WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.680 This episode of HamTalk Live is brought to you 00:00:02.680 --> 00:00:06.080 by Tower Electronics. For connectors, cables, 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:13.000 and more, call 920 -435 -2973 or visit pl -259 00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:17.699 .com. And by ICOM, heard it, worked it, logged 00:00:17.699 --> 00:00:22.920 it. Visit www .icomamerica .com slash amateur 00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:30.359 for more information about ICOM radios. With 00:00:30.359 --> 00:00:58.020 neoprap, here we go Welcome to Amtok Live Hey, 00:00:58.100 --> 00:01:01.439 good evening, everyone. It's time for HamTalk 00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:06.500 Live. It's episode number 178. Preview of some 00:01:06.500 --> 00:01:10.579 new kits with Joe, KZeroNeB, recorded live on 00:01:10.579 --> 00:01:15.840 Thursday, August 22nd, 2019. I'm your host, Neil 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:19.739 Rapp, WB9VPG. Thanks for tuning in to this episode 00:01:19.739 --> 00:01:23.280 of HamTalk Live. Tonight, we're joined by Joe 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:27.359 Eisenberg, KZeroNeB. And we'll take your calls 00:01:27.359 --> 00:01:30.200 live in just a few minutes. Last week here on 00:01:30.200 --> 00:01:33.799 the show, Steve Narducci, W9SN was here to talk 00:01:33.799 --> 00:01:37.260 about building a modest contest station. And 00:01:37.260 --> 00:01:39.500 if you missed the show, you can listen anytime 00:01:39.500 --> 00:01:43.599 at HamTalkLive .com or on your favorite podcast 00:01:43.599 --> 00:01:47.200 app or YouTube, or you can catch the rebroadcast. 00:01:47.469 --> 00:01:53.349 on WTWW 5085 AM Saturday evenings at about 6 00:01:53.349 --> 00:01:57.250 .30 PM Eastern Time. So get those kit building 00:01:57.250 --> 00:01:59.909 questions ready to go if you're listening to 00:01:59.909 --> 00:02:03.980 us live on Thursday night. You can call us after 00:02:03.980 --> 00:02:23.479 the interview. And we'll be checking that throughout 00:02:23.479 --> 00:02:26.120 the evening as well. So I'll be back with Joe 00:02:26.120 --> 00:02:29.439 right after this word from Icon America right 00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:34.000 here on HamTalk Live. Heard it, worked it, logged 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:36.900 it. It's time to get the transceiver that's best 00:02:36.900 --> 00:02:40.419 suited for your lifestyle. ICOM offers a variety 00:02:40.419 --> 00:02:42.860 of high performance and innovative products. 00:02:43.159 --> 00:02:46.319 Make the most out of contest season with one 00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:51.460 of these ICOMs today. The IC7610 is the SDR every 00:02:51.460 --> 00:02:54.819 ham wants. This high -performance SDR has the 00:02:54.819 --> 00:02:57.719 ability to pick out the faintest of signals even 00:02:57.719 --> 00:03:00.479 in the presence of stronger adjacent ones. The 00:03:00.479 --> 00:03:05.039 IC7610 by ICOM is a direct sampling software 00:03:05.039 --> 00:03:07.979 -defined radio that will change the world's definition 00:03:07.979 --> 00:03:12.300 of an SDR transceiver. It has RF direct sampling, 00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:16.860 110 RMDR, independent dual receiver, and dual 00:03:16.860 --> 00:03:20.819 digicel. The IC7300 is changing the way entry 00:03:20.819 --> 00:03:23.439 -level HF is designed. This high -performance, 00:03:23.479 --> 00:03:26.560 innovative HF transceiver with a compact design 00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:30.360 will far exceed your expectations. With RF direct 00:03:30.360 --> 00:03:33.960 sampling, 15 discrete bandpass filters, a large 00:03:33.960 --> 00:03:36.819 4 .3 -inch color touchscreen, real -time spectrum 00:03:36.819 --> 00:03:39.460 scope, and SD memory card slot, and of course 00:03:39.460 --> 00:03:43.770 the IC7851 keeps your competitive contesting 00:03:43.770 --> 00:03:47.210 edge with faster processors, higher input gain, 00:03:47.430 --> 00:03:49.909 higher display resolution, and a cleaner signal. 00:03:50.229 --> 00:03:54.430 ICOM's IC7851 is the pinnacle of HF perfection. 00:03:54.650 --> 00:03:57.789 It has dual receivers, digital IF filters, memory 00:03:57.789 --> 00:04:00.590 keyer, digital voice recorder, high -resolution 00:04:00.590 --> 00:04:03.610 spectrum waterfall display, enhanced PC connectivity, 00:04:03.909 --> 00:04:06.909 and an SD memory card slot. For more information 00:04:06.909 --> 00:04:14.379 on ICOM radios be sure to visit Five out of four 00:04:14.379 --> 00:04:17.660 people have trouble with fractions. Now, here's 00:04:17.660 --> 00:04:37.589 Neil Rapp with more HamTalk Live. Thanks to ICOM 00:04:37.589 --> 00:04:41.009 America for bringing HamTalk Live your way each 00:04:41.009 --> 00:04:45.269 and every week right here at HamTalkLive .com 00:04:45.269 --> 00:04:50.040 and tonight My guest is Joe Eisenberg, K -0 -N 00:04:50.040 --> 00:04:52.420 -E -B from Lincoln, Nebraska and is well known 00:04:52.420 --> 00:04:55.560 for his kit building expertise. Joe is also well 00:04:55.560 --> 00:04:59.019 known for his picture shows of Hamvention and 00:04:59.019 --> 00:05:02.920 he's the longtime kit building editor at CQ Magazine 00:05:02.920 --> 00:05:06.279 and often makes presentations and offers kit 00:05:06.279 --> 00:05:09.939 builds at HamFest conventions and club meetings. 00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:13.199 Joe started Ham Radio at an early age and has 00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:17.120 been licensed since 1969 and he's well known 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:21.319 for his famous Dr. Seuss hat. So Joe, it's good 00:05:21.319 --> 00:05:24.100 to see you at Huntsville. Welcome back to the 00:05:24.100 --> 00:05:28.879 show. Well, Neil, it was great to see you at 00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:31.899 Huntsville and I now have one of your nice blue 00:05:31.899 --> 00:05:34.220 shirts and ready to wear at our local meetings 00:05:34.220 --> 00:05:40.430 in Hamfest. Glad to have that on my back. The 00:05:40.430 --> 00:05:44.209 hat, I only wear that at Hamvention. So if you 00:05:44.209 --> 00:05:46.110 come to Xenia, that's when you're going to see 00:05:46.110 --> 00:05:49.970 it. I have different hats I use for Orlando and 00:05:49.970 --> 00:05:54.430 Huntsville. We had a great crowd at the forum. 00:05:55.089 --> 00:05:57.670 They had us in kind of a noisy speaking room, 00:05:57.709 --> 00:06:02.670 and that will be rectified next year. So it was 00:06:02.670 --> 00:06:05.509 always good to give a presentation at Huntsville. 00:06:07.609 --> 00:06:10.629 I went over several new kits that are on the 00:06:10.629 --> 00:06:15.629 market and I'd like to talk about one first and 00:06:15.629 --> 00:06:19.970 this kit is put out by the 4 -State QRP Group. 00:06:20.629 --> 00:06:22.889 Now for those of you who don't know it, it's 00:06:22.889 --> 00:06:28.050 at 4SQRP .com and it's a non -profit group and 00:06:28.050 --> 00:06:31.290 they use the money that they get from the kits 00:06:31.290 --> 00:06:36.769 to finance putting on Ozarkon. Ozarkon is an 00:06:36.769 --> 00:06:40.470 annual convention in early April that's held 00:06:40.470 --> 00:06:47.829 at the Stone Castle. And the Stone Castle is 00:06:47.829 --> 00:06:51.129 in Branson, Missouri. And Branson is a great 00:06:51.129 --> 00:06:53.790 place to take your family and it's a wonderful 00:06:53.790 --> 00:06:57.569 weekend to spend with Ham Radio and do some sightseeing 00:06:57.569 --> 00:07:01.069 and take in some of Branson's famous shows and 00:07:01.069 --> 00:07:09.490 shopping. The kits are put together by a nice 00:07:09.490 --> 00:07:14.129 crew of people that do this for the love of amateur 00:07:14.129 --> 00:07:19.269 radio and are very talented engineers. Dave Benson, 00:07:19.490 --> 00:07:24.910 K1SWL, has his hands in some of these kits. AA0ZZ 00:07:24.910 --> 00:07:29.050 has produced a receiver and a keyer, actually 00:07:29.050 --> 00:07:35.170 a few of those. And probably our Our best contributor 00:07:35.170 --> 00:07:40.310 to the FourState QRP group is David Kripe, NM0S, 00:07:40.449 --> 00:07:44.389 Nancy Mike Zero Sierra. And David is an engineer 00:07:44.389 --> 00:07:47.250 at Rockwell Collins, which is Collins Radio. 00:07:47.529 --> 00:07:49.329 Actually, it's not Rockwell Collins anymore. 00:07:49.370 --> 00:07:52.490 I think it's United Technologies Collins or something 00:07:52.490 --> 00:07:59.550 like that. But he designs circuits for a living. 00:07:59.870 --> 00:08:03.930 and he has come up with some absolutely wonderful 00:08:03.930 --> 00:08:07.930 designs and quite often he uses printed circuit 00:08:07.930 --> 00:08:11.329 board material to make the case. And this is 00:08:11.329 --> 00:08:13.750 one of the greatest features of some of these 00:08:13.750 --> 00:08:17.110 kits because instead of having to find a metal 00:08:17.110 --> 00:08:21.250 box that fits and drill holes and paint it and 00:08:21.250 --> 00:08:23.769 mark each of the knobs and so forth, these are 00:08:23.769 --> 00:08:27.970 all pre -printed, pre -drilled, plated, everything. 00:08:28.220 --> 00:08:31.879 It looks beautiful. It's all printed on the case. 00:08:32.620 --> 00:08:35.259 And it's made out of circuit board material. 00:08:35.320 --> 00:08:37.960 If it needs to be shielded, it makes a great 00:08:37.960 --> 00:08:40.960 double shielded case. If it doesn't need to be 00:08:40.960 --> 00:08:44.840 like in the Merania kit, it can be etched out 00:08:44.840 --> 00:08:52.240 so that it allows signals to come in. So where 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:54.500 shall we begin? Shall I start with the new kit? 00:08:54.919 --> 00:08:57.419 Yeah, let's let's start off with the new kit. 00:08:57.419 --> 00:09:00.120 I know you've you're pretty excited about it. 00:09:00.120 --> 00:09:03.500 So let's start off there Yeah, the the new kit 00:09:03.500 --> 00:09:07.159 is different for the four -state QRP group because 00:09:07.159 --> 00:09:10.320 it's the first kit that's designed for phone 00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:17.039 It is a full carrier AM transceiver for 75 meters 00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:20.399 and so it's called the nouveau 75 and it comes 00:09:20.399 --> 00:09:24.419 with the speaker built -in plenty of audio output 00:09:24.679 --> 00:09:28.799 It comes with a microphone and like I said, the 00:09:28.799 --> 00:09:32.120 case, like a lot of the kits, is made out of 00:09:32.120 --> 00:09:34.399 printed circuit board material that comes with 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:37.500 the kit. You don't have to do anything but take 00:09:37.500 --> 00:09:40.279 an emery board and sand the rough edges of the 00:09:40.279 --> 00:09:43.720 boards as you pop them apart. They just unsnap 00:09:43.720 --> 00:09:47.679 and you just take an emery board for about two 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:50.820 seconds and smooth it out and you put it together. 00:09:51.340 --> 00:09:54.700 and it makes just a neatest looking little radio. 00:09:55.179 --> 00:09:58.740 Now this radio is not like a lot of the kits 00:09:58.740 --> 00:10:04.580 where we have a VFO or something like that. This 00:10:04.580 --> 00:10:09.659 is digitally synthesized and so what we do is 00:10:09.659 --> 00:10:12.620 we have a four digit display. Now of course because 00:10:12.620 --> 00:10:17.019 this is AM we don't care the fractions of a kilohertz 00:10:17.019 --> 00:10:23.029 so it obviously runs in one kilohertz steps within 00:10:23.029 --> 00:10:27.309 the ham band. Outside of the ham band, the VFO 00:10:27.309 --> 00:10:31.049 moves in five kilohertz steps to match where 00:10:31.049 --> 00:10:34.269 shortwave broadcast stations are. And the receive 00:10:34.269 --> 00:10:37.830 coverage goes from three megahertz to about 6 00:10:37.830 --> 00:10:42.049 .5 megahertz. So, of course, you can hear stations 00:10:42.049 --> 00:10:48.360 like WBCQ, WTWW, WWCR, and so forth. that operate 00:10:48.360 --> 00:10:53.799 in these bands. And the audio on mine when I 00:10:53.799 --> 00:10:57.899 completed it had a bit of a problem with overload 00:10:57.899 --> 00:11:03.460 from strong signals. And there was kind of a 00:11:03.460 --> 00:11:06.980 problem that cropped up. in the first batch and 00:11:06.980 --> 00:11:10.440 that's being corrected and the correction sounds 00:11:10.440 --> 00:11:13.980 just wonderful. And then the next batch of kits 00:11:13.980 --> 00:11:17.860 that comes out, you won't have to make any modifications 00:11:17.860 --> 00:11:23.370 at all. But even so, it's very easy to do. And 00:11:23.370 --> 00:11:26.789 the neat thing about this is if you're not listening 00:11:26.789 --> 00:11:30.490 to people or trying to talk to them on like 38, 00:11:30.549 --> 00:11:34.110 85 and so forth, which is where the AM crowd 00:11:34.110 --> 00:11:37.870 hangs out on 75 meters, you can listen to short 00:11:37.870 --> 00:11:42.029 way broadcast and hear the oldies on WTWW or 00:11:42.029 --> 00:11:44.769 the ham radio related programs such as this one 00:11:44.769 --> 00:11:49.370 on Saturday night. So the nouveau 75, of course, 00:11:49.549 --> 00:11:53.740 runs on 12 volts. and has a microphone, it has 00:11:53.740 --> 00:11:57.519 a jack to plug in a headset if you want that, 00:11:57.899 --> 00:12:01.299 and of course a BNC connector on the back for 00:12:01.299 --> 00:12:05.980 the RF output. Absolutely great kit, and I gotta 00:12:05.980 --> 00:12:08.700 recommend another kit to go with that one, and 00:12:08.700 --> 00:12:13.200 that is the four -state tuner. The 4S tuner is 00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:16.490 an 80 through 10 meter antenna tuner. And it's 00:12:16.490 --> 00:12:19.830 not just for hams, it's great for shortwave listeners. 00:12:20.169 --> 00:12:23.289 You can hook up your random wire and your ground 00:12:23.289 --> 00:12:26.850 to this thing and you can resonate that where 00:12:26.850 --> 00:12:29.450 you're trying to listen. And so of course that 00:12:29.450 --> 00:12:32.929 cuts out a band interference way down and it 00:12:32.929 --> 00:12:36.590 allows you to optimize a random wire antenna 00:12:36.590 --> 00:12:40.889 for shortwave listening. So the 4S tuner is another 00:12:40.889 --> 00:12:44.470 one of those that uses the circuit board material 00:12:44.470 --> 00:12:47.909 for the case. And it's got a red and green LED 00:12:47.909 --> 00:12:51.129 so if you're putting out a water to on your QRP 00:12:51.129 --> 00:12:57.549 radio you can peak it and Tune the SWR that way 00:12:57.549 --> 00:13:00.049 for listening of course you just peak it for 00:13:00.049 --> 00:13:07.070 the loudest signals Let's see we also have another 00:13:07.070 --> 00:13:11.289 kit, and this is a high -pass filter And what 00:13:11.289 --> 00:13:14.970 it is designed for is a lot of these direct conversion 00:13:14.970 --> 00:13:18.429 kits have a problem dealing with the AM broadcast 00:13:18.429 --> 00:13:25.629 band. Now I'm fortunate I only have two 1kW stations 00:13:25.629 --> 00:13:30.190 three miles away and I have a 5kW about six miles 00:13:30.190 --> 00:13:36.009 away. And so it isn't so much of a problem except 00:13:36.009 --> 00:13:40.080 if I'm using my longer wire antenna. and this 00:13:40.080 --> 00:13:42.759 particular kit will knock it down a minimum of 00:13:42.759 --> 00:13:50.360 70 dB and as high as 110 dB or more and so it 00:13:50.360 --> 00:13:53.159 will knock down signals in the AM broadcast band 00:13:53.159 --> 00:13:57.240 so they are inaudible on these direct conversion 00:13:57.240 --> 00:14:02.000 receivers and I hooked it to my 7610 and it took 00:14:02.250 --> 00:14:05.190 Local broadcast signals down from a little over 00:14:05.190 --> 00:14:09.649 40 over 9 to under S1 to the point where the 00:14:09.649 --> 00:14:12.009 meter isn't even moving and the signals are in 00:14:12.009 --> 00:14:16.029 the noise level so Very effective filter and 00:14:16.029 --> 00:14:18.370 it will let you put a hundred watts back through 00:14:18.370 --> 00:14:21.590 it. So Unless you're trying to use a hundred 00:14:21.590 --> 00:14:24.370 and sixty in which case you can't use this filter 00:14:24.370 --> 00:14:28.250 This is a really good deal, especially for 80 00:14:28.250 --> 00:14:32.360 meters and up or you might have local broadcast 00:14:32.360 --> 00:14:37.019 interference, interfering with a direct conversion 00:14:37.019 --> 00:14:41.179 receiver. Yeah, we were talking before the show 00:14:41.179 --> 00:14:45.039 about a bunch of stuff, and one of those was, 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:47.940 you know, over at the Voice of America Museum 00:14:47.940 --> 00:14:52.340 over in Westchester, there, you know, a few, 00:14:52.340 --> 00:14:58.389 you know, stones throws away from WLW, and and 00:14:58.389 --> 00:15:03.769 it comes in on everything and we're using tuners 00:15:03.769 --> 00:15:06.470 basically to filter it out and I think this would 00:15:06.470 --> 00:15:10.809 be a good thing to look into might just take 00:15:10.809 --> 00:15:14.950 care of that problem. Yes it might and it's a 00:15:14.950 --> 00:15:18.980 very very easy kit to put together. I think there's 00:15:18.980 --> 00:15:23.080 just a couple of capacitors and so forth. It's 00:15:23.080 --> 00:15:26.480 a circuit board case and it uses the case to 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:31.940 make a double shielded case. It is a very easy 00:15:31.940 --> 00:15:34.539 kit to put together. I'd say a first -time kit 00:15:34.539 --> 00:15:37.240 builder would definitely not spend an hour with 00:15:37.240 --> 00:15:40.360 this one. It does have coils in there, but guess 00:15:40.360 --> 00:15:43.379 what? They're already wound for you as spiral 00:15:43.379 --> 00:15:48.360 wound on circuit board. the coils are integral 00:15:48.360 --> 00:15:53.580 to the kit and you don't have to wind them. Very 00:15:53.580 --> 00:15:59.179 good. Well some cool kits, some new ones and 00:15:59.179 --> 00:16:05.259 all kinds of cool stuff out there. Let's kind 00:16:05.259 --> 00:16:07.360 of remind everybody, we talk about this when 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:11.039 you come on, but let's remind everybody about 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:15.460 sorting parts and soldering and You know some 00:16:15.460 --> 00:16:20.759 things to make sure that you're Making this as 00:16:20.759 --> 00:16:23.059 easy as possible when you're putting together 00:16:23.059 --> 00:16:27.860 some of these new kits You bet I have a lot to 00:16:27.860 --> 00:16:30.740 cover on that and I think the first thing would 00:16:30.740 --> 00:16:34.940 be sorting out your parts and I found that tackle 00:16:34.940 --> 00:16:38.620 box trays seem to work the best and that's because 00:16:38.620 --> 00:16:42.179 the dividers in the trays can be changed so that 00:16:42.179 --> 00:16:44.600 you have different size compartments and And 00:16:44.600 --> 00:16:47.460 I always put the things that I use closest to 00:16:47.460 --> 00:16:51.440 me and the things I use the least farthest from 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:54.320 me. So like resistors and capacitors, they're 00:16:54.320 --> 00:16:56.940 going to be in those close cups. But the things 00:16:56.940 --> 00:16:59.899 like screws, nuts, bolts, plugs, jacks, and things 00:16:59.899 --> 00:17:01.779 like that, those are going to be in the back 00:17:01.779 --> 00:17:05.539 row. And the middle row, usually your semiconductors 00:17:05.539 --> 00:17:10.019 and other components like that. So sorting out 00:17:10.019 --> 00:17:13.099 the parts is really essential, and that's how 00:17:13.099 --> 00:17:17.410 I do it. And you can also use like a cupcake 00:17:17.410 --> 00:17:20.710 tray that works as well. But if you have any 00:17:20.710 --> 00:17:23.549 animals in the house, and I had a couple of them 00:17:23.549 --> 00:17:28.190 giving me the meow, I have two cats here. And 00:17:28.190 --> 00:17:33.329 they like to get into things. So those snap closed 00:17:33.329 --> 00:17:38.519 boxes work great. Yeah, yeah, I heard one of 00:17:38.519 --> 00:17:42.559 them complaining about Not being paid attention 00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:44.920 to enough there at the beginning of the show 00:17:44.920 --> 00:17:49.440 and as as mine just did the same thing here so 00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:51.599 I don't know if you could hear it or not, but 00:17:51.599 --> 00:17:55.720 But yeah, they do get into that stuff. So those 00:17:55.720 --> 00:17:59.660 are always always good and then you know some 00:17:59.660 --> 00:18:06.140 some Good soldering equipment is always is always 00:18:06.140 --> 00:18:09.579 great. I know the other day I was working on 00:18:09.579 --> 00:18:13.339 a speaker connector for one of my co -workers 00:18:13.339 --> 00:18:19.359 and all I had was the little wood burner pencil 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:25.099 and I was wishing I had a hotter iron because 00:18:25.099 --> 00:18:29.680 it just was a pain to try to get it. I did finally 00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:33.000 get it but the soldering station makes all the 00:18:33.000 --> 00:18:36.740 difference in the world. Yes, it does. And I 00:18:36.740 --> 00:18:39.200 really prefer temperature controlled soldering 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:42.200 stations, not just variable, but ones that have 00:18:42.200 --> 00:18:45.079 some kind of a display so that you know what 00:18:45.079 --> 00:18:48.779 temperature that tip is. And that makes all the 00:18:48.779 --> 00:18:52.299 difference in the world. If you're using something 00:18:52.299 --> 00:18:54.599 less than that, then you're going to get less 00:18:54.599 --> 00:18:56.940 than ideal results when you're building kits. 00:18:57.339 --> 00:19:00.000 And it doesn't have to cost a fortune. I know 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:02.019 Weller puts out a couple of those that might 00:19:02.019 --> 00:19:06.279 be $110, $120. but there's a company actually 00:19:06.279 --> 00:19:10.099 right here in Lincoln called Extronic USA, X 00:19:10.099 --> 00:19:15.059 -T -R -O -N -I -C -U -S -A dot com and they put 00:19:15.059 --> 00:19:18.920 out one called the 3020 and it sells roughly 00:19:18.920 --> 00:19:21.900 around sixty dollars and I think that's even 00:19:21.900 --> 00:19:25.200 with free shipping on Amazon and this particular 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:28.519 one will hold the temperature within two degrees 00:19:28.519 --> 00:19:32.579 Celsius It has a solder roll holder to keep your 00:19:32.579 --> 00:19:36.500 soldering, your roll of solder in place. And 00:19:36.500 --> 00:19:39.140 it has two different tip cleaners on it. And 00:19:39.140 --> 00:19:42.240 if you don't use it for a while, it has a sleep 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:46.440 mode. And it'll go hot enough to do the lead 00:19:46.440 --> 00:19:49.140 -free solder. And I could go on and on about 00:19:49.140 --> 00:19:53.099 it, but it is a wonderful little soldering station 00:19:53.099 --> 00:19:58.640 and very inexpensive. And like I said, it's... 00:19:58.640 --> 00:20:03.440 It's thermostatically controlled so as opposed 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:06.420 to one you have to turn up and down all the time. 00:20:08.039 --> 00:20:12.000 And you know you mentioned solder so let's talk 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:15.079 solder here for a second. Alright well the solder 00:20:15.079 --> 00:20:19.500 I prefer to use when I'm building kits is 6337 00:20:19.500 --> 00:20:25.500 and that is called eutectic solder, and it's 00:20:25.500 --> 00:20:28.180 a little different than 6040 in that the melting 00:20:28.180 --> 00:20:31.160 point is a couple of degrees lower, but it has 00:20:31.160 --> 00:20:35.519 an almost non -existent plastic state. And what 00:20:35.519 --> 00:20:38.460 that is, the plastic state is as it's cooling, 00:20:38.539 --> 00:20:41.619 if something moves, it might crystallize and 00:20:41.619 --> 00:20:45.059 you get a cold solder joint. While this type 00:20:45.059 --> 00:20:49.339 of solder has a very short plastic state, so 00:20:49.339 --> 00:20:53.000 it's much more rare that that would happen. I 00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:57.440 use Rosincor NoClean so it looks nicer when I'm 00:20:57.440 --> 00:21:02.779 done. And I don't use anything thicker than .031 00:21:02.779 --> 00:21:08.000 inches. .025 is thinner but also works good. 00:21:09.360 --> 00:21:13.359 dot zero two five or dot three one rosin core 00:21:13.359 --> 00:21:17.500 no clean sixty three thirty seven yes i have 00:21:17.500 --> 00:21:20.140 some sixty forty solder but i use that mostly 00:21:20.140 --> 00:21:24.160 for soldering heavy antenna wires and coax connectors 00:21:24.160 --> 00:21:29.700 and things like that very good well all great 00:21:29.700 --> 00:21:32.700 points and we want to remind everybody of those 00:21:32.700 --> 00:21:37.799 so If you haven't tuned in to Joe before here 00:21:37.799 --> 00:21:40.880 on show you you get that and if you want to hear 00:21:40.880 --> 00:21:44.559 more about that look up some of those old episodes 00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:48.500 and we talk quite a bit about that so That's 00:21:48.500 --> 00:21:51.140 all great stuff. So we're gonna take a break 00:21:51.140 --> 00:21:54.180 and when we come back We'll talk more kits and 00:21:54.180 --> 00:21:57.079 we'll take your phone calls and tweets and messages 00:21:57.789 --> 00:22:02.690 for Joe, K0NEB, when we come back after this 00:22:02.690 --> 00:22:06.829 word from Tower Electronics right here on HamTalk 00:22:06.829 --> 00:22:12.109 Live. Hey honey, have you seen the PL259s anywhere? 00:22:12.670 --> 00:22:18.359 No, I haven't. Come on kids, let's go! There's 00:22:18.359 --> 00:22:20.819 just one place to go for all of your connector 00:22:20.819 --> 00:22:23.799 needs. Tower electronics. Tower electronics. 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:27.059 Tower electronics. A giant warehouse of connectors 00:22:27.059 --> 00:22:30.079 and adapters for every occasion. Thousands to 00:22:30.079 --> 00:22:32.420 choose from in every shape, size, and color. 00:22:32.619 --> 00:22:35.359 And they have antennas, soldering supplies, cables, 00:22:35.619 --> 00:22:38.380 meters, and more. Where do you go if you want 00:22:38.380 --> 00:22:40.720 to buy a connector at a fraction of retail cost? 00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:44.720 Tower electronics. Tower electronics. Tower electronics. 00:22:45.119 --> 00:22:47.400 And this weekend only, take advantage of our 00:22:47.400 --> 00:22:50.319 Special liquidation sale. Buy nine solder -type 00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:53.680 PL -259s. Get the tenth one for just one penny. 00:22:56.220 --> 00:23:01.519 They make great Christmas presents. And what 00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:03.799 better way to say, I love you, than with the 00:23:03.799 --> 00:23:08.670 gift of a PL -259. Tower Electronics. Tower Electronics. 00:23:08.809 --> 00:23:13.250 Tower Electronics. Hi, I'm Scott Cole, KB9 AMM, 00:23:13.410 --> 00:23:16.250 President of Tower Electronics. I like the company 00:23:16.250 --> 00:23:18.789 so much that I bought it. Tower Electronics. 00:23:19.029 --> 00:23:22.349 Coming to a hand fest near you or online at pl 00:23:22.349 --> 00:23:26.589 -259 .com. And we're in the Yellow Pages under... 00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:29.519 Amateur radio connectors. My, wherever did you 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:33.420 get that lovely PL259? Tower Electronics, pl 00:23:33.420 --> 00:23:40.299 -259 .com or call 920 -435 -2973. Do we sell 00:23:40.299 --> 00:23:44.680 PL259 connectors? Join the conversation. Give 00:23:44.680 --> 00:23:49.940 us a call at 812 -NET -HAM -1. That's 812 -638 00:23:49.940 --> 00:24:01.210 -4261. Now, here's more HamTalk Live. You're 00:24:01.210 --> 00:24:06.289 listening to HamTalk Live with Neil Rapp. Wow, 00:24:06.750 --> 00:24:10.369 that's a really big boat anchor you have there. 00:24:23.589 --> 00:24:26.970 Thanks to Tower Electronics for being sponsor 00:24:26.970 --> 00:24:29.970 of the show. It's good to see. Scott and Jill 00:24:29.970 --> 00:24:33.089 down at Huntsville as well and they'll be in 00:24:33.089 --> 00:24:36.569 Shelby, North Carolina coming up on August 30th 00:24:36.569 --> 00:24:40.170 31st and September 1st and then they'll be in 00:24:40.170 --> 00:24:44.430 Findlay, Ohio September 8th and in Peoria at 00:24:44.430 --> 00:24:48.710 the Superfest on September 14th and 15th. That's 00:24:48.710 --> 00:24:51.609 Peoria, Illinois, but you can find them anytime 00:24:51.609 --> 00:24:57.640 at PL - HamTalkLive is on the air every Thursday 00:24:57.640 --> 00:25:00.420 night at 9 p .m. Eastern Time, right here at 00:25:00.420 --> 00:25:02.960 HamTalkLive .com. Be sure to check us out on 00:25:02.960 --> 00:25:06.539 Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. And we've got 00:25:06.539 --> 00:25:09.539 more to talk about and we'll talk about some 00:25:09.539 --> 00:25:12.890 another kid and some other stuff. going on with 00:25:12.890 --> 00:25:16.970 Joe, but we want to invite you to call in. So 00:25:16.970 --> 00:25:20.329 it is time now for your calls. If you have a 00:25:20.329 --> 00:25:24.150 question for Joe, give us a call at 812 -NET 00:25:24.150 --> 00:25:28.829 -HAM -1, or you can tweet us at HamTalk Live 00:25:28.829 --> 00:25:31.289 with your question, or if you're on a speaker, 00:25:31.529 --> 00:25:34.009 you can type into the chat thing and it'll pop 00:25:34.009 --> 00:25:37.470 up here too. But the phone number again, 812 00:25:37.470 --> 00:25:44.400 -NET -HAM -1. ham 1 8 1 2 6 3 8 4 2 6 1 now if 00:25:44.400 --> 00:25:47.700 you're listening to us on WTWW or on the podcast 00:25:47.700 --> 00:25:50.319 edition you're not going to reach anybody at 00:25:50.319 --> 00:25:52.740 the phone number because it's Thursday night 00:25:52.740 --> 00:25:57.200 so you won't find anywhere you won't find us 00:25:57.200 --> 00:26:00.359 anywhere on the telephone just just virtually 00:26:00.359 --> 00:26:04.759 so Joe, while we're waiting on the calls and 00:26:04.759 --> 00:26:07.900 I'll check the tweets here and everything, you've 00:26:07.900 --> 00:26:12.859 got one more kit to talk about that's a relatively 00:26:12.859 --> 00:26:16.000 new one. Yeah, this one doesn't come from the 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:20.960 Force Day QRP group. It comes from qrpkits .com. 00:26:21.880 --> 00:26:25.259 And what this kit is, is it's called the Walwart 00:26:25.259 --> 00:26:28.740 Tamer. And what it does is it takes wall wart 00:26:28.740 --> 00:26:31.420 type power supplies, filters them, cleans it 00:26:31.420 --> 00:26:34.880 up and regulates the output and makes it so you 00:26:34.880 --> 00:26:37.119 can adjust the voltage output. Now, of course, 00:26:37.240 --> 00:26:40.180 this thing seems to work most ideally with old 00:26:40.180 --> 00:26:44.000 laptop power supplies. Being in the IT business, 00:26:44.559 --> 00:26:47.180 we end up with a lot of old laptops that come 00:26:47.180 --> 00:26:49.579 back to get recycled. Well, I don't throw away 00:26:49.579 --> 00:26:53.220 those darn power supplies. And they work wonderful 00:26:53.220 --> 00:26:56.279 for this. Yes, it puts out 19 volts, which is 00:26:56.279 --> 00:26:59.460 wonderful, because there's a drop of a volt and 00:26:59.460 --> 00:27:02.859 a half or so in this circuit. And what it does, 00:27:03.160 --> 00:27:07.460 it has a full wave bridge on the input. And so 00:27:07.460 --> 00:27:10.759 you could even take like an 18 volt AC transformer 00:27:10.759 --> 00:27:14.200 and hook it to the input. If you're hooking a 00:27:14.200 --> 00:27:17.519 DC output like from a laptop supply, you don't 00:27:17.519 --> 00:27:20.019 care what the polarity is, because it goes into 00:27:20.019 --> 00:27:22.470 a full wave bridge. And then it goes through 00:27:22.470 --> 00:27:26.109 a lot of filtering and regulation. And then you 00:27:26.109 --> 00:27:29.549 have an adjustment. You can set the output voltage. 00:27:29.890 --> 00:27:34.589 And it gives you an amp or two of filtered DC 00:27:34.589 --> 00:27:39.470 from about, if you're using a 19 volt power supply, 00:27:39.569 --> 00:27:42.349 from about 17 volts down to about one and a half 00:27:42.349 --> 00:27:45.710 volts. Now adjusting that little pot on the board 00:27:45.710 --> 00:27:49.299 is a little tricky, but you can take that off 00:27:49.299 --> 00:27:51.839 and replace it with a panel mount pot and you 00:27:51.839 --> 00:27:54.660 can use one of those little voltmeters and you 00:27:54.660 --> 00:27:57.720 can have full -time monitoring of what it's putting 00:27:57.720 --> 00:28:00.200 out. You can make a really nice little power 00:28:00.200 --> 00:28:04.259 supply out of this and I kind of like to use 00:28:04.259 --> 00:28:07.619 that now for a first -time build for somebody 00:28:07.619 --> 00:28:10.359 because the spacing and the type of components 00:28:10.359 --> 00:28:13.339 used are very very easy to work with in terms 00:28:13.339 --> 00:28:16.910 of soldering. and they get something that they 00:28:16.910 --> 00:28:19.750 can use with almost every other kit they make 00:28:19.750 --> 00:28:23.329 from then on. It's a variable voltage power supply. 00:28:24.269 --> 00:28:27.650 So it's called the wall wart tamer, and it's 00:28:27.650 --> 00:28:33.089 available from qrpkits .com. So in fact, that's 00:28:33.089 --> 00:28:35.069 probably gonna be the kit we're gonna be doing 00:28:35.069 --> 00:28:38.269 in Peoria. So if you're gonna be there, we will 00:28:38.269 --> 00:28:42.349 help you come by and say hi. All right, very 00:28:42.349 --> 00:28:46.390 good. And the phone number here to call? is 812 00:28:46.390 --> 00:28:55.250 -638 -4261. 812 -638 -4261. And I was looking 00:28:55.250 --> 00:28:57.950 at my cell phone and noticed that it buzzed just 00:28:57.950 --> 00:29:01.200 for a second. So I know that... Jocelyn was trying 00:29:01.200 --> 00:29:04.240 to call in. So we'll give that number again. 00:29:04.740 --> 00:29:11.839 812 -638 -4261 and we'll see if we can get some 00:29:11.839 --> 00:29:17.660 calls in here this evening. Now you've been with 00:29:17.660 --> 00:29:21.680 CQ doing the article for quite a while and you've 00:29:21.680 --> 00:29:25.480 got an anniversary coming up here. Yep, the November 00:29:25.480 --> 00:29:29.119 issue will celebrate 10 years of writing for 00:29:29.119 --> 00:29:33.619 CQ magazine and it happened right in Don AE5DW's 00:29:33.619 --> 00:29:37.880 car where I was given the opportunity by Rich 00:29:37.880 --> 00:29:44.019 W2VU who is the editor of CQ and when he kind 00:29:44.019 --> 00:29:46.700 of dropped the bomb on me of saying, how would 00:29:46.700 --> 00:29:51.380 you like to write for CQ? I was kind of flabbergasted 00:29:51.380 --> 00:29:53.880 and Don, who was driving the car, said, Joe, 00:29:53.900 --> 00:29:56.240 go for it, go for it. And I said, oh yeah, you 00:29:56.240 --> 00:30:00.380 bet. And I sent a couple samples in and he said, 00:30:00.519 --> 00:30:02.779 okay, that's November and December, let's keep 00:30:02.779 --> 00:30:05.579 going. And we've been going ever since. Now, 00:30:05.720 --> 00:30:08.279 we both thought that this will last maybe about 00:30:08.279 --> 00:30:11.440 six months, maybe at the most. And as you can 00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:13.980 see, it's gotten more popular and it keeps going. 00:30:14.440 --> 00:30:16.839 And so as long as they'll have me, I'm going 00:30:16.839 --> 00:30:21.519 to keep writing and keep building kits. And the 00:30:21.519 --> 00:30:25.299 great thing about this is it gives hams a chance 00:30:25.640 --> 00:30:29.220 to see some of these kits in the process of being 00:30:29.220 --> 00:30:31.859 built so they get to see them partially assembled 00:30:31.859 --> 00:30:34.920 and actually not assembled at all. I lay out 00:30:34.920 --> 00:30:37.559 the parts in almost all my columns so you can 00:30:37.559 --> 00:30:40.799 see them totally unbuilt and I show some detail 00:30:40.799 --> 00:30:43.420 if there are certain things like the corners 00:30:43.420 --> 00:30:45.940 of a circuit board that need to be soldered together 00:30:45.940 --> 00:30:48.319 and things like that and I try to take as good 00:30:48.319 --> 00:30:51.859 of pictures as possible and get those in there 00:30:51.859 --> 00:30:55.069 so that everybody can see what is inside that 00:30:55.069 --> 00:30:59.470 kit. So yes, this is the 10th anniversary. I'm 00:30:59.470 --> 00:31:02.009 actually working on my November column as we 00:31:02.009 --> 00:31:07.569 speak. And 10 years of writing, I never would 00:31:07.569 --> 00:31:11.329 have dreamed. And it's really led to some great 00:31:11.329 --> 00:31:17.259 things. I am now also the chapter author. right 00:31:17.259 --> 00:31:20.500 now who does the updates of the construction 00:31:20.500 --> 00:31:23.960 techniques chapter in the ARRL handbook and I've 00:31:23.960 --> 00:31:28.160 done that since 2014. I never thought that I'd 00:31:28.160 --> 00:31:32.619 be a handbook author and so I'm kind of humbled 00:31:32.619 --> 00:31:34.960 by that but everybody tells me actually they're 00:31:34.960 --> 00:31:37.579 doing a brain dump on you. They want all that 00:31:37.579 --> 00:31:40.740 information in their head in these books and 00:31:40.740 --> 00:31:44.230 magazines. Yep, they do. They do, and it's good 00:31:44.230 --> 00:31:48.630 that you can share that eloquently as you do. 00:31:48.710 --> 00:31:51.529 Well, we do have a question here from Chris, 00:31:51.569 --> 00:31:56.450 AA4CB. Chris says, I'm looking to pick up the 00:31:56.450 --> 00:32:01.789 Microbiotics HFSSBCW transceiver kit. He hears 00:32:01.789 --> 00:32:04.250 many good things about them. Have you ever put 00:32:04.250 --> 00:32:08.269 one together? And if so, how difficult was it? 00:32:09.180 --> 00:32:12.660 I put one together and the good thing is you 00:32:12.660 --> 00:32:14.819 don't have to solder all those little parts on 00:32:14.819 --> 00:32:17.779 that board. The board is pre -assembled and pre 00:32:17.779 --> 00:32:20.680 -tuned, but you have a lot of front panel wiring 00:32:20.680 --> 00:32:25.500 to do and I was fortunate enough to have a friend 00:32:25.500 --> 00:32:29.140 in our local radio club here who had a 3D printer. 00:32:29.549 --> 00:32:33.930 and he was able to 3D print a snap together three 00:32:33.930 --> 00:32:37.630 -piece case for that. And so I was able to bolt 00:32:37.630 --> 00:32:41.130 the front panel components to the front and back 00:32:41.130 --> 00:32:46.009 panel. and then solder the cables together to 00:32:46.009 --> 00:32:48.410 the ones that plug onto the board and snap it 00:32:48.410 --> 00:32:52.230 together and there was my assembled radio. It 00:32:52.230 --> 00:32:55.829 works pretty good. Obviously it's not going to 00:32:55.829 --> 00:32:58.950 receive AM unless you listen to the upper or 00:32:58.950 --> 00:33:01.430 lower sideband, but it's an excellent little 00:33:01.430 --> 00:33:05.890 QRP radio and is surprising how well it works 00:33:05.890 --> 00:33:10.259 and it's also very surprising how many Mods there 00:33:10.259 --> 00:33:13.819 are including AGC and other functions for it 00:33:13.819 --> 00:33:18.519 There are a zillion mods for it and that's that's 00:33:18.519 --> 00:33:21.000 the fun part of it because the main board is 00:33:21.000 --> 00:33:25.480 already done for you but like I said, you're 00:33:25.480 --> 00:33:28.180 going to be wiring all the front panel knobs 00:33:28.180 --> 00:33:33.859 and and so forth and the display and and putting 00:33:33.859 --> 00:33:36.819 all that together and That's what still makes 00:33:36.819 --> 00:33:38.779 it a kit. Somebody told me, well, that's not 00:33:38.779 --> 00:33:41.240 really a kit. Well, it certainly is because there's 00:33:41.240 --> 00:33:43.720 a lot of wiring that you get to do. It's just 00:33:43.720 --> 00:33:45.720 you don't have to mess with the stuff on the 00:33:45.720 --> 00:33:49.980 board. Okay. So there you have it, Chris. I've 00:33:49.980 --> 00:33:53.119 heard a lot of good things about those too. So 00:33:53.119 --> 00:33:56.740 good luck with that project and hope it goes 00:33:56.740 --> 00:34:02.549 well for you. 812 -638 -4261 is the telephone 00:34:02.549 --> 00:34:06.630 number if you'd like to call in 812 -NET -HAM 00:34:06.630 --> 00:34:10.010 -1 or you can tweet us at HamTalk Live. If you're 00:34:10.010 --> 00:34:12.769 on Spreaker, you can leave us a comment there 00:34:12.769 --> 00:34:15.969 and it'll come into the chat window. So we'll 00:34:15.969 --> 00:34:19.090 take a look at that and answer some more questions. 00:34:21.949 --> 00:34:27.000 We'll go back to Huntsville, I guess. We were 00:34:27.000 --> 00:34:31.579 talking about about Kind of getting together 00:34:31.579 --> 00:34:34.739 with with people in Huntsville and and this is 00:34:34.739 --> 00:34:38.340 a an anniversary for that for you, too Yeah, 00:34:38.360 --> 00:34:41.780 this was my 20th time coming there now. I've 00:34:41.780 --> 00:34:46.840 missed a couple of years one early around 2002 00:34:46.840 --> 00:34:50.260 I think And then I missed it two years ago because 00:34:50.260 --> 00:34:54.280 of the full solar eclipse, the total eclipse 00:34:54.280 --> 00:34:57.639 that was right here in Lincoln, Nebraska. So 00:34:57.639 --> 00:35:03.000 I missed it twice, but I've been there 20 times. 00:35:06.360 --> 00:35:10.320 take my hats off to Mark and the whole crew of 00:35:10.320 --> 00:35:13.539 volunteers that put together that wonderful ham 00:35:13.539 --> 00:35:16.159 fest. And I'm really, really looking forward 00:35:16.159 --> 00:35:20.860 to being there again next year. All right, very 00:35:20.860 --> 00:35:29.239 good. Well, I am getting a call here, but Skype 00:35:29.239 --> 00:35:32.920 is not letting me add it and I don't want to 00:35:32.920 --> 00:35:41.460 hang up on you. So, I'm going to try to call 00:35:41.460 --> 00:35:51.420 him. We got all kinds of stuff going on here, 00:35:51.440 --> 00:35:59.320 so let me... Okay, we got it. Now let me try 00:35:59.320 --> 00:36:05.250 this again. Thank you Skype. And we'll try to 00:36:05.250 --> 00:36:17.409 call him if this will work. We're trying. There 00:36:17.409 --> 00:36:22.070 we go. Did we get you Jocelyn? Yes, you did. 00:36:23.030 --> 00:36:25.070 All right, we've got it. We've got everybody 00:36:25.070 --> 00:36:26.989 on the phone at the same time now. So that's 00:36:26.989 --> 00:36:29.449 what we were after. Good evening. This is Jocelyn 00:36:29.449 --> 00:36:34.469 KD8 VRX. You have a question here for Joe? I 00:36:34.469 --> 00:36:37.130 question the comments or first say hi to Joe 00:36:37.130 --> 00:36:41.570 and Thank you for being on the show I was looking 00:36:41.570 --> 00:36:43.869 at that four state qrp. You mentioned the nouveau 00:36:43.869 --> 00:36:47.230 75. It does say that the sales are pending right 00:36:47.230 --> 00:36:49.949 now They were suspended not pending. I'm sorry. 00:36:49.969 --> 00:36:52.889 They say the sales are suspended. So hopefully 00:36:52.889 --> 00:36:54.829 that's probably just a little minor shortage 00:36:54.829 --> 00:36:56.829 and they'll be out because that looks like an 00:36:56.829 --> 00:36:59.829 awesome radio and Neil you're right. I was trying 00:36:59.829 --> 00:37:04.150 to call you earlier and that the issue was that 00:37:04.150 --> 00:37:07.690 I was going to ask Joe what he uses for soldering 00:37:07.690 --> 00:37:09.690 and if he had any advice, but he already had 00:37:09.690 --> 00:37:12.889 given that out. So there goes that, and I know 00:37:12.889 --> 00:37:15.989 Joe's a kit guy. So while I was at Huntsville 00:37:15.989 --> 00:37:19.690 in the flea market, I ran across one of the flea 00:37:19.690 --> 00:37:22.349 tables, a flea market table, sorry. There was 00:37:22.349 --> 00:37:26.670 a Rocket City 3D, and they... 3D print a lot 00:37:26.670 --> 00:37:29.909 of cases and stuff, but they have a 9 to 1 on 00:37:29.909 --> 00:37:33.429 for an unfed with the case to wire it as a kit 00:37:33.429 --> 00:37:36.550 for $20. So I got one of those. Hopefully I'll 00:37:36.550 --> 00:37:39.110 be able to put that to use before the cold weather 00:37:39.110 --> 00:37:41.570 kicks in. So that's, I just had a few comments 00:37:41.570 --> 00:37:44.710 for Joe there. Well, thank you very much, Jocelyn. 00:37:44.989 --> 00:37:49.989 And it was great to see you again and look forward 00:37:49.989 --> 00:37:52.590 to working you on the air again, especially from 00:37:52.590 --> 00:37:58.639 the VOA station. And yeah, they were there. There 00:37:58.639 --> 00:38:04.139 was Nightfire Electronics, which is vakits .com. 00:38:04.739 --> 00:38:07.659 And they had a whole bunch of little simple kits 00:38:07.659 --> 00:38:12.199 that very few were over about 12 bucks. And they're 00:38:12.199 --> 00:38:17.659 a great source of beginners kits as well. Yes, 00:38:17.860 --> 00:38:21.599 I'm familiar with Nightfire. I think Angel is 00:38:21.599 --> 00:38:25.190 the... the lead person there, the owner, and 00:38:25.190 --> 00:38:26.909 I've talked to him several times. Actually, I 00:38:26.909 --> 00:38:31.590 was looking for a bag of random parts that, of 00:38:31.590 --> 00:38:34.130 course, he didn't have with him, but I was lucky 00:38:34.130 --> 00:38:37.110 enough to send me an email, and I'll be ordering 00:38:37.110 --> 00:38:39.889 that soon. So, Joe, thank you again for being 00:38:39.889 --> 00:38:45.969 on the air. Nicholas, sorry, Neil, thank you 00:38:45.969 --> 00:38:48.929 for picking up the call. Yeah, I'm putting some 00:38:48.929 --> 00:38:50.769 kids to bed. I'll let you guess what the name 00:38:50.769 --> 00:38:53.869 is. Yeah, I'm gonna, I'm gonna guess it's Nicholas. 00:38:57.630 --> 00:38:59.989 All right. Anyways, thank you guys and enjoy 00:38:59.989 --> 00:39:03.230 the show and talk to you soon again. You bet. 00:39:03.230 --> 00:39:05.809 All right, Jocelyn. Thanks for calling in. Appreciate 00:39:05.809 --> 00:39:09.510 it. All right. And we had another call here. 00:39:09.550 --> 00:39:12.090 So let me, uh, let me see if we can get Mark 00:39:12.090 --> 00:39:14.650 on the phone here. Maybe, uh, that'll work. I 00:39:14.650 --> 00:39:21.840 saw him call. Hello, Mark. Yes, Mark from from 00:39:21.840 --> 00:39:24.659 the Huntsville Hamfest. Good evening. You have 00:39:24.659 --> 00:39:29.019 something for us tonight Just I wanted to say 00:39:29.019 --> 00:39:32.179 hello because things happen so fast this weekend 00:39:32.179 --> 00:39:34.320 I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to either 00:39:34.320 --> 00:39:38.719 of you and I did see Jocelyn I think it was sometime 00:39:38.719 --> 00:39:42.539 Saturday Sunday morning before he left, but I 00:39:42.539 --> 00:39:46.139 don't know when you guys Left the Hamfest, but 00:39:46.139 --> 00:39:49.159 we had a we had a great Sunday, too It was just 00:39:49.159 --> 00:39:52.960 a fabulous weekend all around. And, you know, 00:39:53.000 --> 00:39:55.519 Neil, you brought the pig costume and we got 00:39:55.519 --> 00:39:59.380 somebody in that. Just a really memorable weekend. 00:39:59.699 --> 00:40:03.719 I hope you guys had a good time. We had two different 00:40:03.719 --> 00:40:07.380 people in the suit. Yeah, we had two different 00:40:07.380 --> 00:40:10.599 people in the suit. Yeah, we had Karen in there 00:40:10.599 --> 00:40:13.400 and then we had, oh, I forget the young lady's 00:40:13.400 --> 00:40:18.480 name, but she was so excited about About being 00:40:18.480 --> 00:40:20.780 in the suit and now I've forgotten her name. 00:40:20.780 --> 00:40:24.079 Oh my goodness. That's terrible. But yeah, they, 00:40:24.079 --> 00:40:27.219 they had a, had a great time with that. And yeah, 00:40:27.219 --> 00:40:31.960 I, I, I have to admit, I, I, Dr. Rob Suggs gave 00:40:31.960 --> 00:40:34.860 me a call and said, you got to come see the, 00:40:34.860 --> 00:40:37.760 you got to come see the observatory and the ham 00:40:37.760 --> 00:40:40.940 shack out at Marshall. So that was my Sunday 00:40:40.940 --> 00:40:44.280 was, was I slipped out to NASA for a few minutes. 00:40:44.639 --> 00:40:47.909 So uh... okay so you would have to worry i'm 00:40:47.909 --> 00:40:50.289 not a sailor and then out to the marshall club 00:40:50.289 --> 00:40:54.429 yes that that's one thing on my bucket list i've 00:40:54.429 --> 00:40:57.769 been so busy i have not been out to the uh... 00:40:57.769 --> 00:41:00.210 the uh... the marshall club but it's just a few 00:41:00.210 --> 00:41:03.110 blocks away from my wife's office and i owe a 00:41:03.110 --> 00:41:08.360 visit out there Yeah, Rob was on me last year 00:41:08.360 --> 00:41:11.139 to go and couldn't get it worked in. So this 00:41:11.139 --> 00:41:13.599 year we had to work it in. It was fascinating. 00:41:13.780 --> 00:41:17.539 Very, very good. I'll tell you what guys, we 00:41:17.539 --> 00:41:20.719 put in quite a weekend down there and I got home 00:41:20.719 --> 00:41:23.380 Sunday from an overgrown yard and been focused 00:41:23.380 --> 00:41:26.260 on getting caught up here at the home front, 00:41:26.780 --> 00:41:30.039 but just an emotionally exhausting week and I'm 00:41:30.039 --> 00:41:32.960 still in a recovery mode. And probably next week 00:41:32.960 --> 00:41:35.059 sometime we'll get back together and talk about 00:41:35.059 --> 00:41:37.940 what went right, what could go better, and start 00:41:37.940 --> 00:41:41.739 looking at it next year. Well, Mark, I really 00:41:41.739 --> 00:41:45.119 appreciate your efforts and look forward to it 00:41:45.119 --> 00:41:48.900 again. And maybe a quieter room to speak, of 00:41:48.900 --> 00:41:52.760 course. But other than that, I really, really, 00:41:52.760 --> 00:41:57.059 really enjoyed it. And like everybody said, there 00:41:57.059 --> 00:42:01.320 was a lot more people there this year. absolutely 00:42:01.320 --> 00:42:04.860 I announced on ham nation last night Neil I'm 00:42:04.860 --> 00:42:08.059 not sure if you heard but we reported just over 00:42:08.059 --> 00:42:12.059 5 ,000 visitors at a 20 % increase from the year 00:42:12.059 --> 00:42:17.219 before Wow excellent well several people were 00:42:17.219 --> 00:42:20.000 commenting wow it's just really busy there's 00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:21.940 there's there's a lot of people coming through 00:42:21.940 --> 00:42:25.599 here so that that totally makes sense so congratulations 00:42:25.599 --> 00:42:28.559 it was Yeah, it was a it was a really good weekend 00:42:28.559 --> 00:42:31.099 and Joe to your comment about the the forum room 00:42:31.099 --> 00:42:33.480 Yeah, I've already passed that along to Tom and 00:42:33.480 --> 00:42:37.119 we we got to work on that for next year Sounds 00:42:37.119 --> 00:42:40.820 great. I really look forward to it Okay, guys, 00:42:40.980 --> 00:42:42.960 like I said, I just wanted to call in say hi 00:42:42.960 --> 00:42:47.039 and I really really appreciate both of your Attending 00:42:47.039 --> 00:42:49.179 and Jocelyn to he's probably listening and probably 00:42:49.179 --> 00:42:52.260 several others that that were there and we'll 00:42:52.260 --> 00:42:54.519 try to do it bigger and better and friendlier 00:42:54.519 --> 00:42:57.849 next year Always the world's friendliest ham 00:42:57.849 --> 00:43:01.110 fest. Absolutely. Okay. Thanks guys. Absolutely. 00:43:01.650 --> 00:43:07.070 73. All right. 73 Mark. Thanks a lot. All right. 00:43:07.110 --> 00:43:11.869 Well, we've got some activity here in the chat. 00:43:11.949 --> 00:43:15.469 Chris says another excellent Huntsville ham fest. 00:43:15.570 --> 00:43:24.550 And thanks to Mark and Jill. KDA. Oh, QDA. Always 00:43:24.550 --> 00:43:27.510 mess up her call. She wants something. She want 00:43:27.510 --> 00:43:31.050 a radio and She says it was it was it was very 00:43:31.050 --> 00:43:36.170 busy. So but a great job. So That's that's a 00:43:36.170 --> 00:43:38.750 good deal. Well Joe, we're just about out of 00:43:38.750 --> 00:43:42.010 time here tonight So we and we got some some 00:43:42.010 --> 00:43:46.530 calls, which I always like so Anything else we 00:43:46.530 --> 00:43:51.699 need to throw in before we go? Yeah. Yeah I'd 00:43:51.699 --> 00:43:54.219 say every kit builder should have a digital multi 00:43:54.219 --> 00:43:58.260 meter and there's no excuse not to have one if 00:43:58.260 --> 00:44:01.559 you've got a harbor freight nearby and They have 00:44:01.559 --> 00:44:04.079 the coupons quite often for three dollars or 00:44:04.079 --> 00:44:07.480 even free sometimes And those meters, you know, 00:44:07.480 --> 00:44:10.000 they're not the they're not a fluke but actually 00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:12.900 they do pretty good and they're more than good 00:44:12.900 --> 00:44:17.360 enough for Beginning kit builder and so don't 00:44:17.360 --> 00:44:20.809 don't discount those Harbor freight meters as 00:44:20.809 --> 00:44:24.570 being not worthy of it because they they actually 00:44:24.570 --> 00:44:30.389 work well for kit builders All right, very good. 00:44:30.409 --> 00:44:36.449 Oh, yeah, and Jill says the TM 281 a I believe 00:44:36.449 --> 00:44:41.110 it is She said 2801. I think it's 281. Maybe 00:44:41.110 --> 00:44:45.960 it's typo. Not sure anyway She was a lucky winner 00:44:45.960 --> 00:44:50.440 on that, so congratulations, Jill, and good to 00:44:50.440 --> 00:44:54.719 see you down there, too. Well, Joe, I guess we're 00:44:54.719 --> 00:44:57.480 going to wrap things up here tonight, but thanks 00:44:57.480 --> 00:44:59.860 for coming on again, and we'll be talking again 00:44:59.860 --> 00:45:04.239 on here in a few months. Oh, what do we have 00:45:04.239 --> 00:45:08.780 to look forward to here in CQ here in the next 00:45:08.780 --> 00:45:15.500 month? I think September issue has that high 00:45:15.500 --> 00:45:18.480 pass filter that I talked about. We'll go ahead 00:45:18.480 --> 00:45:22.019 and finish up tonight and been playing around 00:45:22.019 --> 00:45:26.880 too here. We got the chat apparently fixed and 00:45:26.880 --> 00:45:30.519 we've got Skype fixed apparently and we've got 00:45:30.519 --> 00:45:33.820 a new audio interface too. We're working out 00:45:33.820 --> 00:45:36.800 the bugs here with the new computer and everything 00:45:36.800 --> 00:45:39.940 so we're kind of upgrading everything and I think 00:45:39.940 --> 00:45:42.019 it's going to work out really well. We're getting 00:45:42.019 --> 00:45:45.980 the last of the bugs fixed so we should be able 00:45:45.980 --> 00:45:50.019 to take calls and get everything going again 00:45:50.019 --> 00:45:53.719 reliably soon and it's all working now. It's 00:45:53.719 --> 00:45:56.250 just a matter of of getting all the little bugs 00:45:56.250 --> 00:46:00.429 worked out. So that should be improving as the 00:46:00.429 --> 00:46:04.869 shows go on. So Joe, we'll all finish up here. 00:46:05.050 --> 00:46:09.070 But thanks so much for coming on. All right. 00:46:09.150 --> 00:46:11.590 Well, thank you very much for having me on. Always 00:46:11.590 --> 00:46:16.070 glad to talk about kit building. Alright, well 00:46:16.070 --> 00:46:21.289 that's Joe Eisenberg, KZeroNEB from CQ Magazine. 00:46:21.389 --> 00:46:24.510 He is the kit building editor and we're going 00:46:24.510 --> 00:46:28.050 to call that a wrap for this week's edition of 00:46:28.050 --> 00:46:31.150 HamTalk Live. Thanks to Joe for being there. 00:46:31.250 --> 00:46:34.530 Thanks for everybody. listening and calling in 00:46:34.530 --> 00:46:37.150 and typing in and invite you back next Thursday 00:46:37.150 --> 00:46:40.829 night at 9 p .m. Eastern Time when Dr. Ralph 00:46:40.829 --> 00:46:45.170 Fedor K -0 -I -R and Dr. Glenn Johnson W -0 -G 00:46:45.170 --> 00:46:48.750 -J will be here to talk about the Pitcairn Island 00:46:48.750 --> 00:46:52.230 De -Expedition and for a list of all of our upcoming 00:46:52.230 --> 00:46:56.250 guests visit HamTalkLive .com and if you like 00:46:56.250 --> 00:46:59.289 HamTalk Live Please consider leaving us a review 00:46:59.289 --> 00:47:02.230 on iTunes or wherever you listen. It helps others 00:47:02.230 --> 00:47:05.590 find us faster. So for now, this is Neil Rapp, 00:47:05.690 --> 00:47:11.289 WB9VPG, saying 7 -3, 7 -5, and may the good DX 00:47:11.289 --> 00:47:12.610 be yours.