WEBVTT 00:00:09.580 --> 00:00:12.320 Thanks for tuning in. HamTalk Live will be on 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:30.399 the air shortly. Please stand by. This episode 00:00:30.399 --> 00:00:33.979 of HamTalk Live is brought to you by Tower Electronics. 00:00:34.399 --> 00:00:38.659 For connectors, cables, and more, call 920 -435 00:00:38.659 --> 00:00:45.420 -2973 or visit pl -259 .com. And by ICOM, heard 00:00:45.420 --> 00:00:50.619 it, worked it, logged it. Visit www .icomamerica 00:00:50.619 --> 00:00:54.380 .com slash amateur for more information about 00:00:54.380 --> 00:01:30.510 ICOM radios. Good evening, everyone. It's time 00:01:30.510 --> 00:01:35.590 for HamTalk Live. It's episode number 152, the 00:01:35.590 --> 00:01:39.469 North American Collegiate Championships 2019, 00:01:40.189 --> 00:01:44.109 recorded live on Thursday, February 7th, 2019. 00:01:44.409 --> 00:01:48.049 I'm your host, Neil Rapp, WB9VPG. Thanks for 00:01:48.049 --> 00:01:52.439 tuning in to this episode of HamTalk. live. Tonight 00:01:52.439 --> 00:01:56.620 we're joined by Craig Thompson, K9CT and Joe 00:01:56.620 --> 00:02:00.560 Fitter, K7JOE and we'll take your calls live 00:02:00.560 --> 00:02:03.819 in just a few minutes. Last week it was Frank 00:02:03.819 --> 00:02:07.599 Bauer, KA3 HDO here on the show to talk about 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:10.219 the latest news from the International Space 00:02:10.219 --> 00:02:12.159 Station. If you missed that show you can listen 00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:16.099 anytime at hamptalklive .com or on your favorite 00:02:16.099 --> 00:02:20.620 podcast app or YouTube or you can catch the rebroadcast 00:02:20.620 --> 00:02:26.990 on WTWW 5085 AM Saturday evenings at about 6 00:02:26.990 --> 00:02:30.990 30 p .m. Eastern Time. So we're going to talk 00:02:30.990 --> 00:02:34.770 collegiate championship contesting tonight. So 00:02:34.770 --> 00:02:37.129 get your questions ready to go. If you're listening 00:02:37.129 --> 00:02:40.469 to us live on Thursday night, you can call us. 00:02:40.699 --> 00:02:43.259 After the interview and I'll let me give you 00:02:43.259 --> 00:02:45.259 the phone number and we're still on our temporary 00:02:45.259 --> 00:02:48.180 phone number my apologies for that The phone 00:02:48.180 --> 00:02:53.060 number will be eight one two six five zero nine 00:02:53.060 --> 00:02:57.039 five five six again We're still on the temporary 00:02:57.039 --> 00:03:02.460 number tonight eight one two six five zero 9556 00:03:02.460 --> 00:03:05.280 and I'll let you know when it's time to call, 00:03:05.379 --> 00:03:08.199 but that way you can have that number handy and 00:03:08.199 --> 00:03:14.080 ready to go. 812 -650 -9556. You can tweet us 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:18.280 anytime though. You can tweet us at HamTalk Live. 00:03:18.840 --> 00:03:21.219 And so I'll be checking that throughout the night 00:03:21.219 --> 00:03:23.960 and I'll be back with Craig and Joe right after 00:03:23.960 --> 00:03:27.639 this word from Icom America right here on HamTalk 00:03:27.639 --> 00:03:32.159 Live. Create your own band opening. ICOM's newest 00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:36.379 SDR transceiver, the IC -9700 is coming soon. 00:03:36.520 --> 00:03:39.460 This new radio is bringing direct sampling to 00:03:39.460 --> 00:03:44.479 the UHF VHF week signal world. The IC -9700 all 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:47.479 mode transceiver is loaded with innovative features 00:03:47.479 --> 00:03:50.719 such as dedicated amateur satellite operation, 00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:54.000 color touch screen, D -star capability built 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:57.180 in, RF direct sampling on the two meter and 70 00:03:57.180 --> 00:04:00.300 centimeter band. dual independent receivers capable 00:04:00.300 --> 00:04:03.840 of full duplex operation as well as dual watch 00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:07.719 and maximum output power of 100 watts on 2 meters, 00:04:08.159 --> 00:04:11.340 75 watts on 70 centimeters and 10 watts on 1 00:04:11.340 --> 00:04:16.779 .2 gigahertz. Visit www .icomamerica .com slash 00:04:16.779 --> 00:04:20.620 amateur for more information on ICOM radios. 00:04:21.279 --> 00:04:23.839 Your host Neil Rapp would tell you a chemistry 00:04:23.839 --> 00:04:26.560 joke but he probably wouldn't get a reaction. 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:45.040 Now more HamTalk Live. Thanks to iCub America 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:48.339 for helping bring the show to you each and every 00:04:48.339 --> 00:04:52.800 week here Thursday nights live and. on the podcast 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:55.259 and the rebroadcast. Make sure you check out 00:04:55.259 --> 00:04:58.500 ICOM at Hamcation this weekend. They're showing 00:04:58.500 --> 00:05:02.420 off their new IC 9700, so make sure you stop 00:05:02.420 --> 00:05:06.259 by and see that. My guest this evening, we have 00:05:06.259 --> 00:05:10.259 two tonight, Craig Thompson, K9CT is from Trevoli, 00:05:10.259 --> 00:05:13.230 Illinois, which is not too far from... Peoria 00:05:13.230 --> 00:05:15.970 and Craig is an extra class license holder and 00:05:15.970 --> 00:05:19.209 been a ham for 52 years. He has a degree in electronics 00:05:19.209 --> 00:05:22.189 engineering technology from Bradley University 00:05:22.189 --> 00:05:25.970 and as well as worked toward an MBA and after 00:05:25.970 --> 00:05:28.949 serving as an operations manager and vice president 00:05:28.949 --> 00:05:32.160 with small company. Craig started his own in 00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:36.480 1980. Thompson Electronics Company provides solutions 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:39.220 for security, communications, audio, video, fire 00:05:39.220 --> 00:05:42.120 alarms, all kinds of stuff in central Illinois. 00:05:42.660 --> 00:05:45.259 And his combination of ham radio and electronics 00:05:45.259 --> 00:05:48.639 careers allowed him to build an impressive contesting 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:52.120 station and participate in several de -expeditions. 00:05:52.589 --> 00:05:54.970 Craig is president of the Society of Midwest 00:05:54.970 --> 00:05:58.050 Contestors, which sponsors the North American 00:05:58.050 --> 00:06:00.550 Collegiate Championships, along with the National 00:06:00.550 --> 00:06:03.490 Contest Journal, and is a member of the ARRL 00:06:03.490 --> 00:06:08.129 Contest Advisory Committee. Joe Fitter, K7 JOE, 00:06:08.149 --> 00:06:10.689 is a lecturer of finance and the director of 00:06:10.689 --> 00:06:14.350 the MBA Strategic Finance Academy at Indiana 00:06:14.350 --> 00:06:17.649 University's Kelly School of Business, where 00:06:17.649 --> 00:06:20.110 he is the faculty sponsor of the amateur radio 00:06:20.110 --> 00:06:24.370 club, K9IU. where he was the club's president 00:06:24.370 --> 00:06:28.569 30 years ago. Joe's finance experience is mostly 00:06:28.569 --> 00:06:31.810 with Intel Corporation, which took him to China 00:06:31.810 --> 00:06:34.930 for several years. Joe is a member of the Society 00:06:34.930 --> 00:06:39.529 of Midwest Contestors and is also active in the 00:06:39.529 --> 00:06:42.610 Southern Indiana Amateur Radio Association. He's 00:06:42.610 --> 00:06:46.170 an avid DXer contestor and CW operator and has 00:06:46.170 --> 00:06:51.009 been licensed since 1986 at age 17 and has rejuvenated 00:06:51.009 --> 00:06:54.050 the club at Indiana University and thankfully 00:06:54.670 --> 00:06:57.209 He does all of my antenna work at Blueton High 00:06:57.209 --> 00:07:00.709 School South, too. So thanks for that, Joe. And 00:07:00.709 --> 00:07:04.449 Craig and Joe, welcome to HamTalk Live. It's 00:07:04.449 --> 00:07:07.389 great to be here. Thank you. Yeah, very good, 00:07:07.470 --> 00:07:11.329 Neil. Thanks for having us. Now, Joe, you know, 00:07:11.410 --> 00:07:13.670 school club roundup is next week. We still have 00:07:13.670 --> 00:07:18.370 to get that dipole up. Yes, indeed. With the 00:07:18.370 --> 00:07:22.009 tornadoes in the area, I'm actually... down here 00:07:22.009 --> 00:07:24.930 in sunny Orlando this weekend for the hamcation 00:07:24.930 --> 00:07:27.629 and to visit some family. But I promise that 00:07:27.629 --> 00:07:30.069 we will be on that rooftop working on that dipole 00:07:30.069 --> 00:07:33.149 as soon as I get back. Yeah, we had 35 mile an 00:07:33.149 --> 00:07:35.730 hour winds right now, Craig and I do, and you're 00:07:35.730 --> 00:07:39.329 down there in Orlando. So, and I, and I couldn't, 00:07:39.329 --> 00:07:43.009 you know, I couldn't, uh, I couldn't call you 00:07:43.009 --> 00:07:45.949 and say, Hey, you know, it's negative 25 wind 00:07:45.949 --> 00:07:49.910 chill. Can we go put that dipole up now? So we'll 00:07:49.910 --> 00:07:57.490 work on that later. Yeah, sure. Well, Craig, 00:07:57.490 --> 00:07:59.910 let's talk a little bit about this. This is the 00:07:59.910 --> 00:08:03.970 second sideband version of the North American 00:08:03.970 --> 00:08:07.089 Collegiate Championship that just finished up 00:08:07.089 --> 00:08:10.209 a few weeks ago. So tell us about the contest 00:08:10.209 --> 00:08:16.829 this year and how that all went. Well, I thought 00:08:16.829 --> 00:08:20.600 it was very successful. I'm always a little concerned 00:08:20.600 --> 00:08:23.920 because the clubs change every year in terms 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:27.319 of who's active in the club. You remember they're 00:08:27.319 --> 00:08:32.460 only there for four years and they change quite 00:08:32.460 --> 00:08:35.019 a bit from year to year. But I was quite pleased 00:08:35.019 --> 00:08:39.580 with the amount of participants. We marketed 00:08:39.580 --> 00:08:46.279 this through the ARRL and NCJ and the contest 00:08:48.169 --> 00:08:55.470 forums. And also the ARRL has a website for collegiate 00:08:55.470 --> 00:08:59.110 activities and we set up two events there. So 00:08:59.110 --> 00:09:02.769 we try to get as much marketing done as possible. 00:09:04.350 --> 00:09:07.970 This NACC is held in conjunction with the North 00:09:07.970 --> 00:09:10.769 American QSO party. So we didn't have to create 00:09:10.769 --> 00:09:13.730 a new contest. This is a really successful and 00:09:13.730 --> 00:09:16.649 very active contest that's quite short. It's 00:09:16.649 --> 00:09:20.019 12 hours long. And it's a Saturday afternoon, 00:09:20.600 --> 00:09:23.639 and we thought that that would be befitting of 00:09:23.639 --> 00:09:25.539 college -age students to be able to participate. 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:28.919 So it's not something we had to invent. So we 00:09:28.919 --> 00:09:31.440 had a lot of the teams repeat from last year, 00:09:31.500 --> 00:09:34.539 a lot of the school clubs, and we had some additional 00:09:34.539 --> 00:09:36.700 ones. In fact, I know you're going to talk about 00:09:36.700 --> 00:09:40.740 this, but with the addition of the RIDI weekend, 00:09:41.539 --> 00:09:43.940 we've also had some additional clubs that have 00:09:43.940 --> 00:09:47.309 joined since the sideband. heard about the activity 00:09:47.309 --> 00:09:50.809 in the sideband contest and wanted to join for 00:09:50.809 --> 00:09:54.129 the RIDI contest as well. So quite pleased. Technically, 00:09:54.289 --> 00:09:56.830 I think it went better this year. They sent out 00:09:56.830 --> 00:10:00.210 some reminder emails on how to set up the linking 00:10:00.210 --> 00:10:02.470 for online scoring. And a lot of the testing 00:10:02.470 --> 00:10:05.269 was done. The timing of the contest is such that 00:10:05.269 --> 00:10:07.070 a lot of the kids are just getting back from 00:10:07.070 --> 00:10:09.350 their break. So it's kind of a rush for them 00:10:09.350 --> 00:10:13.450 to get back in their rooms, get everything going, 00:10:13.669 --> 00:10:17.570 and get into the contest. They kind of had a 00:10:17.570 --> 00:10:20.090 rush job getting on, I think, but it'll be better 00:10:20.090 --> 00:10:22.230 for Ready Weekend. So I think it went really 00:10:22.230 --> 00:10:25.570 well. We had about 15 schools participate online, 00:10:25.610 --> 00:10:29.269 and there were some that had some issues that 00:10:29.269 --> 00:10:32.690 didn't get online, but they participated anyhow, 00:10:32.750 --> 00:10:35.350 and their scores were submitted directly to NCJ. 00:10:35.950 --> 00:10:38.809 And then we'll have the results in the NCJ magazine 00:10:38.809 --> 00:10:42.919 coming up very soon. All right, very good. Well, 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:46.559 Joe, your group at Indiana University was able 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:50.480 to pull off the victory this time around. So 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:54.220 congratulations and tell us how the club reacted 00:10:54.220 --> 00:10:57.860 to the win. And I also want you to talk a little 00:10:57.860 --> 00:11:01.620 bit about the live scoreboard. uh... that was 00:11:01.620 --> 00:11:05.639 instituted in this and you guys had a brace down 00:11:05.639 --> 00:11:09.100 to the wire uh... between your club in the defending 00:11:09.100 --> 00:11:12.580 champs down at georgia tech so uh... tell us 00:11:12.580 --> 00:11:15.059 how everybody reacted to that i know it was in 00:11:15.059 --> 00:11:18.379 the middle of uh... but really bad snowstorm 00:11:18.379 --> 00:11:22.940 to so you might talk about that okay very good 00:11:22.940 --> 00:11:25.879 meal well first let me let me come in craig and 00:11:25.879 --> 00:11:30.120 also stew out on the west coast w sixty u Is 00:11:30.120 --> 00:11:33.279 it W6TU or N6TU? Apologies, Sue. But anyway, 00:11:33.639 --> 00:11:35.580 for the excellent effort of putting together 00:11:35.580 --> 00:11:38.440 not just the collegiate championship, but the 00:11:38.440 --> 00:11:41.419 technology that's being used to create a new 00:11:41.419 --> 00:11:44.259 dimension of contesting, and that is the live 00:11:44.259 --> 00:11:46.440 scoreboard. So for those that aren't familiar 00:11:46.440 --> 00:11:48.019 with the live scoreboard, I'm going to start 00:11:48.019 --> 00:11:50.279 there first because I think, quite frankly, that's 00:11:50.279 --> 00:11:52.820 the bigger story than which university won the 00:11:52.820 --> 00:11:56.120 event. The big story is using the live scoreboard 00:11:56.120 --> 00:11:59.509 really takes a new dimension of contesting into 00:11:59.509 --> 00:12:03.629 the hands of hams. And the younger people like 00:12:03.629 --> 00:12:06.470 instant gratification, I think much more so than 00:12:06.470 --> 00:12:08.669 the older generation of hams. And if you look 00:12:08.669 --> 00:12:11.409 at the contesting demographic, most contesters, 00:12:11.409 --> 00:12:13.850 at least in our club, are age 60 and above. And 00:12:13.850 --> 00:12:15.850 you're talking about a demographic that's two 00:12:15.850 --> 00:12:18.990 generations behind that typical demographic of 00:12:18.990 --> 00:12:21.730 contesters. And the younger generation, quite 00:12:21.730 --> 00:12:23.990 frankly, wants that instant feedback. And so 00:12:23.990 --> 00:12:26.250 the live scoreboard technology allows you to 00:12:26.250 --> 00:12:28.980 marry The capability of your logging software, 00:12:29.179 --> 00:12:32.080 let's say N1MM is one of the contesting softwares, 00:12:32.279 --> 00:12:34.019 and allows you to connect through the internet 00:12:34.019 --> 00:12:36.740 real time to compare scores across a variety 00:12:36.740 --> 00:12:39.700 of schools. And in this case, we had 15 or 20 00:12:39.700 --> 00:12:41.960 schools that were on the scoreboard running real 00:12:41.960 --> 00:12:44.769 time. competition and so you weren't just competing 00:12:44.769 --> 00:12:46.769 for highest score you are maybe competing with 00:12:46.769 --> 00:12:49.190 uh... another school that was uh... in your in 00:12:49.190 --> 00:12:51.250 your uh... conference for example the big ten 00:12:51.250 --> 00:12:53.429 schools there were and a number of them that 00:12:53.429 --> 00:12:55.690 uh... joined a tremendous turnout fact and so 00:12:55.690 --> 00:12:59.409 that dimension of contesting i think really inspired 00:12:59.409 --> 00:13:02.360 the participants to stick with it When the going 00:13:02.360 --> 00:13:05.019 got tough and the bands weren't always terrific, 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:08.899 there were some moments where 80 meters was completely 00:13:08.899 --> 00:13:11.720 obliterated by the snowfall and the noise, the 00:13:11.720 --> 00:13:13.740 static on the wire antenna that was caused by 00:13:13.740 --> 00:13:15.700 the snowfall, we actually thought that we had 00:13:15.700 --> 00:13:18.059 blown a radio up and it turned out it was just 00:13:18.059 --> 00:13:20.860 static induced from the snow. But anyway, the 00:13:20.860 --> 00:13:23.159 scoreboard is the real story here, I think. And 00:13:23.159 --> 00:13:25.919 that's what I think has inspired folks to get 00:13:25.919 --> 00:13:28.379 involved and to stay involved through the duration 00:13:28.379 --> 00:13:32.480 of the contest. K -9IU specifically at Indiana 00:13:32.480 --> 00:13:34.379 University. We've been in a state of rebuilding 00:13:34.379 --> 00:13:36.200 the station for the last two or three years. 00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:39.399 We've received some money from the ARRL, a very 00:13:39.399 --> 00:13:43.960 generous grant, last year, courtesy of them, 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:46.399 and that was able to help us get some additional 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:50.450 equipment. Antennas have been updated. We removed 00:13:50.450 --> 00:13:52.870 a tri -band antenna that was around since the 00:13:52.870 --> 00:13:55.870 early 1970s and a couple years ago we were able 00:13:55.870 --> 00:13:58.309 to put up a new antenna and then later on a rotator. 00:13:58.629 --> 00:14:00.649 Anyway, long story short, the equipment is in 00:14:00.649 --> 00:14:03.289 place and now the students are starting to come 00:14:03.289 --> 00:14:05.309 around and getting interested in being competitive 00:14:05.309 --> 00:14:08.090 with a competitive radio station and getting 00:14:08.090 --> 00:14:11.830 on the air. And for us, really my mission as 00:14:11.830 --> 00:14:14.350 one of the faculty sponsors is to get students 00:14:14.350 --> 00:14:17.330 on the air. That's really what it was all about. 00:14:18.230 --> 00:14:21.149 And it was just a ton of fun. And whether it 00:14:21.149 --> 00:14:25.049 was in the mid -afternoon, things were kind of 00:14:25.049 --> 00:14:27.169 slow, or late in the evening, when things really 00:14:27.169 --> 00:14:29.669 got hopping, it was a bunch of fun to see the 00:14:29.669 --> 00:14:32.450 students run. At one point, one of our members 00:14:32.450 --> 00:14:34.470 was working at stations. I think the rate meter 00:14:34.470 --> 00:14:37.429 went to 240 contacts per hour. If you think about 00:14:37.429 --> 00:14:40.009 that, that's four contacts per minute. That's 00:14:40.009 --> 00:14:42.690 pretty phenomenal. So they're getting good. They're 00:14:42.690 --> 00:14:47.190 competitive. Absolutely well you know it was 00:14:47.190 --> 00:14:50.529 it was cool to kind of sneak in and take a look 00:14:50.529 --> 00:14:53.750 at the scoreboard as things were going and and 00:14:53.750 --> 00:14:57.070 watch and you know all of a sudden you're you're 00:14:57.070 --> 00:14:59.990 you know way up on top and then here comes you 00:14:59.990 --> 00:15:02.090 know Georgia Tech on your heels and they took 00:15:02.090 --> 00:15:05.600 over the lead for a little bit I think And then 00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:10.059 it was kind of a fight to the finish. So I think 00:15:10.059 --> 00:15:13.279 this scoreboard thing, not only does it give 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:16.220 the instant feedback at the end, but I think 00:15:16.220 --> 00:15:22.179 it also may encourage some that are not up in 00:15:22.179 --> 00:15:25.419 the first, second, third place to say, hey, well, 00:15:25.480 --> 00:15:30.419 at least we can pass these guys. And I think 00:15:30.419 --> 00:15:33.419 it creates some, some motivation to stay in the 00:15:33.419 --> 00:15:39.580 chair and, and keep on going. Well, I would agree 00:15:39.580 --> 00:15:42.000 with that. Um, one thing that we could look forward 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:45.500 to is some, uh, intercollegiate competitions 00:15:45.500 --> 00:15:50.220 amongst rival schools, um, where one club challenges 00:15:50.220 --> 00:15:54.919 another club and, uh, I, or, you know, conferences 00:15:54.919 --> 00:15:59.289 or state intrastate. So. There could be all kinds 00:15:59.289 --> 00:16:02.570 of things that would come of this. I'd like to, 00:16:02.710 --> 00:16:07.330 one thing I have to go back on that's part of 00:16:07.330 --> 00:16:09.549 this is that I was actually kind of shocked at 00:16:09.549 --> 00:16:12.269 how many club stations there were not anymore 00:16:12.269 --> 00:16:15.110 when we first started this. I thought that when 00:16:15.110 --> 00:16:17.509 we would start this up that there would in fact 00:16:17.509 --> 00:16:20.929 be many college stations that I remember from 00:16:20.929 --> 00:16:23.990 when I was in college. And I'm sure Joe knows 00:16:23.990 --> 00:16:26.669 exactly what I'm talking about here. But in the 00:16:26.669 --> 00:16:28.990 process of, over the years, building new buildings 00:16:28.990 --> 00:16:33.070 and changes being made, stations have disappeared 00:16:33.070 --> 00:16:37.570 from some of the biggest universities. And it's 00:16:37.570 --> 00:16:40.490 great that somebody like Joe comes back to Indiana 00:16:40.490 --> 00:16:42.629 University and helps them out. I personally help 00:16:42.629 --> 00:16:45.649 Bradley University and help them get going. But 00:16:45.649 --> 00:16:48.850 I think it would be a really good challenge if 00:16:48.850 --> 00:16:51.940 local clubs would help. their local university 00:16:51.940 --> 00:16:54.759 or any alumni would go back and help their local 00:16:54.759 --> 00:16:56.820 university get back on the air or to help them 00:16:56.820 --> 00:17:00.019 get on the air. They may be missing a radio or 00:17:00.019 --> 00:17:02.519 they may be missing an antenna and you could 00:17:02.519 --> 00:17:05.900 give them some help and help these young people 00:17:05.900 --> 00:17:09.819 get keep ham radio going, keep contesting going. 00:17:11.480 --> 00:17:14.160 Craig, I think that's an excellent call to action. 00:17:14.539 --> 00:17:17.559 If there's one thing that I've realized or come 00:17:17.559 --> 00:17:19.880 to realize is exactly the point that you made. 00:17:20.599 --> 00:17:22.900 In fact, not a couple of weeks ago, I was trying 00:17:22.900 --> 00:17:24.779 to look up one of the old club stations that 00:17:24.779 --> 00:17:28.339 I used to operate from back in the November sweepstakes 00:17:28.339 --> 00:17:31.200 era. This was even before I was a college student. 00:17:31.700 --> 00:17:33.400 I hung out with some guys that were a little 00:17:33.400 --> 00:17:35.019 bit older and they were members of the Washington 00:17:35.019 --> 00:17:39.160 University. Ham Club, W -0 -Q -E -V over in St. 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:42.359 Louis and apparently that club is inactive and 00:17:42.359 --> 00:17:44.240 it would be wonderful to have clubs like that 00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:47.079 back on the air if older folks can help get them 00:17:47.079 --> 00:17:49.420 on the air. The beauty of a college club station 00:17:49.420 --> 00:17:52.700 is tremendous because most college students, 00:17:52.700 --> 00:17:54.819 you know, they're living in an apartment complex 00:17:54.819 --> 00:17:57.519 or they're in a dormitory. They can't have antennas. 00:17:57.720 --> 00:18:00.619 uh... you know h f radios the cost is is a little 00:18:00.619 --> 00:18:02.759 bit prohibitive when you're a student you know 00:18:02.759 --> 00:18:04.819 paying for books and other things and so the 00:18:04.819 --> 00:18:06.700 college club station is really an anchor point 00:18:06.700 --> 00:18:09.220 i think that thirty years ago when uh... when 00:18:09.220 --> 00:18:11.359 i was in new ham and uh... i was in the license 00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:13.480 and it got on the air because of the college 00:18:13.480 --> 00:18:15.619 club station and that really propelled me not 00:18:15.619 --> 00:18:17.920 just in my ham radio endeavors but eventually 00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:20.539 my career in semiconductors and you know on and 00:18:20.539 --> 00:18:23.000 on so you know that they're very important their 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:26.000 instrumental they shaped a lot of young people's 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:27.740 lives over the course of their existence, and 00:18:27.740 --> 00:18:29.740 the fact that they're going away is a little 00:18:29.740 --> 00:18:32.599 bit disappointing. So I agree. If there's a call 00:18:32.599 --> 00:18:35.619 to action, it's try to help your local university 00:18:35.619 --> 00:18:38.640 or college ham radio club station to get on the 00:18:38.640 --> 00:18:41.059 air. If a club doesn't exist anymore, perhaps 00:18:41.059 --> 00:18:43.299 there's an opportunity to partner with a local 00:18:43.299 --> 00:18:46.359 radio club, a ham club, to bring a station on 00:18:46.359 --> 00:18:49.259 air and perhaps reinvigorate or reinvent the 00:18:49.259 --> 00:18:52.059 club station. It's a great resource, a tremendous 00:18:52.059 --> 00:18:55.960 resource for activity. It would be unfortunate 00:18:55.960 --> 00:19:00.500 if they go away. To go even further with that, 00:19:01.039 --> 00:19:04.359 the website for the North American Collegiate 00:19:04.359 --> 00:19:08.259 Championship is actually on the Society of Midwest 00:19:08.259 --> 00:19:15.200 Contestors website and that's w9smc .com and 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:19.019 then it would be forward slash NACC for North 00:19:19.019 --> 00:19:23.509 American Collegiate Championship. you'll actually 00:19:23.509 --> 00:19:26.109 see a lot of information on there. And there's 00:19:26.109 --> 00:19:30.849 even a list of every single college ham license 00:19:30.849 --> 00:19:34.029 that exists. That doesn't mean that the station 00:19:34.029 --> 00:19:37.750 is there. But if you're looking for, and by the 00:19:37.750 --> 00:19:40.329 way, somebody went into all the work to do that. 00:19:40.369 --> 00:19:44.089 Sean Barnes and 3JQ did that. But if you want 00:19:44.089 --> 00:19:47.650 to look up and see whatever happened or who the 00:19:47.650 --> 00:19:50.869 trustee is, you may know them. And maybe you 00:19:50.869 --> 00:19:53.440 could help. get that station back on the air. 00:19:54.460 --> 00:19:58.160 So I think that we should try to encourage as 00:19:58.160 --> 00:20:00.680 much activity as possible. And with an existing 00:20:00.680 --> 00:20:02.720 contest like this where there's a lot of activity, 00:20:02.759 --> 00:20:05.180 it's very rewarding for kids to get on the air. 00:20:05.460 --> 00:20:07.839 Here are all the activity. It isn't just them. 00:20:07.859 --> 00:20:10.500 They might not even work each other. But there's 00:20:10.500 --> 00:20:13.519 all these other people to work. And they're all, 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:15.880 I would say, really good contesters for the most 00:20:15.880 --> 00:20:18.099 part that are in these contests. And so they 00:20:18.099 --> 00:20:20.559 learn a great deal about communication skills 00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:27.859 as a Well, this is all some great stuff, and 00:20:27.859 --> 00:20:30.259 we're going to keep talking about that. Yeah, 00:20:30.279 --> 00:20:34.400 go ahead, Joe. I just wanted to see if Craig 00:20:34.400 --> 00:20:36.299 or you could talk a little bit about the RIDI 00:20:36.299 --> 00:20:39.400 contest. I'm not a real digital operator other 00:20:39.400 --> 00:20:42.039 than CW, but I know the young people in our club 00:20:42.039 --> 00:20:44.289 are very interested in digital modes. they're 00:20:44.289 --> 00:20:46.029 quite active in those digital modes. So maybe 00:20:46.029 --> 00:20:47.930 you could talk a little bit about the RIDI challenge 00:20:47.930 --> 00:20:50.289 and some of the things that we should be mindful 00:20:50.289 --> 00:20:53.009 of or to help get stations on the air for RIDI, 00:20:53.150 --> 00:20:54.710 which is quite a bit different than digging out 00:20:54.710 --> 00:20:58.150 a microphone and making sure the antennas work 00:20:58.150 --> 00:20:59.890 for single sideband contest. So maybe you could 00:20:59.890 --> 00:21:03.210 talk about that just a little bit. I congratulate 00:21:03.210 --> 00:21:05.230 you, Joe, because you did your homework. You 00:21:05.230 --> 00:21:12.450 read your script. segue, man, because that was 00:21:12.450 --> 00:21:17.190 exactly the segue I was in when you said, Hey 00:21:17.190 --> 00:21:23.170 Neil, so Craig, this is all great stuff. And 00:21:23.170 --> 00:21:25.609 we're going to talk about this more, but we want 00:21:25.609 --> 00:21:30.569 to talk about the ready contest. So let's talk 00:21:30.569 --> 00:21:32.589 a little bit about ready and how this is all 00:21:32.589 --> 00:21:34.789 going to work. This is the first time for it. 00:21:36.559 --> 00:21:40.319 Yes, I was very excited. Actually, it was striking 00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:44.480 to me after we started the first NACC last year, 00:21:44.539 --> 00:21:50.519 how many of the college clubs sent an email to 00:21:50.519 --> 00:21:57.460 me or to K6TU and said, we loved it. Can we do 00:21:57.460 --> 00:22:03.220 digital? And so I, of course, had to have permission. 00:22:03.640 --> 00:22:11.099 So NCJ editors. ScottK0MD and Scott is a real 00:22:11.099 --> 00:22:15.359 champion of what we're doing. He really really 00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:19.059 likes what we're doing and he went to the trouble 00:22:19.059 --> 00:22:24.420 of contacting the contest manager and discussed 00:22:24.420 --> 00:22:27.240 it with them and of course this adds a little 00:22:27.240 --> 00:22:29.920 extra work because we're actually not following 00:22:30.160 --> 00:22:32.420 the rules as written for the college competition. 00:22:32.680 --> 00:22:36.339 But we did it so it'd be an easier and level 00:22:36.339 --> 00:22:41.339 playing field for the colleges. But anyhow, we 00:22:41.339 --> 00:22:43.140 had great success and they were very excited 00:22:43.140 --> 00:22:45.259 about doing this. And I think college kids, in 00:22:45.259 --> 00:22:47.359 particular, love digital modes. And I think Joe 00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:49.839 can probably attest to this. I've been to the 00:22:49.839 --> 00:22:53.000 Bradley club several times. In fact, I usually 00:22:53.000 --> 00:22:55.660 speak once or twice a year at their club meetings. 00:22:56.160 --> 00:22:59.319 And it always strikes me as to the interest in 00:22:59.319 --> 00:23:02.099 digital modes. So I think we're going to have 00:23:02.099 --> 00:23:06.539 a great deal of success with the RIDI. It's interesting 00:23:06.539 --> 00:23:09.140 to see who likes to do this. One of the things 00:23:09.140 --> 00:23:12.880 that's apparent to me as an older person is how 00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:15.720 many young ladies are members of these ham radio 00:23:15.720 --> 00:23:19.680 clubs. We never, I think maybe once or twice, 00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:21.680 were graced with the presence of a female while 00:23:21.680 --> 00:23:24.619 we were in college at our ham radio club meetings. 00:23:26.410 --> 00:23:30.950 quite important right now. There's a lot of these 00:23:30.950 --> 00:23:33.269 students in electrical engineering and computer 00:23:33.269 --> 00:23:37.569 science and robotics, and this is of an equal 00:23:37.569 --> 00:23:41.950 appeal. So one thing about RIDD -E is you cannot 00:23:41.950 --> 00:23:43.650 tell who you're talking to. You can't tell if 00:23:43.650 --> 00:23:46.089 you're talking to a female or a male, and I think 00:23:46.089 --> 00:23:48.829 that that's what's also really good about the 00:23:48.829 --> 00:23:51.589 mode. I noticed when I operate RIDD -E contests, 00:23:51.869 --> 00:23:55.140 how many more ladies I end up talking to than 00:23:55.140 --> 00:23:58.220 any other mode. So I think this is really quite 00:23:58.220 --> 00:24:00.000 interesting to the college clubs, and I think 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:03.279 it appeals to the whole demographic of that age 00:24:03.279 --> 00:24:07.819 and the group of members. So I'm pretty excited. 00:24:09.339 --> 00:24:12.160 As I said, every one of the people that said 00:24:12.160 --> 00:24:14.119 that we're in sideband are going to compete in 00:24:14.119 --> 00:24:17.019 RIDI. And in fact, West Point Amateur Radio Club 00:24:17.019 --> 00:24:19.839 joined. They were the last one, and they specifically 00:24:19.839 --> 00:24:22.720 said they wanted to operate digital. And they 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:24.460 said they're going to be army is they're going 00:24:24.460 --> 00:24:33.299 to be their name. So back to you. So, so fill 00:24:33.299 --> 00:24:35.839 everybody in on, you know, how this is going 00:24:35.839 --> 00:24:39.640 to, you know, play out what modes in particular, 00:24:39.660 --> 00:24:43.259 um, and, and how this is all going to play out. 00:24:43.440 --> 00:24:47.140 Is this the contest in a contest again? And that 00:24:47.140 --> 00:24:49.980 kind of thing. Oh, sure. Well, what it is, it's, 00:24:50.140 --> 00:24:54.559 uh, the, Just so you know, RIDI is the digital 00:24:54.559 --> 00:25:00.380 mode. And there's two sets of NAQPs every year, 00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:03.339 North American QSO parties. And like I said, 00:25:03.359 --> 00:25:06.480 they only operate 12 hours. So everybody kind 00:25:06.480 --> 00:25:09.339 of likes them because it doesn't take your whole 00:25:09.339 --> 00:25:12.799 weekend. So there's a sideband, a CW, and then 00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:18.359 there's a NAQP RIDI. It's going to be ready. 00:25:18.400 --> 00:25:21.720 There's no other modes as part of this. So it's 00:25:21.720 --> 00:25:27.579 really a lot of fun, and you can diddle your 00:25:27.579 --> 00:25:32.779 heart's content, I guess. But one of the things 00:25:32.779 --> 00:25:36.099 that's fascinating is the kids that are really 00:25:36.099 --> 00:25:39.000 into this digital communication, they get it. 00:25:40.529 --> 00:25:42.849 They like to set this up and there's actually 00:25:42.849 --> 00:25:44.950 some tricks and nuances and I'm sure those that 00:25:44.950 --> 00:25:47.509 are in ready know this and these kids take to 00:25:47.509 --> 00:25:51.430 this they really enjoy Setting up the station 00:25:51.430 --> 00:25:55.390 so it receives maybe one or two decoders or maybe 00:25:55.390 --> 00:26:00.990 three decoders and They really do like really 00:26:00.990 --> 00:26:04.569 enjoy this mode so I don't know, I guess I could 00:26:04.569 --> 00:26:07.690 ask Joe what he thinks is going to happen there. 00:26:08.069 --> 00:26:11.369 But I already know that at Bradley, that they've 00:26:11.369 --> 00:26:14.269 already tested everything. They're ready to go. 00:26:14.950 --> 00:26:17.930 And I'm sure several others are too. So I'm pretty 00:26:17.930 --> 00:26:19.890 excited about seeing what's going to happen here. 00:26:20.490 --> 00:26:23.670 But the bands will be full of ready signals. 00:26:24.289 --> 00:26:26.390 When the NAQP starts, it'll be a lot of fun. 00:26:27.509 --> 00:26:30.049 And buried within that will be a lot of college 00:26:30.049 --> 00:26:35.160 club stations. Joe? Yeah, I'm looking forward 00:26:35.160 --> 00:26:36.940 to the competition. I think it'll be something 00:26:36.940 --> 00:26:39.740 new and different. I'm not a RIDI operator, and 00:26:39.740 --> 00:26:42.220 I probably made on one hand five contacts in 00:26:42.220 --> 00:26:45.299 my entire 32 years as a ham on the radio teletype. 00:26:45.359 --> 00:26:48.500 But what I've learned is the new radios have 00:26:48.500 --> 00:26:51.039 the capability to operate RIDI without even having 00:26:51.039 --> 00:26:53.359 them connected to a computer. For example, you 00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:56.099 take an ICOM 7300, it's got a decoding feature 00:26:56.099 --> 00:26:58.420 in there. You can program up some of the memory 00:26:58.420 --> 00:27:01.740 channels or the memory capabilities. have your 00:27:01.740 --> 00:27:04.119 exchange set up in there so even if someone is 00:27:04.119 --> 00:27:06.440 not completely verse with the setting up a full 00:27:06.440 --> 00:27:08.460 ready station they could certainly get on and 00:27:08.460 --> 00:27:10.720 make some contacts and join in the competition 00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:13.099 and that's the whole idea is getting yourself 00:27:13.099 --> 00:27:15.519 exposed by getting some young people on the air 00:27:15.519 --> 00:27:18.039 but of course uh... i think the uh... look at 00:27:18.039 --> 00:27:19.900 the college stations uh... probably from the 00:27:19.900 --> 00:27:21.599 uh... you know the schools that have uh... you 00:27:21.599 --> 00:27:23.859 know uh... folks that are very computer literate 00:27:23.859 --> 00:27:26.559 and savvy uh... will probably have a really fun 00:27:26.559 --> 00:27:28.819 time getting their computers interface with the 00:27:28.819 --> 00:27:30.980 radio you know getting on the air the other thing 00:27:30.980 --> 00:27:34.079 is it's only a 100 watt competition and as a 00:27:34.079 --> 00:27:35.799 result of that you don't have to worry much about 00:27:35.799 --> 00:27:37.980 RF interference or feedback or problems just 00:27:37.980 --> 00:27:40.359 pretty much get on the air and go and i think 00:27:40.359 --> 00:27:42.599 that's going to be uh the way it works and it's 00:27:42.599 --> 00:27:44.099 going to be it's going to be a lot of fun it's 00:27:44.099 --> 00:27:45.900 going to be interesting to watch again i'm not 00:27:45.900 --> 00:27:48.319 a real ready operator but i'm going to learn 00:27:48.319 --> 00:27:49.940 something so you know you can teach old dogs 00:27:49.940 --> 00:27:52.400 some new tricks too which you know makes it fun 00:27:52.400 --> 00:27:56.500 so from somebody who used to run a lot of ready 00:27:56.730 --> 00:28:00.289 Even on an old ASR machine and everything else, 00:28:00.390 --> 00:28:03.690 I can tell you, you got to turn the diddle on. 00:28:04.369 --> 00:28:07.470 It doesn't sound right unless you have the diddle. 00:28:08.069 --> 00:28:16.369 So that's my advice. There you go. I started 00:28:16.369 --> 00:28:20.170 off on that re -perf tape, man. That re -perf 00:28:20.170 --> 00:28:22.269 tape that had the little holes in it that would 00:28:22.269 --> 00:28:25.569 record everything. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. The smell 00:28:25.569 --> 00:28:30.049 of warm oil. Oh, yeah. Well, we're going to take 00:28:30.049 --> 00:28:32.730 a break. But Craig, did you want to finish something 00:28:32.730 --> 00:28:37.849 up on that? Well, I would just say that it isn't 00:28:37.849 --> 00:28:41.150 really difficult. Most of these radios, especially 00:28:41.150 --> 00:28:44.170 the newer ones now, though, have a USB or similar 00:28:44.170 --> 00:28:46.470 interface. And you can plug it right into your 00:28:46.470 --> 00:28:51.069 computer. And if you can do CAT, generally, you 00:28:51.069 --> 00:28:53.849 can probably do RIDI. There's two types of RIDI. 00:28:53.849 --> 00:28:58.250 There's FSK and AFSK. One is just an audio feed, 00:28:58.390 --> 00:29:01.930 and the other one is a different way of toggling 00:29:01.930 --> 00:29:06.450 the radio on and off with the two tones that 00:29:06.450 --> 00:29:08.349 we were just talking about in terms of a diddle. 00:29:08.970 --> 00:29:12.150 So that's the only additional interface. You 00:29:12.150 --> 00:29:16.269 can run N1MM or write log any of the generally 00:29:16.269 --> 00:29:20.650 available software. And MMTTY is the most common. 00:29:21.180 --> 00:29:24.819 software used and there's another very popular 00:29:24.819 --> 00:29:29.900 one called Two Tone. All of this is free and 00:29:29.900 --> 00:29:37.940 the N1MM uses MMTTY, they're embedded. So when 00:29:37.940 --> 00:29:40.259 you turn on N1MM and then you say you're going 00:29:40.259 --> 00:29:44.720 to operate RIDI, MMTTY pops up and you have what's 00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:47.940 a interface window that people will click. They'll 00:29:47.940 --> 00:29:49.880 take their mouse and click on it. I operate the 00:29:49.880 --> 00:29:53.700 whole RIDI contest with my mouse. I rarely touch 00:29:53.700 --> 00:29:57.220 the keyboard. So that's another interesting thing 00:29:57.220 --> 00:29:59.640 for kids to experience is you just point and 00:29:59.640 --> 00:30:04.140 click and it's a lot of fun. All right. Well, 00:30:04.140 --> 00:30:05.799 we're going to take a break. We're going to come 00:30:05.799 --> 00:30:07.140 back. We're going to talk some more and we're 00:30:07.140 --> 00:30:10.099 going to take your calls right after this word 00:30:10.099 --> 00:30:13.240 from Tower Electronics right here on HamTalk 00:30:13.240 --> 00:30:17.650 Live. Is this getting serious? I think so. Well, 00:30:17.710 --> 00:30:20.750 how do you feel about it? Just imagine if you 00:30:20.750 --> 00:30:24.789 hadn't run out of PL -259s. Just imagine if your 00:30:24.789 --> 00:30:27.410 connectors weren't from Tower Electronics. Consider 00:30:27.410 --> 00:30:29.730 the sophisticated quality of connectors from 00:30:29.730 --> 00:30:32.630 Tower Electronics. Their silver -plated end connectors 00:30:32.630 --> 00:30:35.890 are so good, they've even been used on the International 00:30:35.890 --> 00:30:39.269 Space Station. I'm not so sure why I ever used 00:30:39.269 --> 00:30:43.329 any other PL -259s. Mine are better. Besides, 00:30:43.470 --> 00:30:46.720 you deserve the best. You know I love you. Don't 00:30:46.720 --> 00:30:50.180 be caught without PL259's. Visit Tower Electronics 00:30:50.180 --> 00:30:53.220 at a ham fest near you or visit them online anytime 00:30:53.220 --> 00:31:00.380 at pl -259 .com or call 920 -435 -2973. They 00:31:00.380 --> 00:31:03.079 also have ham sticks, mobile antennas, and meters 00:31:03.079 --> 00:31:07.440 too. See the whole catalog. Go to pl -259 .com 00:31:07.440 --> 00:31:10.319 Tower Electronics, the hams dime store since 00:31:10.319 --> 00:31:15.200 1978. Join the conversation. Give us a call at 00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:21.980 812 -NET -HAM -1. That's 812 -638 -4261. Now, 00:31:22.059 --> 00:31:31.099 here's more HamTalk Live. You're listening to 00:31:31.099 --> 00:31:34.039 HamTalk Live, the most popular podcast with the 00:31:34.039 --> 00:31:37.180 words ham, talk, and live in the title. Here's 00:31:37.180 --> 00:31:54.660 your host, Neil Rapp. Tower Electronics will 00:31:54.660 --> 00:31:58.039 be at Hamcation this weekend, so make sure you 00:31:58.039 --> 00:32:01.579 check them out Friday, Saturday, Sunday in Orlando. 00:32:01.740 --> 00:32:03.740 And then they'll be going to Dalton, Georgia 00:32:03.740 --> 00:32:07.720 on February 23rd. And you can visit them anytime 00:32:07.720 --> 00:32:14.240 over at PL -259 .com. HamTalk Live is on the 00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:16.680 air every Thursday night at 9 p .m. Eastern Time 00:32:16.680 --> 00:32:19.420 right here at HamTalkLive .com. Be sure to check 00:32:19.420 --> 00:32:22.789 us out. on facebook twitter and instagram as 00:32:22.789 --> 00:32:26.170 well and it's time for your calls now so if you 00:32:26.170 --> 00:32:31.349 have a question for uh craig or joe give us a 00:32:31.349 --> 00:32:38.619 call at 812 -650 9556 again we're on a temporary 00:32:38.619 --> 00:32:45.359 number tonight 812 -650 -9556 or you can tweet 00:32:45.359 --> 00:32:48.660 us at ham talk live as well I'll be watching 00:32:48.660 --> 00:32:52.000 that and if you're listening to us on WTWW on 00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:56.440 the weekend or on the podcast edition you won't 00:32:56.440 --> 00:32:58.930 get anybody if you call that number because We're 00:32:58.930 --> 00:33:03.750 here on Thursday. So let's get back to Joe and 00:33:03.750 --> 00:33:06.609 Craig here, and we'll see if we get some calls. 00:33:07.250 --> 00:33:09.589 But one thing we were talking about over the 00:33:09.589 --> 00:33:14.390 break was implementing the live scoreboard into 00:33:14.390 --> 00:33:17.609 the logging program. So Craig, why don't you 00:33:17.609 --> 00:33:22.829 follow up on that? Sure. This online scoreboarding 00:33:22.829 --> 00:33:28.500 is actually quite popular, and there's There 00:33:28.500 --> 00:33:31.980 was one, a US station that started one, and then 00:33:31.980 --> 00:33:36.480 that led to one in Russia, which now has a, it's 00:33:36.480 --> 00:33:42.119 called CQ Contest, and a lot of people went to 00:33:42.119 --> 00:33:48.640 that site, and then recently VA2WA with contest 00:33:48.640 --> 00:33:53.720 online scoreboard also came on, and a lot of 00:33:53.720 --> 00:33:57.480 people are using that as well. How do you talk 00:33:57.480 --> 00:34:01.299 to those scoreboards? Just so you also know, 00:34:01.660 --> 00:34:07.660 K6TU created this scoreboard just for the NACC. 00:34:07.960 --> 00:34:10.260 And I say just for it in that he already had 00:34:10.260 --> 00:34:12.519 one set up for the Northern California Contest 00:34:12.519 --> 00:34:16.179 Club for their inter -club competitions. And 00:34:16.179 --> 00:34:19.880 I thought it worked really well for having a 00:34:19.880 --> 00:34:22.920 separate room, we'll call it, or page just for. 00:34:23.260 --> 00:34:26.039 the college competition, so that's why Stu hosted 00:34:26.039 --> 00:34:29.139 this. But the procedure for all of these is the 00:34:29.139 --> 00:34:33.679 same, and N1MM is the large market shareholder 00:34:33.679 --> 00:34:36.920 of contest software at this time. Not to say 00:34:36.920 --> 00:34:38.559 that there's anything wrong with any one of the 00:34:38.559 --> 00:34:41.960 other ones, but N1MM and WriteLog are two of 00:34:41.960 --> 00:34:44.440 the principal ones in the United States along 00:34:44.440 --> 00:34:49.619 with N3FJP. And they all have a way of sending 00:34:49.619 --> 00:34:52.400 scores to the live scoreboard. And what we did 00:34:52.400 --> 00:34:54.980 is every school that registered that they were 00:34:54.980 --> 00:34:57.900 going to compete, we sent them the instructions 00:34:57.900 --> 00:35:00.860 for how to set up their logging software. It's 00:35:00.860 --> 00:35:03.679 actually quite simple. All it does is it directs 00:35:03.679 --> 00:35:07.820 it to a link. In the software, you just enter 00:35:07.820 --> 00:35:10.960 the link, and it sends a score automatically 00:35:10.960 --> 00:35:15.210 to any one of those scoreboards. We try to make 00:35:15.210 --> 00:35:17.710 it as simple as possible, and if you use that 00:35:17.710 --> 00:35:20.949 software, for instance, N1MM is free, just download 00:35:20.949 --> 00:35:23.670 it, set it up, and don't do this the day of the 00:35:23.670 --> 00:35:27.250 contest, by the way, but get it set up and running, 00:35:27.329 --> 00:35:30.090 and then you can actually set up the link to 00:35:30.090 --> 00:35:34.530 the scoreboard and see it work. So we try to 00:35:34.530 --> 00:35:38.579 make it as simple as possible. setting up for 00:35:38.579 --> 00:35:41.300 RIDI. There's probably several sources for doing 00:35:41.300 --> 00:35:43.519 that, but if anybody wants to know anything more 00:35:43.519 --> 00:35:47.159 about that, I would be glad to help them or direct 00:35:47.159 --> 00:35:49.539 them to someone that could help them. Hopefully, 00:35:49.739 --> 00:35:51.820 there's somebody in their club that could help 00:35:51.820 --> 00:35:53.940 them get it set up. But the instructions that 00:35:53.940 --> 00:35:55.820 come with any of these software are very good. 00:35:56.400 --> 00:35:58.360 And as they operate this contest, they'll want 00:35:58.360 --> 00:36:02.219 to know more. And they'll probably want to participate 00:36:02.219 --> 00:36:04.059 in another RIDI contest because they have one 00:36:04.059 --> 00:36:06.780 almost every weekend. This will just get them 00:36:06.780 --> 00:36:10.619 inspired to get on. All right. Very good. Well, 00:36:10.619 --> 00:36:12.539 we've got a call on the line, so let's see who 00:36:12.539 --> 00:36:16.000 we have. Welcome to HamTalk Live. Hey, Neil. 00:36:16.119 --> 00:36:21.039 This is Eric, WB9PTN. Hi, Eric. Good to see you 00:36:21.039 --> 00:36:23.739 yesterday, and thanks for calling in. What do 00:36:23.739 --> 00:36:26.559 you have for us tonight? Absolutely, Neil. First 00:36:26.559 --> 00:36:30.059 thing I'd like to congratulate Craig, Joe, and 00:36:30.059 --> 00:36:33.860 yourself on all the accomplishments that you've 00:36:33.860 --> 00:36:37.809 had in the last last year's and also a big thank 00:36:37.809 --> 00:36:42.050 you for you guys for taking the time to share 00:36:42.050 --> 00:36:43.730 this great hobby with all these young people 00:36:43.730 --> 00:36:47.210 and I guess my question is how do you see the 00:36:47.210 --> 00:36:50.789 enthusiasm with the young people as it applies 00:36:50.789 --> 00:36:53.889 with AMRADIO? Is it increasing about the same 00:36:53.889 --> 00:36:58.030 or is that you see it decrease? What are you 00:36:58.030 --> 00:37:01.190 seeing in the last year or two? We'll give that 00:37:01.190 --> 00:37:06.869 to Joe first. Yeah, Neil, I'm sorry, I'm not 00:37:06.869 --> 00:37:08.869 receiving audio from the phone line, but maybe 00:37:08.869 --> 00:37:10.690 you can just summarize quickly the question. 00:37:10.730 --> 00:37:16.429 Oh, okay, sorry. Yeah, Eric, OEB9PTN is calling 00:37:16.429 --> 00:37:20.949 in and was asking about how do you see the enthusiasm 00:37:20.949 --> 00:37:25.329 of college students toward ham radio in general? 00:37:28.269 --> 00:37:31.829 It's a hard sell nowadays because if you go back 00:37:31.829 --> 00:37:36.159 even 15 or 20 years ago, Things like handheld 00:37:36.159 --> 00:37:39.420 transceivers were not very popular, not very 00:37:39.420 --> 00:37:41.579 common. The idea of being able to communicate 00:37:41.579 --> 00:37:44.139 when you were away from a landline was not very 00:37:44.139 --> 00:37:46.219 common and that's all changed with the advent 00:37:46.219 --> 00:37:49.079 of the cell phone where everyone has a global 00:37:49.079 --> 00:37:51.400 communicator in their pocket. I think the unique 00:37:51.400 --> 00:37:53.599 aspect that appeals to students in ham radio 00:37:53.599 --> 00:37:57.599 now is what you can do with the technology. talking 00:37:57.599 --> 00:38:02.119 on a radio. It's integration. It's using technology 00:38:02.119 --> 00:38:04.780 to advance some other mission, whether it's public 00:38:04.780 --> 00:38:09.619 service and helping with the traditional emergency 00:38:09.619 --> 00:38:12.460 communication activities. I think contesting 00:38:12.460 --> 00:38:16.699 is combining things like physics and science 00:38:16.699 --> 00:38:21.320 and antenna theory and propagation. It's limited 00:38:21.320 --> 00:38:24.829 to a select set of students. But I think the 00:38:24.829 --> 00:38:27.690 maker community is helping to revitalize or recreate 00:38:27.690 --> 00:38:30.110 some incremental interest for students, but it's 00:38:30.110 --> 00:38:32.550 a hard sell. Go to any ham fest and look around. 00:38:33.130 --> 00:38:36.349 It's mostly silver haired hams and not a lot 00:38:36.349 --> 00:38:39.449 of young people. And so the more we can do to 00:38:39.449 --> 00:38:41.309 encourage them to get on the air or to expose 00:38:41.309 --> 00:38:44.070 them to ham radio to give them. the club stations 00:38:44.070 --> 00:38:46.050 where they can go and operate, the better off 00:38:46.050 --> 00:38:48.110 will be because I think that exposure, that initial 00:38:48.110 --> 00:38:50.150 exposure, getting them on the air, as you know, 00:38:50.150 --> 00:38:52.690 Neil, is what hooks them. And then the rest comes 00:38:52.690 --> 00:38:58.590 over time. Craig? You know, that's kind of interesting 00:38:58.590 --> 00:39:01.710 because I've been observing the Bradley University 00:39:01.710 --> 00:39:03.130 club for quite a while. And of course, that's 00:39:03.130 --> 00:39:07.949 just one of many college clubs. But I've watched 00:39:07.949 --> 00:39:11.559 students become fresh. freshman through senior, 00:39:11.679 --> 00:39:16.019 and then they graduate and move on. And how the 00:39:16.019 --> 00:39:18.139 activities of the club vary and what they're 00:39:18.139 --> 00:39:21.119 enthusiastic about varies from year to year. 00:39:21.400 --> 00:39:24.579 And I think that the more active internally that 00:39:24.579 --> 00:39:27.659 they are with the things that they like to do, 00:39:28.699 --> 00:39:32.559 then it lends itself to the other things like 00:39:32.559 --> 00:39:36.460 contesting or going on de -expeditions or whatever 00:39:36.460 --> 00:39:38.360 you want to camp out or whatever they want to 00:39:38.360 --> 00:39:42.679 do, going soda. I'm just surprised from year 00:39:42.679 --> 00:39:45.239 to year what their interests are because it's 00:39:45.239 --> 00:39:48.539 always different. And one thing that I found 00:39:48.539 --> 00:39:52.980 that's common in working with all of these clubs 00:39:52.980 --> 00:39:56.699 and trying to generate the activity for this 00:39:56.699 --> 00:40:01.320 competition is most of these clubs are as good 00:40:01.320 --> 00:40:05.159 as the trustee or sponsor. And you can tell Joe 00:40:05.159 --> 00:40:07.960 here is very active and he's full of enthusiasm. 00:40:08.329 --> 00:40:12.730 But that's not shared by every college. And so 00:40:12.730 --> 00:40:14.670 Indiana University is very lucky to have somebody 00:40:14.670 --> 00:40:20.329 like Joe. But that's so true. And some of the 00:40:20.329 --> 00:40:22.369 activities of the clubs and the enthusiasm by 00:40:22.369 --> 00:40:27.429 students really rests upon the sponsor, which 00:40:27.429 --> 00:40:30.849 is usually a faculty member on the campus, and 00:40:30.849 --> 00:40:34.949 their interest anymore. For the most part, they 00:40:34.949 --> 00:40:38.030 may be older and not as enthusiastic as Joe is. 00:40:38.369 --> 00:40:42.050 Joe sounds like he's 20 years younger. But I 00:40:42.050 --> 00:40:45.809 think that that is also a true statement that 00:40:45.809 --> 00:40:48.449 a lot of these clubs are a reflection of the 00:40:48.449 --> 00:40:52.949 enthusiasm of the person that anchors it. All 00:40:52.949 --> 00:40:55.170 right, Eric. Well, there you go. And on the high 00:40:55.170 --> 00:40:59.329 school side, it's a lot of the same thing. So 00:40:59.329 --> 00:41:03.980 there you go. Okay, well I appreciate your time 00:41:03.980 --> 00:41:07.940 tonight and again appreciate Craig, Joe and all 00:41:07.940 --> 00:41:10.380 you do to help these youngsters in this great 00:41:10.380 --> 00:41:14.639 hobby we have. Alright, thanks a lot Eric for 00:41:14.639 --> 00:41:17.780 calling. Appreciate it and thank you for your 00:41:17.780 --> 00:41:21.119 support yesterday as well for the high school. 00:41:25.500 --> 00:41:28.159 All right the phone number eight one two six 00:41:28.159 --> 00:41:31.940 five zero nine five five six we have a few minutes 00:41:31.940 --> 00:41:35.360 left so if you'd like to Give us a call do that 00:41:35.360 --> 00:41:37.500 and actually we have another call on the line 00:41:37.500 --> 00:41:41.619 already, so let's Take it our other call a good 00:41:41.619 --> 00:41:45.940 evening. You're on ham talk live Hi, this is 00:41:45.940 --> 00:41:50.739 Galen KB six doubly Hi Galen nice to hear you 00:41:50.739 --> 00:41:55.980 watch your question for tonight Well, I'm president 00:41:55.980 --> 00:42:02.079 of W2SZ, it's RPI. We participated in SSB and 00:42:02.079 --> 00:42:07.780 I thought it was a great idea and thing to have 00:42:07.780 --> 00:42:14.000 going on. My one question is, is the score going 00:42:14.000 --> 00:42:16.840 to be the SSB and RIDD combined or are they separate 00:42:16.840 --> 00:42:22.170 competitions? I don't know if Craig and Joe can 00:42:22.170 --> 00:42:26.409 hear or not, so let me repeat this. Our caller 00:42:26.409 --> 00:42:28.489 here is from one of the participating schools 00:42:28.489 --> 00:42:32.730 in the sideband group, and they want to know, 00:42:33.130 --> 00:42:37.289 will the scoring for the RIDI contest be a combined 00:42:37.289 --> 00:42:40.789 score of both contests, or will it be a separate 00:42:40.789 --> 00:42:44.190 score? So we'll let Craig take that one. Yeah, 00:42:44.190 --> 00:42:47.949 it'll be a separate score. It'll be sent in with 00:42:47.949 --> 00:42:50.929 the... When you submitted your SideVan score, 00:42:51.090 --> 00:42:55.369 you sent it in. Actually, as part of your file 00:42:55.369 --> 00:42:59.949 format, it went to the exact right place. So 00:42:59.949 --> 00:43:02.150 when you submit your READY score, because you 00:43:02.150 --> 00:43:04.369 will select that contest in your software, it 00:43:04.369 --> 00:43:07.369 will go in with the READY scores. So there will 00:43:07.369 --> 00:43:10.949 not be a combined score. It'll be a separate 00:43:10.949 --> 00:43:14.730 posting, and it'll be a separate winner. However. 00:43:15.019 --> 00:43:18.519 you know, we could actually combine that. Somebody 00:43:18.519 --> 00:43:21.219 actually asked the question a couple of days 00:43:21.219 --> 00:43:24.460 ago, why don't we do it for CW as well? And the, 00:43:24.539 --> 00:43:28.880 of course, I don't know how many kids, young 00:43:28.880 --> 00:43:33.139 people know CW. I know some of them do, but that'd 00:43:33.139 --> 00:43:35.420 probably be a lot less participation. But right 00:43:35.420 --> 00:43:37.280 now, I know there's a lot of interest in both 00:43:37.280 --> 00:43:39.179 Sideman and Ritty, and they will be separately, 00:43:40.739 --> 00:43:43.829 separate articles with separate winners. That's 00:43:43.829 --> 00:43:45.710 how we're going to manage and also the awards 00:43:45.710 --> 00:43:50.150 are separate All right Galen there's your answer 00:43:51.650 --> 00:43:55.050 Hey, I wonder if you could comment on trophies 00:43:55.050 --> 00:43:57.949 or plaques I know that our town shack at canine 00:43:57.949 --> 00:44:00.989 IU is adorned with Many different plaques over 00:44:00.989 --> 00:44:03.190 the years that have been won and trophies. Are 00:44:03.190 --> 00:44:05.369 there are there prizes that are going to be available 00:44:05.369 --> 00:44:08.789 over time? Yes, there are opportunities. Perhaps 00:44:08.789 --> 00:44:10.550 there's some hands that are listening that might 00:44:10.550 --> 00:44:12.730 want to contribute You know towards that effort 00:44:12.730 --> 00:44:14.690 to make sure that the schools that are active 00:44:14.690 --> 00:44:17.909 and participating it recognized Yes, in fact 00:44:17.909 --> 00:44:19.969 if there's anybody that's interested in sponsoring 00:44:20.170 --> 00:44:22.969 Please just send me something. But I have to 00:44:22.969 --> 00:44:27.329 tell you, after last year, ICOM, who's one of 00:44:27.329 --> 00:44:29.690 the sponsors actually of this program, stepped 00:44:29.690 --> 00:44:32.289 up and they are now our principal sponsor for 00:44:32.289 --> 00:44:37.030 awards. So we have the award sponsored and the 00:44:37.030 --> 00:44:43.010 NCJ and SMC sponsor the championship. So you 00:44:43.010 --> 00:44:48.170 will get an award. I'd love it if enough schools, 00:44:48.389 --> 00:44:51.219 let's say from the Big Ten, conference wanted 00:44:51.219 --> 00:44:53.860 to have an award for the Big Ten, you know, you'd 00:44:53.860 --> 00:44:57.300 probably get a Big Ten sponsor and it might actually 00:44:57.300 --> 00:45:01.400 create more activity. So if anybody's interested 00:45:01.400 --> 00:45:03.820 in, just go to that webpage that I said before, 00:45:03.840 --> 00:45:05.900 you'll see my emails on that page and just send 00:45:05.900 --> 00:45:09.599 me an email and we'll see what we can do to create 00:45:09.599 --> 00:45:13.199 something. Anything to reward participation I 00:45:13.199 --> 00:45:16.639 think is really important. Recognition of the 00:45:16.639 --> 00:45:19.280 effort put into getting on the air and operating. 00:45:21.230 --> 00:45:23.769 All right. Well, there you go Galen. Thank you. 00:45:24.110 --> 00:45:27.230 Thank you for calling in and thanks for participating 00:45:27.230 --> 00:45:31.610 and good luck in the ready competition Thanks 00:45:31.610 --> 00:45:38.050 7 -3 7 -3. What school was that? That was a RPI. 00:45:38.050 --> 00:45:41.590 Was that Rochester Polytech? Oh, okay, great. 00:45:41.590 --> 00:45:44.829 I believe is who that was. Yes. I think he said 00:45:44.829 --> 00:45:47.849 RPI, but I think that's I think that's who that 00:45:47.849 --> 00:45:52.380 is if I remember correctly So, okay. Well, we're 00:45:52.380 --> 00:45:54.840 Rensselaer maybe. Rensselaer. Rensselaer. That's 00:45:54.840 --> 00:45:57.539 it. I think you're right. I think it's Rensselaer. 00:45:57.739 --> 00:46:02.199 I think that's it. Well, we're just about out 00:46:02.199 --> 00:46:05.239 of time here, so we need to finish things up. 00:46:06.380 --> 00:46:10.639 So, Joe, any last thoughts here? The only comment 00:46:10.639 --> 00:46:12.480 I would say is get on the air or do what you 00:46:12.480 --> 00:46:14.920 can to help students get on the air. It's just 00:46:14.920 --> 00:46:18.099 fundamentally important and all of those who 00:46:18.099 --> 00:46:21.199 are out there that are doing that My big appreciation. 00:46:21.699 --> 00:46:23.619 It's kind of my mission, as you know, Neil, to 00:46:23.619 --> 00:46:25.440 get young people on the air and active in the 00:46:25.440 --> 00:46:27.960 hobby. I think contesting is a great avenue. 00:46:28.400 --> 00:46:30.199 And I'm grateful, Craig, to you and the folks 00:46:30.199 --> 00:46:33.760 at SMC and also out on the West Coast there, 00:46:34.059 --> 00:46:38.170 the Northern Cal Contest Club, for helping. and 00:46:38.170 --> 00:46:40.409 really making this go and you know it's about 00:46:40.409 --> 00:46:42.650 Elmering and it's maybe indirect Elmering but 00:46:42.650 --> 00:46:45.190 it's super important. I think back 30 years ago 00:46:45.190 --> 00:46:47.949 when I was a member of the K9IU radio club and 00:46:47.949 --> 00:46:51.030 at the time Pat N9RV was there at IU and he was 00:46:51.030 --> 00:46:54.070 a big mentor of mine and so that mentorship really 00:46:54.070 --> 00:46:56.170 it sticks with you it carries you through you 00:46:56.170 --> 00:47:00.230 know through a lifetime of the hobby and so whatever 00:47:00.230 --> 00:47:01.769 folks can do out there that are listening to 00:47:01.769 --> 00:47:03.769 get hams on the air that's what it's all about. 00:47:05.369 --> 00:47:09.349 And Craig you get the last word. Well, Joe actually 00:47:09.349 --> 00:47:13.389 expressed my thoughts very well. We always say, 00:47:13.429 --> 00:47:16.010 what is the point of doing this? And the point, 00:47:16.010 --> 00:47:19.789 of course, is to get younger people involved 00:47:19.789 --> 00:47:23.809 in our hobby and enjoy it. We want them to enjoy 00:47:23.809 --> 00:47:27.570 it as much as possible so that they enthusiastically 00:47:27.570 --> 00:47:30.349 will participate for the rest of their lives. 00:47:30.530 --> 00:47:33.409 We want hams. We want that new generation of 00:47:33.409 --> 00:47:36.849 ham radio operator and contestor so that we have 00:47:36.969 --> 00:47:39.250 People that will carry on the hobby for life 00:47:39.250 --> 00:47:44.369 and I think with the younger people Really enjoying 00:47:44.369 --> 00:47:48.969 competitive games and they're so game savvy if 00:47:48.969 --> 00:47:51.710 we can get them interested in our game They're 00:47:51.710 --> 00:47:56.150 gonna find out we have a fun hobby, too All right, 00:47:56.250 --> 00:48:00.110 well I I'm I messed up we're not done there's 00:48:00.110 --> 00:48:03.130 one okay that came in and I forgot all about 00:48:03.130 --> 00:48:06.030 it and so I need to get back and it's And it's 00:48:06.030 --> 00:48:09.849 from KG5HVO. So I'm going to hear about it if 00:48:09.849 --> 00:48:13.090 I don't do this. So are the participants in the 00:48:13.090 --> 00:48:16.710 NACC contesting outside of these collegiate events? 00:48:17.889 --> 00:48:21.050 Or are they already experienced contesters? And 00:48:21.050 --> 00:48:23.369 after the NACC, are the participants showing 00:48:23.369 --> 00:48:28.210 more interest in radio sport overall? Or is it 00:48:28.210 --> 00:48:32.329 both at the same time? Well, first of all, hi, 00:48:32.550 --> 00:48:36.489 Bryant. Bryant is an up and coming Contester 00:48:36.489 --> 00:48:40.530 and not only that he's a very young high -speed 00:48:40.530 --> 00:48:44.289 CW operator. He's a really good operator and 00:48:44.289 --> 00:48:48.550 Enjoy talking to him almost every Wednesday on 00:48:48.550 --> 00:48:55.730 the CW contest In answer to your question What 00:48:55.730 --> 00:48:58.130 happens in the contest is these are they're supposed 00:48:58.130 --> 00:49:01.659 to be students that participate. It's not that 00:49:01.659 --> 00:49:04.960 a sponsor is not there and making sure that they're 00:49:04.960 --> 00:49:08.679 legal to operate, but they're students and getting 00:49:08.679 --> 00:49:12.940 mentored and helped. And I have noticed, for 00:49:12.940 --> 00:49:17.199 instance, one student from Bradley came out here 00:49:17.199 --> 00:49:20.940 and operated two times over two years. And then 00:49:20.940 --> 00:49:24.360 when he graduated, he moved to Denver to take 00:49:24.360 --> 00:49:27.000 a job in that area. And he joined the contest 00:49:27.000 --> 00:49:29.760 club out there, and he's now contesting. So in 00:49:29.760 --> 00:49:31.900 answer to your question, my experience is that 00:49:31.900 --> 00:49:35.880 was the perfect example. And I've known actually 00:49:35.880 --> 00:49:38.679 of others that have come back after they graduated 00:49:38.679 --> 00:49:40.920 from Bradley and operated in contests because 00:49:40.920 --> 00:49:44.059 they didn't even have their own station. So I 00:49:44.059 --> 00:49:48.159 would say yes. I think some kids don't care about 00:49:48.159 --> 00:49:52.199 it, but some catch the bug and they get excited 00:49:52.199 --> 00:49:54.460 about it. And I think that it becomes a lifelong 00:49:54.460 --> 00:49:58.179 thing. Life always gets in the way, so it's going 00:49:58.179 --> 00:50:02.619 to come and go. We've all experienced that. But 00:50:02.619 --> 00:50:05.719 once you've put your toe in the water and you've 00:50:05.719 --> 00:50:08.139 had fun doing this, I think that you'll always 00:50:08.139 --> 00:50:10.579 find a contest club to help you and get you on 00:50:10.579 --> 00:50:12.260 the air. That's the great thing about contest 00:50:12.260 --> 00:50:15.820 clubs all across the country, is someone will 00:50:15.820 --> 00:50:18.119 help you get on the air. They'll say, come on 00:50:18.119 --> 00:50:21.300 over to my station, or we're going to do a multi 00:50:21.300 --> 00:50:23.539 -operator station. Come on in and help out, I 00:50:23.539 --> 00:50:28.719 think. your interests be known, and we can advance 00:50:28.719 --> 00:50:31.440 your contesting for the rest of your life after 00:50:31.440 --> 00:50:33.719 you've operated. So I think this is a great way 00:50:33.719 --> 00:50:35.440 to get started, and I do think that they do carry 00:50:35.440 --> 00:50:38.500 it on once they catch the bug. Joe, you want 00:50:38.500 --> 00:50:41.880 to say something about that? Yeah, no. What I 00:50:41.880 --> 00:50:44.559 would say is activity breeds activity. And so 00:50:44.559 --> 00:50:46.920 I'll use the example that we saw with this last 00:50:46.920 --> 00:50:49.519 contest, where we had the ham shack open. The 00:50:49.519 --> 00:50:51.400 door was open. It's normally a door that's closed, 00:50:51.420 --> 00:50:53.440 and you have to have an access code. We left 00:50:53.440 --> 00:50:56.420 it open. and guys came and went as they had time. 00:50:56.599 --> 00:50:58.559 uh... and you know you had a couple people that 00:50:58.559 --> 00:51:00.780 were operating the contest seriously and yet 00:51:00.780 --> 00:51:02.539 seven others that were standing around or sitting 00:51:02.539 --> 00:51:04.320 around or you know working soldering something 00:51:04.320 --> 00:51:07.280 in the corner uh... talking about radios uh... 00:51:07.280 --> 00:51:09.380 and getting active get interested in you know 00:51:09.380 --> 00:51:11.099 contesting may ultimately not be their thing 00:51:11.099 --> 00:51:13.239 but the fact that they're getting exposure the 00:51:13.239 --> 00:51:14.760 fact that they're getting off there you know 00:51:14.760 --> 00:51:17.039 twenty dollar balfang handheld and moving forward 00:51:17.039 --> 00:51:19.320 with the hobby you know i think that's fantastic 00:51:19.320 --> 00:51:21.139 and you know there's there's far too many hands 00:51:21.139 --> 00:51:23.840 to go and pastor technician ticket then never 00:51:23.840 --> 00:51:26.320 experience the challenges of really operating 00:51:26.320 --> 00:51:29.119 on high frequency and listening and the communication 00:51:29.119 --> 00:51:31.079 skills and all that goes into that. And I think 00:51:31.079 --> 00:51:34.070 just even having the Hamshack open and sort of 00:51:34.070 --> 00:51:36.190 on display for lack of a better word i think 00:51:36.190 --> 00:51:38.449 it does inspire an interest uh... people will 00:51:38.449 --> 00:51:40.730 they all stick with contesting probably not if 00:51:40.730 --> 00:51:42.730 you say craig but uh... there are some that when 00:51:42.730 --> 00:51:44.889 the bug bites it bites hard and you know they're 00:51:44.889 --> 00:51:46.909 the ones that are uh... you know showing up enjoying 00:51:46.909 --> 00:51:49.090 the contest clubs and and staying active and 00:51:49.090 --> 00:51:51.769 i think but that's the goal and uh... while it 00:51:51.769 --> 00:51:54.650 may not appeal to everyone it exposes them to 00:51:54.650 --> 00:51:56.969 another facet of the hobby which again this is 00:51:56.969 --> 00:51:58.989 that you know coolest hobby in the world because 00:51:59.309 --> 00:52:01.590 there's so much to do in so many different angles 00:52:01.590 --> 00:52:04.090 and you'll find your niche and so I guess the 00:52:04.090 --> 00:52:06.989 bottom line is it's getting folks on the air 00:52:06.989 --> 00:52:08.750 and some of them are going to stay with it and 00:52:08.750 --> 00:52:11.230 they'll be the next generation of contesters, 00:52:11.349 --> 00:52:14.230 de -expeditioners and that's cool in my mind. 00:52:15.769 --> 00:52:17.289 All right very good well there's your answer 00:52:17.289 --> 00:52:20.309 Bryant and Joe you said the the b -word so we 00:52:20.309 --> 00:52:27.510 have to play the Baofeng song. Anytime somebody 00:52:27.510 --> 00:52:30.750 says the B word, we have to play the Bao Feng 00:52:30.750 --> 00:52:34.250 song. The Bao Feng bingo, huh? Yeah, exactly. 00:52:36.349 --> 00:52:38.369 Well guys, thanks so much for coming on the show. 00:52:38.489 --> 00:52:40.730 It's been a lot of fun, a lot of interest tonight, 00:52:41.030 --> 00:52:44.469 and some calls and some tweets, so it's been 00:52:44.469 --> 00:52:49.289 a good night, so thank you so much. Well, thank 00:52:49.289 --> 00:52:52.610 you very much, Neil, for hosting this. I enjoy 00:52:52.610 --> 00:52:55.230 your programs. I think you always get some interesting 00:52:55.230 --> 00:52:57.929 programs. And thank you for thinking about us 00:52:57.929 --> 00:53:03.150 and having us on. Yeah, likewise. And thank you, 00:53:03.150 --> 00:53:06.429 Craig, for inspiring this idea and this activity. 00:53:06.630 --> 00:53:09.349 I think it's going to go a long way to continue 00:53:09.349 --> 00:53:12.130 to help increase the interest in the hobby for 00:53:12.130 --> 00:53:14.269 the next generation. And Neil, again, for the 00:53:14.269 --> 00:53:17.909 publicity and for doing what you do. It's great 00:53:17.909 --> 00:53:19.869 to have you as a friend and as a member of the 00:53:19.869 --> 00:53:23.400 HAM community. Alright guys, well thanks so much 00:53:23.400 --> 00:53:28.380 and that is a wrap for this week's episode of 00:53:28.380 --> 00:53:31.300 HamTalk Live. Thanks to Craig Thompson, K9CT, 00:53:31.880 --> 00:53:34.760 Joe Fitter, K7JOE and everybody out there in 00:53:34.760 --> 00:53:37.460 cyberspace for listening and calling in and invite 00:53:37.460 --> 00:53:40.179 you back next Thursday night at 9 p .m. Eastern 00:53:40.179 --> 00:53:44.289 Time when when hold on to your hats. We're gonna 00:53:44.289 --> 00:53:48.710 have open lines on Valentine's Day and we need 00:53:48.710 --> 00:53:53.449 your ham radio dating stories Now these could 00:53:53.449 --> 00:53:59.550 be good or bad But yeah, it's Valentine's Day 00:54:00.829 --> 00:54:03.949 I can blame this all on Val because I asked for 00:54:03.949 --> 00:54:06.650 ideas and Val said, oh yeah, you got to do this. 00:54:06.650 --> 00:54:08.590 And I was like, oh yeah, okay, we're going to 00:54:08.590 --> 00:54:12.630 try it. So we need your ham radio dating story. 00:54:12.630 --> 00:54:17.130 So if you have a story good or bad about how 00:54:17.130 --> 00:54:20.050 ham radio played a part in a romance, give us 00:54:20.050 --> 00:54:24.510 a call next week. We need some calls, so we're 00:54:24.510 --> 00:54:28.409 going open line. So, uh, and before I go, uh, 00:54:28.409 --> 00:54:31.610 just got a note today from Carol Perry, WB2MGP 00:54:31.610 --> 00:54:34.809 about the Young Ham Lends a Hand contest nominating 00:54:34.809 --> 00:54:37.730 period. It's now open. Uh, the recipient of this 00:54:37.730 --> 00:54:40.389 award will be announced at the Hamvention Youth 00:54:40.389 --> 00:54:43.349 Forum in May, and it's sponsored by Radio Club 00:54:43.349 --> 00:54:46.349 of America and QCWA, the Quarter Century Wireless 00:54:46.349 --> 00:54:48.949 Association. When it receives a hundred dollars, 00:54:49.110 --> 00:54:51.809 the Young Ham should be a representative of our 00:54:51.719 --> 00:54:55.079 amateur radio tenant of service and it can be 00:54:55.079 --> 00:54:57.719 service to the community like assisting an elderly 00:54:57.719 --> 00:55:00.559 person or military personnel. It can be a young 00:55:00.559 --> 00:55:03.800 ham who helps with radio recruiting and tutoring 00:55:03.800 --> 00:55:07.000 other people. You just need a written statement 00:55:07.000 --> 00:55:09.559 of why you believe that this youngster deserves 00:55:09.559 --> 00:55:13.300 the award and include contact information if 00:55:13.300 --> 00:55:16.000 you would and give that to Carol Perry WB2MGP 00:55:16.000 --> 00:55:21.440 before April 1st. And her email is wb2mgp at 00:55:21.440 --> 00:55:25.019 gmail dot com. So make sure you do that. And 00:55:25.019 --> 00:55:27.059 Indiana University had a recipient of one of 00:55:27.059 --> 00:55:30.699 those a few years ago. So Ryan's still still 00:55:30.699 --> 00:55:34.000 going strong. So if you like HamTalk Live, please 00:55:34.000 --> 00:55:36.679 consider leaving us a review at iTunes or wherever 00:55:36.679 --> 00:55:38.780 you listen. That helps others find us faster 00:55:38.780 --> 00:55:41.280 and we're going to get out of here. So for now, 00:55:41.300 --> 00:55:44.440 this is Neil Rapp, WB9VPG saying seven three 00:55:44.440 --> 00:55:48.039 seven five and may the good DX. be yours.