WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.839 This episode of HamTalk Live is brought to you 00:00:02.839 --> 00:00:06.240 by Tower Electronics. For connectors, cables, 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:13.160 and more, call 920 -435 -2973 or visit pl -259 00:00:13.160 --> 00:00:17.859 .com. And by ICOM, heard it, worked it, logged 00:00:17.859 --> 00:00:23.079 it. Visit www .icomamerica .com slash amateur 00:00:23.079 --> 00:00:32.399 for more information about ICOM radios. Here 00:00:32.399 --> 00:00:38.380 we go, welcome to Hamtok Live Callin' let's talk, 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:43.920 Neil's your guy Hamtok Live, here we go on Hamtok 00:00:43.920 --> 00:01:06.180 Radio Hey, good evening everyone. It's time for 00:01:06.180 --> 00:01:10.359 ham talk live. It's episode number 242 Rebuilding 00:01:10.359 --> 00:01:13.939 the ham shack recorded live on Thursday January 00:01:13.939 --> 00:01:19.879 14th 2021 I'm your host Neil rap WB 9 VPG Thanks 00:01:19.879 --> 00:01:23.000 for tuning in to this episode of ham talk live 00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:27.120 tonight. We're joined by Kate zero in EB Joe 00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:31.459 Eisenberg and We'll take your calls live in just 00:01:31.459 --> 00:01:35.900 a few minutes Last week on the show, Michael 00:01:35.900 --> 00:01:41.560 Colley, W4MCA, was here to talk about Hamcation 00:01:41.560 --> 00:01:46.579 SE, Hamcation Special Edition. If you missed 00:01:46.579 --> 00:01:49.120 the show, you can listen anytime at HamTalkLive 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:52.379 .com or on your favorite podcast app or YouTube, 00:01:52.920 --> 00:01:57.519 or you can catch the rebroadcast on WTWW, that's 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:02.659 5085AM. Saturday afternoons at about 3 30 p .m. 00:02:03.079 --> 00:02:08.259 Eastern Time each week and We do have a few announcements 00:02:08.259 --> 00:02:13.120 here to start off tonight As we do from time 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:16.599 to time first of all Hamvention if you hadn't 00:02:16.599 --> 00:02:21.520 heard sadly Hamvention 2021 also had to be canceled 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:27.409 And so next week Michael Coulter w8 CI The spokesperson 00:02:27.409 --> 00:02:29.810 from the Dayton Hamvention will be here to talk 00:02:29.810 --> 00:02:34.229 about it and the plans for what was planned to 00:02:34.229 --> 00:02:37.169 be Hamvention weekend though. They're planning 00:02:37.169 --> 00:02:40.789 another QSO party. So Be sure to tune in next 00:02:40.789 --> 00:02:43.349 week. We'll hear more about what happened with 00:02:43.349 --> 00:02:47.650 Hamvention and what their plans are Also, the 00:02:47.650 --> 00:02:51.069 AM rally is coming up. The annual AM rally is 00:02:51.069 --> 00:02:55.189 the first weekend of February and encourages 00:02:55.189 --> 00:02:59.389 everybody to get on any kind of equipment, vintage 00:02:59.389 --> 00:03:08.030 or even a new SDR, and get on AM. Standard AM, 00:03:08.449 --> 00:03:13.189 open to everybody on 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 00:03:13.250 --> 00:03:17.949 and 6. And at 0100 Zulu Saturday, February 6th 00:03:17.949 --> 00:03:23.169 through 700 Zulu Monday February 8th and in the 00:03:23.169 --> 00:03:27.430 Eastern time zone that 7 p .m. On Friday February 00:03:27.430 --> 00:03:33.669 5th through 2 a .m. On Monday February 8th For 00:03:33.669 --> 00:03:37.949 the a .m. Rally and then the virtual ham expo 00:03:38.349 --> 00:03:42.310 is coming up. The QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo 00:03:42.310 --> 00:03:46.289 will return on March 13th and 14th. The QSO Today 00:03:46.289 --> 00:03:48.830 team has been working hard to make this upcoming 00:03:48.830 --> 00:03:52.169 expo even better with new speakers, panel discussions, 00:03:52.389 --> 00:03:54.930 kit building workshops, and much more. Early 00:03:54.930 --> 00:03:58.370 bird tickets are $10 and include entry for the 00:03:58.370 --> 00:04:00.810 live two -day period as well as the 30 -day on 00:04:00.810 --> 00:04:04.650 -demand period. You can register at qsotodayhamexpo 00:04:04.650 --> 00:04:08.340 .com. There's over 60 speakers including Bob 00:04:08.340 --> 00:04:12.659 Alphen, K4UEE, talking about his favorite DXpeditions 00:04:12.659 --> 00:04:17.000 to the top 10 most wanted DXCC entities. And 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:19.839 they're going to have a live virtual kit building 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:23.519 workshop. You can get the kit. You can buy that 00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:26.199 in advance and delivered to you in time so you 00:04:26.199 --> 00:04:29.360 can build from home. So make sure you check that 00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:32.209 out. Okay, we'll get your questions ready to 00:04:32.209 --> 00:04:34.029 go. If you're listening to us live on Thursday 00:04:34.029 --> 00:04:36.290 night, you can give us a call after the interview 00:04:36.290 --> 00:04:45.649 by calling 859 -982 -7373. You can also tweet 00:04:45.649 --> 00:04:49.709 us. It's at HamTalk Live. You can tweet us there 00:04:49.709 --> 00:04:52.410 and also the comments. If you're listening to 00:04:52.410 --> 00:04:54.550 us on Spreaker, you can type into the comments. 00:04:54.790 --> 00:04:57.790 There's kind of like a chat area. So you can 00:04:57.790 --> 00:05:01.199 use that as well. But again the phone number 00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:03.620 and we'll give that out a few more times before 00:05:03.620 --> 00:05:06.959 it's time to call The phone number will be eight 00:05:06.959 --> 00:05:10.939 five nine nine eight two seventy three seventy 00:05:10.939 --> 00:05:13.680 three and I'll be back with Joe right after this 00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:16.980 word from tower electronics Right here on ham 00:05:16.980 --> 00:05:22.019 talk live. Hey, honey. Have you seen the PL 259s? 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:26.019 Anywhere? No, I haven't come on kids. Let's go 00:05:28.120 --> 00:05:30.819 There's just one place to go for all of your 00:05:30.819 --> 00:05:37.339 connector needs. A giant warehouse of connectors 00:05:37.339 --> 00:05:40.360 and adapters for every occasion. Thousands to 00:05:40.360 --> 00:05:42.699 choose from in every shape, size, and color. 00:05:42.920 --> 00:05:45.639 And they have antennas, soldering supplies, cables, 00:05:45.879 --> 00:05:48.660 meters, and more. Where do you go if you want 00:05:48.660 --> 00:05:51.040 to buy a connector at a fraction of retail cost? 00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:57.680 And this weekend only, take advantage of our 00:05:57.680 --> 00:06:00.600 Special liquidation sale. Buy nine solder -type 00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:03.959 PL -259s. Get the tenth one for just one penny. 00:06:06.500 --> 00:06:11.800 They make great Christmas presents. And what 00:06:11.800 --> 00:06:14.360 better way to say I love you than with the gift 00:06:14.360 --> 00:06:18.939 of a PL -259. Tower Electronics. Tower Electronics. 00:06:19.100 --> 00:06:22.980 Tower Electronics. I'm Scott, KB9AMM of Tower 00:06:22.980 --> 00:06:27.100 Electronics. I like the PL259 connectors so much, 00:06:27.259 --> 00:06:29.860 I bought the company. Tower Electronics. Coming 00:06:29.860 --> 00:06:34.259 to a hand fest near you. Or online at PL -259 00:06:34.259 --> 00:06:37.379 .com. And we're on the yellow pages under amateur 00:06:37.379 --> 00:06:40.600 radio connectors. My, wherever did you get that 00:06:40.600 --> 00:06:45.660 lovely PL259? Tower Electronics. PL -259 .com. 00:06:45.610 --> 00:06:52.230 or call 920 -435 -2973. Do we sell PL259 connectors? 00:06:53.430 --> 00:06:56.009 Two antennas met on a roof, fell in love and 00:06:56.009 --> 00:06:59.230 got married. The ceremony wasn't much, but the 00:06:59.230 --> 00:07:01.990 reception was excellent. You're listening to 00:07:01.990 --> 00:07:18.769 HamTalk Live with Neil Rapp. Welcome back to 00:07:18.769 --> 00:07:21.149 HamTalk Live. Thanks to Scott and Jill at Tower 00:07:21.149 --> 00:07:24.110 Electronics for sponsoring the show tonight to 00:07:24.110 --> 00:07:27.310 help bring you HamTalk Live. They'll be at Jack 00:07:27.310 --> 00:07:32.029 Moyer's Tailgate in Orlando this weekend, January 00:07:32.029 --> 00:07:36.050 16th. And then they have Dalton, Georgia coming 00:07:36.050 --> 00:07:40.889 up in February 27th. And you can visit them online 00:07:40.889 --> 00:07:48.860 at PL -259 .com. Tom, so you can check them out 00:07:48.860 --> 00:07:53.279 anytime, anywhere. Well, welcome back to HamTalk 00:07:53.279 --> 00:07:56.720 Live. Tonight, Joe Eisenberg, KZeroNEB, joins 00:07:56.720 --> 00:08:00.379 us on the Orlando Amateur Radio Club and Hamcation 00:08:00.379 --> 00:08:04.220 line. Joe is from Lincoln, Nebraska and well 00:08:04.220 --> 00:08:07.500 known for his kit building expertise and his 00:08:07.500 --> 00:08:10.100 picture shows of Hamvention. He's the longtime 00:08:10.100 --> 00:08:13.529 kit building editor at CQ Magazine. and often 00:08:13.529 --> 00:08:16.089 makes presentations and kit builds at ham fest 00:08:16.089 --> 00:08:20.269 conventions club meetings um he uh like me started 00:08:20.269 --> 00:08:23.829 at an early age in ham radio and has been licensed 00:08:23.829 --> 00:08:28.209 since 1969 and at datan he's the guy wearing 00:08:28.209 --> 00:08:32.009 the dr seuss hat and and for the first time tonight 00:08:32.009 --> 00:08:37.610 joe uh we're not talking about kits although 00:08:37.610 --> 00:08:39.830 we could talk about kits a little bit because 00:08:40.660 --> 00:08:43.320 you've got some kit building stuff going on, 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:46.620 but our main focus tonight isn't about kits for 00:08:46.620 --> 00:08:52.200 a change. Well, actually, I used kits. In fact, 00:08:52.279 --> 00:08:55.600 the way I covered this in the magazine is the 00:08:55.600 --> 00:09:00.620 fact that antennas are kits. Things that you 00:09:00.620 --> 00:09:04.100 assemble like rotator control cable connectors 00:09:04.100 --> 00:09:07.700 and so forth are all kits. And so I kind of took 00:09:07.700 --> 00:09:11.179 that aspect of it. but kind of walked through 00:09:11.179 --> 00:09:14.460 the process of what it took to make my signal 00:09:14.460 --> 00:09:18.480 a little bit louder from here in Nebraska. Well, 00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:26.639 and I had the chance to catch you on the 12 days 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:33.580 of Christmas and the Yoda month activities toward 00:09:33.580 --> 00:09:39.539 the middle of December and you were booming into 00:09:39.539 --> 00:09:44.980 the shack here in Indiana and It was a noticeable 00:09:44.980 --> 00:09:48.059 difference so we're gonna talk a little bit about 00:09:48.059 --> 00:09:51.740 how you have taken your your shack and and just 00:09:51.740 --> 00:09:55.320 kind of revamped everything and and You know 00:09:55.320 --> 00:09:58.940 we were talking about You know the picture on 00:09:58.940 --> 00:10:03.360 the cover of this month's CQ magazine and that 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:07.659 being your your tower project and you know we 00:10:07.659 --> 00:10:10.759 were talking about and you mentioned that you 00:10:10.759 --> 00:10:13.519 know normally you see these great big antenna 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:17.000 farms you know and all these you know de -expeditions 00:10:17.000 --> 00:10:19.600 out in the middle of nowhere and all this and 00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:23.250 it's like Gee, that was just my tower on the 00:10:23.250 --> 00:10:27.129 cover. So talk a little bit about that. That's 00:10:27.129 --> 00:10:30.610 quite a difference for the magazine. And I was 00:10:30.610 --> 00:10:33.529 very honored that my editor decided that it was 00:10:33.529 --> 00:10:37.870 significant enough of a project that it deserved 00:10:37.870 --> 00:10:41.730 to be on the cover. And yeah, it's not normal 00:10:41.730 --> 00:10:44.669 because usually you have the de -expeditions 00:10:44.669 --> 00:10:50.429 and so forth. But I'm glad it's going to help. 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:53.120 Inspire people because we got a lot of people 00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:55.440 that are stuck home right now and with Dayton 00:10:55.440 --> 00:10:58.139 even being canceled It looks like the regular 00:10:58.139 --> 00:11:01.919 ham fest circuit isn't going to come alive For 00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:05.360 any large ones until sometime this summer so 00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:08.100 it gives you some time to work on your station 00:11:08.100 --> 00:11:12.580 at home And so that's what I did The problem 00:11:12.580 --> 00:11:15.460 is a lot of other people are doing this at this 00:11:15.460 --> 00:11:20.710 time. And so the problem is that antennas and 00:11:20.710 --> 00:11:24.370 cable and rotators and other things that you'd 00:11:24.370 --> 00:11:28.570 use and some radios and so forth are hard to 00:11:28.570 --> 00:11:32.269 come by. And so if you ever listen to any of 00:11:32.269 --> 00:11:35.909 the DX engineering podcasts, he's always complaining 00:11:35.909 --> 00:11:40.909 that they're having trouble with suppliers right 00:11:40.909 --> 00:11:43.309 now. And it's because it depends on where in 00:11:43.309 --> 00:11:45.830 the world or where in this country it comes from. 00:11:47.679 --> 00:11:51.820 the coronavirus has affected supplies of everything. 00:11:52.419 --> 00:11:55.179 So we'll start off with the first problem that 00:11:55.179 --> 00:11:59.860 I wanted to tackle. Power distribution was not 00:11:59.860 --> 00:12:03.080 an issue, although one of the power supplies 00:12:03.080 --> 00:12:07.379 I did replace one of the Astron 35Ms with the 00:12:07.379 --> 00:12:12.659 SAMLEX. But that wasn't the major issue. Power 00:12:12.659 --> 00:12:16.799 distribution was not an issue. but it was a lot 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:20.419 of unused cables. Now, a lot of people think, 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:23.460 okay, I've got all these wires from years ago 00:12:23.460 --> 00:12:27.039 and I'll just punch another hole in the wall 00:12:27.039 --> 00:12:28.799 and I'll run another cable through. Well, that's 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:32.580 what I did for 35 years. And so you end up with 00:12:32.580 --> 00:12:35.299 a lot of cables. that are passing through the 00:12:35.299 --> 00:12:38.220 wall and then goes into the laundry room next 00:12:38.220 --> 00:12:40.419 door to the shack, which is where my workbench 00:12:40.419 --> 00:12:43.480 is, and then out through a hole in the wall to 00:12:43.480 --> 00:12:47.759 the tower in the outside world. Well, I had four 00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:50.700 conductor cables and eight conductor cables and 00:12:50.700 --> 00:12:54.960 another old rotor cable and several coaxes that 00:12:54.960 --> 00:12:58.340 were cut on both ends. They were replaced by 00:12:58.340 --> 00:13:01.659 newer cables, but they were still like RG8X and 00:13:01.659 --> 00:13:05.710 so forth. And so the problem was that what I 00:13:05.710 --> 00:13:09.129 didn't realize is that I had an untenable situation 00:13:09.129 --> 00:13:15.070 where I couldn't get on 80 or 160 on FT8 because 00:13:15.070 --> 00:13:18.210 there was so much RF coming back into the shack 00:13:18.210 --> 00:13:21.330 that the computer would reboot or the radio would 00:13:21.330 --> 00:13:29.909 even reboot. And using chokes on the line, cut 00:13:29.909 --> 00:13:35.120 it down, but it was still an issue. And so it 00:13:35.120 --> 00:13:38.360 brought back the situation where I've seen this 00:13:38.360 --> 00:13:42.200 at field day and stuff as well. And it's unused 00:13:42.200 --> 00:13:46.539 cables just sitting there. Actually, the RF that 00:13:46.539 --> 00:13:49.000 comes down the jacket of adjacent lines ends 00:13:49.000 --> 00:13:52.539 up on these unused cables and re -radiates. And 00:13:52.539 --> 00:13:58.460 so digging out all the old wires was the first 00:13:58.460 --> 00:14:05.220 step. The second step was When I did that, I 00:14:05.220 --> 00:14:09.100 got rid of some coaxes that were maybe 30 years 00:14:09.100 --> 00:14:13.419 old or so. And I decided to go with a remote 00:14:13.419 --> 00:14:17.860 coax switch. And at the same time, I wanted to 00:14:17.860 --> 00:14:20.500 improve the grounds because I discovered I had 00:14:20.500 --> 00:14:25.360 one 14 gauge wire that was running into the laundry 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:28.539 room and it was hooked to the copper pipe. And 00:14:28.539 --> 00:14:30.580 then there was a thinner wire than that that 00:14:30.580 --> 00:14:32.580 went outside and connected to one of the ground 00:14:32.580 --> 00:14:35.019 rods. Well, that was all pretty much rotted out. 00:14:35.720 --> 00:14:40.279 And so I went to the hardware store and got some 00:14:40.279 --> 00:14:44.940 eight gauge and four gauge copper. And the ground 00:14:44.940 --> 00:14:47.480 rod system around the tower was in good shape. 00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:53.600 So I connected that to the water pipe just inside 00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:56.120 the house. As it comes in, it goes right by the 00:14:56.120 --> 00:15:00.460 water pipe. and then connected that to a new 00:15:00.460 --> 00:15:02.500 heavy cable that came into the shack. Now what 00:15:02.500 --> 00:15:06.600 I did was I bought a DX engineering grounding 00:15:06.600 --> 00:15:10.919 block kind of a thing and it's a kit and it comes 00:15:10.919 --> 00:15:14.139 with a copper bracket that you screw into the 00:15:14.139 --> 00:15:18.639 wall and it has space for three alpha delta transit 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:22.860 traps and so I bought those and I put those on 00:15:22.860 --> 00:15:27.159 there and then I got some braided wire and now 00:15:27.159 --> 00:15:29.220 people tell me I shouldn't have used the braided 00:15:29.220 --> 00:15:34.179 wire, but it seems to work. Okay, and So I I 00:15:34.179 --> 00:15:37.100 have separate grounds that go to each radio instead 00:15:37.100 --> 00:15:41.360 of a wire that kind of went from one Wing nut 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:44.080 to another to another on all the different radios 00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:47.419 now they all go to this one ground and They go 00:15:47.419 --> 00:15:50.059 out and when I change the ground and then I I 00:15:50.059 --> 00:15:53.759 put a brand new clamp on the pipe When I pulled 00:15:53.759 --> 00:15:57.500 the other wire off the old clamp, it pretty much 00:15:57.500 --> 00:16:01.820 came right out in my hand. So I sanded the pipe 00:16:01.820 --> 00:16:06.039 and then put the clamp on and everything and 00:16:06.039 --> 00:16:08.580 the two heavy gauge wires, the one going outdoors 00:16:08.580 --> 00:16:11.779 and the one going into the shack. And immediately 00:16:11.779 --> 00:16:17.179 the noise floor was incredibly dropped. It went 00:16:17.179 --> 00:16:20.860 from about an S7 to about an S2. And I thought, 00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:25.879 oh, well that's interesting. So then I connected 00:16:25.879 --> 00:16:30.279 the remote coax switch and I cut all the coaxes 00:16:30.279 --> 00:16:33.639 that came into the house, the old ones. And then 00:16:33.639 --> 00:16:37.120 I had a new piece of LMR 400 that went from the 00:16:37.120 --> 00:16:43.240 coax switch to the radiums. And so once again, 00:16:43.779 --> 00:16:46.620 The signals improved just immensely, but the 00:16:46.620 --> 00:16:49.620 old cables were still hooked up to the old antennas 00:16:49.620 --> 00:16:55.120 outside. But yet, the noise floor had dropped 00:16:55.120 --> 00:16:58.460 just tremendously and all the RF problems had 00:16:58.460 --> 00:17:01.779 gone away. And I thought, oh, yes, this works, 00:17:01.879 --> 00:17:05.059 getting rid of all the old cables. In fact, we 00:17:05.059 --> 00:17:07.799 recycled the cables and I ended up getting $16 00:17:07.799 --> 00:17:11.759 .50 for them. I just piled them up and took them 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:17.289 to a recycle center. But by going to the remote 00:17:17.289 --> 00:17:20.670 coax switch, instead of having like five or six 00:17:20.670 --> 00:17:24.009 runs of LMR 400 coming into the house, I have 00:17:24.009 --> 00:17:28.970 one. And that made a big difference. Now there's 00:17:28.970 --> 00:17:32.829 some quirks that I discovered with that, but 00:17:32.829 --> 00:17:36.250 we'll get into that later. But it works. It works 00:17:36.250 --> 00:17:40.849 quite well. The coax switch, because it is remote, 00:17:42.160 --> 00:17:45.420 it has to be powered on for the antenna to be 00:17:45.420 --> 00:17:48.079 live at the radio. So that's kind of a good thing 00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:51.839 because if I turn it off, it opens that connection. 00:17:51.940 --> 00:17:55.579 But I also have the lightning arrestors inside 00:17:55.579 --> 00:17:58.660 and they're also grounded when they hit the coax 00:17:58.660 --> 00:18:01.579 switch because the frame of that is grounded 00:18:01.579 --> 00:18:06.880 directly to the tower. So the noise level was 00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:09.869 immediately lower. the signal strengths were 00:18:09.869 --> 00:18:14.990 better, but the antennas, they were old. So I 00:18:14.990 --> 00:18:19.390 ordered a five element, six meter beam, and then 00:18:19.390 --> 00:18:27.369 a new TH3 MK4 to replace the TH3 Jr. And I of 00:18:27.369 --> 00:18:31.109 course ordered LMR 400 for the six meter beam 00:18:31.109 --> 00:18:34.349 and for the UHF antenna that's above that and 00:18:34.349 --> 00:18:38.430 for some other antennas. And then the wire antennas 00:18:38.430 --> 00:18:41.789 were another problem. And that was I had one 00:18:41.789 --> 00:18:45.890 rope on a pulley and three hooks, three snap 00:18:45.890 --> 00:18:48.890 hooks. And so I had three wire antennas on one 00:18:48.890 --> 00:18:53.950 rope, which wasn't very good because the wind 00:18:53.950 --> 00:18:56.109 would bang them against the tower and sometimes 00:18:56.109 --> 00:18:59.269 they'd short out and things like that. And when 00:18:59.269 --> 00:19:01.829 I tried to lower them to repair it, they would 00:19:01.829 --> 00:19:05.490 get caught. So because they were pulling in three 00:19:05.490 --> 00:19:11.369 different directions and so That rope is still 00:19:11.369 --> 00:19:16.690 there and it holds the 40 meter Double bazooka, 00:19:16.890 --> 00:19:20.890 but it does not hold Excuse me any other wires 00:19:20.890 --> 00:19:25.750 that Rope is still there, but I replaced that 00:19:25.750 --> 00:19:29.789 rope and then I put up four more separate pulleys 00:19:29.789 --> 00:19:34.900 with Dacron rope And so that way I have antennas 00:19:34.900 --> 00:19:38.079 that have survived two ice storms already and 00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:41.900 we had 55 mile an hour winds today and also a 00:19:41.900 --> 00:19:46.019 few days after we put this up in November. And 00:19:46.019 --> 00:19:49.640 so I have wires now for bands that I didn't have 00:19:49.640 --> 00:19:53.640 before. I have a 17 meter double bazooka. I have 00:19:53.640 --> 00:19:59.619 a 12 meter dipole. I have 160 meter shortened 00:19:59.619 --> 00:20:04.759 half Sloper that's top fed and I have an 80 meter 00:20:04.759 --> 00:20:09.079 version of the same thing so In addition to the 00:20:09.079 --> 00:20:12.299 40 meter double bazooka and the 12 meter dipole 00:20:12.299 --> 00:20:16.720 that I hung All of them are fed with LMR 400 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:20.759 except for I think one of them is on LMR 240 00:20:20.759 --> 00:20:25.259 which is kind of like a Higher -end version of 00:20:25.259 --> 00:20:28.440 RG 8x that lets you still run up to a kilowatt 00:20:28.440 --> 00:20:33.779 so The end result of the whole project was I 00:20:33.779 --> 00:20:36.519 had a lot of stuff to do in a very short amount 00:20:36.519 --> 00:20:39.980 of time because By the time all this stuff came 00:20:39.980 --> 00:20:44.579 in It was the end of October and I had to get 00:20:44.579 --> 00:20:48.440 my tower crew who had been working to get the 00:20:48.440 --> 00:20:52.759 repeaters in the area all set up for winter and 00:20:52.759 --> 00:20:56.980 so What happened is we ended up doing it on two 00:20:56.980 --> 00:21:01.480 consecutive afternoons two hours each and the 00:21:01.480 --> 00:21:04.099 first one we stripped the tower completely down 00:21:04.099 --> 00:21:08.200 all the cables came off and then I ran new rotor 00:21:08.200 --> 00:21:10.480 cable and everything and we actually got the 00:21:10.480 --> 00:21:14.240 rotor back up and we got the TH3 and the 6 meter 00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:17.720 beam and the UHF all reconnected with new cable 00:21:17.720 --> 00:21:20.660 all the way through and I have to tell you that 00:21:20.660 --> 00:21:24.900 there was a piece of RG8X that I used to as an 00:21:24.900 --> 00:21:28.619 interim repair because we had trouble with an 00:21:28.619 --> 00:21:33.230 owl that would and a hawk that would claw onto 00:21:33.230 --> 00:21:36.809 the UHF antenna. And so that was a temporary 00:21:36.809 --> 00:21:39.630 fix that lasted 15 years, but there were claw 00:21:39.630 --> 00:21:44.710 holes over the piece of 8X. Now we've rerouted 00:21:44.710 --> 00:21:46.890 it so that it's underneath so that if he puts 00:21:46.890 --> 00:21:51.750 his claws on it, he will be on the boom and not 00:21:51.750 --> 00:21:58.109 on the cable. So because the tower is the highest 00:21:58.109 --> 00:22:00.490 point in the neighborhood and it is attractive 00:22:00.490 --> 00:22:06.849 to this type of bird So I have morning doves 00:22:06.849 --> 00:22:11.069 I have an owl and I have a hawk and I have pictures 00:22:11.069 --> 00:22:14.450 of them that that do roost up there from time 00:22:14.450 --> 00:22:18.069 to time and Part of the problem is there's a 00:22:18.069 --> 00:22:20.730 city park behind me. So there's field mice and 00:22:20.730 --> 00:22:25.430 things like that that they go after This really 00:22:25.430 --> 00:22:30.650 hits home because when I was talking to you the 00:22:30.650 --> 00:22:35.309 other day on HF, I was going through that exact 00:22:35.309 --> 00:22:39.150 thing. Every time I'd key up, the monitor on 00:22:39.150 --> 00:22:41.759 the computer would go out. And so it was like, 00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:45.220 OK, I got to stay off of 80 and on 40, I got 00:22:45.220 --> 00:22:47.700 to be in the lower part of the band, not the 00:22:47.700 --> 00:22:50.220 higher part of the band, because because my monitor 00:22:50.220 --> 00:22:52.619 would go out. And one time it even took out the 00:22:52.619 --> 00:22:58.799 router and I had to re -upload the firmware and 00:22:58.799 --> 00:23:02.700 reboot the router just to get back on. I'm trying 00:23:02.700 --> 00:23:05.240 to run this 12 days of Christmas thing. And it's 00:23:05.240 --> 00:23:10.170 like, you know, it just. It wasn't good. So was 00:23:10.170 --> 00:23:14.349 that the motivating factor? Is that what finally 00:23:14.349 --> 00:23:17.990 made you say, hey, it's time to do this? Yeah. 00:23:18.089 --> 00:23:21.089 When things just quit working, it got to the 00:23:21.089 --> 00:23:24.690 point where anything but maybe 20 meters sideband 00:23:24.690 --> 00:23:30.609 and 40 meters wouldn't work. I decided that I'm 00:23:30.609 --> 00:23:33.329 stuck home. This is the time to do it and get 00:23:33.329 --> 00:23:40.369 everything done. RFI issues when I was done, 00:23:40.670 --> 00:23:44.650 yes there was. And the addition of being able 00:23:44.650 --> 00:23:47.970 to use the SB200 amplifier, which I have never 00:23:47.970 --> 00:23:51.210 had an amplifier at home in the 52 years I've 00:23:51.210 --> 00:23:55.390 been a ham, that brought its own little interesting 00:23:55.390 --> 00:23:57.930 things. And I have to tell you, you can get these 00:23:57.930 --> 00:24:01.609 through DX Engineering, snap -on chokes are wonderful. 00:24:02.230 --> 00:24:05.819 And it really takes things out. I had a problem 00:24:05.819 --> 00:24:10.000 that the TV would turn itself on upstairs just 00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.000 randomly turned itself on and so I took the power 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:19.299 cord to that and to the the Cable box actually 00:24:19.299 --> 00:24:23.180 goes into my fiber and my blu -ray player turned 00:24:23.180 --> 00:24:25.720 out to be the blu -ray player was the thing that 00:24:25.720 --> 00:24:29.759 was at fault because I would key up and it would 00:24:29.759 --> 00:24:33.599 say insert disk on the TV and I thought oh, okay 00:24:33.769 --> 00:24:37.009 even though the TV was off because I have a smart 00:24:37.009 --> 00:24:41.089 TV and when you turn that on, turn on a device 00:24:41.089 --> 00:24:44.210 that's plugged into it, it sees that on the HDMI 00:24:44.210 --> 00:24:50.710 port and it turns the TV on. But I wrapped the 00:24:50.710 --> 00:24:54.710 power cords of all those devices through individual 00:24:54.710 --> 00:24:58.549 snap -on chokes and then I had the problem that 00:24:58.549 --> 00:25:01.359 the furnace kept trying to turn on every time 00:25:01.359 --> 00:25:05.099 I sent a data frame on FT8. Well, that turns 00:25:05.099 --> 00:25:09.359 out to be the thermostat wire because part of 00:25:09.359 --> 00:25:12.480 the changes was the 40 meter antenna got raised 00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:15.880 about 15 feet higher, which worked wonderful 00:25:15.880 --> 00:25:18.740 for 40 meters, but it put it right at the level 00:25:18.740 --> 00:25:23.440 of the upstairs thermostat, which is a nest thermostat, 00:25:23.500 --> 00:25:27.190 a very smart thermostat. And so it was putting 00:25:27.190 --> 00:25:31.849 RF back down the line and went into the controller 00:25:31.849 --> 00:25:36.190 in the furnace. So once again, loosening up the 00:25:36.190 --> 00:25:39.650 thermostat wire by removing a couple zip ties, 00:25:39.970 --> 00:25:42.690 wrap a couple turns around the snap -on choke, 00:25:43.230 --> 00:25:45.769 and that took that problem out right away, even 00:25:45.769 --> 00:25:49.660 when I'm running 500 or 600 watts. I knew there 00:25:49.660 --> 00:25:52.039 would be issues. It was just a matter of what 00:25:52.039 --> 00:25:55.279 are they going to be when I do this. But I have 00:25:55.279 --> 00:25:57.660 not had a single complaint from the neighbors. 00:25:57.960 --> 00:26:02.960 Nobody has had any problem at all. One of them 00:26:02.960 --> 00:26:07.079 changed from a satellite dish to fiber, but I 00:26:07.079 --> 00:26:09.019 think that was more because of the internet, 00:26:09.319 --> 00:26:14.289 not because of any RFI. So and I don't have a 00:26:14.289 --> 00:26:16.329 neighbor on the other side that's on cable or 00:26:16.329 --> 00:26:19.829 anything either. They're on fiber as well. So 00:26:19.829 --> 00:26:27.509 That was a blessing but Going to LMR 400 was 00:26:27.509 --> 00:26:32.579 was a real bonus on this Yeah. Well, let's take 00:26:32.579 --> 00:26:34.700 our break here, Joe, and then we're going to 00:26:34.700 --> 00:26:37.519 come back. We're going to talk about this a little 00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:41.799 bit more and more about what you did on the inside 00:26:41.799 --> 00:26:45.119 of the shack, which we've already kind of. gotten 00:26:45.119 --> 00:26:48.079 into, but we'll come back and talk more about 00:26:48.079 --> 00:26:53.619 that and some ideas here. I tell you, I've been 00:26:53.619 --> 00:26:57.180 just kind of putting things off and waiting until 00:26:57.180 --> 00:27:00.500 I move and set up the new shack and everything. 00:27:02.779 --> 00:27:05.799 It's kind of the same story. It's like, okay, 00:27:05.839 --> 00:27:08.799 I know I could do this, you know, and those snap 00:27:08.799 --> 00:27:11.339 -on chokes, I used to get them, you know, just 00:27:11.339 --> 00:27:14.019 when I needed them. And finally, I just had to 00:27:14.019 --> 00:27:16.440 forget it and bought a whole bag of them and, 00:27:16.440 --> 00:27:20.539 you know, and been putting them on. But it didn't 00:27:20.539 --> 00:27:23.779 help a whole lot in my situation. So we're going 00:27:23.779 --> 00:27:27.039 to have to do that. But let's take a break here 00:27:27.039 --> 00:27:28.579 and then we'll come back. We'll talk more with 00:27:28.579 --> 00:27:32.940 Joe Eisenberg, KZeroNEB about Renovating a shack, 00:27:33.460 --> 00:27:36.920 maybe get some ideas to renovate your shack right 00:27:36.920 --> 00:27:39.900 after this word from ICOM America right here 00:27:39.900 --> 00:27:45.079 on HamTalk Live. Happy 2021 from ICOM! ICOM's 00:27:45.079 --> 00:27:49.059 IC -705 gives hours of fun and enjoyment working 00:27:49.059 --> 00:27:52.440 your favorite bands this holiday season. The 00:27:52.440 --> 00:27:55.359 IC -705 is the perfect sidekick for hams that 00:27:55.359 --> 00:27:58.700 like to enjoy what both the great indoors and 00:27:58.700 --> 00:28:02.220 outdoors have to offer. It's the perfect QRP 00:28:02.220 --> 00:28:05.079 companion, base station features and functionality 00:28:05.079 --> 00:28:08.250 at the tip of your fingers. in a portable package 00:28:08.250 --> 00:28:12.109 covering hf 6 meters 2 meters and 70 centimeters 00:28:12.109 --> 00:28:15.470 this compact rig weighs in at just over two pounds 00:28:15.470 --> 00:28:19.049 with rf direct sampling for most of the hf band 00:28:19.049 --> 00:28:23.549 and if sampling for frequencies above 25 megahertz 00:28:23.549 --> 00:28:27.289 it comes with a 4 .3 inch color touchscreen with 00:28:27.289 --> 00:28:30.349 live band scope and waterfall it runs five watts 00:28:30.349 --> 00:28:33.150 with the battery 10 watts with a power supply 00:28:33.599 --> 00:28:38.000 Sideband CW -AM -FM as well as full D -star functions 00:28:38.000 --> 00:28:41.220 are available. A micro USB connector, Bluetooth, 00:28:41.559 --> 00:28:44.599 wireless LAN, micro SD card slot, integrated 00:28:44.599 --> 00:28:48.440 GPS with antenna and GPS logger. The speaker 00:28:48.440 --> 00:28:51.579 mic comes standard and supports QRP and portable 00:28:51.579 --> 00:28:55.400 QRP operation. The perfect accessory for the 00:28:55.400 --> 00:28:58.700 IC -705 is the now available optional backpack. 00:28:59.099 --> 00:29:03.420 LC -192 with a special compartment for your IC 00:29:03.420 --> 00:29:07.740 -705 and room for accessories for soda activations 00:29:07.740 --> 00:29:11.759 or a day in the park. Other accessories now available 00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:15.420 include a qrp portable magnetic antenna, standard 00:29:15.420 --> 00:29:18.319 battery pack, lithium ion battery pack, micro 00:29:18.319 --> 00:29:23.299 usb cable, usb type c to micro usb cable, a dc 00:29:23.299 --> 00:29:26.720 power cable, a compact lapel push to talk bluetooth 00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:31.109 with earphone and a desktop tray. And the antenna 00:29:31.109 --> 00:29:34.250 tuner is coming soon. And there's free software 00:29:34.250 --> 00:29:37.390 to download, the programming software, the Android 00:29:37.390 --> 00:29:41.069 app, the terminal mode access point mode application, 00:29:41.569 --> 00:29:44.650 and the smartphone picture utility for Android, 00:29:44.829 --> 00:29:49.369 iOS, and Windows. Also available is the RSBA1 00:29:49.369 --> 00:29:52.710 IP remote control software, which requires purchase. 00:29:53.240 --> 00:29:57.140 Visit IcomAmerica .com slash amateur for more 00:29:57.140 --> 00:30:24.069 information on Icom radios. Here's the snap, 00:30:24.309 --> 00:30:26.710 Rapp takes the rig, he breaks through the pile 00:30:26.710 --> 00:30:32.990 up, he's on 80, now 40, now 20, 15, 10, 2 meters, 00:30:33.430 --> 00:30:50.660 touchdown Hamtok Live! Welcome back to HamTalk 00:30:50.660 --> 00:30:54.599 Live. Thanks to ICom America for sponsoring the 00:30:54.599 --> 00:30:57.960 show. Check them out at icomamerica .com slash 00:30:57.960 --> 00:31:01.380 amateur and check out HamTalk Live every Thursday 00:31:01.380 --> 00:31:04.880 night, 9 p .m. Eastern time right here at hamtalklive 00:31:04.880 --> 00:31:08.799 .com and check us out on Facebook, Twitter and 00:31:08.799 --> 00:31:13.079 Instagram as well. And we'll get back to Joe 00:31:13.079 --> 00:31:18.359 KZero NEB in just a few moments, but now It's 00:31:18.359 --> 00:31:22.819 that time once again for the HamTalk Live Ham 00:31:22.819 --> 00:31:26.460 Radio Joke of the Week. Now it's time for the 00:31:26.460 --> 00:31:29.720 HamTalk Live Ham Radio Joke of the Week, the 00:31:29.720 --> 00:31:32.480 part of the show where Rick tells us a ham radio 00:31:32.480 --> 00:31:35.380 joke. The HamTalk Live Ham Radio Joke of the 00:31:35.380 --> 00:31:39.119 Week is brought to you by QRM Labs. Now, here's 00:31:39.119 --> 00:31:43.440 Rick Garrett in 9GSU with today's HamTalk Live 00:31:43.440 --> 00:31:50.799 Joke of the Week. The other day a buddy of mine 00:31:50.799 --> 00:31:54.799 told me he got Mexico on his ham radio That's 00:31:54.799 --> 00:31:58.539 no big deal. I opened my window and got chili 00:31:58.539 --> 00:32:03.059 This has been the ham talk live ham radio joke 00:32:03.059 --> 00:32:06.740 of the week with Rick Garrett in nine GSU Tune 00:32:06.740 --> 00:32:11.000 in again next week for another joke from Rick 00:32:11.000 --> 00:32:23.029 Boy He got chilly. Oh my goodness. All right. 00:32:23.089 --> 00:32:28.430 Well, thanks Rick for that. 859 -982 -7373 is 00:32:28.430 --> 00:32:32.009 the phone number. If you'd like to call in, go 00:32:32.009 --> 00:32:38.109 ahead and do that. 859 -982 -7373. You can tweet 00:32:38.109 --> 00:32:41.369 us at HamTalk Live. If you're listening to us 00:32:41.369 --> 00:32:45.450 on WTWW. or on the podcast edition. You won't 00:32:45.450 --> 00:32:48.230 be able to reach us live since we're doing this 00:32:48.230 --> 00:32:53.049 on Thursday night, but Joe is back here and we're 00:32:53.049 --> 00:32:57.250 going to talk a little bit more about his shack 00:32:57.250 --> 00:33:00.490 renovations and maybe get some, some ideas here. 00:33:00.950 --> 00:33:05.950 And Chris AA4CB typed in and says that you finally 00:33:05.950 --> 00:33:08.309 got to hook up all the antennas you want at Dayton 00:33:08.309 --> 00:33:14.490 and Huntsville. So Actually, I bought a few of 00:33:14.490 --> 00:33:18.769 them there One of them I did win and the others 00:33:18.769 --> 00:33:23.829 I bought and they come from radio waves is almost 00:33:23.829 --> 00:33:28.630 all the wires are radio waves antennas and something 00:33:28.630 --> 00:33:33.420 I didn't mention before is that when you're dealing 00:33:33.420 --> 00:33:35.799 with rotor cable, even though it's shielded and 00:33:35.799 --> 00:33:38.700 so forth, and the shielded wire that comes in 00:33:38.700 --> 00:33:43.240 that runs the remote coax switch, which is a 00:33:43.240 --> 00:33:48.019 9 or 10 conductor cable, you need to use one 00:33:48.019 --> 00:33:51.019 of those snap -on chokes as well. And the reason 00:33:51.019 --> 00:33:53.880 is is that there's a lot of antennas that use 00:33:53.880 --> 00:33:57.180 the coax as part of the counterpoise, especially 00:33:57.180 --> 00:34:01.880 my 160 and 80 meter antennas. Now they both have 00:34:01.880 --> 00:34:04.880 a ground wire that attaches to the base of the 00:34:04.880 --> 00:34:08.320 tower but you still have some RF that some of 00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:11.139 it gets bled off when it goes to the coax switch 00:34:11.139 --> 00:34:16.239 and then I have another choke that handles the 00:34:16.239 --> 00:34:18.639 cable that comes from the coax switch to the 00:34:18.639 --> 00:34:22.239 radio. But there are other lines coming in like 00:34:22.239 --> 00:34:26.179 the VHF UHF lines that aren't bypassed that way 00:34:26.179 --> 00:34:30.699 they do go to a ground later on and the control 00:34:30.699 --> 00:34:34.199 cables do end up with RF on them and so choking 00:34:34.199 --> 00:34:36.679 them where they come into the house that that 00:34:36.679 --> 00:34:39.360 pretty well takes care of that by wrapping around 00:34:39.360 --> 00:34:45.000 one of those snap -on chokes. You mentioned ICOM 00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:48.619 earlier the main rig here for those who don't 00:34:48.619 --> 00:34:55.159 know is an ICOM 7610. And I also have a 7300 00:34:55.159 --> 00:34:59.780 and a 9700, which is now doing the duties on 00:34:59.780 --> 00:35:02.780 VHF and UHF. And it's gonna get a little bit 00:35:02.780 --> 00:35:07.039 of a workout this weekend with the January VHF 00:35:07.039 --> 00:35:09.340 contest. So we're gonna try it out and see what 00:35:09.340 --> 00:35:12.960 it does. I don't have a lot of fancy VHF, UHF 00:35:12.960 --> 00:35:16.219 antennas up quite yet. Two meters, unfortunately, 00:35:16.659 --> 00:35:20.699 is on a discone. But UHF is on six elements up 00:35:20.699 --> 00:35:24.559 55 feet. And of course, we have the six meter 00:35:24.559 --> 00:35:27.599 beam. So we'll see what we can do during the 00:35:27.599 --> 00:35:30.980 VHF contest. But all those are once again fed 00:35:30.980 --> 00:35:36.380 with the LMR 400. The 400 that I use is called 00:35:36.380 --> 00:35:41.420 Ultraflex. And what's interesting is I don't 00:35:41.420 --> 00:35:44.960 think the loss at six meters is even a dB at 00:35:44.960 --> 00:35:49.760 100 feet or maybe 1 dB. And you compare that 00:35:49.760 --> 00:35:54.260 to the old RG8 that I had that even the braid 00:35:54.260 --> 00:35:59.559 wasn't 100 % from 30 years ago. And the difference 00:35:59.559 --> 00:36:02.460 in the loss is incredible. And when people say, 00:36:02.480 --> 00:36:05.139 well, I'm not going to invest in good cable, 00:36:05.679 --> 00:36:08.949 well, if you have 2 to 3 dB loss, That's like, 00:36:09.070 --> 00:36:11.489 uh, if you replace that with the good stuff, 00:36:11.489 --> 00:36:14.090 that's like buying an amplifier. So if you're 00:36:14.090 --> 00:36:17.230 going to spend another $30 or so on that cable, 00:36:17.510 --> 00:36:21.769 that's like buying a 200 watt amplifier. So you 00:36:21.769 --> 00:36:25.349 have to think of it in terms of DB. Okay. Yeah. 00:36:25.409 --> 00:36:29.730 I remember, uh, dad got a hold of a piece of 00:36:29.730 --> 00:36:33.489 half inch hard line and put it on our VHF antenna 00:36:33.489 --> 00:36:37.429 and the difference that it made. even just at 00:36:37.429 --> 00:36:43.429 50 feet was just phenomenal. And so you really, 00:36:44.030 --> 00:36:49.050 especially VHF and UHF, you've got to really 00:36:49.050 --> 00:36:53.769 consider what feed line you can afford and what 00:36:53.769 --> 00:36:56.809 feed line you want to use because it will make 00:36:56.809 --> 00:37:01.690 a huge difference. You've already mentioned lowering 00:37:01.690 --> 00:37:05.010 your noise floor on HF and getting all that stuff 00:37:05.010 --> 00:37:10.110 going. I know you've got more plans to finish 00:37:10.110 --> 00:37:16.429 up once we get out of this frigid winter. You 00:37:16.429 --> 00:37:18.929 know, let's talk a little bit about that and 00:37:18.929 --> 00:37:20.889 then let's talk a little bit about, you know, 00:37:21.010 --> 00:37:23.369 getting that amplifier hooked up and what else 00:37:23.369 --> 00:37:28.429 you did inside. Well, the amplifier I spent three 00:37:28.429 --> 00:37:32.329 months writing about in CQ magazine because I 00:37:32.329 --> 00:37:35.869 did three different Harbach kits and I went through 00:37:35.869 --> 00:37:38.909 assembling the kits and then I went through the 00:37:38.909 --> 00:37:41.610 beginnings of installing them in the radio in 00:37:41.610 --> 00:37:45.199 the amplifier. And then the final one was what 00:37:45.199 --> 00:37:49.079 they did and everything. The Hartbach kits basically 00:37:49.079 --> 00:37:52.900 replaced the power supply. We added inrush protection. 00:37:53.079 --> 00:37:56.400 And then we have a relay control voltage change. 00:37:56.800 --> 00:38:00.480 So instead of having 120 volts DC across a relay 00:38:00.480 --> 00:38:04.599 of a modern radio, we have about one and a half 00:38:04.599 --> 00:38:09.840 volts at about 10 milliamps handling the relay 00:38:09.840 --> 00:38:14.219 keying. The inrush protection, of course, protects 00:38:14.219 --> 00:38:17.320 the tubes and the capacitors and so on when you 00:38:17.320 --> 00:38:20.840 fire it up. But the biggest change was the power 00:38:20.840 --> 00:38:23.960 supply. And that is when you replace a 52 -year 00:38:23.960 --> 00:38:27.300 -old power supply, it's amazing the technical 00:38:27.300 --> 00:38:30.719 differences between filter capacitors and diodes 00:38:30.719 --> 00:38:33.800 and load resistors and stuff that make up this 00:38:33.800 --> 00:38:38.380 power supply board. And so I highly recommend 00:38:38.380 --> 00:38:41.650 the Harbach kits. for restoring the amplifier. 00:38:41.789 --> 00:38:44.230 But there was one last minute piece that I did 00:38:44.230 --> 00:38:47.550 not do during that process that I was reminded 00:38:47.550 --> 00:38:50.789 that I should do to preserve the tubes, because 00:38:50.789 --> 00:38:53.909 I got two brand new tubes as well in this amplifier. 00:38:54.289 --> 00:38:58.090 And that is the parasitic choke. It's a resistor 00:38:58.090 --> 00:39:01.070 with a coil wrapped around it, or sometimes parallel 00:39:01.070 --> 00:39:05.829 to it, depending on your amplifier. So a friend 00:39:05.829 --> 00:39:10.590 of mine, Dan WBZRLJK in Iowa is a Collins engineer 00:39:10.590 --> 00:39:15.949 and he has a 30L1 at home and it uses the same 00:39:15.949 --> 00:39:21.429 pair of 572 tubes pretty much in the same configuration 00:39:21.429 --> 00:39:26.429 as the SB200 and he told me which resistor to 00:39:26.429 --> 00:39:28.969 get and he gave me some of the special wire that 00:39:28.969 --> 00:39:32.500 he used to do it. gave me the dimensions. I wrapped 00:39:32.500 --> 00:39:35.000 it around a drill bit to wind the coil and put 00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:37.219 the resistor in there, soldered that all together 00:39:37.219 --> 00:39:41.039 and replaced that. And so I have all new parasitic 00:39:41.039 --> 00:39:44.079 coils as well in the amplifier. In a way it goes, 00:39:44.159 --> 00:39:46.679 the only band I'm having trouble with is 10. 00:39:46.840 --> 00:39:50.280 And that's because I think whoever had this amplifier 00:39:50.280 --> 00:39:54.800 before me must have tuned the slug to 11 or something. 00:39:55.760 --> 00:39:58.639 And so, and not that anybody would ever have 00:39:58.639 --> 00:40:03.039 done that. And so tin doesn't work and I'm not 00:40:03.039 --> 00:40:06.440 gonna mess with the coil because if you try and 00:40:06.440 --> 00:40:10.059 turn those slugs they can they can shatter Because 00:40:10.059 --> 00:40:14.519 it's 52 years old But otherwise the amplifier 00:40:14.519 --> 00:40:17.119 works well and it helps heat up the shack in 00:40:17.119 --> 00:40:23.420 the wintertime The the VHF UHF changes will be 00:40:23.420 --> 00:40:32.150 a 2 meter 440 horizontal array and another 2 00:40:32.150 --> 00:40:35.150 meter 440 antenna that'll just go to a mobile 00:40:35.150 --> 00:40:37.670 type radio in the shack that I will use for the 00:40:37.670 --> 00:40:41.909 local repeaters freeing up the 9700 to be used 00:40:41.909 --> 00:40:47.409 for the more serious stuff like 2 meter sideband 00:40:47.409 --> 00:40:52.050 and tropo scatter and things like that. So that 00:40:52.050 --> 00:40:56.630 will be what finishes up the renovations here. 00:40:57.079 --> 00:41:00.099 But I have to tell people it's worth it to do 00:41:00.099 --> 00:41:04.440 this. The grounding, just changing the grounding 00:41:04.440 --> 00:41:09.159 and putting in new cables and new grounding and 00:41:09.159 --> 00:41:12.739 new lightning and static discharge devices took 00:41:12.739 --> 00:41:15.239 my noise level down, like I said, from an average 00:41:15.239 --> 00:41:19.230 of S7. all the way down to S2 and lower, of course, 00:41:19.329 --> 00:41:21.989 depending on band conditions. Now I'm able to 00:41:21.989 --> 00:41:25.610 more discern if the noise is band conditions 00:41:25.610 --> 00:41:31.769 or neighborhood noise or whatever. And it makes 00:41:31.769 --> 00:41:37.289 a huge difference. Grounding cables, it all makes 00:41:37.289 --> 00:41:40.969 better shack. And I can't emphasize that enough 00:41:40.969 --> 00:41:45.250 because after being a ham for 52 years and And 00:41:45.250 --> 00:41:47.829 just kind of rolling with the punches as things 00:41:47.829 --> 00:41:51.510 got older, it is a great relief when everything 00:41:51.510 --> 00:41:56.429 works and I get DX on 12 meters on FT8 and things 00:41:56.429 --> 00:41:59.849 like that. And a guy in New Zealand, I could 00:41:59.849 --> 00:42:03.010 rag -chew with him for 30 minutes on 15 meters 00:42:03.010 --> 00:42:05.690 when I didn't hear many other signals on the 00:42:05.690 --> 00:42:08.670 band. And things that I could have never dreamed 00:42:08.670 --> 00:42:16.250 I could do is now possible. Yeah, it's just amazing 00:42:16.250 --> 00:42:19.210 what that can do and I look forward to getting 00:42:19.210 --> 00:42:23.429 mine done when I get moved and get everything 00:42:23.429 --> 00:42:28.489 going and I found that I've got a a stoplight 00:42:28.489 --> 00:42:31.469 a traffic light controller in the neighborhood 00:42:31.469 --> 00:42:35.829 now that that I'm picking up and It's raised 00:42:35.829 --> 00:42:41.250 my noise floor So Yeah, there's that well some 00:42:41.250 --> 00:42:44.590 of those some of those the stoplights are LEDs 00:42:44.590 --> 00:42:49.349 and some of those can be noisy There's all sorts 00:42:49.349 --> 00:42:54.769 of things that can cause a problem, but It takes 00:42:54.769 --> 00:42:59.750 time to do it right Ward silver n0a x who is 00:42:59.750 --> 00:43:03.710 my aro handbook editor has a great book called 00:43:03.710 --> 00:43:08.650 grounding and bonding for the radio amateur and 00:43:08.909 --> 00:43:13.650 That is well worth it. Ward Silver's book is 00:43:13.650 --> 00:43:18.250 probably about the most authoritative book on 00:43:18.250 --> 00:43:21.469 the subject of grounding and bonding and so forth. 00:43:21.969 --> 00:43:24.489 That book is sitting on the shelf. I'm looking 00:43:24.489 --> 00:43:29.590 at it right now. It's here. I actually had it 00:43:29.590 --> 00:43:36.800 sitting out and the guy from the satellite company 00:43:36.800 --> 00:43:41.179 came to change out some equipment and he mentioned 00:43:41.179 --> 00:43:45.380 that he got written up because of a lightning 00:43:45.380 --> 00:43:49.199 issue somewhere and he saw that book by Ward 00:43:49.199 --> 00:43:53.699 and said, do you mind if I take a look at this 00:43:53.699 --> 00:43:59.840 book? Because he was really interested in the 00:43:59.840 --> 00:44:01.639 grounding and bonding thing and I'm like, yeah, 00:44:01.639 --> 00:44:07.710 sure, take a look at it. Yeah, it's just fabulous. 00:44:07.710 --> 00:44:12.769 I've heard his presentation on it at a couple 00:44:12.769 --> 00:44:15.949 of different club meetings, and he's really got 00:44:15.949 --> 00:44:17.929 some good stuff. So if you haven't checked that 00:44:17.929 --> 00:44:22.150 out, check it out. And if you haven't seen his 00:44:22.150 --> 00:44:24.389 presentation, look around for it. I'm sure you 00:44:24.389 --> 00:44:27.989 can find it. But he's got some great information. 00:44:29.170 --> 00:44:31.389 Yeah, the other thing I wanted to mention is 00:44:31.389 --> 00:44:36.530 the tuner I'm using now is an MFJ -998. And it 00:44:36.530 --> 00:44:40.250 handles full legal limit. And it's kind of interesting 00:44:40.250 --> 00:44:44.449 in that you route the relay control for the amplifier 00:44:44.449 --> 00:44:47.889 through the tuner so that when you tune the antenna, 00:44:48.610 --> 00:44:51.230 it uses the rig as the exciter. And it tunes 00:44:51.230 --> 00:44:54.489 the antenna, but it holds the amplifier offline. 00:44:55.110 --> 00:44:58.570 And then when it's done tuning, the amp is now 00:44:58.570 --> 00:45:02.150 online. So you can tune your amp knowing that 00:45:02.150 --> 00:45:05.340 it's not going to be into a mismatch. The other 00:45:05.340 --> 00:45:07.820 thing is everybody says, but you're a QRP guy 00:45:07.820 --> 00:45:10.659 and you make all these little low power kit radios. 00:45:10.960 --> 00:45:13.960 Well, when you reduce your loss in your feed 00:45:13.960 --> 00:45:16.880 line and you improve your antenna gain and your 00:45:16.880 --> 00:45:20.199 ground and stuff, it works good for QRP as well. 00:45:20.500 --> 00:45:25.119 Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I would argue that it's probably 00:45:25.119 --> 00:45:28.579 more important because you don't have that much 00:45:28.579 --> 00:45:31.179 to start with. And if you can, you know, cut 00:45:31.179 --> 00:45:34.969 down your losses, that's, uh, That's a major 00:45:34.969 --> 00:45:41.570 issue so 859 982 oh good yeah, some of the connectors 00:45:41.570 --> 00:45:47.769 I got were from tower electronics and The cable 00:45:47.769 --> 00:45:52.309 I got was from a BR in Texas and I got it with 00:45:52.309 --> 00:45:58.539 pre -made connectors on it as well and The like 00:45:58.539 --> 00:46:01.260 I said the grounding and the remote coax switch 00:46:01.260 --> 00:46:04.199 and so forth came from DX engineering the radios 00:46:04.199 --> 00:46:09.860 or icons And some of the cable the control cable 00:46:09.860 --> 00:46:16.199 for the rotator came from the wire man So lots 00:46:16.199 --> 00:46:19.500 lots of great suppliers out there. He also supplied 00:46:19.500 --> 00:46:22.900 some of the rope I used Yeah, and you mentioned 00:46:22.900 --> 00:46:27.289 the supply issues and and every uh... vendor 00:46:27.289 --> 00:46:30.510 i've talked to is the same the same thing it 00:46:30.510 --> 00:46:34.789 just is really difficult to to keep uh... stock 00:46:34.789 --> 00:46:37.429 going because uh... you just don't know when 00:46:37.429 --> 00:46:40.389 that stuff is coming in eight five nine nine 00:46:40.389 --> 00:46:42.510 eight two seventy three seventy three the phone 00:46:42.510 --> 00:46:45.869 number if you'd like to call in that uh... it's 00:46:45.869 --> 00:46:48.900 time to do that right now so Give us a call at 00:46:48.900 --> 00:46:51.440 eight five nine and nine eight two seventy three 00:46:51.440 --> 00:46:56.000 seventy three Brett Wy seven BG on Twitter says 00:46:56.000 --> 00:47:00.539 Good evening Neil and Joe saw Joe two weeks before 00:47:00.539 --> 00:47:04.960 the Nebraska State Hamfest was canceled Where 00:47:04.960 --> 00:47:08.960 he thought he'd see you again but he heard you 00:47:08.960 --> 00:47:12.039 and says that you're really loud there in Wyoming 00:47:12.039 --> 00:47:15.460 on FT8 and that new setup must be working and 00:47:15.869 --> 00:47:19.269 He says might want to do a show on RF in the 00:47:19.269 --> 00:47:22.670 shack and he's got some some tips to offer and 00:47:22.670 --> 00:47:26.190 I know Like I said Ward in his grounding and 00:47:26.190 --> 00:47:29.050 bonding has some really good stuff, too. So yeah, 00:47:29.050 --> 00:47:33.469 we may May need to do that here, too Yeah, Ward 00:47:33.469 --> 00:47:37.250 would be a real good guest The the other thing 00:47:37.250 --> 00:47:42.480 is plan ahead by having everything done and all 00:47:42.480 --> 00:47:45.940 the feed lines done into the house, when we had 00:47:45.940 --> 00:47:49.460 the tower crew, all I had was the cables coming 00:47:49.460 --> 00:47:51.880 down before I plugged them into the coax switch 00:47:51.880 --> 00:47:54.679 at the base of the tower. So I could measure 00:47:54.679 --> 00:47:57.920 the SWR on any of the lines and then choose which 00:47:57.920 --> 00:48:00.920 portal to plug them into. But everything was 00:48:00.920 --> 00:48:03.119 all done. And that's the thing, to be really 00:48:03.119 --> 00:48:05.719 prepared for your tower crew because they don't 00:48:05.719 --> 00:48:09.139 want to be putting PL -259s on and things like 00:48:09.139 --> 00:48:11.719 that. They want to bring things down, strip the 00:48:11.719 --> 00:48:16.239 tower clean, bring the stuff back up and things 00:48:16.239 --> 00:48:19.400 like I replace the rotor and stuff. I have to 00:48:19.400 --> 00:48:23.460 thank MFJ for being real prompt at getting all 00:48:23.460 --> 00:48:28.840 this stuff to me and the tuner and everything 00:48:28.840 --> 00:48:34.960 and it works wonderful. The only, I have a few 00:48:34.960 --> 00:48:38.260 oddities that I'm resolving. It has to do with 00:48:38.260 --> 00:48:40.420 feeding six meters through a tuner that's not 00:48:40.420 --> 00:48:43.960 made for six meters. So I have to bypass it when 00:48:43.960 --> 00:48:50.219 I am on six, but otherwise, everything seemed 00:48:50.219 --> 00:48:53.039 to work great. And now it makes me think about 00:48:53.039 --> 00:49:00.159 maybe I need a bigger amplifier. I have to admit. 00:49:01.019 --> 00:49:04.460 I did a little amplifier shopping online, window 00:49:04.460 --> 00:49:08.400 shopping, but, um, did a little, a little shopping 00:49:08.400 --> 00:49:10.780 last week, trying to fit, trying to pick one 00:49:10.780 --> 00:49:13.579 out. So we'll, we'll see. Well, surprisingly, 00:49:13.980 --> 00:49:18.420 I know a lot of guys use the AL -811 and AL -811H 00:49:18.420 --> 00:49:22.460 and they are very popular because they use an 00:49:22.460 --> 00:49:26.719 inexpensive tube. And if you don't want as much 00:49:26.719 --> 00:49:29.480 power as your local AM broadcast station in your 00:49:29.480 --> 00:49:32.360 shack, then one of those amps, it'll get you 00:49:32.360 --> 00:49:34.679 through the pileup. The difference might be an 00:49:34.679 --> 00:49:38.079 S unit below the full legal limit, but when you're 00:49:38.079 --> 00:49:41.320 putting out six to 800 watts PEP, that's pretty 00:49:41.320 --> 00:49:47.119 good. They're gonna hear you. TroyW9KVR says 00:49:47.119 --> 00:49:49.760 he's got a solar farm about a half mile away. 00:49:50.699 --> 00:49:54.219 Yeah, all kinds of inverter noise there and, 00:49:54.219 --> 00:49:56.940 and says, Ward's book should be required reading. 00:49:57.719 --> 00:50:02.719 It really is major. I mean, I went away from 00:50:02.719 --> 00:50:07.579 the club meeting. I had him zoom in at our local 00:50:07.579 --> 00:50:11.460 club meeting before all the COVID stuff happened. 00:50:12.119 --> 00:50:16.119 And, and I walked away from that, just saying, 00:50:16.480 --> 00:50:20.849 okay, you know, I have got to plan this out on 00:50:20.849 --> 00:50:24.750 the new house. We got to get some ground rods 00:50:24.750 --> 00:50:28.329 in there. We got to get them bonded. We got to 00:50:28.329 --> 00:50:31.650 do a better job of that than what I have now, 00:50:31.690 --> 00:50:35.570 which is next to nothing. Well, the good thing 00:50:35.570 --> 00:50:38.889 is you'll have access to a new place with no 00:50:38.889 --> 00:50:41.010 furniture or anything in there. And it's a great 00:50:41.010 --> 00:50:42.889 time to figure out how you're going to get your 00:50:42.889 --> 00:50:47.300 cables out, how you're going to bond the the 00:50:47.300 --> 00:50:50.239 water pipe and power service grounds to your 00:50:50.239 --> 00:50:53.760 ground and to your outside grounds and so forth. 00:50:54.260 --> 00:50:57.380 So it's the ideal opportunity before things get 00:50:57.380 --> 00:51:00.619 cluttered, which was another problem here and 00:51:00.619 --> 00:51:03.760 digging out stuff. I ended up with 20 bags of 00:51:03.760 --> 00:51:08.059 trash that got hauled to the curb and you wouldn't 00:51:08.059 --> 00:51:14.530 believe it, but somebody stole it. well joe i 00:51:14.530 --> 00:51:18.050 had somebody steal aluminum hard line off of 00:51:18.050 --> 00:51:22.190 a repeater site actually i believe that took 00:51:22.190 --> 00:51:26.309 it off of the tower and then surprise surprise 00:51:26.309 --> 00:51:31.349 it was aluminum hard line so might have got a 00:51:31.349 --> 00:51:36.329 dollar out of it yeah it's not copper yeah there 00:51:36.329 --> 00:51:40.710 was a piece of andrew heliax on the tower previously 00:51:41.199 --> 00:51:45.219 And it was not being used in our the head of 00:51:45.219 --> 00:51:47.960 our tower crew for our club. We have like four 00:51:47.960 --> 00:51:53.699 volunteers that do this now. He took it for use 00:51:53.699 --> 00:51:56.199 for a short run because only about 30 feet or 00:51:56.199 --> 00:52:00.900 so. And it will find use on one of our local 00:52:00.900 --> 00:52:06.559 repeaters. Yeah. You know, again, feed lines, 00:52:06.840 --> 00:52:11.389 very important. um go with uh you know the best 00:52:11.389 --> 00:52:15.769 feed line you can afford uh it's just worth it 00:52:15.769 --> 00:52:23.210 all right one more call 859 -982 -7373 oh sorry 00:52:23.210 --> 00:52:27.909 859 -982 -7373 we're running over here so i want 00:52:27.909 --> 00:52:31.010 to get uh one last opportunity for the phone 00:52:31.010 --> 00:52:35.130 calls here um okay i want to ask you a little 00:52:35.130 --> 00:52:38.550 bit about the hamcation stuff but any last things 00:52:38.550 --> 00:52:42.050 about the renovations here that we missed. No, 00:52:42.409 --> 00:52:44.530 I would say that it's something you can spend 00:52:44.530 --> 00:52:47.190 some time planning now because people are at 00:52:47.190 --> 00:52:50.869 home more and get rid of old cables that aren't 00:52:50.869 --> 00:52:54.369 connected to anything, please, because all they 00:52:54.369 --> 00:52:58.289 do is they bring in more RF. Yeah, and get a 00:52:58.289 --> 00:53:04.289 bag of those snap -on chokes. They're definitely 00:53:04.289 --> 00:53:08.489 worth it. I have them on everything from USB 00:53:08.489 --> 00:53:13.849 cables to monitor cables to just everything and 00:53:13.849 --> 00:53:19.150 I'm gonna be putting more in when I build the 00:53:19.150 --> 00:53:23.989 new shack so good thing to do well I signed up 00:53:23.989 --> 00:53:27.920 for your One of your two forums at hamcation. 00:53:27.920 --> 00:53:30.039 You've got two forums You've got the kit forum, 00:53:30.059 --> 00:53:33.380 of course And then you also are doing one on 00:53:33.380 --> 00:53:36.440 3d printing and that's the one I signed up for 00:53:36.440 --> 00:53:39.659 because I want to hear A little more about this 00:53:39.659 --> 00:53:41.719 because that's something that I have not got 00:53:41.719 --> 00:53:44.880 into but you made me a wonderful little call 00:53:44.880 --> 00:53:50.809 sign display and sent it to me for my 50th birthday 00:53:50.809 --> 00:53:55.309 and it's sitting in the shack but I'm curious 00:53:55.309 --> 00:53:59.110 to hear what you have to say about that so we 00:53:59.110 --> 00:54:02.190 should mention that if you go over to hamcation 00:54:02.190 --> 00:54:07.090 .com and sign up there you can sign up to hear 00:54:07.090 --> 00:54:11.130 about that as well as kit build so give us a 00:54:11.130 --> 00:54:15.059 minute or two on those Well, the kit building 00:54:15.059 --> 00:54:17.440 form will be the the one that I normally give 00:54:17.440 --> 00:54:21.099 but of course updated But the the 3d printer, 00:54:21.099 --> 00:54:23.800 of course, I use at the beginning of the pandemic 00:54:23.800 --> 00:54:29.360 to produce Face shields for our local first responders. 00:54:29.360 --> 00:54:35.500 I made over 300 of them and The 3d printer is 00:54:35.500 --> 00:54:38.179 very useful in ham radio because you can make 00:54:38.179 --> 00:54:41.239 things like insulators. I make cases for kits 00:54:41.239 --> 00:54:45.010 That's a big thing You can make little stands 00:54:45.010 --> 00:54:48.530 and stuff that hold up your little QRP radios 00:54:48.530 --> 00:54:52.769 and so forth. You can make knobs for different 00:54:52.769 --> 00:54:55.610 radios and a lot of that stuff is free online. 00:54:55.730 --> 00:54:58.829 You can just download the recipe we like to call 00:54:58.829 --> 00:55:04.230 it and what we call slice it and I'll go over 00:55:04.230 --> 00:55:06.610 what the process is and how you can download 00:55:06.610 --> 00:55:10.329 a file and then adapt it to your printer. and 00:55:10.329 --> 00:55:12.449 print it out and I have some hints and kinks 00:55:12.449 --> 00:55:15.550 of things like what kind of print heads to use 00:55:15.550 --> 00:55:19.170 because I ran this 24 -7 for three months and 00:55:19.170 --> 00:55:24.250 it's a entry -level Ender 3 Pro and I learned 00:55:24.250 --> 00:55:28.030 a lot. I ended up servicing about every part 00:55:28.030 --> 00:55:31.909 in it and because they're not meant to run 24 00:55:31.909 --> 00:55:36.530 -7 like that and so there's a lot of things you 00:55:36.530 --> 00:55:41.659 learn about 3D printers and They are very useful. 00:55:41.900 --> 00:55:43.639 Like I said, there's a zillion things you can 00:55:43.639 --> 00:55:46.860 make for ham radio. I bought it intending to 00:55:46.860 --> 00:55:51.380 make cases for kits and It kind of grew from 00:55:51.380 --> 00:55:55.760 there. And so I'm able to not only do that I'm 00:55:55.760 --> 00:56:01.500 helping design some kit cases now and There's 00:56:01.500 --> 00:56:04.619 just a whole host of things that you can make 00:56:04.619 --> 00:56:09.800 and they're not real fast, but What you get is 00:56:09.800 --> 00:56:16.260 what you design. Yeah, some good stuff. I look 00:56:16.260 --> 00:56:19.320 forward to hearing all about it so make sure 00:56:19.320 --> 00:56:22.119 you sign up for that if that's of interest to 00:56:22.119 --> 00:56:25.679 you as well as the kit build and all kinds of 00:56:25.679 --> 00:56:30.199 stuff over at hamcation se coming up here in 00:56:30.199 --> 00:56:33.559 a month so make sure to check that out and that's 00:56:33.559 --> 00:56:36.539 free and I bought a couple of tickets I know 00:56:36.539 --> 00:56:39.019 you'll probably buy like you know two thousand 00:56:39.019 --> 00:56:43.789 tickets but you know Not this time. I'll get 00:56:43.789 --> 00:56:48.730 a handful. You know what? You've got to want 00:56:48.730 --> 00:56:53.789 a chance at that 705. Yeah. Yeah. It was too 00:56:53.789 --> 00:56:55.789 good to pass up. So I had to get a couple of 00:56:55.789 --> 00:57:01.429 tickets. So we'll see how that goes. But some 00:57:01.429 --> 00:57:06.530 good stuff from Joe coming up at Hamcation. So 00:57:06.530 --> 00:57:09.590 make sure you check that out. All right, well, 00:57:09.630 --> 00:57:12.650 Joe, I think we're about done here. We're running 00:57:12.650 --> 00:57:15.389 a little over time, but thank you for coming 00:57:15.389 --> 00:57:18.250 on and talking about all this. And I'm sure next 00:57:18.250 --> 00:57:22.309 time it'll probably be Kits again. But as always, 00:57:22.550 --> 00:57:25.010 we'll get you back on here and talk about it. 00:57:26.030 --> 00:57:29.369 And congratulations on getting on the front cover 00:57:29.369 --> 00:57:34.650 of CQ. Thank you very much. I don't think there's 00:57:34.650 --> 00:57:37.739 a song for that. I don't think there's a song 00:57:37.739 --> 00:57:39.519 for that, you know, there's a song for getting 00:57:39.519 --> 00:57:44.639 on the cover of the NCJ, but the spurious emissions 00:57:44.639 --> 00:57:47.679 did, you know, on the cover of the NCJ. I don't 00:57:47.679 --> 00:57:51.360 think there's one for CQ, but yeah, that was 00:57:51.360 --> 00:57:55.460 nice to see. I like that. Well, thank you very 00:57:55.460 --> 00:57:58.619 much for having me on Neil, and I want to tell 00:57:58.619 --> 00:58:01.940 you a great big congratulations on the award. 00:58:02.119 --> 00:58:05.519 very, very, very well deserved getting the Carol 00:58:05.519 --> 00:58:10.559 Perry Award. Well, thank you so much. It's been 00:58:10.559 --> 00:58:16.340 a lot of fun to have all the comments this week 00:58:16.340 --> 00:58:22.340 and appreciate yours as well. And it's been great. 00:58:22.440 --> 00:58:27.170 So thank you once again to Hamcation for for 00:58:27.170 --> 00:58:30.510 awarding that. And now you've got me. You told 00:58:30.510 --> 00:58:34.190 me stories of this banquet that they have down 00:58:34.190 --> 00:58:36.750 there in Hamcation. Now you've got me like, you 00:58:36.750 --> 00:58:41.269 know, really wishing I was there because it sounds 00:58:41.269 --> 00:58:43.869 great. So but I got to wait. I got to wait a 00:58:43.869 --> 00:58:48.610 year. Yep. It's a long evening, but it's interesting. 00:58:49.349 --> 00:58:52.190 Yeah. Sounds like a lot of fun. So really looking 00:58:52.190 --> 00:58:56.300 forward to that. and seeing everybody again, 00:58:56.480 --> 00:58:59.300 my goodness. So I guess we'll keep fingers crossed 00:58:59.300 --> 00:59:03.739 for Huntsville. Yeah, for Huntsville now. But 00:59:03.739 --> 00:59:09.079 just hoping for the best. So, well, I think we've 00:59:09.079 --> 00:59:12.519 got all the comments and the tweets and everything 00:59:12.519 --> 00:59:18.300 wrapped up. So we'll go ahead and call it a wrap. 00:59:18.559 --> 00:59:21.760 for this week's edition of Ham Talk Live. Thanks 00:59:21.760 --> 00:59:25.019 to my guest, Joe Eisenberg, KZeroNEB, and everybody 00:59:25.019 --> 00:59:28.019 out there in cyberspace for listening and typing 00:59:28.019 --> 00:59:30.719 in tonight and invite you back next Thursday 00:59:30.719 --> 00:59:32.980 night, 9 p .m. Eastern Time. Michael Coulter, 00:59:33.019 --> 00:59:36.360 W8CI, will be here to talk about the cancellation 00:59:36.360 --> 00:59:41.960 of Hamvention 2021 and the plans for the QSO 00:59:41.960 --> 00:59:46.380 party and other things during Hamvention weekend 00:59:46.380 --> 00:59:51.860 virtually. And for a list of all our upcoming 00:59:51.860 --> 00:59:55.780 guests, just go over to HamTalkLive .com and 00:59:55.780 --> 00:59:58.340 please, if you like the show, leave a review. 00:59:58.940 --> 01:00:02.780 That's how you can help back to the show, is 01:00:02.780 --> 01:00:06.360 to leave a review and help others find us faster. 01:00:06.539 --> 01:00:10.039 So for now, this is Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, saying 01:00:10.039 --> 01:00:14.179 seven three, seven five, and may the good DX 01:00:14.179 --> 01:00:24.659 be yours. Thank you.