WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.620 This episode of HamTalk Live is brought to you 00:00:02.620 --> 00:00:06.000 by Tower Electronics. For connectors, cables, 00:00:06.219 --> 00:00:12.919 and more, call 920 -435 -2973 or visit pl -259 00:00:12.919 --> 00:00:17.620 .com. And by ICOM, heard it, worked it, logged 00:00:17.620 --> 00:00:22.839 it. Visit www .icomamerica .com slash amateur 00:00:22.839 --> 00:00:31.879 for more information about ICOM radios. Here 00:00:31.879 --> 00:00:37.820 we go, welcome to Hamtok Live Calling Let's Talk, 00:00:38.060 --> 00:00:42.619 Neil's your guide Hamtok Live, here we go on 00:00:42.619 --> 00:00:59.539 Hamtok Radio Hey! Good evening, everyone. It's 00:00:59.539 --> 00:01:05.319 time for HamTalk Live episode number 270, CQ 00:01:05.319 --> 00:01:09.640 Worldwide and the new youth category recorded 00:01:09.640 --> 00:01:14.299 live on Thursday, September 2nd, 2021. I'm your 00:01:14.299 --> 00:01:17.900 host, Neil Rapp, WB9VPG. Thanks for tuning into 00:01:17.900 --> 00:01:21.540 this episode of HamTalk Live. Tonight, we're 00:01:21.540 --> 00:01:25.439 joined by John Doar, K1AR, and we'll take your 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:28.780 calls live in just a few minutes. Last week here 00:01:28.780 --> 00:01:31.739 on the show, Dr. Scott Wright, KZeroMD was here 00:01:31.739 --> 00:01:34.579 to talk about the Portable Ops Challenge. If 00:01:34.579 --> 00:01:36.480 you missed that show, you can listen anytime 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:39.939 at HamTalkLive .com or on your favorite podcast 00:01:39.939 --> 00:01:44.319 app or on YouTube. And you can catch the rebroadcast 00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:50.920 on WTWW 5085 on your AM dial Saturday afternoons 00:01:50.920 --> 00:01:54.480 at about 3 30 PM Eastern time. And that portable 00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:57.060 ops challenge is coming up this weekend. So, 00:01:57.060 --> 00:02:01.299 uh, Give that a shot if you so desire. We'll 00:02:01.299 --> 00:02:03.519 get your questions ready to go here about CQ 00:02:03.519 --> 00:02:06.859 Worldwide. We'll be talking about that tonight 00:02:06.859 --> 00:02:09.479 and again specifically the youth category, but 00:02:09.479 --> 00:02:12.689 we may... branch out a little bit on that. If 00:02:12.689 --> 00:02:14.930 you're listening to us live on Thursday night, 00:02:14.990 --> 00:02:18.069 you can give us a call during the second half 00:02:18.069 --> 00:02:20.870 of the show. I'll go ahead and give you the phone 00:02:20.870 --> 00:02:23.110 number so you can write it down, have it ready 00:02:23.110 --> 00:02:27.210 to go, punch it in, and rip the knob off. Here 00:02:27.210 --> 00:02:37.550 we go. It's 859 -982 -7373. Again, the phone 00:02:37.550 --> 00:02:49.199 number is 8... 5 9 9 8 2 73 73 you can also tweet 00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:51.659 us it's at ham talk live on Twitter if you're 00:02:51.659 --> 00:02:54.599 on Spreaker type in the comments and That'll 00:02:54.599 --> 00:02:56.900 pop up on the screen here and I'll be back with 00:02:56.900 --> 00:02:59.860 John right after this word from icon America 00:02:59.860 --> 00:03:03.819 right here on ham talk live Contest remotely 00:03:03.819 --> 00:03:07.039 or from the comfort of your own home. ICOM has 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:10.280 the perfect base station ready for action. The 00:03:10.280 --> 00:03:16.379 IC -9700, IC -7610 and the IC -7300 SDR transceivers 00:03:16.379 --> 00:03:19.120 are top of the line and are the first choice 00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:22.319 for contesters across the globe. Robust base 00:03:22.319 --> 00:03:24.479 stations like these cut through pileups letting 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:27.439 you work the bands and record those contacts. 00:03:27.719 --> 00:03:30.560 Stay connected and keep your competitive contesting 00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:34.810 edge with ICOM. Heard it. Worked it. Logged it. 00:03:35.050 --> 00:03:37.770 Create your own band opening with the IC9700. 00:03:38.050 --> 00:03:40.310 This transceiver brings direct sampling to the 00:03:40.310 --> 00:03:43.949 UHF -VHF week signal world. This all -mode transceiver 00:03:43.949 --> 00:03:46.389 is loaded with innovative features that are sure 00:03:46.389 --> 00:03:49.289 to keep you busy, faster processors, higher input 00:03:49.289 --> 00:03:51.969 gain, higher display resolution, and a cleaner 00:03:51.969 --> 00:03:56.110 signal. It has a 4 .3 inch color TFT LCD screen, 00:03:56.409 --> 00:03:59.430 real time high speed spectrum scope and waterfall 00:03:59.430 --> 00:04:03.289 display, smooth satellite operation with 99 satellite 00:04:03.289 --> 00:04:06.129 channels and full duplex in satellite mode, and 00:04:06.129 --> 00:04:10.919 dual watch operation. The IC7610 is the SDR every 00:04:10.919 --> 00:04:13.759 ham once. This high -performance SDR can pick 00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:16.199 out the faintest of signals even in the presence 00:04:16.199 --> 00:04:20.040 of stronger adjacent ones. The ICOM IC7610 is 00:04:20.040 --> 00:04:22.660 a direct sampling software -defined radio that 00:04:22.660 --> 00:04:25.279 will change the world's definition of an SDR 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:29.199 transceiver. It has RF direct sampling, 110 dB 00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:32.839 RMDR, independent dual receiver, and dual digicel. 00:04:32.980 --> 00:04:37.019 The IC7300 changed the way entry -level HF is 00:04:37.019 --> 00:05:01.490 designed. Coming to you live from the glass -enclosed 00:05:01.490 --> 00:05:04.970 Faraday box, here's Neil Rapp with more HamTalk 00:05:04.970 --> 00:05:23.939 Live. Welcome back to HamTalk Live. Thanks to 00:05:23.939 --> 00:05:27.819 ICOM America for sponsoring the show. Make sure 00:05:27.819 --> 00:05:33.740 you visit them often at icomamerica .com slash 00:05:33.740 --> 00:05:37.459 amateur. Welcome back to HamTalk Live tonight. 00:05:37.720 --> 00:05:41.480 John Doar K1 AR joins us on the Orlando amateur 00:05:41.480 --> 00:05:45.480 radio club and hamcation zoom line. John was 00:05:45.480 --> 00:05:49.439 named the CQ Worldwide DX Contest Director in 00:05:49.439 --> 00:05:55.300 2018 and he's been a member of the CQ Worldwide 00:05:55.300 --> 00:06:00.620 Contest Committee since the mid 70s. He was also 00:06:00.620 --> 00:06:05.560 CQ Magazine's contest editor from 1989 until 00:06:05.560 --> 00:06:11.600 2011 and he's a two -time WRTC medalist. He was 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:16.079 elected to the CQ contest hall of fame in 1997. 00:06:16.540 --> 00:06:21.259 So John, welcome to the show. Oh, it's, uh, I'm 00:06:21.259 --> 00:06:24.379 very glad to be here and, uh, appreciate the 00:06:24.379 --> 00:06:27.680 invitation Neil, uh, looking forward to tonight's 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:31.660 talk. Well, you know, fall is, is, is upon us. 00:06:31.720 --> 00:06:34.579 It's not quite here yet. The temperatures are 00:06:34.579 --> 00:06:37.509 starting to get a little bit better. Uh, but 00:06:37.509 --> 00:06:42.370 that means it's, it's getting time for CQ worldwide. 00:06:43.009 --> 00:06:45.949 And, and, uh, as my friend, Dr. Scott Wright, 00:06:46.009 --> 00:06:49.269 uh, KZeroMD says, uh, you know, it's a, it's 00:06:49.269 --> 00:06:53.569 a good chance to, uh, to get your DXCC in a weekend. 00:06:54.069 --> 00:06:57.569 Uh, but we're going to talk a little bit about 00:06:57.569 --> 00:07:01.589 something new that's come to CQ worldwide as 00:07:01.589 --> 00:07:04.310 well as some other contests. And that's the, 00:07:04.930 --> 00:07:07.379 uh, youth category. So tell us a little bit about 00:07:07.379 --> 00:07:12.620 how this all got started. Well, you know, it's, 00:07:12.620 --> 00:07:15.019 it's, it's funny when we, uh, we think about 00:07:15.019 --> 00:07:17.959 the fall and things cooling down in the, uh, 00:07:17.959 --> 00:07:20.100 in the conscious world, that things are actually 00:07:20.100 --> 00:07:24.439 heating up and, uh, particularly in the CQR wide, 00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:28.620 which is, uh, I think, uh, disputably the, uh, 00:07:28.620 --> 00:07:31.980 the largest, uh, contest, uh, in the world, probably 00:07:31.980 --> 00:07:34.889 if you judge it by the number. participants or 00:07:34.889 --> 00:07:39.250 a number of logs that we receive. You know, literally 00:07:39.250 --> 00:07:44.949 many millions of QSOs are made in every contest 00:07:44.949 --> 00:07:46.990 when you add them all up with all the stations 00:07:46.990 --> 00:07:50.529 participating and 18 ,000 logs and all of that. 00:07:51.329 --> 00:07:54.629 And one of the legacies that I kind of inherited 00:07:54.629 --> 00:07:58.189 when I took over the reins of directing the contest 00:07:58.189 --> 00:08:03.699 back in 2018 was the fact that CQ Worldwide has 00:08:03.699 --> 00:08:06.439 always been known as kind of a trend setting 00:08:06.439 --> 00:08:10.139 contest that we have innovated lots of things 00:08:10.139 --> 00:08:15.699 perhaps for the first time in the world of contesting. 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:21.160 And I think the idea around doing something with 00:08:21.160 --> 00:08:24.160 youth is very consistent with that philosophy 00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:26.500 and that legacy that has been with us for so 00:08:26.500 --> 00:08:31.699 long. And if you think about it, most most hams 00:08:31.699 --> 00:08:33.759 that are a little longer in the tooth, which 00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:38.220 sadly includes, I guess, most of us. You know, 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:40.600 the question that we're asking ourselves frequently 00:08:40.600 --> 00:08:44.299 is simply, what can we be doing to encourage 00:08:44.299 --> 00:08:48.200 more youth participation in ham radio? And I 00:08:48.200 --> 00:08:51.220 have a bit of a more narrow lens in that not 00:08:51.220 --> 00:08:54.000 only am I interested in youth and ham radio, 00:08:54.080 --> 00:08:56.419 but also youth and contesting in particular. 00:08:57.539 --> 00:09:00.750 And, you know, at the end of the day, It was 00:09:00.750 --> 00:09:03.590 very clear as we started talking about this amongst 00:09:03.590 --> 00:09:07.950 the CQ Worldwide Contest Committee that everybody 00:09:07.950 --> 00:09:10.830 felt that CQ Worldwide in some way had to do 00:09:10.830 --> 00:09:14.190 its part. Now, some of you who are familiar with 00:09:14.190 --> 00:09:17.990 the Worldwide Contest may recall that we've created 00:09:17.990 --> 00:09:22.090 a rookie class several years ago. We call it 00:09:22.090 --> 00:09:26.149 a rookie overlay, if you will. And that was maybe 00:09:26.149 --> 00:09:28.769 the beginning of that. The problem with having 00:09:28.769 --> 00:09:33.120 just a rookie uh... designation is that somebody 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:36.580 can still be uh... you know in their seventies 00:09:36.580 --> 00:09:39.600 and have just got their license magically uh... 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:41.659 so they're hardly youth but they're still qualified 00:09:41.659 --> 00:09:45.899 as a rookie so in terms of youth we really weren't 00:09:45.899 --> 00:09:48.320 addressing it head -on we're kind of doing it 00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:51.700 off the side if you will and uh... i think we 00:09:51.700 --> 00:09:55.440 all felt more needed to be done so you know rather 00:09:55.440 --> 00:09:59.990 than having uh... a bunch of folks sort of sit 00:09:59.990 --> 00:10:05.029 in a smoke -filled dark room and come up with 00:10:05.029 --> 00:10:08.110 something. My thinking was that the best way 00:10:08.110 --> 00:10:12.710 to understand how youth tick and how they would 00:10:12.710 --> 00:10:15.110 respond to something in the context world would 00:10:15.110 --> 00:10:20.049 be to actually ask them. And that's kind of a 00:10:20.049 --> 00:10:24.009 revolutionary concept to ask and listen in today's 00:10:24.009 --> 00:10:27.059 world, but that's exactly what we did. And I 00:10:27.059 --> 00:10:31.500 consulted with two guys in particular, LU &FAM, 00:10:31.820 --> 00:10:36.919 Luke and DK6SP, Phil, Philip. And I asked them 00:10:36.919 --> 00:10:39.840 just some very basic questions about how do we 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:42.840 deal with youth. And they gave me some pretty 00:10:42.840 --> 00:10:45.360 interesting information that we took back to 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:47.940 the contest committee that resulted in some of 00:10:47.940 --> 00:10:51.360 the things that we've now decided to do. And 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:55.100 what surprised me was that even in today's world 00:10:55.100 --> 00:10:59.779 where printed media is rapidly fading into the 00:10:59.779 --> 00:11:03.759 sunset in many ways. The idea of seeing your 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:07.360 call sign in print in a magazine like CQ Magazine 00:11:07.360 --> 00:11:10.720 or QST is still in the minds of you, it's still 00:11:10.720 --> 00:11:15.580 a very big deal. And particularly in the conscious 00:11:15.580 --> 00:11:21.700 world to actually call them out and to take them 00:11:21.700 --> 00:11:26.190 seriously and to give them a designation in the 00:11:26.190 --> 00:11:29.889 contest results is something that nobody's really 00:11:29.889 --> 00:11:32.710 doing in a broad scale and something that would 00:11:32.710 --> 00:11:35.190 have a high impact. And that kind of surprised 00:11:35.190 --> 00:11:39.950 me that that mattered any more to kids in particular. 00:11:41.230 --> 00:11:45.590 The other kinds of feedback I got was, you know, 00:11:45.690 --> 00:11:49.789 there was a Philip in particular mentioned how 00:11:49.789 --> 00:11:52.269 one of the highlights of his ham radio career 00:11:52.269 --> 00:11:56.049 of everything he did was the time he got a CQ 00:11:56.049 --> 00:11:59.149 Worldwide rookie plaque. He got a plaque in the 00:11:59.149 --> 00:12:01.970 mail and it's proudly on his wall and all the 00:12:01.970 --> 00:12:04.529 things he's accomplished in the years since he 00:12:04.529 --> 00:12:08.009 first got his license. The thing that he is most 00:12:08.009 --> 00:12:10.289 proud of is looking at that plaque and it's a 00:12:10.289 --> 00:12:13.610 real motivator he says for him when he's operating 00:12:13.610 --> 00:12:17.629 and seeing that thing and realizing that, wow, 00:12:17.690 --> 00:12:21.360 this is a contest that actually considers younger 00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:23.919 operators, it takes it seriously. And we just 00:12:23.919 --> 00:12:27.500 wanted to jump on that and grab it even more. 00:12:28.299 --> 00:12:32.519 So with all that in mind and realizing that we 00:12:32.519 --> 00:12:37.960 had a tremendous opportunity here, we discussed 00:12:37.960 --> 00:12:41.659 a little bit about what is the real potential 00:12:41.659 --> 00:12:44.059 out here? Is this all just kind of wishful thinking? 00:12:44.860 --> 00:12:49.009 And really at the end of the day, The driver 00:12:49.009 --> 00:12:53.250 of all of this is that there's already tremendous 00:12:53.250 --> 00:12:57.389 YOTA, as it's called, Youth on the Air activities, 00:12:57.710 --> 00:13:00.750 including some of the things that our host here 00:13:00.750 --> 00:13:03.009 sponsors, that is Evolva with Camp and other 00:13:03.009 --> 00:13:07.330 things. And there's literally in the tens of 00:13:07.330 --> 00:13:11.789 thousands across the globe of young ham operators. 00:13:12.009 --> 00:13:15.230 many of which that would probably get more active 00:13:15.230 --> 00:13:17.490 in contesting if they had more motivation to 00:13:17.490 --> 00:13:22.090 do it. And it was the collective opinion of both 00:13:22.090 --> 00:13:25.870 Luke and Philip that if we actually created something 00:13:25.870 --> 00:13:29.750 special for them, which we've done, then we would 00:13:29.750 --> 00:13:32.870 begin almost immediately to see literally hundreds 00:13:32.870 --> 00:13:36.570 of participants. some of which are already playing 00:13:36.570 --> 00:13:39.110 in the contest, but never bothered us to mail 00:13:39.110 --> 00:13:41.629 a log in because the attitude is why bother? 00:13:42.029 --> 00:13:44.330 Well, now they can mail it in. Now they can get 00:13:44.330 --> 00:13:46.610 their call and friend in a very special way. 00:13:46.850 --> 00:13:50.269 And we're really exciting because now the marketing 00:13:50.269 --> 00:13:53.070 machine is going to be starting mostly through 00:13:53.070 --> 00:13:57.090 the IARU organizations around the globe, promoting 00:13:57.090 --> 00:13:59.590 the fact that there's now an opportunity for 00:13:59.590 --> 00:14:02.190 youth to be highlighted in the CQ Worldwide in 00:14:02.190 --> 00:14:05.710 a very special way. I can't wait to, when I write 00:14:05.710 --> 00:14:08.909 the contest results for next year, one of the 00:14:08.909 --> 00:14:12.090 things we're going to do as an example is I'll 00:14:12.090 --> 00:14:14.909 have at least one or maybe even two little sidebar 00:14:14.909 --> 00:14:17.529 articles that are going to be just focusing on 00:14:17.529 --> 00:14:21.070 a youth operation and not necessarily the winner. 00:14:22.090 --> 00:14:26.509 It's going to be more a story of somebody who 00:14:26.509 --> 00:14:29.970 is maybe 16 years old who operated his first 00:14:29.970 --> 00:14:32.679 contest. and just wants to tell that story for 00:14:32.679 --> 00:14:35.539 other people to hear. And getting that in print 00:14:35.539 --> 00:14:38.700 will be a game changer for sure for that person. 00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:42.139 I think a game changer for youth and a game changer 00:14:42.139 --> 00:14:45.220 for for the contest. So with all that being said, 00:14:45.320 --> 00:14:47.460 at the end of the day, it was not a hard sell 00:14:47.460 --> 00:14:50.879 inside the contest committee to really get full 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:54.779 endorsement, to move ahead and address youth 00:14:54.779 --> 00:14:56.580 head on. And that's exactly what we've done. 00:14:57.580 --> 00:15:02.549 Yeah, I think the hardware is Definitely still 00:15:02.549 --> 00:15:08.889 a motivator, as Phillip mentioned. I had an article 00:15:08.889 --> 00:15:14.009 that just came out in NCJ this month about Brazil 00:15:14.009 --> 00:15:17.429 and how they give out awards and have some of 00:15:17.429 --> 00:15:20.360 these youth categories. And in some of the Yoda 00:15:20.360 --> 00:15:22.539 meetings, you know, Lucas was really pushing 00:15:22.539 --> 00:15:26.399 for, you know, let's do something to recognize 00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:29.580 these people. So I was really glad to see that 00:15:29.580 --> 00:15:34.320 CQ Worldwide jumped on board as well as NAQP 00:15:34.320 --> 00:15:38.570 and some others of getting. This youth category 00:15:38.570 --> 00:15:41.970 going and recognizing our youth because they 00:15:41.970 --> 00:15:46.129 often feel very alone And that's one of the things 00:15:46.129 --> 00:15:49.269 that that really struck home and doing Yoda camp 00:15:49.269 --> 00:15:53.389 this summer was That you know these these kids 00:15:53.389 --> 00:15:57.870 actually were meeting other ham kids for the 00:15:57.870 --> 00:16:04.049 first time and It really made an impact. So Let's 00:16:04.049 --> 00:16:06.230 talk a little bit about the logistics here. How 00:16:06.230 --> 00:16:09.389 does the youth category work? How are these young 00:16:09.389 --> 00:16:13.450 people going to submit? Their scores so that 00:16:13.450 --> 00:16:19.409 they are marked as a youth entry Okay, well that's 00:16:19.240 --> 00:16:22.740 That's certainly part of the equation for us, 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:25.000 and it's part of the equation for the contest 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:29.840 in general. We have done a lot of work to simplify 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:33.419 the process of submitting logs, at least at a 00:16:33.419 --> 00:16:36.139 CQ Worldwide, and frankly the process has been 00:16:36.139 --> 00:16:39.639 adopted by many, if not most, of the major contests 00:16:39.639 --> 00:16:45.059 now. The days of taking down and writing paper 00:16:45.059 --> 00:16:47.879 logs and making a copy and putting in an envelope 00:16:47.879 --> 00:16:52.259 and mailing it to some PO box that train has 00:16:52.259 --> 00:16:56.779 left the station a long time ago. And it kind 00:16:56.779 --> 00:17:00.460 of transitioned to an email process, which for 00:17:00.460 --> 00:17:03.519 many years was effective. But we've taken it 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:07.539 now to the level of being able to actually submit. 00:17:07.710 --> 00:17:15.329 logs online on in our case at cqww .com and there's 00:17:15.329 --> 00:17:18.549 a very simplified and walk you through it kind 00:17:18.549 --> 00:17:20.769 of process where you don't have to be a contest 00:17:20.769 --> 00:17:24.609 or or any of that just answer some basic questions 00:17:24.609 --> 00:17:28.329 have your your log file handy and it'll even 00:17:28.329 --> 00:17:31.410 go through the process of validating the format 00:17:31.410 --> 00:17:34.769 so if something's messed up in the log by accident 00:17:34.769 --> 00:17:38.190 or whatever we can correct that. before you even 00:17:38.190 --> 00:17:41.970 submit the log. So that infrastructure has been 00:17:41.970 --> 00:17:45.269 in place now for quite a while. And that's exactly 00:17:45.269 --> 00:17:49.190 how we have, for example, started to collect 00:17:49.190 --> 00:17:53.789 logs in the rookie category that we set up a 00:17:53.789 --> 00:17:57.309 while ago. And also the classic entries, which 00:17:57.309 --> 00:18:02.349 in the CQ Worldwide is a 24 -hour, somewhat argue 00:18:02.349 --> 00:18:06.259 the opposite youth where the... For folks who 00:18:06.259 --> 00:18:08.720 don't want to operate the full 48 and want to 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:12.000 still have a competitive environment, we created 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:16.460 this idea of a classic entry, which is a 24 -hour 00:18:16.460 --> 00:18:19.799 entry in CQ Worldwide. And that allows people 00:18:19.799 --> 00:18:22.480 who choose to do other things on the weekend 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:25.880 besides the radio or simply don't have the stamina 00:18:25.880 --> 00:18:28.799 or desire to want to sit there for the full weekend, 00:18:28.980 --> 00:18:31.799 they can participate in that way. So all that 00:18:31.799 --> 00:18:35.970 infrastructure is in place. The technical term 00:18:35.970 --> 00:18:39.150 that we actually call this is not a category, 00:18:39.210 --> 00:18:44.509 but an overlay. So I wouldn't get too hung up 00:18:44.509 --> 00:18:47.910 on the terminology, except to say that what we 00:18:47.910 --> 00:18:50.990 have done is create, similar to what we did for 00:18:50.990 --> 00:18:54.009 Rookie and Classic, we've created a youth overlay. 00:18:54.589 --> 00:18:59.289 And when you submit a log in the contest, it 00:18:59.289 --> 00:19:02.289 will be submitted just like any other log. Uh, 00:19:02.430 --> 00:19:05.630 and you will be asked a question, um, just as, 00:19:05.630 --> 00:19:07.910 as you are, if you were submitting a rookie or 00:19:07.910 --> 00:19:10.609 a classic, which is, are you a youth entry? And 00:19:10.609 --> 00:19:13.289 you can check the box and we'll, we will ask 00:19:13.289 --> 00:19:17.390 people, uh, what year they were born. And that's 00:19:17.390 --> 00:19:20.369 not because we're, we're out collecting information 00:19:20.369 --> 00:19:25.390 on people in today's environment. But, um, that 00:19:25.390 --> 00:19:27.710 was one of the questions that we had to ask was 00:19:27.710 --> 00:19:31.049 what is, what is youth? Uh, you know, is it. 00:19:30.970 --> 00:19:35.069 Is it 18? Is it 25? You know, in ham radio, it 00:19:35.069 --> 00:19:37.349 seems like if we'd meet somebody who's 40 or 00:19:37.349 --> 00:19:42.250 45, we'd think he's like a youngster now. So 00:19:42.250 --> 00:19:45.349 the fear was that we didn't want to get it to 00:19:45.349 --> 00:19:48.450 be so young that we excluded a whole bunch of 00:19:48.450 --> 00:19:50.390 people and kind of defeated the purpose of what 00:19:50.390 --> 00:19:52.589 we're doing. So that was one of the questions 00:19:52.589 --> 00:19:56.630 I asked the guys when we met. And the kind of 00:19:56.630 --> 00:19:59.109 universal answer was the steak we put on the 00:19:59.109 --> 00:20:04.059 ground is 25. So if you are 25 or younger during 00:20:04.059 --> 00:20:08.299 the contest weekend, you are youth. And if you're 00:20:08.299 --> 00:20:16.220 26 and older, well, you're old. So it'll be very 00:20:16.220 --> 00:20:19.559 black and white. But if you want to actually 00:20:19.559 --> 00:20:22.619 take a look at the website, we haven't actually 00:20:22.619 --> 00:20:25.079 brought all this up live yet on the youth side, 00:20:25.099 --> 00:20:28.119 but it will be ready for the contest. Just to 00:20:28.119 --> 00:20:31.180 see how the log submission process kind of works, 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:34.859 it might be worth a spin to take a look at cqww 00:20:34.859 --> 00:20:40.279 .com slash logs .htm or just the pulldown menu 00:20:40.279 --> 00:20:44.920 on submitting a log. You can kind of play around 00:20:44.920 --> 00:20:49.680 with it. The results will be like every other 00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:52.140 year in the sense that they'll be available. 00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:56.839 in April 1st of the following year for Sideband 00:20:56.839 --> 00:21:01.539 and May for CW. And a lot of people ask, you 00:21:01.539 --> 00:21:03.640 know, why does it take so long to do the results? 00:21:03.859 --> 00:21:09.099 And the reality is with about 90 to 95 % completion, 00:21:09.559 --> 00:21:11.900 we actually could publish the contest results 00:21:11.900 --> 00:21:13.940 about a week after the contest, believe it or 00:21:13.940 --> 00:21:17.779 not, because we have all the data and we have 00:21:17.779 --> 00:21:20.660 enough. logs submitted because the deadline is 00:21:20.660 --> 00:21:23.799 only five days from the, from the contest that 00:21:23.799 --> 00:21:26.700 we can process with our computers and software, 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:28.920 the logs and get them to a state where we kind 00:21:28.920 --> 00:21:31.740 of know the results, right? Now there's obviously 00:21:31.740 --> 00:21:34.859 all the checking and the cross checking and all 00:21:34.859 --> 00:21:38.099 of that still takes time, but the real driver 00:21:38.099 --> 00:21:40.920 for us and frankly, for most contests, isn't 00:21:40.920 --> 00:21:44.670 so much when are we done? but it really is subscribing 00:21:44.670 --> 00:21:47.609 to the publishing deadlines of whoever sponsors 00:21:47.609 --> 00:21:52.349 the contest. So if it's an ARL contest, they 00:21:52.349 --> 00:21:54.609 have the same issues where they may be done, 00:21:54.650 --> 00:21:57.569 but the publishing of the results is slotted 00:21:57.569 --> 00:22:00.549 for a certain month and a year, every year, and 00:22:00.549 --> 00:22:03.170 that's when they do it. And given there's so 00:22:03.170 --> 00:22:06.789 many different contests in the world of CQ and 00:22:06.789 --> 00:22:10.849 ARL, You know, we really don't have the luxury 00:22:10.849 --> 00:22:12.990 of kind of just moving the chess pieces around 00:22:12.990 --> 00:22:15.529 because if we move it one way or the other, then 00:22:15.529 --> 00:22:19.450 we're going to impact something else. So we get 00:22:19.450 --> 00:22:22.609 the, what we call the raw scores or the high 00:22:22.609 --> 00:22:25.710 claim scores are out there usually within a week 00:22:25.710 --> 00:22:29.569 after the contest or so. And the final results 00:22:29.569 --> 00:22:33.289 will be out in April, May. And for the first 00:22:33.289 --> 00:22:36.799 time for youth now, You'll be able to flip to 00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:39.619 the results and you'll be able to see a whole 00:22:39.619 --> 00:22:43.579 section that'll be titled youth. Um, and in that, 00:22:43.599 --> 00:22:46.799 in that subcategory or overlay, you'll see all 00:22:46.799 --> 00:22:49.460 the entries and I'm really hoping and praying 00:22:49.460 --> 00:22:51.839 to literally be hundreds of them. We'll see how 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:55.680 it goes, but, um, there will be a section just 00:22:55.680 --> 00:22:58.519 for you. And, uh, that is hopefully going to 00:22:58.519 --> 00:23:01.559 be one of the draws to make this thing attractive 00:23:01.559 --> 00:23:04.240 out of the box and to grow in the future. So 00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:07.559 that's where we're at. Great. Sounds great. All 00:23:07.559 --> 00:23:12.319 right. So yeah, the line seems to be 25. So, 00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:16.259 uh, yeah, you know, but when, when you're, you 00:23:16.259 --> 00:23:19.240 know, when you're 15, 28 does sound old. So, 00:23:19.420 --> 00:23:23.480 you know, whatever. Um, well, uh, one more thing 00:23:23.480 --> 00:23:27.660 here before we take a break, uh, along, you know, 00:23:27.740 --> 00:23:31.420 with that. that overlay, we mentioned that, you 00:23:31.420 --> 00:23:33.059 know, there's some hardware that comes along 00:23:33.059 --> 00:23:35.720 with that. So, so tell us a little bit about, 00:23:35.720 --> 00:23:38.460 you know, is this just one plaque or, you know, 00:23:38.539 --> 00:23:42.920 what, what, what are the awards here? Well, you 00:23:42.920 --> 00:23:45.920 know, the, the awards are kind of a statement 00:23:45.920 --> 00:23:50.079 in some ways on how committed we are as sponsors 00:23:50.079 --> 00:23:53.960 to a particular aspect of the contest. You know, 00:23:53.960 --> 00:23:58.859 for example, if there, if there's no you know, 00:23:59.240 --> 00:24:02.200 winning awards like plaques in our case, then 00:24:02.200 --> 00:24:04.099 that's kind of telling the world we're not that 00:24:04.099 --> 00:24:08.980 serious, right? So in the case of the youth category 00:24:08.980 --> 00:24:12.339 or the youth overlay and youth category, I wanted 00:24:12.339 --> 00:24:15.599 to make a statement and I think a statement we 00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:19.759 have made and that is that we have created 14 00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:24.599 new awards or new plaques are going to be available 00:24:24.599 --> 00:24:27.539 starting with the 2021 contest. Now, to give 00:24:27.539 --> 00:24:31.380 you some context of that, there's between phone 00:24:31.380 --> 00:24:36.779 and CW combined, there's about 170 or so plaques 00:24:36.779 --> 00:24:39.099 available in the secret worldwide. A lot of plaques, 00:24:39.200 --> 00:24:43.380 right? But 14, I mean, we're creeping up on 10%. 00:24:43.380 --> 00:24:46.799 So nearly 10 % of the award base that will be 00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:48.900 available in the worldwide will be devoted to 00:24:48.900 --> 00:24:52.420 youth. And what was particularly exciting about 00:24:52.420 --> 00:24:55.480 this process, which literally just got completed 00:24:55.480 --> 00:24:58.720 here within the past week or so, is that I was 00:24:58.720 --> 00:25:02.980 able to get sponsors for these plaques. And this 00:25:02.980 --> 00:25:07.099 is people like you and me, and also organizations, 00:25:08.319 --> 00:25:13.339 that pay real life folding green money to sponsor 00:25:13.339 --> 00:25:16.680 these things every year. And I was able to get 00:25:16.680 --> 00:25:20.240 all 14 sponsorships subscribed and paid for without 00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:24.880 having to ask anybody. So it was simply because 00:25:24.880 --> 00:25:29.200 the word got out and the enthusiasm was out there 00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:32.960 that I didn't have to try to get sponsorships 00:25:32.960 --> 00:25:37.079 for 14 of these plaques, some of which are being 00:25:37.079 --> 00:25:42.200 paid over a multi -year period up front. So, 00:25:42.200 --> 00:25:46.920 you know, just very, very... rough numbers, $1 00:25:46.920 --> 00:25:53.039 ,000 just came flying in to our plaque program 00:25:53.039 --> 00:25:56.099 unsolicited in the course of probably only about 00:25:56.099 --> 00:26:00.880 two weeks. And I can tell you when we get these 00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:06.079 things made and distributed, there's going to 00:26:06.079 --> 00:26:10.819 be 14 really, really happy guys and gals around 00:26:10.819 --> 00:26:15.269 the world. in areas ranging from world high to 00:26:15.269 --> 00:26:18.210 North America, all the continents, Africa, Europe, 00:26:18.970 --> 00:26:22.750 Asia, Oceania, South America. And they're going 00:26:22.750 --> 00:26:24.589 to be very happy to put them on their walls. 00:26:24.690 --> 00:26:28.170 And I can't wait to see the pictures. Yeah, exactly. 00:26:28.690 --> 00:26:33.829 Those smiles are just priceless. To see those 00:26:33.829 --> 00:26:38.730 those smiles. I'll tell you so well done on the 00:26:38.730 --> 00:26:44.609 on the awards as well and That's great that you 00:26:44.609 --> 00:26:47.329 know, you didn't have to go out there and shake 00:26:47.329 --> 00:26:51.309 the trees To get those taken care of. All right. 00:26:51.390 --> 00:26:53.829 Well, it's time for a break here so we're going 00:26:53.829 --> 00:26:56.849 to take a break and when we come back we'll talk 00:26:56.849 --> 00:27:01.220 to John and Talk a little bit more about CQ Worldwide 00:27:01.220 --> 00:27:03.539 after this word from Tower Electronics right 00:27:03.539 --> 00:27:09.059 here on HamTalk Live. Thanks for choosing Tower 00:27:09.059 --> 00:27:12.579 Electronics. How may we help you today? We have 00:27:12.579 --> 00:27:17.079 PL259s. We have in connectors. We have SMA adapters. 00:27:17.539 --> 00:27:20.440 We have BNC adapters. What can I show you today? 00:27:20.660 --> 00:27:23.819 Where's the tower? Well, we don't actually have 00:27:23.819 --> 00:27:26.960 a tower with us. But we have all kinds of things 00:27:26.960 --> 00:27:29.940 you can use with a tower. We have power poles, 00:27:30.380 --> 00:27:32.900 antennas, soldering irons and meters. Where's 00:27:32.900 --> 00:27:36.180 the tower? Ma 'am, that's the name of our company. 00:27:36.700 --> 00:27:39.299 We can't haul towers to all the ham fest across 00:27:39.299 --> 00:27:41.740 the country that we visit, but we have almost 00:27:41.740 --> 00:27:44.339 every connector and adapter you would need to 00:27:44.339 --> 00:27:46.420 connect your antenna that's on your tower. I 00:27:46.420 --> 00:27:48.799 don't think there's a tower back there. I really 00:27:48.799 --> 00:27:52.069 don't. Tower Electronics, visit us at a hand 00:27:52.069 --> 00:27:57.589 vest near you or call 920 -435 -2973 or see our 00:27:57.589 --> 00:28:01.650 whole catalog at pl -259 .com. Sorry, one thing 00:28:01.650 --> 00:28:05.329 we don't have is a tower. Join the conversation. 00:28:05.690 --> 00:28:11.930 Give us a call at 859 -982 -7373. Again, the 00:28:11.930 --> 00:28:18.140 number to call is 859 -982 -7373. Or, if you'd 00:28:18.140 --> 00:28:21.400 rather type than talk, tweet us at HamTalk Live. 00:28:21.839 --> 00:28:25.380 Now, here's Neil Rapp with more HamTalk Live. 00:28:45.930 --> 00:28:49.609 Welcome back to ham talk live. Thanks to tower 00:28:49.609 --> 00:28:52.410 electronics for sponsoring the show tonight They 00:28:52.410 --> 00:28:55.150 are out on the road. They're Shelby, North Carolina 00:28:55.150 --> 00:29:00.349 this weekend. That's tomorrow and Saturday and 00:29:00.349 --> 00:29:04.509 Sunday September 3 4 5 and then they're off to 00:29:04.509 --> 00:29:07.529 Finley, Ohio September 12th Peoria, Illinois 00:29:07.529 --> 00:29:12.150 September 18th and 19th Belvedere, Illinois September 00:29:12.150 --> 00:29:16.059 26th and then down to Texas and Florida, but 00:29:16.059 --> 00:29:25.220 you can visit them online at PL -259 .com. HamTalk 00:29:25.220 --> 00:29:27.480 Live's on the air every Thursday night at 9 p 00:29:27.480 --> 00:29:30.960 .m. Eastern, right here at HamTalkLive .com, 00:29:30.980 --> 00:29:33.220 and be sure to check us out on Facebook, Twitter, 00:29:33.460 --> 00:29:39.859 and Instagram. And now before we go back to John, 00:29:40.319 --> 00:29:46.140 as we do each week, We'll hear from N9GSU. He 00:29:46.140 --> 00:29:51.279 has some stuff going on, so this may sound familiar, 00:29:51.519 --> 00:29:55.059 but here we go with this week's Joke of the Week. 00:29:55.400 --> 00:29:58.539 Now it's time for the HamTalk Live Ham Radio 00:29:58.539 --> 00:30:00.980 Joke of the Week, a part of the show where Rick 00:30:00.980 --> 00:30:04.500 tells us a ham radio joke. The HamTalk Live Ham 00:30:04.500 --> 00:30:07.759 Radio Joke of the Week is brought to you by QRM 00:30:07.759 --> 00:30:12.400 Labs. Now here's Rick Garrett in 9GSU with today's 00:30:12.400 --> 00:30:20.420 HamTalk Live Joke of the Week. I'll be the first 00:30:20.420 --> 00:30:22.680 to admit not everyone gets my sense of humor. 00:30:22.890 --> 00:30:25.369 I tried to send a buddy a joke over slow -scan 00:30:25.369 --> 00:30:30.009 TV, but it wasn't well received. This has been 00:30:30.009 --> 00:30:33.309 the HamTalk Live Ham Radio Joke of the Week with 00:30:33.309 --> 00:30:37.049 Rick Garrett, N9 GSU. Tune in again next week 00:30:37.049 --> 00:30:42.539 for another joke from Rick. Ah, there we go. 00:30:42.720 --> 00:30:45.220 It just wasn't well received. Well, we would 00:30:45.220 --> 00:30:48.900 like to receive your call. So if you have a question 00:30:48.900 --> 00:30:51.299 or comment for John, give us a call right now. 00:30:51.420 --> 00:31:00.519 Now's the time. 859 -982 -7373. Again, the phone 00:31:00.519 --> 00:31:09.220 number 859 -982. 73 73 or you can tweet at ham 00:31:09.220 --> 00:31:11.539 talk live or you can type in the comments on 00:31:11.539 --> 00:31:14.759 Spreaker and if you're listening to us on WTWW 00:31:14.759 --> 00:31:18.599 or on the podcast edition of the show You won't 00:31:18.599 --> 00:31:20.619 be able to reach us live because we're doing 00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:24.039 this on Thursday night. So we do have a couple 00:31:24.039 --> 00:31:27.619 of Messages that have come in so we'll get to 00:31:27.619 --> 00:31:34.190 those First of all, Troy W9KVR asks, he says 00:31:34.190 --> 00:31:37.289 he hasn't done his homework, but will the youth 00:31:37.289 --> 00:31:41.410 overlay be applied to the ready contest as well? 00:31:43.109 --> 00:31:48.289 Well, that's a good question. And the short answer 00:31:48.289 --> 00:31:51.750 is at the moment, no, and not for any of the 00:31:51.750 --> 00:31:54.329 reasons just simply because it hasn't been done 00:31:54.329 --> 00:31:59.329 yet. I don't want to speak on behalf of. their 00:31:59.329 --> 00:32:03.890 committee and activities. But I'm certain, particularly 00:32:03.890 --> 00:32:06.829 when we see the results we're going to get in 00:32:06.829 --> 00:32:11.150 the sideband and CW worldwide, that most, if 00:32:11.150 --> 00:32:13.509 not all, of the other CQ contests are going to 00:32:13.509 --> 00:32:17.369 adopt something like this, certainly in WPX, 00:32:17.549 --> 00:32:21.130 for example, and RIDI and so forth. So stay tuned. 00:32:22.089 --> 00:32:25.630 Great question. We'll see how it goes. Okay, 00:32:25.630 --> 00:32:29.250 very good. And Dr. Scott Wright, KZeroMD says, 00:32:29.650 --> 00:32:32.650 big shout out to K1AR for his long -term leadership 00:32:32.650 --> 00:32:36.470 in radio contesting and says, John, do you qualify 00:32:36.470 --> 00:32:39.369 for the youth category still just asking for 00:32:39.369 --> 00:32:45.289 a friend? Thanks. Well, I did some math on that 00:32:45.289 --> 00:32:50.289 and it looks like I missed the window here just 00:32:50.289 --> 00:32:56.140 slightly by 41 years. Even while directors have 00:32:56.140 --> 00:33:00.160 certain privileges, getting into Mr. Peabody's 00:33:00.160 --> 00:33:02.940 way back machine is not one of them. So the answer, 00:33:03.279 --> 00:33:08.720 unfortunately, is no. All right, there we go. 00:33:08.740 --> 00:33:12.599 So those are some of the questions and comments 00:33:12.599 --> 00:33:15.640 that we've had Come in on Twitter again It's 00:33:15.640 --> 00:33:19.640 at ham talk live on Twitter or type in the comments 00:33:19.640 --> 00:33:23.619 on speaker or give us a call at eight five nine 00:33:23.619 --> 00:33:29.299 nine eight two seventy three seventy three Well, 00:33:29.299 --> 00:33:32.319 you know we talked a little bit about you know 00:33:32.319 --> 00:33:35.660 the need for the youth category, but you know 00:33:36.740 --> 00:33:41.039 NAQP just did this and some others. So talk about 00:33:41.039 --> 00:33:46.079 the importance of adding this more, more globally 00:33:46.079 --> 00:33:52.500 throughout the contest community. Well, you know, 00:33:52.500 --> 00:33:56.299 I mean, I think if you separate yourself from 00:33:56.299 --> 00:33:59.740 the, um, uh, from the, the world of contesting 00:33:59.740 --> 00:34:03.099 and broaden your, your lens to, to ham radio 00:34:03.099 --> 00:34:08.449 in general. You know, I don't think they're certainly 00:34:08.449 --> 00:34:13.570 the dynamic of youth entering ham radio has changed 00:34:13.570 --> 00:34:16.530 significantly. I mean, I got my license when 00:34:16.530 --> 00:34:19.570 I was 12 or 13 years old, had my extra when I 00:34:19.570 --> 00:34:24.489 was, I don't know, 14 or 15. You know, that kind 00:34:24.489 --> 00:34:28.789 of a model is sadly unusual today. And it's not 00:34:28.789 --> 00:34:32.090 because ham radio has become a bad thing. It's 00:34:32.090 --> 00:34:34.639 just that I think there's so many other distractions 00:34:34.639 --> 00:34:39.300 in the world of that community that its appeal 00:34:39.300 --> 00:34:42.139 is not quite as universal as it was 40 or 50 00:34:42.139 --> 00:34:46.860 years ago. But nevertheless, we still have something 00:34:46.860 --> 00:34:50.119 that can be appealing to people of that age group. 00:34:50.320 --> 00:34:53.659 I'm convinced of that. And we see that when we 00:34:53.659 --> 00:34:57.179 actually get more intentional about it, and not 00:34:57.179 --> 00:35:00.719 just wish it to be so, but actually take action 00:35:00.719 --> 00:35:05.710 that you know, has some definitive impact and 00:35:05.710 --> 00:35:08.929 not just a bunch of ceremonial nonsense. So, 00:35:09.030 --> 00:35:11.130 you know, the things that are happening with 00:35:11.130 --> 00:35:14.750 the youth camps, for example, are very, very 00:35:14.750 --> 00:35:17.769 specific action oriented things that are quite 00:35:17.769 --> 00:35:22.130 successful. And it just proves the point that 00:35:22.130 --> 00:35:25.690 if we attack it, you know, in a way that is attractive 00:35:25.690 --> 00:35:29.429 to that particular community and age group, they 00:35:29.429 --> 00:35:33.590 will come. And I believe that the contest world 00:35:33.590 --> 00:35:38.510 is something that could be appealing to youth. 00:35:38.750 --> 00:35:42.110 We see it in isolated cases. I can think of a 00:35:42.110 --> 00:35:45.909 handful of folks, some of which I've even operated 00:35:45.909 --> 00:35:49.650 with in contesting, who are really, really good 00:35:49.650 --> 00:35:53.630 at the sport of contesting, right? And they just 00:35:53.630 --> 00:35:57.309 took to it naturally. Um, and, uh, you know, 00:35:57.329 --> 00:35:59.949 in some cases that actually already become kind 00:35:59.949 --> 00:36:03.030 of leaders in, in contesting and in one or two 00:36:03.030 --> 00:36:05.469 cases, uh, I think they're barely cracking 20 00:36:05.469 --> 00:36:08.789 years old, right? Uh, I mean, if you look at, 00:36:08.789 --> 00:36:11.710 at, uh, Phillip, for example, DK six SP, I think 00:36:11.710 --> 00:36:14.789 he's 24 now. I served three or something in that, 00:36:14.889 --> 00:36:17.909 in that range group. I think a guy's like, um, 00:36:18.289 --> 00:36:22.369 uh, and in one seat, Marty, uh, who is, uh, I 00:36:22.369 --> 00:36:25.369 think now going to be a sophomore in college, 00:36:25.530 --> 00:36:28.210 right? So he's kind of in the 20 -ish range, 00:36:28.510 --> 00:36:33.929 you know, who's a very, very recognized and active 00:36:33.929 --> 00:36:36.349 participant in contesting, right? And he talked 00:36:36.349 --> 00:36:39.530 to any of them and they say, well, man, we just 00:36:39.530 --> 00:36:41.190 thought this was the coolest thing ever. And 00:36:41.190 --> 00:36:44.030 we jumped in, right? Well, not everybody's wired 00:36:44.030 --> 00:36:47.750 that way. Okay. So in my view, like anything 00:36:47.750 --> 00:36:52.170 else, if you want to grow something, to the community 00:36:52.170 --> 00:36:55.010 that is sort of touching it on the edges, you 00:36:55.010 --> 00:36:57.150 have to give them a reason to come to the party. 00:36:58.429 --> 00:37:01.090 And who doesn't like to be recognized, right? 00:37:01.210 --> 00:37:03.769 Who doesn't like to see their, in today's world 00:37:03.769 --> 00:37:05.690 in particular, who doesn't like to see their 00:37:05.690 --> 00:37:08.949 name in print? Who doesn't like to be viewed 00:37:08.949 --> 00:37:12.690 as a group that's taken seriously by people who 00:37:12.690 --> 00:37:17.469 are not in their group? And I think all of those 00:37:17.469 --> 00:37:20.539 factors combined is what's really uh, driving 00:37:20.539 --> 00:37:23.519 the idea that youth and pod testing can be a, 00:37:23.519 --> 00:37:27.000 a very, uh, positive result for ham radio in 00:37:27.000 --> 00:37:28.900 general. And that's, that's really what's driving 00:37:28.900 --> 00:37:32.199 us old guys to, to have somebody that we can 00:37:32.199 --> 00:37:34.760 turn this thing over to because, uh, I don't, 00:37:34.820 --> 00:37:37.280 I don't know about, about you, Neil, but, uh, 00:37:37.280 --> 00:37:40.519 I, I'm not sure I got too many more cycles, uh, 00:37:40.539 --> 00:37:43.440 sunspot cycles to go here. So we gotta, we gotta 00:37:43.440 --> 00:37:46.420 be thinking about this now and not later. Right. 00:37:46.579 --> 00:37:49.679 Yeah. You gotta, you gotta keep it going. All 00:37:49.679 --> 00:37:54.119 right, well, let's give out one last call here 00:37:54.119 --> 00:37:57.800 for the phone lines They are open at eight five 00:37:57.800 --> 00:38:02.039 nine nine eight two seventy three seventy three 00:38:02.039 --> 00:38:06.260 or you can tweet us at ham talk live or Type 00:38:06.260 --> 00:38:09.480 in the comments and just taking a second here 00:38:09.480 --> 00:38:12.960 to look at all that see make sure we haven't 00:38:12.960 --> 00:38:15.820 missed anybody But we're going to wrap things 00:38:15.820 --> 00:38:18.440 up here shortly. So now's the time if you're 00:38:18.440 --> 00:38:21.940 going to jump in eight five nine nine eight two 00:38:21.940 --> 00:38:26.260 seventy three seventy three Let's see. Okay, 00:38:26.260 --> 00:38:31.179 Troy again says I think unfortunately youth access 00:38:31.179 --> 00:38:35.360 to equipment can be a factor and He has youth 00:38:35.360 --> 00:38:40.360 that that do really well at his school w9grs 00:38:40.360 --> 00:38:46.309 But They don't have access beyond that. So I 00:38:46.309 --> 00:38:51.429 know there are some options available. We've 00:38:51.429 --> 00:38:54.429 tried the youth contesting program and hopefully 00:38:54.429 --> 00:38:59.130 that will expand where youth are invited into 00:38:59.130 --> 00:39:03.070 some of these contest stations and even smaller 00:39:03.070 --> 00:39:08.050 stations to get on. And then remote ham radio 00:39:08.050 --> 00:39:14.110 is offering a lot of remote time for young people. 00:39:14.949 --> 00:39:17.530 So there are there are some ways around that. 00:39:17.829 --> 00:39:22.449 Anything you want to add there, John? Yeah, you 00:39:22.449 --> 00:39:25.789 know, I hear that a lot today, and it's a very 00:39:25.789 --> 00:39:29.170 real issue, not only in terms of equipment, but 00:39:29.170 --> 00:39:33.230 you know, in terms of, you know, even if you 00:39:33.230 --> 00:39:35.730 have the ability to get equipment, a lot of people 00:39:35.730 --> 00:39:39.289 now live in HOA restricted areas. putting up 00:39:39.289 --> 00:39:43.869 antennas and all of that is a challenge. I would 00:39:43.869 --> 00:39:48.570 submit while it's much more complex today than 00:39:48.570 --> 00:39:51.949 it was in my day. You know, when I was a kid, 00:39:52.070 --> 00:39:54.150 it wasn't like I was flowing in money to just 00:39:54.150 --> 00:39:56.369 buy any radio I wanted and put up anything I 00:39:56.369 --> 00:40:02.269 wanted either, right? For me, the key to growing 00:40:02.269 --> 00:40:06.889 and moving ahead was when I got involved in a 00:40:06.889 --> 00:40:11.300 contest club if such a thing is available to 00:40:11.300 --> 00:40:17.679 somebody who's younger and really get involved 00:40:17.679 --> 00:40:20.219 with people who already had established stations. 00:40:20.519 --> 00:40:23.760 And what I'm finding more and more is that there's 00:40:23.760 --> 00:40:27.460 a lot of stations out there that are sizable 00:40:27.460 --> 00:40:31.039 stations that are almost going unused at times 00:40:31.039 --> 00:40:35.840 in major contests for whatever reason. that if 00:40:35.840 --> 00:40:38.139 somebody wanted to use them or wanted to get 00:40:38.139 --> 00:40:41.079 involved, I think if we could figure out a way 00:40:41.079 --> 00:40:43.800 to kind of glue those two pieces together, we 00:40:43.800 --> 00:40:48.239 could get many more youthful operators to get 00:40:48.239 --> 00:40:52.380 involved, both in that way and also in AltyOps 00:40:52.380 --> 00:40:57.219 and things like that. I remember, and I would 00:40:57.219 --> 00:41:01.920 submit it's no different today, when I was a 00:41:01.920 --> 00:41:07.250 college student, I remember driving my car to, 00:41:07.510 --> 00:41:10.010 I was able to be a member of the Yankee Clipper 00:41:10.010 --> 00:41:12.809 contest club and we had lots of, you know, big 00:41:12.809 --> 00:41:15.449 stations and so forth. And I remember getting 00:41:15.449 --> 00:41:19.469 invited to several of them over the couple years 00:41:19.469 --> 00:41:23.309 in the early days. And just that thrill of driving 00:41:23.309 --> 00:41:26.789 my car up to up the hill, which is typically 00:41:26.789 --> 00:41:29.230 what it was to some contest station and seeing 00:41:29.230 --> 00:41:32.420 these gigantic antennas and towers. And I think 00:41:32.420 --> 00:41:35.500 I'm like at a government installation, right? 00:41:35.679 --> 00:41:38.019 And this is just a ham station. And I'm thinking 00:41:38.019 --> 00:41:44.639 of guys like W3LPL and W2PV and W1ZM and the 00:41:44.639 --> 00:41:48.559 list goes on. You know, it was goosebumps time 00:41:48.559 --> 00:41:53.320 to be able to do that. And I think the combination 00:41:53.320 --> 00:41:55.960 of figuring out ways to get more access to those 00:41:55.960 --> 00:41:59.539 kinds of places or smaller stations that are 00:41:59.539 --> 00:42:02.880 still very adequate. as well as some of the advances 00:42:02.880 --> 00:42:05.820 being made with remote operating, such as what 00:42:05.820 --> 00:42:11.400 you mentioned with Ray W2RE and SRI JAR activities 00:42:11.400 --> 00:42:15.840 and things like that. You know, there is a path. 00:42:17.159 --> 00:42:20.780 And, you know, by the way, one of the great elixirs 00:42:20.780 --> 00:42:23.639 to solve all of this, at least a lot of it, in 00:42:23.639 --> 00:42:26.940 terms of station adequacy is called sunspots. 00:42:27.289 --> 00:42:30.349 And boy, I'll tell you, when the sunspots come 00:42:30.349 --> 00:42:33.969 back, and they are coming back, that's what we're 00:42:33.969 --> 00:42:37.090 all told, there's going to be amazing things 00:42:37.090 --> 00:42:39.170 that can be done with very little for a couple 00:42:39.170 --> 00:42:41.670 years. And boy, that's a time to really jump 00:42:41.670 --> 00:42:45.590 on the wagon and have some fun. Yeah, yeah, definitely. 00:42:46.429 --> 00:42:51.230 I'm really looking forward to some better conditions. 00:42:51.650 --> 00:42:56.199 So hopefully that'll be around the corner. Well, 00:42:56.280 --> 00:42:59.340 John, thank you so much for spending time with 00:42:59.340 --> 00:43:02.940 us tonight to talk about CQ Worldwide and the 00:43:02.940 --> 00:43:07.820 youth overlay category and the hardware that 00:43:07.820 --> 00:43:11.599 goes with it and everything. Any final words 00:43:11.599 --> 00:43:16.099 or any announcements about CQ Worldwide in general 00:43:16.099 --> 00:43:19.840 that you want to make? Go right ahead. Well, 00:43:20.719 --> 00:43:25.099 I can tell you And I say this to probably everybody 00:43:25.099 --> 00:43:28.139 is that even though I've been on the committee 00:43:28.139 --> 00:43:33.480 for a long time, I guess I never really understood 00:43:33.480 --> 00:43:37.340 truly what was involved until I was put in charge 00:43:37.340 --> 00:43:42.880 of it. And it's a pretty significant task, I 00:43:42.880 --> 00:43:45.860 have to tell you, but one I enjoy thoroughly 00:43:45.860 --> 00:43:48.900 to be able to. you know, be an ambassador, if 00:43:48.900 --> 00:43:51.340 you will, for the CQ Worldwide, or maybe even 00:43:51.340 --> 00:43:53.500 contesting in general, being able to do things 00:43:53.500 --> 00:43:57.639 like this this evening and all of that. And it's 00:43:57.639 --> 00:44:01.000 a real honor and a privilege to do that. And 00:44:01.000 --> 00:44:04.139 to really be part of a team that's an influencer 00:44:04.139 --> 00:44:07.880 in contesting through the vehicle of the CQ Worldwide. 00:44:08.079 --> 00:44:11.400 And in this case, I'll just comment on it very 00:44:11.400 --> 00:44:16.130 briefly in the interest of time. In addition 00:44:16.130 --> 00:44:19.190 to the youth overlay that we created this year, 00:44:19.429 --> 00:44:23.590 we also created a new explorer category, which 00:44:23.590 --> 00:44:28.530 I would encourage you just to check out cqww 00:44:28.530 --> 00:44:31.449 .com and look at that a little bit. And basically 00:44:31.449 --> 00:44:34.090 the idea behind that was to kind of remove some 00:44:34.090 --> 00:44:37.469 of the traditional category barriers, if you 00:44:37.469 --> 00:44:41.289 will, and rules. and allow technology to prevail 00:44:41.289 --> 00:44:44.289 and see what people can actually do with technology 00:44:44.289 --> 00:44:49.289 and contesting in sort of a contesting sandbox. 00:44:50.570 --> 00:44:54.489 And that's the general theme behind that. And 00:44:54.489 --> 00:44:56.650 we did this about 10 years ago. It was probably 00:44:56.650 --> 00:44:59.750 a little ahead of its time. But now with remote 00:44:59.750 --> 00:45:05.190 operating and the pervasiveness of various communication 00:45:05.190 --> 00:45:08.179 methods and things and the way radios and computers 00:45:08.179 --> 00:45:12.179 and all of it to collectively work. I think it's 00:45:12.179 --> 00:45:14.579 going to be fascinating. I don't expect much 00:45:14.579 --> 00:45:17.039 more than a few dozen people are going to necessarily 00:45:17.039 --> 00:45:20.019 do this. But there's going to be, I think, some 00:45:20.019 --> 00:45:21.880 interesting stories that are going to come out 00:45:21.880 --> 00:45:25.000 of it, some of which that who knows what an influence 00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:27.940 that's going to have on contesting in the future 00:45:27.940 --> 00:45:31.019 based on things that they're trying today. So 00:45:31.019 --> 00:45:33.800 it's another example of something that we're 00:45:33.800 --> 00:45:38.289 doing to try to, you know, Try to lead the pack 00:45:38.289 --> 00:45:41.269 and make some exciting things happen. So that's 00:45:41.269 --> 00:45:44.989 what we're all about By the way, if anybody wants 00:45:44.989 --> 00:45:49.389 to ask questions offline I don't hide my email 00:45:49.389 --> 00:45:52.110 or hide behind anything. You can simply just 00:45:52.110 --> 00:45:57.010 shoot me a note at CQK1AR At gmail .com and I'm 00:45:57.010 --> 00:45:59.530 happy to respond anything that comes my way, 00:45:59.550 --> 00:46:02.969 which is generally every day So look forward 00:46:02.969 --> 00:46:05.110 to hearing from any and all if you have any questions 00:46:05.110 --> 00:46:08.780 you'd like to ask me offline All right, John. 00:46:08.860 --> 00:46:11.440 Well, thank you so much for your time, your commitment 00:46:11.440 --> 00:46:15.960 to CQ Worldwide and your time here this evening 00:46:15.960 --> 00:46:21.260 with us. And I look forward to getting into the 00:46:21.260 --> 00:46:26.139 contest season here and racking up some numbers. 00:46:26.760 --> 00:46:30.139 So thanks so much and we'll talk to you soon. 00:46:31.340 --> 00:46:33.159 All righty. It's been a pleasure and have a good 00:46:33.159 --> 00:46:36.940 night, everybody. Thank you for the time. All 00:46:36.940 --> 00:46:39.800 right. Well, that's a wrap for this week's edition 00:46:39.800 --> 00:46:42.199 of ham talk live. Thanks to my guest John door 00:46:42.199 --> 00:46:45.780 k1 AR and everyone out there in cyberspace for 00:46:45.780 --> 00:46:48.920 listening and calling in and typing in and Invite 00:46:48.920 --> 00:46:52.059 you back next Thursday night 9 p .m Eastern time 00:46:52.059 --> 00:46:56.500 right here at ham talk live .com And if you want 00:46:56.500 --> 00:46:59.579 to see who's going to be on the show Go there 00:46:59.579 --> 00:47:02.219 as well and you can find that and if you like 00:47:02.219 --> 00:47:04.619 the show, please leave us a review. That's that's 00:47:04.619 --> 00:47:09.710 all we ask so That's all for tonight. So for 00:47:09.710 --> 00:47:13.670 now, this is Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, saying 7 -3, 00:47:13.969 --> 00:47:17.969 7 -5, and may the good DX be yours.