WEBVTT 00:00:10.349 --> 00:00:13.070 Thanks for tuning in. Hamtalk Live will be on 00:00:13.070 --> 00:00:31.010 the air shortly. Please stand by. Thanks for 00:00:31.010 --> 00:00:33.770 tuning in. Hamtalk Live will be on the air shortly. 00:00:34.049 --> 00:00:41.820 Please stand by. This episode of HamTalk Live 00:00:41.820 --> 00:00:45.460 is brought to you by Tower Electronics. For connectors, 00:00:45.820 --> 00:00:51.299 cables, and more, call 920 -435 -2973 or visit 00:00:51.299 --> 00:00:57.159 PL -259 .com. And by ICOM, heard it, worked it, 00:00:57.380 --> 00:01:02.399 logged it. Visit www .icomamerica .com slash 00:01:02.399 --> 00:01:06.260 amateur for more information about ICOM radios. 00:01:37.750 --> 00:01:43.510 Hey good evening everyone! HamTalk Live episode 00:01:43.510 --> 00:01:49.670 number 220. The QSO Today virtual Ham Expo recorded 00:01:49.670 --> 00:01:54.510 live on Thursday, July 23rd, 2020. I'm your host, 00:01:54.650 --> 00:01:58.909 Neil Rapp, WB9VPG. Thanks for tuning in to this 00:01:58.909 --> 00:02:01.489 episode of HamTalk Live. Tonight we're joined 00:02:01.489 --> 00:02:06.640 by Eric Guth for Z1UG. And we'll take your calls 00:02:06.640 --> 00:02:09.199 live in just a few minutes. If you wondered where 00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:12.439 the show was the last two weeks, well, it wasn't 00:02:12.439 --> 00:02:17.080 here. It wasn't just you. I was off getting married 00:02:17.080 --> 00:02:21.740 and on a short honeymoon and operating the N4J 00:02:21.740 --> 00:02:24.500 Special Event Station. So thank you to everybody 00:02:24.500 --> 00:02:28.620 who called in for that. We racked up a couple 00:02:28.620 --> 00:02:32.229 hundred QSOS, I believe, on that. It's good to 00:02:32.229 --> 00:02:36.430 be back on the air, but still trying to kind 00:02:36.430 --> 00:02:40.280 of get everything settled in here, but Wanted 00:02:40.280 --> 00:02:43.819 to get back on the air and talk about the virtual 00:02:43.819 --> 00:02:48.060 ham expo because that's coming up very soon So 00:02:48.060 --> 00:02:50.400 we'll talk to Eric about that here in just a 00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:54.379 bit if you miss an episode of ham talk live Don't 00:02:54.379 --> 00:02:58.000 forget ham talk live comm all the archives are 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:00.340 there you can also catch us on your favorite 00:03:00.340 --> 00:03:05.009 podcast app or on YouTube or The rebroadcast 00:03:05.009 --> 00:03:10.349 is every Saturday afternoon on WTWW. That's 5 00:03:10.349 --> 00:03:15.030 0 8 5 a .m. Again, that's Saturday afternoons. 00:03:15.030 --> 00:03:18.729 It's about 3 30 p .m. Eastern Time when Ted and 00:03:18.729 --> 00:03:22.349 the crew will play that and Missy. So thanks 00:03:22.349 --> 00:03:26.030 to them for doing that. And you can catch us 00:03:26.030 --> 00:03:28.189 on there on Saturday afternoons. We had a couple 00:03:28.189 --> 00:03:31.069 of encore episodes from early on in the show. 00:03:31.689 --> 00:03:33.710 the last couple weeks so if you've been listening 00:03:33.710 --> 00:03:35.990 over there you uh... got a chance to hear one 00:03:35.990 --> 00:03:39.889 of those uh... didn't need to make one announcement 00:03:39.889 --> 00:03:43.530 here before we take our break and get with eric 00:03:43.530 --> 00:03:47.949 uh... the intrepid dx groups youth essay contest 00:03:47.949 --> 00:03:51.090 uh... the dream rig contest or remind you about 00:03:51.090 --> 00:03:54.689 that that's coming up uh... the prize is a fresh 00:03:55.069 --> 00:04:00.789 from the factory ICOM IC 7300 and the Intrepid 00:04:00.789 --> 00:04:04.069 DX group is doing this to find out some information 00:04:04.069 --> 00:04:08.030 and emphasize the importance of youth in our 00:04:08.030 --> 00:04:12.069 great hobby and so they have this dream rig youth 00:04:12.069 --> 00:04:15.330 essay contest to learn the suggestions of young 00:04:15.330 --> 00:04:18.449 people for attracting other young amateur radio 00:04:18.449 --> 00:04:23.089 operators. So it's a two -page essay and there 00:04:23.089 --> 00:04:25.810 are two things to address in the essay. What 00:04:25.810 --> 00:04:28.410 are your amateur radio goals and what can we 00:04:28.410 --> 00:04:30.990 do to attract more youth into amateur radio? 00:04:31.470 --> 00:04:37.509 This is open to US amateurs age 19 or younger 00:04:37.509 --> 00:04:40.790 and There are some stipulations. You need to 00:04:40.790 --> 00:04:42.970 keep the radio for at least a year. Don't flip 00:04:42.970 --> 00:04:46.569 it trade it sell it whatever we want people to 00:04:46.569 --> 00:04:52.209 actually use it on the air and The essay can 00:04:52.209 --> 00:04:55.889 be sent in text or Microsoft Word format And 00:04:55.889 --> 00:05:00.870 that's intrepiddxgroup at gmail .com. And the 00:05:00.870 --> 00:05:03.470 deadline for that is coming up. It's July 31st, 00:05:03.470 --> 00:05:06.250 so you have until the end of the month. There's 00:05:06.250 --> 00:05:09.509 also information that you can mail that and the 00:05:09.509 --> 00:05:13.449 winner will be announced on August 10th on their 00:05:13.449 --> 00:05:17.930 Facebook page and website. So if you have questions, 00:05:18.589 --> 00:05:23.810 contact PaulN6PSE at gmail .com. It's P -A -U 00:05:23.810 --> 00:05:28.649 -L -N6PSE at gmail .com. And you can check them 00:05:28.649 --> 00:05:35.649 out at intrepid -dx .com. or Intrepid DX on Facebook, 00:05:35.730 --> 00:05:38.750 and you can see all the rules and regulations 00:05:38.750 --> 00:05:42.509 and all the information on where to submit that. 00:05:43.209 --> 00:05:44.910 All right, so get your questions ready to go. 00:05:44.930 --> 00:05:47.410 If you're listening to us live on Thursday night, 00:05:47.430 --> 00:05:50.610 you can give us a call in a little bit. We'll 00:05:50.610 --> 00:05:54.069 talk to Eric a while first, but then we'll take 00:05:54.069 --> 00:05:56.170 your phone calls and I'll give you the phone 00:05:56.170 --> 00:05:58.930 number so you can have that ready to punch in. 00:05:58.930 --> 00:06:14.300 It's 859. 9 8 2 73 73 again 8 5 9 9 8 2 73 73 00:06:14.300 --> 00:06:16.740 You can also tweet us. It's at ham talk live 00:06:16.740 --> 00:06:18.639 on Twitter If you're on Spreaker, you can type 00:06:18.639 --> 00:06:22.180 in the comments and I'll watch for those throughout 00:06:22.180 --> 00:06:24.379 the evening So I'll be back with Eric right after 00:06:24.379 --> 00:06:28.160 this word from tower electronics right here on 00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:35.370 ham talk live The PL -259s? Anywhere? No, I haven't. 00:06:35.529 --> 00:06:40.790 Come on kids, let's go! There's just one place 00:06:40.790 --> 00:06:43.750 to go for all of your connector needs. Tower 00:06:43.750 --> 00:06:46.629 electronics. Tower electronics. 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Tower Electronics. Tower Electronics. 00:07:30.439 --> 00:07:34.360 Tower Electronics. I'm Scott, KB9AMM of Tower 00:07:34.360 --> 00:07:38.519 Electronics. I like the PL259 connectors so much, 00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:41.240 I bought the company. Tower Electronics, coming 00:07:41.240 --> 00:07:45.639 to a hand fest near you, or online at PL -259 00:07:45.639 --> 00:07:48.759 .com. And we're in the yellow pages under amateur 00:07:48.759 --> 00:07:52.000 radio connectors. My, wherever did you get that 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:56.939 lovely PL259? Tower Electronics, PL -259 .com. 00:07:56.810 --> 00:08:03.610 or call 920 -435 -2973. Do we sell PL 259 connectors? 00:08:04.709 --> 00:08:07.449 Right now, you could be taking a de -expedition 00:08:07.449 --> 00:08:10.750 to North Korea and work the pileup of the century. 00:08:11.189 --> 00:08:14.069 But instead, you've decided to listen to HamTalk 00:08:14.069 --> 00:08:17.329 Live. We thank you. And now, here's Neil Rapp 00:08:17.329 --> 00:08:43.360 with more of the show. Welcome back to HamTalk 00:08:43.360 --> 00:08:46.559 Live. Thanks to Scott and Jill at Tower Electronics 00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:50.000 for sponsoring the show tonight to help bring 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:54.539 HamTalk Live your way. And yeah, they actually 00:08:54.539 --> 00:08:58.059 have some HamFests coming up. They're back on 00:08:58.059 --> 00:09:01.929 the HamFest tour a little bit. They'll be at 00:09:01.929 --> 00:09:05.730 the Angola Indiana Ham Fest on August 8th and 00:09:05.730 --> 00:09:10.129 in Winchester, Indiana on August 15th. They don't 00:09:10.129 --> 00:09:12.710 have their full Ham Fest schedule back yet, of 00:09:12.710 --> 00:09:17.049 course, because most of those are still postponed 00:09:17.049 --> 00:09:19.730 or are canceled for this year, but you can visit 00:09:19.730 --> 00:09:26.940 them anytime at PL -259 .com. My guest tonight 00:09:26.940 --> 00:09:30.799 is Eric Guth for Z1UG's, the creator and host 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:35.200 of the QSO Today podcast. which profiles Elmer's 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:38.620 and mentors in amateur radio. Eric was first 00:09:38.620 --> 00:09:42.559 licensed in 1973 in Southern California. He was 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:45.679 the founder and service manager of Advanced Communication 00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:49.840 Services, a pager repair and two -way radio depot 00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:53.620 in Denver, Colorado, and the founder of PageTap, 00:09:53.659 --> 00:09:56.360 Incorporated, a radio remote control systems 00:09:56.360 --> 00:10:00.539 manufacturer. And since moving to Israel in 2000, 00:10:00.580 --> 00:10:04.980 he founded Efrat networks and now has a new business 00:10:04.980 --> 00:10:09.259 precision solutions also in Israel and tonight 00:10:09.259 --> 00:10:11.639 he's here to talk about the virtual ham expo 00:10:11.639 --> 00:10:15.779 which will take place online on August 8th and 00:10:15.779 --> 00:10:19.299 9th so Eric welcome to ham talk live I've listened 00:10:19.299 --> 00:10:24.559 to your podcast for some time and thanks especially 00:10:24.559 --> 00:10:29.639 for being awake at 4 a .m. to be here, uh, live 00:10:29.639 --> 00:10:33.259 from Israel. Well, good morning, Neil. It seems 00:10:33.259 --> 00:10:36.460 like it's the best time to, uh, to be up. There's 00:10:36.460 --> 00:10:39.980 nobody bothering me, no phones ringing. So yes, 00:10:39.980 --> 00:10:43.279 that's great. Yeah. You can actually get a little 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:46.519 peace and quiet to get on, on the show a little 00:10:46.519 --> 00:10:49.360 bit, but, uh, we, we appreciate you, uh, you 00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:53.639 being up so early to do this live, uh, instead 00:10:53.639 --> 00:10:57.500 of by, by recording. uh... what this virtual 00:10:57.500 --> 00:11:02.679 ham expo is a pretty big undertaking and i've 00:11:02.679 --> 00:11:05.879 i've had the opportunity to go through some of 00:11:05.879 --> 00:11:09.919 that with you because the youth on the air uh... 00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:12.659 booth is uh... is going to be there and so i've 00:11:12.659 --> 00:11:15.039 been able to see a little bit behind the scenes 00:11:15.039 --> 00:11:20.629 of of what's taking place and it Just it's a 00:11:20.629 --> 00:11:24.250 groundbreaking change in the way we do things. 00:11:24.330 --> 00:11:28.330 So what made you decide to take on this this 00:11:28.330 --> 00:11:32.990 virtual ham expo? Well, I think every year I 00:11:32.990 --> 00:11:37.070 look at the the Dayton, you know, when the Dayton 00:11:37.070 --> 00:11:39.169 dates are and whether or not that works for my 00:11:39.169 --> 00:11:41.570 schedule. So this year I was actually planning 00:11:41.570 --> 00:11:45.850 on going to Dayton. I'd rented my hotel room 00:11:45.850 --> 00:11:49.639 near the four days in May. And as I was getting 00:11:49.639 --> 00:11:53.980 ready to start buying my airline ticket, I discovered 00:11:53.980 --> 00:11:56.620 that things were starting to close up with COVID. 00:11:57.120 --> 00:12:01.340 So as a result of the COVID lockdown, I canceled 00:12:01.340 --> 00:12:06.879 my plans and I started watching the ARO Hamfest 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:09.480 calendar to see if there was anything that I'd 00:12:09.480 --> 00:12:11.940 be able to go to this year. It's a big deal for 00:12:11.940 --> 00:12:14.500 me to go because I've got to fly from Israel 00:12:14.500 --> 00:12:18.879 to America to attend a Hamfest. As things started 00:12:18.879 --> 00:12:21.580 closing up, you know, one after the other, I 00:12:21.580 --> 00:12:22.899 started thinking, well, what are people going 00:12:22.899 --> 00:12:25.919 to do? And as a result of that, I started thinking, 00:12:26.059 --> 00:12:28.039 well, you know what, maybe someone should do 00:12:28.039 --> 00:12:31.919 a virtual... convention not just a zoom convention 00:12:31.919 --> 00:12:35.019 but something that really looks like a convention 00:12:35.019 --> 00:12:38.159 so that people could attend it without you know 00:12:38.159 --> 00:12:40.379 leaving the safety and social distancing of their 00:12:40.379 --> 00:12:42.840 home so that's actually how this all started 00:12:42.840 --> 00:12:46.960 it started as an idea it's now snowballed into 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:50.179 there's six full -time people including me working 00:12:50.179 --> 00:12:53.539 on this in order to put this together it's it's 00:12:53.539 --> 00:12:58.799 a an amazingly huge project, mostly because I 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:01.340 think that we didn't put any limits on it. So 00:13:01.340 --> 00:13:05.480 there's over 60 speakers on our platform. That's 00:13:05.480 --> 00:13:07.980 a huge amount of work that's being done by three 00:13:07.980 --> 00:13:10.899 people right now. And in addition to all the 00:13:10.899 --> 00:13:13.059 speakers who are amazing, I mean, the response 00:13:13.059 --> 00:13:16.879 from speakers was great. So, you know, that's 00:13:16.879 --> 00:13:19.059 a lot of work. And then building the booths. 00:13:19.059 --> 00:13:21.340 So we actually have what looks like trade show 00:13:21.340 --> 00:13:25.730 booths on our exhibit floor. There's Emanuella 00:13:25.730 --> 00:13:30.090 working on that with all of the vendors and sponsors. 00:13:30.669 --> 00:13:34.070 So yeah, it's turned into an amazingly large 00:13:34.070 --> 00:13:37.230 project, but hopefully the outcome will be really 00:13:37.230 --> 00:13:43.809 nice. Well, let's explain a little bit, because 00:13:43.809 --> 00:13:48.649 not everybody has had a chance to see this. So 00:13:48.649 --> 00:13:52.029 let's explain a little bit how people will attend 00:13:52.029 --> 00:13:56.460 this. And then kind of what to expect when they 00:13:56.460 --> 00:13:59.700 get there. I mean, are they going to, you know, 00:13:59.820 --> 00:14:03.320 they're used to walking in and, you know, here's 00:14:03.320 --> 00:14:06.460 a map and here's all these buildings that you 00:14:06.460 --> 00:14:11.539 got to go to and places and schedules. What should 00:14:11.539 --> 00:14:16.600 people expect to see when they show up? Sure, 00:14:16.679 --> 00:14:21.139 Neil. When they first log into the into the expo 00:14:21.139 --> 00:14:25.639 and all they need is their email address. They 00:14:25.639 --> 00:14:28.240 don't need a password. When they first log in, 00:14:28.399 --> 00:14:30.700 they'll actually be outside of the exposition 00:14:30.700 --> 00:14:33.820 hall. The exposition hall is set in the Arizona 00:14:33.820 --> 00:14:37.759 Painted Desert. So it looks like a very futuristic 00:14:37.759 --> 00:14:40.879 convention center. And when they click on the 00:14:40.879 --> 00:14:43.100 entrance, they'll actually kind of zoom into 00:14:43.100 --> 00:14:45.519 the entrance and they'll be in the lobby. And 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:48.399 the lobby has doors for an auditorium for the 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:52.980 exposition hall. There will be there's a navigation 00:14:52.980 --> 00:14:56.200 bar at the top of the screen so that you can 00:14:56.200 --> 00:15:01.240 go to, you know, shortcut to the to the auditorium 00:15:01.240 --> 00:15:03.480 and the auditorium is where all the speakers 00:15:03.480 --> 00:15:06.559 are. The speakers are set in five simultaneous 00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:10.000 tracks. So we four or five simultaneous tracks 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:13.320 so that you can choose the speakers that you 00:15:13.320 --> 00:15:16.559 want. When the speakers first go out, the speakers 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:20.120 are are kind of semi live, meaning that we've 00:15:20.539 --> 00:15:25.740 pre -recorded all of the presentations so that 00:15:25.740 --> 00:15:28.299 we are assured of actually having a good presentation. 00:15:28.700 --> 00:15:31.240 One of our concerns was that if someone's internet 00:15:31.240 --> 00:15:33.659 fails during their presentation, then we would 00:15:33.659 --> 00:15:36.779 lose the presentation. But the speaker is there, 00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:40.440 and as soon as the presentation is over, the 00:15:40.440 --> 00:15:44.899 speaker will be able to talk in a live Q &A. 00:15:45.149 --> 00:15:49.190 So those Q &As will be moderated. So there'll 00:15:49.190 --> 00:15:51.190 be somebody there that will take their questions 00:15:51.190 --> 00:15:54.809 and ask the question of the speaker verbally, 00:15:54.809 --> 00:15:57.370 you know, on video, and the speaker will be able 00:15:57.370 --> 00:16:01.230 to reply. So and then after that, then all of 00:16:01.230 --> 00:16:04.809 those presentations are on demand. For the remaining 00:16:04.809 --> 00:16:07.730 of the weekend, the weekend runs 48 hours, and 00:16:07.730 --> 00:16:10.450 then 30 days after that. So that's kind of what 00:16:10.450 --> 00:16:14.950 people will see. The exhibition hall is a... 00:16:14.990 --> 00:16:16.750 When you enter the exhibition hall you're kind 00:16:16.750 --> 00:16:21.470 of overlooking it and you can go down a length 00:16:21.470 --> 00:16:25.389 of booths. The first booth will be the ICOM booth 00:16:25.389 --> 00:16:27.529 or the platinum sponsor and then followed by 00:16:27.529 --> 00:16:31.710 the other gold sponsors and all the other exhibitors. 00:16:31.750 --> 00:16:34.669 So I think we've got 45 booths in our exhibit 00:16:34.669 --> 00:16:38.110 hall at this point. The exhibit hall is now closed 00:16:38.110 --> 00:16:40.750 in terms of taking more booths. Speakers is now 00:16:40.750 --> 00:16:43.679 closed in terms of taking more speakers. And 00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:45.399 we're at the point now where we're onboarding 00:16:45.399 --> 00:16:51.519 the system and auditing all the links. And let's 00:16:51.519 --> 00:16:54.980 talk a little bit about signing up, because you 00:16:54.980 --> 00:17:00.559 have some special prizes and things for people 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:05.099 signing up to attend early. And then you've got 00:17:05.099 --> 00:17:08.579 people who haven't signed up early but will still. 00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:12.359 be able to sign up for this uh... up until a 00:17:12.359 --> 00:17:15.799 point so so tell us about all of that how they 00:17:15.799 --> 00:17:20.339 can go sign up for this and and take part yeah 00:17:20.339 --> 00:17:25.640 sure neil the uh... the system is uh... is gamified 00:17:25.640 --> 00:17:29.240 so uh... will start at sign up if you sign up 00:17:29.240 --> 00:17:32.400 before uh... the end of the twenty fourth which 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:35.380 is uh... today my time and tomorrow your time 00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:39.380 then you get early bird tickets. All tickets 00:17:39.380 --> 00:17:43.700 are free. You can go to the QSOtodayhamExpo .com 00:17:43.700 --> 00:17:47.079 website and push the button to get free early 00:17:47.079 --> 00:17:50.200 bird tickets. Once you have that ticket, you'll 00:17:50.200 --> 00:17:52.759 receive a message in your email that tells you 00:17:52.759 --> 00:17:55.180 how to get to the convention on the day of the 00:17:55.180 --> 00:18:01.109 convention. And then, as I said, the system is 00:18:01.109 --> 00:18:04.730 kind of gamified for prizes. So the way that 00:18:04.730 --> 00:18:08.369 that whole prize system works is that you're 00:18:08.369 --> 00:18:12.630 encouraged to really exercise the platform. Go 00:18:12.630 --> 00:18:16.109 to speakers, go to visitor booths, go to visit 00:18:16.109 --> 00:18:18.470 the platinum sponsor, which is ICOM, go visit 00:18:18.470 --> 00:18:21.829 the gold sponsors, chat with them. The system 00:18:21.829 --> 00:18:26.799 has a live chat system. on it for one -to -one 00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:30.799 voice video or text chat with representatives 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:35.839 in the booths during the live hours. So as you 00:18:35.839 --> 00:18:39.200 spend more and more time on the platform, then 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:43.059 you gain leaderboard points and the person that 00:18:43.059 --> 00:18:47.369 has or the persons that have the most points 00:18:47.369 --> 00:18:52.049 on the system win the prizes. And right now the 00:18:52.049 --> 00:18:57.529 big prize is a Flex 6400, followed by an ICOM 00:18:57.529 --> 00:19:01.390 IC7300 and an Ellicraft KX2. So there's a whole 00:19:01.390 --> 00:19:03.650 bunch of prizes. There's almost 200 prizes on 00:19:03.650 --> 00:19:08.349 the system. So if you're in the top 200, then 00:19:08.349 --> 00:19:10.789 the chances of winning a prize are actually pretty 00:19:10.789 --> 00:19:14.470 good. So that's actually how, yeah, that's how 00:19:14.470 --> 00:19:18.220 you navigate. Yeah, so so there's some incentive 00:19:18.220 --> 00:19:22.400 there to you know participate and check it out 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:25.920 and and helps your chances to win and everybody 00:19:25.920 --> 00:19:30.480 likes to win so That's a great thing. Well, let's 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:32.859 talk a little bit about these speak. Oh, go ahead 00:19:33.069 --> 00:19:35.529 I was going to say, it's not a raffle. So people 00:19:35.529 --> 00:19:37.690 are saying, well, is it a raffle? Is it? It's 00:19:37.690 --> 00:19:40.390 not raffle. Raffle lies. It's not random at all. 00:19:40.509 --> 00:19:42.869 You actually, the people who win the prizes are 00:19:42.869 --> 00:19:45.549 the people who spend the most time engaging with 00:19:45.549 --> 00:19:49.630 the content on the platform. Oh, very good. Very 00:19:49.630 --> 00:19:52.130 good to know. Well, let's, let's talk a little 00:19:52.130 --> 00:19:54.569 bit about some of these speakers and your keynote 00:19:54.569 --> 00:19:58.470 is a dear friend of mine. You've, you've got 00:19:58.470 --> 00:20:02.529 some other top -notch speakers throughout the 00:20:02.529 --> 00:20:05.950 entire weekend. So tell us a little bit about 00:20:05.950 --> 00:20:12.089 your speakers. Sure. As you just said, Dr. Scott 00:20:12.089 --> 00:20:15.349 Wright, KZeroMD will be our keynote speaker. 00:20:15.829 --> 00:20:18.630 Now what we've done is we're starting this whole 00:20:18.630 --> 00:20:24.210 convention at 0100 hours, or actually at 45 minutes 00:20:24.210 --> 00:20:28.019 after midnight. on the 8th of August, that's 00:20:28.019 --> 00:20:32.299 Zulu time, which is 5 .45 p .m. Pacific time 00:20:32.299 --> 00:20:37.539 on August 7th, or was it 8 .45 Pacific time, 00:20:37.819 --> 00:20:41.240 not Pacific time, Eastern time on August 7th. 00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:43.900 So that's when the platform opens up, and then 00:20:43.900 --> 00:20:49.259 15 minutes later... Scott's keynote address will 00:20:49.259 --> 00:20:51.900 go out. Now, most likely what will happen is 00:20:51.900 --> 00:20:54.400 in order for loading, I will actually send him 00:20:54.400 --> 00:20:58.720 out on all four of our speaker tracks, and I 00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:01.640 may actually delay them just by like about 10 00:21:01.640 --> 00:21:04.119 minutes each so that if there's a problem with 00:21:04.119 --> 00:21:07.220 people getting into the first auditorium, they've 00:21:07.220 --> 00:21:10.470 got three more to choose from. So they won't 00:21:10.470 --> 00:21:14.130 miss Scott's speech. And then the platform at 00:21:14.130 --> 00:21:16.450 that point is open for the next 48 hours, meaning 00:21:16.450 --> 00:21:20.670 anybody has the opportunity to go through and 00:21:20.670 --> 00:21:23.329 visit exhibitor booths, even though the exhibitors 00:21:23.329 --> 00:21:27.049 may not be there yet. They can engage on any 00:21:27.049 --> 00:21:29.930 of the content that's there. And then the next 00:21:29.930 --> 00:21:33.349 morning, the speaker tracks start. So at 8 a 00:21:33.349 --> 00:21:38.849 .m. Pacific time, then the first speech will 00:21:38.849 --> 00:21:43.109 go out or presentation that will be Scott Johnson 00:21:43.109 --> 00:21:48.250 WDADAS on how to solder. Now each of the speaker 00:21:48.250 --> 00:21:52.329 tracks are actually, they're actually offset 00:21:52.329 --> 00:21:54.690 by 15 minutes. So track one will start at the 00:21:54.690 --> 00:21:57.069 top of the hour, track two will start at a quarter 00:21:57.069 --> 00:22:00.299 past the hour. Track three at a half past the 00:22:00.299 --> 00:22:04.000 hour and then track four at quarter to the hour. 00:22:04.359 --> 00:22:06.900 And that's kind of a load balancing thing we're 00:22:06.900 --> 00:22:09.420 doing, but it also gives people a chance if they 00:22:09.420 --> 00:22:14.700 want to end one speaker and then go to another 00:22:14.700 --> 00:22:17.779 or take a break and go to another. And then once 00:22:17.779 --> 00:22:22.690 those... speakers go out, then all those speakers 00:22:22.690 --> 00:22:25.789 will be on demand. So then over the next 32 days, 00:22:25.869 --> 00:22:28.130 you can actually pull them down again or listen 00:22:28.130 --> 00:22:30.009 to any of the ones that you want. So there's 00:22:30.009 --> 00:22:32.509 an opportunity to listen to every single speaker 00:22:32.509 --> 00:22:35.569 on the platform, which is something usually you 00:22:35.569 --> 00:22:42.220 can't do at a live in -person event. I think 00:22:42.220 --> 00:22:45.079 that's what we've got. Other speakers include, 00:22:45.079 --> 00:22:48.799 we've got Citizen Science, HamSci and the Personal 00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:54.759 Space Weather Station Project by KE8HPA, Contesting 00:22:54.759 --> 00:22:59.099 on 10 GHz and up by Wayne Yoshida, KH6WZ. So 00:22:59.099 --> 00:23:00.980 there's a whole bunch of stuff. There's a lot 00:23:00.980 --> 00:23:03.640 of different varieties. I'm being reminded by 00:23:03.640 --> 00:23:06.380 email that there are some subjects I didn't do, 00:23:06.759 --> 00:23:08.980 but those subjects will just have to wait until 00:23:08.980 --> 00:23:16.900 the March. 2021 QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo. Well, 00:23:16.920 --> 00:23:20.720 you've got some top notch people lined up and 00:23:20.720 --> 00:23:23.759 one of the things that I have a tough time with 00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:28.799 when I go to, you know, the big ones like Dayton, 00:23:29.380 --> 00:23:33.920 Hamvention and Huntsville, and hopefully I can 00:23:33.920 --> 00:23:39.309 start getting to Orlando soon, is I've got so 00:23:39.309 --> 00:23:43.289 many forums to go to. That's pretty much what 00:23:43.289 --> 00:23:45.690 I do all day. I go to this one and then I go 00:23:45.690 --> 00:23:47.970 to that one and then run over here to this other 00:23:47.970 --> 00:23:52.849 one. And this way, you don't have to miss one 00:23:52.849 --> 00:23:58.509 of them. I mean, it's great because you can just 00:23:58.509 --> 00:24:02.329 hop from one to the next. You can catch the other 00:24:02.329 --> 00:24:07.299 ones on demand if you can't catch it live. There's 00:24:07.299 --> 00:24:11.039 a lot of options there to catch all this stuff 00:24:11.039 --> 00:24:16.700 so Where can they find the schedule of what's 00:24:16.700 --> 00:24:20.700 live and then? How long everything is going to 00:24:20.700 --> 00:24:27.099 be online Sure probably I would think by the 00:24:27.099 --> 00:24:30.369 beginning of next week will I have the final 00:24:30.369 --> 00:24:34.750 lineup in order with the times posted to them. 00:24:35.549 --> 00:24:40.210 And so you can actually put together your program 00:24:40.210 --> 00:24:44.430 for Saturday and Sunday, 8th and 9th of August. 00:24:44.650 --> 00:24:50.230 So at this point we're still onboarding all of 00:24:50.230 --> 00:24:54.549 the speaker presentations on our system. And 00:24:54.549 --> 00:24:57.109 by that time I'll be able to put up on the... 00:25:00.539 --> 00:25:04.980 the actual order and times of each of the speeches. 00:25:06.289 --> 00:25:09.430 Okay. Very good. So just take a look at the website 00:25:09.430 --> 00:25:12.430 and you can find all that information. All right. 00:25:12.509 --> 00:25:14.410 Well, we're going to take a break right now. 00:25:14.670 --> 00:25:17.150 And when we come back, we're going to talk some 00:25:17.150 --> 00:25:19.309 more with Eric and we're going to take all of 00:25:19.309 --> 00:25:22.990 your calls and tweets and messages and all your 00:25:22.990 --> 00:25:27.069 questions about the QSO Today podcast, Virtual 00:25:27.069 --> 00:25:32.140 Ham Expo. with Eric Guth 4Z1UG right after this 00:25:32.140 --> 00:25:35.519 word from ICOM America right here on HamTalk 00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:40.700 Live. Get out and be active with ICOM's new IC705 00:25:40.700 --> 00:25:43.720 and its optional multi -function backpack. The 00:25:43.720 --> 00:25:48.259 IC705 is your perfect QRP companion as you have 00:25:48.259 --> 00:25:50.579 base station features and functionality at the 00:25:50.579 --> 00:25:53.400 tip of your fingers in a portable package covering 00:25:53.400 --> 00:25:57.319 HF 6 meters, 2 meters, and 70 centimeters. This 00:25:57.319 --> 00:26:01.710 compact rig weighs in at just one kilo or a little 00:26:01.710 --> 00:26:04.950 over two pounds with RF direct sampling for most 00:26:04.950 --> 00:26:07.789 of the HF band and IF sampling for frequencies 00:26:07.789 --> 00:26:13.029 above 25 megahertz and that large 4 .3 inch color 00:26:13.029 --> 00:26:16.410 touchscreen with live band scope and waterfall. 00:26:16.720 --> 00:26:21.019 The IC705 does 5 watts with a BP272 battery or 00:26:21.019 --> 00:26:26.059 10 watts with a 13 .8 volt DC power supply, has 00:26:26.059 --> 00:26:30.180 sideband CW, AM, FM and full D star functions, 00:26:30.440 --> 00:26:33.380 a micro USB connector, Bluetooth and wireless 00:26:33.380 --> 00:26:37.160 LAN, integrated GPS with an antenna and GPS logger, 00:26:37.339 --> 00:26:40.920 a micro SD card slot, a speaker mic comes standard 00:26:40.920 --> 00:26:45.759 and supports QRP operations. The perfect accessory 00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:50.430 for your 705 is the optional backpack LC -192 00:26:50.430 --> 00:26:54.430 with a special compartment for your IC -705 and 00:26:54.430 --> 00:26:57.589 room for accessories for soda activations or 00:26:57.759 --> 00:27:01.680 just today in the park. Make sure you visit icomamerica 00:27:01.680 --> 00:27:05.279 .com slash amateur for more information on ICOM 00:27:05.279 --> 00:27:09.599 radios. And register now for QSO Today's groundbreaking 00:27:09.599 --> 00:27:12.940 Virtual Ham Expo. This expo will be filled with 00:27:12.940 --> 00:27:15.299 virtual exhibits and guest speakers all from 00:27:15.299 --> 00:27:17.640 the convenience of your computer, tablet, or 00:27:17.640 --> 00:27:23.200 smartphone. Visit qsotodayhamexpo .com to register. 00:27:23.880 --> 00:27:27.920 Join the conversation. Give us a call at 859 00:27:27.920 --> 00:27:33.859 -982 -7373. Again, the number to call is 859 00:27:33.859 --> 00:27:39.619 -982 -7373. Or, if you'd rather type than talk, 00:27:39.900 --> 00:27:43.200 tweet us at HamTalk Live. Now, here's Neil Rapp 00:27:43.200 --> 00:27:48.700 with more HamTalk Live. Oh yeah, you're talking 00:27:48.700 --> 00:27:53.170 ham radio, baby. You're listening to Ham Talk 00:27:53.170 --> 00:28:19.309 Live with Neil Rapp. Welcome back to Ham Talk 00:28:19.309 --> 00:28:22.039 Live. HamTalk Live's on the air every Thursday 00:28:22.039 --> 00:28:24.960 night at 9 p .m. Eastern Time, right here at 00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:27.819 HamTalkLive .com. And be sure to check us out 00:28:27.819 --> 00:28:31.140 on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. And it's 00:28:31.140 --> 00:28:34.599 time now for your calls. So if you have a question 00:28:34.599 --> 00:28:40.400 for Eric, excuse me, give us a call at 859 -982 00:28:40.400 --> 00:28:45.240 -7373 or you can tweet us if you'd rather type 00:28:45.240 --> 00:28:48.759 than talk. You can tweet us, it's at. HamTalk 00:28:48.759 --> 00:28:56.880 Live and again the phone number is 859 -982 -7373 00:28:56.880 --> 00:29:00.019 or of course if you're on Spreaker you can type 00:29:00.019 --> 00:29:02.700 in the comments and that will show up as well. 00:29:02.720 --> 00:29:07.180 If you're listening to us on WTWW or on the podcast 00:29:07.180 --> 00:29:10.099 edition you won't be able to reach us live since 00:29:10.099 --> 00:29:13.960 we're recording this live on Thursday night. 00:29:14.799 --> 00:29:18.039 Okay, so let's take a look at a little bit of 00:29:18.039 --> 00:29:21.140 this and we want to thank ICOM for sponsoring 00:29:21.140 --> 00:29:23.960 the show here tonight as always. Check them out 00:29:23.960 --> 00:29:29.160 at icomamerica .com and they are your lead sponsor 00:29:29.160 --> 00:29:33.279 on this event. Eric? They are a platinum sponsor. 00:29:33.460 --> 00:29:38.339 They were the first to come to our aid when we 00:29:38.339 --> 00:29:40.700 said we were going to do it. So yeah, we're very 00:29:40.700 --> 00:29:44.700 grateful to ICOM. for being our platinum sponsor. 00:29:46.099 --> 00:29:55.640 Well let's talk a little bit about The podcast 00:29:55.640 --> 00:29:58.940 we haven't addressed that and then we'll get 00:29:58.940 --> 00:30:01.839 to some of these comments and again eight five 00:30:01.839 --> 00:30:04.839 nine nine eight two seventy three seventy three 00:30:04.839 --> 00:30:07.579 is the phone number to call or at ham talk live 00:30:07.579 --> 00:30:11.539 on Twitter the QSO today podcast is something 00:30:11.539 --> 00:30:16.680 that you started long before I Started this program 00:30:16.680 --> 00:30:22.210 And you've been profiling the Who's Who of Amateur 00:30:22.210 --> 00:30:25.869 Radio. So tell us a little bit about it. Sure. 00:30:26.450 --> 00:30:30.650 The QSO did a podcast I started in July of 2014. 00:30:31.509 --> 00:30:35.430 And it was, I think, just after Ham Nation started 00:30:35.430 --> 00:30:37.910 their podcast, I thought that what was missing 00:30:37.910 --> 00:30:41.450 was an interview podcast with the Elmers, or 00:30:41.450 --> 00:30:44.490 at least the people who were in the generation 00:30:44.490 --> 00:30:48.309 of Elmers that I had when I started. So, yeah, 00:30:48.410 --> 00:30:52.950 I started in 2014. I've done 311 episodes. The 00:30:52.950 --> 00:30:56.269 last episode I did was with Riley Hollingsworth, 00:30:56.490 --> 00:31:00.829 K4ZDH. But, yeah, I've pretty much had the notables 00:31:00.829 --> 00:31:03.869 of Ham Radio. But you know what? There's, what, 00:31:03.869 --> 00:31:06.170 three million hams in the world. So I think that 00:31:06.170 --> 00:31:08.650 I've only kind of scratched the surface in terms 00:31:08.650 --> 00:31:12.730 of the number of potential interviews that I 00:31:12.730 --> 00:31:15.109 could do. But I love talking about ham radio 00:31:15.109 --> 00:31:17.190 and I love talking about ham radio with people 00:31:17.190 --> 00:31:20.490 that like to contribute to ham radio, either 00:31:20.490 --> 00:31:24.150 through their publishing or their websites or 00:31:24.150 --> 00:31:26.569 blogs or things like that. So, yeah, it's been 00:31:26.569 --> 00:31:28.769 a great time. I've learned more about ham radio 00:31:28.769 --> 00:31:32.210 in the last, I don't know, six years than I did 00:31:32.210 --> 00:31:38.309 in the previous 40 plus years. Yeah, it helps 00:31:38.309 --> 00:31:42.650 keep you on top of what's going on. That's for 00:31:42.650 --> 00:31:46.130 sure. Well, let's see what comments we have here. 00:31:46.990 --> 00:31:51.170 ChrisAA4CB says, welcome back. And he says, same 00:31:51.170 --> 00:31:55.670 here. Too many forums, so little time. And we 00:31:55.670 --> 00:31:57.910 have, and I know I'm not going to pronounce this 00:31:57.910 --> 00:32:03.349 right, Zenati Mopoli, maybe? Listening live from 00:32:03.349 --> 00:32:07.269 South Africa this evening. So we... appreciate 00:32:07.269 --> 00:32:11.650 you listening tonight and we have a caller on 00:32:11.650 --> 00:32:17.950 the line so let's turn on the phone here and 00:32:17.950 --> 00:32:21.029 we will answer that if I can get that to come 00:32:21.029 --> 00:32:25.710 up here no it didn't come up right there it is 00:32:25.710 --> 00:32:30.250 hello welcome to ham talk live hi Neil this is 00:32:30.250 --> 00:32:36.920 Jim Wilson K5 Indy hi Jim good to hear ya Good 00:32:36.920 --> 00:32:43.079 to hear you. I just thought I'd call in and ask 00:32:43.079 --> 00:32:48.500 Eric a question and compliment him on his efforts. 00:32:49.740 --> 00:32:52.099 Yeah, Jim, can I get you to turn your speaker 00:32:52.099 --> 00:32:58.140 down there? Yeah, I didn't realize... Sorry about 00:32:58.140 --> 00:33:04.920 that. No problem. But I just wanted to... first 00:33:04.920 --> 00:33:10.980 compliment Eric on taking on this incredible 00:33:10.980 --> 00:33:17.319 effort and just ask him how he's holding up because 00:33:17.319 --> 00:33:20.460 I'm getting emails all the time and I know he's 00:33:20.460 --> 00:33:24.079 working all over the place on this thing. Eric, 00:33:24.279 --> 00:33:27.339 how are you holding up, sir? Well, you know, 00:33:27.380 --> 00:33:31.900 thanks, Jim. Thanks for calling in. I'm actually 00:33:31.900 --> 00:33:33.940 not used to being up till 2 in the morning, but 00:33:33.940 --> 00:33:37.779 fortunately the way that my life is now, I actually 00:33:37.779 --> 00:33:40.859 can sleep a little bit later in the morning in 00:33:40.859 --> 00:33:43.019 order to be able to accommodate the schedule. 00:33:43.519 --> 00:33:45.500 But I'm doing something for the first time I've 00:33:45.500 --> 00:33:48.319 never done before as an entrepreneur. And that's 00:33:48.319 --> 00:33:50.099 because I'm not really a very good entrepreneur. 00:33:50.480 --> 00:33:53.559 But this time I'm delegating a lot of it to the 00:33:53.559 --> 00:33:57.880 team. So I've hired a great team, amazing people. 00:33:58.200 --> 00:34:01.660 They're going to continue when we do the March 00:34:01.660 --> 00:34:05.380 2021. We already actually even have a date, March 00:34:05.380 --> 00:34:09.659 13th and 14th. And I have this amazing team, 00:34:09.679 --> 00:34:12.119 so my job is really just to kind of make sure 00:34:12.119 --> 00:34:13.940 that they're all doing what they're supposed 00:34:13.940 --> 00:34:16.739 to do, and they're doing it, and that's kind 00:34:16.739 --> 00:34:19.800 of amazing. So I'm holding up pretty well. I 00:34:19.800 --> 00:34:23.679 think that the hardest part is the sleep deprivation, 00:34:23.780 --> 00:34:26.639 but you know, I think there's plenty of time 00:34:26.639 --> 00:34:30.980 to sleep after August 11th. There you go, at 00:34:30.980 --> 00:34:34.760 least until sometime in February when you really 00:34:34.760 --> 00:34:38.960 start packing up for the next one. Well, yeah, 00:34:39.159 --> 00:34:44.400 I know you'd invited me to speak and I had to 00:34:44.400 --> 00:34:48.780 decline because I had a family reunion planned 00:34:48.780 --> 00:34:54.579 and that has now gone away. But I will be doing 00:34:54.579 --> 00:35:00.699 booth duty in the K2BSA amateur radio and scouting 00:35:00.699 --> 00:35:04.440 booth, so I will be participating in that way. 00:35:06.170 --> 00:35:09.130 We're looking forward to it, Jim, and we're glad 00:35:09.130 --> 00:35:13.090 to have you inside the exhibit hall with us. 00:35:15.170 --> 00:35:17.630 Yeah, and I'm looking forward to experiencing 00:35:17.630 --> 00:35:22.449 the whole thing. As you pointed out, I'm delighted 00:35:22.449 --> 00:35:25.829 that all the presentations are going to be available 00:35:25.829 --> 00:35:30.929 for 30 days, because that's a favorite of mine 00:35:30.929 --> 00:35:36.230 when I go to these things in person. But I know 00:35:36.230 --> 00:35:41.469 I've I think in talking to you before, your favorite 00:35:41.469 --> 00:35:43.929 thing is talking to all the people that you see 00:35:43.929 --> 00:35:47.329 there. And so it looks like that's going to be 00:35:47.329 --> 00:35:51.469 able to happen as well. And I'm I'm looking forward 00:35:51.469 --> 00:35:56.969 to trying that out. Well, the chat system should 00:35:56.969 --> 00:36:02.070 be pretty cool. There's a couple of exhibitors 00:36:02.070 --> 00:36:03.730 where we're actually going to try doing things 00:36:03.730 --> 00:36:06.630 like with a mumble, use a mumble room for audio. 00:36:07.530 --> 00:36:12.349 I think I might do that for half -holy. who's 00:36:12.349 --> 00:36:15.889 KC9RP, who's also going to have a booth there 00:36:15.889 --> 00:36:18.329 in our exhibit hall. And then Hap's been kind 00:36:18.329 --> 00:36:23.250 of working with me on advising blindhams. So 00:36:23.250 --> 00:36:26.030 there actually will be a navigation button at 00:36:26.030 --> 00:36:29.690 the top because it was brought to my attention 00:36:29.690 --> 00:36:33.150 that I needed to make this available and I'm 00:36:33.150 --> 00:36:35.869 absolutely happy to. So that button will actually 00:36:35.869 --> 00:36:40.010 go to a secret site where all of the speaker 00:36:40.119 --> 00:36:43.199 The speaker presentations will be listed and 00:36:43.199 --> 00:36:46.940 available to blind hams. And then the exhibitor 00:36:46.940 --> 00:36:51.900 list along with the chat buttons so that blind 00:36:51.900 --> 00:36:55.179 hams can engage with the exhibitors on the exhibit 00:36:55.179 --> 00:36:59.539 floor. And then at some point about the week 00:36:59.539 --> 00:37:01.659 before, I'm going to actually open it up to him 00:37:01.659 --> 00:37:06.420 and allow him to see how he can navigate the 00:37:06.420 --> 00:37:09.139 platform. And so we're learning a lot of things. 00:37:09.239 --> 00:37:11.179 And one of those things is we're actually writing 00:37:11.179 --> 00:37:16.480 the book on actually how to put this kind of 00:37:16.480 --> 00:37:20.440 exposition together and how to make it accessible 00:37:20.440 --> 00:37:22.219 to everybody. So that's kind of what we're doing 00:37:22.219 --> 00:37:29.860 right now. That's extraordinary. The thing that 00:37:29.860 --> 00:37:35.900 I appreciate, that's not quite the word. I want 00:37:35.900 --> 00:37:39.480 to say awesome or something like that is all 00:37:39.480 --> 00:37:42.360 of the stuff like that that has been tossed to 00:37:42.360 --> 00:37:46.360 you and you need to scramble and figure it out 00:37:46.360 --> 00:37:50.599 on the fly in a completely different kind of 00:37:50.599 --> 00:37:55.639 an environment and system. My hats off to you 00:37:55.639 --> 00:37:59.079 and and to the team that you've you've hired 00:37:59.079 --> 00:38:04.599 to do this so Great job, and we're and what is 00:38:04.599 --> 00:38:07.619 it now 13 or thousand that are looking forward 00:38:07.619 --> 00:38:11.280 to seeing how it comes out No, no, we're almost 00:38:11.280 --> 00:38:16.519 to 16 ,000 now It's almost going up a thousand 00:38:16.519 --> 00:38:23.650 a day Wow, so yeah, it's it's pretty a It's pretty 00:38:23.650 --> 00:38:25.989 awesome. Now my partner in this project is Brad 00:38:25.989 --> 00:38:28.449 Grob. Brad Grob was my roommate here in Israel 00:38:28.449 --> 00:38:33.329 40 years ago and he's a marketing guru and largely 00:38:33.329 --> 00:38:36.389 responsible for, I would say, for driving the 00:38:36.389 --> 00:38:39.150 numbers with the relationships that he's helped 00:38:39.150 --> 00:38:43.090 to create between us and the AWRL, for example, 00:38:43.289 --> 00:38:47.489 and all of the people that we're sending press 00:38:47.489 --> 00:38:51.179 to. He's calling me and telling me, you know, 00:38:51.260 --> 00:38:54.199 Eric, maybe we're going to have to cap the numbers 00:38:54.199 --> 00:38:57.860 because we have no idea whether or not we'll 00:38:57.860 --> 00:39:02.059 be actually able to handle the loading if everybody 00:39:02.059 --> 00:39:04.579 showed up at once. So I'm telling everybody they 00:39:04.579 --> 00:39:06.639 don't have to show up at once, they can show 00:39:06.639 --> 00:39:08.699 up at their convenience and if they show up at 00:39:08.699 --> 00:39:12.059 their convenience, that should work really well. 00:39:12.559 --> 00:39:14.400 But all of the speakers, by the way, I just wanted 00:39:14.400 --> 00:39:16.980 to let people know is that they'll be on the 00:39:16.980 --> 00:39:20.059 platform until about September 9th and then we'll 00:39:20.059 --> 00:39:23.500 put them all up on our YouTube channel so that 00:39:23.500 --> 00:39:27.980 if they even miss the 30 -day on -demand period, 00:39:28.539 --> 00:39:32.210 all those speakers will still be available. Oh, 00:39:32.210 --> 00:39:35.809 that's fantastic. Very good. Well, good for you. 00:39:35.889 --> 00:39:40.309 And I just wanted to call and applaud you and 00:39:40.309 --> 00:39:47.210 cheer you on. And we're all peering out of the 00:39:47.210 --> 00:39:50.449 windows of our homes, looking into our computers, 00:39:50.510 --> 00:39:55.309 ready for this to happen. So thank you. Thank 00:39:55.309 --> 00:39:59.010 you, Jim. Thank you so much, Jim, for calling. 00:39:59.070 --> 00:40:02.500 Good to hear from you as always. Yeah, great. 00:40:02.599 --> 00:40:05.679 Thanks for having Eric on it. This is this is 00:40:05.679 --> 00:40:08.659 fascinating and fantastic Alright guys, we'll 00:40:08.659 --> 00:40:16.900 say 73 73 Jerry Jim take care 8 5 9 9 8 2 73 00:40:16.900 --> 00:40:19.460 73 is the phone number if you'd like to call 00:40:19.460 --> 00:40:26.599 in give us a call 8 5 9 9 8 2 73 73 Let's see 00:40:26.599 --> 00:40:33.750 here. We have actually text here from Jocelyn 00:40:33.750 --> 00:40:38.329 KD8VRX says, welcome back to me and thanks to 00:40:38.329 --> 00:40:42.989 Eric for making this happen. So once again, people 00:40:42.989 --> 00:40:46.869 are grateful to have something to go to in this 00:40:46.869 --> 00:40:51.309 time that we're all just kind of hanging out 00:40:51.309 --> 00:40:54.730 at home. Well, you know, Neil, I have one more 00:40:54.730 --> 00:40:58.250 thing I wanted to say and that is that along 00:40:58.250 --> 00:41:01.190 with A .W .R .L., who has been a great help to 00:41:01.190 --> 00:41:04.010 us in promoting the event, we've kind of come 00:41:04.010 --> 00:41:07.949 to the conclusion that this virtual ham expo 00:41:07.949 --> 00:41:12.090 is not a replacement for the in -person live 00:41:12.090 --> 00:41:16.920 events. like the hamcations and the weekend ham 00:41:16.920 --> 00:41:19.559 fest and things like this, because I think that 00:41:19.559 --> 00:41:22.059 this is going to appeal to maybe the younger 00:41:22.059 --> 00:41:25.960 generation that is more used to being on electronic 00:41:25.960 --> 00:41:30.099 platforms for their entertainment, and that there's 00:41:30.099 --> 00:41:32.619 a large number of hams who have licenses that 00:41:32.619 --> 00:41:34.840 have never been to a ham fest or never been to 00:41:34.840 --> 00:41:37.139 a ham radio event, and this might be a way for 00:41:37.139 --> 00:41:41.449 them to get in. You know, I think that this is 00:41:41.449 --> 00:41:46.309 the QSO Today virtual ham expo will have a permanent 00:41:46.309 --> 00:41:49.170 place twice a year at this point from this point 00:41:49.170 --> 00:41:53.849 on, but that it will be in addition to that hopefully 00:41:53.849 --> 00:41:57.210 all the other events will come back and will 00:41:57.210 --> 00:42:00.289 no longer be social distancing, will be at those 00:42:00.289 --> 00:42:03.309 events. So that's kind of the last thing there. 00:42:04.369 --> 00:42:06.409 Yeah, and that's exactly what I was getting ready 00:42:06.409 --> 00:42:10.360 to ask was, you know, I know you You have already 00:42:10.360 --> 00:42:15.860 announced the dates in March and so you're planning 00:42:15.860 --> 00:42:20.280 on keeping this going twice a year as long as 00:42:20.280 --> 00:42:24.579 it'll work. Yeah, I think there's a place for 00:42:24.579 --> 00:42:28.579 it now. I think our world has changed. COVID 00:42:28.579 --> 00:42:32.320 -19 has changed the way that we do everything. 00:42:32.880 --> 00:42:34.780 I think a lot of people will be working from 00:42:34.780 --> 00:42:38.920 home even after the vaccine is available because 00:42:38.920 --> 00:42:43.119 it just seems to me that people are now valuing 00:42:43.119 --> 00:42:46.119 their time, especially with their family and 00:42:46.119 --> 00:42:49.480 friends, more than they do sitting in traffic 00:42:49.480 --> 00:42:55.619 for two to four hours a day. Yeah. It's really 00:42:55.619 --> 00:42:58.579 changed things. And some people have kind of 00:42:58.579 --> 00:43:02.369 experimented with working from home, but I think 00:43:02.369 --> 00:43:06.489 this pandemic has really forced some people to 00:43:06.489 --> 00:43:15.010 jump in, you know, all in and now it's the reality 00:43:15.010 --> 00:43:20.469 of a lot of jobs and I think, you know, we can 00:43:20.469 --> 00:43:24.489 minimize, you know, a lot of our traffic and 00:43:24.489 --> 00:43:28.550 travel times and some people can be more productive 00:43:28.550 --> 00:43:33.780 this way. I think it is something that's going 00:43:33.780 --> 00:43:36.300 to last from this. I think we're going to see 00:43:36.300 --> 00:43:40.659 more of this. Events like this, again, it's not 00:43:40.659 --> 00:43:44.760 going to take the place of hanging out at Dayton 00:43:44.760 --> 00:43:50.480 and getting cheesecake on a stick, but it's still 00:43:50.480 --> 00:43:53.960 going to provide a lot of the information and 00:43:53.960 --> 00:43:59.190 still provide a vital communication between the 00:43:59.190 --> 00:44:03.849 ham radio operators in the community and I just 00:44:03.849 --> 00:44:07.610 think that this definitely does have a place 00:44:07.610 --> 00:44:14.210 and I applaud you for tackling this project because 00:44:14.210 --> 00:44:18.510 in just what little time we've dealt with this 00:44:18.510 --> 00:44:22.869 I know that this is a huge project and I know 00:44:22.869 --> 00:44:25.110 that your team has been working very hard on 00:44:25.110 --> 00:44:29.619 this and So I applaud the efforts in making all 00:44:29.619 --> 00:44:34.960 this work. Oh, thank you, Neil. Yeah, it's been 00:44:34.960 --> 00:44:37.139 fun for me. I'm learning a lot of new, I love 00:44:37.139 --> 00:44:39.179 learning new things and there's a lot of new 00:44:39.179 --> 00:44:41.940 things about this technology and then supporting 00:44:41.940 --> 00:44:44.079 this technology and supporting even like for 00:44:44.079 --> 00:44:47.619 the blind hams, for example. coming up with ways 00:44:47.619 --> 00:44:50.880 to be able to integrate the environment for them 00:44:50.880 --> 00:44:53.239 as well. So, yeah, it's fun. I love learning 00:44:53.239 --> 00:44:54.900 this way. You know, you and I were talking before 00:44:54.900 --> 00:44:57.139 we started about, you know, my wife's a high 00:44:57.139 --> 00:45:00.840 school teacher and as you are a high school teacher 00:45:00.840 --> 00:45:04.340 and all of the new skills that she's had to learn, 00:45:04.460 --> 00:45:06.340 even though she's almost close to retirement, 00:45:07.159 --> 00:45:10.880 this whole idea of being able to distance learn 00:45:10.880 --> 00:45:14.719 and teach her students. and give them the same 00:45:14.719 --> 00:45:16.920 user experience that she does as a classroom 00:45:16.920 --> 00:45:20.139 teacher. So I think all of us are being challenged 00:45:20.139 --> 00:45:23.019 and we're all learning new skills in order to 00:45:23.019 --> 00:45:28.019 be able to kind of readapt for the environment 00:45:28.019 --> 00:45:31.460 that we're in right now. Yeah, totally agree. 00:45:32.739 --> 00:45:36.659 It's been a challenge and we're still learning 00:45:36.659 --> 00:45:42.480 and that's a part of it. we're figuring out a 00:45:42.480 --> 00:45:46.699 lot more things because we have to do it and 00:45:46.699 --> 00:45:50.940 Necessity is is often the cause of figuring things 00:45:50.940 --> 00:45:54.840 out so I think there are definitely some good 00:45:54.840 --> 00:45:58.599 things that come out of this and And one of the 00:45:58.599 --> 00:46:00.960 things that I want to mention here before we 00:46:00.960 --> 00:46:03.679 go We're just about out of time, but I do want 00:46:03.679 --> 00:46:06.219 to mention that You know, one of the things that 00:46:06.219 --> 00:46:10.519 we push a lot and I'm involved with and have 00:46:10.519 --> 00:46:15.619 been for decades is getting youth on the air 00:46:15.619 --> 00:46:18.840 and getting youth into amateur radio. And you 00:46:18.840 --> 00:46:24.059 have committed a track for that in the speaker 00:46:24.059 --> 00:46:28.659 line and Carol Perry, WB2MGP, one of my role 00:46:28.659 --> 00:46:34.960 models from way back is doing her usual thing 00:46:34.960 --> 00:46:39.719 with with guest youth speakers and and you've 00:46:39.719 --> 00:46:43.260 Provided the youth on the air and youngsters 00:46:43.260 --> 00:46:48.699 on the air groups that I'm involved with a booth 00:46:48.699 --> 00:46:53.800 to so that we can come in and Display, you know 00:46:53.800 --> 00:46:56.719 what's going on in the youth community. And so 00:46:56.719 --> 00:46:59.579 I also want to thank you for that and thanks 00:46:59.579 --> 00:47:03.309 for providing that booth space to us so that 00:47:03.309 --> 00:47:08.130 we can spread the word on our program. Well I 00:47:08.130 --> 00:47:10.369 would be wrong if I didn't say that I have my 00:47:10.369 --> 00:47:13.210 favorites and Youth on the Air is one of my favorites. 00:47:14.190 --> 00:47:16.909 Boy Scouts is one of my favorites. So yeah, it's 00:47:16.909 --> 00:47:20.449 great to have them in the exhibit hall and to 00:47:20.449 --> 00:47:22.510 have you guys in the exhibit hall with your booth. 00:47:22.590 --> 00:47:24.309 And I hope that a lot of people come visit you 00:47:24.309 --> 00:47:27.309 guys there in your booth. And the nice thing 00:47:27.309 --> 00:47:30.750 about, I think, the exhibit hall being open 48 00:47:30.750 --> 00:47:34.889 straight hours is that hopefully the Region 1 00:47:34.889 --> 00:47:38.230 and Region 3 kids will also be in the booth to 00:47:38.230 --> 00:47:40.630 be able to greet people even in the middle of 00:47:40.630 --> 00:47:44.710 the night. Yeah, we've talked about that a little 00:47:44.710 --> 00:47:49.710 bit I've been working with Otava over in Finland 00:47:49.710 --> 00:47:53.710 I believe it is he's kind of putting things together 00:47:53.710 --> 00:47:58.420 for the youngsters on the air community and He 00:47:58.420 --> 00:48:00.159 said, you know, thank goodness we don't have 00:48:00.159 --> 00:48:04.400 to be there all 48 hours because when it comes 00:48:04.400 --> 00:48:06.840 nighttime over here, you all are going to take 00:48:06.840 --> 00:48:09.579 over and when you guys are done, you know, region 00:48:09.579 --> 00:48:13.920 three will take over. So it does work out well 00:48:13.920 --> 00:48:18.440 that, you know, we're able to address all of 00:48:18.440 --> 00:48:20.920 those, you know, overnight hours and everything. 00:48:22.139 --> 00:48:25.400 by just shifting parts of the earth, which your 00:48:25.400 --> 00:48:28.219 attendees will probably be doing that same shift. 00:48:28.820 --> 00:48:33.019 So it works out well. So again, thank you for 00:48:33.019 --> 00:48:36.960 providing the booth space for us to do that. 00:48:36.980 --> 00:48:40.639 And I look forward to meeting some people there 00:48:40.639 --> 00:48:44.360 in the booth. Yeah, I'm looking forward to it 00:48:44.360 --> 00:48:46.619 as well. I'll actually be in two booths. I'll 00:48:46.619 --> 00:48:50.090 be in the QSO today. booth and I'll also be in 00:48:50.090 --> 00:48:52.889 the QSO Today Ham Expo booth that I hope people 00:48:52.889 --> 00:48:56.210 will visit us. We'll actually be there in the 00:48:56.210 --> 00:49:00.409 Expo booth to actually talk about March. So if 00:49:00.409 --> 00:49:02.809 people have questions about March, and by the 00:49:02.809 --> 00:49:05.789 way, I'm already taking speaker applications 00:49:05.789 --> 00:49:10.090 for March, so I'll put a button on the website 00:49:10.090 --> 00:49:13.130 in the speakers page for people who might want 00:49:13.130 --> 00:49:19.329 to be speakers in the March Ham Expo. Very good. 00:49:19.590 --> 00:49:21.849 Well, if you're interested in that, make sure 00:49:21.849 --> 00:49:24.769 you check out the website and give us that website 00:49:24.769 --> 00:49:30.690 one last time here before we go. Sure. It's QSOtodayhamExpo 00:49:30.690 --> 00:49:35.670 .com. QSOtodayhamExpo .com. Okay. Very good. 00:49:35.829 --> 00:49:38.489 Well, Eric, thank you so much for being up at 00:49:38.489 --> 00:49:43.639 4 a .m. Well, almost 5 now. over in Israel to 00:49:43.639 --> 00:49:46.659 be on the show live and take the phone calls 00:49:46.659 --> 00:49:52.139 and messages and everybody seems to Be excited 00:49:52.139 --> 00:49:55.019 about this opportunity. So thanks for pulling 00:49:55.019 --> 00:49:58.059 it all together Thanks for being here and I look 00:49:58.059 --> 00:50:01.880 forward to hearing from you again soon Thanks, 00:50:01.960 --> 00:50:05.460 Neil. Thanks for having me All right. Well, that 00:50:05.460 --> 00:50:09.679 is a wrap for this week's episode of ham talk 00:50:09.679 --> 00:50:12.380 live I'd like to thank my guest, Eric Aguth, 00:50:12.460 --> 00:50:15.659 4Z1UG, and everyone out there in cyberspace for 00:50:15.659 --> 00:50:18.440 listening and calling in, and invite you back 00:50:18.440 --> 00:50:21.500 next Thursday night, 9 p .m. Eastern Time, for 00:50:21.500 --> 00:50:24.300 a list of our upcoming guests. Go to hamtalklive 00:50:24.300 --> 00:50:27.239 .com. And if you like the show, please leave 00:50:27.239 --> 00:50:30.039 us a review. That's all we ask. Just leave us 00:50:30.039 --> 00:50:34.380 a review that helps other people find the program. 00:50:34.860 --> 00:50:38.420 And so that's all we ask is leave us a review. 00:50:38.719 --> 00:50:43.480 Alright, well so for now this is Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, 00:50:43.599 --> 00:50:48.980 saying 7 -3, 7 -5, and may the good DX be yours.