and may the good DX be yours. Cause 00:32:12.150 --> 00:32:16.569 you sound just like a local up here But why don't 00:32:16.569 --> 00:32:20.490 those whistling Mediterranean's Check it when 00:32:20.490 --> 00:32:21.809 the rain could just clear