WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.720 This episode of HamTalk Live is brought to you 00:00:02.720 --> 00:00:06.120 by Tower Electronics. For connectors, cables, 00:00:06.379 --> 00:00:13.019 and more, call 920 -435 -2973 or visit pl -259 00:00:13.019 --> 00:00:17.739 .com. And by ICOM, heard it, worked it, logged 00:00:17.739 --> 00:00:22.960 it. Visit www .icomamerica .com slash amateur 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:31.760 for more information about ICOM radios. Here 00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:59.109 we go, welcome to Amtrak Hey, good evening, everyone. 00:00:59.130 --> 00:01:05.030 It's time for ham talk live episode number 130 00:01:05.030 --> 00:01:10.170 Dayton Orlando and Huntsville ham fest roundtable 00:01:10.170 --> 00:01:13.670 Recorded live on Thursday, August 30th 2018. 00:01:13.670 --> 00:01:17.810 I'm your host Neil rap WB 9 VPG Thanks for tuning 00:01:17.810 --> 00:01:20.090 in to another episode of ham talk live tonight. 00:01:20.109 --> 00:01:24.480 We're joined by Michael Coulter w8 CI Michael 00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:29.540 Colley W4MCA and Mark Brown in for BCD and we'll 00:01:29.540 --> 00:01:33.079 take your calls live in just a few minutes last 00:01:33.079 --> 00:01:36.000 week here on the show Ward Silver in zero AX 00:01:36.430 --> 00:01:39.829 The professor was here to talk about efficient 00:01:39.829 --> 00:01:42.230 operating. And if you missed the show, you can 00:01:42.230 --> 00:01:45.609 listen anytime at HamTalkLive .com or on your 00:01:45.609 --> 00:01:49.950 favorite podcast app or over on YouTube. A couple 00:01:49.950 --> 00:01:51.969 of announcements before we get started here. 00:01:52.170 --> 00:01:56.590 A note from AMSAT. Recently, there's been a DMR 00:01:56.590 --> 00:02:03.709 signal that's QRMing the AO92 uplink on 435 .35 00:02:03.709 --> 00:02:08.909 or close by. So just heads up, if you've got 00:02:08.909 --> 00:02:13.610 a hotspot, a repeater, just regular Simplex, 00:02:13.770 --> 00:02:17.409 and you've got DMRs, something's getting into 00:02:17.409 --> 00:02:23.830 it. So make sure you're clear of 145 .8 to 146 00:02:23.830 --> 00:02:31.229 .0 and 435 to 438 megahertz. That's by International 00:02:31.229 --> 00:02:36.099 Band Plan. Please QSY. If you've been operating 00:02:36.099 --> 00:02:39.060 in that area because that's a satellite only 00:02:39.060 --> 00:02:43.139 area and it's causing some Issues for them. So 00:02:43.139 --> 00:02:46.740 we'd appreciate your cooperation with that Also 00:02:46.740 --> 00:02:50.300 want to mention if you haven't heard which you 00:02:50.300 --> 00:02:54.219 probably have but if you haven't heard the NIST 00:02:54.219 --> 00:03:01.969 Is talking about cutting funding for WWV and 00:03:01.969 --> 00:03:07.830 also the WWVH and WWVB and there are some petitions 00:03:07.830 --> 00:03:10.569 out there right now I'm seeing three of those 00:03:10.569 --> 00:03:14.770 and I posted links again just before the show 00:03:14.770 --> 00:03:18.310 this evening to all three of those petitions 00:03:18.310 --> 00:03:22.710 and so if you'd like to join in on that I would 00:03:22.710 --> 00:03:25.949 invite you to do so and posted the links again 00:03:25.949 --> 00:03:30.009 on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. and you can 00:03:30.009 --> 00:03:33.150 search those out if you're not on those, but 00:03:33.150 --> 00:03:37.349 there's a couple of WWV petitions going around 00:03:37.349 --> 00:03:40.830 to try to keep them on the air. So just wanted 00:03:40.830 --> 00:03:44.889 to mention that if you're into signing that. 00:03:45.030 --> 00:03:48.090 So we're going to talk HamFest tonight, so get 00:03:48.090 --> 00:03:50.210 your questions ready to go. After the interview, 00:03:50.509 --> 00:03:53.990 you can give us a call. You can do that via telephone 00:03:53.990 --> 00:04:02.229 at 812 -NET -HAM -1. That's 812. 638 -4261 or 00:04:02.229 --> 00:04:05.430 you can Skype us. It's just HamTalk Live on Skype 00:04:05.430 --> 00:04:08.069 and you can also tweet us. Our Twitter handle 00:04:08.069 --> 00:04:11.569 is at HamTalk Live and we'll let you know when 00:04:11.569 --> 00:04:13.569 it's time to make those phone calls. We just 00:04:13.569 --> 00:04:17.350 wanted to give you the number ahead of time so 00:04:17.350 --> 00:04:20.810 that way you have that number ready to go 812 00:04:20.810 --> 00:04:25.689 -638 -4261. So I'll be back with Michael, Michael 00:04:25.689 --> 00:04:28.769 and Mark right after this word from Icom America 00:04:28.769 --> 00:04:33.649 right here on HamTalk Live. Heard it, worked 00:04:33.649 --> 00:04:37.250 it, logged it. It's time to get the transceiver 00:04:37.250 --> 00:04:40.509 that is best suited for your lifestyle. Icom 00:04:40.509 --> 00:04:43.250 offers a variety of high performance and innovative 00:04:43.250 --> 00:04:46.019 products. See how you can make the most out of 00:04:46.019 --> 00:04:49.060 contest season with one of these transceivers. 00:04:49.319 --> 00:04:53.379 First the IC7851. It's the competitive edge you've 00:04:53.379 --> 00:04:55.600 been looking for. 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Welcome back to ham 00:06:45.029 --> 00:06:48.370 talk live and thanks to icon America for sponsoring 00:06:48.370 --> 00:06:57.769 the show and Oh at 7610 looks nice Break out 00:06:57.769 --> 00:07:01.149 the wall here ham talk lives on the air every 00:07:01.149 --> 00:07:05.769 Thursday night at 9 p .m. Eastern time and tonight 00:07:05.769 --> 00:07:12.360 we have three very knowledgeable guests about 00:07:12.360 --> 00:07:17.759 HamFest and we've been Already talking before 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:21.019 the show here. So want to get them on the line 00:07:21.019 --> 00:07:23.800 here. First of all, we have Michael Coulter, 00:07:24.100 --> 00:07:26.800 W8CI, the official spokesperson of the Dayton 00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:30.360 Hamvention. Mike resides in Zeno, Ohio and is 00:07:30.360 --> 00:07:32.160 a past president of the Dayton Amateur Radio 00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:35.980 Association and a former Hamvention general chairman 00:07:35.980 --> 00:07:39.639 back in 2011 and 12. He is currently the treasurer 00:07:39.639 --> 00:07:42.879 and a board member of DERA and the finance chair 00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:46.360 for Hamvention. Our other Michael tonight is 00:07:46.360 --> 00:07:50.000 Michael Colley, W -4 MCA. He is the new chairman 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:53.860 of the Orlando Hamcation. Michael served for 00:07:53.860 --> 00:07:56.300 seven years as Hamcation's tailgate chairman, 00:07:56.540 --> 00:07:59.399 six years as the IT chairman, and one year as 00:07:59.399 --> 00:08:01.540 finance chairman, and Hamcation is sponsored 00:08:01.540 --> 00:08:05.399 by the Orlando Amateur Radio Club. And Mark Brown 00:08:05.399 --> 00:08:09.480 in for BCD is the... new chairman of the huntsville 00:08:09.480 --> 00:08:12.899 ham fest he's he's completed his first year and 00:08:12.899 --> 00:08:14.800 uh... he works at uh... one of the high -tech 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:17.959 government contracting firms in huntsville alabama 00:08:17.959 --> 00:08:21.019 and he has been the president of the north alabama 00:08:21.019 --> 00:08:23.980 d x club huntsville amateur radio club and this 00:08:23.980 --> 00:08:27.620 in both the tennessee and alabama contest group 00:08:27.620 --> 00:08:32.799 so michael michael and mark welcome to the show 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:37.580 a good evening welcome thanks Yeah, thank you, 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:41.899 Neil, for having us on tonight. And with four 00:08:41.899 --> 00:08:45.120 of us here, it's kind of confusing who's supposed 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:49.820 to talk when. So that'll work. You lead us. I 00:08:49.820 --> 00:08:54.360 will. I will lead. So tonight, we're going to 00:08:54.360 --> 00:09:00.320 talk about how you all team up and help promote 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:04.980 each other's HamFest. learn from each other and 00:09:04.980 --> 00:09:08.399 and put on some things that uh... no one else 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:11.860 does and uh... maybe uh... some of the smaller 00:09:11.860 --> 00:09:16.139 ham fest uh... chairman and and people who work 00:09:16.139 --> 00:09:19.600 with smaller ham fest can can grab some ideas 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:23.500 here tonight but uh... first let's let's get 00:09:23.500 --> 00:09:25.919 the stuff out of the way that that that people 00:09:25.919 --> 00:09:30.850 are going to ask i know uh... and that's Okay, 00:09:30.870 --> 00:09:33.149 what's the news from from each one of these? 00:09:34.009 --> 00:09:39.289 And let's start with Mark. Huntsville was just 00:09:39.289 --> 00:09:44.610 two weeks ago. And so how did things go as the 00:09:44.610 --> 00:09:47.490 first year being the chairman? And do you have 00:09:47.490 --> 00:09:52.309 any any results any numbers from two weeks ago? 00:09:53.149 --> 00:09:58.960 Mark? Well, Neil, we have A gross count of between 00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:03.440 4 and 5 ,000 attendees on the Saturday, Sunday 00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:06.480 event. Our ladies are still who sell the admission 00:10:06.480 --> 00:10:09.320 tickets. They're tallying the final figures and 00:10:09.320 --> 00:10:12.080 double -checking things. But we feel like we 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:14.879 had a good attendance. It was up from last year. 00:10:15.100 --> 00:10:19.159 Last year was impacted by the total solar eclipse. 00:10:19.580 --> 00:10:21.820 But we're back to where we want to be and probably 00:10:21.820 --> 00:10:24.980 grow it even more next year. Well, it sure looked 00:10:24.980 --> 00:10:28.779 like there was a bigger crowd this year I can 00:10:28.779 --> 00:10:32.899 tell that just from from walking around and you 00:10:32.899 --> 00:10:36.039 all did a great job of putting everything on 00:10:36.039 --> 00:10:42.220 and Yeah, it was just amazing and it never ceases 00:10:42.220 --> 00:10:48.370 to amaze me how friendly, comfortable, and easy 00:10:48.370 --> 00:10:53.490 that HamFest is to navigate and so thanks to 00:10:53.490 --> 00:10:56.529 everyone who's volunteered for that and your 00:10:56.529 --> 00:11:00.690 team and it's a great bunch of people and some 00:11:00.690 --> 00:11:04.049 great forums and I've already had people say 00:11:04.049 --> 00:11:07.240 it. that went for the first time that said, how 00:11:07.240 --> 00:11:09.600 in the world did they pull off that youth lounge? 00:11:09.700 --> 00:11:13.559 How do they do that? And it is, it's one of the 00:11:13.559 --> 00:11:16.360 best youth lounges I think I've ever seen. That 00:11:16.360 --> 00:11:19.200 is really one of our shining stars, Neil. We 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:21.340 doubled the size of the youth lounge this year. 00:11:21.860 --> 00:11:27.759 Dr. Monty Bateman, he studies solar physics and 00:11:27.980 --> 00:11:31.759 and thunderstorms and lightning for NASA. And 00:11:31.759 --> 00:11:34.600 he's been running the Youth Lounge now for about 00:11:34.600 --> 00:11:37.419 nine years. His wife is involved, his kids are 00:11:37.419 --> 00:11:39.720 involved. He handpicks additional volunteers 00:11:39.720 --> 00:11:42.399 to work with the kids. uh... we had a go -to 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:45.200 station for two years now uh... one kid got earned 00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:48.259 his merit badge uh... by making a i can't remember 00:11:48.259 --> 00:11:50.720 how many contacts he needed but uh... the youth 00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:53.320 lounge has really been uh... a great day for 00:11:53.320 --> 00:11:55.919 the huntsville ham fest and and uh... monies 00:11:55.919 --> 00:11:58.440 wife mentioned to me that uh... she's seen a 00:11:58.440 --> 00:12:01.299 couple of kids uh... through the years uh... 00:12:01.299 --> 00:12:02.600 you know they come in as an eight -year -old 00:12:02.600 --> 00:12:05.019 and they're now sixteen or seventeen years old 00:12:05.019 --> 00:12:07.860 and they've been coming every year so there's 00:12:07.860 --> 00:12:10.480 something for all ages because uh... they somehow 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:14.039 make it relevant for all the age groups well 00:12:14.039 --> 00:12:16.580 they sure do and i've had uh... you know some 00:12:16.580 --> 00:12:19.299 kids from up here go and and learned how to solder 00:12:19.299 --> 00:12:22.440 down there and and everything else and uh... 00:12:22.440 --> 00:12:24.720 it's just a great experience and and a lot of 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:28.320 my uh... satellite friends were down there and 00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:31.820 came for the first time and wanted to see the 00:12:31.820 --> 00:12:33.940 Young Ham of the Year presentation and some of 00:12:33.940 --> 00:12:36.179 those things and brought their kids along and 00:12:36.179 --> 00:12:41.860 they really enjoyed it. So kudos on that. Now 00:12:41.860 --> 00:12:45.580 let's go to the Michaels. Let's go to Michael 00:12:45.580 --> 00:12:49.000 Coulter first and just kind of give us a quick 00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:53.320 recap of how things went last year and how some 00:12:53.320 --> 00:12:58.470 of those improvements went. Well, thanks for 00:12:58.470 --> 00:13:00.389 letting me say a few words. First off, Neil, 00:13:00.490 --> 00:13:02.809 I want to thank you for putting this forum of 00:13:02.809 --> 00:13:05.110 the three of us together. This is really exciting 00:13:05.110 --> 00:13:07.769 because as you'll find out in the discussion 00:13:07.769 --> 00:13:10.970 how much we work together. And Neil, I really 00:13:10.970 --> 00:13:15.110 appreciate all the work that you do for amateur 00:13:15.110 --> 00:13:19.210 radio to get the word out. So thank you. I want 00:13:19.210 --> 00:13:21.110 to make sure we got that. I got that in there. 00:13:21.360 --> 00:13:25.299 As for, you know, we, as for us at hand benching, 00:13:25.320 --> 00:13:28.340 you know, we're always trying to, you know, look 00:13:28.340 --> 00:13:30.779 for new improvements. What can we do? How can 00:13:30.779 --> 00:13:34.659 we take it to a new level? And, or just improve 00:13:34.659 --> 00:13:36.600 what we got, you know, because this is the second, 00:13:36.700 --> 00:13:38.779 this was the second year at our new location. 00:13:39.480 --> 00:13:42.139 And, you know, there's a lot of things that we 00:13:42.139 --> 00:13:44.340 tried to get fixed, some things that, and we 00:13:44.340 --> 00:13:48.279 looked at, look at next year. the newer things 00:13:48.279 --> 00:13:50.500 that are going to be happening. But overall, 00:13:50.500 --> 00:13:52.740 we were very excited. Although our attendance 00:13:52.740 --> 00:13:56.320 was down right around about 900 less than the 00:13:56.320 --> 00:13:59.039 previous year, but we think that's going to go 00:13:59.039 --> 00:14:03.399 back up. People were hesitant for whatever reason. 00:14:04.379 --> 00:14:06.740 The flea market, we did make the improvements, 00:14:07.080 --> 00:14:09.440 although it was right at the last minute before 00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:13.840 we got that done. And we have much improved tents 00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:21.379 that we've had. As far as I know, all of the 00:14:21.379 --> 00:14:25.659 people that displayed and sold things there, 00:14:25.899 --> 00:14:28.960 we're very, very happy. And the food, we're gonna 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:32.840 ramp up the food even more next year. And working 00:14:32.840 --> 00:14:37.200 on the traffic situation, which I think is really 00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:39.240 not a problem anymore. I think we've got that 00:14:39.240 --> 00:14:42.200 one done. But at any rate, let me give some time 00:14:42.200 --> 00:14:48.080 back to Michael at Orlando. Yeah, very good and 00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:55.659 Michael you are new at running Orlando at the 00:14:55.659 --> 00:14:58.639 hamcation and and I'm at a disadvantage here 00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:01.600 because I haven't been to Orlando hamcation yet 00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:04.960 and I'm dying to go and I wish my teaching schedule 00:15:04.960 --> 00:15:08.519 would Will allow me to do that, but that's kind 00:15:08.519 --> 00:15:12.080 of a difficult one. So I'm not familiar with 00:15:12.080 --> 00:15:15.179 yours, but I was able to meet you down at Huntsville. 00:15:15.179 --> 00:15:19.000 That was good. And glad to talk to you for a 00:15:19.000 --> 00:15:21.960 little bit down there, but tell us about what's 00:15:21.960 --> 00:15:25.120 happening down in Orlando, how last year went 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:31.220 and some of the things that happened. Our show 00:15:31.220 --> 00:15:37.519 was great this past year in February. This year 00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:40.200 we did one of the improvements I made was we 00:15:40.200 --> 00:15:44.179 had our website professionally redesigned which 00:15:44.179 --> 00:15:48.500 helped a lot to bring it up to today's standards 00:15:48.500 --> 00:15:52.000 of what you can do with it. Also we redesigned 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:54.639 the flyer that gets sent out. We send it out 00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:58.679 to over 52 ,000 hems. We totally redesigned that 00:15:58.679 --> 00:16:02.100 and got a lot of good feedback on that. One of 00:16:02.100 --> 00:16:04.120 the things we did do this year was increase our 00:16:04.120 --> 00:16:07.460 parking capabilities. One problem we did run 00:16:07.460 --> 00:16:10.960 into, we still ran out of parking, which is a 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:14.580 good and bad thing. One of the other big things 00:16:14.580 --> 00:16:18.299 this year, Peter Meyers and Liddy Meyers, Peter 00:16:18.299 --> 00:16:21.700 was the past hamcation chairman for the last 00:16:21.700 --> 00:16:25.080 nine years. They moved back to the Netherlands 00:16:25.080 --> 00:16:29.419 and they actually become our international relations 00:16:29.419 --> 00:16:33.919 liaisons. So they actually set up a booth in 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:38.039 Frevenschofen this year and had Hamcation over 00:16:38.039 --> 00:16:41.580 there to advertise us over in that part of the 00:16:41.580 --> 00:16:45.220 world, which was a big success. And we've already 00:16:45.220 --> 00:16:48.100 started getting inquiries from some of the vendors 00:16:48.100 --> 00:16:49.820 from there that's going to come to Hamcation 00:16:49.820 --> 00:16:53.019 next year. And one of the biggest things that 00:16:53.019 --> 00:16:55.620 we improved this year was getting more volunteers. 00:16:56.779 --> 00:16:59.539 Just like Michael and Mark will tell you, without 00:16:59.539 --> 00:17:03.710 the volunteers, the show won't happen. So that 00:17:03.710 --> 00:17:06.670 was the biggest things that we did this year 00:17:06.670 --> 00:17:10.829 for hamcation. All right. Very good. Now we're 00:17:10.829 --> 00:17:13.349 going to go around to everybody again and let's 00:17:13.349 --> 00:17:17.410 keep it here with you, Michael, about Orlando. 00:17:18.450 --> 00:17:21.609 What's your plans for next year? Do you have 00:17:21.609 --> 00:17:28.430 anything that's changing for next year or any 00:17:28.430 --> 00:17:34.279 big news about next year? Yeah, no, there's actually 00:17:34.279 --> 00:17:36.680 a lot of changes coming for hamcation this coming 00:17:36.680 --> 00:17:39.859 year I'll go over a few of them here. One of 00:17:39.859 --> 00:17:42.599 the issues we've had in the past was not having 00:17:42.599 --> 00:17:46.240 enough form space for everybody putting on forms 00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:49.420 So this year, I'm actually going to go out and 00:17:49.420 --> 00:17:53.319 rent three clear span tents with hard sides glass 00:17:53.319 --> 00:17:57.299 doors They will be aced And they each one will 00:17:57.299 --> 00:18:01.880 hold 150 people each Also this year we'll be 00:18:01.880 --> 00:18:05.940 doing forums on Friday and Saturday Last year 00:18:05.940 --> 00:18:10.079 we only did Friday or Saturday And this year 00:18:10.079 --> 00:18:11.859 we're only going to have them in one location 00:18:11.859 --> 00:18:17.240 instead of two locations like before Also with 00:18:17.240 --> 00:18:23.660 the help With the help from the fairgrounds, 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:26.940 we're actually working on getting some more parking 00:18:26.940 --> 00:18:29.799 for this year. So that's something in the works 00:18:31.029 --> 00:18:33.789 One of the big things that happened we started 00:18:33.789 --> 00:18:36.329 a chairman's dinner and reception to recognize 00:18:36.329 --> 00:18:39.569 vendors volunteers and VIP is a amateur radio 00:18:39.569 --> 00:18:44.650 That has supported hamcation in the past So that's 00:18:44.650 --> 00:18:46.750 one thing we did do this year Michael and mark 00:18:46.750 --> 00:18:49.049 can contest to that dinner. They both went to 00:18:49.049 --> 00:18:55.349 it and Wow, it was good and one of the big things 00:18:55.349 --> 00:18:59.289 that I did this year I've actually signed a five 00:18:59.289 --> 00:19:02.509 year contract with the central Florida fairgrounds. 00:19:02.509 --> 00:19:05.529 So for the next five years, we will be there 00:19:05.529 --> 00:19:11.869 until at least 2023. All right. Very good. And 00:19:11.869 --> 00:19:15.250 your website is up and running and open for business 00:19:15.250 --> 00:19:18.269 and selling tickets. And, uh, and a friend of 00:19:18.269 --> 00:19:21.970 mine, uh, has already bought his, so you're ready 00:19:21.970 --> 00:19:29.680 to go. All right. Let's, uh, let's go over to 00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:34.619 Mark. Uh, Mark, it's only two weeks since you 00:19:34.619 --> 00:19:37.900 finished up, but, uh, do you have anything that 00:19:37.900 --> 00:19:40.480 you noticed that, you know, okay, this is, we're 00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:43.799 going to do this next year. Well, there were 00:19:43.799 --> 00:19:46.880 a couple of little tweaks we made, things we've 00:19:46.880 --> 00:19:51.579 learned. We tried to actually reduce the size 00:19:51.579 --> 00:19:53.859 of the stage this year a little bit, and the 00:19:53.859 --> 00:19:55.859 Vaughan Braun Center gave us a sturdier platform, 00:19:56.180 --> 00:19:59.380 and that was a great blessing to be able to display 00:19:59.380 --> 00:20:03.789 the projection. uh... of the uh... of the of 00:20:03.789 --> 00:20:05.769 the hourly door prize winners and things like 00:20:05.769 --> 00:20:08.890 that uh... we tried a uh... a smaller p a system 00:20:08.890 --> 00:20:11.829 uh... just uh... a near -stage coverage uh... 00:20:11.829 --> 00:20:14.369 because the uh... the bond run center uh... p 00:20:14.369 --> 00:20:18.309 a system it uh... when when that when d m c announces 00:20:18.309 --> 00:20:21.210 something it can drown out every conversation 00:20:21.210 --> 00:20:24.029 in the uh... within the uh... commercial and 00:20:24.029 --> 00:20:26.069 flea market space eighty thousand square feet 00:20:26.069 --> 00:20:29.009 indoors and uh... so we're looking at a smaller 00:20:30.589 --> 00:20:34.029 point source up there. We had something but it 00:20:34.029 --> 00:20:36.049 wasn't quite enough. We need a couple more DB 00:20:36.049 --> 00:20:39.529 to make that work. Cleaned up the stage. We put 00:20:39.529 --> 00:20:41.970 the Convention and Visitors Bureau at their own 00:20:41.970 --> 00:20:45.430 table. They were kind of on an island up there 00:20:45.430 --> 00:20:49.130 last year with the MC on the stage and nobody 00:20:49.130 --> 00:20:51.549 could get to them. One of the things we're going 00:20:51.549 --> 00:20:53.730 to try next year, we're going to try online ticket 00:20:53.730 --> 00:20:58.589 sales. It makes things easy the why else who 00:20:58.589 --> 00:21:01.750 sell the tickets outside They're easily overwhelmed 00:21:01.750 --> 00:21:03.650 the first couple of hours for with everybody 00:21:03.650 --> 00:21:06.970 trying to get in Right there on Saturday morning 00:21:06.970 --> 00:21:10.009 at nine o 'clock. So this may be doing a will 00:21:10.009 --> 00:21:12.710 call or or mail out the tickets We're not sure 00:21:12.710 --> 00:21:15.890 yet. We haven't worked out the details You guys 00:21:15.890 --> 00:21:19.549 have mentioned parking. We're in a downtown location, 00:21:20.150 --> 00:21:22.150 not a county fairgrounds, and so we're really 00:21:22.150 --> 00:21:24.849 at the mercy of the city and the Von Braun Center 00:21:24.849 --> 00:21:27.650 when it comes to parking facilities. We want 00:21:27.650 --> 00:21:30.450 to work with the city and try to negotiate maybe 00:21:30.450 --> 00:21:32.970 a better parking arrangements, so we'll see what 00:21:32.970 --> 00:21:35.950 we can do there because that's really important 00:21:35.950 --> 00:21:39.430 for our visitors to be able to attend and have 00:21:39.430 --> 00:21:43.160 a reasonable walk. to get into the Vaughn -Baron 00:21:43.160 --> 00:21:47.160 Center. We have a new webmaster and we're going 00:21:47.160 --> 00:21:50.700 to redesign our website and it's been kind of 00:21:50.700 --> 00:21:53.279 static for the last couple of years. We're going 00:21:53.279 --> 00:21:56.339 to bump that up a notch, but no huge changes. 00:21:57.019 --> 00:21:59.660 We're looking at just little tweaks to make things 00:21:59.660 --> 00:22:03.299 better year after year. And if you can come up 00:22:03.299 --> 00:22:06.859 with some squirrel repellent, that might help. 00:22:07.759 --> 00:22:11.339 Well, yeah Huntsville utilities kind of did us 00:22:11.339 --> 00:22:15.000 twice and a squirrel got into this was after 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:18.440 After the hemp has closed Saturday night a squirrel 00:22:18.440 --> 00:22:21.720 got into a substation and took out a significant 00:22:21.720 --> 00:22:25.059 portion of downtown Huntsville that affected 00:22:25.059 --> 00:22:28.160 the von Braun Center the adjacent embassy suites 00:22:28.160 --> 00:22:32.640 hotel the elevators, of course and Another hotel 00:22:32.640 --> 00:22:35.380 nearby where the DX Bank what was was going on? 00:22:36.190 --> 00:22:39.930 I was at that banquet and they kind of winged 00:22:39.930 --> 00:22:42.509 it. We did a dinner, then we did door prizes, 00:22:42.849 --> 00:22:47.769 and then we did a note card speech by Jim Fensterbacher, 00:22:48.029 --> 00:22:51.609 our banquet speaker. So about 20 minutes into 00:22:51.609 --> 00:22:54.490 his note card speech, the power came back up. 00:22:54.529 --> 00:22:57.190 He was able to see his pictures and all was good. 00:22:57.970 --> 00:23:00.630 But things were a bit dicey. And the other thing 00:23:00.630 --> 00:23:04.410 they did was to park. uh... four bucket trucks 00:23:04.410 --> 00:23:06.450 uh... back behind the bond bronze center the 00:23:06.450 --> 00:23:09.049 kind of interfered with uh... saturday uh... 00:23:09.049 --> 00:23:11.470 saturday morning move in before we open and there's 00:23:11.470 --> 00:23:14.269 a giant bus that comes in from uh... from memphis 00:23:14.269 --> 00:23:17.309 that brings up i think uh... i don't know a lot 00:23:17.309 --> 00:23:19.650 of people a lot of guys from from memphis uh... 00:23:19.650 --> 00:23:22.970 they charter a bus and uh... Completely blocked 00:23:22.970 --> 00:23:25.970 their normal entrance and so we coordinated with 00:23:25.970 --> 00:23:27.769 the the Vaughan Braun Center They had a guy on 00:23:27.769 --> 00:23:30.970 a golf cart meet him at a street and and direct 00:23:30.970 --> 00:23:33.609 him up an alley So that they could park that 00:23:33.609 --> 00:23:36.150 day where they normally do so we worked it we 00:23:36.150 --> 00:23:39.309 worked it out But not without a couple of a couple 00:23:39.309 --> 00:23:44.349 of tense moments now the The elevator thing caught 00:23:44.349 --> 00:23:47.470 me off guard for sure and then the elevators 00:23:48.309 --> 00:23:51.369 still acted up after that. I don't know if they 00:23:51.369 --> 00:23:56.029 ever fixed those. I had a friend that stayed 00:23:56.029 --> 00:23:59.170 a couple of days after the ham fest and that 00:23:59.170 --> 00:24:01.509 said they were still down to one elevator, but 00:24:01.509 --> 00:24:03.869 it is time for a break. So let's go ahead and 00:24:03.869 --> 00:24:06.630 do that and we'll come back and talk a little 00:24:06.630 --> 00:24:10.630 bit more about next year and how these guys team 00:24:10.630 --> 00:24:12.789 up right after this word from Tower Electronics 00:24:12.789 --> 00:24:16.490 right here on HamTalk Live. Hey honey, have you 00:24:16.490 --> 00:24:21.380 seen the PL -259s? Anywhere? No, I haven't. Come 00:24:21.380 --> 00:24:26.710 on, kids. Let's go! There's just one place to 00:24:26.710 --> 00:24:33.630 go for all of your connector needs. A giant warehouse 00:24:33.630 --> 00:24:36.509 of connectors and adapters for every occasion. 00:24:36.869 --> 00:24:39.230 Thousands to choose from in every shape, size 00:24:39.230 --> 00:24:41.710 and color. And they have antennas, soldering 00:24:41.710 --> 00:24:45.210 supplies, cables, meters and more. Where do you 00:24:45.210 --> 00:24:47.250 go if you want to buy a connector at a fraction 00:24:47.250 --> 00:24:54.329 of retail cost? And this weekend only, take advantage 00:24:54.329 --> 00:25:05.190 of our special They make great Christmas presents. 00:25:08.549 --> 00:25:11.069 And what better way to say I love you than with 00:25:11.069 --> 00:25:15.250 the gift of a PL -259. TOWER ELECTRONICS! TOWER 00:25:15.250 --> 00:25:18.890 ELECTRONICS! TOWER ELECTRONICS! Hi, I'm Scott 00:25:18.890 --> 00:25:22.690 Cole, KB9 AMM, President of TOWER ELECTRONICS. 00:25:22.890 --> 00:25:25.150 I like the company so much that I bought it! 00:25:25.190 --> 00:25:27.569 TOWER ELECTRONICS! Coming to a hand fest near 00:25:27.569 --> 00:25:32.690 you or online at PL -259 .com. And we're in the 00:25:32.690 --> 00:25:35.430 Yellow Pages under... Amateur radio connectors. 00:25:35.609 --> 00:25:39.509 My, wherever did you get that lovely PL259? Tower 00:25:39.509 --> 00:25:46.809 Electronics, pl -259 .com or call 920 -435 -2973. 00:25:47.230 --> 00:25:52.200 Do we sell PL259 connectors? Join the conversation. 00:25:52.619 --> 00:25:56.019 Call us on voice with Skype at HamTalk Live or 00:25:56.019 --> 00:26:00.519 give us a call at 812 -NET -HAM -1. That's 812 00:26:00.519 --> 00:26:21.560 -638 -4261. Now, here's more HamTalk Live. Tower 00:26:21.560 --> 00:26:24.039 electronics will be at Shelby, North Carolina 00:26:24.039 --> 00:26:27.579 this weekend August 31st through September the 00:26:27.579 --> 00:26:30.500 2nd then they'll be in Findlay, Ohio on September 00:26:30.500 --> 00:26:34.240 9th and Peoria, Illinois on September 15th and 00:26:34.240 --> 00:26:39.500 16th and of course you can catch them at PL -259 00:26:39.500 --> 00:26:42.720 .com and HamTalk Live is on the air every Thursday 00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:46.440 night at 9 p .m. Eastern Time right here at HamTalkLive 00:26:46.440 --> 00:26:49.589 .com be sure to check us out on Facebook, Twitter, 00:26:49.930 --> 00:26:53.309 and Instagram. We've got Michael Coulter back 00:26:53.309 --> 00:26:56.250 with us. Lost a cell signal there, so we've got 00:26:56.250 --> 00:26:59.609 him back. And Michael, we were talking about 00:26:59.609 --> 00:27:04.650 next year, so what I was asking was we've heard 00:27:04.650 --> 00:27:08.670 a little bit about the new building, you know, 00:27:08.809 --> 00:27:11.690 may happen, may not happen, and so we've heard 00:27:11.690 --> 00:27:13.569 a little bit about that, and then I know you've 00:27:13.569 --> 00:27:16.099 got some other... uh... things you're working 00:27:16.099 --> 00:27:19.059 on so tell us uh... where things are for next 00:27:19.059 --> 00:27:23.299 year ideal thanks i'll be kind of brief with 00:27:23.299 --> 00:27:26.019 that because we'll have uh... more definite things 00:27:26.019 --> 00:27:28.079 coming out about a month month and a half that 00:27:28.079 --> 00:27:30.920 we want to announce to everyone but until things 00:27:30.920 --> 00:27:33.869 are inked inside i can't I can't talk a lot about 00:27:33.869 --> 00:27:36.049 it, but what I do want to tell you is the fact 00:27:36.049 --> 00:27:39.970 that we are working well with the Fair and Expo 00:27:39.970 --> 00:27:43.789 board. They have been absolutely pleasant to 00:27:43.789 --> 00:27:47.589 work with, great to work with, and I think that 00:27:47.589 --> 00:27:50.289 one of the big things next year will be improving 00:27:50.289 --> 00:27:53.569 even some more of the flea market area. You know, 00:27:53.569 --> 00:27:55.589 we got those grindings down and got them rolled, 00:27:55.849 --> 00:27:57.809 and we're going to improve that even more and 00:27:57.809 --> 00:28:01.349 expand that so that we have better coverage out 00:28:01.349 --> 00:28:03.839 there. Um, you know, every year I talk about 00:28:03.839 --> 00:28:06.519 improving the weather. I think I'm, I'm not sure 00:28:06.519 --> 00:28:08.660 I can really do that. I thought I had connections, 00:28:09.000 --> 00:28:11.880 but I'm not really sure I do. The weather service 00:28:11.880 --> 00:28:15.420 hasn't been helping out on that. Yeah, I know. 00:28:15.559 --> 00:28:17.299 And they're right down there and I work with 00:28:17.299 --> 00:28:21.660 them. I'm a, I am a, uh, one of the, uh, uh, 00:28:21.700 --> 00:28:23.880 lead coordinators down there when we have, uh, 00:28:23.920 --> 00:28:26.720 emergency weather for southern half of Ohio and 00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:29.109 bad weather commit. But I do want to say we're 00:28:29.109 --> 00:28:31.910 working on that. We're working on probably better 00:28:31.910 --> 00:28:35.589 bus delivery of folks and more surprises in store. 00:28:35.970 --> 00:28:38.630 Yeah, the sad part about it is we probably will 00:28:38.630 --> 00:28:41.150 not get the building this year, but it doesn't 00:28:41.150 --> 00:28:43.849 mean we aren't working on it. It just means that 00:28:43.849 --> 00:28:46.529 the negotiations, we couldn't quite get it through 00:28:46.529 --> 00:28:48.509 and there's been an election change with some 00:28:48.509 --> 00:28:50.950 of the elected folks and we'll be working with 00:28:50.950 --> 00:28:53.369 some new people when they take office. So we 00:28:53.369 --> 00:28:56.789 decided to make the announcement early on. Hey, 00:28:56.890 --> 00:28:59.660 we can't. we're not going to get there. And that's, 00:28:59.660 --> 00:29:01.339 you know, we're trying to be a little bit more 00:29:01.339 --> 00:29:03.440 transparent about what's going on with Hamvention 00:29:03.440 --> 00:29:07.059 so that all of our stakeholders know that. But, 00:29:07.059 --> 00:29:09.839 you know, we'll have more stuff forthcoming, 00:29:10.079 --> 00:29:12.779 but we're excited about what happened last year. 00:29:12.940 --> 00:29:16.059 We're even more excited about next year. So with 00:29:16.059 --> 00:29:18.599 that, let me send it back to you. All right, 00:29:18.799 --> 00:29:21.910 very good. Well, we'll look forward to. hearing 00:29:21.910 --> 00:29:24.470 about that and hearing what you have planned. 00:29:25.589 --> 00:29:29.269 So before we take calls here, I want to talk 00:29:29.269 --> 00:29:33.609 a little bit about how you all work together. 00:29:34.309 --> 00:29:40.289 And I know at Dayton, I've seen you and Mark 00:29:40.289 --> 00:29:45.349 going around and talking about things. And at 00:29:45.349 --> 00:29:50.029 Huntsville, I saw Michael Colley and Mark. There 00:29:50.029 --> 00:29:52.970 were always booths there to talk about each other's 00:29:52.970 --> 00:29:55.569 ham fest. So, uh, Michael culture, why don't 00:29:55.569 --> 00:29:59.029 you go ahead and start off about how you guys 00:29:59.029 --> 00:30:02.390 team up and how you support, uh, each other and 00:30:02.390 --> 00:30:05.450 offer each other some assistance to make all 00:30:05.450 --> 00:30:09.750 of these better. Well, you know, in amateur radio, 00:30:09.750 --> 00:30:12.730 uh, just quickly into the my synopsis and what 00:30:12.730 --> 00:30:15.069 went on, what we see as personally important 00:30:15.069 --> 00:30:18.410 to all of us is to be successful in amateur radio. 00:30:18.670 --> 00:30:21.170 we all have to be successful. And that is you, 00:30:21.309 --> 00:30:24.809 Neil. That is all the ham fest around. That is 00:30:24.809 --> 00:30:29.230 especially the big ham fest. So we need to support 00:30:29.230 --> 00:30:31.529 each other. And when I hear people, well, who's 00:30:31.529 --> 00:30:35.470 biggest, who's best? You know, it's all in the 00:30:35.470 --> 00:30:39.289 person's mind that goes there. to enjoy the event. 00:30:39.869 --> 00:30:42.609 And I was glad to hear Mark had some really memorable 00:30:42.609 --> 00:30:44.910 things happen at his because people remember 00:30:44.910 --> 00:30:46.809 those things and they have great stories to tell 00:30:46.809 --> 00:30:48.369 you. I was there when the power went out. It 00:30:48.369 --> 00:30:50.809 was terrible, but we still had this much fun. 00:30:51.670 --> 00:30:55.269 And I know Orlando gets rain now and then, but 00:30:55.269 --> 00:30:57.829 we all got together and we decided, hey, we're 00:30:57.829 --> 00:30:59.670 not enemies, we're friends. And it kind of started 00:30:59.670 --> 00:31:02.369 with Peter and Lee down there in Orlando some 00:31:02.369 --> 00:31:06.000 years ago. invited them up, they ended up being 00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:09.440 club of the year because their club just does 00:31:09.440 --> 00:31:12.480 a tremendous job putting on Orlando. So things 00:31:12.480 --> 00:31:14.799 have evolved since then and Mark came in and 00:31:14.799 --> 00:31:17.500 we're so glad and you know we all meet together 00:31:17.500 --> 00:31:20.079 to talk about oh you have that problem this is 00:31:20.079 --> 00:31:24.000 what I did about that problem or you know and 00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:26.980 they've helped me considerably and we help each 00:31:26.980 --> 00:31:30.079 other and it's important all the facets of amateur 00:31:30.079 --> 00:31:33.069 radio. Need to work together. We're too small 00:31:33.069 --> 00:31:36.230 to be arguing and I think my compadres here will 00:31:36.230 --> 00:31:39.869 agree but this has been going on for a few years 00:31:39.869 --> 00:31:42.309 and You know, we're so glad you finally pulled 00:31:42.309 --> 00:31:45.230 this off to have three of us here so we can tell 00:31:45.230 --> 00:31:49.150 you know the amateur radio public We want to 00:31:49.150 --> 00:31:52.349 support each other if Orlando fails hand -vention 00:31:52.349 --> 00:31:57.690 fails Huntsville fails we all fail, you know, 00:31:57.690 --> 00:31:59.990 we can't let that happen. We got to support each 00:31:59.990 --> 00:32:02.430 other And that's sort of how this has evolved. 00:32:03.089 --> 00:32:04.490 So let me turn it back to you, Neil, because 00:32:04.490 --> 00:32:06.150 the other guys, I'm sure they'll want to chime 00:32:06.150 --> 00:32:09.769 in. Yeah. Let's go over to Mark down in Huntsville 00:32:09.769 --> 00:32:16.029 and your comments on the cooperation that's taken 00:32:16.029 --> 00:32:21.670 place between the three of you. Well, Neil and 00:32:21.670 --> 00:32:25.890 yeah, Michael, he raised... He brings a lot of 00:32:25.890 --> 00:32:29.589 really good points. We have to make these things 00:32:29.589 --> 00:32:33.089 good for both the visitor and the vendor alike 00:32:33.089 --> 00:32:36.349 and make it a destination, make it a positive 00:32:36.349 --> 00:32:39.210 experience that folks will want to go to multiple 00:32:39.210 --> 00:32:41.970 ham fest per year. Lord knows there's a lot of 00:32:41.970 --> 00:32:45.470 small ones and a lot of big ones and we hope 00:32:45.470 --> 00:32:49.990 they come to our events. They wanted to come 00:32:49.990 --> 00:32:52.650 to multiple events, but you know at hamcation 00:32:52.650 --> 00:32:55.509 back in February as a new guy on the block I 00:32:55.509 --> 00:32:58.789 want to share a kind of a story, but back at 00:32:58.789 --> 00:33:02.009 hamcation in Orlando in february i was that i 00:33:02.009 --> 00:33:04.549 stayed at the same hotel as the dating guys that 00:33:04.549 --> 00:33:07.269 was uh... ron kramer the uh... the outgoing uh... 00:33:07.269 --> 00:33:09.990 general chairman michael's there are jack curbs 00:33:09.990 --> 00:33:12.609 uh... the uh... the new uh... general chairman 00:33:12.609 --> 00:33:15.230 for for dating and uh... over some really good 00:33:15.230 --> 00:33:18.529 irish whiskey we shared a lot of good uh... experiences 00:33:18.529 --> 00:33:21.130 tales that tips about these are different hand 00:33:21.130 --> 00:33:23.829 fast uh... concerns uh... it was just a great 00:33:23.829 --> 00:33:26.309 thing until uh... until jack's wife made us leave 00:33:26.309 --> 00:33:28.329 the room about eleven thirty or twelve o 'clock 00:33:28.329 --> 00:33:31.440 but uh... it was just a It was a great experience 00:33:31.440 --> 00:33:35.420 to meet these guys, and of course Dayton guys 00:33:35.420 --> 00:33:38.859 in Orlando, they had time to chat. And then in 00:33:38.859 --> 00:33:41.740 May, I had a similar opportunity in Dayton, where 00:33:41.740 --> 00:33:44.460 I stayed at the same hotel as Michael and John 00:33:44.460 --> 00:33:48.119 from Orlando. And we continued to learn a lot 00:33:48.119 --> 00:33:50.640 from each other. And there in Dayton, we had 00:33:50.640 --> 00:33:53.400 adjacent booths. We talked to each other. We 00:33:53.400 --> 00:33:56.680 saw the same visitors going by, stopping at our 00:33:56.680 --> 00:34:00.200 respective booths, and just talking up our various 00:34:00.200 --> 00:34:03.559 ham fest. Here in Huntsville, I barely had time 00:34:03.559 --> 00:34:09.059 to talk to most guys. chat with everybody for 00:34:09.059 --> 00:34:11.559 at least a few minutes, and it was really wonderful 00:34:11.559 --> 00:34:13.920 to be able to network together. And I'm sure 00:34:13.920 --> 00:34:16.880 that the Dayton and Orlando guys had a similar 00:34:16.880 --> 00:34:19.219 experience here in Huntsville, that they were 00:34:19.219 --> 00:34:22.079 more relaxed and could share knowledge. So back 00:34:22.079 --> 00:34:25.300 to you, Neil. All right, very good. And last 00:34:25.300 --> 00:34:28.320 but not least, by any means, Michael Colley. 00:34:28.699 --> 00:34:31.480 Yeah, like Michael and Mark said, we work very 00:34:31.480 --> 00:34:33.679 closely together, actually a lot more than people 00:34:33.679 --> 00:34:37.460 realize. Like Mark was saying, it's hard for 00:34:37.469 --> 00:34:39.570 When we went to Dayton, it's hard to talk to 00:34:39.570 --> 00:34:42.929 those guys because they're so busy. But in Huntsville, 00:34:42.949 --> 00:34:45.489 we were right next to them with their booth. 00:34:46.210 --> 00:34:48.190 And like there, we're just telling people that 00:34:48.190 --> 00:34:49.690 come up, they're like, oh, we've never been to 00:34:49.690 --> 00:34:53.190 neither show. We advertise both shows. I mean, 00:34:53.210 --> 00:34:54.829 we tell people you need to go to both of them. 00:34:54.949 --> 00:34:58.230 They're both great shows. And same way with in 00:34:58.230 --> 00:35:00.309 Dayton, we were actually right next to the booth 00:35:00.309 --> 00:35:03.829 with Mark. And same thing there. We played up 00:35:03.829 --> 00:35:07.079 each other shows. At one time, Mark, a couple 00:35:07.079 --> 00:35:09.300 times, he was by himself there, so he left the 00:35:09.300 --> 00:35:11.440 booth. And when people walked up, we just started 00:35:11.440 --> 00:35:13.719 talking about Huntsville with them, letting them 00:35:13.719 --> 00:35:17.059 know about Huntsville and everything like that. 00:35:17.420 --> 00:35:19.840 So yeah, for us, it is not a competition. We're 00:35:19.840 --> 00:35:22.239 here to do the same thing, and that's to make 00:35:22.239 --> 00:35:26.260 amateur radio great. And by us working together, 00:35:26.320 --> 00:35:29.860 we think that that's what actually helps do it. 00:35:30.670 --> 00:35:33.469 And then we can actually tell each other, Hey, 00:35:33.710 --> 00:35:36.949 this didn't work. This did work. Try this. Um, 00:35:37.130 --> 00:35:41.050 so we all don't fell on the same items. Uh, I 00:35:41.050 --> 00:35:42.630 mean, everybody's going to have their issues 00:35:42.630 --> 00:35:46.210 with stuff, but by us talking, um, everybody 00:35:46.210 --> 00:35:49.230 ain't going to have the same issue. Hopefully. 00:35:50.170 --> 00:35:53.469 Very good. Well, I'm, uh, I'm glad to know that, 00:35:53.510 --> 00:35:57.679 uh, You all have been able to you know get the 00:35:57.679 --> 00:36:00.780 booths next to each other and and be able to 00:36:00.780 --> 00:36:04.139 stay at some of the same places and that creates 00:36:04.139 --> 00:36:08.019 an opportunity to learn from each other and and 00:36:08.019 --> 00:36:11.139 Have a chance to talk and I know Michael has 00:36:11.139 --> 00:36:14.699 those meetings out there Outside of the fifth 00:36:14.699 --> 00:36:17.420 wheel and maybe one of these days. I'm going 00:36:17.420 --> 00:36:20.159 to take him up on sitting in on one of them, 00:36:20.159 --> 00:36:24.300 but You know that that's important stuff that 00:36:24.300 --> 00:36:27.599 you know you could learn from each other and 00:36:27.599 --> 00:36:31.139 and I know I've helped mentor some of the smaller 00:36:31.139 --> 00:36:33.480 shows that they said well, you know you did this 00:36:33.480 --> 00:36:37.500 for 17 years with this little show what what 00:36:37.500 --> 00:36:40.840 what do you need to do and? and uh... there's 00:36:40.840 --> 00:36:43.260 some important things there that uh... that folks 00:36:43.260 --> 00:36:46.860 need to know and and the more you can uh... communicate 00:36:46.860 --> 00:36:49.860 that the better off we all are so i i appreciate 00:36:49.860 --> 00:36:54.679 all of that uh... taking place in the u .s. you 00:36:54.679 --> 00:36:56.500 know can i jump in with one more thing this is 00:36:56.500 --> 00:36:59.559 uh... whiskey charlie india he anyway i i just 00:36:59.559 --> 00:37:02.980 want to say that you know anybody listening that 00:37:02.980 --> 00:37:06.380 has questions on their hands fast it doesn't 00:37:06.380 --> 00:37:09.090 matter if it's a small hand fast a large ham 00:37:09.090 --> 00:37:12.949 fest or wherever it is, all three of us are absolutely 00:37:12.949 --> 00:37:16.389 ready, willing, and we will be glad to give any 00:37:16.389 --> 00:37:19.690 advice or help in any way we can. Don't think 00:37:19.690 --> 00:37:22.530 you're too small for it because all these events 00:37:22.530 --> 00:37:25.389 start out small and they become great. But every 00:37:25.389 --> 00:37:28.250 one of these events is a seed for more amateur 00:37:28.250 --> 00:37:31.119 radio and for the growth of amateur radio. And 00:37:31.119 --> 00:37:34.059 one other thing, I was in Japan the last few 00:37:34.059 --> 00:37:36.960 weeks at their ham fair. That was an amazing 00:37:36.960 --> 00:37:40.119 event. And I know that I have good friends that 00:37:40.119 --> 00:37:42.280 run that event and talk to them about it, as 00:37:42.280 --> 00:37:46.139 well as very good friends with the people in 00:37:46.139 --> 00:37:48.780 Freeridge Shelf. And matter of fact, I've shared 00:37:48.780 --> 00:37:51.219 a booth with the folks in Freeridge Shelf in 00:37:51.219 --> 00:37:54.099 Japan before because they couldn't get booth 00:37:54.099 --> 00:37:58.179 space. So we all work together, all of us. It's 00:37:58.179 --> 00:38:00.280 important that people know that, that it's not 00:38:00.280 --> 00:38:03.519 us against each other. Anyway, thanks for letting 00:38:03.519 --> 00:38:06.500 me pop that in there. Go ahead. Very good. Good 00:38:06.500 --> 00:38:09.980 points. And I'm glad you mentioned the trip to 00:38:09.980 --> 00:38:14.400 Japan there too. So let's give a chance for some 00:38:14.400 --> 00:38:16.780 people to call. I know we're running way late, 00:38:17.059 --> 00:38:19.980 which I knew would happen when we have four people 00:38:19.980 --> 00:38:24.019 on here and four microphones and hams. uh... 00:38:24.019 --> 00:38:27.219 we're gonna talk so uh... let's give people a 00:38:27.219 --> 00:38:29.539 chance here eight one two six three eight four 00:38:29.539 --> 00:38:31.659 two six one is the phone number if you'd like 00:38:31.659 --> 00:38:35.019 to call in eight one two six three eight four 00:38:35.019 --> 00:38:37.980 two six one go ahead and give us a call now and 00:38:37.980 --> 00:38:40.519 uh... we'll see if we can get you in here and 00:38:40.519 --> 00:38:43.440 we may hang on for a few extra minutes here if 00:38:43.440 --> 00:38:46.539 everybody can uh... can hang around and uh... 00:38:46.539 --> 00:38:49.239 see if we can get some and actually we have one 00:38:49.930 --> 00:38:54.110 Right now, I believe it's Socks on the line. 00:38:54.769 --> 00:38:57.869 Ah, close. Socks' roommate. Socks' roommate. 00:38:58.530 --> 00:39:01.429 It's Scott Cole, KB9AMM. Good evening, Scott. 00:39:01.530 --> 00:39:03.789 Thank you for calling in. Good evening, Scott. 00:39:04.190 --> 00:39:07.769 And good evening to Michael, Michael, and Mark. 00:39:07.889 --> 00:39:12.869 My gosh. The three big power players of HamFest. 00:39:13.070 --> 00:39:15.329 Good to hear from you, Scott. The largest HamFest 00:39:15.329 --> 00:39:18.090 in the United States. You guys all in one place. 00:39:18.090 --> 00:39:20.739 Hey, Scott. Fantastic. I wanted to call and say 00:39:20.739 --> 00:39:24.820 hi and let everybody know that these guys are 00:39:24.820 --> 00:39:28.880 fantastic. They work well with people, they listen, 00:39:28.960 --> 00:39:35.119 they overcome problems. If you've made the annual 00:39:35.119 --> 00:39:37.019 pilgrimage, you know the things that they've 00:39:37.019 --> 00:39:39.619 gone through in the last years and the triumphs 00:39:39.619 --> 00:39:42.280 that they've made in the last two years. My hat's 00:39:42.280 --> 00:39:45.019 off. Michael, you got your hands full, but I 00:39:45.019 --> 00:39:47.519 think Ron set you up real good when he turned 00:39:47.519 --> 00:39:49.929 the reins over to you. I wish you well, and I 00:39:49.929 --> 00:39:54.590 wish you luck. Mark, in Huntsville, you're filling 00:39:54.590 --> 00:39:57.429 Charlie's shoes quite well. Great ham -fest in 00:39:57.429 --> 00:39:59.949 Huntsville. All indoor in an air -conditioned 00:39:59.949 --> 00:40:04.170 facility. The staff is second to none. I mean, 00:40:04.329 --> 00:40:07.170 they unload me when I go there and load me back 00:40:07.170 --> 00:40:08.570 up. I think they're in a hurry to get me out 00:40:08.570 --> 00:40:11.909 of there. They want me to go home. And I'll tell 00:40:11.909 --> 00:40:13.690 you, this is the first I've heard of the squirrels, 00:40:13.690 --> 00:40:15.730 but it makes a lot of sense now because we were 00:40:15.730 --> 00:40:18.130 out of power for a while there. Yeah, we got 00:40:18.130 --> 00:40:22.449 a call. We got a call from you guys I Was wondering 00:40:22.449 --> 00:40:24.329 if the guys that were doing the wiring behind 00:40:24.329 --> 00:40:27.210 the building messed something up, but evidently 00:40:27.210 --> 00:40:28.969 not or else they blame the squirrels I don't 00:40:28.969 --> 00:40:33.710 know Michael in Orlando Boy, I'll tell you if 00:40:33.710 --> 00:40:37.170 you have not been to the Orlando show You need 00:40:37.170 --> 00:40:41.849 to go the number one place for Family Fund USA 00:40:41.849 --> 00:40:44.650 the home of Mickey Mouse and a lot of others 00:40:45.219 --> 00:40:48.219 It's the only place I know where you can take 00:40:48.219 --> 00:40:52.139 your family, fly down there at a reasonable cost, 00:40:52.380 --> 00:40:55.119 in a motel at a reasonable price, send the wife 00:40:55.119 --> 00:40:57.380 and kids to go see Mickey Mouse, and you're gonna 00:40:57.380 --> 00:40:59.800 be at one of the best ham fest there is, and 00:40:59.800 --> 00:41:04.099 guess what? They hold it in February when I've 00:41:04.099 --> 00:41:07.480 got 20 degree blue zero wind chills at home, 00:41:07.840 --> 00:41:09.840 and there's two feet of snow on the ground, and 00:41:09.840 --> 00:41:12.840 it's 70 and 70 degrees down there. Fantastic! 00:41:13.769 --> 00:41:16.409 It's something that you need to go and see. And 00:41:16.409 --> 00:41:18.630 Michael, you're doing a great job. And I know 00:41:18.630 --> 00:41:20.429 a lot of John helps keep you in line down there, 00:41:20.610 --> 00:41:23.449 too. So anyway, I just wanted to call and thank 00:41:23.449 --> 00:41:26.730 you guys for your tireless work, because it's 00:41:26.730 --> 00:41:29.050 tough. It's not easy running a hand fest. And 00:41:29.050 --> 00:41:31.710 any way that thinks it is, you need to try it 00:41:31.710 --> 00:41:33.809 once and you'll find out. But anyway, I'm going 00:41:33.809 --> 00:41:36.469 to let it go with that, Neil. I'll clear the 00:41:36.469 --> 00:41:39.730 line. But thanks again, guys. Thanks, Neil. And 00:41:39.730 --> 00:41:41.610 I wish you best of luck. And I look forward to 00:41:41.610 --> 00:41:43.329 seeing each and every one of you. Mark, it's 00:41:43.329 --> 00:41:45.309 going to be about a year yet, but I'll come back 00:41:45.309 --> 00:41:48.349 and see you, too. 73 guys. I got a smile on my 00:41:48.349 --> 00:41:50.630 face now, Scott. I got to come to Orlando and 00:41:50.630 --> 00:41:53.730 see you again. Thanks. Thanks for calling. Sounds 00:41:53.730 --> 00:41:57.170 like fun. Thanks, Scott. All right. Thanks, Scott. 00:41:57.230 --> 00:42:03.429 Say hi to Sox for us. I'll do that. Okay. 812 00:42:03.429 --> 00:42:07.210 -638 -4261. If you don't know, Sox is Scott's 00:42:07.210 --> 00:42:10.170 new mascot. It's like a six foot tall sock monkey. 00:42:11.519 --> 00:42:16.980 He's a driving partner in the RV. So 812 -638 00:42:16.980 --> 00:42:20.739 -4261 is the phone number. Give us a call. We'd 00:42:20.739 --> 00:42:23.300 love to hear from you. We just have a few minutes 00:42:23.300 --> 00:42:25.860 left here, or you can call us on Skype or tweet 00:42:25.860 --> 00:42:30.119 us here. And in fact, let me run over here and 00:42:30.119 --> 00:42:34.300 check that real quick. I got a quick comment 00:42:34.300 --> 00:42:37.079 if you get a second. Michael, yes, go right ahead. 00:42:38.000 --> 00:42:42.059 I want to mention that we have a new General 00:42:42.059 --> 00:42:44.940 Chairman and Assistant Chairman in our new General 00:42:44.940 --> 00:42:50.099 Chairman, Jack Gerbs, Whiskey Bravo 8, Sierra 00:42:50.099 --> 00:42:54.420 Charlie Tango, and if you look him up on QRZ, 00:42:54.519 --> 00:42:56.900 he's got a lot of good information about what 00:42:56.900 --> 00:43:00.619 he does. He's a very active ham on a lot of different 00:43:00.619 --> 00:43:06.750 modes. 8 Sierra Charlie Tango and our Assistant 00:43:06.750 --> 00:43:10.250 General Chairman is Dr. Rick Allnut and he is 00:43:10.250 --> 00:43:17.309 Whiskey Sierra 8 Golf and his QRZ page is up 00:43:17.309 --> 00:43:21.590 to date as well and I am just simply a spokesperson. 00:43:22.409 --> 00:43:24.610 That's what I do. Anyway, thanks for letting 00:43:24.610 --> 00:43:30.610 me mention those guys. Very good. 812 -638 -4261. 00:43:30.690 --> 00:43:36.219 Let's take One final shout out here for phone 00:43:36.219 --> 00:43:39.199 calls tonight and then we'll finish things up 00:43:39.199 --> 00:43:42.199 here. But we're talking about the HamFest at 00:43:42.199 --> 00:43:46.199 Dayton, Orlando, and Huntsville with Michael, 00:43:46.300 --> 00:43:51.460 Michael, and Mark. from each one of those. And 00:43:51.460 --> 00:43:53.820 boy, Scott's got me sold on Orlando. I'm going 00:43:53.820 --> 00:43:58.000 to have to find a new job so I can go. It's a 00:43:58.000 --> 00:44:00.619 great event, I'm telling you. I enjoy going to 00:44:00.619 --> 00:44:08.400 Orlando. I really enjoy going there. Let's take 00:44:08.400 --> 00:44:13.079 just a minute here. There are people out there 00:44:13.079 --> 00:44:17.860 with some of the smaller shows. What what advice 00:44:17.860 --> 00:44:21.619 would you give to somebody in like a minute? 00:44:22.599 --> 00:44:25.019 So I know you can't do much in a minute, but 00:44:25.019 --> 00:44:29.239 in a minute or maybe two What advice would you 00:44:29.239 --> 00:44:33.480 give to somebody that's trying to put on? a smaller 00:44:33.480 --> 00:44:39.579 show Michael Michael Collie The biggest thing 00:44:39.579 --> 00:44:42.480 I would say just don't give up and don't I mean 00:44:42.480 --> 00:44:45.159 you can dream big but It's going to take time 00:44:45.159 --> 00:44:49.019 to become a bigger show. Biggest thing is take 00:44:49.019 --> 00:44:52.199 care of your volunteers. That's the most important 00:44:52.199 --> 00:44:57.320 thing. Take care of your vendors and just work 00:44:57.320 --> 00:44:59.159 together. I mean, just like you said, Michael 00:44:59.159 --> 00:45:01.820 said, if anybody needs any help with it, any 00:45:01.820 --> 00:45:04.980 questions, call one of us. We're easy to get 00:45:04.980 --> 00:45:10.420 a hold of. Mark. I think in addition to what 00:45:10.420 --> 00:45:14.730 Michael said, I think put yourself in the shoes 00:45:14.730 --> 00:45:17.989 of your visitor. What do you want that visitor 00:45:17.989 --> 00:45:21.289 to experience? You want him to have a good time. 00:45:21.590 --> 00:45:25.710 You're the host of a party, like you're a host 00:45:25.710 --> 00:45:28.150 of a party in your home. You want to make sure 00:45:28.150 --> 00:45:30.409 that visitor or guest is having a good time. 00:45:30.829 --> 00:45:32.889 The same goes for the vendors that you have. 00:45:33.090 --> 00:45:35.530 You want to make sure they're treated well and 00:45:35.530 --> 00:45:38.969 have a good experience. So that's what I would 00:45:38.969 --> 00:45:44.070 suggest. And Michael Coulter. And this is the 00:45:44.070 --> 00:45:47.010 fastest one hour in amateur radio. I would say 00:45:47.010 --> 00:45:51.769 that I Would say that Like the other guy said 00:45:51.769 --> 00:45:54.690 listen to your vendors. You're gonna get phone 00:45:54.690 --> 00:45:57.929 calls. You're gonna get emails Follow -up follow 00:45:57.929 --> 00:46:00.829 -up follow -up. It's really hard. I mean, it's 00:46:00.829 --> 00:46:04.889 you know know who you know these people and understand 00:46:04.889 --> 00:46:06.989 that you know, there are a lot of the vendors 00:46:06.989 --> 00:46:09.869 are business people and they're coming in and 00:46:09.869 --> 00:46:14.929 They are wanting to extend their business out. 00:46:15.489 --> 00:46:18.590 Take care of your volunteers, just as both the 00:46:18.590 --> 00:46:21.250 other guys said. Man, your volunteers are really, 00:46:21.250 --> 00:46:22.969 really important, but you gotta work with them. 00:46:23.309 --> 00:46:27.130 So the final thing that I wanna say is you empower 00:46:27.130 --> 00:46:29.650 your volunteers. You need to delegate that. You 00:46:29.650 --> 00:46:31.469 can't do it all yourself if you're the leader. 00:46:31.969 --> 00:46:35.230 You delegate the duties, and then at the same 00:46:35.230 --> 00:46:37.650 time, you empower them to do it, but you hold 00:46:37.650 --> 00:46:39.900 them accountable. Hey guys, you said you were 00:46:39.900 --> 00:46:41.860 going to get this done by such and such a date. 00:46:42.360 --> 00:46:46.219 It's much like what Michael at Orlando was saying. 00:46:46.760 --> 00:46:51.539 We've got the website and we've got to have all 00:46:51.539 --> 00:46:54.159 this information by such and such a date and 00:46:54.159 --> 00:46:59.039 it forces you to get it done by then. But the 00:46:59.039 --> 00:47:03.730 final word is communication. back to you absolutely 00:47:03.730 --> 00:47:08.670 I would agree and I Think that's an appropriate 00:47:08.670 --> 00:47:13.329 place To leave this tonight. It is is communication 00:47:13.329 --> 00:47:17.489 and that's what ham radio is all about and that's 00:47:17.489 --> 00:47:22.610 also what putting these ham fests on is all about 00:47:22.610 --> 00:47:26.940 so Let me let me Let you guys get a last word 00:47:26.940 --> 00:47:29.559 in and then we're going to, uh, shut things down 00:47:29.559 --> 00:47:31.820 for the night. But, uh, let me, let me go back 00:47:31.820 --> 00:47:35.539 around real quick. Any last things that you need 00:47:35.539 --> 00:47:38.719 to get in here before we go, uh, Michael Colley. 00:47:39.139 --> 00:47:41.179 I just want to thank you, Neil and, uh, Mark 00:47:41.179 --> 00:47:43.579 and, uh, Michael, uh, for being on the show. 00:47:43.719 --> 00:47:45.659 I think this was great. I think we need to start 00:47:45.659 --> 00:47:49.460 doing it more often. Um, and, uh, just again, 00:47:49.460 --> 00:47:52.119 thank you for, uh, having us on here and talking 00:47:52.119 --> 00:47:53.980 about all three of our handfests at the same 00:47:53.980 --> 00:47:58.429 time. Michael. Yeah, I really agree. I think 00:47:58.429 --> 00:48:02.670 it's important to do and I want to let Michael 00:48:02.670 --> 00:48:05.929 know from Orlando I still have all his stuff 00:48:05.929 --> 00:48:09.070 for his booth down in my barn all safely tucked 00:48:09.070 --> 00:48:13.670 away for next year. Anyway, everybody, we are 00:48:13.670 --> 00:48:16.010 really supporting each other as we support you, 00:48:16.010 --> 00:48:19.289 Neil, and we all have to do this together. So 00:48:19.289 --> 00:48:21.690 I appreciate being on here with both Mark and 00:48:21.690 --> 00:48:24.659 Michael. Two really great guys and their teams 00:48:24.659 --> 00:48:28.400 are just dependant. So thanks again Neil All 00:48:28.400 --> 00:48:30.579 right, and mark you're gonna get the last word 00:48:30.579 --> 00:48:35.119 tonight. I Wasn't expecting that but yeah I wanted 00:48:35.119 --> 00:48:37.340 I want to thank you Neil for for the invitation 00:48:37.340 --> 00:48:39.559 to be on the show tonight and Michael and Michael 00:48:39.559 --> 00:48:42.400 I've learned so much from you guys. I'm kind 00:48:42.400 --> 00:48:45.260 of the new guy on the block. We have volunteers 00:48:45.260 --> 00:48:48.780 here in Huntsville that You know they have man 00:48:48.780 --> 00:48:51.739 decades of experience and like I say I'm the 00:48:51.739 --> 00:48:54.119 new guy and I'm learning from them and I'm also 00:48:54.119 --> 00:48:57.260 learning from you and how you guys do things 00:48:57.260 --> 00:49:00.280 and it's just been a voyage of discovery and 00:49:00.280 --> 00:49:02.519 I'm looking forward to many more years to come 00:49:02.519 --> 00:49:05.179 and continuing a great relationship with all 00:49:05.179 --> 00:49:08.380 of you. Thanks again for all of your support 00:49:08.380 --> 00:49:11.199 and looking forward to seeing you guys as soon 00:49:11.199 --> 00:49:15.559 as our paths cross again. 73. All right, well 00:49:15.559 --> 00:49:18.460 that is a wrap for this week's edition of ham 00:49:18.460 --> 00:49:21.519 talk live Thanks to all of my guests, Michael 00:49:21.519 --> 00:49:25.159 Coulter, W8CI from Dayton, Michael Cawley, W4MCA 00:49:25.159 --> 00:49:28.739 from Orlando, and Mark Brown, N4BCD from Huntsville, 00:49:28.780 --> 00:49:30.980 and everybody out there in cyberspace for listening 00:49:30.980 --> 00:49:34.280 and calling in and invite you back next Thursday 00:49:34.280 --> 00:49:37.440 night at 9 p .m. Eastern Time. Andy Maluzzi will 00:49:37.440 --> 00:49:42.280 be going back to Orlando again. KK4LWR will be 00:49:42.280 --> 00:49:44.940 here to talk about the Collegiate QSO Party. 00:49:45.280 --> 00:49:47.519 And for a list of all of our upcoming guests, 00:49:47.539 --> 00:49:51.039 be sure to visit hamtalklive .com. And if you 00:49:51.039 --> 00:49:53.639 like HamTalk Live, please consider leaving us 00:49:53.639 --> 00:49:56.119 a review on iTunes or wherever you listen. That'll 00:49:56.119 --> 00:50:01.039 help others find us. So this is Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, 00:50:01.139 --> 00:50:06.699 for now saying 7375, and may the good DX be yours. 00:50:07.340 --> 00:50:22.320 Thanks for watching!