WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.640 This episode of HamTalk Live is brought to you 00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:06.040 by Tower Electronics. For connectors, cables, 00:00:06.299 --> 00:00:12.980 and more, call 920 -435 -2973 or visit PL -259 00:00:12.980 --> 00:00:17.660 .com. And by ICOM, heard it, worked it, logged 00:00:17.660 --> 00:00:22.920 it. Visit www .icomamerica .com slash amateur 00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:58.460 for more information about ICOM radios. Hey good 00:00:58.460 --> 00:01:02.259 evening everyone! It's time for HamTalk Live, 00:01:02.299 --> 00:01:06.379 episode number 273. Parks on the air and the 00:01:06.379 --> 00:01:09.599 mode of monthly updates recorded live on Thursday, 00:01:09.780 --> 00:01:14.719 September 23rd, 2021. I'm your host, Neil Rapp, 00:01:14.859 --> 00:01:18.959 WB9VPG. Thanks for tuning in to this episode 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:21.799 of HamTalk Live. Tonight we're joined by Vance 00:01:21.799 --> 00:01:27.280 Martin, N3VEM. and we'll take your calls live 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:31.379 in just a few minutes. Last week Jocelyn Bro 00:01:31.379 --> 00:01:35.019 KD8 VRX was here to talk about the Voice of America 00:01:35.019 --> 00:01:39.000 Bethany Relay Station anniversary special event 00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:41.459 that's coming up this weekend, so don't miss 00:01:41.459 --> 00:01:45.500 that. I'll be operating on that some on Saturday 00:01:45.500 --> 00:01:49.219 as well myself So if you missed the show you 00:01:49.219 --> 00:01:52.620 can listen anytime ham talk live comm or on your 00:01:52.620 --> 00:01:56.620 favorite podcast app or on YouTube and You can 00:01:56.620 --> 00:01:59.239 always catch the rebroadcast of ham talk live 00:01:59.239 --> 00:02:05.140 over on shortwave WTWW that's five zero eight 00:02:05.140 --> 00:02:09.080 five on your am dial Saturday afternoons They 00:02:09.080 --> 00:02:12.580 run that about 3 30 p .m. Eastern Time. So get 00:02:12.580 --> 00:02:15.759 your POTA questions ready to go. If you're listening 00:02:15.759 --> 00:02:18.599 to us live on Thursday night, you can give us 00:02:18.599 --> 00:02:21.860 a call. We'll give you the phone number here 00:02:21.860 --> 00:02:24.099 in just a moment so you can write it down and 00:02:24.099 --> 00:02:26.479 have it ready. But we'll talk to Vance a little 00:02:26.479 --> 00:02:29.550 bit first and kind of introduce everything. Uh, 00:02:29.689 --> 00:02:32.849 but the phone number tonight, uh, we actually, 00:02:32.849 --> 00:02:38.310 uh, just before the show, Marty and N1C who takes 00:02:38.310 --> 00:02:42.349 care of our phone system, uh, Tried to reboot 00:02:42.349 --> 00:02:44.389 everything and everything looked good and then 00:02:44.389 --> 00:02:47.270 he found out the phone providers that undergoing 00:02:47.270 --> 00:02:51.189 a denial of service attack at the moment so So 00:02:51.189 --> 00:02:54.909 our usual phone number is not Functioning at 00:02:54.909 --> 00:02:57.650 the moment, so we'll use the backup number tonight. 00:02:57.650 --> 00:03:05.030 It's eight one two six three eight four two six 00:03:05.030 --> 00:03:08.409 one again The phone number that we will be using 00:03:08.409 --> 00:03:17.189 tonight to take your calls is 812 -638 -4261, 00:03:17.270 --> 00:03:23.610 812 -Netham1. And so we'll do that in a little 00:03:23.610 --> 00:03:25.270 bit. I'll let you know when it's time to call. 00:03:25.610 --> 00:03:28.069 Of course, you can tweet us anytime. It's at 00:03:28.069 --> 00:03:30.930 HamTalk Live over on Twitter, if you'd rather 00:03:30.930 --> 00:03:34.909 type than talk. And then also, if you're on Spreaker, 00:03:34.990 --> 00:03:38.669 on your PC, you can just type into the comments. 00:03:39.629 --> 00:03:42.189 well. So I'll be back with Vance right after 00:03:42.189 --> 00:03:45.210 this word from Tower Electronics right here on 00:03:45.210 --> 00:03:50.650 HamTalk Live. Jerry, what's up man? I haven't 00:03:50.650 --> 00:03:53.409 seen you at SunBucks in a while. I used to see 00:03:53.409 --> 00:03:55.629 you every morning getting coffee. What's up? 00:03:56.250 --> 00:03:59.310 Well, I can't afford SunBucks five days a week 00:03:59.310 --> 00:04:03.069 anymore. I had to spend my money on PL 259s. 00:04:03.389 --> 00:04:05.610 You know, those antenna projects I've been meaning 00:04:05.610 --> 00:04:09.219 to do. I had to do them before my HOA finds out 00:04:09.219 --> 00:04:12.719 I have antennas. That's too bad, Jerry. I miss 00:04:12.719 --> 00:04:15.620 seeing you and catching up over coffee. You should 00:04:15.620 --> 00:04:19.060 get your PL259s from Tower Electronics. They 00:04:19.060 --> 00:04:27.259 have great stuff. Jerry, you're back. Oh, QRM 00:04:27.259 --> 00:04:29.980 Heterodyne Frappuccino. That's a good choice. 00:04:30.379 --> 00:04:32.660 How's it going? Did you get all those antennas 00:04:32.660 --> 00:04:36.529 up before the HOA police showed up? Yeah, I got 00:04:36.529 --> 00:04:39.209 them all done. Thanks for telling me about Tower 00:04:39.209 --> 00:04:42.470 Electronics. Now I can have my coffee. I just 00:04:42.470 --> 00:04:45.589 saved a bunch of money on my PL259s by switching 00:04:45.589 --> 00:04:48.550 to Tower Electronics. Don't get caught without 00:04:48.550 --> 00:04:52.709 PL259s. Visit Tower Electronics online at pl 00:04:52.709 --> 00:04:56.750 -259 .com or at a ham fest near you. Or give 00:04:56.750 --> 00:05:01.870 them a call at 920 -435 -2973. And be sure to 00:05:01.870 --> 00:05:04.269 pick up some power poles, adapters, and cables 00:05:04.269 --> 00:05:08.189 too. The grass may be greener on the other side, 00:05:08.230 --> 00:05:10.470 but at least we don't have to mow it. You're 00:05:10.470 --> 00:05:33.160 listening to Ham Talk Live with Neil Rapp. Welcome 00:05:33.160 --> 00:05:36.800 back to HamTalk Live, thanks to Scott and Jill 00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:40.259 over at Tower Electronics for sponsoring the 00:05:40.259 --> 00:05:43.680 show as they do each and every Thursday night. 00:05:44.279 --> 00:05:47.579 Coming up on our HamFest schedule, Belvedere, 00:05:47.579 --> 00:05:50.779 Illinois is on the books for this weekend on 00:05:50.779 --> 00:05:54.730 September 26th. Then they're off to Texas, Belton, 00:05:55.129 --> 00:05:58.670 Texas, October 2nd. And then it's time for the 00:05:58.670 --> 00:06:01.730 Florida tour again. So Crestview, Florida on 00:06:01.730 --> 00:06:06.709 October 9th. But you can visit them from the 00:06:06.709 --> 00:06:13.649 convenience of your own home at PL -259 .com. 00:06:14.120 --> 00:06:17.180 Well welcome back to the show and tonight Vance 00:06:17.180 --> 00:06:21.399 Martin in three VEM joins us on the Orlando amateur 00:06:21.399 --> 00:06:25.720 radio club and hamcation hotline. Vance became 00:06:25.720 --> 00:06:28.319 aware of ham radio as a teenager when he stumbled 00:06:28.319 --> 00:06:32.240 onto some of his dad's old radio books but didn't 00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:36.319 become a ham until 2014 passed the extra exam 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:41.000 in 15 and is Working on some CW. Spent a lot 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:44.740 of early years on the air from a mobile station, 00:06:44.839 --> 00:06:48.800 but he's got a nice new shack at home. But still 00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:51.139 does a lot of mobile and portable operation. 00:06:51.279 --> 00:06:54.959 We've had him on the show before talking about 00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:59.220 some Pota events. And so Vance is back with us 00:06:59.220 --> 00:07:02.459 tonight to tell us about one of his latest Pota 00:07:02.459 --> 00:07:04.600 projects. So Vance, welcome back to the show. 00:07:05.290 --> 00:07:08.089 Yeah, Neil, thanks for having me back on. It's 00:07:08.089 --> 00:07:10.730 been a while, but it's always fun to come on 00:07:10.730 --> 00:07:14.850 and chat with you about Pouda stuff. Yeah, it 00:07:14.850 --> 00:07:17.209 has been a while. I was looking back and I was 00:07:17.209 --> 00:07:22.439 like, wow. Time has passed It's been a good while 00:07:22.439 --> 00:07:25.620 since we you've been here. So Parks on the air 00:07:25.620 --> 00:07:30.339 is continuing to grow and and so to keep up with 00:07:30.339 --> 00:07:35.019 everything You've created a monthly update on 00:07:35.019 --> 00:07:37.740 Pota happenings and and you sent me the first 00:07:37.740 --> 00:07:41.180 one and and we actually Used some clips of it 00:07:41.180 --> 00:07:44.720 over on amateur radio newsline to to provide 00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:49.560 kind of a monthly Pota update over there on Newsline. 00:07:50.379 --> 00:07:53.620 So let's talk about these updates a little bit 00:07:53.620 --> 00:07:56.519 and we'll talk some just plain old POTA as well. 00:07:57.420 --> 00:08:01.980 But tell us about the decision to start producing 00:08:01.980 --> 00:08:07.279 this POTA update each month. Yeah, well a lot 00:08:07.279 --> 00:08:11.259 of it stemmed from the fact that really we've 00:08:11.259 --> 00:08:15.129 just gotten wildly more popular than we ever 00:08:15.129 --> 00:08:19.970 expected to be. As the National Parks event on 00:08:19.970 --> 00:08:24.129 the air was winding down in 2016, a bunch of 00:08:24.129 --> 00:08:26.930 people really liked the program. Jason Johnston 00:08:26.930 --> 00:08:29.730 got POTA, as we know it now, kind of rolling 00:08:29.730 --> 00:08:32.629 as that was wrapping up. and early on when we 00:08:32.629 --> 00:08:34.389 would talk, he'd be like, yeah, if we have like 00:08:34.389 --> 00:08:36.529 a couple hundred people that are interested in 00:08:36.529 --> 00:08:38.809 continuing to do this park operation stuff, you 00:08:38.809 --> 00:08:40.750 know, we'll do it with a small group and we'll 00:08:40.750 --> 00:08:46.909 have fun. And in the last almost timed, along 00:08:46.909 --> 00:08:50.070 with all the pandemic stuff, the growth of POTA 00:08:50.070 --> 00:08:54.789 has exploded. We basically went from, you know, 00:08:55.009 --> 00:09:00.669 averaging, you know, 10 to 15 ,000 QSOs a month. 00:09:00.860 --> 00:09:06.100 for POTA to just now in the most recent July 00:09:06.100 --> 00:09:09.440 and August, we're in the, you know, right around 00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:13.259 the 200 ,000 contacts a month getting made. Holy 00:09:13.259 --> 00:09:17.600 cow. POTA contacts. Yeah, the growth, if we were 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:19.960 a for -profit business, we would be like dancing 00:09:19.960 --> 00:09:22.139 on the tables and throwing streamers around. 00:09:23.299 --> 00:09:26.720 But we're not. We're just some guys having fun 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:30.320 with radios. So we thought, hey, there's a lot 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:33.580 of the YouTube channels and podcasts, people 00:09:33.580 --> 00:09:36.320 out there talking about Poodle already, which 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:39.929 is awesome. So we don't have to like ... Try 00:09:39.929 --> 00:09:42.649 on purpose to spread the word anymore, but we 00:09:42.649 --> 00:09:44.210 thought hey it might be still it might still 00:09:44.210 --> 00:09:47.470 be nice if there was Kind of like an official 00:09:47.470 --> 00:09:50.029 statement from podo once in a while basically 00:09:50.029 --> 00:09:51.870 saying hey here's some news that that you all 00:09:51.870 --> 00:09:55.129 might find interesting so It worked out great 00:09:55.129 --> 00:09:57.789 because you know I've got a family with small 00:09:57.789 --> 00:09:59.990 kids You know as we were getting started at the 00:09:59.990 --> 00:10:01.950 beginning of the show you saw the youngest one 00:10:01.950 --> 00:10:03.730 was hanging out here with me for a little bit 00:10:03.730 --> 00:10:06.909 when we were getting getting rolling and So I 00:10:06.909 --> 00:10:10.809 don't have time to do like my own YouTube channel 00:10:10.809 --> 00:10:12.970 and all that kind of stuff to talk specifically 00:10:12.970 --> 00:10:17.230 about POTA. But I can certainly record once a 00:10:17.230 --> 00:10:20.509 month a three -minute video in two -minute segments 00:10:20.509 --> 00:10:23.110 and then just kind of make it available to the 00:10:23.110 --> 00:10:25.950 ham radio media community and say, hey, here's 00:10:25.950 --> 00:10:29.210 some official POTA news if you guys want to use 00:10:29.210 --> 00:10:31.490 it. So that's really where it started from. It 00:10:31.490 --> 00:10:35.490 was something that fit into my schedule to basically 00:10:35.490 --> 00:10:38.820 record a short blurb each month that all of you 00:10:38.820 --> 00:10:41.879 guys can kind of pick up and use on the podcasts 00:10:41.879 --> 00:10:45.279 and channels and August was the first one we 00:10:45.279 --> 00:10:49.139 did and I have some stuff actually pre -recorded 00:10:49.139 --> 00:10:51.379 for the next couple months because it's easy 00:10:51.379 --> 00:10:53.779 to sit down and pre -record like little one minute 00:10:53.779 --> 00:10:57.360 intros, a whole bunch in a row. So that's kind 00:10:57.360 --> 00:11:00.519 of where it came from and what we're doing. So 00:11:00.519 --> 00:11:04.299 I'm really looking forward to it because it's... 00:11:04.900 --> 00:11:07.240 Making the little video clips and stuff is fun 00:11:07.240 --> 00:11:11.320 to do, but letting all of you do the heavy lift 00:11:11.320 --> 00:11:13.759 of actually having channels and publishing it, 00:11:14.259 --> 00:11:16.899 I'm more than happy to let all of you guys handle 00:11:16.899 --> 00:11:22.519 that kind of stuff. Yeah, it can be very, very 00:11:22.519 --> 00:11:26.820 daunting, and I can tell you the last few months... 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:30.559 with all the changes at home here with moving 00:11:30.559 --> 00:11:34.779 and new job and all that kind of thing. My time 00:11:34.779 --> 00:11:39.960 that I spend on this show is dwindling quickly 00:11:39.960 --> 00:11:46.639 and it can be overwhelming so I appreciate you 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:50.110 coming up with this because You know, especially 00:11:50.110 --> 00:11:54.250 I you know, I forwarded this immediately to my 00:11:54.250 --> 00:11:58.950 editor over it at Newsline and She's like really 00:11:58.950 --> 00:12:02.149 a monthly poda update. Oh my gosh This will you 00:12:02.149 --> 00:12:04.110 know, this will make our lives so much easier 00:12:04.110 --> 00:12:06.090 instead of trying to track down all this stuff 00:12:06.090 --> 00:12:08.909 all the time and and it's something that we can 00:12:08.909 --> 00:12:13.789 just plug and play and and so it was It was a 00:12:13.789 --> 00:12:18.129 very warm welcome when I forwarded your email 00:12:18.129 --> 00:12:22.909 about these updates and so we'll try to sneak 00:12:22.909 --> 00:12:28.429 some stuff in here as well, but how do people 00:12:28.429 --> 00:12:32.789 get a hold of these updates and how do they hear 00:12:32.789 --> 00:12:38.710 these things? Yeah, so for just average person, 00:12:38.769 --> 00:12:42.460 if you just want to hear the updates, just I'd 00:12:42.460 --> 00:12:45.940 say just tune in to your favorite YouTube channel, 00:12:46.039 --> 00:12:49.740 podcast, and quite a few of them are picking 00:12:49.740 --> 00:12:54.559 it up and going to be playing it. The folks that 00:12:54.559 --> 00:12:57.799 everybody knows is kind of like the ham radio 00:12:57.799 --> 00:13:00.440 YouTubers bunch. Quite a few of them are playing 00:13:00.440 --> 00:13:03.059 it, so if you follow those YouTube channels, 00:13:04.519 --> 00:13:08.399 obviously Karen had a really pleasant email exchange 00:13:08.399 --> 00:13:11.230 with Karen back and forth about you know, just 00:13:11.230 --> 00:13:13.610 making sure she was on the list so that amateur 00:13:13.610 --> 00:13:15.570 radio news line could pick the pieces out of 00:13:15.570 --> 00:13:18.830 it that work for them So so really just you know, 00:13:18.909 --> 00:13:20.909 make sure you follow along with your your favorite 00:13:20.909 --> 00:13:24.149 ham radio media outlets and if you happen to 00:13:24.149 --> 00:13:27.970 have a podcast YouTube channel blog, you know, 00:13:28.009 --> 00:13:31.610 if you if you talk about ham radio news Just 00:13:31.610 --> 00:13:33.929 just shoot me an email and it's it's a pretty 00:13:33.929 --> 00:13:37.490 easy email. I'm n3vem at parks on the air comm 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:39.639 And if you just shoot me an email and say, hey, 00:13:39.720 --> 00:13:42.159 yeah, I'd like to get on the mailing list, what 00:13:42.159 --> 00:13:46.259 I do because I'm not in the business of production 00:13:46.259 --> 00:13:50.539 and publishing. Once a month, I drop the video 00:13:50.539 --> 00:13:54.559 file and an audio only file in a Google Drive 00:13:54.559 --> 00:13:57.039 and send it out to the mailing list and say, 00:13:57.059 --> 00:14:00.500 you know, here it is, folks, and take it and 00:14:00.500 --> 00:14:04.340 use it as you please on your channels. So that's 00:14:04.340 --> 00:14:08.120 really kind of the way I'm distributing it. All 00:14:08.120 --> 00:14:10.960 right, well, let's do a little live version of 00:14:10.960 --> 00:14:13.580 this and I don't want to just just play the thing 00:14:13.580 --> 00:14:17.639 here since you're here tonight So what is the 00:14:17.639 --> 00:14:20.860 latest news about Pota? I think I heard something 00:14:20.860 --> 00:14:25.500 about you just added a whole slew of parks Yeah, 00:14:25.580 --> 00:14:28.200 yeah, I can I can actually buzz through and give 00:14:28.200 --> 00:14:31.399 you the put on my my deep radio announcer voice 00:14:31.399 --> 00:14:36.039 announcer voice and Yeah, yeah, I can buzz through 00:14:36.039 --> 00:14:40.090 so So yeah, the exciting announcement is that 00:14:40.090 --> 00:14:43.009 we just added over a thousand parks to the Parks 00:14:43.009 --> 00:14:48.110 on the Air system, which it took surprisingly 00:14:48.110 --> 00:14:50.370 long to get a thousand parks added. So for the 00:14:50.370 --> 00:14:52.850 last several months, we've had a group of volunteers 00:14:52.850 --> 00:14:57.110 basically collecting requests from people in 00:14:57.110 --> 00:14:59.470 their state for parks that they think they should 00:14:59.470 --> 00:15:02.470 be added. Those volunteers combed through those 00:15:02.470 --> 00:15:04.970 requests to make sure that they were valid parks, 00:15:05.129 --> 00:15:07.909 that they fit the criteria for POTA. And each 00:15:07.909 --> 00:15:10.549 state had one person who put together those lists 00:15:10.549 --> 00:15:13.110 in their parks. They went to another volunteer, 00:15:13.370 --> 00:15:16.230 John, who consolidated all of those lists into 00:15:16.230 --> 00:15:19.250 a big file. And then myself and a couple of the 00:15:19.250 --> 00:15:23.549 other database admin have the job of basically 00:15:23.899 --> 00:15:26.720 Running the scripts and doing the inserts to 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:29.019 get all that stuff in into the system. So yeah, 00:15:29.139 --> 00:15:33.179 there's there's a thousand new parks in in the 00:15:33.179 --> 00:15:37.139 system for the US and and then over the next 00:15:37.139 --> 00:15:40.600 Number of months and and even probably year or 00:15:40.600 --> 00:15:42.879 more We're going to be doing the same effort 00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:45.879 with a lot of a lot of DX entities So so now 00:15:45.879 --> 00:15:47.840 we're starting to really comb through and and 00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:52.029 get some DX entities added also And then the 00:15:52.029 --> 00:15:55.210 other thing that we shared during this update 00:15:55.210 --> 00:15:59.509 was that we formalized a POTA support desk. So 00:15:59.509 --> 00:16:01.509 because of that wild growth I talked about at 00:16:01.509 --> 00:16:05.730 the beginning, we've now got 15 ,000 users, which 00:16:05.730 --> 00:16:08.769 essentially 15 ,000 users was too many people 00:16:08.769 --> 00:16:11.269 for just like me and Jason to answer support 00:16:11.269 --> 00:16:15.110 tickets by ourselves. So we have a small contingent 00:16:15.110 --> 00:16:18.309 of volunteers that now make up the POTA support 00:16:18.309 --> 00:16:21.759 desk. essentially a volunteer for every day of 00:16:21.759 --> 00:16:25.899 the week. So whenever you send a ticket in to 00:16:25.899 --> 00:16:29.019 help at parksontheair .com, you'll get a response 00:16:29.019 --> 00:16:32.360 usually within 24 hours, but no worse than 48. 00:16:32.679 --> 00:16:36.139 And if it's a real complicated request, the response 00:16:36.139 --> 00:16:37.919 might be, hey, we've got to escalate this to 00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:40.159 level two. But if you have a fairly standard 00:16:40.159 --> 00:16:42.299 question, you'll get a response pretty quick. 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:46.200 So those were kind of our big news items for 00:16:46.200 --> 00:16:51.740 this month. If you ever call into tech support, 00:16:51.940 --> 00:16:54.559 you're used to that. Okay, can you just escalate 00:16:54.559 --> 00:16:59.000 me to level two? Yes, I've unplugged it and plugged 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:04.640 it back in. I'll give you the POTA secret. Don't 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:07.140 tell anybody. Level two technical support is 00:17:07.140 --> 00:17:11.769 basically Vance on the weekends. So during the 00:17:11.769 --> 00:17:13.890 week, everybody else tries their best to answer 00:17:13.890 --> 00:17:16.250 the questions and then anything that they can't 00:17:16.250 --> 00:17:19.190 figure out, they punt to me to figure out on 00:17:19.190 --> 00:17:24.710 the weekend. Well, I always, you know, every 00:17:24.710 --> 00:17:26.730 time I call in about something, it's like, yes, 00:17:26.809 --> 00:17:29.769 I've already rebooted. I've already done this. 00:17:29.769 --> 00:17:32.410 I've already done that. I've already done. Oh, 00:17:32.430 --> 00:17:35.069 okay. Well, you know, can you just skip, skip 00:17:35.069 --> 00:17:41.119 me to level two and they don't, but. Well, that's 00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:45.680 that's some cool stuff and I don't know why and 00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:48.099 and I don't know why I'm mentioning this but 00:17:48.099 --> 00:17:56.059 I just My my brain went back to my hometown growing 00:17:56.059 --> 00:17:59.759 up and and I'm and I'm like There was there was 00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:02.019 a part just down the street. It was called Lester 00:18:02.019 --> 00:18:06.339 Square and it was one square block And and that 00:18:06.339 --> 00:18:10.779 was it So would Leicester Square count as a POTA? 00:18:10.839 --> 00:18:14.400 Could you register that? Well, it would depend 00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:17.940 on the criteria. So I'd have to look it up to 00:18:17.940 --> 00:18:20.539 see if it is a park in the system or not. But 00:18:20.539 --> 00:18:24.660 essentially what makes a POTA park eligible to 00:18:24.660 --> 00:18:28.619 be part of POTA is essentially if it's owned 00:18:28.619 --> 00:18:35.480 or managed by a state entity or higher. So if 00:18:35.480 --> 00:18:37.920 it's like a state or federal entity that owns 00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:40.859 and manages it, then it's eligible to be a podo 00:18:40.859 --> 00:18:44.740 park. So if it's like a county park or a city 00:18:44.740 --> 00:18:47.940 park, those generally aren't in the system. And 00:18:47.940 --> 00:18:50.480 then, you know, state parks and things are, and 00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:54.400 that's really if no reason other than just to, 00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:56.799 to keep the numbers reasonable, because once 00:18:56.799 --> 00:18:59.019 you go below the state level park and you start 00:18:59.019 --> 00:19:01.680 hitting like city and county parks, the numbers 00:19:01.680 --> 00:19:05.440 of parks in the U .S. is just astronomical to 00:19:05.440 --> 00:19:10.460 manage. You just answered my question. A city 00:19:10.460 --> 00:19:16.700 park that's one square block, which was probably 00:19:16.700 --> 00:19:20.180 the other place that I hung out besides home, 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:24.279 that's not going to cut it because you're going 00:19:24.279 --> 00:19:30.450 to have millions. What we found, especially since 00:19:30.450 --> 00:19:32.549 we went through and did this big push and got 00:19:32.549 --> 00:19:37.410 these 1 ,000 plus parks in, essentially that 00:19:37.410 --> 00:19:40.190 was all what we kind of considered clean up. 00:19:40.490 --> 00:19:42.990 When we first set up the parks in the system, 00:19:44.130 --> 00:19:46.529 an even smaller group of people kind of took 00:19:46.529 --> 00:19:48.690 their best shot at making sure we had all the 00:19:48.690 --> 00:19:52.869 state parks and federal parks listed, but there 00:19:52.869 --> 00:19:55.450 was obviously quite a few that we were missing. 00:19:55.859 --> 00:19:59.839 And yeah, that became like the big chore was 00:19:59.839 --> 00:20:03.339 combing through all the stuff because a lot of 00:20:03.339 --> 00:20:04.819 people said, well, hey, there's this park near 00:20:04.819 --> 00:20:07.700 me that I think is state owned. And so then there 00:20:07.700 --> 00:20:09.700 was a lot of homework to figure out, hey, is 00:20:09.700 --> 00:20:11.619 this actually a state park? Is it a county park? 00:20:12.140 --> 00:20:15.559 And there's a lot of time on the phone with state. 00:20:15.740 --> 00:20:19.359 departments of natural resources and city and 00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:21.279 county parks and rec department saying like, 00:20:21.400 --> 00:20:23.119 Hey, do you own this park? Does the state own 00:20:23.119 --> 00:20:25.700 that park? So yeah, it was, it was quite a chore. 00:20:26.420 --> 00:20:31.619 Oh, I imagine it would be so, but at least a 00:20:31.619 --> 00:20:34.920 lot of states anyway, have those indexed on a 00:20:34.920 --> 00:20:37.319 webpage. So you could, you can get those, but 00:20:37.319 --> 00:20:41.059 I'm sure there's a lot of phone backup needed 00:20:41.059 --> 00:20:45.220 there for, for some that. got overlooked or or 00:20:45.220 --> 00:20:49.720 they just don't do a good job of of listing those 00:20:49.720 --> 00:20:53.579 on their on their website. So cool stuff. Well, 00:20:53.579 --> 00:20:56.559 there we go. The trip back to the mental trip 00:20:56.559 --> 00:20:58.799 back to Leicester Square in Vincennes, Indiana. 00:20:58.960 --> 00:21:01.079 So if anybody knows where Leicester Square is, 00:21:01.359 --> 00:21:07.099 you're you're you're very special because assign 00:21:07.099 --> 00:21:10.180 them 10 extra Internet points. Yes. Yeah, we'll 00:21:10.180 --> 00:21:12.400 give you we'll get all heck. We'll give you 100 00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:15.700 extra points. If you if you know where Lester 00:21:15.700 --> 00:21:18.660 Square is because it's just a tiny little park, 00:21:18.660 --> 00:21:22.200 but but spend a lot of time there So, all right. 00:21:22.299 --> 00:21:26.039 Well Before we take a break here do just want 00:21:26.039 --> 00:21:33.259 to be clear. I Last night I sent out a picture 00:21:33.259 --> 00:21:37.180 on social media to promote our poda theme for 00:21:37.180 --> 00:21:41.920 tonight and The photo wasn't Vance. So if anybody 00:21:41.920 --> 00:21:45.140 thinks that was Vance, that wasn't Vance. I was 00:21:45.140 --> 00:21:47.640 just looking for a fun photo you use about POTA 00:21:47.640 --> 00:21:52.240 and I found one with Shane, K5QBF. He was doing 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:59.400 a POTA activation and as I said earlier in the 00:21:59.400 --> 00:22:03.299 show, the time that I spend on this show has 00:22:03.299 --> 00:22:07.579 dwindled a lot. And so I was in a hurry and I 00:22:07.579 --> 00:22:11.859 didn't... look and see oh, that's a thumbnail 00:22:11.859 --> 00:22:17.559 from a YouTube video and I didn't get permission 00:22:17.559 --> 00:22:20.259 from everybody so we got it all worked out last 00:22:20.259 --> 00:22:25.359 night, so thanks to to ham radio DX for letting 00:22:25.359 --> 00:22:29.119 me keep the photo up and And I talked to Shane 00:22:29.119 --> 00:22:31.660 some last night. It was good to meet him and 00:22:31.660 --> 00:22:35.309 talk to him and Got permission from him as well 00:22:35.309 --> 00:22:38.849 to do that. So my apologies for not doing my 00:22:38.849 --> 00:22:44.130 due diligence there as I normally do so and and 00:22:44.130 --> 00:22:49.349 my apologies to you if if if you know if that 00:22:49.349 --> 00:22:53.650 caused an issue of you know people thinking that 00:22:53.650 --> 00:22:57.029 you were Shane or Shane were you or However, 00:22:57.029 --> 00:23:00.769 that went yeah. Yeah, I yeah no no no harm on 00:23:00.769 --> 00:23:03.940 my end. I'm actually a I'm a hard one to find 00:23:03.940 --> 00:23:06.640 pictures of on the internet. So it's only within 00:23:06.640 --> 00:23:09.440 the last few months when I started doing a little 00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:11.839 bit of PR stuff on some of the YouTube channels 00:23:11.839 --> 00:23:14.720 for Pota that was actually the first time my 00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:18.759 face appeared on the internet. So I'm a hard 00:23:18.759 --> 00:23:22.279 one to find a picture of. Up until like two weeks 00:23:22.279 --> 00:23:25.839 ago, my face was not on the internet anywhere. 00:23:26.240 --> 00:23:29.480 So I made it to almost 40 before my face showed 00:23:29.480 --> 00:23:31.279 up on the internet. So that's gotta be some kind 00:23:31.279 --> 00:23:34.619 of record. Yeah, I guess so well Shane had one 00:23:34.619 --> 00:23:38.440 he's like this is Vance and I'm like, uh, yeah 00:23:38.440 --> 00:23:46.119 But but thanks thanks to Shane and he has a YouTube 00:23:46.119 --> 00:23:51.559 channel and you can Hear about this story and 00:23:51.559 --> 00:23:54.220 actually the picture he was telling me about 00:23:54.220 --> 00:23:56.819 the picture. He said that activation was just 00:23:56.819 --> 00:24:02.779 a miserable really difficult Activation to do 00:24:02.779 --> 00:24:06.559 right in the middle of a solar storm and So if 00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:09.059 you want to hear more about that you can check 00:24:09.059 --> 00:24:12.440 out Shane's YouTube channel It's called this 00:24:12.440 --> 00:24:17.240 side of the radio and you can hear about that 00:24:17.240 --> 00:24:21.920 one and many more. So check that out. Again, 00:24:22.140 --> 00:24:27.140 that's Shane K5QBF and then from Australia, it's 00:24:27.140 --> 00:24:30.819 the Ham Radio DX YouTube channel there too. So 00:24:30.819 --> 00:24:33.400 check them out as well. And I know you all have 00:24:33.400 --> 00:24:38.500 been on their shows before too. So check them 00:24:38.500 --> 00:24:42.339 out. Well, it's time to take a break. So I'll 00:24:42.339 --> 00:24:44.839 be back with Vance right after this word from 00:24:44.839 --> 00:24:49.420 ICOM America right here on HamTalk Live. Contest 00:24:49.420 --> 00:24:52.319 remotely or from the comfort of your own home. 00:24:52.640 --> 00:24:55.599 ICOM has the perfect base station ready for action. 00:24:55.930 --> 00:25:02.529 The IC9700, IC7610, and the IC7300 SDR transceivers 00:25:02.529 --> 00:25:05.230 are top of the line and are the first choice 00:25:05.230 --> 00:25:08.390 for contesters across the globe. Robust base 00:25:08.390 --> 00:25:10.589 stations like these cut through pileups letting 00:25:10.589 --> 00:25:13.549 you work the bands and record those contacts. 00:25:13.869 --> 00:25:16.670 Stay connected and keep your competitive contesting 00:25:16.670 --> 00:25:20.960 edge with ICOM. Heard it, worked it, logged it. 00:25:21.119 --> 00:25:23.880 Create your own band opening with the IC9700. 00:25:24.119 --> 00:25:26.420 This transceiver brings direct sampling to the 00:25:26.420 --> 00:25:30.069 UHF -VHF week signal world. This all -mode transceiver 00:25:30.069 --> 00:25:32.490 is loaded with innovative features that are sure 00:25:32.490 --> 00:25:35.390 to keep you busy, faster processors, higher input 00:25:35.390 --> 00:25:38.069 gain, higher display resolution, and a cleaner 00:25:38.069 --> 00:25:42.190 signal. 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It has RF direct sampling, 110 dB 00:26:15.339 --> 00:26:18.980 RMDR, independent dual receiver, and dual digicel. 00:26:19.099 --> 00:26:23.160 The IC7300 changed the way entry -level HF is 00:26:23.160 --> 00:26:25.640 designed. This high -performance innovative HF 00:26:25.640 --> 00:26:28.319 transceiver with a compact design will far exceed 00:26:28.319 --> 00:26:31.759 your expectations. With RF direct sampling, 15 00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:34.559 discrete bandpass filters, a large 4 .3 inch 00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:36.500 color touchscreen, real -time spectrum scope, 00:26:36.660 --> 00:26:41.180 and SD card slot. Visit icomamerica .com slash 00:26:41.180 --> 00:26:44.539 amateur for more information on ICOM radios. 00:26:44.890 --> 00:26:48.710 Join the conversation. Give us a call at 859 00:26:48.710 --> 00:26:54.670 -982 -7373. Again, the number to call is 859 00:26:54.670 --> 00:27:00.430 -982 -7373. Or, if you'd rather type than talk, 00:27:00.750 --> 00:27:03.990 tweet us at HamTalk Live. Now, here's Neil Rapp 00:27:03.990 --> 00:27:32.839 with more HamTalk Live. Welcome back to HamTalk 00:27:32.839 --> 00:27:35.640 Live. We're on the air every Thursday night at 00:27:35.640 --> 00:27:38.539 9 p .m. Eastern Time, right here at HamTalkLive 00:27:38.539 --> 00:27:41.019 .com. Be sure to check us out on Facebook, Twitter, 00:27:41.119 --> 00:27:44.500 and Instagram. And thanks to iCom America for 00:27:44.500 --> 00:27:46.779 sponsoring the show. Be sure you check them out 00:27:46.779 --> 00:27:51.819 at iComAmerica .com slash amateur. And again, 00:27:52.180 --> 00:27:57.400 the phone lines, the phone provider is... in 00:27:57.400 --> 00:28:03.920 a denial of service attack. You never know. That's 00:28:03.920 --> 00:28:07.500 the beauty of live radio. You never know what's 00:28:07.500 --> 00:28:12.180 going to happen. So, the usual number isn't working 00:28:12.180 --> 00:28:15.640 at the moment, so we'll use our backup line. 00:28:15.880 --> 00:28:23.420 It's 812 -638 -4261. Again, don't call the 7373 00:28:23.420 --> 00:28:25.119 number because it's not going to work tonight. 00:28:25.640 --> 00:28:33.180 It's 812 -638 -4261. You can give us a call right 00:28:33.180 --> 00:28:37.829 now actually. We can do that. First, we are going 00:28:37.829 --> 00:28:42.049 to tune in to the N9GSU Joke of the Week. Now 00:28:42.049 --> 00:28:45.569 it's time for the HamTalk Live Ham Radio Joke 00:28:45.569 --> 00:28:47.549 of the Week, the part of the show where Rick 00:28:47.549 --> 00:28:51.069 tells us a ham radio joke. The HamTalk Live Ham 00:28:51.069 --> 00:28:54.329 Radio Joke of the Week is brought to you by QRM 00:28:54.329 --> 00:28:58.990 Labs. Now, here's Rick Garrett, N9GSU with today's 00:28:58.990 --> 00:29:07.210 HamTalk Live Joke of the Week. I decided to jump 00:29:07.210 --> 00:29:09.829 on the bandwagon and make my shack and everything 00:29:09.829 --> 00:29:12.829 in my house completely paperless. Everything 00:29:12.829 --> 00:29:17.650 was fine until I had to go to the bathroom. This 00:29:17.650 --> 00:29:20.890 has been the Ham Talk Live Ham Radio Joke of 00:29:20.890 --> 00:29:24.710 the Week with Rick Garrett in 9GSU. Tune in again 00:29:24.710 --> 00:29:31.269 next week for another joke from Rick. Oh my goodness 00:29:31.269 --> 00:29:38.019 he doesn't ever stop. Well, thank you, Rick, 00:29:38.019 --> 00:29:41.259 for that one. We'll look forward to another one 00:29:41.259 --> 00:29:44.440 next week. But right now it's time for your phone 00:29:44.440 --> 00:29:47.579 calls. So if you have a question for Vance, give 00:29:47.579 --> 00:29:57.059 us a call. Again, it's 812 -638 -4261. If you 00:29:57.059 --> 00:29:59.740 would like to join in or you can tweet us, it's 00:29:59.740 --> 00:30:02.740 at HamTalk Live. And if you're listening to us 00:30:02.740 --> 00:30:08.019 on WTWW or on the podcast edition, you won't 00:30:08.019 --> 00:30:11.160 be able to call us because we're doing this live 00:30:11.160 --> 00:30:16.640 here. So let's see. If I punch the buttons correctly, 00:30:16.720 --> 00:30:20.299 we have a caller on the line. So let's go to 00:30:20.299 --> 00:30:22.240 the phone line. Just good evening. Welcome to 00:30:22.240 --> 00:30:27.460 HamTalk Live. I think I saw a pop -up that looked 00:30:27.460 --> 00:30:29.480 like a phone number dropped out. So it might've 00:30:29.480 --> 00:30:33.440 lost them. Okay. Let's see here. Let's try it 00:30:33.440 --> 00:30:37.980 again. Merge call. Hello. Welcome to ham talk 00:30:37.980 --> 00:30:46.299 live. Hello. Hmm. Okay. Well, I don't know what's 00:30:46.299 --> 00:30:50.059 going on there, but I was probably Facebook pranking 00:30:50.059 --> 00:30:56.910 me. I was fighting with Facebook. So again, the 00:30:56.910 --> 00:31:03.410 number 812 -638 -4261 is the number to call. 00:31:04.369 --> 00:31:07.289 And we'll take your questions here. Or again, 00:31:07.690 --> 00:31:10.250 you can always tweet us. It's at HamTalk Live. 00:31:10.609 --> 00:31:14.630 Or if you're listening to some speaker, you can... 00:31:14.640 --> 00:31:17.660 type into the comments and we'll get that here 00:31:17.660 --> 00:31:21.539 and we'll take your questions. So let's see, 00:31:21.839 --> 00:31:25.400 on the Twitter thing, we've got your guest is 00:31:25.400 --> 00:31:28.980 a darn handsome guy, but that was from Vant, 00:31:29.220 --> 00:31:35.700 so yeah, I don't know. Well, he must be a very 00:31:35.700 --> 00:31:39.180 flattering gentleman. Yeah, must be, must be. 00:31:40.640 --> 00:31:43.500 Well, let's, let's talk about some other, uh, 00:31:43.500 --> 00:31:46.680 Pota activations that, that, you know, you've 00:31:46.680 --> 00:31:49.000 been involved with in getting going. Some of 00:31:49.000 --> 00:31:51.339 the, some of the bigger ones, uh, that have been 00:31:51.339 --> 00:31:54.880 going on. Um, let's just talk a little, little 00:31:54.880 --> 00:31:58.779 Pota directly tonight here. Yeah, there's been, 00:31:59.579 --> 00:32:04.420 um, well with how popular, um, you know, Pota 00:32:04.420 --> 00:32:07.480 has gotten, there's been, you know, you can, 00:32:07.539 --> 00:32:11.769 you can pretty much any. time of day or night, 00:32:11.769 --> 00:32:13.910 day of the week, you can almost always find a 00:32:13.910 --> 00:32:17.250 Pota station on the air now. And so one of the 00:32:17.250 --> 00:32:20.650 things I had actually looked at in August is, 00:32:21.029 --> 00:32:22.630 for the month ending August, I was like, oh, 00:32:22.650 --> 00:32:25.930 I wonder if there's any specific parks out there 00:32:25.930 --> 00:32:32.789 that are super popular. And so I did some number 00:32:32.789 --> 00:32:34.710 crunching in the database with some of the stuff 00:32:34.710 --> 00:32:39.390 we use in the backend. and the park that popped 00:32:39.390 --> 00:32:42.869 up that actually got activated the most in the 00:32:42.869 --> 00:32:45.490 month of August was, and I'm gonna butcher the 00:32:45.490 --> 00:32:48.289 name of it, but I'm gonna do my best, is Monsanto 00:32:48.289 --> 00:32:51.369 State Park. And I thought, ah, I gotta Google 00:32:51.369 --> 00:32:53.410 this park, see why so many people went to this 00:32:53.410 --> 00:32:58.109 park in August. And I looked and all of the activations 00:32:58.109 --> 00:33:01.039 happened like... right around a couple day window, 00:33:01.140 --> 00:33:03.559 and then I looked more and I'm like, ah, I know 00:33:03.559 --> 00:33:06.539 what's going on. It just happened to be the park 00:33:06.539 --> 00:33:09.359 that is closest to where they do the Huntsville 00:33:09.359 --> 00:33:14.400 Ham Fest. So Montesano State Park got an influx 00:33:14.400 --> 00:33:18.700 of ham radio operators during Huntsville, and 00:33:18.700 --> 00:33:22.279 there was, I don't know, a couple dozen different 00:33:22.279 --> 00:33:25.019 operators went out to that park over the course 00:33:25.019 --> 00:33:26.819 of the weekend and activated it while it was 00:33:26.819 --> 00:33:30.680 there. And as far as parks go, that's a really 00:33:30.680 --> 00:33:33.059 cool park. So one of the things I'll probably 00:33:33.059 --> 00:33:35.220 start doing during the updates is kind of sharing 00:33:35.220 --> 00:33:37.839 a Park of the Month. And that park has some really 00:33:37.839 --> 00:33:40.460 cool cabins that were built in the 1930s as part 00:33:40.460 --> 00:33:43.160 of the Civilian Conservation Corps. So yeah, 00:33:43.220 --> 00:33:47.440 I'd say go ahead and... Google Montesano State 00:33:47.440 --> 00:33:50.539 Park near Huntsville, and it looks like that'd 00:33:50.539 --> 00:33:53.019 be a fun place to go and rent a cabin and play 00:33:53.019 --> 00:33:55.539 Pota. The cabins sit right on a ridge line, and 00:33:55.539 --> 00:33:58.500 it looks like the ideal place to have a very 00:33:58.500 --> 00:34:02.119 laid -back Pota activation. All right. Well, 00:34:02.279 --> 00:34:04.980 that sounds cool. All right. Well, we're going 00:34:04.980 --> 00:34:07.299 to try the phone lines again here. We merged 00:34:07.299 --> 00:34:11.179 the call back in again. So let's, oh, and it 00:34:11.179 --> 00:34:16.719 just said, oh. Left again. All right. And recalling 00:34:16.719 --> 00:34:20.800 again. So let's see here. Okay. Joined. All right. 00:34:20.860 --> 00:34:22.960 Here we go. Before it drops. Welcome to ham talk 00:34:22.960 --> 00:34:28.599 live. So much for that idea. All right. Well, 00:34:28.599 --> 00:34:32.860 RJ is listening tonight. W Y seven AA. And, uh, 00:34:32.860 --> 00:34:35.179 he writes it on Twitter and says, if I'm working 00:34:35.179 --> 00:34:38.440 as a special event station, like a W seven Y 00:34:38.440 --> 00:34:44.480 as he did, or, or the WW zero WW V, uh, and he 00:34:44.480 --> 00:34:49.239 is at a POTA site, can he turn a POTA turn in 00:34:49.239 --> 00:34:54.059 a POTA log under my call sign as an activation, 00:34:54.059 --> 00:34:58.159 or does the special event call sign need to have 00:34:58.159 --> 00:35:01.480 a POTA account? So there you go, Vance. It's 00:35:01.480 --> 00:35:05.860 tier two. That is very much a tier two question. 00:35:06.059 --> 00:35:08.179 So that's a good one. And this is something that 00:35:08.179 --> 00:35:11.280 a lot of folks ask about. So the easiest way 00:35:11.280 --> 00:35:16.920 for me to explain it is if you think about it 00:35:16.920 --> 00:35:20.139 first this way, that Parks on the Air, we give 00:35:20.139 --> 00:35:24.360 credit to you as a person. not actually your 00:35:24.360 --> 00:35:27.179 call sign. We refer to people by their call signs 00:35:27.179 --> 00:35:29.940 on leaderboards and things like that, but it's 00:35:29.940 --> 00:35:33.940 actually the person that we give credit to. And 00:35:33.940 --> 00:35:36.340 one of the cool things about POTA is that if 00:35:36.340 --> 00:35:41.599 there's a club activation, both the club and 00:35:41.599 --> 00:35:45.179 the individual operator can get credit for the 00:35:45.179 --> 00:35:47.280 same contact. It's one of the ways we encourage 00:35:47.280 --> 00:35:49.219 club activation. So if a bunch of people want 00:35:49.219 --> 00:35:51.380 to go out with their club, the club gets credit 00:35:51.380 --> 00:35:53.340 for a club activation, but then the individual 00:35:53.340 --> 00:35:55.440 operators get credit for the contacts that they 00:35:55.440 --> 00:35:59.360 make. So the easiest way to think of it is, is 00:35:59.360 --> 00:36:03.860 the special event call sign being run by a club, 00:36:04.119 --> 00:36:06.980 i .e. are there multiple operators that would 00:36:06.980 --> 00:36:11.059 be submitting for POTA credit? So if the event 00:36:11.059 --> 00:36:14.539 is being run by a club, the club would put that 00:36:14.539 --> 00:36:17.280 special event call sign in their profile, and 00:36:17.280 --> 00:36:19.889 then the club would upload the log and all of 00:36:19.889 --> 00:36:22.110 the operators would have their credit trickle 00:36:22.110 --> 00:36:25.429 through accordingly. If it's just you and you 00:36:25.429 --> 00:36:28.869 get a special event call sign for yourself, then 00:36:28.869 --> 00:36:31.590 you would put the special event call sign under 00:36:31.590 --> 00:36:34.110 your profile with the start and end dates for 00:36:34.110 --> 00:36:37.690 when you had the call sign registered and then 00:36:37.690 --> 00:36:40.510 you just upload like normal. So that's, I think, 00:36:40.590 --> 00:36:44.050 the easiest way to answer that and explain it. 00:36:44.670 --> 00:36:46.889 All right, very good. Well, thank you, RJ, for 00:36:46.889 --> 00:36:50.110 listening and thank you for Sending in the question 00:36:50.110 --> 00:36:53.190 and if you have a question send it in on Twitter 00:36:53.190 --> 00:36:57.030 at ham talk live or On speaker type it into the 00:36:57.030 --> 00:37:00.210 comments or you can try the phone line at eight 00:37:00.210 --> 00:37:05.050 one two six three eight four two six one that's 00:37:05.050 --> 00:37:10.650 eight one two net ham one And we'll see if we 00:37:10.650 --> 00:37:14.510 can get it to work, but it's a little crazy on 00:37:14.510 --> 00:37:17.869 the phones tonight, so my apologies. Alright, 00:37:18.190 --> 00:37:23.019 well... Let's talk a little bit. We've got just 00:37:23.019 --> 00:37:26.139 a few minutes left here. Let's talk about some 00:37:26.139 --> 00:37:30.280 tips for if you decide that you're going to go 00:37:30.280 --> 00:37:34.300 activate a park for the first time, what are 00:37:34.300 --> 00:37:38.619 some things that you should do to prepare for 00:37:38.619 --> 00:37:42.179 doing that first activation of one of these parks? 00:37:46.440 --> 00:37:49.880 It's a very loaded question, but there are some 00:37:49.880 --> 00:37:52.659 real high level things that I definitely always 00:37:52.659 --> 00:37:56.539 like to share with folks. Really the first thing 00:37:56.539 --> 00:38:02.280 is, if you're new to HF and things like that, 00:38:03.000 --> 00:38:07.739 do some hunting first, because Pota has gotten 00:38:07.739 --> 00:38:10.000 big enough that when you go out in the park you 00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:13.900 will get a pile up. So just be prepared to have 00:38:13.900 --> 00:38:16.780 a pile up coming at you. uh, is, is the first 00:38:16.780 --> 00:38:19.360 thing. And then, and then the second thing is, 00:38:19.380 --> 00:38:23.559 um, really around preparation. So we've put some 00:38:23.559 --> 00:38:26.980 super cool features on the poda .app website, 00:38:26.980 --> 00:38:29.920 but we do remind people that, Hey, that's, you 00:38:29.920 --> 00:38:31.840 know, those, that's really just a rough guideline. 00:38:31.880 --> 00:38:34.360 Like the pins that show where maps are as rough 00:38:34.360 --> 00:38:37.139 guidelines and things like that. So once you've 00:38:37.139 --> 00:38:39.039 identified a park that you're going to go act, 00:38:39.179 --> 00:38:42.099 go activate, we do always recommend, Hey, go 00:38:42.099 --> 00:38:46.590 look up that park online and find that. State's 00:38:46.590 --> 00:38:48.650 website where they talk about their rules for 00:38:48.650 --> 00:38:51.210 parks and things like that And just make sure 00:38:51.210 --> 00:38:53.489 that you know where the boundaries of the park 00:38:53.489 --> 00:38:55.730 are so, you know that you're set up within the 00:38:55.730 --> 00:38:58.170 park Make sure you know the rules for the park 00:38:58.170 --> 00:39:02.550 and and that can be There's a lot of gotchas. 00:39:02.550 --> 00:39:05.989 So like in Pennsylvania we can activate we have 00:39:05.989 --> 00:39:09.090 state game lands that are parks, but you're not 00:39:09.090 --> 00:39:12.590 allowed to use those parks for anything other 00:39:12.590 --> 00:39:14.869 than hunting during hunting season. So there's 00:39:14.869 --> 00:39:16.929 rules like that just to be aware of. So look 00:39:16.929 --> 00:39:19.489 up the rules for your local parks before you 00:39:19.489 --> 00:39:24.650 go. And then the second piece of that is usually 00:39:24.650 --> 00:39:27.090 gear. A lot of people will say, hey, what's the 00:39:27.090 --> 00:39:30.730 best gear to have? And my standard answer is 00:39:30.730 --> 00:39:33.889 whatever gear you own is the best gear to have. 00:39:34.889 --> 00:39:39.489 So the advantage of being the DX and going out 00:39:39.489 --> 00:39:42.210 in the park is you don't have to have a perfect 00:39:42.210 --> 00:39:45.230 gear situation because you're not trying to break 00:39:45.230 --> 00:39:48.349 the pile up. The pile up is coming to you. So 00:39:48.349 --> 00:39:51.570 as long as you can get a radio powered up and 00:39:51.570 --> 00:39:54.210 get some kind of antenna and maybe a tuner plugged 00:39:54.210 --> 00:39:57.769 into it, you're going to be in good shape for 00:39:57.769 --> 00:40:01.869 getting an activation underway. So those are 00:40:01.869 --> 00:40:06.599 really the biggest tips. took that one layer 00:40:06.599 --> 00:40:10.679 deeper. The next thing that I often like to do 00:40:10.679 --> 00:40:13.360 when I activate a park is I'll take a quick peek, 00:40:13.559 --> 00:40:15.340 and I don't do anything fancy. I'll just do a 00:40:15.340 --> 00:40:17.760 quick peek on Google Maps, but I'll pick the 00:40:17.760 --> 00:40:21.400 topographic layer so that I can see where the 00:40:21.400 --> 00:40:23.840 hills and stuff are in the park, just to make 00:40:23.840 --> 00:40:27.099 sure that I'm not going and setting up in the 00:40:27.099 --> 00:40:29.659 bottom of a river valley or something. If there's 00:40:29.659 --> 00:40:32.539 a spot in the park that's the high ground, that's 00:40:32.539 --> 00:40:35.719 usually what I try to shoot for. for, you know, 00:40:35.780 --> 00:40:37.840 kind of, kind of beginner tips. That's, that's 00:40:37.840 --> 00:40:40.019 really the, the best, the best place to start. 00:40:40.420 --> 00:40:44.679 Um, we do have at poda .app, there's a community 00:40:44.679 --> 00:40:47.219 resources section and we do have some pretty 00:40:47.219 --> 00:40:50.119 detailed like activator and hunter guides that, 00:40:50.360 --> 00:40:53.820 you know, you, you can spend, you know, an hour 00:40:53.820 --> 00:40:56.500 or two kind of reading through and cleaning some 00:40:56.500 --> 00:41:00.119 tips and tricks from those things also. Yeah, 00:41:00.920 --> 00:41:03.139 it pays to check out some of that stuff because 00:41:03.139 --> 00:41:07.320 I can tell you this summer we we had the the 00:41:07.320 --> 00:41:12.900 Yoda camp and we had Some ARDF going on and and 00:41:12.900 --> 00:41:16.139 we were like, okay Well, you know the the Voice 00:41:16.139 --> 00:41:19.739 of America Museum has their section of the old 00:41:19.739 --> 00:41:23.590 Voice of America property But surrounding it 00:41:23.590 --> 00:41:27.610 is a county park and then to one side of it is 00:41:27.610 --> 00:41:31.650 actually city property. And so we were like, 00:41:31.670 --> 00:41:34.590 okay, well, you know, we'll expand it out into 00:41:34.590 --> 00:41:36.909 the park. And it's like the county park had totally 00:41:36.909 --> 00:41:40.809 different rules. And we finally ended up just 00:41:41.410 --> 00:41:44.489 Saying no, we're going to keep it on the museum 00:41:44.489 --> 00:41:48.230 grounds and not go into the Parks on either side 00:41:48.230 --> 00:41:51.030 and and it looks like it's just one great big 00:41:51.030 --> 00:41:55.570 park, you know But it actually is divided up. 00:41:55.650 --> 00:41:58.889 So There can be some kind of strange things like 00:41:58.889 --> 00:42:02.570 that. So always a good idea to check that out 00:42:02.570 --> 00:42:05.429 Well Vance, thank you so much for coming on the 00:42:05.429 --> 00:42:08.969 show and answering our questions here tonight 00:42:09.360 --> 00:42:12.119 And we look forward to hearing some of those 00:42:12.119 --> 00:42:15.400 updates on some media outlets like Amateur Radio 00:42:15.400 --> 00:42:19.260 Newsline and some of the others. We look forward 00:42:19.260 --> 00:42:23.360 to getting some of that information and congratulations 00:42:23.360 --> 00:42:27.579 on all the success of the program because that's 00:42:27.579 --> 00:42:31.420 some astronomically exponential growth there 00:42:31.420 --> 00:42:37.400 and so you're to be commended. Yeah, yeah, thanks. 00:42:37.659 --> 00:42:41.360 Yeah, we're just thrilled that there's other 00:42:41.360 --> 00:42:43.920 people out there that wanted to do it just as 00:42:43.920 --> 00:42:46.320 much as the small group of us that kind of got 00:42:46.320 --> 00:42:50.400 it started and up and running. Yeah, it's always 00:42:50.400 --> 00:42:55.139 cool when you get that participation. So we appreciate 00:42:55.139 --> 00:42:59.340 that and any final comments here before we go? 00:43:00.559 --> 00:43:04.139 No, just the bit of advice that my five -year 00:43:04.139 --> 00:43:06.460 -old likes to give every time he hears me talking 00:43:06.460 --> 00:43:09.820 about Pota. And that's any time is Pota time. 00:43:10.800 --> 00:43:14.940 And Pota loves you no matter what you believe 00:43:14.940 --> 00:43:18.119 and who you love and where you're from. So come 00:43:18.119 --> 00:43:20.980 join us and have fun along with us as we play 00:43:20.980 --> 00:43:25.699 in the parks. All right. Very good advice. All 00:43:25.699 --> 00:43:28.260 right, well, thank you so much. That is a wrap 00:43:28.260 --> 00:43:31.099 for this week's edition of HamTalk Live. Thanks 00:43:31.099 --> 00:43:35.219 to my guest, Vance Martin, N3VEM and everyone 00:43:35.219 --> 00:43:38.179 out there in cyberspace for listening and calling 00:43:38.179 --> 00:43:41.940 in, typing in. I invite you back next Thursday 00:43:41.940 --> 00:43:45.239 night, 9 p .m. Eastern Time. And to check out 00:43:45.239 --> 00:43:50.280 the upcoming guests, just go to HamTalkLive .com. 00:43:50.320 --> 00:43:52.300 And if you like the show, please leave us a review. 00:43:52.440 --> 00:43:55.869 That's all we ask of you. So for now, this is 00:43:55.869 --> 00:44:01.150 Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, saying 7 -3, 7 -5, and may 00:44:01.150 --> 00:44:21.619 the good DX be yours. No one's mentioned your 00:44:21.619 --> 00:44:25.739 weather at all And I didn't mention mine