WEBVTT 00:00:10.779 --> 00:00:13.599 Thanks for tuning in. HamTalk Live will be on 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:31.539 the air shortly. Please stand by. Thanks for 00:00:31.539 --> 00:00:34.299 tuning in. HamTalk Live will be on the air shortly. 00:00:34.579 --> 00:00:42.170 Please stand by. This episode of HamTalk Live 00:00:42.170 --> 00:00:45.909 is brought to you by Tower Electronics. For connectors, 00:00:46.310 --> 00:00:49.250 cables, and more, visit them at a hamfest near 00:00:49.250 --> 00:00:57.590 you or call 920 -435 -2973 or online at pl -259 00:00:57.590 --> 00:01:33.959 .com. Good evening, everyone. It's time for ham 00:01:33.959 --> 00:01:38.719 talk live. It's episode number 97 The world radio 00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:42.400 sport team championships with Doug k1dg recorded 00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:48.219 live on Thursday January 11th 2018 I'm your host 00:01:48.219 --> 00:01:51.719 Neil rap WB 9 VPG. Thanks for tuning in to this 00:01:51.719 --> 00:01:57.239 episode of ham talk live tonight Doug Grant k1dg 00:01:57.239 --> 00:02:02.620 joins us to talk about all things WRTC, and we'll 00:02:02.620 --> 00:02:06.700 take your calls live in a few minutes. Last week 00:02:06.700 --> 00:02:09.879 on the show, Joe Eisenberg, KZeroNEB, was here 00:02:09.879 --> 00:02:12.759 to talk about new kits. We also talked about 00:02:12.759 --> 00:02:16.379 kit enclosures. So if you missed that, you can 00:02:16.379 --> 00:02:20.039 listen anytime at HamTalkLive .com. You can also 00:02:20.039 --> 00:02:24.210 listen... to the podcast version on Apple Podcasts, 00:02:24.289 --> 00:02:27.389 Stitcher, iHeart Podcasts, Google Play, TuneIn 00:02:27.389 --> 00:02:32.020 or SoundCloud. We're also over on YouTube. So 00:02:32.020 --> 00:02:34.479 make sure you check that out. Well, get your 00:02:34.479 --> 00:02:38.300 questions ready to go about the World Radio Sport 00:02:38.300 --> 00:02:42.300 Team Championships. After we talk to Doug for 00:02:42.300 --> 00:02:44.400 a while, you can give us a call and I'll go ahead 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:46.139 and give you the number. It's not time to call 00:02:46.139 --> 00:02:49.039 just yet, but I'll give you the number. It's 00:02:49.039 --> 00:02:58.060 812 NET HAM. 1 -812 -638 -4261. That's the number 00:02:58.060 --> 00:03:01.120 you can call. You can also Skype us. We're just 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:04.759 HamTalk Live on Skype. And you can also tweet 00:03:04.759 --> 00:03:07.460 us, of course. Our Twitter handle is at HamTalk 00:03:07.460 --> 00:03:09.900 Live. And if you're listening live on speaker 00:03:09.900 --> 00:03:13.960 and you're signed in, you can type comments there 00:03:13.960 --> 00:03:16.479 as well. And we'll get those in the... in the 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:19.759 chat. So I'll be back with Doug right after this 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:23.280 word from Tower Electronics right here on HamTalk 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:26.520 Live. This episode of HamTalk Live is brought 00:03:26.520 --> 00:03:30.180 to you in part by Tower Electronics. Tower Electronics 00:03:30.180 --> 00:03:33.419 has been the Ham's Dime Store since 1978. When 00:03:33.419 --> 00:03:36.139 you need connectors, mobile and handheld antennas, 00:03:36.419 --> 00:03:39.599 cables or adapters, visit Scott or Jill at a 00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:42.919 HamFest near you. Or you can order online at 00:03:42.919 --> 00:03:50.680 PL -259 .com or call 920 -435 -2973. Stock up 00:03:50.680 --> 00:03:53.919 on those supplies like PL -259 and end connectors, 00:03:54.340 --> 00:03:57.520 SMA adapters, audio cables, soldering supplies, 00:03:57.740 --> 00:04:00.500 mobile antennas, and hamsticks. 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As always, they 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:02.560 help bring you HamTalk Live every Thursday night. 00:05:03.779 --> 00:05:06.959 This weekend on Saturday, they'll be at the University 00:05:06.959 --> 00:05:11.759 of Central Florida HamFest in Orlando, Florida. 00:05:12.620 --> 00:05:15.339 And then next weekend, they'll be doing double 00:05:15.339 --> 00:05:18.060 duty, Friday and Saturday, the 19th and 20th, 00:05:18.079 --> 00:05:20.620 they'll be in Fort Myers, Florida. and on the 00:05:20.620 --> 00:05:24.399 21st on Sunday, they'll be in Wheaton, Illinois. 00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:27.319 So if you're at one of those shows, be sure to 00:05:27.319 --> 00:05:31.060 visit them or you can give them a call at 920 00:05:31.060 --> 00:05:38.100 -435 -2973 or visit their website at pl -259 00:05:38.100 --> 00:05:41.899 .com. Tell them you heard it on HamTalk Live. 00:05:42.500 --> 00:05:46.910 Doug Grant, K1DG is our guest tonight. He received 00:05:46.910 --> 00:05:50.449 his first ham radio license in 1967 at the age 00:05:50.449 --> 00:05:53.790 of 13. He earned his bachelor's degree in electrical 00:05:53.790 --> 00:05:56.709 engineering from Lowell Technological Institute, 00:05:56.850 --> 00:06:00.810 which is now UMass Lowell. And he has more than 00:06:00.810 --> 00:06:03.930 30 years experience in the semiconductor industry, 00:06:04.589 --> 00:06:08.370 mostly at analog devices where he worked in engineering 00:06:08.370 --> 00:06:11.810 marketing and product line management for analog 00:06:11.810 --> 00:06:16.689 mixed signal RF and wireless products. Doug is 00:06:16.689 --> 00:06:20.509 an avid contester and an instructor at Contest 00:06:20.509 --> 00:06:24.430 University. He's won numerous contests and won 00:06:24.430 --> 00:06:29.629 the first WRTC back in 1990. He's been the Dayton 00:06:29.629 --> 00:06:33.110 Hamvention Contest Forum moderator since 1994. 00:06:34.069 --> 00:06:37.949 And he was the chairman of the last WRTC, which 00:06:37.949 --> 00:06:42.829 was in Boston in 2014. Doug is now an independent 00:06:42.829 --> 00:06:45.629 consultant specializing in semiconductor and 00:06:45.629 --> 00:06:49.110 wireless technologies. And he's nice enough to 00:06:49.110 --> 00:06:52.889 join us tonight to talk WRTC. So Doug, welcome 00:06:52.889 --> 00:06:55.750 to the show. Oh, thanks, Neil. Good to be here. 00:06:56.640 --> 00:07:01.459 Well, tell our listeners about what WRTC is in 00:07:01.459 --> 00:07:04.259 case they don't know and and give us a little 00:07:04.259 --> 00:07:09.160 background of how it got started Sure. Well WRTC 00:07:09.160 --> 00:07:12.579 stands for the world radio sport team championship. 00:07:12.620 --> 00:07:16.300 So let's take that apart radio sport, of course 00:07:16.300 --> 00:07:19.680 is contesting and Contesting has been with us 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:22.459 for a very long time and ham radio back I once 00:07:22.459 --> 00:07:25.519 heard a guy from the FCC say that the first radio 00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:28.290 contest took place when the third guy got on 00:07:28.290 --> 00:07:29.829 the air, and the other two wanted to see who 00:07:29.829 --> 00:07:33.870 could reach him first. So we've been contesting 00:07:33.870 --> 00:07:37.730 around for a long time. Most hands play in some 00:07:37.730 --> 00:07:40.550 contests. Most people have had some experience 00:07:40.550 --> 00:07:43.699 with field day. And you can see there what's 00:07:43.699 --> 00:07:45.720 kind of going on. Clubs typically try to put 00:07:45.720 --> 00:07:48.620 up a bigger antenna than their rival club, get 00:07:48.620 --> 00:07:50.720 access to a higher location with a clear shot 00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:53.019 in all directions because they know that those 00:07:53.019 --> 00:07:55.139 might give them an advantage and improve their 00:07:55.139 --> 00:07:58.560 score. But that points out the fundamental inequality 00:07:58.560 --> 00:08:01.560 in radio contests. A station with a big antenna 00:08:01.560 --> 00:08:04.500 on a big hilltop will generally have an advantage 00:08:04.500 --> 00:08:06.959 over a guy with small antennas down in the valley. 00:08:07.420 --> 00:08:10.540 So there are ways of sort of tilting the playing 00:08:10.540 --> 00:08:13.259 field in your favor. Some operators, of course, 00:08:13.259 --> 00:08:15.639 even go as far as traveling to rare countries 00:08:15.639 --> 00:08:17.720 and areas with good propagation to make higher 00:08:17.720 --> 00:08:22.000 scores. Well, back in the old Soviet Union in 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:25.420 the 80s, they developed a series of regional 00:08:25.420 --> 00:08:28.660 and then national competitions where all the 00:08:28.660 --> 00:08:31.100 competitors had identical antennas. They're in 00:08:31.100 --> 00:08:34.120 the same geographic area. And now the only variable 00:08:34.120 --> 00:08:38.690 left was operator skill. And they wanted to demonstrate 00:08:38.690 --> 00:08:42.309 or find out who the best operators were. So a 00:08:42.309 --> 00:08:47.830 group in Seattle, including K7SS, K7LXC, N0AX, 00:08:47.830 --> 00:08:55.850 and some other guys, took that concept to the 00:08:55.850 --> 00:09:00.230 US in 1990, and the WRTC was born. The format 00:09:00.230 --> 00:09:03.309 is two operator teams. all using the same amount 00:09:03.309 --> 00:09:06.470 of power, similar antennas and in the same geographic 00:09:06.470 --> 00:09:09.809 location. It's now evolved to where it's overseen 00:09:09.809 --> 00:09:12.750 by a sanctioning committee consisting of the 00:09:12.750 --> 00:09:15.309 organizers of the past events and they select 00:09:15.309 --> 00:09:17.490 the next host country and they provide guidance 00:09:17.490 --> 00:09:19.809 on the team selection process and rules and so 00:09:19.809 --> 00:09:23.029 forth. And the goal is to hold WRTC every four 00:09:23.029 --> 00:09:26.970 years, making it more or less the Olympics of 00:09:26.970 --> 00:09:29.909 ham radio. There's where the championship part 00:09:29.909 --> 00:09:33.700 comes in. So we've had WRTCs after Seattle. The 00:09:33.700 --> 00:09:37.379 next one was in San Francisco in 1996. The next 00:09:37.379 --> 00:09:41.159 one was in Slovenia in 2000, then Finland in 00:09:41.159 --> 00:09:45.799 2002, Brazil in 2006, Russia in 2010, and in 00:09:45.799 --> 00:09:49.460 the Boston area in 2014. The contest takes place 00:09:49.460 --> 00:09:53.059 concurrently with the IARU HEF Championship event, 00:09:53.100 --> 00:09:55.100 which takes place the second full weekend in 00:09:55.100 --> 00:09:59.740 July every year. All right, well this year it 00:09:59.740 --> 00:10:05.080 is going to be in Germany so fill us in on What's 00:10:05.080 --> 00:10:07.940 going on over in Germany to prepare for this 00:10:07.940 --> 00:10:11.840 and and what to expect this summer? Well, the 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:14.419 the the German organizers made a very strong 00:10:14.419 --> 00:10:20.659 case to hold the event there for 2018 and So 00:10:20.659 --> 00:10:23.299 they were awarded the hosting rights and we're 00:10:23.299 --> 00:10:25.620 expecting the event to run with classic German 00:10:25.620 --> 00:10:29.309 precision Actually, the organizers have really 00:10:29.309 --> 00:10:31.149 been hard at work for the last three and a half 00:10:31.149 --> 00:10:34.669 years getting things ready. They did a few things 00:10:34.669 --> 00:10:36.289 differently. They've increased the number of 00:10:36.289 --> 00:10:41.029 teams to 63. That's up from the 59 we had in 00:10:41.029 --> 00:10:43.409 Boston, and that'll be the largest field ever. 00:10:44.809 --> 00:10:48.750 So 49 of the teams were selected based on having 00:10:48.750 --> 00:10:50.990 the highest scores in qualifying events over 00:10:50.990 --> 00:10:54.309 the previous two years. The defending champions 00:10:54.309 --> 00:10:57.200 were automatically invited. That makes 50. There 00:10:57.200 --> 00:10:59.740 are three youth teams where both operators have 00:10:59.740 --> 00:11:03.220 to be under 25 years of age. There are five wild 00:11:03.220 --> 00:11:06.580 -car teams selected by the organizers. And then 00:11:06.580 --> 00:11:09.179 there are five sponsored teams, and those are 00:11:09.179 --> 00:11:12.340 groups of operators who provided some major donations 00:11:12.340 --> 00:11:15.940 to the event, as well as being very highly qualified 00:11:15.940 --> 00:11:19.879 operators themselves. The organizers will provide 00:11:19.879 --> 00:11:23.139 each team with the exact same station. It'll 00:11:23.139 --> 00:11:26.960 be a spider beam on a 12 meter pole, wire antennas 00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:30.580 for 40 and 80 meters, a tent, a generator, some 00:11:30.580 --> 00:11:33.379 tables and chairs, and that's pretty much it. 00:11:33.759 --> 00:11:36.000 The operators have to bring their own radios, 00:11:36.220 --> 00:11:39.960 their logging computers, antenna switches, filters, 00:11:40.940 --> 00:11:42.679 anything else they need to operate the contest, 00:11:42.759 --> 00:11:45.039 keyers, headphones, microphones, and so forth. 00:11:45.769 --> 00:11:48.509 The equipment provided by the organizers is entirely 00:11:48.509 --> 00:11:52.450 funded by donations, and they get some advertising 00:11:52.450 --> 00:11:54.429 and some sponsorships from some of the major 00:11:54.429 --> 00:11:57.409 manufacturers and distributors. They're not done 00:11:57.409 --> 00:11:59.230 with their fundraising, by the way, and they're 00:11:59.230 --> 00:12:01.210 still looking for donations. So if anyone wants 00:12:01.210 --> 00:12:03.549 to help them out, you can check out their website 00:12:03.549 --> 00:12:10.750 at wrtc2018 .de for Deutschland. Now the area 00:12:10.750 --> 00:12:12.710 in Germany where the stations will be set up, 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:15.740 is about halfway between Berlin and Leipzig. 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:19.179 It's a very flat area, so no team will have an 00:12:19.179 --> 00:12:21.399 advantage or disadvantage due to local terrain. 00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:25.059 So nobody will be up on a hill, and nobody will 00:12:25.059 --> 00:12:26.899 be down in the valley with a hill in front of 00:12:26.899 --> 00:12:30.379 them, so they'll all have pretty flat ground 00:12:30.379 --> 00:12:32.860 around them. And each team will have a referee 00:12:32.860 --> 00:12:35.940 sitting in the tent watching them and listening 00:12:35.940 --> 00:12:38.500 to both stations to make sure they follow the 00:12:38.500 --> 00:12:42.000 rules and play the game fairly. Getting selected 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:44.779 as a referee was another interesting process. 00:12:44.840 --> 00:12:47.659 They had, I think, a couple of hundred applications 00:12:47.659 --> 00:12:51.399 for referee positions and selected enough to 00:12:51.399 --> 00:12:54.620 fill all the stations from all around the world. 00:12:55.960 --> 00:12:59.659 So that's what the competition's about. In addition 00:12:59.659 --> 00:13:02.720 to the actual competition, over the years, the 00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:05.940 social side of WRTC has evolved really into a 00:13:05.940 --> 00:13:08.940 significant part of the event. The organizers 00:13:08.940 --> 00:13:11.179 usually provide some sightseeing tours of their 00:13:11.179 --> 00:13:13.659 area and lots of free time for the operators 00:13:13.659 --> 00:13:16.519 to get to know each other, which comes about 00:13:16.519 --> 00:13:19.080 usually after many years of talking on the radio. 00:13:19.559 --> 00:13:22.620 Every WRTC I've attended, I've met someone new 00:13:22.620 --> 00:13:26.360 and got a chance to see who was on the other 00:13:26.360 --> 00:13:28.340 end of the microphone or the other end, the other 00:13:28.340 --> 00:13:32.059 key of guys I've talked to for years and years 00:13:32.059 --> 00:13:35.220 and years. In 2014 in Boston, we actually organized 00:13:35.220 --> 00:13:38.019 an additional thing. We organized a thing called 00:13:38.019 --> 00:13:41.240 the Ham Widows Ball, which was partially funded 00:13:41.240 --> 00:13:44.039 by the Asmi Foundation. And that gave the competitors 00:13:44.039 --> 00:13:46.840 and the referees, spouses and significant others 00:13:46.840 --> 00:13:49.600 a chance to meet. And they got to share stories 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:51.700 about the crazy hams in their lives. They didn't 00:13:51.700 --> 00:13:53.980 let any of the competitors or referees in the 00:13:53.980 --> 00:13:57.559 room. I've only heard rumors of some of the stories 00:13:57.559 --> 00:14:00.600 they talked about, but it was a big hit. And 00:14:00.600 --> 00:14:02.500 I think there'll be a comparable event in Germany 00:14:02.500 --> 00:14:10.059 this year. So, uh, no, um, no trash talking. 00:14:11.580 --> 00:14:15.059 Oh, there's a lot of that, you know, the, uh, 00:14:15.480 --> 00:14:17.600 you know, late nights in the, uh, in the bar 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:20.860 enjoying a cocktail and, uh, uh, so forth. Uh, 00:14:20.860 --> 00:14:23.600 there's a lot of trash talk, uh, the rides on 00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:25.779 buses to go to the sightseeing venues and so 00:14:25.779 --> 00:14:27.519 forth. There's another opportunity for people 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:30.379 to, uh, uh, make it clear that they're going 00:14:30.379 --> 00:14:32.379 to win and everyone else is going to be behind 00:14:32.379 --> 00:14:38.220 them. Well, this is the big time competition 00:14:38.220 --> 00:14:41.600 and one of the things that I've been saying over 00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:43.600 and over again the last couple of days since 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:46.600 I've been doing some news stories on this is 00:14:47.019 --> 00:14:51.500 It's the best of the best. And you've got some 00:14:51.500 --> 00:14:55.539 of the finest contesters in the world participating 00:14:55.539 --> 00:14:58.440 in this thing. And one of the quotes that I loved 00:14:58.440 --> 00:15:04.279 from Bryant KBG5HVO and talking to him, he was 00:15:04.279 --> 00:15:08.580 picked for one of the youth teams, was if you 00:15:08.580 --> 00:15:13.159 look in the dictionary under the word underdog, 00:15:14.830 --> 00:15:19.789 His picture is right there. Yeah, I don't believe 00:15:19.789 --> 00:15:22.529 that for a minute. Some of these young guys are 00:15:22.529 --> 00:15:25.570 so enthusiastic. Uh, they, uh, they're just going 00:15:25.570 --> 00:15:27.690 to come out of the, come out of the gate at full 00:15:27.690 --> 00:15:30.110 blast. And, uh, they might show some of the, 00:15:30.110 --> 00:15:32.149 uh, some of the more experienced teams, a thing 00:15:32.149 --> 00:15:36.100 or two. Well, I was trying to encourage them 00:15:36.100 --> 00:15:37.799 and tell them, you know, Hey, you guys are going 00:15:37.799 --> 00:15:41.279 to have some advantages over this, but, uh, over 00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:45.279 the old guys like us, but, uh, they, they weren't, 00:15:45.279 --> 00:15:47.320 uh, they weren't buying it too much, but they 00:15:47.320 --> 00:15:52.059 were enthused nonetheless. Well, uh, tell us 00:15:52.059 --> 00:15:54.759 about some of these teams that are, that are 00:15:54.759 --> 00:15:57.720 competing. I know we can't talk about all 63 00:15:57.720 --> 00:16:00.389 here, but. But talk about a few of the teams 00:16:00.389 --> 00:16:04.070 that you know are familiar with that will be 00:16:04.070 --> 00:16:07.450 competing and maybe some of the expected front 00:16:07.450 --> 00:16:11.950 runners. Is there like seeding? Well, there's 00:16:11.950 --> 00:16:16.490 no formal seeding to it. There's a lot of informal 00:16:16.490 --> 00:16:19.169 handicapping and rumors and stories swapped around 00:16:19.169 --> 00:16:24.409 the bar. In 2014, the big question was who was 00:16:24.409 --> 00:16:26.470 going to be second and third because everyone 00:16:26.470 --> 00:16:29.570 figured that N6MJ and KL9A were probably going 00:16:29.570 --> 00:16:33.450 to run away with it, which they did. But you 00:16:33.450 --> 00:16:36.389 never know what's going to happen. I think the 00:16:36.389 --> 00:16:38.409 teams that finally did play second and third 00:16:38.409 --> 00:16:43.730 were a little bit of a surprise. The oddsmakers, 00:16:43.730 --> 00:16:45.830 I think, had some of the other teams placed higher. 00:16:47.289 --> 00:16:50.570 There'll be 63 teams, as we said, representing 00:16:50.570 --> 00:16:54.850 or with people from 35 different countries. And 00:16:54.850 --> 00:16:57.409 it's an interesting mix of people ranging from 00:16:57.409 --> 00:17:01.429 Bryant, KG5, HBO at 14. I think the oldest one 00:17:01.429 --> 00:17:05.369 will be like 71 or 72. And of course, everything 00:17:05.369 --> 00:17:08.680 in between. Like most hams, you would expect 00:17:08.680 --> 00:17:10.920 a lot of them to be engineers or working in a 00:17:10.920 --> 00:17:14.460 technical profession of some kind or having progressed 00:17:14.460 --> 00:17:16.539 in their careers up to a management position, 00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:21.279 but not all of them. For example, those guys 00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:26.400 who won in Boston, N6MJ and KL9A, MJ is a pharmacy 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:29.720 auditor, KL9A is a grocery store manager. So 00:17:29.720 --> 00:17:32.160 it's not like everyone is a hardcore engineer 00:17:32.160 --> 00:17:35.420 and and they're going to use those technical 00:17:35.420 --> 00:17:39.140 skills to win. It's really an interesting cross 00:17:39.140 --> 00:17:43.660 -section of society. Other guys that I think 00:17:43.660 --> 00:17:45.940 will probably do well, you can't count them out, 00:17:46.119 --> 00:17:51.299 the silver medalists from 2014, a team from Slovakia, 00:17:51.400 --> 00:17:55.559 OM3GI and OM3BH, they've qualified again, so 00:17:55.559 --> 00:17:58.799 they'll be there. They may have an advantage 00:17:58.799 --> 00:18:00.980 knowing the propagation from Central Europe better 00:18:00.980 --> 00:18:03.680 than the Americans do. The bronze medalist from 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:08.759 2014, DJ5MW and DL1IAO will also be there. The 00:18:08.759 --> 00:18:12.500 gold medalist from Russia in 2010, RW1A and RA1A, 00:18:12.500 --> 00:18:15.759 they will be there again. There's one sort of 00:18:15.759 --> 00:18:19.980 a quiet guy who has a very good chance. VE3EJ 00:18:19.980 --> 00:18:24.059 from Canada will be competing again. He's kind 00:18:24.059 --> 00:18:27.839 of a quiet guy, doesn't go out front too much, 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:31.119 but he won the gold medal in Brazil in 2006 and 00:18:31.119 --> 00:18:33.859 came in fifth in 2014, so he's one we'll all 00:18:33.859 --> 00:18:37.740 have to be watching. The competing teams will 00:18:37.740 --> 00:18:42.319 include three YLs. Two of them, DLA DYL and DL1 00:18:42.319 --> 00:18:45.839 QQ, were teammates in Boston. And it was funny, 00:18:45.880 --> 00:18:49.450 I got a... We had a live scoreboard running and 00:18:49.450 --> 00:18:52.190 my wife called me during the competition from 00:18:52.190 --> 00:18:54.150 one of the tours that she was on and said, hey, 00:18:54.250 --> 00:18:56.970 what's the call sign of the German girls team? 00:18:57.009 --> 00:18:59.190 I want to watch their score and everybody here 00:18:59.190 --> 00:19:03.410 wants to know how they're doing. And so they 00:19:03.410 --> 00:19:06.470 actually did very well. They came in the 21st 00:19:06.470 --> 00:19:09.289 out of the 59 teams, but they're not on the same 00:19:09.289 --> 00:19:11.049 team this year. They're on two different teams. 00:19:11.069 --> 00:19:14.759 So it'll be interesting to see how they do. The 00:19:14.759 --> 00:19:21.420 third YL is actually the daughter of ZL3IO. She's 00:19:21.420 --> 00:19:25.579 a 16 -year -old with the call sign ZL4YL. She's 00:19:25.579 --> 00:19:27.819 also a fine operator. In fact, I just shipped 00:19:27.819 --> 00:19:31.099 her a plaque for the WPXCW contest last year. 00:19:31.720 --> 00:19:33.700 She had the highest score in the rookie category 00:19:33.700 --> 00:19:36.799 and one of the highest scores on the band that 00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:39.059 she operated, so she's a pretty good operator. 00:19:40.640 --> 00:19:44.039 There's another father bringing an offspring, 00:19:44.279 --> 00:19:47.920 VY2ZM, is bringing his son, KK6ZM, to operate 00:19:47.920 --> 00:19:53.480 with him. PY1NX and PY2SEX from Brazil started 00:19:53.480 --> 00:19:57.559 in ham radio together 20 years ago. My operating 00:19:57.559 --> 00:20:00.940 partner, N2NT, and I have operated together off 00:20:00.940 --> 00:20:03.440 and on for about 40 years, and we'll be back 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:08.400 there in Germany in July. trying to see what 00:20:08.400 --> 00:20:11.140 we can do. We won a bronze medal in Brazil, so 00:20:11.140 --> 00:20:13.720 we're hoping we can get up on the medal stand 00:20:13.720 --> 00:20:17.960 in Germany as well. So it's a mix of veterans, 00:20:18.400 --> 00:20:21.680 some new people who have not been to WRTC before, 00:20:22.660 --> 00:20:24.339 a lot of people that I've met, it'll be good 00:20:24.339 --> 00:20:27.019 to see them again, and a lot of people that I 00:20:27.019 --> 00:20:29.180 haven't met in person. So I'm really looking 00:20:29.180 --> 00:20:32.980 forward to July. Sounds like an excellent time. 00:20:33.359 --> 00:20:36.539 And, um, I'm just wondering, do they have, do 00:20:36.539 --> 00:20:38.859 they have betting lines on that in Vegas? Can 00:20:38.859 --> 00:20:43.900 you, can you say you can bet on anything in Vegas? 00:20:44.299 --> 00:20:47.220 Right. So there was someone who wanted to organize 00:20:47.220 --> 00:20:50.640 something, uh, in the Boston, uh, WRTC. And I 00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:52.099 told them, we really didn't want to hear about 00:20:52.099 --> 00:20:58.299 it. So I don't know anything. Oh my goodness. 00:20:58.480 --> 00:21:03.319 Well, it sounds like a. a really neat time and 00:21:03.319 --> 00:21:06.579 we've got again some of the finest operators 00:21:06.579 --> 00:21:10.140 in the world competing on a level playing field 00:21:10.140 --> 00:21:15.059 and so it should be interesting. Now for those 00:21:15.059 --> 00:21:20.180 who aren't big into contesting or maybe the casual 00:21:20.180 --> 00:21:25.900 contester we'll say, can they start looking for 00:21:25.900 --> 00:21:30.829 teams to work? Oh absolutely and I think the 00:21:30.829 --> 00:21:33.569 Germans will probably do something similar to 00:21:33.569 --> 00:21:38.150 what we did in Boston. We had awards available 00:21:38.150 --> 00:21:42.329 for stations that contacted all the WRTC competing 00:21:42.329 --> 00:21:45.410 stations. They were all clearly identifiable. 00:21:46.190 --> 00:21:49.190 We locked up the one -by -one call signs for 00:21:49.190 --> 00:21:52.250 that event when we had it here. So W1A through 00:21:52.250 --> 00:21:56.430 Z, K1A through Z, and N1A through Z with a few 00:21:56.430 --> 00:22:01.529 dropped out for Since we didn't need all of the 00:22:01.529 --> 00:22:05.150 possible combinations, we were able to get rid 00:22:05.150 --> 00:22:07.690 of some of the more troublesome letters, the 00:22:07.690 --> 00:22:10.329 longer ones on CW and the easily confused ones. 00:22:10.769 --> 00:22:12.769 But we had special call signs that made it easy 00:22:12.769 --> 00:22:16.059 to find the WRTC competitors. And we gave out 00:22:16.059 --> 00:22:19.559 awards for anybody who contacted all of them, 00:22:20.299 --> 00:22:22.319 a special prize for the first station to contact 00:22:22.319 --> 00:22:25.500 all of them. Since you can work the same station 00:22:25.500 --> 00:22:28.839 on multiple bands, we gave out an award for the 00:22:28.839 --> 00:22:31.400 most contacts with the competing stations. So 00:22:31.400 --> 00:22:33.559 I'm sure that they'll have something like that 00:22:33.559 --> 00:22:38.859 organized in this WRTC. So yeah, if you can't 00:22:38.859 --> 00:22:40.559 make it there in person, the next best thing 00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:42.519 is to get on the air and work all these guys. 00:22:43.790 --> 00:22:48.289 girls they they need the contacts and They they'll 00:22:48.289 --> 00:22:51.190 be going real fast and they'll get your call 00:22:51.190 --> 00:22:52.829 sign on the first time through you won't have 00:22:52.829 --> 00:22:56.589 to repeat it and They'll be zipping right along 00:22:56.589 --> 00:23:01.349 All right some good information there about WRC 00:23:01.349 --> 00:23:08.549 WRTC 2018 coming up in July. Well, we'll grow 00:23:08.549 --> 00:23:10.990 kind of come if I can talk we're going to come 00:23:10.990 --> 00:23:15.650 back with Doug and Take your calls and your tweets 00:23:15.650 --> 00:23:21.569 and comments and questions about WRTC right after 00:23:21.569 --> 00:23:24.390 this word from the National Voice of America 00:23:24.390 --> 00:23:28.029 Museum of Broadcasting right here on HamTalk 00:23:28.029 --> 00:23:30.900 Live. The National Voice of America Museum of 00:23:30.900 --> 00:23:34.380 Broadcasting, located in Westchester, Ohio, just 00:23:34.380 --> 00:23:37.180 north of Cincinnati, is only two minutes off 00:23:37.180 --> 00:23:41.160 I -75. The museum is the former home of the Voice 00:23:41.160 --> 00:23:44.799 of America Bethany Relay Station. Tours are now 00:23:44.799 --> 00:23:47.339 available every Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 00:23:47.339 --> 00:23:50.400 4 p .m. Eastern Time. You can see the control 00:23:50.400 --> 00:23:54.690 room. a 200 ,000 watt transmitter, and the most 00:23:54.690 --> 00:23:57.609 comprehensive collection of inventions by the 00:23:57.609 --> 00:24:01.730 iconic Powell -Crosley Jr. Also on display is 00:24:01.730 --> 00:24:05.549 a huge antique radio exhibit and R .L. Drake's 00:24:05.549 --> 00:24:08.549 personal collection of most every Drake amateur 00:24:08.549 --> 00:24:12.420 rig ever made. This is a unique opportunity to 00:24:12.420 --> 00:24:15.579 see amateur radio in action and have a chance 00:24:15.579 --> 00:24:21.140 to get on the air from WC8VOA. Admission is only 00:24:21.140 --> 00:24:24.880 $5 a person. The museum is located close to historic 00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:29.579 WLWAM and tons of shopping and restaurants. Take 00:24:29.579 --> 00:24:33.480 a trip to the VOA museum or visit us online at 00:24:33.480 --> 00:24:42.140 voamuseum .org. CQ. CQ. CQ. You're listening 00:24:42.140 --> 00:24:48.640 to HamTalk Live with Neil Rapp. Join the conversation. 00:24:49.019 --> 00:24:52.460 Call us on voice with Skype at HamTalk Live or 00:24:52.460 --> 00:24:57.000 give us a call at 812 -NET -HAM -1. That's 812 00:24:57.000 --> 00:25:14.339 -638 -4261. Now, here's more HamTalk Live. HamTalk 00:25:14.339 --> 00:25:17.099 Live's on the air every Thursday night at 9 p 00:25:17.099 --> 00:25:21.119 .m. Eastern Time right here at HamTalkLive .com. 00:25:21.700 --> 00:25:23.700 Make sure you check us out on Facebook, Twitter 00:25:23.700 --> 00:25:30.059 and Instagram for even more conversation and 00:25:30.059 --> 00:25:33.880 information about the topics that we discuss 00:25:33.880 --> 00:25:37.500 here on the show and it's time now for your calls. 00:25:37.900 --> 00:25:41.099 So if you have a question or comment for Doug, 00:25:41.180 --> 00:25:45.099 give us a call. That phone number again is 812 00:25:45.099 --> 00:25:52.339 -NET -HAM -1, 812 -638 -4261. You can also Skype 00:25:52.339 --> 00:25:54.680 us. We're on Skype at HamTalk Live, or you can 00:25:54.680 --> 00:25:59.700 tweet us at HamTalk Live as well. And we'll be 00:25:59.700 --> 00:26:03.559 happy to hear from you. And you can talk to Doug, 00:26:03.559 --> 00:26:08.349 K1DG, about the World Radio Sport Team. championships 00:26:08.349 --> 00:26:12.950 and the 2018 competition will be coming up in 00:26:12.950 --> 00:26:18.329 mid -July. So let's check the tweets here and 00:26:18.329 --> 00:26:21.049 looks like we don't have anything just yet so 00:26:21.049 --> 00:26:24.609 give us a call at 812 Nat Hamwon or give us a 00:26:24.609 --> 00:26:28.309 tweet and we'll take your questions. Now one 00:26:28.309 --> 00:26:31.289 of the things I want to talk about here with 00:26:31.289 --> 00:26:38.670 Doug, we had Jim George on the author of Contact 00:26:38.670 --> 00:26:42.750 Sport It's been a little over a year ago now, 00:26:42.750 --> 00:26:47.410 I guess Which was a book that he wrote based 00:26:47.410 --> 00:26:55.390 on a lot of the the drama of WRTC 2014 and you 00:26:55.390 --> 00:26:59.309 were involved in in helping get that all put 00:26:59.309 --> 00:27:01.730 together. So tell us a little bit about how the 00:27:01.730 --> 00:27:06.230 book, Contact Sport, figured into the competition. 00:27:07.910 --> 00:27:13.950 Well, I had some plans of trying to use the WRTC 00:27:13.950 --> 00:27:19.470 as a way of getting some more publicity into 00:27:19.470 --> 00:27:21.789 the general public and the general population 00:27:21.789 --> 00:27:25.369 about ham radio and specifically about contesting. 00:27:25.720 --> 00:27:31.240 The last coverage that I'm aware of in sort of 00:27:31.240 --> 00:27:36.700 mass media about contesting was from a 1958 article 00:27:36.700 --> 00:27:40.140 in Sports Illustrated called The Battle of the 00:27:40.140 --> 00:27:43.819 Hams. And I was hoping we could get some broad 00:27:43.819 --> 00:27:46.460 market coverage. And while I was thinking about 00:27:46.460 --> 00:27:48.640 that, it was brought to my attention that there's 00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:51.849 a parallel hobby to ham radio. That most people 00:27:51.849 --> 00:27:54.210 don't understand and haven't heard of called 00:27:54.210 --> 00:27:57.329 competitive birding Don't call it birdwatching. 00:27:57.329 --> 00:28:00.170 The birders are very sensitive to that but birding 00:28:00.170 --> 00:28:04.410 and The birders have a competition just like 00:28:04.410 --> 00:28:07.750 ours. They have their WRTC. It's called a big 00:28:07.750 --> 00:28:11.410 year instead of being a 24 -hour contest It's 00:28:11.410 --> 00:28:14.529 a year long and the object of the game is to 00:28:14.529 --> 00:28:17.349 see as many different species of birds as you 00:28:17.349 --> 00:28:21.200 can within the limits of North America Now that 00:28:21.200 --> 00:28:25.440 sounds as arcane a hobby as radio contesting, 00:28:25.599 --> 00:28:28.579 but a guy wrote a book about it and it became 00:28:28.579 --> 00:28:31.700 a best seller and was made into a movie. So I 00:28:31.700 --> 00:28:34.480 figured maybe I could get that guy interested 00:28:34.480 --> 00:28:37.000 in ham radio contesting. So I sent him an email 00:28:37.000 --> 00:28:40.700 and said, I have your next book, call me. And 00:28:40.700 --> 00:28:43.079 we got to chatting on the phone for a while and 00:28:43.079 --> 00:28:45.420 he had never heard of ham radio at all, much 00:28:45.420 --> 00:28:48.200 less contesting. And he was intrigued. And over 00:28:48.200 --> 00:28:50.460 the course of the next couple of years, I got 00:28:50.460 --> 00:28:52.660 him interested in writing the book and I figured 00:28:52.660 --> 00:28:54.579 this will be great. You know, he had a connection 00:28:54.579 --> 00:28:57.940 with a big publisher. It was going to be wonderful. 00:28:59.000 --> 00:29:04.440 So about a month before WRTC, he called me up 00:29:04.440 --> 00:29:06.599 and said, you know, I'm sorry, I'm going to have 00:29:06.599 --> 00:29:09.680 to drop out. I can't do your book. And the reason 00:29:09.680 --> 00:29:12.619 was that he had been a reporter for the Denver 00:29:12.619 --> 00:29:16.980 Post out in Colorado. And he covered all of the 00:29:16.980 --> 00:29:21.109 legislative stuff that went on to the legalization 00:29:21.109 --> 00:29:24.369 of marijuana in Colorado and his publisher decided 00:29:24.369 --> 00:29:26.410 that would be a better book to write than a book 00:29:26.410 --> 00:29:28.789 about ham radio contesting. So they killed the 00:29:28.789 --> 00:29:32.150 book and he had to drop out. So that left me 00:29:32.150 --> 00:29:35.630 looking for someone to write the book. Now I've 00:29:35.630 --> 00:29:37.769 known Jim George for a very long time and he 00:29:37.769 --> 00:29:41.609 wrote a book called Reunion which touched a lot 00:29:41.609 --> 00:29:46.279 on his growing up and high school years, getting 00:29:46.279 --> 00:29:50.359 into ham radio and his life. And so I called 00:29:50.359 --> 00:29:52.640 him up and said, Jim, I know it's short notice, 00:29:52.779 --> 00:29:55.180 but how would you like to write the WRTC book? 00:29:55.940 --> 00:29:59.299 And he said, when do you need me there? And can 00:29:59.299 --> 00:30:01.339 you make sure I have full access to the teams? 00:30:02.059 --> 00:30:05.660 And I agreed to that immediately. And he showed 00:30:05.660 --> 00:30:08.799 up and he rode around. He went with the German 00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:11.660 team that eventually got the bronze medal. got 00:30:11.660 --> 00:30:15.059 lost driving in the woods of southeastern Massachusetts 00:30:15.059 --> 00:30:19.200 with them, got lost driving back to the hotel, 00:30:19.660 --> 00:30:23.119 but he had a pretty good time as an observer 00:30:23.119 --> 00:30:27.079 and wrote, I thought, a pretty good book of the 00:30:27.079 --> 00:30:30.680 whole event. I think he did capture most of the 00:30:30.680 --> 00:30:35.839 flavor of what went on, and I was very happy 00:30:35.839 --> 00:30:39.920 with the result. He did get it on Amazon and 00:30:39.920 --> 00:30:42.039 in Barnes and Noble. I don't know how many copies 00:30:42.039 --> 00:30:45.920 he sold, but I'm certainly satisfied with the 00:30:45.920 --> 00:30:47.880 outcome that there was a book about it. We got 00:30:47.880 --> 00:30:50.160 some additional press coverage here and there. 00:30:50.640 --> 00:30:52.259 We got coverage in the Wall Street Journal, which 00:30:52.259 --> 00:31:00.859 was pretty cool. We got coverage on an NPR weekly 00:31:00.859 --> 00:31:03.559 radio show called Only a Game, where they made 00:31:03.559 --> 00:31:06.579 us their feature article. uh, talking about the 00:31:06.579 --> 00:31:09.319 game of ham radio contesting, uh, that's still 00:31:09.319 --> 00:31:11.680 archived. If anybody listening hasn't heard that, 00:31:11.700 --> 00:31:14.000 you should go and find it. It's, uh, it's terrific. 00:31:14.500 --> 00:31:17.200 Um, and, uh, and by the book too, the book was, 00:31:17.279 --> 00:31:20.859 uh, the book was quite good. Yep. And I know 00:31:20.859 --> 00:31:24.099 Jim's been working on the audio version of his 00:31:24.099 --> 00:31:27.700 book, contact sport. And, uh, I believe has that 00:31:27.700 --> 00:31:31.519 finished up now and, uh, Not sure if it's quite 00:31:31.519 --> 00:31:34.859 available yet or just about available, but should 00:31:34.859 --> 00:31:39.819 be very soon if not already and So you can get 00:31:39.819 --> 00:31:44.579 the audio version as well with him reading it 00:31:44.579 --> 00:31:46.859 I have to take credit by the way for the for 00:31:46.859 --> 00:31:50.220 the title of the book We kicked around a lot 00:31:50.220 --> 00:31:52.619 of ideas. I thought contact sport was a clever 00:31:52.619 --> 00:31:55.019 play on both the fact that it's a sport and it's 00:31:55.019 --> 00:31:58.039 about making contacts. We don't really bump into 00:31:58.039 --> 00:31:59.799 each other or hit each other very much. It's 00:31:59.799 --> 00:32:03.599 not that kind of contact sport. We hope. Well, 00:32:03.759 --> 00:32:09.920 we hope. My other choice was dancing with the 00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:12.960 sky, which I thought was... Also pretty cool 00:32:12.960 --> 00:32:15.279 and sort of romantic, but he didn't like it very 00:32:15.279 --> 00:32:17.660 much. So he went with contact sport and I think 00:32:17.660 --> 00:32:21.119 it, I think it worked fine. Yeah, I think it 00:32:21.119 --> 00:32:24.960 did too. Well, that's a, that's a cool story. 00:32:26.299 --> 00:32:30.579 and there was some drama there and so that made 00:32:30.579 --> 00:32:34.720 for a good book and I appreciate Jim coming on 00:32:34.720 --> 00:32:38.319 and talking to us about it on the show before 00:32:38.319 --> 00:32:41.859 and still get some updates from him as to what's 00:32:41.859 --> 00:32:44.539 going on. Well if you have a question you'd like 00:32:44.539 --> 00:32:49.960 to ask about WRTC, give us a call at 812 -638 00:32:49.960 --> 00:32:55.559 -4261. That spells netham1 or you can tweet it. 00:32:55.400 --> 00:33:00.440 or give us a call on Skype. It's HamTalk Live 00:33:00.440 --> 00:33:04.619 on Skype. We have about seven or eight minutes 00:33:04.619 --> 00:33:08.119 here left with Doug, so give us a call at 812 00:33:08.119 --> 00:33:13.740 -638 -4261 and you can get your questions hopefully 00:33:13.740 --> 00:33:19.859 answered from one of the experts of WRTC, Doug 00:33:19.859 --> 00:33:23.970 Grant, K1DG. Why don't we've talked a little 00:33:23.970 --> 00:33:25.910 bit about the youth teams. We talked about Bryant 00:33:25.910 --> 00:33:31.130 a little bit but Mateus was the number one seed 00:33:31.130 --> 00:33:35.369 more or less for the youth teams and then you've 00:33:35.369 --> 00:33:41.609 got some And he's in Chile and then you've got 00:33:41.609 --> 00:33:45.289 some Over in Europe that are going to be competing. 00:33:45.289 --> 00:33:47.690 So tell us a little bit about the youth teams 00:33:48.640 --> 00:33:50.940 Well, I think that's been an important part of 00:33:50.940 --> 00:33:57.960 WRTC for a while back to I guess the the Event 00:33:57.960 --> 00:34:00.819 in Brazil in 2006. I think that was where the 00:34:00.819 --> 00:34:03.680 first youth teams were brought in as an attempt 00:34:03.680 --> 00:34:06.579 to kind of diversify the competitor base from 00:34:06.579 --> 00:34:12.199 just a bunch of Middle -aged guys middle -aged 00:34:12.199 --> 00:34:14.800 engineers and managers that was sort of the perception 00:34:15.280 --> 00:34:18.039 And I think it's been beneficial. Some of these 00:34:18.039 --> 00:34:21.119 guys who've been on previous youth teams have 00:34:21.119 --> 00:34:24.480 made friendships by selecting a teammate from 00:34:24.480 --> 00:34:26.380 another country that they didn't know very well 00:34:26.380 --> 00:34:29.820 and kind of put the station together quickly 00:34:29.820 --> 00:34:34.320 at the event and get going. It's good to see 00:34:34.320 --> 00:34:37.840 these young guys coming into the sport and getting 00:34:37.840 --> 00:34:42.590 passionate about it. All the guys who... were 00:34:42.590 --> 00:34:44.510 selected for the youth teams this time had very 00:34:44.510 --> 00:34:47.809 good qualifying numbers as well. So these are 00:34:47.809 --> 00:34:50.929 just not selected for the fact that they're kids. 00:34:51.909 --> 00:34:54.369 They had darn good scores to get in as well. 00:34:54.929 --> 00:34:56.789 So I'm looking forward to meeting all these guys 00:34:56.789 --> 00:35:01.170 and seeing them operate. And hopefully they won't 00:35:01.170 --> 00:35:04.570 beat us too badly. One thing that I'm sure that's 00:35:04.570 --> 00:35:06.750 going to come out of it is that they're going 00:35:06.750 --> 00:35:10.090 to make some new friends, not just among the 00:35:10.090 --> 00:35:13.449 competitors and referees and the official folks 00:35:13.449 --> 00:35:17.570 in the WRTC, but one thing that happened in Boston 00:35:17.570 --> 00:35:21.510 was that this happened for all the teams. We 00:35:21.510 --> 00:35:24.949 had an army of volunteers. We had somewhere around 00:35:24.949 --> 00:35:28.389 500 volunteers who built the antennas and put 00:35:28.389 --> 00:35:32.849 them up, who built the stations, got the tents 00:35:32.849 --> 00:35:35.889 up, got the generators going, kept them filled 00:35:35.889 --> 00:35:39.380 with gas. made sure the teams had food to eat 00:35:39.380 --> 00:35:41.960 and any of the creature comforts that they needed. 00:35:42.920 --> 00:35:44.659 And without those volunteers, we wouldn't have 00:35:44.659 --> 00:35:48.260 had an event at all. It would have been the 10 00:35:48.260 --> 00:35:50.420 guys on the organizing committee sitting around 00:35:50.420 --> 00:35:51.980 wondering how the heck we were going to build 00:35:51.980 --> 00:35:54.179 59 stations in a couple of days and then take 00:35:54.179 --> 00:35:56.840 them all down. But these volunteers really made 00:35:56.840 --> 00:36:01.099 it work. And in Germany, they have a similarly 00:36:01.099 --> 00:36:03.199 large group. They still need more volunteers. 00:36:03.670 --> 00:36:06.550 They may even accept volunteers from overseas 00:36:06.550 --> 00:36:09.409 who show up and help out, come a few days early, 00:36:09.570 --> 00:36:12.530 help put some stuff together and install some 00:36:12.530 --> 00:36:16.170 antennas and hang around to make sure that the 00:36:16.170 --> 00:36:19.829 operators are well taken care of. But what happened 00:36:19.829 --> 00:36:21.730 in Boston was that there were some friendships 00:36:21.730 --> 00:36:24.670 that I'm aware of that were formed among the 00:36:24.670 --> 00:36:28.710 local setup teams and the antenna builders and 00:36:28.710 --> 00:36:31.929 the competitors. And these guys are now Facebook 00:36:31.929 --> 00:36:34.090 friends, and they're corresponding all the time, 00:36:34.289 --> 00:36:37.269 sending Christmas cards, and still remaining 00:36:37.269 --> 00:36:41.050 in touch. So I think one part of amateur radio 00:36:41.050 --> 00:36:43.369 is supposed to be about international goodwill. 00:36:43.750 --> 00:36:45.590 I think the youth teams are going to get a very 00:36:45.590 --> 00:36:47.570 heavy dose of that, as well as everybody else, 00:36:48.030 --> 00:36:50.530 by spending a week with some of the best operators 00:36:50.530 --> 00:36:54.030 on the planet and hanging out with all the generous 00:36:54.030 --> 00:36:55.869 volunteers who are giving their time to make 00:36:55.869 --> 00:37:00.250 it all happen and come together. All right, give 00:37:00.250 --> 00:37:05.329 us a call 8 1 2 6 3 8 4 2 6 1 or send us a tweet 00:37:05.329 --> 00:37:09.110 at ham talk live if you have questions about 00:37:09.110 --> 00:37:15.710 WRTC and specifically WRTC 2018 which will be 00:37:15.710 --> 00:37:21.070 coming up in July Let me check the tweets here. 00:37:21.289 --> 00:37:27.239 Okay now We mentioned that you won the first 00:37:27.239 --> 00:37:30.980 competition and that you're going to be competing 00:37:30.980 --> 00:37:40.300 here in July as well. So, do you have any secret 00:37:40.300 --> 00:37:45.860 plans here that you're gonna put in force here? 00:37:46.579 --> 00:37:49.579 Do you have something to deal with sunspots? 00:37:50.660 --> 00:37:53.039 Well, I guess my big secret is that I'm actually 00:37:53.039 --> 00:37:58.159 not trying to win My operating partner is gonna 00:37:58.159 --> 00:38:01.119 hate me for saying this but I really want to 00:38:01.119 --> 00:38:04.019 come in second and the reason for that is back 00:38:04.019 --> 00:38:08.440 in 1990 My operating partner at the time John 00:38:08.440 --> 00:38:11.820 K1 AR and I were fortunate enough to win the 00:38:11.820 --> 00:38:15.099 gold medal and So I have a gold medal hanging 00:38:15.099 --> 00:38:22.039 in the shack in Brazil in 2000 2006 N2NT and 00:38:22.039 --> 00:38:25.619 I took the bronze medal so I've got a bronze 00:38:25.619 --> 00:38:28.480 and I've got a gold but there's this big hole 00:38:28.480 --> 00:38:31.980 where there should be a silver medal so we're 00:38:31.980 --> 00:38:36.380 kind of playing for second and we'll see how 00:38:36.380 --> 00:38:38.539 that works out but you know this the fact is 00:38:38.539 --> 00:38:41.440 there's really no secrets in this game of radio 00:38:41.440 --> 00:38:46.429 sport The success and the skill development comes 00:38:46.429 --> 00:38:48.329 from just putting in the hours and putting in 00:38:48.329 --> 00:38:52.010 the practice and getting on the air a lot. You 00:38:52.010 --> 00:38:54.349 learn techniques even with a small, especially 00:38:54.349 --> 00:38:56.989 with a small station, you learn how to break 00:38:56.989 --> 00:39:00.130 through a pile up on a DX station by shifting 00:39:00.130 --> 00:39:02.710 your frequency a little bit and timing your calls. 00:39:03.070 --> 00:39:06.829 You learn how to do tail -ending on phone. You 00:39:06.829 --> 00:39:09.690 learn which bands are open to major population 00:39:09.690 --> 00:39:12.869 areas at which times. and try to be on the best 00:39:12.869 --> 00:39:16.170 ones at the best time and you develop a sense 00:39:16.170 --> 00:39:18.449 for whether you're on the right band or whether 00:39:18.449 --> 00:39:21.409 you should change bands and there's really no 00:39:21.409 --> 00:39:24.409 secrets to it. I don't have bigger ears or more 00:39:24.409 --> 00:39:27.510 flexible fingers or a better speaking voice than 00:39:27.510 --> 00:39:29.590 any of the other guys who are going to be competing 00:39:29.590 --> 00:39:33.210 and neither do they. It's just what's between 00:39:33.210 --> 00:39:37.010 our ears that is the skills that we've developed 00:39:37.010 --> 00:39:41.909 over many many years of doing this and Hopefully 00:39:41.909 --> 00:39:43.969 that'll make the difference. Obviously we're 00:39:43.969 --> 00:39:45.889 all going to be running 100 watts with identical 00:39:45.889 --> 00:39:48.989 antennas, flat ground, all in the same part of 00:39:48.989 --> 00:39:52.269 Germany. So there's no other advantages available. 00:39:52.510 --> 00:39:55.789 It's just staying awake for 24 hours and alert, 00:39:55.949 --> 00:39:58.170 being on the right pan at the right time and 00:39:58.170 --> 00:40:01.710 making contacts as fast as you can and as efficiently 00:40:01.710 --> 00:40:04.409 as you can without wasting any time. And whoever 00:40:04.409 --> 00:40:06.610 does that with the fewest mistakes is going to 00:40:06.610 --> 00:40:10.630 walk away with the medal. All right, well there 00:40:10.630 --> 00:40:16.250 you heard it there are no secrets here So good 00:40:16.250 --> 00:40:21.110 luck to you and all the other competitors and 00:40:21.110 --> 00:40:24.309 We look forward to hearing more about this as 00:40:24.309 --> 00:40:29.090 time goes on Remind everybody of a few things 00:40:30.269 --> 00:40:34.750 First off, I actually did do an article for the 00:40:34.750 --> 00:40:36.449 National Contest Journal, which will be coming 00:40:36.449 --> 00:40:39.869 up in the next issue about the youth teams. So 00:40:39.869 --> 00:40:43.610 you'll be able to read up on them a little bit 00:40:43.610 --> 00:40:47.389 more. And just also finished some stuff for Newsline 00:40:47.389 --> 00:40:50.329 that's coming out in the morning. So there'll 00:40:50.329 --> 00:40:53.530 be a little bit of WRTC coverage starting there 00:40:53.530 --> 00:40:58.050 and coming up. more as the time gets closer. 00:40:59.190 --> 00:41:02.969 And again, the committee over in Germany are 00:41:02.969 --> 00:41:07.230 still looking for donations and for volunteers. 00:41:07.829 --> 00:41:14.929 And give us that website again. Sure, it's wrtc2018 00:41:14.929 --> 00:41:19.389 .de. And that'll take you right to it. There's 00:41:19.389 --> 00:41:22.010 all sorts of stuff. There's press releases and 00:41:22.380 --> 00:41:24.199 You'll want to bookmark that if you want to get 00:41:24.199 --> 00:41:27.860 on in July and find out what kind of award you 00:41:27.860 --> 00:41:30.500 might be able to qualify for by working all the 00:41:30.500 --> 00:41:32.980 stations. And you'll find out what the call signs 00:41:32.980 --> 00:41:35.099 they'll all be using. You won't know which team 00:41:35.099 --> 00:41:37.860 is which. You'll just know that it's a WRTC team. 00:41:39.019 --> 00:41:42.260 Okay, very good. And again, if you want a good 00:41:42.260 --> 00:41:45.480 read, Jim George, the book is Contact Sport. 00:41:45.519 --> 00:41:48.039 It's available on Amazon as well as some other 00:41:48.039 --> 00:41:52.670 places. So you can check that out from the 2014 00:41:52.670 --> 00:41:59.309 WRTC in Boston. There's also a video in case 00:41:59.309 --> 00:42:02.730 people haven't seen that. If you look for a WRTC 00:42:02.730 --> 00:42:06.250 2014 video, there's a terrific video that was 00:42:06.250 --> 00:42:09.880 done by James Brooks, 9v1 YC. very professionally 00:42:09.880 --> 00:42:12.320 done. It runs almost an hour, but it goes very 00:42:12.320 --> 00:42:14.840 quickly and even my non -ham friends have said 00:42:14.840 --> 00:42:18.739 it's pretty good. So I'd strongly encourage anyone 00:42:18.739 --> 00:42:21.880 listening to take a look at that. It's on Vimeo 00:42:21.880 --> 00:42:23.760 and lots of other places. I think it's on YouTube 00:42:23.760 --> 00:42:28.420 now even. Okay. So look for it on Vimeo and possibly 00:42:28.420 --> 00:42:31.679 YouTube. Okay. Very good. Anything else we need 00:42:31.679 --> 00:42:34.019 to throw in here, Doug? We've got just under 00:42:34.019 --> 00:42:36.489 a minute here. Well, I think that pretty well 00:42:36.489 --> 00:42:40.329 covers it. Looking forward to maybe seeing some 00:42:40.329 --> 00:42:42.929 of you guys at the Dayton Hamvention coming up 00:42:42.929 --> 00:42:46.090 in a few months. I'll be chairing the contest 00:42:46.090 --> 00:42:48.570 forum there. We have some pretty good speakers 00:42:48.570 --> 00:42:51.449 lined up. And of course, we'll see you on the 00:42:51.449 --> 00:42:55.550 air in July from some anonymous call sign in 00:42:55.550 --> 00:42:59.210 Germany. And like I said, hoping to get myself 00:42:59.210 --> 00:43:02.190 a silver medal out of it this time. OK, now you've 00:43:02.190 --> 00:43:05.630 got like 30 seconds. You've got the advantage 00:43:05.630 --> 00:43:08.550 here. Any trash talk you want to do about your, 00:43:08.550 --> 00:43:12.190 you know, your, your skills here? Well, those 00:43:12.190 --> 00:43:16.269 young kids, uh, MJ and KL9A, you know, you know 00:43:16.269 --> 00:43:21.250 what they say? Uh, uh, age, old age and treachery 00:43:21.250 --> 00:43:25.170 trumps, uh, uh, youth and enthusiasm every time. 00:43:25.250 --> 00:43:30.949 So they better watch out. Well, there you have 00:43:30.949 --> 00:43:34.590 it. Thank you, Doug. Uh, that is a wrap. for 00:43:34.590 --> 00:43:37.309 this week's edition of HamTalk Live. Thanks to 00:43:37.309 --> 00:43:41.110 Doug Grant, K1DG, and everyone out there in cyberspace 00:43:41.110 --> 00:43:44.630 for listening tonight and I invite you back next 00:43:44.630 --> 00:43:48.010 Thursday night at 9 p .m. Eastern Time. Jerry 00:43:48.010 --> 00:43:52.809 Buxton, N0JY, the vice president of AMSAT in 00:43:52.809 --> 00:43:55.949 charge of engineering will be here and he's going 00:43:55.949 --> 00:43:59.650 to talk about building satellites and the Fox 00:43:59.650 --> 00:44:03.889 1D launch, so which is coming up here in a couple 00:44:03.889 --> 00:44:07.250 hours, I believe. So we'll be talking about that. 00:44:07.269 --> 00:44:10.070 So for a list of all of our upcoming guests, 00:44:10.110 --> 00:44:13.150 just go to HamTalkLive .com and click on the 00:44:13.150 --> 00:44:16.630 schedule link. So for now, this is Neil Rapp, 00:44:16.809 --> 00:44:21.550 WB9VPG, saying seven three, seven five, and may 00:44:21.550 --> 00:44:55.300 the good DX be yours. Thanks for watching. 73, 00:44:55.920 --> 00:44:58.639 and good luck from HamTalk Live.