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
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we go, welcome to Hamtok Live, call in, let's
talk, Neil's your guy, Hamtok Live, here we go.
It's time for another episode of Ham Talk Live.
It's number 311 Hamcation 2023 award winners
and this was recorded on Monday, January 2nd,
2023. I'm your host, Neil Rapp, WP9VPG. Thanks
for tuning in to this episode of Ham Talk Live.
Today we are joined by Michael Colley W4ORL and
Mike Banigan KJ4UDO from the Orlando Amateur
Radio Club and Hamcation. So we'll speak to them
here in just a moment. Last time here on the
show, it was Sally Rosado K2RYD and Lou Maggio
NO2C. They were here to talk about the 12 Days
of Christmas special event. I hope you enjoyed
that. Had a lot of fun filling in some of the
gaps there on on kilo to Papa that was kind of
fun to operate and So if you missed that show
you can listen to it anytime at ham talk live
comm or on your favorite podcast app or on YouTube
But tonight we're talking hamcation stuff and
I'll be back with Mike and Mike right after this
word from I come America right here on ham talk
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Radio. A clean house is a sign of a broken radio.
You're listening to Ham Talk Live with Neil Rapp.
Welcome back to HamTalk Live. Tonight, Michael
Colley, W4ORL, and Mike Banigan, KJ4UDO join
us on the Orlando Amateur Radio Club and Hamcation
Zoom line. Michael Colley, W4ORL, is the chairman
of the Orlando hamcation. He has also served
as the tailgate chairman. That was for seven
years. Six years as the IT chair. A year under
finance. And of course, Hamcation is sponsored
by the Orlando Amateur Radio Club. And also joining
us is Mike Banigan, KJ4UDO. He is the awards
chairman of the Orlando Hamcation. He is an engineer
and program manager at Lockheed Martin. So Mike
and Mike, welcome back to the show. It's like
we're on ESPN again with Mike and Mike. Well,
we had a double there. Well, it's great to be
back with you again. It's that time of year when
Christmas is over and now we're thinking about
hamcation. It's just a few weeks away and we
want to talk to you a little bit about what's
going on at hamcation. We'll do that a little
bit. later in the show but uh... the first part
of the show here michael is going to tell us
about some of the award winners and so this is
the actual notification to everyone we've got
our breaking news theme but anyway this is the
first announcement Award winners for 2013 by
the Orlando Hamcation. And we're going to start
off with the award that's been presented for
four years. And that's the Carol Perry Educator
of the Year Award. So Mike, take it away. Neil,
thank you very much for having us this evening
to be able to turn around and make the award
announcements. As you mentioned, we're actually,
this will be the fifth award announcement for
the Carol Perry Educator of the Year award. So,
and this year was a little bit more of a challenge
than we've had in the past. We were trying to
down select and the committee finally got to
the point where we were going back and forth
and we decided this year, we are going to have
co -recipients for the award. We've got some
excellent candidates that have been out there.
And this year, The award will be going to Ken
Lyons, KN4, MDJ, and Jim Storms, ABYK. So two
outstanding individuals that have been contributing
to our youth community out there. Ken himself
has been very involved in the scouting program.
He's been involved with amateur radio for quite
a while. Both individuals are extra class. licensees,
but Ken has been within the central Florida area.
If you go into boy scouting and talk about amateur
radio, you're going to come across Ken one way
or the other. But he has turned around and not
only just limited to the central Florida council,
he has worked his way through the southeast division,
helping and promoting amateur radio through boys
and girls scouting programs. An example of his
contributions was in the Jamboree on the Air
events this last October. He had all four weekends
going with that and they ran close to a thousand
scouts through the program with that. They also
run programs for their summer camps where I think
they get about 300 youth through the program
and he has established his own website as a resource.
for the locals and throughout the scouting program
WB4SA .com is the website he has established
to promote amateur radio within scouting there.
So then our other big award winner was Jim Storms
and he's been a team lead for the Dave Coulter
Memorial Youth DX Adventure for a number of years
here now and they just had a recent adventure
down in Caracas. I think they had three youth
on the team and they made over 8 ,000 QSOs during
the trip. Breaking it is kind of a new record
for the number of QSOs that they've had within
that DX adventure for that. So and the big thing
with that is I think when we look at the youth
that are involved with that DX adventure. They'd
probably be some of the likely leaders with an
amateur radio as we look into the future. So,
and Jim's squeezing that in along with his other
activities as being the chairman for the convention
show this year. So he's got a full plate and
can then contributing, but both of these individuals
have been outstanding and what they've been doing
to promote amateur radio with youth in our community.
So it's. very thrilled to have both of these
participants in there. And Carol was thrilled
to see both of them in there. She was, like the
rest of the committees were trying to make the
decision, torn as far as which of these, how
do you give it to one and not the other? You
know, great, great individuals. And as much of
a challenge as it was, I'm glad that we've got
so many good candidates being nominated for this
award here. So, yeah. Well, you've got a couple
of great ones there. That's for sure. I, you
know, a lot of the scouting activities that have
been going on. We've, we've heard, uh, uh, gave
you for essay on the air, uh, several times and
know that that's a, that's a great thing going
on there. And then of course, Jim, uh, Jim's
on my, on my speed dial because, uh, we. coordinate
some things between Yoda and YDXA to make sure
that we're kind of on the same page. We know
what's going on and when things are happening
and compare notes on kids and all that kind of
thing. And then, like you said, he's taken on
the Hamvention chair role here for the next couple
of years. So Jim's always there to take these
kids. off to Carousel, Costa Rica, Saba, all
kinds of places and had a chance to talk to them
while they were down in Carousel, both on the
air and on this program. And so very, very glad
to hear both of these deserving recipients here.
So, so tell us a little bit about what, what
they will get and how they're going to be rewarded
for their efforts. What we'll end up doing is
both of these members or award winners will be
at hamcation this year. So verify that they will
be on site. So we will turn around and have a
dinner forum or part of our dinner on Saturday
night hamcation that will join us for the dinner
and the awards will be presented at that. So
it'll be a... glass art award that we provide
them with their name on it as the hamcation award
winner. So it's similar to the one that you've
received a year ago. And we'll recognize them
as a VIP throughout the hamcation show this year.
So hopefully people will see them around and
be able to congratulate them while they're at
the show attending it. And then we'll get some
press releases out and get them in a couple of
the amateur radio publications to turn around
and let people be aware of our award winners
there. Very good. Yeah. It's a beautiful trophy.
It's kind of a flame shaped trophy and it's massive
too. It's got some weight to it for sure. In
fact, it was kind of a funny thing. You had asked
me when I got mine if you wanted it shipped or
if I was going to take it home with me. And I
was like, oh, I'll just take it home with me.
And not thinking, because I'm not used to being
on airplanes that much. And they were like, well,
wait a minute. This thing could be considered
as a weapon. But luckily, we got ahold of a TSA
agent and he cleared it. He said everything's
fine, so we brought it home. But it's a very
nice award and so I look forward to seeing them
receive that award. So that's a very cool thing.
Sorry to hear about that challenge getting home
there. Yeah, it didn't even think about it. And
then all of a sudden that was a concern, but
it worked out just fine. And I know Carol will
be excited to see those people and recognize
them for their efforts in educating our youth.
They do a fabulous job. We'll see when we actually
get them coordinated so they can make an appearance
at Carol's forum with the youth, which would
be great to have the award winners there with
her. Absolutely. Well, you've got a new award
this year, and it's named in honor of another
person who I... was actually involved in a youth
education program with our guest speakers were
Carol Perry and Gordon West. And so you have
Gordon West as the namesake of the Ambassador
of the Year Award. So since this is a new award,
tell us a little bit about the award itself.
As you mentioned, it's a new award for this year.
and we're looking to turn around and recognize
an individual that represents and inspires others
and embodies the amateur radio spirit for outstanding
contributions to the amateur radio community.
So it's, you know, I know we got a lot of people
that are excited about amateur radio, but we've
got some people that just live and breathe amateur
radio and promote it in ways that sometimes we
don't even realize what's taking place. And they're
really our biggest promoters out there. They
get people involved in the amateur radio. They
inform people about amateur radio that they don't
even realize it's out there. And so this year
is a brand new award. And the award winner for
this one is John Bigley, N7UR. He's in the Nevada
area. So he's He's been he actually was had his
license for number of years kind of like many
people the amateur radio life for life takes
place and amateur radio kind of takes a backseat
for a little time and Ironically when I was talking
to him about it He told me what got him reinvigorated
on it was his wife ended up picking up a Gordon
West amateur radio book in the library And she
might, she might be regretting this, but ever
since then, he's been a hundred percent in their
amateur radio. And, uh, so John's been very,
very busy. He's very active. He's, uh, with numerous
clubs and, um, within the Nevada area, or I should
say the Southwest area, but he is also, uh, involved
heavily involved with ARL. He's, uh, in the,
uh, The Nevada section and then the Pacific division,
he holds positions in that actually holds a position
in the, uh, Southeast division too. So one of
the few people that actually do that. But, uh,
John is, uh, he created a one day, uh, basic
training bootcamp type thing that I've seen some
other amateur radio clubs make use of. He goes
to multiple shows. He is, while doing that, he's
made several appearances as Elvis, bald Elvis,
let's see, Professor Elmer, Spark Gap, Captain
Coax, just to name a few of the ways he turns
around and presents himself at some of the shows.
So I definitely turns around and makes it entertaining.
He gets involved in youth groups and stuff like
that, promoting SEM. He's gone out to homeowners
associations to explain to them about amateur
radio and how antennas could turn around and
fit in with their community. When somebody says
amateur radio, it doesn't always have a negative
connotation with antennas there, so finding ways
to make things work. He's got a long list of
things and it sounds like Just about every weekend
he's involved in some activity associated with
amateur radio. So, you know, when you looked
at the list of things he's been doing and supporting,
whether it be a group or an individual, I got
one letter that came in about an individual that
was vision impaired. And he made a comment, you
know, John, turn around and without asking, Turn
around and came in and started giving them a
hand. So what can we do to help you out? So,
uh, that's, you know, from that perspective,
he's truly an ambassador for amateur radio and
promoting our, our hobby throughout the community.
So it's, uh, pleased to have John as the award
winner. And, uh, it looks like we, uh, things
are lining up he should be able to make it out
to hamcation and the same evening where we present
the awards for the carol parity educator of the
year we'll be presenting the gordon west ambassador
of the year award to john look forward to uh
having him out at hamcation here all right so
some great uh awards winners here so congratulations
to all three of those award winners and I know
they will enjoy the dinner and all the hoopla
associated with it and their trophies as well.
So Mike, thanks for being here to talk about
these award winners and look forward to seeing
you here at Hamcation in just a few weeks. And
again, thank you for allowing us the opportunity
to make the award announcements here on your
show. All right. Well, don't go away because
coming up next we have more news about hamcation
Michael Colley w4orl will be here and he's going
to tell us the latest news about what's happening
with Hamcation so you can get ready to go for
that event here coming up in about Five six weeks
here. So I'll be back with Mike and Mike right
after this word from Tower Electronics, right
here on Amtok Live. 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 HamFest schedule,
January 20th and 21st, they'll be in Fort Myers,
Florida, January 28th, Arcadia, Florida, and
then they'll be at Hamcation, February 10th,
11th, and 12th, and Dalton, Georgia on February
25th. Or visit them anytime at PL -259 .com.
You're listening to HamTalk Live, the number
one podcast amongst the podcasts with the words
ham, talk, and live in the title. Here's your
host, Neil Rapp. And welcome back to HamTalk
Live. Hey, be sure to check us out on Facebook,
Twitter, and Instagram. We do post some things
there from time to time about the show, so be
sure to take a look at that as well as some other
ham radio assorted stuff. So it's all there on
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Just look for
HamTalk Live. Well, we're going to talk more
about ham -cation, but right now it's time for
the N9GSU 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, N9GSU, with today's HamTalk
Live Joke of the Week. I was in Florida over
the holidays and went out on a boat to do some
activations as I was operating from the boat.
Somebody else in the boat came up and asked me
if I knew why sharks were only found in salt
water. I said well of course, pepper water makes
them sneeze. 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. And welcome back to HamTalk Live.
We're with Michael Colley, W4ORL, and he's the
chairman of the Orlando Hamcation. And you have
a lot of news here of new things that are happening
with Hamcation. So we're going to run down a
few of those, Michael. So first of all, I know
you're excited to have some new vendors this
year. We are. For the first time ever, we've
then in contact with Begali Keys. They're actually
coming over from Italy to set up a booth here
at Hamcation for the first time. Also for the
first time here is going to be ADSB Exchange.
They are a flight software where you can track
planes. So their first time coming here also.
Another one is Rabbit Laser USA. Everybody should
know them from Hamvention. They're the ones that
actually engrave the cups there at Hamvention
with your call signs and stuff like that on them.
So they're going to be a first time vendor here
also. We have lots more, probably about total
of 10 total new vendors come in. But those are
some of the bigger ones that we wanted to let
everybody know that they will be here. All right,
and some vendors that have been there, but are
sponsoring talk about your bronze sponsor this
year. We do DX engineering has come on as a bronze
sponsor again this year. They did it last year
also They are coming on as a bronze sponsor and
will be donating prizes to us for that. All right
Very good. I'm sure Tim and the crew will be
ready to greet everyone there at hamcation and
Thanks to them for sponsoring and then you also
have a platinum sponsor to announce We do. ICOM
America has come on as a platinum sponsor and
they will actually be sponsoring our grand prizes
on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And we've partnered
with them this time with something a little different
for the grand prizes. Instead of just having
radios, they're actually going to be grand prize
packages. So on Fridays, Grand Prize will be
an ICOM ID52A. It will come with a speaker mic,
actually come with also a VS3 Bluetooth headphones,
come with a drop -in rapid charger and extra
lithium ion battery. So that will be the Grand
Prize package for Friday. And then for Saturday,
it gets even better. Saturday will be a ICOM
IC -705. It will also have the remote control
software with it. It will come with the ICOM
AH -705 tuner. You'll also get the LC -192 backpack
with it. And we're also adding the AL -705 loop
antenna. So a whole package. For the 705, get
you out doing POTA if you want to. That's an
excellent POTA radio right there. And for our
Sunday grand prize will be a ICOM IC7610. It
will come with the remote control software also.
It will come with the SP41 bass speaker. It also
will come with the SM50 desktop mic. So that
will be Sunday's grand prize. Another whole setup.
and all this is donated by ICOM America. Alright,
so some great ICOM gear being given away here
at Hamcation and thanks to them for being a platinum
sponsor here of the show. Now you also have a
prize list here that's ever growing, so tell
everybody about the prizes. The prizes right
now, if everybody goes to hamcation .com, if
they look under the prize lists, this week it
will be updated with all this information will
go up on it. And we have lots of more prizes
already been donated. So this week we'll get
everything up there on the website. So everybody
knows the great prizes that we will be given
out this year. And similar for the forums, you're
finalizing that forums list soon. Correct. This
week that will go up live also with the first
preliminary forms list. It is substantive change
for more than anything scheduling purposes, but
we will get that up this year. One thing different
this year, we are not going to actually have
four tens of forms. We're only going to have
two. We downsized a little bit on the forms.
What we're doing is getting the better forms
this time. Uh, so some of the ones that wasn't
drawing many people in them, uh, we're trying
to, uh, just get the real good technical forum
stuff that people attend and really going after,
uh, what pulls the audience. Um, so, but we will
have an area set up actually out in the forums
area, the pavilion where the two tents are, um,
that will be set up with tables and chairs on
one side. So for the ones that do draw a smaller
crowd, it will be open that people can go out
there and use the tables and chairs and do their
own little meetings and forums unofficial that
way also. Very good. And I know we've talked
a little bit about the Yoda forum and we're going
to do something a little bit different. So We
won't be having a forum, but instead we're going
to have the Yoda Youth Zone and we'll have that
available for all the young people who attend
hamcation. Correct. It will actually be located
right across from ARRL. So it's actually going
to be Yoda and actually Boy Scouts of America
will have a booth right next to it. So one whole
side will be nothing but youth activities. Yeah,
so we'll have the the youth zone open for youth
to kind of have a hangout during hamcation a
place to meet and and then on Saturday around
lunchtime I believe it is we're gonna have some
some snacks and drinks and things for all the
youth who are there on Saturday over by the youth
on the air booth, so That's going to be another
another change here So we do have an area for
the youth to kind of hang out meet each other
and see each other as well as knowing each other
from the radio, so We're excited about about
that change All right, Michael. Well anything
else that we need to cover here before we go
tonight? One other thing I do have I almost forgot
about mentioning in this On Wednesday night,
February 8th, we will be doing a kit build again
at 6 p .m. in our swaps building with Joe Eisenberg.
He will be coming in to do a kit build. There
is information on the website. If you go to hamcation
.com slash events, there is a spot there to...
Send the email to kitbuild at hamcation .com
and register or reserve your space for the kit
build. It is limited to around 25 people. Uh,
but if you are coming to hamcation early and
you want to do a kit build with Joe, um, please
go there and reserve your spot. Okay. And we
should probably mention, uh, housing and things
as well. You've got a lot of new, um, RV sites
well that were added last year. So how are the
RV registrations going and then the hotels? RV
registrations are going very well. Right now
I believe we're around 160 already reserved which
is really good. We can fit over 200 so there's
plenty of spaces left. So if you go on the website
under attending hamcation, you can reserve your
spots there and pay for them. Hotels, also on
the same page as attending hamcation, if you
scroll all the way down to the bottom, there
is a list of hotels that we have got special
rates at. So please go up there, make your reservation
at the hotels. A lot of them do have a certain
book by date to get that price. So and some of
them starting beginning of January toward the
end of the January depending on the location
So please go up there if you haven't made your
reservation yet, please do so before you lose
out on the special pricing we have Yeah, I know
when I went to do it there were a couple that
were already filled up with the the special pricing
and I was able to find a really nice deal, but
Wasn't my first choice. So you know, make sure
you make those reservations, but the price break
was really good on a couple of these. Yeah, I
think they range pretty much from about $89 up
to about $150 depending on where you want to
stay at. Yeah, so that's some good rates and
that's part of the advantage of being in Orlando
when you have hotels everywhere. You can get
some pretty good deals on on the hotels and making
that more affordable to attend hamcations. That's
always great. All right. Well, Mike, did you
think of anything here before we go that you
want to slip in here? Just one more congratulations
to our award winners, to Jim, Ken, and John.
Look forward to seeing them all. All right. Yeah,
that'll be great. All right. Well, that's the
latest from hamcation and your award winners
for 2023. So again, congratulations to all three
award winners and look forward to seeing you
here in a few weeks. Yeah. Good to talk to you
tonight, Neil. And, uh, yes, uh, about, I think
as of a couple of nights ago, I counted it when
I did an article for our, uh, local, um, club
newsletter, we're at 41 days. So, we're probably
about 35 now. So, it's coming. It won't be long.
It won't be long and your phone will be ringing
off the wall. So, looking forward to being there
again and hopefully no food poisoning this time.
So, hopefully. No food poisoning. Keep the cold,
cold weather up there with y 'all. Yes, yes.
Well, it was it was 61 degrees today up here.
It's kind of weird. It was just negative nine
negative ten We're warming back up from the cold
front that give us 20s and 30s last weekend So
our week ago now we're back. I think today probably
hit about 80 Yeah It's been a crazy winter so
far so Let's try to keep that up here. All right,
guys. Thanks so much. Thanks so much for being
here. And that is a wrap for this edition of
HamTalk Live. I'd like to thank my guests, Michael
Colley, W4ORL, and Mike Banigan, KJ for UDO,
and everyone out there in cyberspace for listening.
And invite you all 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
7 -3 7 -5 and may the good DX be yours Cause
you sound just like a local up here But why don't
those whistling mediterraneans check it with
real