WEBVTT 00:00:09.779 --> 00:00:12.619 Thanks for tuning in. HamTalk Live will be on 00:00:12.619 --> 00:00:30.539 the air shortly. Please stand by. Thanks for 00:00:30.539 --> 00:00:33.299 tuning in. HamTalk Live will be on the air shortly. 00:00:33.579 --> 00:00:39.659 Please stand by. This episode of HamTalk Live 00:00:39.659 --> 00:00:43.280 is brought to you by Tower Electronics. For connectors, 00:00:43.659 --> 00:00:49.119 cables, and more, call 920 -435 -2973 or visit 00:00:49.119 --> 00:00:54.979 pl -259 .com. And by ICOM, heard it, worked it, 00:00:55.259 --> 00:01:00.240 logged it. Visit www .icomamerica .com slash 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:04.079 amateur for more information about ICOM radios. 00:01:36.329 --> 00:01:39.609 Hey, good evening everyone. It's time for HamTalk 00:01:39.609 --> 00:01:44.689 Live. It's episode number 154, Working Portable 00:01:44.689 --> 00:01:49.650 Events, recorded live on Thursday, February 28th, 00:01:49.650 --> 00:01:54.010 2019. I'm your host, Neil Rapp, WB9VPG. Thanks 00:01:54.010 --> 00:01:58.030 for tuning in to another episode of HamTalk Live. 00:01:58.129 --> 00:02:00.430 We're back. If you missed us last week, we'll 00:02:00.430 --> 00:02:02.709 tell you what was going on there, but that was 00:02:02.709 --> 00:02:06.459 scheduled. We're back tonight and we've got Sean 00:02:06.459 --> 00:02:11.000 Kutzko KX9X with us tonight to talk all about 00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:13.960 working portable and some ways to make that fun 00:02:13.960 --> 00:02:18.840 and interesting and some ways to make that easier. 00:02:18.840 --> 00:02:22.539 So we'll talk about that. Last week I wasn't 00:02:22.539 --> 00:02:25.539 here and I kind of announced that ahead of time 00:02:25.539 --> 00:02:30.060 because I was I'm also the PA announcer at the 00:02:30.060 --> 00:02:34.090 school where I teach and The final regular season 00:02:34.090 --> 00:02:37.349 basketball game of the year is always on a Thursday 00:02:37.349 --> 00:02:40.009 night. Normally we don't play on Thursday night, 00:02:40.250 --> 00:02:42.729 but it was on Thursday night, so I had to do 00:02:42.729 --> 00:02:47.550 that. But in addition to that, our coach became 00:02:47.550 --> 00:02:51.009 the winningest coach in Indiana high school basketball 00:02:51.009 --> 00:02:55.250 history. So not only did I have to do the game, 00:02:55.330 --> 00:02:58.449 which included senior night and all that stuff, 00:02:58.449 --> 00:03:01.939 but then... He had a big postgame celebration 00:03:01.939 --> 00:03:05.060 for him afterwards and had to take care of some 00:03:05.060 --> 00:03:08.780 audio for that and everything so That's where 00:03:08.780 --> 00:03:12.819 I was last week and two weeks ago We had open 00:03:12.819 --> 00:03:16.659 lines for dating stories, and I have to say we 00:03:16.659 --> 00:03:19.949 ran out of time There were so many people calling 00:03:19.949 --> 00:03:23.550 in and sharing their stories. So thanks again 00:03:23.550 --> 00:03:28.150 to Val, NV9L, for suggesting the topic and everybody 00:03:28.150 --> 00:03:30.409 who called in. And I forgot to mention at the 00:03:30.409 --> 00:03:34.250 end that the kids in my school club said that 00:03:34.250 --> 00:03:37.050 they want to have a special event station at 00:03:37.050 --> 00:03:42.330 the wedding with Julie and I. So Julie said it 00:03:42.330 --> 00:03:44.870 would be okay, but I don't know. We'll see if 00:03:44.870 --> 00:03:48.189 that happens. You just never know but if you 00:03:48.189 --> 00:03:51.349 missed that show listen anytime ham talk live 00:03:51.349 --> 00:03:54.449 comm or on your favorite podcast app or on YouTube 00:03:54.449 --> 00:04:00.069 or Don't forget. We're on WTWW now 5085 a .m. 00:04:00.349 --> 00:04:03.750 Saturday evenings at about 630 p .m. Eastern 00:04:03.750 --> 00:04:08.150 So get your portable questions ready to go And 00:04:08.150 --> 00:04:10.310 if you're listening to us on Thursday night, 00:04:10.689 --> 00:04:13.009 you can give us a call after I talked to Sean 00:04:13.009 --> 00:04:16.209 a little for a little bit by calling the phone 00:04:16.209 --> 00:04:18.930 number and yeah we're still on our temporary 00:04:18.930 --> 00:04:21.730 number so let me give you the temporary number 00:04:21.730 --> 00:04:31.470 again it's 812 -650 -9556 again 812 -650 -9556 00:04:31.470 --> 00:04:35.279 is the number to call tonight And hopefully we're 00:04:35.279 --> 00:04:37.860 going to get that switched over soon. You can 00:04:37.860 --> 00:04:40.899 also tweet us. We're still at HamTalk Live on 00:04:40.899 --> 00:04:43.779 Twitter. So we'll check the tweets out in a little 00:04:43.779 --> 00:04:46.379 while as well. And I'll be back with Sean right 00:04:46.379 --> 00:04:49.540 after this word from Icom America right here 00:04:49.540 --> 00:04:53.370 on HamTalk Live. Create your own band opening. 00:04:53.769 --> 00:04:58.189 ICOM's newest SDR transceiver, the IC -9700 is 00:04:58.189 --> 00:05:00.949 coming soon. This new radio is bringing direct 00:05:00.949 --> 00:05:05.189 sampling to the UHF -VHF week signal world. The 00:05:05.189 --> 00:05:08.870 IC -9700 all -mode transceiver is loaded with 00:05:08.870 --> 00:05:11.910 innovative features such as dedicated amateur 00:05:11.910 --> 00:05:15.350 satellite operation, color touch screen, D -Star 00:05:15.350 --> 00:05:18.509 capability built -in, RF direct sampling on the 00:05:18.509 --> 00:05:21.699 two meter and 70 centimeter band. dual independent 00:05:21.699 --> 00:05:24.800 receivers capable of full duplex operation, as 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:28.579 well as dual watch and maximum output power of 00:05:28.579 --> 00:05:32.279 100 watts on two meters, 75 watts on 70 centimeters, 00:05:32.620 --> 00:05:38.000 and 10 watts on 1 .2 gigahertz. Visit www .icomamerica 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:42.220 .com slash amateur for more information on ICOM 00:05:42.220 --> 00:06:02.959 radios. Welcome back to ham talk live Thanks 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:06.139 to icon America for sponsoring the show once 00:06:06.139 --> 00:06:10.600 again tonight and check out their deals and and 00:06:10.600 --> 00:06:13.779 that IC9700 coming soon, so be sure to check 00:06:13.779 --> 00:06:18.420 them out. Icomamerica .com slash amateur is where 00:06:18.420 --> 00:06:21.660 you will find them on the web. And my guest tonight, 00:06:21.660 --> 00:06:25.420 once again, is Sean Kutsko, KX9X. He's the former 00:06:25.420 --> 00:06:28.720 contest manager and media and public relations 00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:33.040 manager at ARRL. Sean enjoys portable operations, 00:06:33.579 --> 00:06:38.439 satellites. and QRP. He's an avid DXer and has 00:06:38.439 --> 00:06:41.459 had the chance to be the DX several times. Sean's 00:06:41.459 --> 00:06:44.220 been licensed since 1982 and was originally from 00:06:44.220 --> 00:06:47.259 central Illinois and attended the nearby University 00:06:47.259 --> 00:06:50.879 of Illinois. After being on staff at ARRL for 00:06:50.879 --> 00:06:54.420 10 years, he's now a public relations and communications 00:06:54.420 --> 00:06:58.040 consultant and he works over at the Mark Twain 00:06:58.040 --> 00:07:02.300 House and is the owner of a company called QRP. 00:07:02.540 --> 00:07:08.379 baking. So Sean, welcome back once again. Hey, 00:07:08.439 --> 00:07:10.259 Neil, it's good to be back on the show. How you 00:07:10.259 --> 00:07:12.860 doing? I'm, I'm doing, I'm doing all right. Got 00:07:12.860 --> 00:07:16.100 a little, little sign of stuff going on. So if 00:07:16.100 --> 00:07:20.139 I have to do that a few times, you understand 00:07:20.139 --> 00:07:23.399 why, but I completely understand. So, so, so 00:07:23.399 --> 00:07:27.720 does QRP baking have like, um, like, you know, 00:07:28.060 --> 00:07:30.939 stuff available for, for like portable operations? 00:07:31.500 --> 00:07:34.079 Well, you know a lot of baked goods are very 00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:36.899 tiny and could fit into a small backpack So I 00:07:36.899 --> 00:07:40.160 think we could probably work something out it's 00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:44.540 actually called qrp bakery and What's going on 00:07:44.540 --> 00:07:49.060 with that real quickly is the Connecticut? Legislature 00:07:49.060 --> 00:07:51.620 the Connecticut State Legislature just passed 00:07:51.620 --> 00:07:55.720 a law allowing Certain types of baked goods to 00:07:55.720 --> 00:08:02.290 be made in a home kitchen So any type of baked 00:08:02.290 --> 00:08:06.970 good that does not involve anything that can 00:08:06.970 --> 00:08:10.850 spoil or require refrigeration, you can sell 00:08:10.850 --> 00:08:14.569 it in very limited circumstances if it's made 00:08:14.569 --> 00:08:17.310 from a home kitchen. So I'm just starting to 00:08:17.310 --> 00:08:19.990 explore all of that. So stay tuned. Maybe you'll 00:08:19.990 --> 00:08:24.829 have some nice cookies and loaves of bread that 00:08:24.829 --> 00:08:27.750 you can get from me through the QRP Bakery. So 00:08:27.750 --> 00:08:30.629 we'll see how that plays out. Yeah, that might 00:08:30.629 --> 00:08:35.250 fit well with Wimploda. It could be. Although, 00:08:35.529 --> 00:08:37.230 you know, you might get, you know, the folks 00:08:37.230 --> 00:08:39.970 at the folks for Walmart parking lots on the 00:08:39.970 --> 00:08:42.009 air, you know, I have a feeling that there are 00:08:42.009 --> 00:08:44.110 a lot of like little Debbie snack cakes that 00:08:44.110 --> 00:08:47.450 are consumed during that, so. Probably. Probably 00:08:47.450 --> 00:08:50.740 so. Well. Well, enough of, enough of that. Let's, 00:08:50.740 --> 00:08:53.139 let's talk about some of these portable operating 00:08:53.139 --> 00:08:54.980 events and we are actually going to talk about 00:08:54.980 --> 00:08:58.179 Wimploda here in a little bit. Uh, but let's 00:08:58.179 --> 00:09:00.179 talk about some of these and let's talk about 00:09:00.179 --> 00:09:05.360 some reasons why our listeners should go portable 00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:09.159 to operate and how to do that. Well, I think 00:09:09.159 --> 00:09:12.039 you know most hams are probably familiar with 00:09:12.039 --> 00:09:14.480 field day where everybody you know goes out on 00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:16.879 the fourth full weekend in June and operates 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:20.559 either solo or with your club and you know gets 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:24.600 gets your equipment outside of your home QTH 00:09:24.600 --> 00:09:27.120 and go set up in a park or You know someplace 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:30.019 like that. So I think most hams have experienced 00:09:30.019 --> 00:09:33.580 that kind of portable operating but there are 00:09:33.580 --> 00:09:37.159 a lot of reasons why portable operating can become 00:09:37.730 --> 00:09:40.529 major component of the way that you enjoy amateur 00:09:40.529 --> 00:09:45.590 radio. There are a lot of external noise sources 00:09:45.590 --> 00:09:48.769 that are cropping up at various parts of the 00:09:48.769 --> 00:09:52.009 country. If you live in a home that's next to 00:09:52.009 --> 00:09:54.129 a factory or a store or something like that, 00:09:54.190 --> 00:09:56.490 you might have an external noise source, powerline 00:09:56.490 --> 00:09:58.889 noise, things like that. So being able to take 00:09:58.889 --> 00:10:01.990 a station out to a park or someplace that's away 00:10:01.990 --> 00:10:05.500 from those noise sources If you can't eliminate 00:10:05.500 --> 00:10:08.460 the noise source yourself, you can take a smaller 00:10:08.460 --> 00:10:11.639 station and go set up away from those noise sources 00:10:11.639 --> 00:10:17.740 and enjoy the hobby. I personally like the idea 00:10:17.740 --> 00:10:22.440 of just being able to go out and set up. portable 00:10:22.440 --> 00:10:26.080 somewhere for the sake of testing your deployment 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:28.600 skills. If you're interested in emergency communications 00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:31.919 and emergency preparedness, making sure that 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:36.360 you have the equipment and the skills to go set 00:10:36.360 --> 00:10:41.019 up portable quickly will be very beneficial if 00:10:41.019 --> 00:10:44.000 you're actually ever called into service to do 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:45.740 something like that. It's a great way to get 00:10:45.740 --> 00:10:48.919 some exercise. You go out and you can go hiking 00:10:48.919 --> 00:10:52.799 on a trail, up to a mountain summit, row a kayak 00:10:52.799 --> 00:10:56.100 out to an island. So there are a lot of different 00:10:56.100 --> 00:11:00.740 reasons why portable operating can become a major 00:11:00.740 --> 00:11:02.960 focus of the way that you enjoy the hobby. And 00:11:02.960 --> 00:11:06.399 that's what happened to me. Many years ago, I 00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:10.159 lived in rural Illinois and I had a 70 foot tower 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:12.919 with a lot of stations up. You know life changed 00:11:12.919 --> 00:11:16.379 course and I ended up downsizing all of that 00:11:16.379 --> 00:11:19.159 and moved out to Connecticut and started working 00:11:19.159 --> 00:11:22.620 at the league and Housing out here is a little 00:11:22.620 --> 00:11:25.100 bit more expensive than it is in rural, Illinois 00:11:25.100 --> 00:11:27.279 so I've been living in apartments for quite a 00:11:27.279 --> 00:11:29.919 while and I don't really have the ability to 00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:33.019 put an antenna up here in the apartment so my 00:11:33.019 --> 00:11:35.860 entire focus of how I enjoy amateur radio changed 00:11:35.860 --> 00:11:40.000 because the way that I live changed and I wasn't 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:43.889 gonna simply go QRT and not get on the air anymore 00:11:43.889 --> 00:11:46.269 so I had to come up with a new strategy and what 00:11:46.269 --> 00:11:49.509 I found was Being able to operate portable and 00:11:49.509 --> 00:11:52.009 have a small station that I could take anywhere 00:11:52.009 --> 00:11:57.549 Really became a much more simplistic but enjoyable 00:11:57.549 --> 00:12:01.169 way to stay on the air and I found now that I 00:12:01.169 --> 00:12:04.830 actually prefer that style of operating to having 00:12:04.830 --> 00:12:07.070 a big tower and giant antennas. Don't get me 00:12:07.070 --> 00:12:08.850 wrong, that's always fun. It's nice to be loud, 00:12:08.929 --> 00:12:10.789 especially if you're in a contest or trying to 00:12:10.789 --> 00:12:13.809 work a rare country on, on HF or something like 00:12:13.809 --> 00:12:16.090 that. But the simplicity of a small station that 00:12:16.090 --> 00:12:20.490 you can take anywhere is tremendous fun. Absolutely. 00:12:20.909 --> 00:12:25.570 And you know, it's, it's a situation that a lot 00:12:25.570 --> 00:12:29.590 of people are in is if you want to get on HF, 00:12:29.769 --> 00:12:32.950 you're you may not be able to put up any antennas 00:12:32.950 --> 00:12:35.110 or if you do, you're going to have to hide them 00:12:35.110 --> 00:12:39.629 really well. And it's just a way to do that. 00:12:39.750 --> 00:12:42.950 And I find that, you know, you got me started 00:12:42.950 --> 00:12:46.049 on this whole satellite thing on this show about 00:12:46.049 --> 00:12:50.070 two years ago. And what I'm finding is I spend 00:12:50.070 --> 00:12:55.370 more time doing that in the car because I can 00:12:55.370 --> 00:12:58.460 use that time while I'm in the car. And, you 00:12:58.460 --> 00:13:02.059 know, I have a limited amount of time and I don't 00:13:02.059 --> 00:13:05.059 always have time to just go, you know, sit on 00:13:05.059 --> 00:13:09.179 the radio for a couple of hours. But by going 00:13:09.179 --> 00:13:14.340 out in the car, I can be, you know, driving somewhere 00:13:14.340 --> 00:13:17.080 and maybe I pull over to grid line or maybe I 00:13:17.080 --> 00:13:21.480 just keep on driving and get a few contacts on 00:13:21.480 --> 00:13:24.610 a satellite and it works really well. Mm -hmm, 00:13:25.070 --> 00:13:27.350 and it's specifically talking about satellites. 00:13:27.470 --> 00:13:30.350 We were talking about a small simple station 00:13:30.350 --> 00:13:34.110 and it's hard to beat The simplicity of being 00:13:34.110 --> 00:13:37.389 able to get on an FM satellite once you get a 00:13:37.389 --> 00:13:39.929 little bit of experience under your belt You 00:13:39.929 --> 00:13:44.710 know a handheld dual band Yagi in one hand and 00:13:44.710 --> 00:13:47.889 a handy talkie that can be on two meters and 00:13:47.889 --> 00:13:51.440 70 centimeters at the same time That's a pretty 00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:53.659 small station. It fits in the backseat of your 00:13:53.659 --> 00:13:57.519 car. And for satellite work, you're not reliant 00:13:57.519 --> 00:14:00.740 on the band being open. You know when the satellite 00:14:00.740 --> 00:14:03.419 is going to pass overhead, so you can predict 00:14:03.419 --> 00:14:07.080 your activity time. And at least for now, the 00:14:07.080 --> 00:14:08.899 satellites are low enough in orbit that they 00:14:08.899 --> 00:14:13.500 only pass overhead a maximum of about 15 or 20 00:14:13.500 --> 00:14:16.470 minutes. So you can... as you said you know you 00:14:16.470 --> 00:14:19.250 can be out doing other things with your day and 00:14:19.250 --> 00:14:21.970 then a satellite will pass overhead and you can 00:14:21.970 --> 00:14:25.730 enjoy amateur radio for 15 or 20 minutes at a 00:14:25.730 --> 00:14:29.590 time and hand out the grid square that you are 00:14:29.590 --> 00:14:32.190 currently in or work people in other grid squares 00:14:32.190 --> 00:14:35.149 to add to your total so it's an enjoyable way 00:14:35.149 --> 00:14:39.429 to have like this this micro experience of amateur 00:14:39.429 --> 00:14:43.230 radio wherever you may be. Well, you talked a 00:14:43.230 --> 00:14:45.730 little bit about the gear for satellite. So let's 00:14:45.730 --> 00:14:48.570 talk about You know having the right gear that 00:14:48.570 --> 00:14:51.870 can make things a lot easier. So what do you 00:14:51.870 --> 00:14:57.629 suggest for HF? Well for HF, you know, it really 00:14:57.629 --> 00:15:01.110 depends on how you want to approach Portable 00:15:01.110 --> 00:15:04.090 operating to begin with you know, I am you know, 00:15:04.090 --> 00:15:07.690 I'm an advocate of super small station super 00:15:07.690 --> 00:15:12.279 low power qrp power But that doesn't necessarily 00:15:12.279 --> 00:15:15.299 have to be the only way that you enjoy portable 00:15:15.299 --> 00:15:18.080 operating. I mean, if you think about it, portable 00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:21.440 operating just means you're using amateur radio 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:25.899 from a place that is not your home station location. 00:15:26.120 --> 00:15:29.240 So if you extrapolate that out... You know a 00:15:29.240 --> 00:15:32.740 lot of the major d expeditions are portable operations 00:15:32.740 --> 00:15:36.000 You know, they they bring several tons of equipment 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:38.460 with them and it costs a lot of money to do to 00:15:38.460 --> 00:15:40.279 go to some of these places But that's still a 00:15:40.279 --> 00:15:44.679 portable operation. So if if you if you're not 00:15:44.679 --> 00:15:48.700 comfortable with the idea of you know can just 00:15:48.700 --> 00:15:51.139 consolidating your station down to a five watt 00:15:51.139 --> 00:15:54.519 radio and you know six or seven pounds worth 00:15:54.519 --> 00:15:57.870 of gear There are certainly all sorts of other 00:15:57.870 --> 00:16:00.169 alternatives that you can do. You can have a 00:16:00.169 --> 00:16:03.490 station in your car and be able to go mobile 00:16:03.490 --> 00:16:07.450 and set up in a park somewhere that way. It could 00:16:07.450 --> 00:16:10.289 be as simple as taking your HF transceiver that 00:16:10.289 --> 00:16:13.870 you have in your house and hooking up a 12 -volt 00:16:13.870 --> 00:16:16.629 battery and taking that to a remote location. 00:16:16.769 --> 00:16:20.629 Maybe you could rent a cabin in a different state 00:16:20.629 --> 00:16:24.870 or a different county. and you could set up a 00:16:24.870 --> 00:16:28.529 station that way. So it really depends on what 00:16:28.529 --> 00:16:32.190 level of operating you're comfortable with. You 00:16:32.190 --> 00:16:33.929 probably don't want to take 50 pounds of gear 00:16:33.929 --> 00:16:36.210 up the side of a mountain if you're walking up 00:16:36.210 --> 00:16:39.149 there. You can if you want, I wouldn't recommend 00:16:39.149 --> 00:16:45.470 it. But if you simply want to... Say put on a 00:16:45.470 --> 00:16:49.169 rare county during your state's QSO party You 00:16:49.169 --> 00:16:51.710 know you can you can fill your car up with as 00:16:51.710 --> 00:16:53.970 much stuff as you want and go take it to a park 00:16:53.970 --> 00:16:57.269 or a rental Cabin or something like that if you're 00:16:57.269 --> 00:17:02.129 more interested in doing the the super low QRP 00:17:02.129 --> 00:17:04.369 portable stuff. There's there's tons of great 00:17:04.369 --> 00:17:08.049 equipment out there for you to consider wire 00:17:08.049 --> 00:17:12.450 antenna I think the half wave dipole kind of 00:17:12.450 --> 00:17:16.970 gets a bad rap as an antenna I think a resonant 00:17:16.970 --> 00:17:19.069 half wave dipole up a quarter wavelength will 00:17:19.069 --> 00:17:21.130 do wonders for you I think you'd be surprised 00:17:21.130 --> 00:17:23.869 how good one of those can work under decent conditions 00:17:23.869 --> 00:17:27.029 And you know there there are all sorts of other 00:17:27.029 --> 00:17:29.349 things available to you too if you're if you're 00:17:29.349 --> 00:17:31.549 interested in QRP and you're a kit builder there 00:17:31.549 --> 00:17:36.930 are there are dozens of lightweight QRP kits 00:17:36.930 --> 00:17:40.349 that are available for you. There's still some 00:17:40.349 --> 00:17:44.170 CW only radios that are out there that are super 00:17:44.170 --> 00:17:46.670 cheap and would work very well. Digital modes 00:17:46.670 --> 00:17:50.250 open up a whole opportunity of other equipment. 00:17:51.049 --> 00:17:54.269 So you have a lot of options that are available 00:17:54.269 --> 00:17:56.549 to you. I can't recommend just one way of doing 00:17:56.549 --> 00:17:59.049 it because amateur radio is about experimentation 00:17:59.049 --> 00:18:02.809 and trying new things. So whatever works for 00:18:02.809 --> 00:18:07.930 you. Now, what about power? I know the picture 00:18:07.930 --> 00:18:12.049 you sent out promoting this episode, you had 00:18:12.049 --> 00:18:15.950 one of those battery charger things. I've got 00:18:15.950 --> 00:18:20.650 one of those that are cool. You use that to power 00:18:20.650 --> 00:18:25.690 your HF ring? You can. The portable car starters 00:18:25.690 --> 00:18:29.289 work as a decent power supply in a pinch. There 00:18:29.289 --> 00:18:34.069 are dozens of other power sources that you can 00:18:34.069 --> 00:18:37.549 use. You can go solar if you have a solar panel 00:18:37.549 --> 00:18:40.650 and a charge controller. You can use sealed lead 00:18:40.650 --> 00:18:45.430 acid batteries that are pulled from emergency 00:18:45.430 --> 00:18:48.869 power supply sources from maybe your computer's 00:18:48.869 --> 00:18:52.130 IT team has some of those that they have to rotate 00:18:52.130 --> 00:18:56.829 out of operation for where you work to keep your 00:18:56.829 --> 00:19:00.680 IT system up and running. The lithium polymer 00:19:00.680 --> 00:19:02.740 batteries are fantastic if you're interested 00:19:02.740 --> 00:19:05.940 in super lightweight stuff. You can get a deep 00:19:05.940 --> 00:19:09.500 -cycled marine battery at any one of your automotive 00:19:09.500 --> 00:19:13.220 or farm supply stores. So you have a lot of options 00:19:13.220 --> 00:19:15.440 for you in terms of power. It really comes down 00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:17.960 to, again, how much equipment you want to take 00:19:17.960 --> 00:19:20.079 with you out into the field, how much weight 00:19:20.079 --> 00:19:24.920 you are willing to lug around, and what your 00:19:24.920 --> 00:19:27.160 style of operating is gonna be. If you're gonna 00:19:27.160 --> 00:19:30.559 be in one place for a weekend, the needs for 00:19:30.559 --> 00:19:33.500 power are gonna be... A little bit different 00:19:33.500 --> 00:19:37.440 than if you're going to try to operate from say 00:19:37.440 --> 00:19:41.279 a mountain summit for summits on the air For 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:43.839 a few hours where you're trying to keep weight 00:19:43.839 --> 00:19:47.039 down to a minimum. So Again, it really comes 00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:50.400 down to what your style of operating is How long 00:19:50.400 --> 00:19:52.779 you're going to be at a location and what your 00:19:52.779 --> 00:19:56.440 tolerance is for? weight and lugging equipment 00:19:56.440 --> 00:20:02.160 around Okay, well What about bands and modes 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:04.579 now we talked about HF we talked about satellite 00:20:04.579 --> 00:20:08.500 water some of the bands and modes that are more 00:20:08.500 --> 00:20:15.200 portable friendly. It's hard to argue against 00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:19.420 the benefits of being able to get on 40 meters, 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:22.680 especially if you're interested in digital modes 00:20:22.680 --> 00:20:26.339 or if you're doing one of the operating events 00:20:26.339 --> 00:20:30.500 such as Parks on the Air or Summits on the Air 00:20:30.500 --> 00:20:33.259 or the US Islands Award or things like that. 00:20:33.319 --> 00:20:35.000 40 meters, even during the day, you're going 00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:40.750 to have a whole lot of fun. A dipole is not is 00:20:40.750 --> 00:20:43.670 not too far out of reach, especially if you can 00:20:43.670 --> 00:20:47.210 get a portable mast to elevate it in an inverted 00:20:47.210 --> 00:20:49.990 V configuration or throw it over a tree. There 00:20:49.990 --> 00:20:52.589 are NFED wire antennas that work very nicely 00:20:52.589 --> 00:20:57.650 as well. So 40 meters is a great band for HF 00:20:57.650 --> 00:20:59.490 portable operating. You'll have a lot of fun 00:20:59.490 --> 00:21:02.789 with it. Certainly if the higher bands are open 00:21:02.789 --> 00:21:05.990 and you're interested in working more DX, 20 00:21:05.990 --> 00:21:09.670 meters, I don't think we're gonna see too much 00:21:09.670 --> 00:21:13.029 action out of 15 or 10 anytime soon, at least 00:21:13.029 --> 00:21:17.480 for long haul DX work. But it does the talking 00:21:17.480 --> 00:21:22.079 about those bands segues nicely into the VHF 00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:27.400 and UHF bands as well I'm I'm a big proponent 00:21:27.400 --> 00:21:30.720 of Enjoying 10 meters and 6 meters during the 00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:33.180 summer sporadic e season and if you're not familiar 00:21:33.180 --> 00:21:36.839 with sporadic e Sporadic e propagation occurs 00:21:36.839 --> 00:21:40.160 in the summer months here in the northern hemisphere 00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:45.410 between roughly May and say late August and it 00:21:45.410 --> 00:21:50.569 is a short, a relatively short range of propagation 00:21:50.569 --> 00:21:53.690 mode that occurs in the E layer of the ionosphere 00:21:53.690 --> 00:21:56.789 and on 10 meters and 6 meters during the summer 00:21:56.789 --> 00:21:59.579 months the band will open even during periods 00:21:59.579 --> 00:22:04.259 of low sunspot activity. It's not completely 00:22:04.259 --> 00:22:07.359 reliant on the 11 -year sunspot cycle in order 00:22:07.359 --> 00:22:09.400 for it to work. So during the summer months, 00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:12.500 on 10 meters and 6 meters, sporadic e -propagation 00:22:12.500 --> 00:22:15.359 will allow you to communicate, oh, say, you know, 00:22:15.500 --> 00:22:19.720 anywhere from 750 to 1 ,500 miles out, which, 00:22:19.720 --> 00:22:22.119 you know, that's a whole lot of fun if you're 00:22:22.119 --> 00:22:24.900 set up in a park and you've got a simple dipole 00:22:24.900 --> 00:22:29.500 thrown into a tree. So six meters especially 00:22:29.500 --> 00:22:32.980 a six meter dipole is less than 10 feet long 00:22:32.980 --> 00:22:39.180 and If the band is open Six meters is a tremendous 00:22:39.180 --> 00:22:42.180 amount of fun and technician class licensees 00:22:42.180 --> 00:22:45.839 have access to six meters as well As as they 00:22:45.839 --> 00:22:49.380 do on ten meters sideband, too. So these are 00:22:49.380 --> 00:22:53.420 these are things to Keep an eye on during the 00:22:53.420 --> 00:22:55.940 summer months 10 meters and 6 meters and and 00:22:55.940 --> 00:22:58.440 the VHF stuff is is a tremendous amount of fun 00:22:58.440 --> 00:23:01.640 And there are contests geared around the VHF 00:23:01.640 --> 00:23:04.940 bands 6 meters and 2 meters and 70 centimeters 00:23:04.940 --> 00:23:08.160 and all of them So, you know the a double RL 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:10.900 has the June VHF contest, which is the second 00:23:10.900 --> 00:23:14.559 weekend in June and that's 6 meters and up CQ 00:23:14.559 --> 00:23:18.839 has the VHF contest in July. So uh... there are 00:23:18.839 --> 00:23:20.819 uh... there are operating events that are geared 00:23:20.819 --> 00:23:25.000 towards the summer sporadic e -season so you 00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:29.680 have to keep an eye on the ionosphere that is 00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:35.279 true good play you can't tell a chemistry teacher 00:23:35.279 --> 00:23:41.269 can you yeah exactly well hey Now that we're 00:23:41.269 --> 00:23:43.609 talking about, we've talked about, you know, 00:23:43.769 --> 00:23:46.549 what bands and what equipment and all that kind 00:23:46.549 --> 00:23:49.609 of thing. There's some cool events that are going 00:23:49.609 --> 00:23:54.670 on that are definitely geared for portable operation. 00:23:54.910 --> 00:23:58.509 You created the wildly successful national parks 00:23:58.509 --> 00:24:01.450 on the air program. Now Canada's picked up on 00:24:01.450 --> 00:24:05.650 it. And so let's talk about the Canada version 00:24:05.650 --> 00:24:08.250 for a little bit. And then some things like, 00:24:08.250 --> 00:24:11.750 uh, us islands and, and something that you also 00:24:11.750 --> 00:24:17.089 came up with. Right. So I was, I was pleased 00:24:17.089 --> 00:24:21.029 to hear that, uh, uh, radio amateurs of Canada 00:24:21.029 --> 00:24:23.309 and a group of Canadian hams came up with Canadian 00:24:23.309 --> 00:24:27.109 national parks on the air for, for 2019. Uh, 00:24:27.170 --> 00:24:30.720 this got started, uh, thanks to A gentleman by 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:33.559 the name of Doug Grace, Victor Echo One Delta 00:24:33.559 --> 00:24:37.660 Fox Golf. He's up in Nova Scotia and he was having 00:24:37.660 --> 00:24:41.500 coffee with some of his local hams up in Nova 00:24:41.500 --> 00:24:44.559 Scotia and was commenting on how good National 00:24:44.559 --> 00:24:48.980 Parks on the Air was going back in 2016 and he 00:24:48.980 --> 00:24:53.420 asked the question that so many projects are 00:24:53.420 --> 00:24:55.900 born out of, which was, hey, why can't we do 00:24:55.900 --> 00:25:00.450 that? And so he got together a team of volunteers 00:25:00.450 --> 00:25:04.009 who basically said we can do this and and they 00:25:04.009 --> 00:25:06.029 it took them a little while but they they put 00:25:06.029 --> 00:25:08.190 together Canadian National Parks on the air and 00:25:08.190 --> 00:25:09.970 they got it up and running for this year and 00:25:09.970 --> 00:25:16.069 there are 220 different national Canadian National 00:25:16.069 --> 00:25:19.589 Historic sites and and national parks that are 00:25:19.589 --> 00:25:22.450 going to be on the air all year long just like 00:25:22.450 --> 00:25:25.130 the National Parks on the air event back in 2016 00:25:25.130 --> 00:25:28.869 here in the States So I'm really, really happy 00:25:28.869 --> 00:25:32.730 for them. It's been a good event so far. There's 00:25:32.730 --> 00:25:36.000 been a lot of good activity. And there have been 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:40.019 US hams that have crossed over into Canada and 00:25:40.019 --> 00:25:44.559 activated parks as well. We all know one of the 00:25:44.559 --> 00:25:47.799 stars of national parks on the air was Pete Kobach, 00:25:47.839 --> 00:25:53.779 K0BAK. And he took his mobile operation up and 00:25:53.779 --> 00:25:56.859 activated six parks on the very first day on 00:25:56.859 --> 00:26:00.480 January 1st this year. And I know that there 00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:04.059 were a couple of satellite operators. From the 00:26:04.059 --> 00:26:06.519 US that went into Canada and activated a few 00:26:06.519 --> 00:26:09.680 Canadian historic sites on January 1st on satellite 00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:13.440 as well So it's if you had if you were looking 00:26:13.440 --> 00:26:16.799 for something to do for 2019 for your vacation 00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:19.579 grab your passport and take your gear and head 00:26:19.579 --> 00:26:23.200 up north and take a look at one of the 220 sites 00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:25.759 in Canada that are going to be Available to you 00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:28.180 for Canadian National Parks on the air this year. 00:26:28.400 --> 00:26:35.039 You can they got a website. It's CN pota .ca 00:26:35.039 --> 00:26:39.180 and you can also follow CNPOTA on Facebook and 00:26:39.180 --> 00:26:42.579 Twitter as well and just like what happened with 00:26:42.579 --> 00:26:44.619 National parks on the air here in the states 00:26:44.619 --> 00:26:48.119 There's a whole lot of operators that are congregating 00:26:48.119 --> 00:26:51.039 in the Facebook group and they're posting Daily 00:26:51.039 --> 00:26:54.079 activities who's going to be on from where? And 00:26:54.079 --> 00:26:55.920 there's a lot of information on their website 00:26:55.920 --> 00:27:01.500 again as well. And again, that's CNPOTA dot ca 00:27:01.500 --> 00:27:03.660 so be sure to check that out it's going to be 00:27:03.660 --> 00:27:06.559 one of the best events of the year all right 00:27:06.559 --> 00:27:09.380 and and before we take a break here let's talk 00:27:09.380 --> 00:27:12.640 a little bit about uh the us islands as well 00:27:12.640 --> 00:27:16.440 well us islands uh uh is all about operating 00:27:16.440 --> 00:27:20.359 um islands that are found within the united states 00:27:20.359 --> 00:27:22.859 borders so it doesn't have to be in salt water 00:27:22.859 --> 00:27:25.960 they can be in lakes rivers streams uh along 00:27:25.960 --> 00:27:29.690 the the coast But but it's all designed for islands 00:27:29.690 --> 00:27:32.710 that are in within the within the United States 00:27:32.710 --> 00:27:35.930 territory and this year happens to be their 25th 00:27:35.930 --> 00:27:39.269 year of being around and they have a special 00:27:39.269 --> 00:27:42.589 USI 25th anniversary award going on this year 00:27:42.589 --> 00:27:46.670 so for people who collect islands if you confirm 00:27:46.670 --> 00:27:51.430 a QSO with 25 different islands during 2019 you 00:27:51.430 --> 00:27:53.890 qualify for an award and if you like operating 00:27:53.890 --> 00:27:57.500 portable if you activate 25 different islands 00:27:57.500 --> 00:28:01.319 during 2019, you qualify for a special award 00:28:01.319 --> 00:28:04.990 for that as well. and they have all the rules 00:28:04.990 --> 00:28:07.289 and all the information and the list of eligible 00:28:07.289 --> 00:28:10.509 islands for the U .S. Islands program is on their 00:28:10.509 --> 00:28:16.809 website and that is usislands .org and it's getting 00:28:16.809 --> 00:28:18.890 on the air from an island is a tremendous amount 00:28:18.890 --> 00:28:22.130 of fun and there are a lot of islands that qualify 00:28:22.130 --> 00:28:24.309 for U .S. Islands that you can drive to. You 00:28:24.309 --> 00:28:27.150 don't need a boat to take part in this program 00:28:27.150 --> 00:28:30.759 in many instances. and uh... another part of 00:28:30.759 --> 00:28:32.759 u s islands that's a tremendous amount of fun 00:28:33.690 --> 00:28:37.490 is there are about 17 ,000 islands in the United 00:28:37.490 --> 00:28:41.390 States and not all of them have been qualified 00:28:41.390 --> 00:28:45.349 or identified for the U .S. Islands Awards Program. 00:28:45.529 --> 00:28:48.809 So if you enjoy geography and enjoy poking around 00:28:48.809 --> 00:28:52.970 with a map, you can pretty easily find islands 00:28:52.970 --> 00:28:55.549 that would qualify for the U .S. Islands Program 00:28:55.549 --> 00:28:57.569 but simply haven't been added to the list yet. 00:28:57.910 --> 00:29:00.690 So there's a heavy incentive of being able to 00:29:00.690 --> 00:29:04.279 be the very first person to ever transmit from 00:29:04.279 --> 00:29:08.619 an island For ham radio and I know for me I find 00:29:08.619 --> 00:29:10.799 that incredibly compelling So I spent a lot of 00:29:10.799 --> 00:29:13.460 time looking at maps and again all of that information 00:29:13.460 --> 00:29:16.660 is on the u .s Islands website at u .s Islands 00:29:16.660 --> 00:29:20.079 dot o RG check it out the 25th anniversary award. 00:29:20.079 --> 00:29:23.259 It's a lot of fun All right, and then you had 00:29:23.259 --> 00:29:25.960 this idea you ended up on the injured reserve 00:29:25.960 --> 00:29:30.039 list here for But but tell us a little bit about 00:29:30.039 --> 00:29:34.690 this this CT 90 idea Well, it's you know for 00:29:34.690 --> 00:29:39.089 me. I just enjoy going out and being portable 00:29:39.089 --> 00:29:43.930 operating portable and I was looking at the world 00:29:43.930 --> 00:29:47.549 the worldwide flora and fauna foundation which 00:29:47.549 --> 00:29:51.809 is all about transmitting from parks and nature 00:29:51.809 --> 00:29:53.710 reserves and things like that all around the 00:29:53.710 --> 00:29:56.170 world and then in addition to that there's a 00:29:56.170 --> 00:29:58.569 spinoff organization here in the states called 00:29:58.569 --> 00:30:03.930 parks on the air and State parks qualify for 00:30:03.930 --> 00:30:06.430 both of those wards and I got to poking around 00:30:06.430 --> 00:30:10.750 and I saw that there were 90 parks 90 90 eligible 00:30:10.750 --> 00:30:12.869 units in the state of Connecticut So I thought 00:30:12.869 --> 00:30:15.809 why don't I try and see if I can transmit from 00:30:15.809 --> 00:30:19.410 all 90 state parks in in Connecticut and I got 00:30:19.410 --> 00:30:21.970 started on that about a year and a half maybe 00:30:21.970 --> 00:30:25.509 two years ago and I got I got about 12 of them 00:30:25.509 --> 00:30:28.250 under my belt and I was out doing an activation 00:30:29.289 --> 00:30:32.049 February of last year and I sprained my ankle 00:30:32.049 --> 00:30:34.769 really really badly and to be truth be told I 00:30:34.769 --> 00:30:38.109 still haven't fully recovered from that so it 00:30:38.109 --> 00:30:41.230 kind of slowed me down last year and I had some 00:30:41.230 --> 00:30:43.430 had some other things going on with work and 00:30:43.430 --> 00:30:45.009 whatnot and I didn't get on the air nearly as 00:30:45.009 --> 00:30:48.009 much as I would have liked to last year but that's 00:30:48.009 --> 00:30:51.079 just a that's just an example of Finding a personal 00:30:51.079 --> 00:30:54.299 goal to motivate you to go out and get on the 00:30:54.299 --> 00:30:57.779 air whether it's transmitting from all of the 00:30:57.779 --> 00:31:00.700 Islands in your county or all of the the summits 00:31:00.700 --> 00:31:04.640 on the air summits in your state or Or state 00:31:04.640 --> 00:31:07.059 parks in your in your area, whatever the case 00:31:07.059 --> 00:31:11.769 may be It's always nice to be able to have you 00:31:11.769 --> 00:31:13.549 know, like something to motivate you, you know, 00:31:13.630 --> 00:31:15.609 like a carrot at the end of the stick to keep 00:31:15.609 --> 00:31:18.329 you moving forward and see how many different 00:31:18.329 --> 00:31:21.170 things you can activate. So for me, that personal 00:31:21.170 --> 00:31:25.109 goal is trying to see how many state parks in 00:31:25.109 --> 00:31:28.700 Connecticut I can transmit from. And you know, 00:31:28.839 --> 00:31:30.200 everybody's going to have something different. 00:31:30.299 --> 00:31:32.319 I'm not going to get a prize for doing it. It's 00:31:32.319 --> 00:31:34.319 just something that I thought would be fun and 00:31:34.319 --> 00:31:36.640 unique and, and keep me motivated. So that's 00:31:36.640 --> 00:31:39.119 why I chose to do it. And I'll bet that there 00:31:39.119 --> 00:31:41.640 is something similar for everybody who's listening 00:31:41.640 --> 00:31:44.839 to this show out there that they could do, uh, 00:31:44.839 --> 00:31:47.460 uh, in their area with, uh, not too much effort. 00:31:48.380 --> 00:31:51.900 All right. And we, we got to go, but, uh, I do 00:31:51.900 --> 00:31:55.119 want to get this in cause this just was announced 00:31:55.119 --> 00:31:58.579 here in the last week. That the second annual 00:31:58.579 --> 00:32:01.119 Walmart parking lots on the air weekend, which 00:32:01.119 --> 00:32:03.779 is actually wimplota three I think because we 00:32:03.779 --> 00:32:06.079 didn't like a special one, but that's just been 00:32:06.079 --> 00:32:11.000 announced. It's july 6th and 7th So get those 00:32:11.000 --> 00:32:14.519 shopping carts ready to roll Walmart parking 00:32:14.519 --> 00:32:16.740 lots on the air for satellite operators is like 00:32:16.740 --> 00:32:21.339 it's it's it's a remarkably cool idea and it 00:32:21.339 --> 00:32:25.140 makes total sense because Walmarts are everywhere 00:32:25.400 --> 00:32:28.079 It's easy to set up a portable satellite station 00:32:28.079 --> 00:32:31.140 in a Walmart parking lot fairly fairly simply 00:32:31.140 --> 00:32:34.099 and each store has a unique store identifier 00:32:34.099 --> 00:32:38.819 So you can you can hand out a different Walmart 00:32:38.819 --> 00:32:43.220 store Each time you you you mosey down the road 00:32:43.220 --> 00:32:46.599 a few miles So it's it's a lot of fun and and 00:32:46.599 --> 00:32:48.839 it's a very unique event And I have to tip my 00:32:48.839 --> 00:32:51.180 cap to the to the satellite guys who came up 00:32:51.180 --> 00:32:52.799 with it It's not something I would have thought 00:32:52.799 --> 00:32:56.460 up, but it's it's brilliant And you fit right 00:32:56.460 --> 00:32:59.359 in you don't you don't look unusual at all. Nope, 00:32:59.500 --> 00:33:02.640 not at all even when you're wearing Black and 00:33:02.640 --> 00:33:06.140 green pajamas in the middle of a morning opening, 00:33:06.140 --> 00:33:08.799 you know Exactly. There you go. All right. Well, 00:33:08.799 --> 00:33:10.720 we gotta take a break. We're gonna come back 00:33:11.039 --> 00:33:14.039 And we've got a lot of questions coming in already 00:33:14.039 --> 00:33:17.759 so we're going to get to those and talk about 00:33:17.759 --> 00:33:20.180 some more portable operations right after this 00:33:20.180 --> 00:33:23.279 word from Tower Electronics right here on HamTalk 00:33:23.279 --> 00:33:27.559 Live. Is this getting serious? I think so. Well, 00:33:27.779 --> 00:33:30.650 how do you feel about it? Just imagine if you 00:33:30.650 --> 00:33:34.710 hadn't run out of PL -259s. Just imagine if your 00:33:34.710 --> 00:33:37.349 connectors weren't from Tower Electronics. Consider 00:33:37.349 --> 00:33:39.650 the sophisticated quality of connectors from 00:33:39.650 --> 00:33:42.549 Tower Electronics. Their silver -plated end connectors 00:33:42.549 --> 00:33:45.789 are so good, they've even been used on the International 00:33:45.789 --> 00:33:49.190 Space Station. I'm not so sure why I ever used 00:33:49.190 --> 00:33:53.250 any other PL -259s. Mine are better. Besides, 00:33:53.410 --> 00:33:56.660 you deserve the best. You know I love you. Don't 00:33:56.660 --> 00:34:00.099 be caught without PL259's. Visit Tower Electronics 00:34:00.099 --> 00:34:03.160 at a ham fest near you or visit them online anytime 00:34:03.160 --> 00:34:10.320 at pl -259 .com or call 920 -435 -2973. They 00:34:10.320 --> 00:34:13.019 also have ham sticks, mobile antennas, and meters 00:34:13.019 --> 00:34:17.360 too. See the whole catalog. Go to pl -259 .com 00:34:17.360 --> 00:34:20.260 Tower Electronics, the hams dime store since 00:34:20.260 --> 00:34:24.880 1978. Join the conversation. Give us a call at 00:34:24.880 --> 00:34:31.659 812 -NET -HAM -1. That's 812 -638 -4261. Now, 00:34:31.719 --> 00:34:40.760 here's more HamTalk Live. If a man says something 00:34:40.760 --> 00:34:43.519 in the woods and there are no women there, is 00:34:43.519 --> 00:34:46.400 he still wrong? You're listening to HamTalk Live 00:34:46.400 --> 00:35:02.730 with Neil Rapp. Thanks again to Tower Electronics 00:35:02.730 --> 00:35:05.969 for bringing you HamTalk Live coming up this 00:35:05.969 --> 00:35:09.210 weekend. They're in Cave City, Kentucky on March 00:35:09.210 --> 00:35:13.170 2nd. Then they'll be in Toledo, Ohio March 16th 00:35:13.170 --> 00:35:16.519 and March 30th, Sevierville, Tennessee. or you 00:35:16.519 --> 00:35:22.059 can visit them anytime at PL -259 .com and HamTalk 00:35:22.059 --> 00:35:24.400 Live is on the air every Thursday night at 9 00:35:24.400 --> 00:35:26.980 p .m. Eastern Time right here at HamTalkLive 00:35:26.980 --> 00:35:30.079 .com and be sure to check us out on Facebook, 00:35:30.199 --> 00:35:33.980 Twitter and Instagram and we're going to take 00:35:33.980 --> 00:35:36.500 some questions here but the phone number again 00:35:36.500 --> 00:35:41.239 tonight is the temporary number it's 812 -650 00:35:41.239 --> 00:35:44.639 -9556 if you have a question give us a call. 00:35:44.969 --> 00:35:51.730 at 812 -650 -9556, or you can tweet us at HamTalk 00:35:51.730 --> 00:35:55.170 Live. If you're listening to us on WTWW or the 00:35:55.170 --> 00:35:57.670 podcast edition, you're not going to reach anybody 00:35:57.670 --> 00:36:01.070 because it's Thursday night right now when we're 00:36:01.070 --> 00:36:04.059 doing this show. So. So you won't be able to 00:36:04.059 --> 00:36:08.840 get through Wow, we've got a lot of Questions 00:36:08.840 --> 00:36:13.179 typed tonight. So let me get to Twitter first 00:36:13.179 --> 00:36:18.579 Nathan k a 3 MTT Has a question here. Let me 00:36:18.579 --> 00:36:22.360 make sure your audio is back up here Okay, it 00:36:22.360 --> 00:36:25.900 says my son k a 3 mt you and I are looking to 00:36:25.900 --> 00:36:29.980 do an iota Activation in April any suggestions 00:36:29.980 --> 00:36:34.099 for traveling with gear using commercial flights 00:36:34.099 --> 00:36:40.699 and TSA issues Okay, so I just it I just flew 00:36:40.699 --> 00:36:48.440 to London last June and I took an HT and a portable 00:36:48.440 --> 00:36:52.320 satellite antenna with me. Depending on where 00:36:52.320 --> 00:36:54.699 you're going, I would certainly recommend that 00:36:54.699 --> 00:36:59.099 you check the TSA website to make sure that you 00:36:59.099 --> 00:37:01.039 are meeting all of the regulations that they 00:37:01.039 --> 00:37:04.280 have in play. The big one that they are going 00:37:04.280 --> 00:37:07.440 to be concerned about is if you're bringing a 00:37:07.440 --> 00:37:10.760 lithium battery with you, you can't put that 00:37:10.760 --> 00:37:13.280 in your checked baggage, I believe is the case. 00:37:13.679 --> 00:37:18.929 So you're gonna need to make sure that your lithium 00:37:18.929 --> 00:37:20.710 batteries, if you're using lithium batteries, 00:37:20.750 --> 00:37:22.630 you gotta make sure that those are in your carry 00:37:22.630 --> 00:37:26.030 -on. I have heard a lot of stories of people 00:37:26.030 --> 00:37:31.590 who have had absolutely no trouble with bringing 00:37:31.590 --> 00:37:35.469 small amounts of radio gear on board in their 00:37:35.469 --> 00:37:39.010 carry -on luggage. Checking it, I would not recommend 00:37:39.010 --> 00:37:42.329 checking it if you can get away with it. I took 00:37:42.329 --> 00:37:47.320 a complete HF station with me down to Antigua 00:37:47.320 --> 00:37:50.480 many years ago admit I admit this was several 00:37:50.480 --> 00:37:54.030 years ago, but Despite my best efforts in packing 00:37:54.030 --> 00:37:56.210 it. Well, it just got banged around too much 00:37:56.210 --> 00:37:58.530 in the in the checked baggage And I actually 00:37:58.530 --> 00:38:01.070 ended up with a cracked display on my icon rig 00:38:01.070 --> 00:38:04.690 from that experience so that turned me off to 00:38:04.690 --> 00:38:07.889 Packing radios in in checked baggage unless there 00:38:07.889 --> 00:38:10.210 is simply no other way to do it If you have to 00:38:10.210 --> 00:38:13.550 check if you have to put all of your radio gear 00:38:13.550 --> 00:38:17.070 in in your checked baggage It is absolutely worth 00:38:17.070 --> 00:38:19.530 the money to get a hard shell case with foam 00:38:19.530 --> 00:38:22.530 on the inside such as a pelican case or something 00:38:22.530 --> 00:38:24.889 similar to that because you don't want to end 00:38:24.889 --> 00:38:29.449 up on your iota expedition Without a functioning 00:38:29.449 --> 00:38:31.949 radio that will ruin your entire experience. 00:38:32.329 --> 00:38:36.570 So Check the tsa website about what you can and 00:38:36.570 --> 00:38:41.329 cannot bring on board the plane And make sure 00:38:41.329 --> 00:38:43.829 that if you have to put it in your checked baggage 00:38:43.829 --> 00:38:47.050 that you use a hard shell case such as a Pelican 00:38:47.050 --> 00:38:50.670 case with with foam on the inside to properly 00:38:50.670 --> 00:38:53.929 protect your radio But anecdotally I can tell 00:38:53.929 --> 00:38:56.630 you that when I flew over to London last year 00:38:56.630 --> 00:39:01.130 All I was bringing an HT and a portable dual 00:39:01.130 --> 00:39:04.630 dual band Yagi for satellite work and nobody 00:39:04.630 --> 00:39:07.489 cared I didn't have any questions during check 00:39:07.489 --> 00:39:10.090 -in or going through customs or anything like 00:39:10.090 --> 00:39:13.349 that nobody cared however that is my anecdotal 00:39:13.349 --> 00:39:15.730 story and that is not a guarantee that that will 00:39:15.730 --> 00:39:23.550 happen to you all right good disclaimer and we've 00:39:23.550 --> 00:39:27.670 got some Some advertising to do here because 00:39:27.670 --> 00:39:30.650 it just so happens that in two weeks on this 00:39:30.650 --> 00:39:33.510 program Dan Henderson is going to be on and we're 00:39:33.510 --> 00:39:36.829 going to talk about traveling With your gear 00:39:36.829 --> 00:39:40.989 and more specifically licensing issues. So if 00:39:40.989 --> 00:39:44.030 you're crossing borders going into other countries 00:39:45.159 --> 00:39:47.960 and dealing with some of those licensing issues. 00:39:48.900 --> 00:39:51.559 I'm sure we'll talk a little bit about traveling 00:39:51.559 --> 00:39:55.000 with your gear and this kind of thing, but the 00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:57.659 main focus is going to be on the licensing bit. 00:39:57.900 --> 00:40:00.579 So tune in in two weeks and we'll get you caught 00:40:00.579 --> 00:40:04.250 up on all that. I would strongly recommend to 00:40:04.250 --> 00:40:06.969 anybody who is considering operating in a in 00:40:06.969 --> 00:40:10.190 a different country to To tune in and listen 00:40:10.190 --> 00:40:13.469 to Dan's take on this He's the regulatory affairs 00:40:13.469 --> 00:40:16.389 manager at the league and he's been dealing with 00:40:16.389 --> 00:40:19.489 operating and licensing issues in different countries 00:40:19.489 --> 00:40:22.570 for US hams and a double RL members for a very 00:40:22.570 --> 00:40:25.409 very long time He knows what he's talking about 00:40:25.409 --> 00:40:28.829 All right. Well there you have it. So Tune in 00:40:28.829 --> 00:40:31.730 in two weeks. That's March 14th. We'll have that 00:40:32.079 --> 00:40:37.659 program on. ChrisAA4CB says hello and Nathan, 00:40:38.099 --> 00:40:41.199 canine CPO, which I haven't heard from Nathan 00:40:41.199 --> 00:40:44.599 in a while, he wants to know what you would suggest 00:40:44.599 --> 00:40:50.440 as a good CW paddle key for portable ops. Boy 00:40:50.440 --> 00:40:53.599 Gosh, that's you know, there's no one answer 00:40:53.599 --> 00:40:56.659 to that. It depends on again It depends on what's 00:40:56.659 --> 00:40:59.260 your what your operating style is, you know for 00:40:59.260 --> 00:41:02.320 somebody like myself who enjoys the the super 00:41:02.320 --> 00:41:05.340 lightweight station I want a paddle that is going 00:41:05.340 --> 00:41:09.219 to be as lightweight as possible and for me And 00:41:09.219 --> 00:41:12.519 if I'm operating under those conditions, I really 00:41:12.519 --> 00:41:16.059 like the palm paddle that was manufactured I 00:41:16.059 --> 00:41:19.530 believe in Germany Which was a teeny tiny paddle 00:41:19.530 --> 00:41:22.429 is about three and a half inches long Completely 00:41:22.429 --> 00:41:24.469 encased in aluminum you could read you could 00:41:24.469 --> 00:41:28.070 pull the the paddle elements out of this aluminum 00:41:28.070 --> 00:41:31.190 protective case And operate and then when you 00:41:31.190 --> 00:41:33.010 were done operating you could slide the paddle 00:41:33.010 --> 00:41:36.409 portions back into this aluminum case but unfortunately 00:41:36.409 --> 00:41:38.369 they It went out of business and they're not 00:41:38.369 --> 00:41:41.869 being made anymore. And so I really hope that 00:41:41.869 --> 00:41:44.110 One of the manufacturers steps up to the plate 00:41:44.110 --> 00:41:46.849 and comes up with something like that for for 00:41:46.849 --> 00:41:50.670 for the portable lightweight qrp operations Because 00:41:50.670 --> 00:41:54.389 it was a fantastic paddle But there are plenty 00:41:54.389 --> 00:41:56.730 of times especially if i'm doing operating in 00:41:56.730 --> 00:41:59.849 my car I'll just you know, i've got i've got 00:41:59.849 --> 00:42:05.070 an old an old bencher chrome paddle that you 00:42:05.070 --> 00:42:08.250 know is in almost every ham shack in the United 00:42:08.250 --> 00:42:12.809 States. I lug that thing out and I set it up 00:42:12.809 --> 00:42:15.329 on a clipboard and put it in my lap and operate 00:42:15.329 --> 00:42:19.010 with that. It's not the lightest weight solution, 00:42:19.170 --> 00:42:22.010 but one thing that is nice is because it's not 00:42:22.010 --> 00:42:23.989 lightweight, it doesn't slide around all over 00:42:23.989 --> 00:42:26.429 the place, so I don't have to use my second hand 00:42:26.429 --> 00:42:29.130 to hold the thing in place while I'm sending, 00:42:29.289 --> 00:42:33.260 which you have to do if... in a lot of cases, 00:42:33.679 --> 00:42:36.320 if you're operating portable with super lightweight 00:42:36.320 --> 00:42:42.059 gear. So, you know, if you've got an extra paddle 00:42:42.059 --> 00:42:44.300 lying around, I mean, you know, the Benchers 00:42:44.300 --> 00:42:46.960 or the Vibraplex or the Begali, if you want to 00:42:46.960 --> 00:42:49.280 take your Begali paddle out with you portable, 00:42:50.119 --> 00:42:52.539 you know, all of those will work just fine. You 00:42:52.539 --> 00:42:55.420 know, there are certainly other options as well. 00:42:56.579 --> 00:43:00.099 I encourage you to experiment and find the proper 00:43:00.099 --> 00:43:03.000 fit for the kind of operating that you're doing, 00:43:03.340 --> 00:43:05.039 how much weight you want to bring, and whether 00:43:05.039 --> 00:43:06.840 or not you're comfortable having the thing slide 00:43:06.840 --> 00:43:12.880 around or not. Okay, very good. Next one, Robert. 00:43:13.360 --> 00:43:17.539 Ke4al says, enough about Sean, it's Jarvis in 00:43:17.539 --> 00:43:24.139 the studio. What's his take on portable operations? 00:43:24.400 --> 00:43:26.820 How long has he been activating parks with Sean? 00:43:27.300 --> 00:43:30.440 And what is his most memorable portable op that 00:43:30.440 --> 00:43:33.639 Sean would be too embarrassed to mention? Well, 00:43:33.639 --> 00:43:37.090 let's see. Okay. So for those who don't know, 00:43:37.630 --> 00:43:43.650 Jarvis is a tiny stuffed alligator that I have 00:43:43.650 --> 00:43:47.050 had with me for probably 30 years now. He's kind 00:43:47.050 --> 00:43:49.809 of like my portable operating mascot. He's been 00:43:49.809 --> 00:43:53.670 on every major portable operation that I've done 00:43:53.670 --> 00:43:56.769 since the early 1990s. I don't even remember 00:43:56.769 --> 00:44:01.050 where I got him anymore. But he's kind of like 00:44:01.050 --> 00:44:03.710 the mascot for all the stuff that I do. We got 00:44:03.710 --> 00:44:06.670 to keep this light and fun. So he comes with 00:44:06.670 --> 00:44:11.050 me on all of my trips. What does he think about 00:44:11.050 --> 00:44:13.570 it? I think as long as he gets fed, he's probably 00:44:13.570 --> 00:44:18.880 okay with anything. Yeah, there's a there's a 00:44:18.880 --> 00:44:22.059 great photo. I took a couple years ago in August 00:44:22.059 --> 00:44:26.000 of 2017 I went roving through ten or twelve grids 00:44:26.000 --> 00:44:29.400 around some Great Lakes in Ontario and Michigan 00:44:29.400 --> 00:44:33.820 and Ohio and He certainly enjoyed Tim Horton's 00:44:33.820 --> 00:44:36.980 coffee. I'll say that. Oh, yes the Tim Hortons. 00:44:36.980 --> 00:44:40.900 Yeah Do that you can give that a Dayton though, 00:44:40.920 --> 00:44:45.260 too. You can yep. Yeah Dayton has but so There 00:44:45.260 --> 00:44:47.579 is something very special about having Tim Horton's 00:44:47.579 --> 00:44:52.559 coffee in Ontario. I will say well, yeah So as 00:44:52.559 --> 00:44:56.920 far as what? What what's the most memorable portable 00:44:56.920 --> 00:44:59.099 op that I would be too embarrassed to mention? 00:44:59.360 --> 00:45:01.699 Well, let's see from his from Jarvis's standpoint. 00:45:01.699 --> 00:45:08.559 I think I was doing I was doing a park for for 00:45:08.559 --> 00:45:13.550 my CT 90 project last Fall so this would have 00:45:13.550 --> 00:45:17.630 been the fall of 2017 and I was set up next to 00:45:17.630 --> 00:45:20.190 the Farmington River here in Connecticut while 00:45:20.190 --> 00:45:23.809 I was operating a little Dinky State Park with 00:45:23.809 --> 00:45:26.269 a trail system in it and I thought it'd be nice 00:45:26.269 --> 00:45:29.030 to get a photo of Jarvis next to the water and 00:45:29.030 --> 00:45:31.429 Poor guy fell in. I don't know how that happened, 00:45:31.429 --> 00:45:33.989 but I don't think he was very happy with me that 00:45:33.989 --> 00:45:41.019 day Well, I guess the closest I had was Was it 00:45:41.019 --> 00:45:43.059 a year or two years ago? I guess it's two years 00:45:43.059 --> 00:45:46.980 ago. We had flat hammy We had him talk live mascot, 00:45:46.980 --> 00:45:50.000 you know, and you could take pictures with With 00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:52.320 flat hammy. So it was kind of kind of the same 00:45:52.320 --> 00:45:55.699 idea. I know the same thing. Yeah Okay, we got 00:45:55.699 --> 00:45:58.800 another one. Uh, and I don't see a call sign 00:45:58.800 --> 00:46:03.960 here. So I'm not sure who this is but the classic 00:46:03.960 --> 00:46:10.159 satellite question And he says for soda too Arrow 00:46:10.159 --> 00:46:17.539 to or elk Well, you know They both work very 00:46:17.539 --> 00:46:23.820 well the the arrow the the arrow to is is my 00:46:23.820 --> 00:46:27.780 personal choice just because I enjoy having the 00:46:27.780 --> 00:46:33.059 ability to To rotate each each band separately 00:46:33.059 --> 00:46:35.400 because on an arrow the two meter antenna and 00:46:35.400 --> 00:46:39.800 the 70 centimeter antennas are 90 degrees Out 00:46:39.800 --> 00:46:42.539 of phase, you know, so if if one is horizontally 00:46:42.539 --> 00:46:44.739 polarized the other one is automatically vertically 00:46:44.739 --> 00:46:47.940 polarized because they're on a square mast But 00:46:47.940 --> 00:46:53.119 you know, I know Fernando and before JV down 00:46:53.119 --> 00:46:56.940 in Arizona is a huge Elk user and he has great 00:46:56.940 --> 00:47:00.139 success with them. I know Clayton W5 PFG is used 00:47:00.139 --> 00:47:02.760 Elks with great success He's one of the best 00:47:02.760 --> 00:47:04.940 satellite operators out there. I don't think 00:47:04.940 --> 00:47:06.860 there's any one answer to that question. They 00:47:06.860 --> 00:47:11.159 both work exceptionally well Okay, there we go. 00:47:11.480 --> 00:47:14.960 Troy W9KVR says, uh, we used a Tar Heel screwdriver, 00:47:14.960 --> 00:47:19.780 uh, from the back of the school bus, uh, with 00:47:19.780 --> 00:47:22.960 a TS four 80 and 12 volt battery to operate from 00:47:22.960 --> 00:47:26.460 Turkey run state park during school club roundup 00:47:26.460 --> 00:47:30.119 in October, 2016. I remember that because we, 00:47:30.380 --> 00:47:32.599 we worked them. That's just down the road here. 00:47:33.039 --> 00:47:36.719 Um, and, uh, that worked out well on the school 00:47:36.719 --> 00:47:40.320 bus. Well, that's if you're operating from a 00:47:40.320 --> 00:47:42.099 school bus, that's a heck of a ground plane for 00:47:42.099 --> 00:47:47.679 your tar heel That's a See that's to me. That's 00:47:47.679 --> 00:47:49.619 that's just one of the beauties of operating 00:47:49.619 --> 00:47:52.619 portable is you know, you can you can You can 00:47:52.619 --> 00:47:56.539 rig up almost anything and and get us and you 00:47:56.539 --> 00:47:58.659 know The RF is gonna go somewhere and you're 00:47:58.659 --> 00:48:03.420 gonna work some folks and you know Troy mentioned 00:48:03.420 --> 00:48:05.380 that he was doing this during the school club 00:48:05.380 --> 00:48:08.619 roundup. That's fantastic You know, we've talked 00:48:08.619 --> 00:48:11.460 a little bit about some of these Awards programs 00:48:11.460 --> 00:48:13.900 that are geared toward portable operating But 00:48:13.900 --> 00:48:16.420 you know you you really don't even need to have 00:48:16.420 --> 00:48:18.880 a reason to do portable operating You can just 00:48:18.880 --> 00:48:22.300 go do it for the sake of doing it Go set up in 00:48:22.300 --> 00:48:25.920 a park somewhere on a enjoy a nice sunny afternoon 00:48:25.920 --> 00:48:30.900 Maybe run a special event station You know you 00:48:30.900 --> 00:48:34.219 can create a special event station for any event 00:48:34.219 --> 00:48:37.590 whether there's something going on Within your 00:48:37.590 --> 00:48:39.610 town maybe your town celebrating an anniversary 00:48:39.610 --> 00:48:43.630 or it's the fourth of July or Labor Day Parade 00:48:43.630 --> 00:48:46.789 or something along those lines I know that there 00:48:46.789 --> 00:48:49.230 were special one of the slides that I used to 00:48:49.230 --> 00:48:52.230 use in my presentation for Portable operating 00:48:52.230 --> 00:48:55.869 was for special events was the Texas armadillo 00:48:55.869 --> 00:48:58.250 barbecue, you know So you know you you don't 00:48:58.250 --> 00:49:00.949 you don't need a reason for a special event and 00:49:00.949 --> 00:49:03.530 it gives you It gives you a wonderful excuse 00:49:03.530 --> 00:49:07.099 to get out And enjoy ham radio and interact with 00:49:07.099 --> 00:49:09.780 the public and show folks what ham radio is about 00:49:09.780 --> 00:49:15.199 and and have fun in a low -key Low stress endeavor 00:49:15.199 --> 00:49:19.099 And maybe maybe even a special event station 00:49:19.099 --> 00:49:22.780 for a wedding You could do that if you want I 00:49:22.780 --> 00:49:24.980 would recommend that the groom steer clear of 00:49:24.980 --> 00:49:29.900 that Yeah, I guess I'm better Also better make 00:49:29.900 --> 00:49:33.159 sure that doesn't get into the sound system That 00:49:33.159 --> 00:49:35.460 too that could be problem. I might be that might 00:49:35.460 --> 00:49:39.840 be a You know, that might be a deal breaker Troy 00:49:39.840 --> 00:49:42.800 says yeah, it was good timing He had a geology 00:49:42.800 --> 00:49:46.320 field trip and so they were on this geology field 00:49:46.320 --> 00:49:48.760 trip Which happened to fall right in the middle 00:49:48.760 --> 00:49:52.000 of school club roundup? And so it's like well, 00:49:52.099 --> 00:49:53.920 we're not gonna be able to operate school club 00:49:53.920 --> 00:49:57.789 roundup unless We just take it with us So that's 00:49:57.789 --> 00:50:01.230 what he did many many years ago many years ago 00:50:01.230 --> 00:50:03.329 I was uh finishing up college and I was taking 00:50:03.329 --> 00:50:06.110 a field botany class and we went on an overnight 00:50:06.110 --> 00:50:11.530 trip to some park in central illinois and uh 00:50:11.530 --> 00:50:14.190 identified various plant species while we were 00:50:14.190 --> 00:50:17.030 out and I took uh I took my uh I took my icom 00:50:17.030 --> 00:50:20.050 745 uh out into the field and threw a wire in 00:50:20.050 --> 00:50:22.050 a tree and everybody was absolutely fascinated 00:50:22.050 --> 00:50:25.239 with it so you know I had fun The folks in my 00:50:25.239 --> 00:50:27.980 class got to see ham radio up close. They, you 00:50:27.980 --> 00:50:29.800 know, most of them had never even heard of it 00:50:29.800 --> 00:50:32.960 at that point in time. Uh, so, you know, all 00:50:32.960 --> 00:50:35.119 sorts of little opportunities like that exist 00:50:35.119 --> 00:50:37.340 to get the word out about amateur radio and, 00:50:37.340 --> 00:50:41.000 uh, do a little one -on -one, uh, if not outright 00:50:41.000 --> 00:50:43.619 recruitment, maybe just some consciousness raising 00:50:43.619 --> 00:50:47.500 and public relations. There you go. Well, uh, 00:50:47.500 --> 00:50:49.719 we we've got through all the questions that have 00:50:49.719 --> 00:50:52.440 come in and we're already. five minutes over, 00:50:52.500 --> 00:50:56.159 and I don't want to keep you too long here. But 00:50:56.159 --> 00:50:58.780 you did mention that, you know, you were going 00:50:58.780 --> 00:51:01.139 to mention some ways to make portable operating 00:51:01.139 --> 00:51:07.059 even more fun. And besides Jarvis, you have anything 00:51:07.059 --> 00:51:10.440 to add here before we hang it up for the night? 00:51:10.780 --> 00:51:13.380 I would say the biggest thing that you can do 00:51:13.380 --> 00:51:16.059 is get one of your friends involved and make 00:51:16.059 --> 00:51:21.300 it a team effort. Do a contest from a rental 00:51:21.300 --> 00:51:25.909 cabin. Do a state QSO party as a mobile. from 00:51:25.909 --> 00:51:28.369 your car and activate a couple of different counties. 00:51:28.849 --> 00:51:30.570 Do something like I was talking about earlier 00:51:30.570 --> 00:51:34.469 with my project CT90 where you try to activate 00:51:34.469 --> 00:51:38.369 a certain number of units that are in your area. 00:51:38.750 --> 00:51:40.989 The US Islands program is going on this year. 00:51:41.230 --> 00:51:43.650 You get points if you can, you get a special 00:51:43.650 --> 00:51:46.650 award if you can transmit from 25 different islands 00:51:46.650 --> 00:51:51.860 in 2019. That's a very reasonable goal. so check 00:51:51.860 --> 00:51:54.099 out their website and check out the websites 00:51:54.099 --> 00:51:56.219 of all of the other programs that we talked about 00:51:56.219 --> 00:51:59.920 here and Give yourself give yourself an incentive 00:51:59.920 --> 00:52:03.739 to go out and and and operate make an attainable 00:52:03.739 --> 00:52:07.179 goal bring a friend with you and And and keep 00:52:07.179 --> 00:52:09.739 it fun because that's really that's really what 00:52:09.739 --> 00:52:11.599 all of this portable operating stuff is about. 00:52:11.599 --> 00:52:15.340 It's about having fun All right. Well sounds 00:52:15.340 --> 00:52:18.440 great Thank you so much for coming on. It's always 00:52:18.440 --> 00:52:21.880 a pleasure to have you on. And I'm sure it won't 00:52:21.880 --> 00:52:26.099 be long until I'll be on your email account again 00:52:26.099 --> 00:52:29.219 saying, Hey, Sean, can you come back on show? 00:52:29.679 --> 00:52:35.260 I'd be happy to do it. Quick note, if you heard 00:52:35.260 --> 00:52:37.219 something in here that you wanted more information 00:52:37.219 --> 00:52:40.380 about or if you want to ask me a question about 00:52:40.380 --> 00:52:43.760 portable operating outside of the show, I'm happy 00:52:43.760 --> 00:52:46.199 to answer any questions. You can reach me at 00:52:46.199 --> 00:52:50.980 kx9x at yahoo .com. You can also follow me on 00:52:50.980 --> 00:52:54.000 Twitter and Instagram at Sean Cutsco. That's 00:52:54.000 --> 00:52:59.340 S -E -A -N -K -U -T -Z -K -O. Okay, we're good. 00:52:59.519 --> 00:53:02.699 Oh and Chris mentions Florida State Parks on 00:53:02.699 --> 00:53:08.199 the air is also yes, it is Check out check out. 00:53:08.320 --> 00:53:11.059 Yep. Check out all of the events in your state 00:53:11.059 --> 00:53:15.280 get online do a web search for Your state and 00:53:15.280 --> 00:53:17.780 then the phrase ham radio and you'll find a lot 00:53:17.780 --> 00:53:20.219 of different on -the -air events that are going 00:53:20.219 --> 00:53:25.170 to be taking place in your area Well, we're going 00:53:25.170 --> 00:53:27.849 to end it there, but thanks again for coming 00:53:27.849 --> 00:53:34.730 on and good luck with the baking and the CT90. 00:53:34.809 --> 00:53:38.110 If you get back into that again and all that 00:53:38.110 --> 00:53:41.610 you're doing, we appreciate you being here. And 00:53:41.610 --> 00:53:45.650 I don't know, I'm thinking QRP bakery items for 00:53:45.650 --> 00:53:50.599 Wemploda. It could very easily happen i'll have 00:53:50.599 --> 00:53:53.400 to reach out to the organizers and see if we 00:53:53.400 --> 00:53:56.280 can muscle in on that little debbie contract. 00:53:57.139 --> 00:54:01.280 All right well that's a wrap for this week's 00:54:01.280 --> 00:54:04.679 edition. of HamTalk Live. Thanks to Sean Cuttsko, 00:54:04.800 --> 00:54:08.239 KX9X, and everybody out there in cyberspace for 00:54:08.239 --> 00:54:11.219 listening and writing in tonight. And I invite 00:54:11.219 --> 00:54:14.440 you all back next Thursday night at 9 p .m. Eastern 00:54:14.440 --> 00:54:18.699 Time when Sterling Mann N0SSC will be here to 00:54:18.699 --> 00:54:23.400 talk about the YARC. Youth Contesting Program 00:54:23.400 --> 00:54:26.159 for a list of all of our upcoming guests. Just 00:54:26.159 --> 00:54:29.099 go over to HamTalkLive .com and if you like the 00:54:29.099 --> 00:54:33.039 show, please consider leaving us a review on 00:54:33.039 --> 00:54:35.760 iTunes or wherever you listen. That helps others 00:54:35.760 --> 00:54:38.579 find us faster. So for now, this is Neil Rapp, 00:54:38.739 --> 00:54:45.420 WB9VPG, saying 7375 and may the good DX be yours. 00:54:46.059 --> 00:55:01.699 Thanks for watching!