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Good evening, everyone. It's time for Ham Talk
Live. It's episode number 111. The Hamvention
Award winners with NV9L and W1YW on our Hamvention
preview 2018, recorded live on Thursday, April
19th, 2018. I'm your host, Neil Rapp, WB9VPG.
Thanks for tuning in to this episode. of HamTalk
Live. Tonight, we're joined by the co -chairman
of the Dayton Amateur Radio Association Awards
Committee, Michael Coulter, W8CI, and their Amateur
of the Year and Technical Excellence Award winners.
And we'll be talking about the other award winners
as well. And we'll give you a chance to call
in and ask questions. Take some comments for
these folks in just a few minutes. And last week
on the show, Tim Duffy, K3LR, was here to talk
about contesting events like Contest University,
the Contest SuperSuite, and the Contest Dinner
and the Top Band Dinner. And if you missed that,
go over to HamTalkLive .com anytime and you can
listen live. on demand with the website. You
can also catch us on YouTube and you can also
find us on a podcasting app like Apple Podcasts,
Stitcher, iHeart Podcasts, Google Play, TuneIn
or SoundCloud. Tonight we continue our Hamvention
preview on the show from now until Hamvention
on May 18th through 20th. We will preview an
event that will be happening this year. And don't
miss our Hamvention Eve episode where we will
give you all the information for your trip to
Dayton, traffic, weather, parking, busing, and
more. We'll be live from Spring Hill Suite, Dayton,
South Miamisburg, in the meeting room. And if
you haven't made your reservations yet for your
hotel, Spring Hill Suites does have a few rooms
remaining. Dayton South, Miamisburg, Spring Hill
Suites is the official Hamvention home of HamTalk
Live. Reserve your rooms now at Marriott .com
or call 888 -850 -6391. So get your questions
ready to go. We're gonna have an interview time.
And then after that, we'll give you a chance
to call in. I'll go ahead and give you the telephone
number, but it's not quite time to call just
yet. But that telephone number to have handy
is 812 -NET -HAM -1. That's 812 -638 -4261. Or
you can Skype us. We're HamTalk Live on Skype.
And you can also tweet us. Our Twitter handle
is at HamTalk Live. And I'll be back with Mike.
Val and Chip right after this word from Tower
Electronics right here on HamTalk Live. This
episode of HamTalk Live is brought to you in
part by Tower Electronics. Tower Electronics
has been the Ham's Dime Store since 1978. When
you need connectors, mobile and handheld antennas,
cables or adapters, visit Scott or Jill at a
HamFest near you. Or you can order online at
PL -259 .com or call 920 -435 -2973. Stock up
on those supplies like PL -259 and end connectors,
SMA adapters, audio cables, soldering supplies,
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the information you need for your trip to Dayton,
it's ham bench and preview here on ham talk live
Thanks to Scott and Jill at tower electronics
for sponsoring the show again tonight to help
bring you ham talk live they will be excuse me
in Gainesville Florida on Saturday the 21st and
then Saturday April 28th they'll be in Calhoun
Georgia and then Saturday May 5th Cedarburg Wisconsin
and May 6th in Sandwich Illinois and of course
they'll be at the Dayton Hamvention May 18th
through 20th they'll be in building three in
the spots around 3501 and outside in spots 9113
and more. That's on the curve just to the east
of building 3. Look for the big yellow blimp.
There's even a map that they have on social media.
We'll have that posted so you can see where they're
at. Or you can call 920 -435 -2973 or visit them
online at pl -259 .com. Well, Michael Coulter,
W8CI, is the official spokesperson of the Dayton
Hamvention, and he's the co -chair of the awards
committee, and he's here tonight on behalf of
DERA to recognize some of this year's award winners.
We also have Val Hotzfeld, NV9L, the winner of
the amateur of the year, and Dr. Chip Cohen,
W1YW, the technical achievement award winner.
So, Michael, welcome. Welcome back. Well, it's
always yeah, it's always a pleasure to be on
your show You know appreciate what you're doing
for amateur radio and communications all over
the world for What's happening in amateur radio
and your support of hamvention in the other great
ham radio events in the world? Anyway, I I think
before we get into the people that are there
here Val and ship let's talk a little bit. I
just want to mention the uh the other award winners
and briefly that um the special achievement award
um folks there's three of them from um that won
this together in out of puerto rico uh and i
i don't know if they're listening tonight i don't
hope i don't think i've got the power back on
down there but herberto perez kk4 dcx victor
taurus whiskey papa four sierra delta and amelio
ortiz jr Whiskey Papa for kilo echo Yankee and
they set up quickly emergency health and welfare
communications immediately after Hurricane Maria
which was a cat category for storm in Puerto
Rico and the Club of the Year award went to the
club actually in Ohio and That is the Portage
County Amateur Radio Service, PCARS, and they
were actually established in 2005 and they have
just an amazing club. I have seen some of their
weekly news or their monthly newsletters are
more like monthly magazines. They're just fabulous.
What they do to carry on the spirit of amateur
radio in their community and on in almost every
facet is just really amazing and We are we are
very pleased to honor them as well. So that being
said let's go to our technical achievement award
winner this year Chip and Chip Cohen whiskey
won Yankee whiskey And he's been an amateur radio
operator for 104 years. I'm sorry, Chip. At least!
At least! 52 years. And he has really been bitten
hard by the antenna bug. But rather than me talk
about Chip, I'd like for Chip to talk a little
bit about some of his amazing achievements that
he's done. And I will tell you that... I was
at the RCA gathering this year in Pittsburgh,
wonderful, wonderful meeting and watched Chip's
presentation and he won actually the overall
best presentation at that event and I can see
why it was. So many people just loved it but
he breaks down a very technical subjects into
pieces that people can really understand quickly.
and with live demonstrations to show you how
it works. So Chip, talk to us. Thanks, Michael.
And very good evening, everybody. And I'd like
to congratulate Val, a very well -deserved Radio
Amateur of the Year. And Neil, thanks for having
me on. Michael, it's very kind of you to ask
me to talk about myself. As many people know,
especially who follow QRZ or look at my web page,
there's a lot of information out there already.
What I'd like to emphasize is what we do in Ham
Radio is important. And probably the biggest
hidden gem in amateur radio is our spirit of
innovation. I don't just mean the maker culture.
We all... No, there's a very strong and thriving
and wonderful maker culture within amateur radio.
But I'm talking about the next stage of that,
which is coming up with new things that we need,
that other people's need, and ending up with
new radio and wireless technology. So much of
what we now consider standard in our wireless
world really has ham radio roots. And it's very
important for us in the amateur radio service
to understand that's not just historical, still
going on, it's going to go on in the future.
And one of the things that I'm very excited about
in accepting this wonderful award is trying to
encourage others to do their innovation activities
and for us to actively encourage that, to make
it clear that we built this city and we deserve
to help each other and be recognized for our
wonderful innovation culture. I know that about
you Chip and you know you have a lifetime of
innovation. You have a lifetime of experimentation
and dedication to the amateur radio service and
to even the very thought of innovation and I
like your spirit of when people don't believe
it can be done you're out there trying to get
it done. Isn't that sort of your spirit? Oh for
sure and you know what I didn't I wasn't born
with that. I got that by picking up on the people
that I learned from, my mentors, whether direct
or indirect, and a great deal of that came from
the amateur radio community of the 1960s and
the 1970s. The point is that hasn't gone away.
It's still there, but we either take it for granted
or we just don't emphasize it enough, and I'm
hoping to help. help people realize it really
is there and what we do for the wireless world
continues to be important. Now Chip, anytime
somebody mentions fractal antennas, you're the
first person I think of. So tell us a little
bit about fractal antennas and some of those
patents that you've been able to get. That sure
now this there's two stories on fractal antennas
one is the what I call a tortuous path of innovation
and that of course has its ups and downs and
You take a lot of arrows and you throw a lot
of arrows back. I I don't want to go into that
tonight a lot of people already know about that
and have followed it. But the reality is that
if you put all that human dynamic aside and just
look at it as an interesting piece of science
and technology, it ends up being very fascinating
in itself beyond the personality or personalities
involved. And what happened is I'm also obviously
tied into radio astronomy, which is my professional
background. And I went to a conference in Hungary
in 1987 and heard Benoit Mandelbrot, who was
the founder of fractal geometry, give a talk.
And he showed a view graph, they didn't have
PowerPoints back then, of some simple fractals.
And I looked at them in my mind and said, wow,
be fun to make antennas out of that and you know
sure enough a few months later I went back to
my apartment in downtown Boston and wanted to
use packet cluster and I actually built some
antennas that look like fractals and was astounded
to see that that even though they made the antenna
size a lot smaller, they still were working very
well and that really set me off on a journey
that is now 30 years old. And yes, to answer
the obvious question, I do use fractal antennas
at my home station. There hasn't been as much
interest in building fractal antennas in the
ham radio community as there has been a number
of other communities but hoping to turn that
around and one of the things i'm going to be
doing is is handing out a couple of pages of
you too can experiment type descriptions when
i come to hamvention and just handing those out
to you know get people to come up and talk a
little bit about it and and get them interested
and hopefully that then we can bootstrap more
people having experimental flares to play around
with fractal antennas. Sounds great. Michael?
Yeah, well, how many US patents do you hold now,
Chip? Well, 45 is coming out in about three weeks.
That is really impressive. Yeah, the thing that's
really impressive is anyone who's been through
that journey understands it's not just a matter
of coming up with cool stuff. It's a matter of
finding the money to go get the patents and the
attorneys to get that cool stuff. So I'm proud
of the fact that almost all of those patents
were bootstrapped from revenues of the company
that I founded. But there's a lot of inventors
in ham radio and they'll all tell you that for
every patent they've probably gotten, there's
probably eight or nine patents they either couldn't
afford to get or just were not able to under
certain circumstances to pursue. But yeah, how
my brain works, I couldn't be able to tell you
other than it can be very distracting when you're
taking a shower or trying to shave. So quickly
here, what's next on your inventive horizon,
Chip? Can you say? I've recently filed for patents
dealing with fractals and superconductivity.
and the real problem that is doing the demos
to get people interested, but I think there's
a path to doing high temperature superconductors
that either work at higher temperatures that
are normally achieved or are cheaper to make.
Last week we announced a new flat lens technology
using fractal resonators, which are miniature
fractal antennas, which is a whole new way of
doing optics. So those that's that's a flavor
of some of the stuff that I'm up to but You know,
how shall I put it? There's a lot that I've been
saving up and I've been blessed in the last couple
years with a lot of business side success and
that that's That's allowing me to now pursue
a lot of the inventions that I've put in the
back of my mind for a number of years You know,
I saw a lot of inventors they struggle with They
struggle with getting maybe recognition. Even
their family looks at them and says, are you
crazy? What do you keep doing this stuff for?
What is it gaining? What is it gaining you or
the family or whatever it is you're going after?
And do you ever feel any of that? Have you? Oh,
everybody does. That's a personal question. To
be honest with you, whenever you have a dream
and you feel focused that it's just going to
happen and has to be right and in your gut you
know it's there, you're asking other people to
go along with that journey and that takes a lot
of sacrifice not only on your part but their
part as well. I've been very lucky that my family
has stuck with me. And my wife has a Harvard
MBA, so she has that business background. And,
you know, there's been several times where we
said, you know, is this really gonna fly and
what should we be doing with this? Fortunately,
we all weathered those storms and made it through.
But yeah, it's absolutely correct that everyone
goes to those. For example, most people don't
understand that Marconi... was on the verge of
bankruptcy five times before he succeeded with
RCA. And in fact, if you dig out one of the pictures
that's commonly used, which shows him up in Canada
getting ready for the transatlantic transmission,
you'll see the guy's basically, you know, threadbare
because he's broke. So, you know, this is not
just historical. It's very common for inventors
to to go through a trial period or many trial
periods before they succeed. Yeah, I know that.
And I just wanted to have that. It had how that
might have affected you. So, um, how are we doing
on time here, Neil? Yeah, we probably need to
get to Val here. Yeah, please. Anyway, my chip,
I've appreciated getting to talk to you, jump
in here a little bit more and congratulations
again. So we'd like to introduce our amateur
of the year, Valerie Hotsfeld, NV9L. Did I say
it wrong, Valerie? No, you said it perfectly.
Okay, I heard it. She was first licensed in the
year after she got into it. There was no messing
around. She got into it deeply. I guess the words
that I heard from people is that you became obsessed.
with de -axing and contesting. And you have been
now working with New Ham's, Young Ham's, young
women, teaching them amateur radio, binding them
to your station, de -axing, contesting. You're
a co -host on the show of Ham Nation, and you've
created a lot of how -to videos on YouTube for
the ham radio community. And you deliver lots
of... presentations on Skype to the amateur radio
clubs across the United States and you are also
a pilot and have been a lead pilot for four major
de -expeditions. And with all of that, you are
also the treasurer for your contest club and
you're the prize chairman for some of the organizations
and the list just goes on and on and on. But
you were also deployed in Puerto Rico. and after
the hurricane, and you worked down there, did
a lot of great work. I think you were part of
the force of 50. And even coming up soon at the
ARRL banquet, you are a keynote speaker. I was
pleased to hear that. So anyway, ladies and gentlemen,
here's Valerie. Sound busy and I work Chips being
very modest. I'm a member of the Radio Club of
America and he was just inducted as a fellow
Was that December chip? Yeah, November November.
Okay. Yeah, that was that's a big honor So congratulations
on that as well chip. Yeah. Yeah, I've been doing
a lot of Skype presentations and in -person.
I am doing an in -person one tomorrow in Chicago.
Next week I'm going up to Milwaukee to do one
as well. I like to do presentations. I like to
kind of give back because not so much when I
started off in two meters, but when I got into
HF I was kind of on my own and I learned things
really the hard way and ended up just listening
for a few months before I had the nerve to push
the talk button on HF. That's kind of why I'm
real passionate about ham nation and doing how
-to videos and things like that and helping people
out when they're just starting out because I
Didn't really have that around me. I was involved
in very active repeater clubs up in Milwaukee
and and They were very good and they you know
convinced me to keep going and get my extra But
when I discovered HF and DXing I kind of had
to learn that the hard way until I joined a contest
club and meant some mentors and things like that
and that really helped but So yeah, that's kind
of why I do what I do, I guess. Boy, you are
so modest. You know, you're doing so many. You're
doing so many things and and she can even renovate
kitchens, Michael. Oh, yeah, that was fun. Oh
yeah. I wasn't aware of that. Well, as soon as
the day I tore the wall down between the dining
room and the kitchen was the day I found out
when I committed, the day I found out the boat
broke on Bouvet and they were heading home early.
So I had to really hurry up because it was going
to be a surprise, but that's another story. Oh
my, oh my. So let me ask you the same question.
Where do you see yourself in the next few years
with amateur radio and what are you pursuing
now? Well, that's the beauty of amateur radio.
God only knows where I'll be in a few years because
I keep exploring different things and finding
out different aspects of the hobby and just,
you know, morphing off into different areas.
I'm really, I really didn't do that much public
service. When I first got involved, I was a member
of the Kenosha County Ares Group. My daughter
and I were both members. But then when I got
an HF, I kind of let it and then moved down into
Illinois. I kind of let it go, but. Boy, I really
got bit again when I went to help. I helped dispatch
with Hurricane Harvey, and then I ended up going
down there to help. My son and I went down and
helped, and then I helped dispatch for Hurricane
Irma. And then when I heard the call for Puerto
Rico, I was jumping at the bit to get down there.
So you'll probably see me doing a lot more of
that. I'm really enjoying mentoring. So you'll
probably see me I'm gonna try and get something
going with the Boy Scout clubs in the area and
you know things like that So I probably get more
do more of that within the next few years what
do you see is the key to getting younger people
and Especially young gals involved in amateur
radio You know words of wisdom Well, I think
when I was scared to get on the air I was so
afraid someone was going to ask me a technical
question. I mean, I passed my exams, but I just
didn't feel confident in my knowledge. Dr. Cohen
probably does this in his sleep, but I'm not
as technical. So I was kind of fearful, and one
good thing I know, like in Milwaukee, they would
have, every Sunday night they had a fun net,
and anybody and everybody could check in, and
it was just fun stuff. You didn't talk anything
technical, so it was like, what's your favorite
movie and why? And the next week it'd be, what's
your favorite pizza toppings? Something non -threatening
and it really pulled all the women in out of
the woodwork and got them used to talking on
the radio. So I think just trying to get them
over that fear. I had the same fear as everybody
else and I think once they get over that fear,
I think they'll enjoy it. Trying to get them
interested at first. That's the hard part trying
to you just got to keep trying different things.
There's so many aspects to the hobby You're gonna
eventually hit something that strikes a chord
with them Well, that's great I I mean the work
that you do I think you know I have to say Neil
that I when I called Valerie up and I said Yeah,
my name is Michael Coulter. Do you see on who
you are? I'm not kidding you, but you have won
the amateur of the year award and she kept telling
me, I don't deserve that. No way I don't deserve
that. I thought he was calling to ask me to do
a presentation at Puerto Rico and he's like,
no, no, no. And I'm like, no way, that can't
be. I've never in a million years, it never even
crossed my mind that I would even be considered.
Val definitely deserved to win this award. Absolutely.
I've heard a lot of positives. You're right,
Chip. I've heard a lot of positives about all
the award winners this year. I didn't get any
negatives. You know how it is when, well, I can
tell you how it is in terms of being kind of
a high -profile character for Hamvention, is
that I get a lot of pluses and minuses and criticisms
and people even calling me a one -off. buy mud
from last year and and By the way We are working
on all that but I want to tell you that Well,
we're gonna sell boots This is not about the
invention it's about you all but we've had so
much positive About our award winners this year
and I will tell you it's a it's a extremely difficult
choice. We had several long sessions to get through
this, but we actually built a matrix and there's
a lot of things that we're looking for and I
can't disclose all those for the different categories,
but we are so pleased with both of you that we
chose both of you as well and all the winners.
but we couldn't have better representation this
year. And actually, Val, our theme this year
is serving the amateur radio, serving the community.
So we're really, you fit right into that. I mean,
in terms of what you do, you serve the community
of amateur radio. So, well, Neil, I don't know
where we are on time. I better. better let you
lead them. Yeah, it's about time to to take a
break here, but congratulations to Val and Chip
and all the award winners. Very deserving amateur
radio operators in the respective fields indeed.
So after the break, we'll talk a little more
about the club of the year selection and we'll
take your calls and questions and comments right
after this word from the National Voice of America
Museum of Broadcasting and Amateur Radio News.
line right here on HamTalk Live. The National
Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting located
in Westchester, Ohio just north of Cincinnati
is only two minutes off I -75. The museum is
the former home of the Voice of America Bethany
Relay Station. Tours are now available every
Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 4 p .m. Eastern
time. You can see the control room. a 200 ,000
watt transmitter, and the most comprehensive
collection of inventions by the iconic Powell
-Crosley Jr. Also on display is a huge antique
radio exhibit and R .L. Drake's personal collection
of most every Drake amateur rig ever made. This
is a unique opportunity to see amateur radio
in action and have a chance to get on the air
from WC8VOA. Admission is only $5 a person. The
museum is located close to historic WLWAM and
tons of shopping and restaurants. Take a trip
to the VOA museum or visit us online at voamuseum
.org. Nominations are now open for the amateur
radio newsline, Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF Young
Ham of the Year Award. I'm Don Wilbanks, AE5DW.
Since 1986, we've had the honor of celebrating
the accomplishments of Youth and Ham Radio when
we want to know about your exceptional Young
Ham. You'll find the rules and a nominating form
by clicking the Y -H -O -T -Y tab on ARNewsline
.org. Fill it out, send it in, and we'll see
you and an amazing young ham at the Huntsville
Alabama Ham Fest in August. Thanks and 73 from
Amateur Radio Newsline. Ham Talk Live. The longer
you listen, the later it gets. Join the conversation.
Call us on voice with Skype at HamTalk Live or
give us a call at 812 -NET -HAM -1. That's 812
-638 -4261. Now, here's more HamTalk Live. How
can journalists and the average citizen identify
fake news and avoid accidentally promoting it
through social media? Well, these questions and
more will be addressed by the Cincinnati Society
of Professional Journalists and other media on
Thursday, April 26th at a panel discussion in
conjunction with the National Voice of America
Museum of Broadcasting in Westchester, and the
Voice of America Museum has their special Hamvention
Hours on Thursday, May 17th will be open from
1 to 4, Friday evening, May 18th from 5 to 9,
Saturday, May 19th from 1 to 9, and Sunday, May
20th from 1 to 4. You can check them out at voamuseum
.org. We're on the air every Thursday night at
9 p .m. Eastern Time here at HamTalk Live and
we're found on HamTalkLive .com and make sure
you check us out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
And we're going to take your calls now. So if
you have a question or comment for our award
winners or Michael, give us a call at 812 -638
-4261. That's 812 -NET -HAM -1. Or you can Skype
us at ham talk live or tweet us at ham talk live
and While we're waiting on those calls Michael.
We wanted to mention the Portage County amateur
radio service again the club of the year, so
Tell us a little bit about Some of the things
that they do. I see they've got something called
Freeze your acorns off Yeah, they created their
own contests and events. They have an annual
Freezer Acorns Off in February and they do the
Ohio State Parks on the air. That was used as
a model for their ARRLs. a national parks on
the air contest and they have also donated time
and money to their community over six thousand
dollars in 2017 they have build days and each
year where they have projects covering home -built
trans evers antennas and digital equipment to
allow members to inexpensively grow into new
areas of the hobby and every month they They
have at least one go to, that's a get on the
air day, where members and non -members can use
club -side equipment to learn about HF and new
modes of operation. It's all about building their
hobby, our hobby, helping the community and building
their skills and most of all, having fun. And
I've been very impressed with this club. But
you know, that's... The Club of the Year is relatively
new, I think maybe it's 10 years old, and I think
it's an important aspect of Amish Radio because
there's a lot of individual achievement, but
there's an awful lot of club achievement where
people come together and they do so many things
and that even helps the singular achievers do
well, in my opinion. What do you think, Val?
I mean, we need them. You can get your ticket
and then you fall off. You need the clubs to
bring it together and to try all the different
aspects of the hobby and it really helps solidify
them and keep them in the hobby and keep them
interested. I'm all about clubs. I wish there
were more clubs that had stations like they do
for a lot of the new hams who can't afford to
get the gear. So, that's one of the really cool
things that this club has. get a chance to come
over to our club, Dayton image radio association,
and see our club station and, um, our clubhouse.
I think you might be duly impressed. I think
I would. Yes, absolutely. We are very proud of
it. So, yeah, we work hard at that. No, no, you
go ahead. Well, that was always something that
was kind of foreign to me. You know, I see these,
these contest stations and club stations and
growing up in Vincennes, Indiana, we... We didn't
have a club station. We had a club and we, you
know, tried to find a meeting place somewhere
in town and, and that was, that was it. And it's
just so nice to have those facilities where you
can put up your own repeater on your own tower,
or you can put, you know, your equipment in there
so that you can have club operating nights to,
uh, come in and, and use the equipment like,
uh, like you have Michael. I will tell you too
that I've had the opportunity to basically travel
around the world being a spokesperson for amateur
radio. I've been to India and I can't tell you
how active all these people are in India, day
in and day out. They've got me on WhatsApp chats
and things like that. still exciting to see what
they are doing and how they're involving people
in the pictures and the clubhouses and things
that they're doing to really grow Amateur Radio.
It's part of their curriculum in some of the
schools, by the way. But anyway, I'm not here
to talk about all that. I'm here to talk about
the award winners. So Chip. your club involvement.
I know you're very involved with the RCA. Any
other clubs? Right now, unfortunately not. My
plate is just so full with all the stuff that
I've started the last few years and it's all
coming to fruition at the same time. So I don't
even have as much time to get on the air as I
have for quite a bit. It's certainly true that
in the past I've headed quite a a significant
amount of involvement with clubs. For example,
the North Amateur Radio Club in Massachusetts
was and still is a very vital organization and
I was president of that club and a lot of very
well -known people have come out of it. For example,
K1DG Doug, who's one of the world's top contesters
came out of that club. A lot of professional
engineers and scientists and business folks and
lawyers and Clubs, as Val said, are very vital
to keeping people's interest and sharing it and
building that excitement. I do want to point,
however, that although I have not had the opportunity
to come out and actively join, I did join Land
Ops, which you may have heard of. They just had
an article in QST written about them. And that's
an exciting club based on adventure tracks and
And a very different kind of club, but another
example of how people are using a variety of
exercises to keep amateur radio vital, and as
Val points out, to give people new opportunities
to explore. Valerie, any comment on that? No,
no. Well said. So Neil, in your area, what clubs
do you belong to? Well, I sponsor the Bloomington
High School South Amateur Radio Club, and then
I'm a member of the Indiana University Amateur
Radio Club, and actually the Westchester, Ohio.
amateur radio association over there. I've just
joined them and helping do some publicity for
them and the museum over there. So looking forward
to spending some time over there this summer
and get on the air from over there and volunteer
at the museum some. So I guess we do we have
any questions or comments from Yeah, let's remind
people that you can call us at 812 -NET -TAM
-1. That's 812 -638 -4261. Or you can tweet us.
We are wrapping things up here. So if you're
going to get a question in, now is the time to
do that. And real quick, let me just ask while
we see if we've got any last questions here.
Chip, what are you looking forward to most? Hamvention
this year? Making new friends and reconnecting
with old ones. Coming to Hamvention is a huge
mutual admiration society where everybody has
fun and I'm really looking forward to that. All
right, and Val? You know what, I just have a
ball from the moment from even we have a party
the day before we all leave we have a pre -date
and party so it's just a blast i love morning
noon and night all about ham vention uh one thing
i'm dreading i'll tell you that i'm going to
be a backup singer for by the numbers friday
night at the uh plaza There we go. We'll get
the singing voice back out again. Well, we've
got a call on the line here, so let's take a
quick call. Good evening. Welcome to ham talk
live. Good evening, Neil, Mark and for BCD. I
thought I recognized that phone number. Hi, Mark.
Welcome to the show. Well, good evening guys.
I've been sitting here listening to, uh, from
the top of the broadcast and congratulations
to Val and to chip and the other, uh, award winners.
And Michael, I think you guys made some excellent,
excellent choices this year for the recipients.
And hearing you guys talk about the clubs, and
Val made some really good comments about YLs
and how to get them engaged and everything. I
was looking during your broadcast tonight on
the Hamvention website, and I found your list
of past award winners. and a seed of an idea
looking at the different clubs that have won
throughout the years. The seed of my idea is
to put that together in an article, a newsletter
article, for what clubs might be able to do to
improve their membership, their participation,
and their community outreach. So my question
to Michael is when did you start the club awards.
Okay, I appreciate the question and for everybody
listening, Mark is the general chairman of Huntsville
and believe it or not, he and I and the folks
that run Orlando, Japan and Free Bridge Shop,
we're all good friends. We all work together
and support each other. Just wanted to make that
plug. But anyway, I had the idea probably, I
think it was 2006 maybe, and I just happen to
think we need to appreciate clubs more. So that's
basically, I got it organized about that time
and it's really taken off and we get actually
of applications, we get more club applications
than anything else. And it is really exciting
and I like the idea that you're going to put
together an article basically on maybe what makes
up a great club and how to grow a club and make
it exciting for people of all ages, Mark. So
I hope that answers your question. Back to you.
Yeah, it does. Yeah, it does, Michael. And thank
you for that. Of course everybody's getting excited
for Dayton. Val mentioned a pre -Dayton before
she even leaves having a party. And I want to
mention too, I've heard Val in numerous HF contests
where her better station bests my mediocre station.
But sometimes I win, but most of the time she
does in a contest pileup. So it's a lot of fun
being competitors on the air and friends offline.
but uh... you have michael thank you and uh...
like i said uh... a lot of us looking we're really
looking forward to come into dating and uh...
and see everybody and and uh... and have a good
time up there we're looking forward to seeing
you mark thanks for calling in thanks mark i
wish you like that i think you know that that's
mark who's been a lot about hey i want context
from my little tribe and there were in wisconsin
before i met jerry i met jerry on the air in
a contest so uh... It's not the you know, you
can win them in the right category for the smaller
with a little pistol station like I had Yeah,
we all know it's time in the chair, too Thanks
a lot guys. Have a good evening 72. All right.
Thanks 73 mark Well, that's gonna that's gonna
finish things up for us tonight But I want to
thank everybody for coming on Michael w8 ci from
the Dayton amateur radio association and Val
and chip. Thanks for coming on tonight Our pleasure.
Well, thanks for having the program Neil. Yeah,
congratulations everybody. See you in about 28
days It won't be long. Yes, we are. We're all
counting them down. Well, that is a wrap for
this week's episode of HamTalk Live. Thanks to
Mark for calling in, everybody for listening
out there. And we'll invite you back next Thursday
night for another Hamvention preview. Carol Perry,
WB2MGP, will be here to talk about the Youth
Forum. And we have a special guest, Mason Matrezzo,
KM4SII, one of the speakers. the Youth Forum.
We'll talk about his the expedition to Iceland
and what he'll be talking about at the Hamvention
Youth Forum. So make sure you tune in next week
for that and for all of our upcoming guests.
You can check those out at HamTalkLive .com.
And before we go, a couple of quick notes. One,
if you like the show, please leave us a review
on iTunes sometime or wherever you listen. It
helps others find us faster and spread the word
on the air and and let people know about HamTalk
Live and and also want to mention we're gonna
have to do this real quick but there's a new
satellite operation that just is coming together
it's not even finished yet but it's going to
take place next weekend and so it's a it's a
really fun one it's called WMPLOTA And what does
that stand for? Well, that's Walmart parking
lots on the air. And you can check it out at
WM Plota org and they're gonna have bonuses for
all kinds of different things They're gonna have
like an old Roy award for taking a picture with
your dog at your operation and everything So
we'll talk about it more next week and I just
finished the interview for amateur radio news
line So it'll be on amateur radio news line next
week But just wanted to make sure everybody got
the word on that because it's weekend from this
weekend. It's the 20 28th. So I just wanted everybody
to know about Wumplota. I think is how you pronounce
that. So anyway, for now, this is Neil Rapp WB9VPG
saying 7375 and may the good DX be yours. This
is Les Nessman saying good day and may the good
dicks be yours. This has been the only use with
Les Nessman.