WEBVTT 00:00:00.620 --> 00:00:03.560 This episode of HamTalk Live is brought to you 00:00:03.560 --> 00:00:06.960 by Tower Electronics. For connectors, cables, 00:00:07.219 --> 00:00:13.880 and more, call 920 -435 -2973 or visit pl -259 00:00:13.880 --> 00:00:18.579 .com. And by ICOM, heard it, worked it, logged 00:00:18.579 --> 00:00:23.800 it. Visit www .icomamerica .com slash amateur 00:00:23.800 --> 00:00:32.840 for more information about ICOM radios. Here 00:00:32.840 --> 00:00:38.820 we go, welcome to Hamtop Live Calling let's talk, 00:00:39.079 --> 00:00:59.750 Neil's your guy Hamtop Live, here we go Hello 00:00:59.750 --> 00:01:02.409 everyone, it's time for another episode of HamTalk 00:01:02.409 --> 00:01:06.689 Live. It's episode number 295, The Return of 00:01:06.689 --> 00:01:11.430 NASA on the Air, recorded on Friday, April 29th, 00:01:11.549 --> 00:01:16.790 2022. I'm your host, Neil Rapp, WB9VPG. Thanks 00:01:16.790 --> 00:01:20.769 for tuning into this episode of HamTalk Live. 00:01:20.969 --> 00:01:24.750 Tonight we're joined by Jayant Ramakrishnan, 00:01:24.769 --> 00:01:31.810 KG5LJZ. Last episode, Carol Perry WB2MGP was 00:01:31.810 --> 00:01:35.829 here to talk about the 2022 Dayton to Hamvention 00:01:35.829 --> 00:01:39.150 Youth Forum and to preview that. So if you missed 00:01:39.150 --> 00:01:42.730 that show, you can listen anytime over at HamTalkLive 00:01:42.730 --> 00:01:47.430 .com or on your favorite podcast app or on YouTube. 00:01:47.890 --> 00:01:51.629 Or you can catch the rebroadcast of HamTalk Life 00:01:51.629 --> 00:01:58.010 every week on WTWW Shortwave. five zero eight 00:01:58.010 --> 00:02:02.769 five a m and that runs saturday afternoons usually 00:02:02.769 --> 00:02:07.030 about three thirty p m eastern time so i'll be 00:02:07.030 --> 00:02:10.870 back with jay it right after this word from icon 00:02:10.870 --> 00:02:16.530 america right here on ham talk live Spring is 00:02:16.530 --> 00:02:21.490 on the air! Get outside with the ID52A, the industry's 00:02:21.490 --> 00:02:23.990 first handheld that can send photos over the 00:02:23.990 --> 00:02:27.330 D -Star network. With the ID52A, you can call 00:02:27.330 --> 00:02:30.310 a friend in another city or internationally through 00:02:30.310 --> 00:02:33.669 D -Star repeaters with clear digital audio. The 00:02:33.669 --> 00:02:37.090 ID52A is ICOM's newest handheld amateur radio. 00:02:37.110 --> 00:02:40.990 It's a VHF -UHF dual bander with D -Star and 00:02:40.990 --> 00:02:44.110 FM dual mode functions. This radio supports conventional 00:02:44.110 --> 00:02:47.250 FM communications and D -Star simplex repeater 00:02:47.250 --> 00:02:50.129 regional and worldwide calls over the D -Star 00:02:50.129 --> 00:02:53.930 internet gateway. The ID52A is the first amateur 00:02:53.930 --> 00:02:57.990 radio handheld with a full color 2 .3 inch waterfall 00:02:57.990 --> 00:03:01.330 display and can send photos over D -Star with 00:03:01.330 --> 00:03:04.009 a connected Android device. device. Other features 00:03:04.009 --> 00:03:07.530 include a wideband receiver, VHF on both sides, 00:03:07.710 --> 00:03:11.210 UHF on both sides, or one of each with dual DV 00:03:11.210 --> 00:03:14.889 mode, an integrated GPS, micro SD card slot, 00:03:15.110 --> 00:03:17.930 micro USB for data transfer, programming and 00:03:17.930 --> 00:03:22.189 charge, and it's IPX7 waterproof. Visit IcomAmerica 00:03:22.189 --> 00:03:25.650 .com slash amateur for more information on Icom 00:03:25.650 --> 00:03:35.590 radios. and he just can't put it down. Now, here's 00:03:35.590 --> 00:04:03.349 more HamTalk Live! Welcome back to HamTalk Live 00:04:03.349 --> 00:04:11.449 tonight. Jayant Ramakrishnan, KG5LJZ joins us 00:04:11.449 --> 00:04:14.629 on the Orlando Amateur Radio Club and Hamcation 00:04:14.629 --> 00:04:18.829 Zoom line. Jayant is in Houston, Texas and is 00:04:18.829 --> 00:04:21.230 a member of the Johnson Space Center Amateur 00:04:21.230 --> 00:04:30.019 Radio Club. W5 RRR and Desiree Bacchus KM6CTR 00:04:30.019 --> 00:04:36.519 are co -chairing the 2022 version of NASA on 00:04:36.519 --> 00:04:40.100 the Air. So here's Jayet. Well we're here to 00:04:40.100 --> 00:04:42.540 talk about NASA on the Air and we were just talking 00:04:42.540 --> 00:04:45.800 about NASA on the Air and the year -long event 00:04:45.800 --> 00:04:50.899 and now all of a sudden it's back. So tell us 00:04:50.899 --> 00:04:55.660 about bringing NASA on the air back for another 00:04:55.660 --> 00:05:00.360 run. So NASA on the air actually occurred a few 00:05:00.360 --> 00:05:03.680 years back before the pandemic and was run by 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:06.500 Rob Suggs and Matt McDougall and his team at 00:05:06.500 --> 00:05:09.579 the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. I'm a 00:05:09.579 --> 00:05:13.759 relatively new inductee into this activity and 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:19.920 I got inducted by you know W5OC and we said, 00:05:19.980 --> 00:05:21.680 hey, it'll be a good thing to get it back on 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:24.279 the air. The club, the club, DiskiFi Rocket, 00:05:24.279 --> 00:05:27.420 Rocket, Rocket, the NASA Johnson Space Center 00:05:27.420 --> 00:05:30.160 Amateur Radio Club was doing a lot of parks on 00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:35.000 the air and doing a lot of activities. And I 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:38.620 was, I basically teamed up with my co -chair, 00:05:38.839 --> 00:05:43.279 Desiree Backus, and we said it'd be a cool idea 00:05:43.279 --> 00:05:45.740 to get it back on the air for the 50th anniversary 00:05:45.740 --> 00:05:49.829 of Apollo 16. And that's basically what we started 00:05:49.829 --> 00:05:53.990 doing. And this month of April, 2022, we started 00:05:53.990 --> 00:05:58.389 doing the NASA on the Air for the 50th anniversary 00:05:58.389 --> 00:06:01.910 of Apollo 16. We contacted many, many clubs. 00:06:02.089 --> 00:06:04.350 We contacted a lot of the NASA centers, 10 of 00:06:04.350 --> 00:06:07.110 them, and we talked to many of them. Many of 00:06:07.110 --> 00:06:10.649 them very enthusiastically joined in and operated 00:06:10.649 --> 00:06:15.839 different modes. basically pulled it off the 00:06:15.839 --> 00:06:20.259 last two weeks in April. So we have been on there 00:06:20.259 --> 00:06:24.819 in one way or the other from April 16th all the 00:06:24.819 --> 00:06:32.220 way to April 27th. Very good. All those anniversaries 00:06:32.220 --> 00:06:37.220 fell together a couple years ago and now there's 00:06:37.220 --> 00:06:42.079 some more. So you hit this one the last couple 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:45.300 of weeks here. But there's some more coming up, 00:06:45.420 --> 00:06:50.120 so tell us about those. Yeah, so we are also 00:06:50.120 --> 00:06:54.560 having Apollo 17 coming up later this year. And 00:06:54.560 --> 00:06:57.899 we also have some events which Desiree has been 00:06:57.899 --> 00:07:00.160 very kind enough to kind of let us know that 00:07:00.160 --> 00:07:01.899 these are the other events that are coming up. 00:07:02.300 --> 00:07:05.120 And we are also planning to, this particular 00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:09.579 event for Apollo 16, we got mentored by NASA 00:07:09.579 --> 00:07:12.560 Marshall Space Flight Center. And Johnson took 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:15.480 the lead on this, and we ran this NASA on the 00:07:15.480 --> 00:07:18.019 air. But for some of the other events, we are 00:07:18.019 --> 00:07:20.000 also thinking of circulating it between some 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:22.120 of the other NASA centers and having them take 00:07:22.120 --> 00:07:25.699 the leadership role in that. And we are looking 00:07:25.699 --> 00:07:27.959 forward to the Apollo 17 anniversary, which is 00:07:27.959 --> 00:07:30.800 coming later this year. But in addition to these 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:35.699 anniversaries, we are also interested in doing 00:07:35.699 --> 00:07:37.779 current events. There are going to be some launches 00:07:37.779 --> 00:07:40.040 later this year. There's an Artemis launch later 00:07:40.040 --> 00:07:42.540 this year. and a couple of other events coming 00:07:42.540 --> 00:07:46.600 on and we are looking at all those milestones 00:07:46.600 --> 00:07:48.560 that are coming on between now and end of the 00:07:48.560 --> 00:07:52.639 year and seeing how we can get that event on 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:57.120 the air and have ham enthusiasts all over the 00:07:57.120 --> 00:07:59.680 opportunity to talk to different NASA centers. 00:08:00.199 --> 00:08:04.459 Now if people want to work the NASA clubs and 00:08:04.459 --> 00:08:09.769 get into NASA on the air once again How should 00:08:09.769 --> 00:08:13.410 they find those stations and the dates and all 00:08:13.410 --> 00:08:16.930 that information? And then which of the NASA 00:08:16.930 --> 00:08:21.410 clubs are involved in this? Yeah, so we have 00:08:21.410 --> 00:08:28.029 a WordPress site that we use where we put the 00:08:28.029 --> 00:08:34.570 information on the NASA on the air. And we also 00:08:34.570 --> 00:08:38.570 keep posting on the Twitter feed like the Kennedy 00:08:38.570 --> 00:08:42.950 Space Center has a Twitter feed, N1KSC, November 00:08:42.950 --> 00:08:47.490 1, Kilo Sierra Charlie. The Johnson has Whiskey 00:08:47.490 --> 00:08:53.049 5 Rocket, Rocket, Rocket. And we also have a 00:08:53.049 --> 00:08:58.309 website. I believe it's wordpress .nasaontheair 00:08:58.309 --> 00:09:02.909 .wordpress .com. And that is where we basically 00:09:02.909 --> 00:09:06.789 post the information about these events that 00:09:06.789 --> 00:09:09.470 are coming up. And when we have the event, we 00:09:09.470 --> 00:09:14.590 also post it on the DX watch and we basically 00:09:14.590 --> 00:09:18.370 post the frequencies that we are on and we send 00:09:18.370 --> 00:09:22.470 that information out as well. Okay, so you're 00:09:22.470 --> 00:09:25.830 running this pretty much like most big special 00:09:25.830 --> 00:09:29.649 events. You're on the spots. You've got a website 00:09:29.649 --> 00:09:32.070 that has all the lists on it and I believe it's 00:09:32.070 --> 00:09:36.279 on QRZ .com as well. Is that right? Yes, so we 00:09:36.279 --> 00:09:40.299 have NASA on the air dot period WordPress period 00:09:40.299 --> 00:09:44.279 calm That is the website where if you go we tell 00:09:44.279 --> 00:09:48.360 you what is going on what and we updated as often 00:09:48.360 --> 00:09:51.639 as we can and I'm actually at the website. It's 00:09:51.639 --> 00:09:54.980 a pretty cool website and it tells you what's 00:09:54.980 --> 00:09:59.159 happening and once the event is over we basically 00:09:59.470 --> 00:10:03.029 have a place where you can upload the ADIF file 00:10:03.029 --> 00:10:08.570 and different NASA centers are doing that. And 00:10:08.570 --> 00:10:12.389 you can look up to see how you worked on the 00:10:12.389 --> 00:10:15.830 air with NASA. The clubs that we approached were 00:10:15.830 --> 00:10:20.669 the AIMS Research Center, November Alpha 6, Mike 00:10:20.669 --> 00:10:23.409 Foxtrot, the Armstrong Flight Research Center. 00:10:24.210 --> 00:10:26.879 Both of these are in California. and that is 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:30.379 the NA -6SA, the Glenn Research Center, NA -8SA, 00:10:30.740 --> 00:10:33.740 the Goddard Space Flight Center, Diski Alpha 00:10:33.740 --> 00:10:36.360 -3, November, Alpha, November, the Jet Propulsion 00:10:36.360 --> 00:10:41.980 Lab, which has two call signs, W6JPL and W6VIO, 00:10:42.179 --> 00:10:45.500 the Johnson Space Center, W5ROCKETROCKETROCKET, 00:10:45.620 --> 00:10:48.899 the Kennedy Space Center, N1KSC, the Marshall 00:10:48.899 --> 00:10:52.159 Space Flight Center, NN4SA, the Stennis Space 00:10:52.159 --> 00:10:56.730 Flight Center, N5SSC, White Sands Test Facility 00:10:56.730 --> 00:11:01.509 and the Mesilla Valley Radio Club, N5BL. So we 00:11:01.509 --> 00:11:03.830 have all these clubs listed and we also started 00:11:03.830 --> 00:11:07.169 tweeting. And another thing that we did was that 00:11:07.169 --> 00:11:11.289 we also posted many of these events on the local 00:11:11.289 --> 00:11:14.909 clubs. For instance, the BWAR club is very active 00:11:14.909 --> 00:11:17.950 in Houston. So I had sent them information about 00:11:17.950 --> 00:11:20.549 this. I went on the air on several local nets. 00:11:20.779 --> 00:11:24.399 telling people about the NASA on their special 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:27.940 event, knowing fully well that even if we were 00:11:27.940 --> 00:11:30.860 on 20 meters, they would not be able to reach 00:11:30.860 --> 00:11:33.759 Johnson in the local area, but they could reach 00:11:33.759 --> 00:11:38.179 some of my sister clubs in Alabama or in Florida 00:11:38.179 --> 00:11:43.659 or in California. Well, that's very cool. All 00:11:43.659 --> 00:11:45.279 right. Well, we're going to take a break and 00:11:45.279 --> 00:11:47.340 when we come back, we're going to talk about 00:11:47.340 --> 00:11:50.889 certificates and logs and and all that kind of 00:11:50.889 --> 00:11:55.450 thing right after this word from tower electronics 00:11:55.450 --> 00:11:59.769 right here on ham talk live hey honey have you 00:11:59.769 --> 00:12:04.850 seen the pl 259s anywhere no i haven't come on 00:12:04.850 --> 00:12:10.480 kids let's go There's just one place to go for 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:13.279 all of your connector needs. Tower electronics. 00:12:15.399 --> 00:12:18.460 A giant warehouse of connectors and adapters 00:12:18.460 --> 00:12:21.200 for every occasion. Thousands to choose from 00:12:21.200 --> 00:12:23.899 in every shape, size, and color. And they have 00:12:23.899 --> 00:12:26.500 antennas, soldering supplies, cables, meters, 00:12:26.740 --> 00:12:29.379 and more. 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My, wherever did you 00:13:20.570 --> 00:13:25.690 get that lovely PL259? Tower Electronics PL -259 00:13:25.690 --> 00:13:32.250 .com or call 920 -435 -2973 Do we sell PL259 00:13:32.250 --> 00:13:35.549 connectors? The Tower Electronics HamFest schedule 00:13:35.549 --> 00:13:38.950 coming up this weekend. They'll be at Cedarburg, 00:13:38.950 --> 00:13:43.149 Wisconsin on April 30th, and then Sandwich, Illinois 00:13:43.149 --> 00:13:46.750 on May 1st, and then of course the Dayton Hamvention 00:13:46.750 --> 00:13:50.190 May 20th through 22nd. But you can visit them 00:13:50.190 --> 00:14:20.320 anytime at PL -259 .com. Welcome back to HamTalk 00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:24.299 Live. Be sure to check us out on Facebook, Twitter 00:14:24.299 --> 00:14:28.720 and Instagram and we'll get back with Jant from 00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:32.240 the Johnson Space Center Amateur Radio Club and 00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:35.600 NASA on the air right after the joke of the week. 00:14:35.820 --> 00:14:39.200 Now it's time for the HamTalk Live Ham Radio 00:14:39.200 --> 00:14:41.419 Joke of the Week, the part of the show where 00:14:41.419 --> 00:14:44.860 Rick tells us a ham radio joke. The HamTalk Live 00:14:44.860 --> 00:14:47.200 Ham Radio Joke of the Week is brought to you 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:51.919 by QRM Labs. Now, here's Rick Garrett in 9GSU 00:14:51.919 --> 00:15:00.570 with today's HamTalk Live Joke of the Week. There's 00:15:00.570 --> 00:15:02.669 a new 2 meter radio on the market that has a 00:15:02.669 --> 00:15:05.450 camera in it so you can snap a selfie while you're 00:15:05.450 --> 00:15:08.070 operating I really want one of those as a matter 00:15:08.070 --> 00:15:11.870 of fact. I can't picture myself without it This 00:15:11.870 --> 00:15:15.110 has been the ham talk live ham radio joke of 00:15:15.110 --> 00:15:18.690 the week with Rick Garrett in nine GSU Tune in 00:15:18.690 --> 00:15:24.470 again next week for another joke from Rick Maybe 00:15:24.470 --> 00:15:28.500 he needs one of those ID 52s with that D star 00:15:28.500 --> 00:15:31.980 picture thing going on. Maybe, maybe that's it. 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:35.399 All right, Rick, thank you very much. And we'll 00:15:35.399 --> 00:15:37.360 catch you again next week. But right now we're 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:43.159 going to get back to Jant Ramakrishnan KG5 LJZ 00:15:43.159 --> 00:15:52.259 with NASA on the air. We're back with J KG5 LJZ. 00:15:52.620 --> 00:15:56.059 And he is in Houston, Texas and member of the 00:15:56.059 --> 00:15:58.480 Johnson Space Center Amateur Radio Club, which 00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:01.759 is a part of NASA on the air, which is what we're 00:16:01.759 --> 00:16:06.820 talking about on this episode. So Jay, you talked 00:16:06.820 --> 00:16:11.360 about how people can find those dates and everything 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:15.000 and work the station. So once they work. the 00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:19.340 NASA clubs during this event, how do they check 00:16:19.340 --> 00:16:22.960 to make sure that they're in the log and get 00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:27.519 a certificate or QSL card? Tell us how to get 00:16:27.519 --> 00:16:31.320 all those confirmations. So what we do at the 00:16:31.320 --> 00:16:35.120 end of the event is we basically create the ADI 00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:40.240 file and we upload it to our nasaondair .wordpress 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:42.860 .com. This is the site where we upload it by 00:16:42.860 --> 00:16:45.929 center. And there's a button which you can press 00:16:45.929 --> 00:16:49.730 to confirm that your call sign is there. And 00:16:49.730 --> 00:16:52.590 what we do at the end of that year is we basically 00:16:52.590 --> 00:16:56.269 generate these very nice certificates which can 00:16:56.269 --> 00:16:59.570 be downloaded. In some cases, some clubs also 00:16:59.570 --> 00:17:03.929 are planning to send out QSL cards. And so the 00:17:03.929 --> 00:17:07.029 website is very, very intuitive. It's also got 00:17:07.029 --> 00:17:10.809 a lot of information. And you can get data of 00:17:10.809 --> 00:17:13.849 the website. It's got a blog, it's got news, 00:17:14.029 --> 00:17:18.789 and it's got lots of data on it. And Neil, thank 00:17:18.789 --> 00:17:21.309 you for giving me this opportunity to get on 00:17:21.309 --> 00:17:23.930 the air. Like I said, I'm a newbie at this. First 00:17:23.930 --> 00:17:27.069 time I'm doing this for the club. And this event, 00:17:27.450 --> 00:17:31.029 NASA Johnson Space Flight Center, this key fire 00:17:31.029 --> 00:17:33.309 rocket, rocket, rocket, took the lead on this. 00:17:33.789 --> 00:17:35.829 And we are planning several other events. Like 00:17:35.829 --> 00:17:39.269 I said, Apollo 17 is coming up, the Artemis launch 00:17:39.269 --> 00:17:42.119 is coming up, and we are planning to get the 00:17:42.119 --> 00:17:44.779 clubs on the air. And you asked me a question 00:17:44.779 --> 00:17:48.279 about which clubs participated. For the weekend, 00:17:48.740 --> 00:17:52.759 the first full weekend, April 23rd to 24th, 2022, 00:17:54.059 --> 00:17:56.279 the kickoff was fun and successful. The clubs 00:17:56.279 --> 00:18:00.039 that were active and spotted for the N1 KSC, 00:18:00.299 --> 00:18:03.079 November 1, Kilo Sierra Charlie, the Kennedy 00:18:03.079 --> 00:18:06.940 Space Center club, on 20 meters, 30 slash SSB. 00:18:07.230 --> 00:18:11.369 The NN4SA, November, November 4, Sierra Alpha, 00:18:11.650 --> 00:18:14.950 Marshall Space Flight Club, 40 meters, 20 meters, 00:18:15.190 --> 00:18:19.029 FT -8, SSB. And the Stennis Space Center Club, 00:18:19.390 --> 00:18:25.789 N5SSC, 2015 on FT -8. And the Johnson Space Center 00:18:25.789 --> 00:18:27.890 Club, the Whiskey Fire Rocket, Rocket, Rocket, 00:18:28.089 --> 00:18:34.289 on 15, 20, 40, on FT -8, CW, and SSB. And the 00:18:34.289 --> 00:18:38.259 Ames Research Center, November Alpha 6 Mike Foxtrot 00:18:38.259 --> 00:18:42.980 on 20 meters and FD8. So we also were able to 00:18:42.980 --> 00:18:45.420 talk between the clubs. So the Johnson Space 00:18:45.420 --> 00:18:48.359 Center spoke with Kennedy, they spoke with Mara, 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:51.680 with Aims and with Marshall and we did it on 00:18:51.680 --> 00:18:54.980 SSB and we did it sometimes on 15 meters, sometimes 00:18:54.980 --> 00:18:57.559 on 10 meters depending on the distance, depending 00:18:57.559 --> 00:19:00.380 on the propagation and depending on other conditions. 00:19:00.680 --> 00:19:04.839 It was a truly epic event. And it was so much 00:19:04.839 --> 00:19:08.680 fun to answer the questions from so many people. 00:19:09.240 --> 00:19:12.920 And just, Neil, just for your information, the 00:19:12.920 --> 00:19:17.339 crew of Apollo 16 was John Young, Charlie Duke, 00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:23.019 Tom Mettingly, and it was launched on, we had 00:19:23.019 --> 00:19:25.220 the information of its launch on April 16th, 00:19:25.220 --> 00:19:28.859 1972, and its landing on April 27th, and we had 00:19:28.859 --> 00:19:32.220 the recovery ship. And we also had several special 00:19:32.220 --> 00:19:36.599 people on the air talking about Apollo 16 and 00:19:36.599 --> 00:19:39.000 what the mission objectives were. We have a lot 00:19:39.000 --> 00:19:42.799 of data and a lot of STEM related information 00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:45.460 to the people calling in. Back to you, Neil. 00:19:45.819 --> 00:19:49.839 Oh, that's great. I always love that. Now, you 00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:53.660 didn't do this alone. We mentioned Desiree, who 00:19:53.660 --> 00:19:59.880 is co -chairing. That's KM6CTR. But you also 00:19:59.880 --> 00:20:03.500 had a lot of coordination between the clubs and 00:20:03.500 --> 00:20:05.900 some teleconferences and everything. So tell 00:20:05.900 --> 00:20:08.960 us a little bit about the coordination between 00:20:08.960 --> 00:20:11.759 all the clubs that took place to pull this off. 00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:15.240 So we had a lot of help from the NASA Marshall 00:20:15.240 --> 00:20:17.539 Space Flight Center. They had spearheaded the 00:20:17.539 --> 00:20:20.119 earlier NASA On The Air event that you spoke 00:20:20.119 --> 00:20:24.539 about, Neil, and they were very good in mentoring 00:20:24.539 --> 00:20:28.339 us and asking us to take the lead on this. And 00:20:28.339 --> 00:20:31.680 they had a very, very nice website set up. And 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:34.380 like I said, if you go to nasaontheair .wordpress 00:20:34.380 --> 00:20:37.500 .com, you'll see all the different things that 00:20:37.500 --> 00:20:39.859 they had set up. And they also set up a little 00:20:39.859 --> 00:20:44.700 database of sorts to get the data going. Desiree 00:20:44.700 --> 00:20:47.079 is basically from the NASA AIMS Research Center, 00:20:47.099 --> 00:20:49.539 but she works with both NASA AIMS and NASA Glenn, 00:20:49.779 --> 00:20:52.140 and is actually remote right now in Colorado. 00:20:52.539 --> 00:20:55.559 and she and I got together and we started having 00:20:55.559 --> 00:20:58.319 these Zoom meetings where we invited all the 00:20:58.319 --> 00:21:01.380 NASA centers and we told them what we were trying 00:21:01.380 --> 00:21:05.980 to do. First of all, Neil came up with a good 00:21:05.980 --> 00:21:09.279 email list to make sure that we reached everyone 00:21:09.279 --> 00:21:11.619 and then we invited them to a Zoom call, kept 00:21:11.619 --> 00:21:14.500 it to 40 minutes with an agenda, and we went 00:21:14.500 --> 00:21:17.480 over what we were planning to do, any feedback. 00:21:17.799 --> 00:21:21.420 And it was very, very inspiring to talk to the 00:21:21.420 --> 00:21:23.799 people at the different clubs to hear what they 00:21:23.799 --> 00:21:26.880 had to say and continuously fine -tune this whole 00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:29.700 event so that we had coordination between the 00:21:29.700 --> 00:21:32.839 clubs and we had some ground rules. For instance, 00:21:33.920 --> 00:21:36.059 at Johnson, the ground rule which we used and 00:21:36.059 --> 00:21:40.240 which other clubs also used was one person per 00:21:40.240 --> 00:21:43.480 one frequency band for one mode. So if, Neil, 00:21:43.480 --> 00:21:48.369 you are on 20 meters, than I could be on 20 meters 00:21:48.369 --> 00:21:55.049 SSB hauling out W5RRR. And we basically made 00:21:55.049 --> 00:21:56.970 sure that we coordinated. We also had some back 00:21:56.970 --> 00:21:59.250 channels to talk to each other during the event 00:21:59.250 --> 00:22:02.849 where we could make sure that we could share 00:22:02.849 --> 00:22:06.289 data. And we learned from each other on what 00:22:06.289 --> 00:22:08.869 was working very well, what could be improved. 00:22:09.210 --> 00:22:12.450 And every instance of getting on the air became 00:22:12.450 --> 00:22:15.740 better and better. Back to you, Neil. I'll add 00:22:15.740 --> 00:22:18.779 some great tips for people who are putting on 00:22:18.779 --> 00:22:22.960 special events. That always makes a huge difference 00:22:22.960 --> 00:22:25.640 to have those lines of communication going in 00:22:25.640 --> 00:22:31.240 the background as well as on the air with all 00:22:31.240 --> 00:22:35.299 those people calling you. So that's some cool 00:22:35.299 --> 00:22:37.720 stuff. So make sure you check out the website. 00:22:37.960 --> 00:22:42.480 It's nasa on the air. So N -A -S -A -O -N -T 00:22:42.480 --> 00:22:48.190 -H -E -A -I -R dot WordPress, W -O -R -D -P -R 00:22:48.190 --> 00:22:52.130 -E -S -S dot com and check that out and you'll 00:22:52.130 --> 00:22:55.529 see some of those announcements and again the 00:22:55.529 --> 00:23:01.349 Twitter feeds. especially Kennedy, N1KSC. Check 00:23:01.349 --> 00:23:05.210 them out and they'll have the announcements as 00:23:05.210 --> 00:23:09.150 these NASA events come up for the rest of the 00:23:09.150 --> 00:23:12.170 year. Well Jay, before we go, I wanted to talk 00:23:12.170 --> 00:23:14.630 to you a little bit about how you got connected 00:23:14.630 --> 00:23:18.470 into amateur radio club there at Johnson and 00:23:18.470 --> 00:23:22.150 how you got into ham radio. So tell us a little 00:23:22.150 --> 00:23:26.180 bit about your story of of how you got into all 00:23:26.180 --> 00:23:30.039 this. Neel, I'm happy to do that. It's been a 00:23:30.039 --> 00:23:33.200 journey which has been very rewarding, and I'm 00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:36.759 very, very thankful for the events that led to 00:23:36.759 --> 00:23:39.960 that. And I also want to let you know that there 00:23:39.960 --> 00:23:43.039 are other NASA centers also on Twitter. The JSC 00:23:43.039 --> 00:23:47.059 Amateur Radio Club is also on Twitter, and I 00:23:47.059 --> 00:23:49.940 will send you all the handles. And those also, 00:23:50.140 --> 00:23:54.160 we have been tweeting on all the handles. the 00:23:54.160 --> 00:23:57.940 event details. I got in because I basically started 00:23:57.940 --> 00:24:03.640 volunteering with the MS Society in Texas, riding 00:24:03.640 --> 00:24:07.640 a bike 150 miles from Houston to Austin over 00:24:07.640 --> 00:24:11.500 two days, raising awareness and funds for multiple 00:24:11.500 --> 00:24:15.579 sclerosis. And after I joined and started doing 00:24:15.579 --> 00:24:17.859 a couple of rides, I was inducted into the Ride 00:24:17.859 --> 00:24:20.380 Marshall, which is basically another program 00:24:20.380 --> 00:24:24.400 they run where they They have us basically get 00:24:24.400 --> 00:24:29.380 trained and we not only ride from Houston to 00:24:29.380 --> 00:24:31.900 Austin, this year it's Houston to College Station, 00:24:32.339 --> 00:24:35.539 but we also help cyclists along the way with 00:24:35.539 --> 00:24:39.059 mechanical issues. They run into flats, chains 00:24:39.059 --> 00:24:42.940 falling off or some other issues and we are also 00:24:42.940 --> 00:24:46.220 CPR trained and we are trained in rudimentary 00:24:46.220 --> 00:24:49.059 first aid. So the organizers found that we were 00:24:49.059 --> 00:24:52.259 going through small towns. We were 13 ,000 cyclists 00:24:52.259 --> 00:24:54.359 going through towns which had a population of 00:24:54.359 --> 00:24:58.339 300 and 500. And we were overwhelming the cell 00:24:58.339 --> 00:25:00.960 phone towers. And someone came up with the idea 00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:03.319 of why don't we have them pass the technician 00:25:03.319 --> 00:25:06.599 exam and become ham radio operators. This way 00:25:06.599 --> 00:25:09.180 they can communicate to the command center from 00:25:09.180 --> 00:25:11.519 the road and they are our eyes and ears on the 00:25:11.519 --> 00:25:15.059 road. So they basically told the ride marshals, 00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:18.819 they encourage us to get this, take this exam 00:25:18.819 --> 00:25:24.579 and get trained. And I basically took a Saturday, 00:25:24.779 --> 00:25:27.859 went to a class, attended the class. They taught 00:25:27.859 --> 00:25:30.960 me a lot of stuff and then later took the exam 00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:34.119 and got certified as a ham radio operator. Didn't 00:25:34.119 --> 00:25:36.359 know what ham radio was, didn't know how to program 00:25:36.359 --> 00:25:39.400 the ham radio. I bought a ham radio and I'm like, 00:25:39.460 --> 00:25:41.900 what do I do with this? What is an offset? What 00:25:41.900 --> 00:25:46.480 is a tone? How do I plug in the frequency? What 00:25:46.480 --> 00:25:49.420 is chirp? I didn't know any of this stuff. And 00:25:49.420 --> 00:25:51.799 I looked around and there was the NASA Johnson 00:25:51.799 --> 00:25:54.519 Space Flight Center amateur radio club. And I 00:25:54.519 --> 00:25:56.779 gave the president a call and said, I have lots 00:25:56.779 --> 00:25:59.619 and lots of questions. I have the manual, I have 00:25:59.619 --> 00:26:02.779 a radio and I have a license. And they were very 00:26:02.779 --> 00:26:05.079 kind. They took me in, taught me the stuff, helped 00:26:05.079 --> 00:26:09.150 me program the radio. and slowly got me and I 00:26:09.150 --> 00:26:12.049 joined the club because I was learning so much 00:26:12.049 --> 00:26:15.970 from them. And that's how Neil, I got into this 00:26:15.970 --> 00:26:20.369 profession. All right. Well, that's a great story. 00:26:20.390 --> 00:26:23.410 So I wanted to make sure that we share that here 00:26:23.410 --> 00:26:26.910 tonight. So Jay, any final words here before 00:26:26.910 --> 00:26:31.950 we wrap this up? Yeah, this was a lot of work. 00:26:32.319 --> 00:26:36.099 And I was very scared about all the things that 00:26:36.099 --> 00:26:40.359 I may be missing. And working with the different 00:26:40.359 --> 00:26:44.920 clubs, with Desiree, with David Lee, Whiskey 00:26:44.920 --> 00:26:48.460 5 Oscar Charlie, my club mentors, John Maka, 00:26:48.839 --> 00:26:53.059 Tanner, Terry Quick, Terry Moore, lots of people 00:26:53.059 --> 00:26:58.240 who are very accomplished. And working with different 00:26:58.240 --> 00:27:01.619 antennas. We also discussed antennas and QRM. 00:27:01.680 --> 00:27:04.140 and interference and everything else, and a club 00:27:04.140 --> 00:27:07.759 trustee, John Maka, AB5SS, did a wonderful job 00:27:07.759 --> 00:27:10.140 explaining to me the electromagnetics and how 00:27:10.140 --> 00:27:13.319 we needed to be separated. And at the end of 00:27:13.319 --> 00:27:15.839 the day, it kind of just came together through 00:27:15.839 --> 00:27:18.640 Providence. And, you know, it was a wonderful 00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:22.140 experience. It was wonderful to give back. And 00:27:22.140 --> 00:27:25.119 it was wonderful to get, you know, some of the 00:27:25.119 --> 00:27:28.779 students in the shack, you know, and seeing what 00:27:28.779 --> 00:27:30.640 we were doing and getting interested in this. 00:27:30.890 --> 00:27:33.369 So overall, it went very well. And the nice thing, 00:27:33.730 --> 00:27:36.369 Neil, was yesterday was the 60th anniversary 00:27:36.369 --> 00:27:40.390 of the NASA Johnson Space Center. And we had 00:27:40.390 --> 00:27:43.730 a radio event yesterday, a special event for 00:27:43.730 --> 00:27:46.369 four hours yesterday, where we again used what 00:27:46.369 --> 00:27:50.029 we had done over NOTA for the one center, and 00:27:50.029 --> 00:27:53.869 we got on the air. So it's been very, very gratifying. 00:27:53.950 --> 00:27:56.210 I'm extremely grateful to all of you out there, 00:27:56.309 --> 00:27:59.660 and Neil, to you for Putting this podcast and 00:27:59.660 --> 00:28:01.619 other things together and teaching us. I watch 00:28:01.619 --> 00:28:05.680 a lot of YouTube videos I watch a lot of podcasts 00:28:05.680 --> 00:28:09.519 and I'll tell you my friend I'm learning every 00:28:09.519 --> 00:28:13.039 day and That is a fun part of it. And thank you 00:28:13.039 --> 00:28:15.500 so much for your generosity of time and spirit 00:28:15.500 --> 00:28:18.880 Well, you're most welcome. We appreciate you 00:28:18.880 --> 00:28:23.299 being here and Filling in everybody about NASA 00:28:23.299 --> 00:28:28.839 on the air. It's back for another run, so Thanks 00:28:28.839 --> 00:28:32.440 so much Jay and Appreciate you being on the show 00:28:32.440 --> 00:28:37.220 and hope to catch you on the air on Nota Thank 00:28:37.220 --> 00:28:39.119 you so much Neil. I appreciate it. Thank you 00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:43.839 so much Well, that is a wrap for this edition 00:28:43.839 --> 00:28:47.539 of HamTalk Live. I'd like to thank my guest, 00:28:48.359 --> 00:28:52.539 Jant Ramakrishnan, KG5LJZ, and everybody out 00:28:52.539 --> 00:28:54.960 there in cyberspace for listening and invite 00:28:54.960 --> 00:28:58.440 you back next time for a list of all of our upcoming 00:28:58.440 --> 00:29:03.579 guests. Visit HamTalkLive .com. So for now, this 00:29:03.579 --> 00:29:07.900 is Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, saying seven, three, seven, 00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:39.279 five. and may the good DX be yours. Let's check 00:29:39.279 --> 00:29:44.019 it with Rick, it seems clear We're warm and cozy 00:29:44.019 --> 00:29:47.759 in our shack So we have talked about thousands 00:29:47.759 --> 00:29:52.599 of things About shoes, about ships, about ceiling 00:29:52.599 --> 00:29:59.180 wax About cabbages and keys So 73s, to you and 00:29:59.180 --> 00:30:03.119 your family I'll be seeing you burning down the 00:30:03.119 --> 00:30:10.059 log You're 73s Can you put it down?