WEBVTT 00:00:02.160 --> 00:00:05.120 This episode of HamTalk Live is brought to you 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:08.519 by Tower Electronics. For connectors, cables, 00:00:08.779 --> 00:00:15.460 and more, call 920 -435 -2973 or visit pl -259 00:00:15.460 --> 00:00:20.140 .com. And by ICOM, heard it, worked it, logged 00:00:20.140 --> 00:00:25.359 it. Visit www .icomamerica .com slash amateur 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:34.159 for more information about ICOM radios. Here 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:40.240 we go, welcome to Amtok Live, call in, let's 00:00:40.240 --> 00:01:03.770 talk, Neil's your guide, Amtok Live. It's time 00:01:03.770 --> 00:01:11.870 for HamTalk Live episode number 300. We made 00:01:11.870 --> 00:01:17.090 it to 300. It's a Parks on the Air summer recorded 00:01:17.090 --> 00:01:20.890 on July 1st, 2022. I'm your host, Neil Rapp, 00:01:21.030 --> 00:01:24.849 WB9 VPG. Thanks for tuning in to this episode 00:01:24.849 --> 00:01:27.290 of HamTalk Live. Tonight, we're joined by Vance 00:01:27.290 --> 00:01:31.780 Martin in the 3 V E M to talk about some big 00:01:31.780 --> 00:01:36.180 news items coming from Parks on the Air. And 00:01:36.180 --> 00:01:40.480 last episode, Mitch Ehrenstorf, AD0HJ, and Andrew 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:45.260 Northam, KE8FZT were here to talk about Walmart 00:01:45.260 --> 00:01:49.760 parking lots on the air and got a chance to to 00:01:49.760 --> 00:01:53.099 get in on three passes. I did get one whole contact, 00:01:54.040 --> 00:01:59.099 but had like a hundred. For my point total because 00:01:59.099 --> 00:02:01.340 of all the bonuses. So that was kind of cool. 00:02:01.560 --> 00:02:04.959 But anyway Hopefully you you had a chance to 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:07.140 participate in one Plota. There's a lot of fun 00:02:07.140 --> 00:02:10.099 a lot of fun pictures and videos out there of 00:02:10.099 --> 00:02:13.240 people and shopping carts and everything else 00:02:13.240 --> 00:02:15.340 So if you missed that show you can listen anytime 00:02:15.340 --> 00:02:19.539 at ham talk live comm or on your favorite podcast 00:02:19.539 --> 00:02:24.020 app or over on YouTube and Don't forget you can 00:02:24.020 --> 00:02:29.979 catch ham talk live rebroadcast on Saturday afternoons 00:02:29.979 --> 00:02:37.419 on WTWW 5085 AM and they usually run that about 00:02:37.419 --> 00:02:41.780 330 p .m. Eastern Time so I'll be back with Vance 00:02:41.780 --> 00:02:45.000 right after this word from Tower Electronics 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:50.770 right here on HamTalk Live. Thanks for choosing 00:02:50.770 --> 00:02:53.750 Tower Electronics. How may we help you today? 00:02:54.349 --> 00:02:57.849 We have PL -259s. We have in -connectors. We 00:02:57.849 --> 00:03:01.530 have SMA adapters. We have BNC adapters. What 00:03:01.530 --> 00:03:04.669 can I show you today? Where's the tower? Well, 00:03:04.830 --> 00:03:07.930 we don't actually have a tower with us, but we 00:03:07.930 --> 00:03:10.430 have all kinds of things you can use with a tower. 00:03:10.889 --> 00:03:14.069 We have power poles, antennas, soldering irons 00:03:14.069 --> 00:03:17.370 and meters. Where's the tower? Ma 'am, that's 00:03:17.370 --> 00:03:19.919 the name of our company. We can't haul towers 00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:22.080 to all the ham -fests across the country that 00:03:22.080 --> 00:03:24.719 we visit, but we have almost every connector 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:27.280 and adapter you would need to connect your antenna 00:03:27.280 --> 00:03:29.379 that's on your tower. I don't think there's a 00:03:29.379 --> 00:03:33.000 tower back there. I really don't. Tower Electronics. 00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:36.340 Visit us at a ham -fest near you or call 920 00:03:36.340 --> 00:03:42.240 -435 -2973 or see our whole catalog at pl -259 00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:45.080 .com. Sorry, one thing we don't have is a tower. 00:03:46.780 --> 00:03:49.439 And on the Tower Electronics HamFest schedule, 00:03:49.780 --> 00:03:52.659 July 9th, they'll be in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. 00:03:52.740 --> 00:03:56.780 That's on the south side of Milwaukee. July 30th, 00:03:56.780 --> 00:03:59.840 they'll be in Winchester, Indiana. And August 00:03:59.840 --> 00:04:03.539 6th, they'll be in Elkhart, Indiana. And of course, 00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:05.620 a couple of weeks after that, they'll be down 00:04:05.620 --> 00:04:08.259 in Huntsville, in Huntsville, Alabama. But you 00:04:08.259 --> 00:04:14.270 can visit them anytime at PL -259. The grass 00:04:14.270 --> 00:04:16.750 may be greener on the other side, but at least 00:04:16.750 --> 00:04:18.949 we don't have to mow it. You're listening to 00:04:18.949 --> 00:04:40.370 HamTalk Live with Neil Rapp. And welcome back 00:04:40.370 --> 00:04:45.550 to Ham Talk Live. Tonight, we're talking some 00:04:45.550 --> 00:04:50.009 Parks on the Air with Vance Martin in three VEM, 00:04:50.189 --> 00:04:54.389 and he joins us on the Orlando Amateur Radio 00:04:54.389 --> 00:04:58.709 Club and Hamcation Zoom line. You'll hear a lot 00:04:58.709 --> 00:05:03.550 about Vance and what's going on with Pota. So 00:05:03.550 --> 00:05:10.250 here we go. Vance Martin, N3 VEM, became aware 00:05:10.250 --> 00:05:13.110 of ham radio as a teenager when he stumbled onto 00:05:13.110 --> 00:05:16.449 some of his dad's old radio books, but didn't 00:05:16.449 --> 00:05:20.050 become a ham until April 2014, but since then 00:05:20.050 --> 00:05:22.449 he's been doing all kinds of things. He passed 00:05:22.449 --> 00:05:27.490 his extra exam in 2015, been working on CW. He 00:05:27.490 --> 00:05:29.470 spent a lot of his early years on the air from 00:05:29.470 --> 00:05:32.029 a mobile station. Now he's got his nice shack 00:05:32.029 --> 00:05:35.009 at home, but still does a lot of mobile stuff. 00:05:35.370 --> 00:05:40.209 And he's big into parks on the air and the portable 00:05:40.209 --> 00:05:43.709 operations. So Vance, thanks for coming back 00:05:43.709 --> 00:05:46.649 on the show to talk about a busy summer for Pota. 00:05:48.009 --> 00:05:50.509 Yeah. Yeah. I'm glad you were willing to have 00:05:50.509 --> 00:05:52.230 me. There's all kinds of exciting stuff going 00:05:52.230 --> 00:05:54.949 on right now. So we've got all kinds of exciting 00:05:54.949 --> 00:05:59.269 Pota things to share. Yeah, well summer is definitely 00:05:59.269 --> 00:06:02.009 upon us. We've been out of school here for about 00:06:02.009 --> 00:06:06.509 a month out here in the Midwest and I was just 00:06:06.509 --> 00:06:10.029 actually at a park just a little bit ago. I was 00:06:10.029 --> 00:06:14.589 doing a satellite activation trying to get get 00:06:14.589 --> 00:06:18.569 used to the the new handheld and get everything 00:06:18.569 --> 00:06:22.709 ready to go before we take off to to uh... put 00:06:22.709 --> 00:06:25.149 a six yankee in front of my call sign here in 00:06:25.149 --> 00:06:28.490 a couple weeks but uh... uh... want to make sure 00:06:28.490 --> 00:06:30.910 everything was working right and then luckily 00:06:30.910 --> 00:06:35.649 it was so so i was out at a park and and and 00:06:35.649 --> 00:06:37.790 thought you know we've got all kinds of questions 00:06:37.790 --> 00:06:40.730 we can ask about this so we'll we'll talk about 00:06:40.730 --> 00:06:43.370 that a little bit later on in the show but you've 00:06:43.370 --> 00:06:45.889 got some uh... some big things coming up i know 00:06:45.889 --> 00:06:49.870 you you asked uh... several of us out here in 00:06:49.870 --> 00:06:54.110 the in the ham radio media to be presenters for 00:06:54.110 --> 00:06:57.589 Some plaques and and for this big plaque event 00:06:57.589 --> 00:07:00.970 that's coming up So tell us all about the big 00:07:00.970 --> 00:07:06.189 summer poda plaque event You bet. Yeah, we're 00:07:06.189 --> 00:07:09.790 coming up on the the time of year where basically 00:07:09.790 --> 00:07:13.629 since 2018 I think was the the first year we 00:07:13.629 --> 00:07:17.019 did it Where every summer in conjunction with 00:07:17.019 --> 00:07:19.259 what we call our seasonal support your parks 00:07:19.259 --> 00:07:23.139 events. We've been giving away plaques. So The 00:07:23.139 --> 00:07:24.939 first year we did it there was just two plaques 00:07:24.939 --> 00:07:27.420 that we gave away One for the activator that 00:07:27.420 --> 00:07:29.439 made the most contacts and one for the hunter 00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:32.519 that made the most contacts And the event was 00:07:32.519 --> 00:07:36.259 very popular, so it grew from there. So this 00:07:36.259 --> 00:07:40.620 year, the event comes up on July 16th and 17th, 00:07:40.620 --> 00:07:44.399 so it's right around the corner. And the list 00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:46.920 of plaques has now grown to, I think we're up 00:07:46.920 --> 00:07:52.720 to 17 plaques that are available. So it's for 00:07:52.720 --> 00:07:55.399 basically each for activators and hunters. There's 00:07:55.399 --> 00:07:58.259 plaques for most contacts, most voice contacts, 00:07:58.779 --> 00:08:02.100 most CW, most digital. And then we have a rover 00:08:02.100 --> 00:08:04.579 and a chaser, which is similar to like the VHF, 00:08:04.579 --> 00:08:08.899 UHF grid square rover crowd. So just moving between 00:08:08.899 --> 00:08:11.240 parks instead of moving between grid squares. 00:08:11.699 --> 00:08:15.319 And then we have a club category for clubs that 00:08:15.319 --> 00:08:18.300 go out and do activations, which there's one 00:08:18.300 --> 00:08:20.480 new bit of information around clubs that I'll 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:23.420 share then. And then the newest plaques for this 00:08:23.420 --> 00:08:26.660 year, the plaques that are brand new for 2022. 00:08:27.230 --> 00:08:32.149 are the DX plaques by region. So we have a DX 00:08:32.149 --> 00:08:36.230 plaque for activators that make the most contacts 00:08:36.230 --> 00:08:41.090 from region one, from region two outside of the 00:08:41.090 --> 00:08:45.009 contiguous 48, and then from DX region three, 00:08:45.269 --> 00:08:47.750 and then there's a hunter companion for each 00:08:47.750 --> 00:08:50.809 of those new DX plaques. So those are the fun 00:08:50.809 --> 00:08:55.029 new categories this year. And then with the club 00:08:55.029 --> 00:08:58.580 plaque, The thing that we like to share this 00:08:58.580 --> 00:09:01.159 year, there's been a lot of activity around clubs. 00:09:01.860 --> 00:09:03.899 Parks on the Air has always been very popular 00:09:03.899 --> 00:09:06.259 as an individual activity, but more and more 00:09:06.259 --> 00:09:09.379 clubs have been getting engaged. So just within 00:09:09.379 --> 00:09:12.519 the last month or so, we actually put out a POTA 00:09:12.519 --> 00:09:15.860 guide for clubs. So for clubs that are planning 00:09:15.860 --> 00:09:18.620 on going out and chasing down the club plaque 00:09:18.620 --> 00:09:20.940 this summer, we really do recommend that they 00:09:20.940 --> 00:09:24.299 go to the resources section at pota .app. Check 00:09:24.299 --> 00:09:27.059 out that guide for clubs because it gives some 00:09:27.059 --> 00:09:30.080 hints and tricks and kind of the nuances to To 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:32.480 activating with a club so that folks can can 00:09:32.480 --> 00:09:34.679 be successful that are they're having a go at 00:09:34.679 --> 00:09:38.139 that So so that's the the actual event itself. 00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:41.879 We're expecting a pretty big turnout I if I had 00:09:41.879 --> 00:09:44.600 to guess I'd say there will probably be just 00:09:44.600 --> 00:09:47.080 based on past trends will probably be at least 00:09:47.080 --> 00:09:49.340 a thousand different parks put on the air by 00:09:49.659 --> 00:09:52.080 Somewhere between 800 and a thousand different 00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:55.019 activators. So it'll it'll definitely be a very 00:09:55.019 --> 00:09:58.700 busy weekend We might hit the hundred thousand 00:09:58.700 --> 00:10:02.259 Q. So mark in one weekend maybe where we're kind 00:10:02.259 --> 00:10:04.539 of creeping up on that, you know every every 00:10:04.539 --> 00:10:08.440 year and And yeah, it'll be busy and it'll be 00:10:08.440 --> 00:10:11.200 a lot of fun And then once the event is over, 00:10:11.639 --> 00:10:15.080 the thing that's new this year that we that you 00:10:15.080 --> 00:10:19.259 had alluded to is we actually decided to do essentially 00:10:19.259 --> 00:10:22.360 an awards style show. So when it comes time to 00:10:22.360 --> 00:10:25.100 announce these winners, we have a whole slate 00:10:25.100 --> 00:10:28.600 of. presenters lined up so it'll be you know 00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:32.940 like Oscars or Emmys style where myself and another 00:10:32.940 --> 00:10:37.460 one of our Volunteers Matt N3 NWV who most folks 00:10:37.460 --> 00:10:39.960 know from like the POTA 101 videos that we put 00:10:39.960 --> 00:10:44.100 out We'll be acting as the MCs. And then we have 00:10:44.100 --> 00:10:46.720 a whole slew of folks who are going to be actually 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:50.620 announcing each category's winner. So we've got 00:10:50.620 --> 00:10:53.659 a couple of you representing AR Newsline. We've 00:10:53.659 --> 00:10:56.320 got Josh from Ham Radio Crash Course, Colin from 00:10:56.320 --> 00:10:59.779 ICQ Podcast, Steve from Temporarily Offline Ham 00:10:59.779 --> 00:11:03.080 Radio, Santiago from Ham World Online, Charlie 00:11:03.080 --> 00:11:05.679 from Red Summit RF, Alan from the Pride Radio 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:09.279 Group, Rhea from Rhea's Shack. Michael from KB9 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:14.440 VBR antennas Kyle from AA0Z ham radio Shane and 00:11:14.440 --> 00:11:17.299 crew from the ham radio clubhouse. We've got 00:11:17.299 --> 00:11:20.919 James the ham radio adventure guy Mike K8 MRD 00:11:20.919 --> 00:11:24.100 radio stuff. We've got Larry from ham radio live 00:11:24.100 --> 00:11:28.570 and WRMI shortwave and we've got George and friends 00:11:28.570 --> 00:11:31.549 from the ham radio workbench podcast and then 00:11:31.549 --> 00:11:34.470 Jason Johnston from ham radio 2 .0 So we have 00:11:34.470 --> 00:11:36.470 a whole a whole crew of folks that are gonna 00:11:36.470 --> 00:11:39.289 basically help us announce those winners So that'll 00:11:39.289 --> 00:11:42.289 be a lot of fun the final date for the awards 00:11:42.289 --> 00:11:46.190 show isn't officially slated But we're targeting 00:11:46.539 --> 00:11:51.320 two weeks after logs are due is when we'll be 00:11:51.320 --> 00:11:54.779 scheduling that right now. So that's all the 00:11:54.779 --> 00:11:56.700 fun stuff around the plaque event. It's going 00:11:56.700 --> 00:12:00.299 to be an exciting July. Well, it sounds like 00:12:00.299 --> 00:12:03.840 a great time to get out and operate from a park 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:07.639 and a chance to bring home some hardware. So 00:12:07.639 --> 00:12:10.360 you've got to like putting another plaque on 00:12:10.360 --> 00:12:14.450 the wall. So that's good. Option there for you 00:12:14.450 --> 00:12:20.190 the July 16th and 17th and yeah, if you're if 00:12:20.190 --> 00:12:23.450 you're Winning the club category. I'm sorry, 00:12:23.529 --> 00:12:27.990 but it's gonna be Paul and I presenting so Well, 00:12:28.009 --> 00:12:32.190 just go ahead and apologize in advance so But 00:12:32.190 --> 00:12:34.269 yeah, it sounds like you've got the usual cast 00:12:34.269 --> 00:12:37.870 of characters there. So we'll be happy to help 00:12:37.870 --> 00:12:43.350 out with that Well, you know, it's time to get 00:12:43.350 --> 00:12:50.269 out, you know, it's warm here in the U .S. and 00:12:50.269 --> 00:12:54.149 great time to get out and throw an antenna in 00:12:54.149 --> 00:12:58.980 a tree and get on the air. There's a lot of work 00:12:58.980 --> 00:13:02.480 that has to go on behind the scenes and just 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:05.799 today as we're recording this, it'll be a few 00:13:05.799 --> 00:13:09.919 more days before it's released, but as we're 00:13:09.919 --> 00:13:12.980 recording this, it's the first day of a new website 00:13:12.980 --> 00:13:16.340 feature that's going to help out some of that. 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:20.039 So tell us about the new feature. You bet. Yeah, 00:13:20.120 --> 00:13:26.509 today at I think it was 1200 UTC, so 8 Eastern, 00:13:26.529 --> 00:13:31.610 where I am, our new self -service log uploader 00:13:31.610 --> 00:13:35.789 went live. So that's been probably the most requested 00:13:35.789 --> 00:13:39.429 feature for the website for a number of years, 00:13:39.429 --> 00:13:42.350 and we've been working on it for a while. We 00:13:42.350 --> 00:13:45.590 did several rounds of beta testing, and earlier 00:13:45.590 --> 00:13:49.909 in the week we hit the 7 ,000 logs uploaded in 00:13:49.909 --> 00:13:52.860 the new system. via the beta testing groups. 00:13:53.639 --> 00:13:57.419 So put a few final polishing touches on it and 00:13:57.419 --> 00:13:59.899 launched it live to the public this morning. 00:14:00.419 --> 00:14:05.100 So now when folks log into poda .app, under your 00:14:05.100 --> 00:14:07.659 menu on the right hand side of the screen, you 00:14:07.659 --> 00:14:10.139 have an option for my log uploads and you can 00:14:10.139 --> 00:14:13.080 see the history of all of your logs that have 00:14:13.080 --> 00:14:16.500 been uploaded since the beginning of poda. And 00:14:16.500 --> 00:14:19.500 then there's just a file dialog box right there 00:14:19.500 --> 00:14:23.539 that you can open up to upload your ADiff logs. 00:14:24.120 --> 00:14:25.980 So basically the same logs that have been getting 00:14:25.980 --> 00:14:29.240 sent to the email addresses, you can now just 00:14:29.240 --> 00:14:32.379 drop right in that box and they'll zip right 00:14:32.379 --> 00:14:36.559 in. The development team has come up with some 00:14:36.559 --> 00:14:38.460 pretty slick features within that that people 00:14:38.460 --> 00:14:41.509 will find as they use it. You can upload multiple 00:14:41.509 --> 00:14:43.629 logs at once. So if you go and do a rove and 00:14:43.629 --> 00:14:45.990 you have six logs, you can drop six logs in at 00:14:45.990 --> 00:14:48.789 once and click the button and within a few minutes 00:14:48.789 --> 00:14:50.970 you'll see the stuff starting to update on the 00:14:50.970 --> 00:14:54.649 website. So that's been exciting news this morning. 00:14:55.470 --> 00:14:58.070 And even in just the few short hours it's been 00:14:58.070 --> 00:15:01.450 live, we're up to, I think we're approaching 00:15:01.450 --> 00:15:04.710 600 logs uploaded already today in that new system. 00:15:05.169 --> 00:15:08.600 So it's... off to the races which will be a big 00:15:08.600 --> 00:15:11.259 benefit this summer for the plaque event because 00:15:11.259 --> 00:15:14.139 everybody can go out do their activations drop 00:15:14.139 --> 00:15:16.659 their own logs in right away and then just wait 00:15:16.659 --> 00:15:21.330 to see if they won yeah anytime you can auto 00:15:21.330 --> 00:15:25.090 -magically update all those logs. That's always 00:15:25.090 --> 00:15:29.990 a great thing. So that should pay many dividends 00:15:29.990 --> 00:15:34.230 for you all having to move all those logs around 00:15:34.230 --> 00:15:38.470 everywhere and kind of automate things to where 00:15:38.470 --> 00:15:43.009 they'll just auto -magically happen. So that's 00:15:43.009 --> 00:15:45.730 a cool thing. And again, remind everybody of 00:15:45.730 --> 00:15:50.850 that web address. Yep. It's just poda .app. So 00:15:50.850 --> 00:15:55.789 pretty easy one to remember. Yeah, so pota .app. 00:15:56.250 --> 00:15:59.669 There we go. All right. Well, and then, you know, 00:15:59.830 --> 00:16:01.789 last time you were on the show, we were talking 00:16:01.789 --> 00:16:07.970 about your POTA update and you're recording a 00:16:07.970 --> 00:16:12.070 monthly update, I believe it is. And we've been 00:16:12.070 --> 00:16:15.129 running some pieces of that over on Amateur Radio 00:16:15.129 --> 00:16:19.320 Newsline. And I know many other outlets have 00:16:19.320 --> 00:16:23.080 been running it as well. So you've got a little 00:16:23.080 --> 00:16:25.899 bit of an update on that. So give us the POTA 00:16:25.899 --> 00:16:30.500 update update. Yeah. So the POTA update update, 00:16:30.759 --> 00:16:33.980 and this is a, this is hot off the presses. So, 00:16:33.980 --> 00:16:36.159 you know, I've been involved with POTA since, 00:16:36.159 --> 00:16:38.960 well, really since, since the beginning. So I 00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:41.179 basically have ended up with my hands in just 00:16:41.179 --> 00:16:44.240 about every pot there is. So I was actually looking 00:16:44.240 --> 00:16:47.639 to offload some work to some of our fellow volunteers, 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:52.720 and one of our volunteers that helps out is MattN3NWV, 00:16:52.980 --> 00:16:55.440 who actually has his own YouTube channel and 00:16:55.440 --> 00:17:00.460 things. So I was able to, without regret, pawn 00:17:00.460 --> 00:17:02.779 off the responsibility of recording the monthly 00:17:02.779 --> 00:17:06.779 updates onto Matt. So a lot of people that are 00:17:06.779 --> 00:17:09.119 familiar with Pota already know Matt's face, 00:17:09.180 --> 00:17:11.220 they know his voice, because he recorded all 00:17:11.220 --> 00:17:15.210 of our POTA 101 videos for how to do things. 00:17:15.569 --> 00:17:18.309 So he's a very familiar face to the POTA crowd 00:17:18.309 --> 00:17:21.470 that watches YouTube also. So he'll be the new 00:17:21.470 --> 00:17:25.319 face of the POTA updates starting in... August 00:17:25.319 --> 00:17:27.380 so the next update that comes out will be the 00:17:27.380 --> 00:17:29.839 last one that I record and then Matt's gonna 00:17:29.839 --> 00:17:32.140 take the reins of the Pota updates from there 00:17:32.140 --> 00:17:35.660 Which I will admit we'll probably actually help 00:17:35.660 --> 00:17:38.240 the quality of the updates because he Set up 00:17:38.240 --> 00:17:40.740 to do some he set up to do some real nice audio 00:17:40.740 --> 00:17:44.000 and video recording So as much fun as it was 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:46.500 I guess for people to kind of watch me in my 00:17:46.500 --> 00:17:49.619 basement shack here doing the updates The the 00:17:49.619 --> 00:17:52.240 production quality on those updates should should 00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:54.869 jump up quite a bit when Matt takes it So I'm 00:17:54.869 --> 00:17:56.710 looking forward to a little bit more free time 00:17:56.710 --> 00:17:59.029 and he's looking forward to taking the reins 00:17:59.029 --> 00:18:03.329 on that Yeah, and you know, you're you're a lot 00:18:03.329 --> 00:18:06.190 like me you want to take on everything yourself 00:18:06.190 --> 00:18:09.490 and get everything in and You know and get your 00:18:09.490 --> 00:18:12.390 hands into everything and at some point it's 00:18:12.390 --> 00:18:15.990 like, you know, you got a back off You got a 00:18:15.990 --> 00:18:18.970 you got to let some stuff go and sounds like 00:18:18.970 --> 00:18:23.630 this will be a good move for for all of you to 00:18:23.630 --> 00:18:27.789 update the APOTA update. So we'll look forward 00:18:27.789 --> 00:18:30.609 to hearing those and get you some time to work 00:18:30.609 --> 00:18:34.089 on some other things because again, kind of like 00:18:34.089 --> 00:18:40.089 me, you've always got something cooking. So we'll 00:18:40.089 --> 00:18:43.490 check in with those and I know we'll continue 00:18:43.490 --> 00:18:46.430 to have those over at Amateur Radio Newsline 00:18:46.430 --> 00:18:49.960 as well. Alright, well we're gonna take a break 00:18:49.960 --> 00:18:52.519 and when we come back with Vance, we'll talk 00:18:52.519 --> 00:18:55.740 a little more parks on the air right after this 00:18:55.740 --> 00:19:00.339 word from ICOM America right here on HamTalk 00:19:00.339 --> 00:19:04.039 Live. Keep your competitive contesting edge with 00:19:04.039 --> 00:19:06.819 ICOM, our high -powered base stations cut -through 00:19:06.819 --> 00:19:09.160 pileups letting you work the bands and record 00:19:09.160 --> 00:19:11.640 those contacts. 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It has 15 discrete bandpass filters, 00:20:58.839 --> 00:21:01.460 the large color touchscreen, spectrum scope, 00:21:01.640 --> 00:21:05.220 SD car slot, and RF direct sampling. Real HF 00:21:05.220 --> 00:21:09.400 fun starts here. Visit IcomAmerica .com slash 00:21:09.400 --> 00:21:13.000 amateur for more information on Icom radios. 00:21:13.980 --> 00:21:18.900 Oh yeah, you're talking ham radio baby. You're 00:21:18.900 --> 00:21:41.000 listening to Ham Talk Live with Neil Rapp. Welcome 00:21:41.000 --> 00:21:44.960 back to HamTalk Live. Be sure you check us out 00:21:44.960 --> 00:21:50.680 on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Just been 00:21:50.680 --> 00:21:54.319 trying to work through my 13 colonies here trying 00:21:54.319 --> 00:21:59.140 to get those last two bonus stations over in 00:21:59.140 --> 00:22:02.319 Europe. So we'll try that again here after we 00:22:02.319 --> 00:22:05.680 finish up some more parks on the air with Vance 00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:09.960 Martin and 3 VEM. But first, You know what time 00:22:09.960 --> 00:22:14.940 it is. It's Joke of the Week time. Now it's time 00:22:14.940 --> 00:22:18.420 for the HamTalk Live Ham Radio Joke of the Week. 00:22:18.660 --> 00:22:21.059 The part of the show where Rick tells us a ham 00:22:21.059 --> 00:22:24.299 radio joke. The HamTalk Live Ham Radio Joke of 00:22:24.299 --> 00:22:28.119 the Week is brought to you by QRM Labs. Now here's 00:22:28.119 --> 00:22:32.380 Rick Garrett in 9GSU with today's HamTalk Live 00:22:32.380 --> 00:22:40.109 Joke of the Week. I've been doing a lot of bicycle 00:22:40.109 --> 00:22:42.329 mobile operating recently, but I've got a problem. 00:22:42.630 --> 00:22:45.089 Every time I stop and get off my bike, it falls 00:22:45.089 --> 00:22:50.269 over. I guess it's just too tired. This has been 00:22:50.269 --> 00:22:53.269 the Ham Talk Live, ham radio joke of the week 00:22:53.269 --> 00:22:57.049 with Rick Garrett in 9GSU. Tune in again next 00:22:57.049 --> 00:23:03.109 week for another joke from Rick. We're back with 00:23:03.109 --> 00:23:07.089 Vance Martin in three VEM talking about the big 00:23:07.089 --> 00:23:12.349 summer of Pota It's parks on the air and all 00:23:12.349 --> 00:23:15.190 the summer activities We've got the plaque event 00:23:15.190 --> 00:23:18.950 coming up the 16th and 17th the new upload feature 00:23:18.950 --> 00:23:22.250 to the website That we've been talking about 00:23:22.250 --> 00:23:25.150 and all these cool things that the Pota people 00:23:25.150 --> 00:23:30.009 have been putting together so Just you know for 00:23:30.009 --> 00:23:32.940 someone who's not big into the the parks thing 00:23:32.940 --> 00:23:37.539 yet what exactly counts as a park like i said 00:23:37.539 --> 00:23:40.380 a while ago i was i was trying to do a satellite 00:23:40.380 --> 00:23:43.579 activation make sure all the gear was working 00:23:43.579 --> 00:23:46.140 because i'm going to be doing a portable operation 00:23:46.140 --> 00:23:51.460 and so i i went down here to union park uh just 00:23:51.460 --> 00:23:54.359 down the road is that going to count as a park 00:23:55.259 --> 00:23:58.259 Well, it would depend on if it's in the official 00:23:58.259 --> 00:24:01.960 list or not. So, the quickest way for folks to 00:24:01.960 --> 00:24:04.900 check to see if a park counts and is in the list 00:24:04.900 --> 00:24:08.839 is just at the main website, prota .app, at the 00:24:08.880 --> 00:24:11.079 top of the website there's a search box and you 00:24:11.079 --> 00:24:13.380 can just start typing in the name of a park and 00:24:13.380 --> 00:24:16.099 see if it pops up. You can also go to the menu 00:24:16.099 --> 00:24:19.559 and browse the park list by country and state 00:24:19.559 --> 00:24:21.839 and things like that, but the search box is the 00:24:21.839 --> 00:24:25.119 easiest thing to use. But if you're looking for 00:24:25.119 --> 00:24:29.819 general guidelines, the program focuses on parks 00:24:29.819 --> 00:24:33.849 that are federal or state entities. that run 00:24:33.849 --> 00:24:36.589 them. So most of your national parks are included 00:24:36.589 --> 00:24:40.029 in the system. Most of your state parks are included 00:24:40.029 --> 00:24:44.200 in the system. Depending on the state some of 00:24:44.200 --> 00:24:47.319 your like state fish and wildlife management 00:24:47.319 --> 00:24:50.759 Associations those parks and facilities are in 00:24:50.759 --> 00:24:53.579 the system So the the general rule is it has 00:24:53.579 --> 00:24:56.819 to be either state or federally owned and operated 00:24:56.819 --> 00:25:00.019 And if you happen to come across a park in your 00:25:00.019 --> 00:25:03.220 area that is a state owned or federal owned that 00:25:03.220 --> 00:25:06.599 isn't in the system There is a mechanism some 00:25:06.599 --> 00:25:08.839 email addresses that are available at parks on 00:25:08.839 --> 00:25:13.230 the air calm for who the mapping representatives 00:25:13.230 --> 00:25:16.089 are by state. So then you can ping that person 00:25:16.089 --> 00:25:18.089 and say, hey, this looks like a state park that 00:25:18.089 --> 00:25:20.069 doesn't look to be in the system. And then they 00:25:20.069 --> 00:25:22.170 get to go off and do their homework and see if 00:25:22.170 --> 00:25:24.470 it's one that we somehow missed. And then they 00:25:24.470 --> 00:25:26.750 work on getting them added in. So that's the 00:25:26.750 --> 00:25:30.430 general scoop for which ones are and aren't parks 00:25:30.430 --> 00:25:34.910 in the system. Okay. Well, I just went to the 00:25:34.910 --> 00:25:37.829 website here and punched it in and Union Park 00:25:37.829 --> 00:25:41.259 was not on the list, but it's a local it's a 00:25:41.259 --> 00:25:47.119 local park so not not too surprised but so maybe 00:25:47.119 --> 00:25:51.339 maybe we've got that clarified here you know 00:25:51.339 --> 00:25:53.200 and then the other thing that we want to talk 00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:56.279 about with with summer being here is is safety 00:25:56.279 --> 00:26:00.380 you know i was outside and and the grass is all 00:26:00.380 --> 00:26:03.200 crunchy because it hasn't rained in a while and 00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:06.680 we've had all these crazy heat indexes and I 00:26:06.680 --> 00:26:09.599 don't know if you followed us at Yoda here a 00:26:09.599 --> 00:26:12.380 couple weeks ago. We were at Kings Island and 00:26:12.380 --> 00:26:15.599 a hundred and five heat index. It was brutal. 00:26:16.660 --> 00:26:21.900 Being portable out there for 12 hours, but you 00:26:21.900 --> 00:26:25.119 know, there's, there's some safety stuff that 00:26:25.119 --> 00:26:27.359 you need to keep in mind when you're activating 00:26:27.359 --> 00:26:30.559 a park. One of which is some, some dihydrogen 00:26:30.559 --> 00:26:35.890 monoxide. You bet yeah, yeah the the most important 00:26:35.890 --> 00:26:38.009 chemical compound of them all when you're when 00:26:38.009 --> 00:26:41.829 you're out in and portable And yeah, the other 00:26:41.829 --> 00:26:44.450 thing that I tell folks, you know aside from 00:26:44.450 --> 00:26:47.430 the water is is shade So if you're gonna be setting 00:26:47.430 --> 00:26:50.049 up for you know, any extended period of time 00:26:50.049 --> 00:26:51.930 make sure you have water Make sure you have shade 00:26:51.930 --> 00:26:54.930 make sure you have some snacks There's a lot 00:26:54.930 --> 00:26:57.849 of what I would call standard outdoor safety 00:26:57.849 --> 00:27:01.289 stuff But the thing that we also have to keep 00:27:01.289 --> 00:27:05.690 in mind as ham radio operators is even though 00:27:05.690 --> 00:27:09.650 our activity as portable radio operation is generally 00:27:09.650 --> 00:27:12.930 within the permitted uses of public parks, it 00:27:12.930 --> 00:27:15.769 is an activity that's not normal to most people. 00:27:16.470 --> 00:27:19.210 So most other folks that would be wandering around 00:27:19.210 --> 00:27:21.970 in the area curious what we're doing, they might 00:27:21.970 --> 00:27:25.099 not be aware that For something that is wireless. 00:27:25.099 --> 00:27:27.980 We have got ridiculous numbers of wires involved 00:27:27.980 --> 00:27:34.440 So so we always remind people like hey if you're 00:27:34.440 --> 00:27:36.180 setting up in a park where there could be other 00:27:36.180 --> 00:27:40.279 people Do something to make sure that folks aren't 00:27:40.279 --> 00:27:42.839 going to trip over your coax and wires and antenna 00:27:42.839 --> 00:27:46.500 stuff You know use little yellow flag tapes or 00:27:46.500 --> 00:27:48.279 set up, you know Just a little off the beaten 00:27:48.279 --> 00:27:50.960 path so that you don't have to worry about that 00:27:50.960 --> 00:27:54.779 and then the other thing that that I recommend 00:27:54.779 --> 00:27:56.859 to folks. Recently there's been a lot of talk 00:27:56.859 --> 00:28:01.859 about the new kind of RF safety evaluation rules 00:28:01.859 --> 00:28:07.059 for stations. So for a portable operator, we 00:28:07.059 --> 00:28:09.680 probably don't think about that a whole lot, 00:28:11.180 --> 00:28:14.440 but the math isn't that hard to do. You can go 00:28:14.440 --> 00:28:17.140 online and grab sheets to do it. And most of 00:28:17.140 --> 00:28:20.799 us have a pretty standard kit that we set up 00:28:20.799 --> 00:28:23.299 when portable so it's usually pretty easy to 00:28:23.299 --> 00:28:26.400 say like well I travel with this radio it's never 00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:29.720 going to do more than 20 watts and I have a 50 00:28:29.720 --> 00:28:32.019 foot length of coax that I use and I always use 00:28:32.019 --> 00:28:35.160 the same dipole antenna so you can usually figure 00:28:35.160 --> 00:28:38.559 out kind of your safe distances and then I say 00:28:38.559 --> 00:28:40.380 you know print that out on a little card or something 00:28:40.380 --> 00:28:43.119 and just you know stick it in your box. It would 00:28:43.119 --> 00:28:45.880 probably never actually become an issue but it's 00:28:45.880 --> 00:28:49.279 a good idea to do. And then also along the lines 00:28:49.279 --> 00:28:53.660 of safety Matt in three NWV that I talked about 00:28:53.660 --> 00:28:56.539 He likes to point out and he actually had us 00:28:56.539 --> 00:28:58.980 add to the club guide That when you're doing 00:28:58.980 --> 00:29:01.920 a club activation really to keep the RF safety 00:29:01.920 --> 00:29:04.640 stuff in mind, too you know if you're you're 00:29:04.640 --> 00:29:07.279 doing a club activation and you've got some radios 00:29:07.279 --> 00:29:09.940 running and Somebody wanders too close to the 00:29:09.940 --> 00:29:11.900 end of a dipole. You don't want to accidentally, 00:29:11.900 --> 00:29:14.519 you know cause RF burns to the general public 00:29:14.519 --> 00:29:17.410 that Wandered by and touched a wire because they 00:29:17.410 --> 00:29:19.589 didn't know what it was. So so there's a lot 00:29:19.589 --> 00:29:22.470 of that that Type of stuff that you should be 00:29:22.470 --> 00:29:26.789 considering as well Yeah, you just made me think 00:29:26.789 --> 00:29:30.470 back again to my park this afternoon, you know 00:29:30.470 --> 00:29:34.009 carrying around the big the purple arrow antenna 00:29:34.009 --> 00:29:37.509 and I got a couple of strange looks, you know 00:29:37.509 --> 00:29:45.359 carrying around this big thing Uh, and then we've 00:29:45.359 --> 00:29:47.759 got, you know, Wimploda coming up here starting 00:29:47.759 --> 00:29:50.180 tonight. So, you know, it's like, you know, we're 00:29:50.180 --> 00:29:52.920 going to get all kinds of crazy looks. So yeah, 00:29:53.079 --> 00:29:56.319 make sure you, you keep the, keep those around 00:29:56.319 --> 00:30:01.000 you safe as well. Um, some, some flags, uh, you 00:30:01.000 --> 00:30:03.339 know, something to let them know where those 00:30:03.339 --> 00:30:05.880 trip hazards are. That's a, that's always a big 00:30:05.880 --> 00:30:10.920 thing. So. Well, it sounds like you know with 00:30:10.920 --> 00:30:14.559 with summer, you know having another month or 00:30:14.559 --> 00:30:17.759 two left here we've got plenty of opportunities 00:30:17.759 --> 00:30:22.259 to get out and and Activate a park and and work 00:30:22.259 --> 00:30:25.299 some parks from home So it sounds like a lot 00:30:25.299 --> 00:30:28.799 of fun and you know, like I said chance to bring 00:30:28.799 --> 00:30:32.839 home some hardware with the plaque event so Um, 00:30:32.839 --> 00:30:35.099 Vance, thanks for coming on the show and letting 00:30:35.099 --> 00:30:37.559 us know what's going on with parks on the air. 00:30:37.579 --> 00:30:41.059 And I'm sure we'll do it again soon. You bet. 00:30:41.140 --> 00:30:43.140 Yeah. Thanks for having me. And I'm looking forward 00:30:43.140 --> 00:30:45.440 to seeing what kind of turnout we get, uh, coming 00:30:45.440 --> 00:30:49.759 up here on the 16th and 17th. All right. Sounds 00:30:49.759 --> 00:30:54.279 great. Uh, let's see, you know, uh, July 17th 00:30:54.279 --> 00:30:57.319 is, is my ham aversary. I didn't just now thought 00:30:57.319 --> 00:31:00.930 of that. So. We'll have to celebrate with a park 00:31:00.930 --> 00:31:04.509 on the air, maybe. That sounds like a perfect 00:31:04.509 --> 00:31:07.589 plan to me. There you go. All right. Well, that 00:31:07.589 --> 00:31:10.509 is a wrap for this edition of HamTalk Live. I'd 00:31:10.509 --> 00:31:13.630 like to thank my guest, Vance Martin, N3 VEM, 00:31:14.089 --> 00:31:16.589 and everybody out there in cyberspace for listening 00:31:16.589 --> 00:31:19.529 and invite you all back next time. For a list 00:31:19.529 --> 00:31:22.690 of all of our upcoming guests, go to hamtalklive 00:31:22.690 --> 00:31:27.470 .com. So for now, this is Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, 00:31:27.650 --> 00:31:33.160 saying 7 -3. 75 and may the good DX be yours.