Thanks for tuning in. HamTalk Live will be on
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Please stand by. This episode of HamTalk Live
is brought to you by Tower Electronics. For connectors,
cables, and more, visit them at a hamfest near
you or call 920 -435 -2973 or online at pl -259
.com. Good evening, everyone. It's time for Ham
Talk Live. It's episode number 109 tonight. Starting
off our Hamvention preview with four days in
May, recorded live on Thursday, April 5th, 2018.
I'm your host, Neil Rapp, WB9VPG. Thanks for
tuning in to this episode of Ham Talk Live. Tonight,
we're joined by Norm Scar, WA4ZXV, and we'll
take your calls in just a few minutes. Last week
here on the show, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, was
here to talk about AMSAT and their satellite
operations. If you missed that, you can listen
anytime. Just go. where you always go to listen
to the show hamtalklive .com or a podcast app
of your choice like apple podcasts or stitcher
i heart podcast google play tune in soundcloud
or you can also find us on youtube and you can
even go hey alexa play podcast ham talk live
oh And now your Alexa probably did that if you
have one. But anyway, you can do that too. So
tonight begins our Hamvention preview on the
show from now until the date in Hamvention on
May 18th through the 20th. We will preview an
event that will be happening at Hamvention this
year. And also don't miss our Hamvention Eve
episode where we will give you all the information
for your trip to Dayton traffic weather parking
and even some more information about events going
on and maybe some some sneak peeks at some of
the things you're going to see at Hamvention.
So we'll be live from Spring Hill Suites Dayton,
South Miamisburg in the meeting room. And of
course, we'll be live on here at nine o 'clock
the night before Hamvention opens. And if you
haven't made your hotel reservations yet, Spring
Hill Suites still has some rooms left. That's
Spring Hill Suites Dayton, South Miamisburg,
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 after the interview. After we talk to Norm
for a little bit and find out a little bit about
four days in May, you can ask questions. And
I'll go ahead and give you the phone number.
It's 812 -NET. That's 812 -638 -4261. And you
can give us a call during the second segment
of the show. You can also Skype us at HamTalk
Live or you can tweet us at HamTalk Live as well.
And we'll be back and talk to Norm for a little
bit 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 in connector. SMA adapters, audio cables,
soldering supplies, mobile antennas, and hamsticks.
Their silver -plated in -connectors are even
used on the International Space Station. Tower
Electronics carries MFJ, Comet, Daiwa, OPEC,
Workman, and HamPro products. And don't miss
their 0 % off sale going on now. Tower Electronics,
online at PL -259 .com. Proud to sponsor this
episode of HamTalk Live. All the information
you need for your trip to Dayton. It's Hamvention
Preview here on HamTalk Live. Thanks to Scott
and Jill at Tower Electronics for sponsoring
the show yet again. Tonight to help bring you
ham talk live this weekend. They're in Belton,
Texas 6th and 7th and then April 7th They're
also in Staunton, Wisconsin April 14th. They're
in Mobile, Alabama April 21st, Gainesville, Florida
April 28th, Calhoun, Georgia. And then of course,
they'll be at hamvention May 18th through 20th
Give them a call at 920 -435 -2973 or visit them
at pl -259 .com and tell them you heard it on
HamTalk Live. And you can catch them that way
if you can't make it to Hamvention or one of
those other hamfests near you. Well, our guest
tonight is Norm Scar, WA for ZXV. He was first
licensed in 1966 with an in -call, like I was,
WN for ZXV. He took the code test for his novice
license with a flashlight while attending the
Army Signal Officers Candidate School at Fort
Gordon, Georgia. Norm now resides in Metro Atlanta
and is a member of the Gwinnett Amateur Radio
Society. He's been named their ham of the year
in 2003 and 2010 and was elected president from
2006 through 2009. Norm enjoys QRP and helps
with the North Georgia QRP club and QRP amateur
radio club international. He's been the chairperson
of that group's four days in May from 2007 to
2010 and then started up again in 2015 and has
been doing it ever since. He's active in many
organizations in the Southeast and currently
holds a title of ARRL Public Information Coordinator
for the Georgia section. So, Norm, thanks for
coming on the show tonight. Well, great to be
here. We've been meaning to get four days in
May covered and decided this year needs to be
the year to make it happen. So it's sponsored
by the QRP Amateur Radio Club International.
So first off, why don't you tell us a little
bit about the organization that puts this on?
Okay. Well, QRP Amateur Radio Club International
is a club for low power enthusiasts worldwide.
We produce a professional quality magazine called
QRP quarterly. We organize an annual conference
at Dayton College four days in May, and we sponsor
various QRP contests and awards. Once you've
joined QRP, you get a number. You keep that number
whether you renew or not. If you don't renew,
you don't get the magazine, but you still remember
and you're still in our roles. So the magazine's
a good part of it. It's all about QRP. People
showing you how they do different projects or
people asking sometimes how to do something.
But the magazine's very interesting. So I don't
know who knows what QRP ARCHIE, but it's a very
vibrant club with thousands of members, thousands
of paying members. Tens of thousands have been
through the ringer through the last few years.
Four days in May is our biggest single event.
It's really not what we would call a moneymaker.
The journey does break even. Four days in May
is Thursday. It's this year. It's four days.
This year, Thursday, is a QRP symposium where
we announce the presenters for the 2018 FEM symposium,
which is Jim Stafford, who is a Hall of Famer,
How to Succeed in QRP Single Sideband, Hans Summers,
G -Zero UPL, Modern QRP Rigs and the Development
of the OCX. CW Transceiver, see what else there
is. Mike Bryce will be there, WB8VGE, a lot of
people might know him. Design and build your
own gear. Jim Duffy, KK5MC, will be talking about
adding UHF and VHF to your QRP station. Ed Brinn
is here. WA3WSJ and Walt's Skandivitsky KB3SBC
will be operating from over 70 national parks
in 2016 and they'll be showing us how home brewing
radio gear and what's a great lineup of QRP speakers.
So we're proud of that. What happens is with
four days in May is Thursday we have the seminars.
Thursday night we have what's called a vendor
night where qrp vendors generally the ones that
have mostly qrp they they'll be 15 or 20 of them
at the hotel but we're at the uh holiday inn
in fairborn which is not far from uh ham vinson
this year and last year uh wasn't close enough
to get out of the traffic last year of course
It was amazing how much traffic was blocked.
I'm sure they'll fix that this year. It was certainly
an experience being a half inch in dust here.
So Thursday night, we have the vendors in. They
can start at about eight and stay till about
10. They usually have some, and this is open
house to anyone. There's no charge for attending
this vendor night. The seminar you pay for, On
Thursday and the banquet on Saturday you pay
for but everyone's invited to our vendor night
And they'll be generally Ella craft shows up.
They don't stay there the whole time DX engineering
will be there for sure for states qrp L &R precision
is usually there Trying to think of who else
I I don't have that list in front of me and qrp
me and It's a fun event. There's a cash bar,
and there's a restaurant there in the hotel,
and we generally have a good time. It's a pretty
big crowd comes out. We have probably 30 tables
set up for the vendors, and there's always somebody
there that just has something they want to show
that wasn't really, they're not really a vendor.
They just want to show off something they've
done. And then, That's Thursday Friday during
the day. We hope everyone goes to hand pension
and Friday night We have Well That's right Friday
night will have just a social meeting again with
an open bar We have a club and clubs will be
there as to Set up tables and we don't charge
anything for it. Just trying to promote the different
QRP clubs. And we all sit around and talk about
radios. And usually, you know, three or four
hundred people are there each night. And Saturdays
are pretty much the same thing. We get up and
go to Ambench and the ones of us that don't have
duties to do at four days in May. And then again,
on Saturday night we Have a bike week. It's usually
a nice bike week 350 or so people there And let's
see, you know on Sunday we get up go to hand
benching and go home So we call it four days
in May. It's all about QRP. It's very little
that's not QRP or related to something we do
in QRP and it helps people build their skills
in QRP It gets people to meet face -to -face
with other QRP 'ers. And it's always more fun
to talk to somebody on the radio that you've
met in the past. So we have a lot of that. Out
of the 350 or 400 people that will be there,
probably 30 % are new or there for the first
time. And the other people come every year. So
we have a big a big turnout and we have a lot
of fun. Well, one of the things I wanted to be
sure to talk about was the build -a -thon. Joe
Eisenberg, KZeroNEB, is often on the show to
talk about kits and he always mentions the build
-a -thon. He's going to the build -a -thon at
Four Days in May and so tell us more about this
build -a -thon and how people can attend that.
Okay, the build -a -thon is put on by REX QRP
-ME, which is REX Harper W21 REX. It's, uh, for
this year the project that they're going to build
is a four -port directional coupler for measuring
forward and reflective power in addition to the
four PDC kit. Builders will also receive a free
digital multimeter to use as the voltage display
device. Uh, I'm sorry, I'm just looking for some
more information on this. What we do is usually
he's limited to about 40 people, because that's
all he can get in the room with all the irons
and equipment. And he brings a kit and you register
with Rex at his website and he's there to help
you. He and probably five helpers will be there
to help you. Buildathon starts at 430 on Friday
afternoon in the Buildathon room, which is one
of the big conference rooms at the hotel. Of
course, at the same time, we're getting ready
for our night time event, but you can do both.
You don't have to be at the whole night time
event. They're sort of walk around, open house
kind of events. Let's see, he says it's $35.
includes a kit and a digital multimeter. And
usually, I'm not sure that it says it here, but
usually he provides something to eat for dinner
so you don't have to hurry up and get through
to go to dinner. We've got 35 people already
registered. And to find out more about that,
you go to the QRP ARCHE website, click on the
FDIM page, Then go down toward the bottom and
it says a little bit about Buildathon and a link
to register. You actually register with Rex.
He handles all that. But it's a fun thing to
do. It seems like everybody finishes their project
and gets to test it out. It's not like you get
75 % through and run out of time because there's
really no actual closing time. Every once in
a while, somebody gets frustrated. It doesn't
happen often. It's simple stuff, but you bring
a certain need to solder an iron. Well, he'll
have tools there, but if you've got a soldering
iron and a pair of dikes and some small clippers
and small needle nose, that's about all you need.
I know we sent out a picture. Uh, from, uh, the
2016 build -a -thon is a little Keir and somebody
on QRZ, uh, today said, uh, is there any way
I can get my hands on one of those? Can I get
one of those? I don't know. And, and you may
or may not know is, are there any of the, uh,
kits still available afterwards? Yes. I'm trying
to think about. You can order just the kit from
him and pick it up at four days in May. Or if
you pay the freight, he'll ship you one. He needs
to know before the show how many want one because
he'll only make or have boards made for what
he's got sold because these are FDIM projects.
Sometimes they end up on his website, and sometimes
they don't. Joel Eisenberg is going to be there.
There's a whole list. Actually, I'm going to
build a kit this year. He's up to 45, so he's
up to 35. He's about to fill up. Yeah, so if
you're interested in doing the build -a -thon
Just a few spots left. You need to get in there
and register and again qrparci .org Is it org?
Yep. Yes, and you can sign up there under four
days in May for the build -a -thon and You have
a chance to build a kit test it out and have
some some live assistance while you're doing
it. So good stuff to be doing while you're enjoying
Dayton Hamvention. So we're going to come back
and we'll talk to Norm some more and we'll take
your phone calls to ask questions about four
days in May right after this word from the Voice
of America Museum of Broadcasting 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. 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. Let's
have an eyeball QSO in Dayton. You're listening
to HamTalk Live with Neil Rapp. Coming up at
the Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting,
we have a panel discussion coming up on how do
journalists determine real from fake news and
how can the average citizen identify fake news
and avoid accidentally promoting it through social
media? Well... They're going to address those
at the Cincinnati Society of Professional Journalists
and other area media at a panel discussion on
Thursday, April 26th at the National Voice of
America Museum of Broadcasting in Westchester.
And the topic again, who can I trust to give
me the real news? And it's underwritten by Kehoe
Financial Advisors. And the Voice of America
Museum has also announced their special Hamvention
Hours. They're going to be open Thursday, May
17th from one to four, Friday evening, May 18th
from five to nine, Saturday, May 19th from one
to nine, and Sunday, May 20th, their usual one
to four hours. So if you get a chance stop by
one of those days and and check them out Ham
talk live though is here every Thursday night
at 9 p .m. Eastern time at ham talk live comm
be sure to check us out on Facebook Twitter and
Instagram and it's time for your calls So if
you have a question about four days in May or
the build -a -thon give us a call at eight one
two net ham one That's eight one two six three
eight four two six one Or you can tweet us if
you'd rather you can tweet us at ham talk live.
You can also Skype us at ham talk live So we'll
check all of those here and see what we have
going on this evening. And we may get a call
here from somebody we know here in a little bit.
We'll see if that works out. But Norm, what are
some of those? resources. We mentioned the website
qrparci .org. What are some of the resources
that you have available online for people who
are interested in just, you know, making contacts
with five watts or less? Right, well we have,
there's a great list of about 35 or 40 clubs
if you weren't looking for one in your area.
QRP ARC is, of course, international. We have
probably 30 % out -of -country members. But,
you know, there's an Alaska QRP club, American
QRP club, Arizona Scorpions QRP club, Austin
QRP club, Central Florida QRP group, Flying Pigs
QRP club international, Four States QRP. All
these are listed. under links on the qrp arki
website and uh i mean it just goes on and on
i belong to uh north georgia qrp club which is
an active club we meet every month we'll have
between 40 and 60 people sit there uh we don't
really have any officers uh we just sit there
and introduce ourselves first go around second
go around you talk about what you've done in
radio the last month and then by the time you
get through that it's ten it's twelve o 'clock
in time to go to lunch we happen to meet in a
hospital called Shepherd Center and they have
a very nice cafeteria and we just Most of us
just go down there and they let us pull tables
together stuff. So most of these clubs are the
same way It's a fairly they're fairly close -knit
Some of our large some of our small but they
like to share working with low -power radios
And of course, they're also great guys for just
other electronic questions of you know people
from every Profession that are at these things
something like me that are just a jack -of -all
-trades and no specialty and others that are
engineers and You know, they're really into this
stuff It's low power though The other thing is
there the contest that QRParchy has And that's
also on their website, but you know, we we just
had our spring QSO party, and then the 27th,
I'm sorry. I'm sorry, April 14th is the spring
QRP QSO party. The 27th is a hoot -ouse -chute
-out. And then they have our summer home brew
sprint. So all these, most of these contests
are three or four hours. They don't wear you
out. They're... I think there's one that's not
in CW, but most of them are in CW. Of course,
most QRPers are CW operators. They usually settle
down around 25 words a minute, but they will
help you. They'll slow down to whatever your
speed is. If you're calling CQ at 15 words a
minute, they'll come back to you at 15 words
a minute. QRPers are a unique breed. And they
really care about advancing the hobby of amateur
radio, especially the low -power radio. Now,
if you want to ask a question or you've got a
comment, give us a call at 812 -638 -4261, 812
-NET -HAM -1, or you can tweet us at HamTalk
Live. The advantage to QRP is Portability you're
able to You know to make some of your own stuff
and to carry it just about anywhere So can you
talk a little bit about? How that you know how
that kind of carries over into the QRP world?
Well You know, it's during the AWRL's Parks on
the Air, these guys went crazy. They take a radio
smaller than a cigar box and a piece of wire
and a battery and go off radio in a park. And
I mean, these guys, a lot of folks just lived
for that. They actually missed that adventure
that we had a couple of years ago. That's half
of what we talk about is... What's the smallest
and lightest antenna you can carry there used
to be a contest? I don't think I've seen it lately
who had the lightest radio that would actually
transmit a transceiver that would actually transmit
and You'd have to take it to try to find the
lightest battery and you there's a lot of difference
in the weight of a 9 -volt battery from the brands
and people would find out which one was the lightest
and they would the keys would be just almost
like touching your fingers together. And so that
was for the lightest, you know, want to be portable.
But there are some very nice small radios. Ellicraft
is probably the best known for super nice portable
radios. They've got several different models.
I started out building what I would call a desktop
or a mobile. uh, that was the size of our old
mobile. Now, now the stuff, uh, it's about as
big as three cigarette packages and it does everything,
including having a tuner in it at 10 watts. So
there's just, the guys are all over them. There's
summits on the air. There's a lot of QRP that's,
that's worked for summits on the air because
people have to get up there. So they want something
that doesn't take much battery, something that's
easy to tow. And of course, you know, some people
have their animals haul them. The goat man, he
puts packs on his goats and carries his equipment
up to the top of the summit. But it's just, it's
fun. You go out there and you have, if you go
like the he goes, I don't know if I would call
that fun, I'm too lazy. But I've gone out this
morning. just for an afternoon and sit at a picnic
table in a small park and run a wire between
two trees and a small battery and small radio.
It's fun to make contacts with low power and
it's amazing how little difference there is in
five watts and a hundred watts most of the time
and not during a contest. But people will hear
you, of course. You can't believe it until you
try it. Lots of people have DXCC a second time
in QRP, which is 5 watts sideband or 10 watts,
I'm sorry, 10 watt sideband, 5 watts CW. And
then there's one called QRPP, which is 1 watt.
They have DXCC with one line. QRP ARCHIE, it's
not a bad group to belong to. They have a work
all states, low power. They have a DX award for
working 100, I'm sorry, it's with increments
in 25 countries. They have a county hunter group.
All continent Worked all Arki Let's see after
work at least 25 other Arki members this but
this is just fun stuff. There's no high competition.
It's all low -key Most of the awards actually
there's no proof other than you said you did
it and They don't even generally ask for a log
unless there's If it's a real contest, it's got
a lot of entries, and two or three of them are
sort of way out. They may ask for a lot, but
generally not. I don't know, I'm trying to think.
Go ahead. I'm just going to give out the phone
number again. 812 -638 -4261, 812 -NET -HAM -1
if you want to join in. We're going to wrap things
up here pretty shortly. So give us a call or
a tweet if you want or Skype at HamTalk Live
and let us know what's going on. Let's kind of
jump back if we can to the... The schedule of
four days in may kind of give us the rundown
again and the location and times of things. And
again, this is all the holiday in, in Fairborn,
Ohio, right? That's right. And, uh, Wednesday
afternoon, we have registration. We have a cash
bar and, uh, places for people to sit well and
talk to each other and get to know each other
again. Then Thursday morning around 8, we start
registration for the people that haven't already
pre -registered for the seminars during the day.
That's usually over about 4 .30 and take a break,
try to get some dinner, and come back in Thursday
evening for our vendor night. And during the
day on Friday, we hope you go to the Hamvention.
We hope that's part of the reason you're there,
but you'd be surprised to have me up. Our folks
don't ever leave the hotel. But anyway, we hope
Friday you go to Ham Pension. Friday night, we'll
do the club night and show and tell. So what
else do we do? We have a building contest, which
is a home brew contest for people that bring
stuff from home and want to show it off. a vote
from people that are there on which project they
thought was the best in three or four different
categories. So, I mean, it's always something
to do. And then, again, Saturday morning, we
go to Hamvention. Saturday night, we have a banquet.
It's pretty first class for hotel food. It's
served around, you know, on round tables. And
we'll give out, oh, probably 50 door prices worth
anywhere from $5 to $500. One thing interesting
is that usually at the banquet, we give away
two Bagali keys, which a lot of people are really
proud of his keys. And he'll actually be there.
He's been there the last five or six years at
the dinner on Saturday night. He and his daughter
and some of his crew. I don't know. And then
Sunday is just getting up and getting out going
by the Hamvention and Heading home for most people
some spend the night again Sunday night, but
most mostly During the day on Sunday it's a lot
of fun and we go to qrpr .org click on the FDIM
tab and You can register right there. I am the
chairman this year again and if And can I get,
it's fdim at qrprky .org if you have a question
for me, that's the easy one. Fdim at qrprky .org.
That'll come to me. I'll be glad to answer any
questions. All right, Norm. Well, thank you so
much for sharing with us about four days in May.
all the the buildathon and the home brew contest
and everything and uh wish you all the best uh
for your event this year and uh look forward
to uh hopefully catching up with you over at
uh at Hamvention this year. Okay. Well, you're
welcome to come see us at Holiday Inn. Alright.
Very good. Thursday night, Friday night. Just
open. No charge. All right, very good and again
We will be live on the air Thursday night at
9 o 'clock and you can tune in and find out the
latest parking traffic weather Uh, and, and some
other things going on that, uh, that are kind
of last minute. So, uh, make sure you tune in
for that. So you're, uh, you're ready to go for
your trip to Hamvention. So, uh, on our Hamvention
preview coming up next week, we have Tim Duffy,
uh, K3LR, who will be here to talk about, uh,
the contest side of things. So the contest university,
the contest super sweet and some of the contest
and DX. dinners that'll be going on. The following
week on April 19th we have Michael Coulter, WHCI,
the spokesperson for Hamvention and the assistant
awards chairman. He's going to be wearing the
awards hat that night. We have Val Hotsfeld in
V9L, the Dayton Hamvention amateur of the year
coming on the show and Dr. Chip Cohen, W1YW,
the technical achievement award winner. We'll
be talking to them. We'll also talk about the
club of the year that was recognized this year.
On April 26th, Carol Perry, WB2MGP, will be here
to talk about the Youth Forum and just found
out today Mason Matrazzo, KM4SII. who took a
de -expedition to Iceland will also join Carol.
He's one of the speakers at the Youth Forum,
so we'll talk to him a little bit. Bob Naumann,
W50V, will be here on May 3rd to talk about what
to shop for and then Michael will be back on
May the 10th to give us the latest update from
Dara and Hamvention and then of course May 17th.
Hamvention Eve, we will be on the air to give
you all the weather and traffic and parking and
give you those last minute updates so make sure
you tune in for that of course hamvention .org
has all of that as well and Twitter and Facebook
and all that but but give us a listen and we'll
try to give you all the information you need
right here at HamTalk Live. Before we go I want
to say congratulations to Pinson Valley High
School in Alabama They have an heiress contact
coming up on the 10th. That's on Tuesday. So
good luck to them and Hope that all goes well.
Well, that is a wrap for this week's edition
of ham talk live Thanks to my guest norm scar
wa for zxv and everyone out there in cyberspace
for listening and For calling in and invite you
back next Thursday night at 9 p .m Eastern time
when Tim Duffy k3lr will be here to talk about
content University, the Super Suite, and contest
dinners. For a list of all of our upcoming guests,
visit HamTalkLive .com. So for now, this is Neil
Rapp, WB9VPG, saying 7 -3, 7 -5, and as always,
may the good DX be yours. Thanks for watching!
7 -3 and good luck from HamTalk Live.