WEBVTT 00:00:02.350 --> 00:00:05.290 This episode of HamTalk Live is brought to you 00:00:05.290 --> 00:00:08.669 by Tower Electronics. For connectors, cables, 00:00:08.929 --> 00:00:15.609 and more, call 920 -435 -2973 or visit pl -259 00:00:15.609 --> 00:00:20.289 .com. And by ICOM, heard it, worked it, logged 00:00:20.289 --> 00:00:25.510 it. Visit www .icomamerica .com slash amateur 00:00:25.510 --> 00:00:34.859 for more information about ICOM radios. Here 00:00:34.859 --> 00:00:40.740 we go Welcome to Hamtok Live Calling Let's Talk 00:00:40.740 --> 00:00:46.259 Neil's your guy Hamtok Live Here we go on Hamtok 00:00:46.259 --> 00:01:03.710 Radio Good evening, everyone. It's time for Ham 00:01:03.710 --> 00:01:09.829 Talk Live episode number 296. It's another Hamvention 00:01:09.829 --> 00:01:13.109 preview. It's the last one because Hamvention 00:01:13.109 --> 00:01:15.510 is coming up next week. It's Hamvention preview 00:01:15.510 --> 00:01:19.250 kit building and shopping recorded on May 12. 00:01:20.850 --> 00:01:25.129 2022. I'm your host, Neil Rapp, WB9VPG. Thanks 00:01:25.129 --> 00:01:27.909 for tuning into this episode of HamTalk Live. 00:01:28.450 --> 00:01:30.489 And in just a little bit, we'll be joined by 00:01:30.489 --> 00:01:34.989 Joe Eisenberg, K0NEB, the kit building editor 00:01:34.989 --> 00:01:38.370 at CQ Magazine. And he'll be telling us what 00:01:38.370 --> 00:01:42.209 to look out for at Dayton and some opportunities 00:01:42.209 --> 00:01:44.890 to do some kit building while you are there. 00:01:45.450 --> 00:01:49.349 uh... last episode jay k g five l j z was here 00:01:49.349 --> 00:01:52.950 to talk about the return of nasa on the air so 00:01:52.950 --> 00:01:54.950 if you missed that show you can listen anytime 00:01:54.950 --> 00:01:57.390 at ham talk live dot com or on your favorite 00:01:57.390 --> 00:02:01.650 podcast app or on youtube and you can catch the 00:02:01.650 --> 00:02:05.849 rebroadcast of ham talk live on saturdays on 00:02:05.849 --> 00:02:10.069 w t w w shortwave that's five zero eight five 00:02:10.069 --> 00:02:13.710 a m and it's usually about 3 .30 p .m. Eastern 00:02:13.710 --> 00:02:17.509 Time. So I will be back with Joe right after 00:02:17.509 --> 00:02:21.849 this word from Tower Electronics right here on 00:02:21.849 --> 00:02:25.349 HamTalk Live. Hey honey, have you seen the PL 00:02:25.349 --> 00:02:30.750 259s anywhere? No, I haven't. Come on kids, let's 00:02:30.750 --> 00:02:35.969 go. There's just one place to go for all of your 00:02:35.969 --> 00:02:41.650 connector needs. Tower electronics. A giant warehouse 00:02:41.650 --> 00:02:44.569 of connectors and adapters for every occasion. 00:02:44.889 --> 00:02:47.250 Thousands to choose from in every shape, size, 00:02:47.370 --> 00:02:49.729 and color. And they have antennas, soldering 00:02:49.729 --> 00:02:53.110 supplies, cables, meters, and more. Where do 00:02:53.110 --> 00:02:55.270 you go if you want to buy a connector at a fraction 00:02:55.270 --> 00:03:01.229 of retail cost? Tower electronics. And this weekend 00:03:01.229 --> 00:03:03.770 only, take advantage of our special Special liquidation 00:03:03.770 --> 00:03:07.509 sale. Buy nine solder -type PL -259s. Get the 00:03:07.509 --> 00:03:12.370 tenth one for just one penny. They make great 00:03:12.370 --> 00:03:17.629 Christmas presents. And what better way to say, 00:03:18.069 --> 00:03:20.990 I love you, than with the gift of a PL -259. 00:03:21.240 --> 00:03:25.639 TOWER ELECTRONICS! TOWER ELECTRONICS! TOWER ELECTRONICS! 00:03:25.780 --> 00:03:30.139 I'm Scott, KB9AMM of TOWER ELECTRONICS. I like 00:03:30.139 --> 00:03:33.400 the PL259 connectors so much, I bought the company. 00:03:33.620 --> 00:03:36.379 TOWER ELECTRONICS, COMING TO A HAMFEST NEAR YOU, 00:03:36.599 --> 00:03:41.300 OR ONLINE AT PL -259 .COM AND WE'RE ON THE YELLOW 00:03:41.300 --> 00:03:44.800 PAGES UNDER AMATURE RADIO CONNECTORS. My, where 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:48.819 ever did you get that lovely PL259? TOWER ELECTRONICS, 00:03:48.819 --> 00:03:56.120 PL -259 .COM or call 920 -435 -2973. Do we sell 00:03:56.120 --> 00:03:59.740 PL259 connectors? All the information you need 00:03:59.740 --> 00:04:02.360 for your trip to Dayton. It's Ham, Bench and 00:04:02.360 --> 00:04:24.199 Preview here on HamTalk Live. Welcome back to 00:04:24.199 --> 00:04:28.560 HamTalk Live. Tonight, Joe Eisenberg, K -Zero, 00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:31.560 N -E -B, joins us on the Orlando Amateur Radio 00:04:31.560 --> 00:04:35.339 Club and Hamcation Zoom line. Joe is from Lincoln, 00:04:35.339 --> 00:04:37.759 Nebraska, is well known for his kit building 00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:41.319 expertise. Joe is also well known for his picture 00:04:41.319 --> 00:04:44.759 shows of Hamvention. So if you've been following 00:04:44.759 --> 00:04:48.259 the Facebook group, the Dayton Hamvention Fanatics, 00:04:48.860 --> 00:04:52.439 they do these countdowns of of all those picture 00:04:52.439 --> 00:04:55.779 shows so those are pretty cool. He is the long 00:04:55.779 --> 00:04:59.079 time kit building editor at CQ Magazine and often 00:04:59.079 --> 00:05:03.379 makes his presentations and offers kit builds 00:05:03.379 --> 00:05:06.240 at ham fest, conventions, and club meetings. 00:05:07.800 --> 00:05:11.720 Joe is also known at Dayton at least for his 00:05:11.720 --> 00:05:14.560 famous Dr. Seuss hat. So if you're at Dayton 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:18.899 make sure you are watching for the guy the Dr. 00:05:19.019 --> 00:05:22.879 Seuss hat. Well Joe welcome back to the show 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:26.000 great to talk to you again and and we'll talk 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:28.300 a little bit about Dayton and talk a little bit 00:05:28.300 --> 00:05:32.800 about some kids All right, Neil and it's always 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:35.920 a great time to be with you on ham talk live 00:05:35.920 --> 00:05:40.199 well, I appreciate you your time tonight because 00:05:40.199 --> 00:05:43.319 People that weren't listening before don't know 00:05:43.319 --> 00:05:46.920 this but we just spent I don't know what an hour 00:05:47.709 --> 00:05:50.589 Yeah, at least an hour. Yeah, at least an hour. 00:05:51.470 --> 00:05:55.930 I put together a new desktop computer for the 00:05:55.930 --> 00:05:59.490 show to try to get rid of some of these audio 00:05:59.490 --> 00:06:02.889 glitches, and we had audio glitches. So we spent 00:06:02.889 --> 00:06:06.050 the last hour or so troubleshooting audio glitches, 00:06:06.050 --> 00:06:08.550 but we finally, I think, got it all straightened 00:06:08.550 --> 00:06:14.189 out. So hopefully the new gear here will make 00:06:14.189 --> 00:06:17.490 an improvement to the show. Well, anyway, it's 00:06:17.490 --> 00:06:21.829 almost date and time. I am scurrying around now 00:06:21.829 --> 00:06:26.050 that the semester has ended. I am scurrying around 00:06:26.050 --> 00:06:31.069 trying to make all of my preparations for the 00:06:31.069 --> 00:06:34.569 booth space that Yoda is doing and we're doing 00:06:34.569 --> 00:06:39.639 a collaboration with HamSci. uh... on some some 00:06:39.639 --> 00:06:42.060 booth talk so we're trying to get all that stuff 00:06:42.060 --> 00:06:46.240 ready to go and so you know as as ham vincente 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:50.620 comes closer we we gotta get prepared and uh... 00:06:50.620 --> 00:06:53.779 you know you always do a great job of capturing 00:06:53.779 --> 00:06:59.040 uh... all the happenings at ham vincente with 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:01.819 your your slide shows and everything but also 00:07:01.819 --> 00:07:05.149 kinda want to talk a little bit about uh... what 00:07:05.149 --> 00:07:09.410 to do for kit building. And first of all, I know 00:07:09.410 --> 00:07:13.329 there's the four days in May. So tell us a little 00:07:13.329 --> 00:07:16.389 bit about four days in May and how that kit building 00:07:16.389 --> 00:07:21.019 goes right before Hamvention. Well, actually 00:07:21.019 --> 00:07:26.399 it's on Friday Friday afternoon and Because the 00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:29.439 FDIM seminars are all day on Thursday and they 00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:33.899 move the kit building to Friday so that Rex who 00:07:33.899 --> 00:07:36.519 does the kit build would have a chance to actually 00:07:36.519 --> 00:07:42.079 sell some kits of his own in the Vendor night 00:07:42.079 --> 00:07:44.680 which we have on Thursday night there at about 00:07:44.680 --> 00:07:52.040 eight o 'clock And RECS kit this year is a CW 00:07:52.040 --> 00:07:56.540 transmitter that's made out of I think it's TTL 00:07:56.540 --> 00:07:58.759 type logic or something like that. I can't remember. 00:07:58.860 --> 00:08:02.579 It's like four logic chips and somehow he makes 00:08:02.579 --> 00:08:07.180 a CW signal out of it. And so that's what's going 00:08:07.180 --> 00:08:09.160 to be the kit build. I'm not sure if I'll be 00:08:09.160 --> 00:08:14.420 able to make that one. There will be a lot of 00:08:14.420 --> 00:08:17.040 kits for sale especially at vendor night at Four 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:20.360 Days in May and of course in the flea market 00:08:20.360 --> 00:08:23.220 and all over Hamvention you'll be able to find 00:08:23.220 --> 00:08:27.279 some kits and there's some some real good ones 00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:32.279 like Hobby PCB makes a really nice 50 watt amplifier 00:08:32.279 --> 00:08:36.240 that goes from qrp power levels to 50 watts And 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:39.860 now they have a automatic antenna tuner module 00:08:39.860 --> 00:08:43.259 that goes in there as well. So there's lots of 00:08:43.259 --> 00:08:48.080 neat kits out there. Now, you know, we mentioned 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:51.039 the four days in May, that's a kit build. What 00:08:51.039 --> 00:08:54.139 are you doing specifically? You have your kit 00:08:54.139 --> 00:08:58.100 building forum, a session. What's going on with 00:08:58.100 --> 00:09:01.379 you this year? Yeah, I have the kit building 00:09:01.379 --> 00:09:05.779 forum. It's just me this year. And because the 00:09:05.779 --> 00:09:09.120 guy that's usually with me is in charge of FDIM, 00:09:09.179 --> 00:09:15.200 so he's going to be kind of tied up. But what 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:17.879 I'll be doing is the forum, which will be at 00:09:17.879 --> 00:09:22.360 1145 on Friday morning. Yeah, we schedule it 00:09:22.360 --> 00:09:27.720 so that I only go about an hour and I'll be mentioning 00:09:27.720 --> 00:09:30.940 a lot of kits that will be available or things 00:09:30.940 --> 00:09:33.100 you might want to look for in the flea market, 00:09:33.159 --> 00:09:36.259 which is right nearby. We're in the 4H building, 00:09:36.759 --> 00:09:40.559 which is forms room four, which is kind of over 00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:44.340 by the grandstand. And so it is a little bit 00:09:44.340 --> 00:09:46.399 of a walk over there, but it's air conditioned 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:50.909 and very comfortable in there. There's exhibitors 00:09:50.909 --> 00:09:54.289 like EAE sales, which is basically right out 00:09:54.289 --> 00:09:56.950 the front door, and they're probably the biggest 00:09:56.950 --> 00:10:00.730 sales of soldering stations, soldering irons, 00:10:01.549 --> 00:10:05.289 solder, desoldering tools, surface mount tools, 00:10:05.529 --> 00:10:09.409 all the kind of stuff that you really want. Yeah, 00:10:09.690 --> 00:10:14.090 that's very convenient, Joe, that you can go 00:10:14.090 --> 00:10:18.100 shopping right after the forum. But I know you've 00:10:18.100 --> 00:10:22.480 got some kits to talk about. But before we get 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:26.720 into those, what kinds of things should you be 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:30.740 looking for to do all that shopping? You've got 00:10:30.740 --> 00:10:35.080 kits, but you've got supplies and all these other 00:10:35.080 --> 00:10:38.759 things, accessories. What's on the shopping list 00:10:38.759 --> 00:10:42.330 for the ham this year for kit building? Well, 00:10:42.330 --> 00:10:45.750 if you're a beginner or an experienced kit builder, 00:10:45.929 --> 00:10:48.269 you're going to want to look like at EAE sales 00:10:48.269 --> 00:10:51.850 and a few other places for a good soldering station. 00:10:51.990 --> 00:10:54.529 And you want one that has digital temperature 00:10:54.529 --> 00:10:58.490 control, if you can get that, because that way 00:10:58.490 --> 00:11:01.149 you can more precisely set the temperature. Now, 00:11:01.470 --> 00:11:04.149 there are some good analog ones. There are some 00:11:04.149 --> 00:11:11.590 wellers, and there is the... Edson loaner, which 00:11:11.590 --> 00:11:14.730 is what I have and it is analog but it's very 00:11:14.730 --> 00:11:19.090 precise about it. You want a temperature -controlled, 00:11:19.090 --> 00:11:22.429 not just variable heat, but temperature -controlled 00:11:22.429 --> 00:11:25.029 soldering station and you want to get yourself 00:11:25.029 --> 00:11:29.870 some 6337 solder, rosin core, no clean is the 00:11:29.870 --> 00:11:35.370 best. And there's all sorts of other things like 00:11:35.370 --> 00:11:37.870 wire cutters and strippers, some really good 00:11:37.870 --> 00:11:39.669 quality flush cutters. And you're not going to 00:11:39.669 --> 00:11:42.629 spend more than $6 to $8 for a pair of flush 00:11:42.629 --> 00:11:46.169 cutters and some needle nose pliers, screwdrivers 00:11:46.169 --> 00:11:48.009 and things like that that you're going to want 00:11:48.009 --> 00:11:52.269 to have when you're building a kit. Okay, so 00:11:52.269 --> 00:11:56.529 some great stuff to look for while you're at 00:11:56.529 --> 00:12:01.379 Hamvention. Now let's let's get into some of 00:12:01.379 --> 00:12:04.220 these kits I know you've got a new one that you 00:12:04.220 --> 00:12:07.460 were you're showing me before We started recording 00:12:07.460 --> 00:12:10.700 here that that you're excited about so tell us 00:12:10.700 --> 00:12:15.379 about the cricket okay, the cricket is the fourth 00:12:15.379 --> 00:12:18.840 in a series that the four -state QRP group has 00:12:18.840 --> 00:12:22.419 come out with the 20 meter cricket was asked 00:12:22.419 --> 00:12:27.799 for because 20 meters is a good DX band for QRP 00:12:28.299 --> 00:12:33.000 And this is no exception. It puts out about 8 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:35.860 tenths of a watt from a single 9 -volt battery 00:12:35.860 --> 00:12:39.960 on it. There are no toroids to wind. They are 00:12:39.960 --> 00:12:43.940 spiral -wound in the circuit board. This particular 00:12:43.940 --> 00:12:49.919 one was redesigned by the developer, NM0S, teamed 00:12:49.919 --> 00:12:55.730 up with NV5F. That's Virginia. And they came 00:12:55.730 --> 00:12:59.690 up with the idea and she helped work out the 00:12:59.690 --> 00:13:03.649 parameters to make this thing work on 20. And 00:13:03.649 --> 00:13:06.629 I've gotten lots of reports on reverse beacon 00:13:06.629 --> 00:13:09.690 network from this one. And it hears quite well. 00:13:10.750 --> 00:13:13.649 As long as you're not near a high power broadcast 00:13:13.649 --> 00:13:17.250 station, you'd be all right. And the straight 00:13:17.250 --> 00:13:21.230 key is part of the kit. It goes right on the 00:13:21.230 --> 00:13:24.970 main circuit board. And all in all, a real fun 00:13:24.970 --> 00:13:29.049 little kit to play with. The lower band ones, 00:13:29.169 --> 00:13:33.870 which are on 30, 40, and 80 meters, put out about 00:13:33.870 --> 00:13:38.070 a solid watt. So the efficiency isn't quite as 00:13:38.070 --> 00:13:41.809 much on 20. But 0 .8 watts is plenty of signal 00:13:41.809 --> 00:13:45.110 when you're talking about QRP. And it comes with 00:13:45.110 --> 00:13:47.950 material to make a socket. So you can interchange 00:13:47.950 --> 00:13:50.929 crystals and put them on different frequencies 00:13:50.929 --> 00:13:55.730 within the CW part of 20 meters. There's another 00:13:55.730 --> 00:13:59.330 kit that is coming out. And by the way, the designer 00:13:59.330 --> 00:14:07.139 of that kit is also NM0S, David Kripe. He is 00:14:07.139 --> 00:14:11.659 the chairman of FDIM this year and this is a 00:14:11.659 --> 00:14:14.039 dummy load kit which is good for working with 00:14:14.039 --> 00:14:16.200 kits like the cricket when you're first testing 00:14:16.200 --> 00:14:20.399 it out. The unique thing about this kit is that 00:14:20.399 --> 00:14:24.299 it's all surface mount resistors and then there's 00:14:24.299 --> 00:14:27.980 four LEDs which are conventional and then a conventional 00:14:27.980 --> 00:14:32.220 diode and a disc capacitor and a BNC connector. 00:14:32.940 --> 00:14:37.220 Now before you get Upset about surface mount 00:14:37.220 --> 00:14:39.600 parts and by the way, this is a dummy load and 00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:43.179 it shows How much power the first LED that lights 00:14:43.179 --> 00:14:46.019 up says a half a watt then there's a 1 watt 2 00:14:46.019 --> 00:14:49.299 watt and 5 watt LED To give you a rough idea 00:14:49.299 --> 00:14:51.679 how much power you're putting out from that little 00:14:51.679 --> 00:14:56.559 QRP kit a Lot of people get really nervous when 00:14:56.559 --> 00:14:59.379 they see that it's got surface mount parts But 00:14:59.379 --> 00:15:02.700 these chip resistors are bigger than eighth watt 00:15:03.540 --> 00:15:06.879 Regular through hole resistors, so they're they're 00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:10.360 plenty big and actually relatively easy to install 00:15:10.360 --> 00:15:13.720 now when I did this one I did it to document 00:15:13.720 --> 00:15:16.519 two different methods of doing surface mount 00:15:16.519 --> 00:15:21.320 and so the five resistors across the front by 00:15:21.320 --> 00:15:26.899 the Diodes I did by putting a tiny dab of solder 00:15:26.899 --> 00:15:30.399 on one of the two pads on each one and then I 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:34.519 took a tweezers and I brought that resistor right 00:15:34.519 --> 00:15:38.440 up to that one soldered pad and just heat it 00:15:38.440 --> 00:15:40.940 up slightly use the tweezers to make it nice 00:15:40.940 --> 00:15:43.120 and neat and straight and then let the soldering 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:47.019 iron off let it cool and now you have one side 00:15:47.019 --> 00:15:49.919 soldered and then I soldered the other side and 00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:53.259 then I can go back to the first pad in case there's 00:15:53.259 --> 00:15:55.279 too much or too little solder and I can clean 00:15:55.279 --> 00:15:59.580 that up The other ten I did all at once with 00:15:59.580 --> 00:16:04.700 the heat and solder paste method Where you squirt 00:16:04.700 --> 00:16:07.700 a syringe of solder paste onto the pads and it 00:16:07.700 --> 00:16:10.200 looks awful when you do it I mean it looks pretty 00:16:10.200 --> 00:16:11.899 sloppy and you think well, this is not going 00:16:11.899 --> 00:16:15.960 to work, but it does and so the magic happens 00:16:15.960 --> 00:16:18.620 when you put a heat tool and what you're going 00:16:18.620 --> 00:16:22.220 to use it's not the same thing as a paint stripper 00:16:22.220 --> 00:16:25.720 gun because that'll blow the surface mount parts 00:16:25.720 --> 00:16:28.740 into the next county but these parts are actually 00:16:28.740 --> 00:16:30.740 pretty big so they don't seem to want to move 00:16:30.740 --> 00:16:34.039 as much and the pace does help kind of keep them 00:16:34.039 --> 00:16:37.279 relatively straight but you're never ever going 00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:40.419 to get them exactly straight when you lay them 00:16:40.419 --> 00:16:43.029 down with the tweezers. And they're not hard 00:16:43.029 --> 00:16:46.470 to do, so working with the tweezers is no more 00:16:46.470 --> 00:16:48.970 difficult than working with a needle nose or 00:16:48.970 --> 00:16:52.230 anything else that we do with kit building. And 00:16:52.230 --> 00:16:55.690 so you have the solder paste squirted on and 00:16:55.690 --> 00:16:58.750 kind of near each of these pads, and you say, 00:16:58.789 --> 00:17:01.129 well, that's just too much. The paste is sloppy 00:17:01.129 --> 00:17:02.970 and all over the place. And I'm writing about 00:17:02.970 --> 00:17:08.170 that in an upcoming issue of CQ. And what I do 00:17:08.170 --> 00:17:10.950 is I take this heat tool that's used for melting 00:17:10.950 --> 00:17:15.049 like wax, ink and stuff for scrapbooking and 00:17:15.049 --> 00:17:17.910 you can get those at Michael's or Hobby Lobby. 00:17:18.430 --> 00:17:24.069 And it costs about $20 for the tool. And so you 00:17:24.069 --> 00:17:26.670 heat it up and the very first thing that happens 00:17:26.670 --> 00:17:31.380 is this gray paste gets glossy. then after a 00:17:31.380 --> 00:17:34.880 while it'll start bubbling up and suddenly that 00:17:34.880 --> 00:17:37.740 glossy appearance kind of disappears and it gets 00:17:37.740 --> 00:17:41.119 silvery and it looks like solder but yet it spreads 00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:43.460 out and you think oh it's gonna make a mess and 00:17:43.460 --> 00:17:47.680 then after a while it contracts and it gels right 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:52.380 to that pad and the magic happens and that magic 00:17:52.380 --> 00:17:58.960 is when it contracts on both sides and that Surface 00:17:58.960 --> 00:18:02.279 mount part these resistors will suddenly straighten 00:18:02.279 --> 00:18:05.500 themselves out and that's because of the surface 00:18:05.500 --> 00:18:09.740 tension of the solder and flux mix and Then you'll 00:18:09.740 --> 00:18:12.839 see it all nice and shiny and you just work the 00:18:12.839 --> 00:18:17.740 heat tool down the row of these Resistors and 00:18:17.740 --> 00:18:19.799 because the adjacent ones are starting to get 00:18:19.799 --> 00:18:23.779 heated up from where you're working It goes pretty 00:18:23.779 --> 00:18:26.779 quick after a while then when you finally got 00:18:26.779 --> 00:18:30.019 the last one you simply lift the tool away and 00:18:30.019 --> 00:18:32.940 you'll see yeah there's flux kind of all over 00:18:32.940 --> 00:18:37.039 but the solder looks real nice and the little 00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:40.880 chip resistors are nice and straight all by themselves 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:45.059 and then what I do is I take some 91 % alcohol 00:18:45.059 --> 00:18:47.519 you get the bottles like at Walmart for a couple 00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:52.970 of bucks and a shop cloth or something and I 00:18:52.970 --> 00:18:56.490 put the alcohol on it and then I wipe it clean 00:18:56.490 --> 00:19:00.769 and that lifts up all the flux from this, from 00:19:00.769 --> 00:19:03.809 the solder paste and then you have all of the 00:19:03.809 --> 00:19:06.589 surface mount parts done. Once they're done, 00:19:06.630 --> 00:19:09.650 I put in the four LEDs and they all go the same 00:19:09.650 --> 00:19:12.569 direction. Then I put in the diode, the capacitor 00:19:12.569 --> 00:19:15.490 and then last but not least, the BNC connector. 00:19:15.490 --> 00:19:18.670 Now you have a 50 ohm dummy load and you can 00:19:18.670 --> 00:19:21.720 check it by taking a Ohm meter from the center 00:19:21.720 --> 00:19:24.920 to the outside of the BNC and it comes out exactly 00:19:24.920 --> 00:19:30.779 51 ohms so that's how you put one of these things 00:19:30.779 --> 00:19:33.539 together and For me, of course, I'm a little 00:19:33.539 --> 00:19:37.079 more experienced. It took me more time to photograph 00:19:37.079 --> 00:19:40.009 it under different stages than it did to assemble 00:19:40.009 --> 00:19:45.049 it. But it's really an easy kit and it's probably 00:19:45.049 --> 00:19:48.250 the best introduction to surface mount that you 00:19:48.250 --> 00:19:50.549 could have because these are the largest surface 00:19:50.549 --> 00:19:55.829 mount parts they make. And they go together real 00:19:55.829 --> 00:19:58.589 nicely and it's easy to do. You can use any of 00:19:58.589 --> 00:20:03.410 the methods. Just dab the solder and stick it 00:20:03.410 --> 00:20:06.599 to it. Kind of a thing and then solder the other 00:20:06.599 --> 00:20:09.720 pad method that works fine. It looks just as 00:20:09.720 --> 00:20:16.400 nice and neat so That's that kit there are other 00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:20.140 kits coming down the pike for four states and 00:20:20.140 --> 00:20:23.220 We'll be making announcements on those as they 00:20:23.220 --> 00:20:26.920 come available The other kit that I put together 00:20:26.920 --> 00:20:31.680 this year One of them is in fact one that's in 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:34.700 progress right now. I'm not done with is the 00:20:34.700 --> 00:20:39.400 SW40 Plus and this is from Midway Electronics 00:20:39.400 --> 00:20:45.019 and he is reproducing the kits from K1SWL, Small 00:20:45.019 --> 00:20:50.359 Wonder Labs and when Small Wonder Labs quit making 00:20:50.359 --> 00:20:54.359 the RockMites and the SW series kits, the RockMites 00:20:54.359 --> 00:21:00.839 went to REX, W1REX and the SW series kits went 00:21:00.839 --> 00:21:04.700 to Midway Electronics. And so I'm putting it 00:21:04.700 --> 00:21:07.700 together and he kind of hews faithfully to the 00:21:07.700 --> 00:21:11.140 original circuit and only made minor changes 00:21:11.140 --> 00:21:13.880 to accommodate parts that are not available anymore. 00:21:15.180 --> 00:21:18.400 And so I'm about halfway done with that kit. 00:21:19.059 --> 00:21:22.119 And so I've written about that in the magazine 00:21:22.119 --> 00:21:25.039 and I'll be finishing that one up shortly. And 00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:29.150 finally, There's one called the Pentek TR35 and 00:21:29.150 --> 00:21:33.730 it's a four band CW transceiver and it has variable 00:21:35.049 --> 00:21:39.589 receive bandwidth, CW narrow and CW wide, and 00:21:39.589 --> 00:21:44.349 then you can go into the SSB mode. It also has 00:21:44.349 --> 00:21:48.509 RIT, and the newer version has a way of activating 00:21:48.509 --> 00:21:52.130 a memory keyer within the thing, and it is all 00:21:52.130 --> 00:21:56.329 digitally synthesized with an OLED display, and 00:21:56.329 --> 00:22:00.470 there's no real menus. It's all knobs and switches. 00:22:00.910 --> 00:22:05.000 It's got a volume control, RF gain control, TX 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:09.059 power output and a key or speed control mode 00:22:09.059 --> 00:22:15.660 switch It's got a dial lock You can change the 00:22:15.660 --> 00:22:18.180 steps by pushing down on the tuning knob. It 00:22:18.180 --> 00:22:24.079 is an encoder type synthesizer and I Activated 00:22:24.079 --> 00:22:29.140 this doing my first soda expedition and that 00:22:29.140 --> 00:22:34.359 was in conjunction with the uh, forced AQRP annual 00:22:34.359 --> 00:22:37.960 convention in Branson, Missouri in early April. 00:22:38.619 --> 00:22:41.140 So we'll go into that a little bit more if you're 00:22:41.140 --> 00:22:43.900 interested. And, uh, it was quite an adventure. 00:22:44.119 --> 00:22:46.680 I now have a great appreciation for what the 00:22:46.680 --> 00:22:49.140 people do when they activate these mountains. 00:22:49.480 --> 00:22:53.240 Oh, I imagine. Yeah. We'll, uh, we'll definitely 00:22:53.240 --> 00:22:56.940 talk about that and some more kits and, and I 00:22:56.940 --> 00:23:00.880 like the, the, uh, You know the solder magic 00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:04.140 thing, you know ever every radio is is just a 00:23:04.140 --> 00:23:08.299 big Magic box, right? So that's the magic in 00:23:08.299 --> 00:23:11.140 the in the kit Yes, especially when you're just 00:23:11.140 --> 00:23:13.779 heating up a pace and it's solders it for you. 00:23:13.779 --> 00:23:18.059 It's just yeah That's cool. All right. Well, 00:23:18.059 --> 00:23:21.759 we'll talk about The soda bit and we'll talk 00:23:21.759 --> 00:23:24.440 about some more kits when we come back with Joe 00:23:24.440 --> 00:23:28.500 right after this word from ICOM America right 00:23:28.500 --> 00:23:33.140 here on Amtok Live! Be a field day leader with 00:23:33.140 --> 00:23:36.519 ICOM. Field day is ham radio's most popular event 00:23:36.519 --> 00:23:39.619 and it's just around the corner. On June 26th 00:23:39.619 --> 00:23:42.900 and 27th, more than 40 ,000 North American hams 00:23:42.900 --> 00:23:45.700 come together to operate remotely, connect with 00:23:45.700 --> 00:23:48.700 nature, connect with friends. With a powerful 00:23:48.700 --> 00:23:51.839 and high quality ICOM base station, easily cut 00:23:51.839 --> 00:23:54.440 through the pileups to get that contesting edge. 00:23:54.579 --> 00:24:00.480 Our popular IC 705 portable, IC 7300 and IC 7600 00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:03.980 X10 SDR transceivers are the clear choice for 00:24:03.980 --> 00:24:07.390 DXers and contesters across the globe. The IC 00:24:07.390 --> 00:24:10.089 -705 is the perfect transceiver for hams who 00:24:10.089 --> 00:24:13.369 enjoy both the great indoors and outdoors on 00:24:13.369 --> 00:24:16.089 field day. It's the perfect contesting companion. 00:24:16.309 --> 00:24:18.690 The space station provides features and functionality 00:24:18.690 --> 00:24:21.289 at the tip of your fingers in a portable package 00:24:21.289 --> 00:24:25.150 covering HF 6 meters, 2 meters, and 70 centimeters 00:24:25.150 --> 00:24:27.950 and weighs in at just under 2 pounds. It has 00:24:27.950 --> 00:24:30.930 a 4 .3 inch color touchscreen with live band 00:24:30.930 --> 00:24:33.750 scope and waterfall, 5 watts with a battery, 00:24:33.849 --> 00:24:37.940 10 watts with a power supply. sideband, CW, AM, 00:24:38.119 --> 00:24:41.380 FM, and full D -star functions, Bluetooth, wireless 00:24:41.380 --> 00:24:44.660 LAN, micro SD card slot, micro USB connector, 00:24:45.140 --> 00:24:48.279 integrated GPS, and the speaker mic comes standard. 00:24:48.500 --> 00:24:52.079 New accessories are now available, the MBF705 00:24:52.079 --> 00:24:56.259 desktop stand and the AH705 optional automatic 00:24:56.259 --> 00:24:59.579 antenna tuner that covers 1 .8 megahertz to 50 00:24:59.579 --> 00:25:03.000 megahertz bands with a 30 meter or longer wire 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:07.039 antenna. The IC7300 is a high -performance innovative 00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:09.779 HF transceiver with a compact design that will 00:25:09.779 --> 00:25:12.980 far exceed your expectations. This innovative 00:25:12.980 --> 00:25:17.160 HF transceiver digitizes RF before various receiver 00:25:17.160 --> 00:25:20.099 stages, reducing the generated inherent noise 00:25:20.099 --> 00:25:23.420 in different IF stages. This is the radio that 00:25:23.420 --> 00:25:26.680 changed the way entry -level HF is designed. 00:25:26.819 --> 00:25:30.140 With RF direct sampling, 15 discrete bandpass 00:25:30.140 --> 00:25:33.019 filters, the large color touchscreen spectrum 00:25:33.069 --> 00:25:36.690 scope and SD card slot. The real HF fun starts 00:25:36.690 --> 00:25:40.869 here. The IC7610 is the SDR every ham wants. 00:25:41.170 --> 00:25:43.529 This high performance SDR has the ability to 00:25:43.529 --> 00:25:46.180 pick out faint signals in the presence of stronger 00:25:46.180 --> 00:25:50.500 adjacent ones. The IC7610 by ICOM is a direct 00:25:50.500 --> 00:25:53.039 sampling software -defined radio that's changed 00:25:53.039 --> 00:25:55.839 the world's definition of an SDR transceiver. 00:25:56.099 --> 00:26:00.380 It has 110 dB RMDR, dual digicel, independent 00:26:00.380 --> 00:26:03.220 dual receivers, and an RF direct sampling system. 00:26:03.579 --> 00:26:07.140 Visit icomamerica .com slash amateur for more 00:26:07.140 --> 00:26:11.390 information on ICOM radios. Well, goodbye, Mr. 00:26:11.690 --> 00:26:15.589 Carlson, and beware of the Dayton Poisoner. Oh, 00:26:15.869 --> 00:26:20.210 yeah. You're talking ham radio, baby. You're 00:26:20.210 --> 00:26:41.940 listening to Ham Talk Live with Neil Rapp. Welcome 00:26:41.940 --> 00:26:44.900 back to HamTalk Live. Be sure to check us out 00:26:44.900 --> 00:26:49.079 on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. And we'll 00:26:49.079 --> 00:26:52.480 get back to Joe here in just a little bit. But 00:26:52.480 --> 00:26:55.559 I do want to announce that HamTalk Live will 00:26:55.559 --> 00:27:01.039 be live next Thursday night, which is May 19th. 00:27:01.039 --> 00:27:07.029 And we will have the Hamvention weather forecast 00:27:07.029 --> 00:27:11.529 a traffic report an interview with some of the 00:27:11.529 --> 00:27:15.490 Dayton Hamvention folks And that will be live 00:27:15.490 --> 00:27:20.349 on Thursday night live from Dayton, Ohio I'm 00:27:20.349 --> 00:27:22.670 guessing we're probably going to be a little 00:27:22.670 --> 00:27:26.589 bit late like 9 30 or 10 o 'clock, but we will 00:27:26.589 --> 00:27:31.250 be on the air live So make sure you tune in to 00:27:31.250 --> 00:27:35.529 that But before we get back to Joe, it's time 00:27:35.529 --> 00:27:39.630 for, of course, the Joke of the Week. Now it's 00:27:39.630 --> 00:27:43.109 time for the HamTalk Live Ham Radio Joke of the 00:27:43.109 --> 00:27:45.490 Week, the part of the show where Rick tells us 00:27:45.490 --> 00:27:48.750 a ham radio joke. The HamTalk Live Ham Radio 00:27:48.750 --> 00:27:52.049 Joke of the Week is brought to you by QRM Labs. 00:27:52.329 --> 00:27:56.289 Now here's Rick Garrett in 9GSU with today's 00:27:56.289 --> 00:28:04.329 HamTalk Live Joke of the Week. It's no secret 00:28:04.329 --> 00:28:06.990 that ham radio isn't an inexpensive hobby So 00:28:06.990 --> 00:28:09.450 I needed to take a part -time job to support 00:28:09.450 --> 00:28:12.289 my habit and they had an opening I took a job 00:28:12.289 --> 00:28:15.210 as a security guard at the cell phone store. 00:28:15.329 --> 00:28:20.390 I am literally guardian of the galaxy This has 00:28:20.390 --> 00:28:23.390 been the ham talk live ham radio joke of the 00:28:23.390 --> 00:28:27.089 week with Rick Garrett in nine GSU Tune in again 00:28:27.089 --> 00:28:33.369 next week for another joke from Rick Joe Eisenberg 00:28:33.369 --> 00:28:37.670 k0neb the kit building editor from CQ magazine 00:28:37.670 --> 00:28:41.750 and contributor to ham nation by the way Is with 00:28:41.750 --> 00:28:45.289 us again tonight to talk about some some kit 00:28:45.289 --> 00:28:48.289 building stuff and and you were just mentioning 00:28:48.289 --> 00:28:53.430 You know your first soda activation at the Four 00:28:53.430 --> 00:28:58.890 Days in May convention out in Branson, Missouri. 00:28:59.750 --> 00:29:02.269 So talk a little bit about your experience with 00:29:02.269 --> 00:29:06.329 the Summits on the Air. Well actually it was 00:29:06.329 --> 00:29:12.309 Ozarkon from the four state QRP group and I went 00:29:12.309 --> 00:29:22.809 along with Gary W0MNA and his wife Martha. W0ERI 00:29:22.809 --> 00:29:26.910 and they are working on their mountain goat award 00:29:26.910 --> 00:29:31.230 and that is for activating so many summits and 00:29:31.230 --> 00:29:33.869 they get different points for difficulty and 00:29:33.869 --> 00:29:38.230 things like that. We did two summits, one was 00:29:38.230 --> 00:29:42.569 in Arkansas and it was kind of near Bentonville 00:29:42.569 --> 00:29:45.470 about 10 miles from there and it overlooked Beaver 00:29:45.470 --> 00:29:48.619 Lake. And it was a tough climb. You just drive 00:29:48.619 --> 00:29:51.240 up and pull into a parking lot and string your 00:29:51.240 --> 00:29:55.299 wires in the trees. And it had just a tremendous 00:29:55.299 --> 00:30:01.900 view of the lake. And they were using a Yesu 00:30:01.900 --> 00:30:06.299 897. And so you don't have to go QRP on these 00:30:06.299 --> 00:30:09.880 things, but you'll see in a minute why it helps. 00:30:10.559 --> 00:30:12.900 They were running only about 50 watts and they 00:30:12.900 --> 00:30:19.039 were using a BioNL. battery pack and they were 00:30:19.039 --> 00:30:23.960 on sideband it wasn't you know all on CW and 00:30:23.960 --> 00:30:28.640 he and his wife made several contacts and then 00:30:28.640 --> 00:30:31.559 they handed it to me and I made several contacts 00:30:31.559 --> 00:30:34.259 so people got credit again for working somebody 00:30:34.259 --> 00:30:39.559 else on the same peak and it's it's just a quick 00:30:39.559 --> 00:30:43.059 hello gotcha kind of a thing. Even the signal 00:30:43.059 --> 00:30:45.839 report is not really necessary, but we do take 00:30:45.839 --> 00:30:54.180 that. And we publish out our peak number, which 00:30:54.180 --> 00:30:58.519 tells them where the summit is, both on the air 00:30:58.519 --> 00:31:04.299 as well as on a soda watch, kind of a spotting 00:31:04.299 --> 00:31:08.869 network. And so people are watching that spotting 00:31:08.869 --> 00:31:11.470 network to see when the activator says, hey, 00:31:11.529 --> 00:31:17.230 I'm here. And so they did that. And then they 00:31:17.230 --> 00:31:20.529 handed it over to me. And I made several contacts, 00:31:20.809 --> 00:31:23.509 including, I think, as far away as France from 00:31:23.509 --> 00:31:28.680 the mountain. And then... They decided to treat 00:31:28.680 --> 00:31:33.000 me to the exact opposite of the easy one. We 00:31:33.000 --> 00:31:38.819 went to Pilot Knob Mountain in Missouri, which 00:31:38.819 --> 00:31:44.220 is kind of southwest of Branson and mostly west. 00:31:45.160 --> 00:31:50.460 And it's about a quarter of a mile hike up. And 00:31:50.460 --> 00:31:53.279 so you park your car basically on the shoulder 00:31:53.279 --> 00:31:57.559 of the road off on a dirt path. Then you walk 00:31:57.559 --> 00:32:02.720 up and it is publicly accessible The closest 00:32:02.720 --> 00:32:06.140 restroom is the porta pot at the street and there's 00:32:06.140 --> 00:32:08.720 a sign saying that this is a conservation area 00:32:08.720 --> 00:32:13.660 and you go up and Going up there. It was kind 00:32:13.660 --> 00:32:16.640 of a rocky trail and the rocks were somewhat 00:32:16.640 --> 00:32:19.400 loose in places So you had to be careful. You 00:32:19.400 --> 00:32:21.319 didn't twist your ankle or anything on the way 00:32:21.319 --> 00:32:25.109 up it will take your breath away not just because 00:32:25.109 --> 00:32:27.950 of the stress of going up but you're also going 00:32:27.950 --> 00:32:31.630 up in altitude and you get to the top and we 00:32:31.630 --> 00:32:33.809 couldn't see anything there's no view because 00:32:33.809 --> 00:32:37.410 it's a forest but that forest means guess what 00:32:37.410 --> 00:32:41.349 we have trees and so we strung up a wire antenna 00:32:41.349 --> 00:32:47.519 again and this time I also worked from the 897, 00:32:47.660 --> 00:32:51.279 but then I plugged in the Pentek TR35 and made 00:32:51.279 --> 00:32:54.839 a few CW contacts. And what was even more fun 00:32:54.839 --> 00:32:59.980 was looking on my phone at the RBN, the Reverse 00:32:59.980 --> 00:33:02.579 Beacon Network, and seeing reports from both 00:33:02.579 --> 00:33:07.019 coasts with very good signals. And so I was real 00:33:07.019 --> 00:33:11.019 happy with that and knowing that the about five 00:33:11.019 --> 00:33:13.440 or six watts that that radio was putting out 00:33:13.440 --> 00:33:17.240 on 20 was doing quite well. And I was running 00:33:17.240 --> 00:33:21.019 that off of a bio N .O. pack as well. Now, when, 00:33:21.160 --> 00:33:23.779 of course, when you're hiking that far, instead 00:33:23.779 --> 00:33:26.859 of only hiking a short distance from your vehicle, 00:33:27.680 --> 00:33:31.200 what you bring is got to be pretty light. So 00:33:31.200 --> 00:33:33.890 you pretty well. take just the bare minimum of 00:33:33.890 --> 00:33:39.750 what you need to do this. And so I just had a 00:33:39.750 --> 00:33:46.930 little bag that had my radio and the key and 00:33:46.930 --> 00:33:53.130 headset and so forth. And I discovered quickly 00:33:53.130 --> 00:33:57.490 that they were using Bose noise canceling headsets. 00:33:57.509 --> 00:34:00.539 And because there was a high wind, especially 00:34:00.539 --> 00:34:04.799 up there, it was noisy using earbuds, but the 00:34:04.799 --> 00:34:08.199 noise -canceling headsets are wonderful, so I'm 00:34:08.199 --> 00:34:13.960 going to dedicate one to portable HFUs. But summits 00:34:13.960 --> 00:34:17.260 on the air, as like parks on the air, kind of 00:34:17.260 --> 00:34:19.840 work similar, except that summits only require 00:34:19.840 --> 00:34:22.940 four contacts to be a valid activation, while 00:34:22.940 --> 00:34:27.670 parks requires 10. And parks you can operate 00:34:27.670 --> 00:34:30.369 from your vehicle, while summits you cannot. 00:34:30.550 --> 00:34:33.789 You can't have anything on or near the vehicle. 00:34:34.010 --> 00:34:39.030 You have to hike away from it. And the drive 00:34:39.030 --> 00:34:41.690 up one, yeah, we still walked away from the vehicle, 00:34:41.769 --> 00:34:47.750 but we weren't climbing. And so the neat part 00:34:47.750 --> 00:34:51.230 about it is that it puts your kit radios and 00:34:51.230 --> 00:34:58.699 your regular radios to the test. He used a small 00:34:58.699 --> 00:35:01.659 piece of like six inch piece of PVC pipe with 00:35:01.659 --> 00:35:05.400 a screw eye and some fishing shot or whatever 00:35:05.400 --> 00:35:09.139 in it and he would sling that into a tree and 00:35:09.139 --> 00:35:11.219 would fall down and pull the string and then 00:35:11.219 --> 00:35:14.300 he'd just tie the end insulator to that and that 00:35:14.300 --> 00:35:19.039 ties things up and I think once we used a 40 00:35:19.039 --> 00:35:26.130 -20 dipole and The other one we used a multiband 00:35:26.130 --> 00:35:30.130 and fed and either works really good and they're 00:35:30.130 --> 00:35:34.789 only using RG 174 for the feed line. The loss 00:35:34.789 --> 00:35:40.630 isn't as great as you think on the lower HF bands 00:35:40.630 --> 00:35:45.130 like 40 and 20 that we mostly use and it sure 00:35:45.130 --> 00:35:49.250 saves a lot of weight going up and down that 00:35:49.250 --> 00:35:54.099 hill. So you know when you're doing it where 00:35:54.099 --> 00:35:57.039 you got to hike up the mountain. That was a difficult 00:35:57.039 --> 00:35:59.039 one. And they told me, they said, well, they 00:35:59.039 --> 00:36:01.920 picked those so that I would get both experiences. 00:36:02.260 --> 00:36:05.380 And we certainly did. And I got some pictures, 00:36:05.860 --> 00:36:11.199 and those are in the June issue of CQ Magazine. 00:36:11.300 --> 00:36:15.480 You can see me sitting there on a camp stool 00:36:15.480 --> 00:36:21.519 operating the Pentek TR35. And it worked wonderful 00:36:21.519 --> 00:36:27.550 for this. So, I hope to do that again at some 00:36:27.550 --> 00:36:31.650 point. The closest summit to me is about 400 00:36:31.650 --> 00:36:36.110 miles from where I live because I'm in southeastern 00:36:36.110 --> 00:36:39.929 Nebraska where it's pretty well flat. The people 00:36:39.929 --> 00:36:43.230 in Colorado, they do the 14k mountains and things 00:36:43.230 --> 00:36:45.889 like that and other states have a lot of them. 00:36:46.219 --> 00:36:49.960 We do not in Nebraska, so I have to take advantage 00:36:49.960 --> 00:36:52.739 of times when I'm in those kind of areas to do 00:36:52.739 --> 00:36:56.039 that. Probably the closest thing you have to 00:36:56.039 --> 00:37:00.719 a summit in Nebraska is the press box at the 00:37:00.719 --> 00:37:04.820 University of Nebraska Stadium. That's probably 00:37:04.820 --> 00:37:08.820 your summit. Yeah, that or the top of the state 00:37:08.820 --> 00:37:16.340 capitol. Unfortunately, they don't count, but 00:37:16.340 --> 00:37:20.539 it's very interesting and you learn a lot like 00:37:20.539 --> 00:37:24.820 you can get dehydrated real easily up there and 00:37:24.820 --> 00:37:28.019 you've got to just be prepared to do some hiking. 00:37:29.119 --> 00:37:31.820 and lighten up your load but make sure you have 00:37:31.820 --> 00:37:34.440 spares of certain things so that when you make 00:37:34.440 --> 00:37:36.239 your way all the way up there that if something 00:37:36.239 --> 00:37:38.780 fails you can still find a way to get back on 00:37:38.780 --> 00:37:41.980 the air and make it all worthwhile and the chasers 00:37:41.980 --> 00:37:44.820 are out there they're looking for those activators 00:37:44.820 --> 00:37:48.059 and you don't want to go oh my gosh I forgot 00:37:48.059 --> 00:37:52.710 that RF adapter Yep, exactly because it's a long 00:37:52.710 --> 00:37:59.269 way back long ways back to the car and So I have 00:37:59.269 --> 00:38:03.090 different like go boxes and stuff the TR 35 was 00:38:03.090 --> 00:38:11.119 in its own box and I have earbuds and I have 00:38:11.119 --> 00:38:16.119 the power cord adapters and I have antenna adapters 00:38:16.119 --> 00:38:19.000 and things like that. So whatever they throw 00:38:19.000 --> 00:38:24.519 at me, I can plug into and away I go. But Soda 00:38:24.519 --> 00:38:27.360 is a challenge, especially the ones that you 00:38:27.360 --> 00:38:31.139 got to hike up. The drive -ups are pretty pleasant. 00:38:31.239 --> 00:38:34.519 Some are drive and hike. Where you drive up and 00:38:34.519 --> 00:38:37.400 then you got to hike up a hundred yards or something 00:38:37.400 --> 00:38:42.920 but it does vary each one is different and It's 00:38:42.920 --> 00:38:46.800 just a lot of fun to use the soda watch app which 00:38:46.800 --> 00:38:51.599 you can get for Android or iOS or go to the soda 00:38:51.599 --> 00:38:56.599 watch webpage and you can see when people activate 00:38:56.599 --> 00:38:59.760 and then you get on there and and work them make 00:38:59.760 --> 00:39:03.659 sure you log them and and everybody gets credit, 00:39:04.239 --> 00:39:06.719 because the activators get credit for how many 00:39:06.719 --> 00:39:10.460 they make and where they're at and so forth, 00:39:10.739 --> 00:39:16.260 as does the chasers that are sitting there waiting 00:39:16.260 --> 00:39:19.820 to catch soda operators, and it's just a lot 00:39:19.820 --> 00:39:24.599 of fun. Well, sounds like you had a great time 00:39:24.599 --> 00:39:28.840 there and got to try out something new, so that's 00:39:28.840 --> 00:39:32.920 always cool. Well, Joe, before we go, we said 00:39:32.920 --> 00:39:35.699 we were going to talk a little bit more about 00:39:35.699 --> 00:39:39.679 kits and everything with Hamvention coming up 00:39:39.679 --> 00:39:45.320 here soon. And I didn't mention the Hamvention 00:39:45.320 --> 00:39:50.420 countdown to the slideshows. So you got a plan 00:39:50.420 --> 00:39:55.039 for this year's slideshow? Yes, I do. In the 00:39:55.039 --> 00:39:57.780 past couple of years, I would do two slideshows. 00:39:58.030 --> 00:40:01.610 each kind of with a different theme and a different 00:40:01.610 --> 00:40:05.769 song. This time I'm using a medley of three songs 00:40:05.769 --> 00:40:09.230 that have been already mixed and edited together 00:40:09.230 --> 00:40:14.329 to make a one long slideshow. So it's going to 00:40:14.329 --> 00:40:17.210 take me a while longer before I release it because 00:40:17.210 --> 00:40:19.210 of how long it takes to put all that together. 00:40:19.349 --> 00:40:21.929 The soundtrack is done and actually the first 00:40:21.929 --> 00:40:24.989 minute and 40 seconds is already done as well. 00:40:25.700 --> 00:40:29.199 And what it is, is I'm going to kind of depict 00:40:29.199 --> 00:40:33.400 in the first minute and a half the pandemic and 00:40:33.400 --> 00:40:36.239 one of the things that I did during the pandemic. 00:40:37.019 --> 00:40:41.760 And it'll show things like people getting vaccinated 00:40:41.760 --> 00:40:49.400 and I made clear face shields for our first responders 00:40:49.400 --> 00:40:52.519 here. I made over 300 of those on the 3D printer. 00:40:52.960 --> 00:40:56.320 And that was a 24 -7 project for about three 00:40:56.320 --> 00:41:02.940 months. And so I wanted to kind of show that 00:41:02.940 --> 00:41:07.639 and then kind of fade into the normal Hamvention 00:41:07.639 --> 00:41:11.519 show, which is another song. Now, the first song, 00:41:11.539 --> 00:41:16.489 I'm using Enya's Only Time. And then I go to 00:41:16.489 --> 00:41:19.210 Hall and Oates, you make my dreams come true, 00:41:19.289 --> 00:41:22.530 which is so appropriate for coming back to Hamvention. 00:41:23.349 --> 00:41:27.929 And then at the end, it fades into staying alive 00:41:27.929 --> 00:41:30.769 by the Bee Gees, which I picked because obviously 00:41:30.769 --> 00:41:33.070 we're staying alive. We're getting through this 00:41:33.070 --> 00:41:36.670 pandemic and we're getting to see each other 00:41:36.670 --> 00:41:41.130 again. So if you're listening to this podcast, 00:41:41.800 --> 00:41:45.340 and you see me in that hat and with that big 00:41:45.340 --> 00:41:48.360 camera with me, I'm going to want a picture of 00:41:48.360 --> 00:41:54.579 you in a disco pose. Now think of Saturday Night 00:41:54.579 --> 00:41:58.920 Fever and John Travolta. That's kind of what 00:41:58.920 --> 00:42:04.340 I want. So by yourself or as a couple or whatever 00:42:04.340 --> 00:42:07.869 or as a group of friends. I'm gonna want people 00:42:07.869 --> 00:42:11.250 in disco poses for the last part of the slideshow 00:42:11.250 --> 00:42:13.849 because it's just gonna be a lot of fun and you're 00:42:13.849 --> 00:42:16.190 gonna get to see a whole lot of people in that 00:42:16.190 --> 00:42:20.550 last segment of the slideshow and So the whole 00:42:20.550 --> 00:42:24.630 thing I'm hoping comes in at about seven to eight 00:42:24.630 --> 00:42:28.059 minutes long. It can be as long as mine To see 00:42:28.059 --> 00:42:31.780 how many people we get posing but I'm guessing 00:42:31.780 --> 00:42:34.400 seven and a half to eight at the most Which is 00:42:34.400 --> 00:42:37.719 about the same as my slideshows when I do two 00:42:37.719 --> 00:42:42.360 of them. So It's it's quite a project I've never 00:42:42.360 --> 00:42:45.840 done a medley like this for a ham -vention slideshow 00:42:45.840 --> 00:42:48.900 and I'm really looking forward to it and getting 00:42:48.900 --> 00:42:53.980 lots of smiles and disco poses all put together 00:42:53.980 --> 00:42:58.460 and I just hope that everybody remembers that 00:42:58.460 --> 00:43:01.159 and comes up to me and says are you ready for 00:43:01.159 --> 00:43:04.380 the pose and I'll say you bet and I will aim 00:43:04.380 --> 00:43:07.940 and shoot and I do have a new camera this year 00:43:07.940 --> 00:43:12.659 by the way and so we're hopeful that the improvement 00:43:12.659 --> 00:43:15.500 in photos that people have already seen in the 00:43:15.500 --> 00:43:18.840 magazine will translate to the slideshow as well. 00:43:19.740 --> 00:43:22.440 Alright, so if you see a guy walking around and 00:43:22.440 --> 00:43:26.440 the Dr. Seuss at that's what you do. You do your 00:43:26.440 --> 00:43:31.519 disco pose and get your picture possibly in the 00:43:31.519 --> 00:43:37.139 next big slideshow. So take a look around for 00:43:37.139 --> 00:43:40.199 some kits and of course our friends at Tower 00:43:40.199 --> 00:43:44.559 Electronics will have a lot of the parts and 00:43:44.559 --> 00:43:47.139 cables and accessories that you need to do all 00:43:47.139 --> 00:43:51.539 that. Yes, definitely. In fact, they're my primary 00:43:51.539 --> 00:43:55.199 source for plugs, jacks, connectors, and especially 00:43:55.199 --> 00:43:58.820 adapters that we need. Things like BNC to SO 00:43:58.820 --> 00:44:02.679 -239 and things like that and SMA and so forth 00:44:02.679 --> 00:44:06.019 for all these kits. Tower electronics is my go 00:44:06.019 --> 00:44:09.699 -to. Well, so make sure you stop by and see them. 00:44:10.320 --> 00:44:13.719 And we have breaking news here. Let me play the 00:44:13.719 --> 00:44:23.300 breaking news music. Because I just found out 00:44:23.300 --> 00:44:29.079 today for sure that Hammy the ham talk live mascot 00:44:29.079 --> 00:44:33.400 will be present At Hamvention this year to get 00:44:33.400 --> 00:44:37.480 your picture taken with Hammy. Oh That's great. 00:44:37.500 --> 00:44:40.440 I'll get some pictures. We'll have to get Hammy 00:44:40.440 --> 00:44:44.559 to do a disco pose. There we go. That'll work. 00:44:44.639 --> 00:44:47.760 So yeah Sounds like it's gonna be around noon 00:44:47.760 --> 00:44:52.679 on Friday and Saturday, so You can look for the 00:44:52.679 --> 00:44:55.639 big pink pig walking around in the HamTalk Live 00:44:55.639 --> 00:44:59.059 shirt and get your picture taken with Hammy and 00:44:59.059 --> 00:45:02.239 say hello. And we're going to give away some 00:45:02.239 --> 00:45:07.639 t -shirts and some stuff. So just got that verified 00:45:07.639 --> 00:45:11.820 this afternoon. So there we go. Hammy will be 00:45:11.820 --> 00:45:14.960 there too. So you've got your kits, you've got 00:45:14.960 --> 00:45:18.639 your kit building workshop, you've got Joe taking 00:45:18.639 --> 00:45:22.480 disco pictures and what more could you ask for? 00:45:23.320 --> 00:45:26.320 Well, I'll tell you what. The theme is the reunion. 00:45:27.219 --> 00:45:30.320 And when I thought of staying alive, I also thought 00:45:30.320 --> 00:45:33.599 of my 50th high school reunion is coming up. 00:45:34.239 --> 00:45:36.079 And a lot of people tell me their high school 00:45:36.079 --> 00:45:39.260 reunions, what do they do? They play disco music. 00:45:39.780 --> 00:45:43.619 Yeah, that's right. And so I thought, well, this 00:45:43.619 --> 00:45:47.199 is really reunion music, and this is going to 00:45:47.199 --> 00:45:52.019 be a lot of fun. So only time you make my dreams 00:45:52.019 --> 00:45:55.440 come true and staying alive is going to be the 00:45:55.440 --> 00:45:58.940 slideshows this year. Well, can't wait to see 00:45:58.940 --> 00:46:02.920 them, Joe. And I can't wait to see you. Just 00:46:02.920 --> 00:46:05.380 about a week and a half here, we'll be headed 00:46:05.380 --> 00:46:08.820 to Dayton. I've got a little shorter drive than 00:46:08.820 --> 00:46:12.980 you do, but we'll see you there, I'm sure. Yeah, 00:46:13.099 --> 00:46:18.659 I'm guessing, yeah, I have. It's about 12 hours. 00:46:19.300 --> 00:46:22.519 Yeah, I think the hour and a half I have beats, 00:46:22.519 --> 00:46:26.000 you know. I think we'll see you there, but that'll 00:46:26.000 --> 00:46:29.440 be good. Well, it'll be great to see you, and 00:46:29.440 --> 00:46:31.380 thanks for coming on the show and telling us 00:46:31.380 --> 00:46:35.519 about these kits and your soda stuff and all 00:46:35.519 --> 00:46:40.579 that. And we'll see you then. You bet. And once 00:46:40.579 --> 00:46:44.099 again, I want to thank Gary and Martha, WZeroMNA 00:46:44.099 --> 00:46:48.659 and WZeroERI for taking me along on the wonderful 00:46:48.659 --> 00:46:52.960 adventure. All right. Well, thank you for doing 00:46:52.960 --> 00:46:57.199 that as well. And that's a wrap for this edition 00:46:57.199 --> 00:47:00.519 of HamTalk Live. Thanks to my guest, Joe Eisenberg, 00:47:00.579 --> 00:47:03.800 KZeroNEB, and everybody out there in cyberspace 00:47:03.800 --> 00:47:08.010 for listening. And come back next time and we 00:47:08.010 --> 00:47:11.289 will do the live show the night before Hamvention 00:47:11.289 --> 00:47:14.909 on Thursday night. Tune in live. We'll be back 00:47:14.909 --> 00:47:20.489 live again for that. So tune in. Just watch the 00:47:20.489 --> 00:47:23.429 post on Twitter immediately and some of the other 00:47:23.429 --> 00:47:26.650 social media platforms. So be sure to check that 00:47:26.650 --> 00:47:30.019 out Thursday evening. And for all of our upcoming 00:47:30.019 --> 00:47:33.599 guests, just go to HamTalkLive .com and you can 00:47:33.599 --> 00:47:36.679 see all that information. So for now, this is 00:47:36.679 --> 00:47:41.820 Neil Rapp, a WeBe9 VPG, saying 73, 75, and may 00:47:41.820 --> 00:47:58.409 the good DX be yours. I'll be seeing you further 00:47:58.409 --> 00:47:59.329 down the law.