WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.799 This episode of HamTalk Live is brought to you 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:06.000 by Tower Electronics. For cables, connectors 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:13.140 and more, call 920 -435 -2973 or visit pl -259 00:00:13.140 --> 00:00:17.199 .com and by the HamStation. Get your new radio 00:00:17.199 --> 00:00:23.219 or antenna by calling 800 -729 -4373 or go to 00:00:23.219 --> 00:00:59.329 hamstation .com. everyone it's time for ham talk 00:00:59.329 --> 00:01:05.489 live episode number 76 the 2017 Huntsville ham 00:01:05.489 --> 00:01:09.450 fest preview recorded live on Thursday August 00:01:09.450 --> 00:01:15.750 10th 2017 I'm your host Neil Rapp WB9VPG thanks 00:01:15.750 --> 00:01:19.650 for tuning in to yet another episode of ham talk 00:01:19.650 --> 00:01:23.920 live tonight we're joined by Dave Gibbons K5RSI 00:01:23.920 --> 00:01:27.819 and he's the chairman of the Huntsville HamFest 00:01:27.819 --> 00:01:33.099 and we will take your calls live in just a few 00:01:33.099 --> 00:01:38.140 minutes. Last week the Ham Band was here to talk 00:01:38.140 --> 00:01:43.459 about their music and the OZ5E contest station 00:01:43.459 --> 00:01:47.400 and if you missed the show you can listen anytime 00:01:47.400 --> 00:01:52.909 at HamTalkLive .com or on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, 00:01:53.230 --> 00:01:56.750 iHeart Radio, Google Play, TuneIn, SoundCloud, 00:01:57.010 --> 00:02:01.750 or on YouTube. We encourage you to do that. They 00:02:01.750 --> 00:02:05.810 were really good. So get all your questions ready 00:02:05.810 --> 00:02:09.090 to go. After the introduction, you can give us 00:02:09.090 --> 00:02:12.879 a call. The phone number that you will call at 00:02:12.879 --> 00:02:19.939 that point is 812 -NET -HAM -1. That's 812 -638 00:02:19.939 --> 00:02:24.879 -4261, or you can Skype us. We're at HamTalk 00:02:24.879 --> 00:02:29.840 Live. You can also tweet us a question and our 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:34.719 Twitter handle is at HamTalk Live. So hope you'll 00:02:34.719 --> 00:02:39.939 join in and comment and question Dave about the 00:02:39.939 --> 00:02:44.000 Huntsville Ham Fest coming up in just another 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:47.780 few days. So I'll be back with Dave right after 00:02:47.780 --> 00:02:51.349 this word from the ham station right here. on 00:02:51.349 --> 00:02:54.669 HamTalk Live. This episode of HamTalk Live is 00:02:54.669 --> 00:02:58.469 brought to you by The Ham Station. For over 37 00:02:58.469 --> 00:03:00.909 years, The Ham Station has sold new and used 00:03:00.909 --> 00:03:03.810 radios, antennas, accessories, and equipment 00:03:03.810 --> 00:03:07.610 to hams everywhere. Give Dan or Jeff a call at 00:03:07.610 --> 00:03:14.150 800 -729 -4373 or order online at hamstation 00:03:14.150 --> 00:03:17.710 .com. HamStation carries all the major brands 00:03:17.710 --> 00:03:21.490 like Icom, Yezu, and Kenwood, and they have a 00:03:21.490 --> 00:03:25.330 wide selection of radio scanners, MFJ accessories, 00:03:25.669 --> 00:03:28.770 Hile sound products, amplifiers by Mirage and 00:03:28.770 --> 00:03:32.229 Ameritron, Cushcraft antennas, and more. Easy 00:03:32.229 --> 00:03:35.610 online ordering is at hamstation .com or call 00:03:35.610 --> 00:03:41.270 1 -800 -729 -4373 to place an order and talk 00:03:41.270 --> 00:03:44.310 it over with the experts. The Ham Station, proud 00:03:44.310 --> 00:03:48.129 to sponsor this episode of Ham Talk Live. If 00:03:48.129 --> 00:03:52.250 Denny's is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, 00:03:52.710 --> 00:03:55.750 why are there locks on the doors? Now, here's 00:03:55.750 --> 00:04:09.979 Neil Rapp with more Ham Talk Live. Welcome back 00:04:09.979 --> 00:04:15.699 to HamTalk Live. Hey, the HamStation. Got Kenwood, 00:04:15.800 --> 00:04:18.860 Icom, Yezu, you name it, they've got it. New 00:04:18.860 --> 00:04:21.699 equipment, used equipment, give Dan or Jeff a 00:04:21.699 --> 00:04:28.120 call at 800 -729 -4373 or you can visit them 00:04:28.120 --> 00:04:32.199 online at hamstation .com. Tell them you heard 00:04:32.199 --> 00:04:35.160 it on HamTalk Live. We're on the air every Thursday 00:04:35.160 --> 00:04:38.360 night at 9 p .m. Eastern time. Right here at 00:04:38.360 --> 00:04:43.000 HamTalkLive .com and if you missed the show Why 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:46.980 we're on those podcasts so you can catch us on 00:04:46.980 --> 00:04:52.300 your favorite podcast app Dave Given's K5RSI 00:04:52.300 --> 00:04:58.540 was first licensed as KN5RSI back in July 1958. 00:04:59.019 --> 00:05:01.779 He upgraded to conditional a year later with 00:05:01.779 --> 00:05:06.199 the call sign changed to K5RSI. After earning 00:05:06.199 --> 00:05:09.699 a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering 00:05:09.699 --> 00:05:14.500 from Mississippi State, In 1964 he briefly held 00:05:14.500 --> 00:05:19.519 the call signed W4PFK in Gadsden, Alabama from 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:24.959 1966 to 1969 and then went back to his current 00:05:24.959 --> 00:05:29.480 call K5RSI when he went to advanced class and 00:05:29.480 --> 00:05:34.040 finally extra in 1975. Dave has served as the 00:05:34.040 --> 00:05:36.660 flea market chairman of the Huntsville Hamfest 00:05:36.660 --> 00:05:40.680 for many years. before relinquishing that responsibility 00:05:40.680 --> 00:05:45.259 to assist the chairman. And with the chairman 00:05:45.259 --> 00:05:48.500 becoming silent key, David stepped in to be this 00:05:48.500 --> 00:05:52.600 year's chairman. So Dave, welcome to Hand Talk 00:05:52.600 --> 00:05:57.439 Live. Yeah, thanks for having me, Neil. Yeah, 00:05:57.480 --> 00:06:00.839 well, it's hard to think about the Huntsville 00:06:00.839 --> 00:06:05.199 Hand Fest without talking about the former chairman 00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:09.459 Charlie Emerson in for OKL who was the chairman 00:06:09.459 --> 00:06:12.639 for the last several years and was on the show 00:06:12.639 --> 00:06:15.680 with us last year and he became a silent key 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:22.040 in January and I had the honor of doing one of 00:06:22.040 --> 00:06:25.439 the stories bearing that sad news for amateur 00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:29.680 radio news line along with Don Wilbanks, 85DW 00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:34.699 and so Before we get started in the Hamfest, 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:37.439 let's take a couple of minutes. Just tell me 00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:40.879 a little bit about what Charlie meant to you 00:06:40.879 --> 00:06:46.000 and to the Hamfest. Well, Charlie was a unique 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:50.160 person. He had the gift of gab like you wouldn't 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:53.620 believe. And if you got to know him, you had 00:06:53.620 --> 00:06:58.480 a friend for life. He could really roll on the 00:06:58.480 --> 00:07:02.399 BS. and just get people to feel good about themselves. 00:07:03.980 --> 00:07:06.220 And having a ham fest, and especially during 00:07:06.220 --> 00:07:09.439 move in and move out, you know, tense situations 00:07:09.439 --> 00:07:14.620 always arise. And Charlie was the best I have 00:07:14.620 --> 00:07:19.199 ever seen in defusing tense situations with just 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:22.839 a few kind of words. And he was just that sort 00:07:22.839 --> 00:07:27.399 of person. He loved the hustle ham fest, although 00:07:27.399 --> 00:07:30.879 when he got started, he wasn't so sure. I'll 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:34.819 tell you a little story about that. When he retired, 00:07:35.259 --> 00:07:38.620 he took a job down at civic center, just kind 00:07:38.620 --> 00:07:40.620 of as a part time to have a little play money. 00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:46.100 And he happened to be on duty the weekend. I 00:07:46.100 --> 00:07:50.500 guess it must've been back in around 2000 or 00:07:50.500 --> 00:07:55.100 1999. He was on duty when we were having a ham 00:07:55.100 --> 00:07:57.899 fest. And he became very interested in it and 00:07:57.899 --> 00:08:00.100 wanted to know what all was going on. And at 00:08:00.100 --> 00:08:02.600 that time, I'm not sure he actually had his license 00:08:02.600 --> 00:08:05.459 or not. I know he worked CB for quite a while 00:08:05.459 --> 00:08:10.139 before that. Anyway, our chairman noticed his 00:08:10.139 --> 00:08:13.720 interest and he latched on to Charlie right away. 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:17.819 And Charlie began helping us with the ham fest. 00:08:17.980 --> 00:08:20.480 He assisted the chairman and learned the ropes 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:25.949 as things went along. And then in 2000, And nine, 00:08:26.949 --> 00:08:30.110 the original chairman passed away. And so Charlie 00:08:30.110 --> 00:08:34.009 took it on his own and he had it by himself. 00:08:34.149 --> 00:08:38.710 But by that time, he knew all the ropes. And 00:08:38.710 --> 00:08:41.830 just from his personality, he visited a lot of 00:08:41.830 --> 00:08:45.830 other hamfests. He could talk to you about anything. 00:08:46.529 --> 00:08:48.509 I teased him a lot, saying that he could talk 00:08:48.509 --> 00:08:50.509 more than anybody I've ever heard and not seen. 00:08:52.090 --> 00:08:56.559 But that was the way he was. And everybody liked 00:08:56.559 --> 00:09:00.360 that. So he really helped the ham fest and he 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:03.960 helped put us on a spur of growth that we've 00:09:03.960 --> 00:09:09.279 grown to what we are today. Right now the attendance 00:09:09.279 --> 00:09:14.200 runs between five and six thousand. Closer to 00:09:14.200 --> 00:09:18.820 six thousand because I bought six thousand buttons 00:09:18.820 --> 00:09:21.220 this year and we don't expect to have any left 00:09:21.220 --> 00:09:27.139 over. But Charlie was one of a kind and we're 00:09:27.139 --> 00:09:33.500 gonna miss him. I just hope he guides us as we 00:09:33.500 --> 00:09:38.759 go on and I know I'll think about him every day. 00:09:39.779 --> 00:09:43.340 I'm sure that a lot of the things that he put 00:09:43.340 --> 00:09:50.019 in place there at the Hamfest and in the Huntsville 00:09:50.019 --> 00:09:58.029 area will remain going for quite some time and 00:09:58.029 --> 00:10:02.190 I always enjoyed talking to him and being able 00:10:02.190 --> 00:10:05.850 to have him on this show and talk about what 00:10:05.850 --> 00:10:10.509 was coming up was always a fun thing to do and 00:10:10.509 --> 00:10:14.009 so we're looking forward to this year's HamFest 00:10:14.009 --> 00:10:19.250 and so now that Charlie's gone you've got a team 00:10:19.250 --> 00:10:25.120 working hard to make that legacy continue. So 00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:28.120 tell us about some of those changes that have 00:10:28.120 --> 00:10:32.820 taken place and some of the new things that we'll 00:10:32.820 --> 00:10:39.440 be seeing this year at Huntsville. Well, when 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:45.600 Charlie passed, me and Art Davis realized that 00:10:45.600 --> 00:10:48.759 it was up to us to put the show on. See, Art 00:10:48.759 --> 00:10:53.519 and I started about and back in early 80s. He 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:58.139 always did the dealer show and I always did the 00:10:58.139 --> 00:11:03.639 front. So that's what, like I told you earlier, 00:11:05.279 --> 00:11:09.159 it's been a trail of discovery for me to find 00:11:09.159 --> 00:11:12.360 out just what all had to be done, stuff that 00:11:12.360 --> 00:11:15.679 I'd not normally have been associated with. So 00:11:15.679 --> 00:11:18.919 I've been very busy. Arts is still handling the 00:11:18.919 --> 00:11:22.000 dealers. And Art always did the dealer layout, 00:11:22.580 --> 00:11:24.820 or for that matter, he did the home show layout, 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:27.740 the dealers and the flea market. So he's just 00:11:27.740 --> 00:11:34.320 continuing in that role. But we decided that 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:37.320 Charlie was doing way too much stuff on his own, 00:11:37.759 --> 00:11:42.379 or not on his own, but by himself. And so what 00:11:42.379 --> 00:11:46.179 we decided to do, we're trying to cultivate a 00:11:46.179 --> 00:11:48.769 new chairman. We got a guy on board. He was very 00:11:48.769 --> 00:11:52.470 gung -ho. He was a lot younger than we are. And 00:11:52.470 --> 00:11:56.029 he just wants to put on a good hand vest. And 00:11:56.029 --> 00:11:59.289 that's what everybody's goal was. And I think 00:11:59.289 --> 00:12:02.230 that's why we work so good together. But we're 00:12:02.230 --> 00:12:05.149 bringing him on board. We sent him to Dayton 00:12:05.149 --> 00:12:08.950 and to Orlando this year to be our spokesman. 00:12:09.549 --> 00:12:11.389 See, that's where a lot of people saw Charlie. 00:12:11.470 --> 00:12:15.480 He would always go down to Orlando. press the 00:12:15.480 --> 00:12:17.940 flesh with all the dealers and whoever he could 00:12:17.940 --> 00:12:20.879 talk to and he did the same thing at Dayton. 00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:24.059 And the guy we're bringing on board witnessed 00:12:24.059 --> 00:12:26.740 all that so he knows what the routine is and 00:12:26.740 --> 00:12:29.860 he's wanting to get involved in it so we're going 00:12:29.860 --> 00:12:33.240 to take him as his word. But we're also going 00:12:33.240 --> 00:12:35.759 to encourage him to spread some of the workout 00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:40.960 and not have one person doing all the mailing 00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:48.059 and the printing. and the finances and the dealers 00:12:48.059 --> 00:12:52.200 and stuff like that. And so we're going to spread 00:12:52.200 --> 00:12:55.919 that out and hopefully make it a little bit easier. 00:12:56.940 --> 00:13:00.620 See, I'm not getting any older and that's the 00:13:00.620 --> 00:13:03.379 reason I turned the flea market over to a younger 00:13:03.379 --> 00:13:07.059 person. I really did it to give Charlie a hand 00:13:07.059 --> 00:13:10.580 because at that time he was having some back 00:13:10.580 --> 00:13:12.159 problems and I was afraid he was going to wind 00:13:12.159 --> 00:13:16.690 up in a wheelchair. So by 2016, I had handed 00:13:16.690 --> 00:13:19.629 the flea market off to another fellow, and I 00:13:19.629 --> 00:13:23.110 helped Charlie last year. Lo and behold, I didn't 00:13:23.110 --> 00:13:27.029 know it was going to end this way. But we're 00:13:27.029 --> 00:13:29.389 going to have a ham fest. We don't plan on changing 00:13:29.389 --> 00:13:32.429 anything. We're trying very, very hard to keep 00:13:32.429 --> 00:13:35.230 everything the same. We don't want to surprise 00:13:35.230 --> 00:13:38.870 people. You know, when you make major changes, 00:13:39.269 --> 00:13:42.970 it's when people see that, And they're always 00:13:42.970 --> 00:13:46.950 used to being one way. And they say, oh, something's 00:13:46.950 --> 00:13:49.769 changed. Maybe they're going downhill, and word 00:13:49.769 --> 00:13:51.950 will spread like wildfire. And we don't want 00:13:51.950 --> 00:13:56.070 that to happen. It will. It will, whether it's 00:13:56.070 --> 00:14:03.830 true or not. Right. So we plan on keeping everything 00:14:03.830 --> 00:14:07.549 the same. And any changes that will be made will 00:14:07.549 --> 00:14:09.809 be behind the scenes that the public wants to 00:14:09.809 --> 00:14:13.080 see. Although we may make some improvements at 00:14:13.080 --> 00:14:14.740 the public, we'll see, and we're looking for 00:14:14.740 --> 00:14:18.279 that, too. We've got plenty of space in that 00:14:18.279 --> 00:14:21.799 civic center to expand. We could almost double 00:14:21.799 --> 00:14:25.200 the size of the ham fed. The only thing we're 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:29.059 fighting now is rising costs. You know, everything's 00:14:29.059 --> 00:14:33.240 going up. And there's been more demand on the 00:14:33.240 --> 00:14:37.840 civic center for more and more conventions. And 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:43.539 we've been... We've been fighting off groups 00:14:43.539 --> 00:14:46.740 anywhere from these civil groups all the way 00:14:46.740 --> 00:14:53.279 from the Army. The Army is a big presence in 00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:56.200 this town, and whenever they want something, 00:14:56.440 --> 00:15:01.179 they pretty well get it. Up until this year, 00:15:01.299 --> 00:15:04.600 there's always been a missile and space defense 00:15:04.600 --> 00:15:08.669 program down there. they were moving out on Friday 00:15:08.669 --> 00:15:10.769 while we were trying to move in on Friday and 00:15:10.769 --> 00:15:13.490 you can and they were using the same space that 00:15:13.490 --> 00:15:17.750 we're we are moving into so you can imagine the 00:15:17.750 --> 00:15:21.470 conflict and the congestion but this year they're 00:15:21.470 --> 00:15:23.470 not doing it this year they've already had their 00:15:23.470 --> 00:15:26.669 program and I hope they choose that weekend or 00:15:26.669 --> 00:15:30.049 that time rather than the weekend right before 00:15:30.049 --> 00:15:34.230 I or the week right before I am fit so we are 00:15:35.669 --> 00:15:40.250 We're looking for a big year, and we just hope 00:15:40.250 --> 00:15:43.750 that this coming eclipse is not going to hurt 00:15:43.750 --> 00:15:49.710 us too bad. I know the forum chairman said that 00:15:49.710 --> 00:15:52.330 some of the big forum presenters are not coming 00:15:52.330 --> 00:15:54.750 this year because of their involvement with the 00:15:54.750 --> 00:15:56.830 solar eclipse. And, of course, they're going 00:15:56.830 --> 00:15:59.049 to have totality right up here in Nashville, 00:15:59.669 --> 00:16:04.970 which is only 90 miles away. So a lot of them 00:16:04.970 --> 00:16:07.649 are not coming to our fest this year, I guess, 00:16:07.710 --> 00:16:10.590 you know, to get ready for that. Yeah, Eclipse 00:16:10.590 --> 00:16:15.490 Mania is definitely hit, but that's not until 00:16:15.490 --> 00:16:19.610 Monday. So we've got time to get to the ham fest 00:16:19.610 --> 00:16:25.129 and get home and then partake in the eclipse 00:16:25.129 --> 00:16:30.070 and maybe even the QSO party after the ham fest 00:16:30.070 --> 00:16:34.100 is over. Uh, plenty of opportunities there and 00:16:34.100 --> 00:16:38.460 yeah, I hope, uh, hope the, uh, um, scheduling 00:16:38.460 --> 00:16:41.759 at the Vaughn Braun center is, is, uh, better, 00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:45.440 uh, with that other group moving and the Vaughn 00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:49.340 Braun center is, is, is something that's very 00:16:49.340 --> 00:16:52.240 unique. And we were talking before the show, 00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:55.980 um, that, you know, I used to run a small ham 00:16:55.980 --> 00:16:58.879 fest down in, uh, Evansville, Indiana at about 00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:04.400 500 people. um and you know the facility was 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:08.660 always the issue was trying to find a facility 00:17:08.660 --> 00:17:11.460 that was affordable but yet big enough and had 00:17:11.460 --> 00:17:16.220 enough access and and everything at Huntsville 00:17:16.220 --> 00:17:20.640 uh just works so smoothly um in the Vaughan Braun 00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:23.220 Center because you've got the the parking right 00:17:23.220 --> 00:17:27.299 underneath you've got Uh, plenty of room, plenty 00:17:27.299 --> 00:17:31.220 of facilities. It's well maintained. And, um, 00:17:31.240 --> 00:17:33.599 and like you said, there's, there's room for 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:37.339 growth. And that's something that a lot of ham 00:17:37.339 --> 00:17:41.480 fest don't have is they don't have room for growth 00:17:41.480 --> 00:17:46.500 given what they can afford. And I've just been 00:17:46.500 --> 00:17:50.509 always so impressed with. the Vaughan Braun Center 00:17:50.509 --> 00:17:57.589 and how that really makes a good hamfest. Well 00:17:57.589 --> 00:17:59.589 let me tell you a funny story about the Vaughan 00:17:59.589 --> 00:18:07.730 Braun Center, Neil. That place has beaucoup of 00:18:07.730 --> 00:18:10.450 floor space and they can have like four or five 00:18:10.450 --> 00:18:16.690 major events on the same day. But a few years 00:18:16.690 --> 00:18:21.880 ago, We were sitting down with the defense chairman 00:18:21.880 --> 00:18:27.059 and planning the ham fest and talking about this, 00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:31.660 that, and the other. And we were discussing cost. 00:18:33.220 --> 00:18:34.900 And the event coordinator said, well, let me 00:18:34.900 --> 00:18:39.259 tell you something, says Boeing has a big contingency 00:18:39.259 --> 00:18:42.799 of folks here. They do work out on the arsenal 00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:49.059 for the Army and for NASA. The event coordinator 00:18:49.059 --> 00:18:53.180 at the BBC said that Boeing wanted to put on 00:18:53.180 --> 00:18:58.700 some military hardware show and that they had 00:18:58.700 --> 00:19:04.319 sent their event coordinator from Seattle down 00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:08.680 to Huntsville to make plans and talk with the 00:19:08.680 --> 00:19:13.380 Civic Center and make plans for the show and 00:19:13.380 --> 00:19:16.400 to see what the Civic Center here could provide. 00:19:16.680 --> 00:19:21.759 so forth and so on. And the BBC coordinator said 00:19:21.759 --> 00:19:27.519 that they got down to security. And the Boeing 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:32.579 guy asked how much for an armed security guard. 00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:38.539 And the BBC guy said, well, it'll be this much. 00:19:39.700 --> 00:19:43.099 And the Boeing guy asked him that much for one 00:19:43.099 --> 00:19:47.670 guard. He said, yes. the Boeing guy said well 00:19:47.670 --> 00:19:53.210 in that case I'll have 40 and The BBC event coordinator 00:19:53.210 --> 00:19:55.950 said I got the idea right then that we weren't 00:19:55.950 --> 00:20:02.109 charging No boy being a big company like they 00:20:02.109 --> 00:20:04.390 are they had fixed budgets for these kinds of 00:20:04.390 --> 00:20:08.269 show and that guy had to spend the budget Although 00:20:08.269 --> 00:20:12.009 our next year may not have enough so he signed 00:20:12.009 --> 00:20:17.079 up for 40 40 security guards. I've looked in 00:20:17.079 --> 00:20:20.799 one every 10 feet. Let's see, that's the problem. 00:20:21.019 --> 00:20:24.339 The Civic Center has got an idea now that their 00:20:24.339 --> 00:20:26.640 space is worth more. Of course, Huntsville is 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:30.539 growing like crazy. There's metropolitan area 00:20:30.539 --> 00:20:34.000 now. They're supposed to have many people. And 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:36.539 we've got all these aerospace and all these military 00:20:36.539 --> 00:20:39.579 companies down here. It's getting to the point 00:20:39.579 --> 00:20:42.599 where just about every weekend, and even during 00:20:42.599 --> 00:20:45.460 the week, there's some event going on down there. 00:20:45.940 --> 00:20:49.000 So we're having to compete with that. We've hung 00:20:49.000 --> 00:20:52.200 on to our weekend. It's always the third full 00:20:52.200 --> 00:20:55.160 weekend in August. And it's been that ever since 00:20:55.160 --> 00:20:58.900 day one. And so far, we've been able to hang 00:20:58.900 --> 00:21:02.859 on to that weekend. It's our opinion that to 00:21:02.859 --> 00:21:06.279 have a good Hanfest, you have to have one good 00:21:06.279 --> 00:21:09.869 date. that you don't compete with a lot of people, 00:21:10.250 --> 00:21:13.529 and you have to have a good space to do it in. 00:21:15.509 --> 00:21:17.329 When I was doing the flea market, I would get 00:21:17.329 --> 00:21:19.750 a lot of calls from people saying, well, y 'all 00:21:19.750 --> 00:21:22.730 don't have any boneyard. I said, no, it's all 00:21:22.730 --> 00:21:25.309 inside an air -conditioned comfort. You drive 00:21:25.309 --> 00:21:28.170 in and unload, and then when it's over, you drive 00:21:28.170 --> 00:21:31.930 in and load out. He said, well, but y 'all ought 00:21:31.930 --> 00:21:34.049 to have some outside boneyard. I asked him, I 00:21:34.049 --> 00:21:35.789 said, well, have you ever been to Alabama in 00:21:35.789 --> 00:21:41.190 August? A lot of those people say, well, now 00:21:41.190 --> 00:21:47.950 I have. Now you know why it's all inside. So 00:21:47.950 --> 00:21:49.549 when they get out in here, they appreciate the 00:21:49.549 --> 00:21:51.410 air -conditioned comfort that the whole show 00:21:51.410 --> 00:21:57.390 is in. Yeah, it's a really, really great facility 00:21:57.390 --> 00:22:01.430 and being able to just walk across the walkway 00:22:01.430 --> 00:22:06.539 over to The hotel and then a couple other hotels 00:22:06.539 --> 00:22:13.559 nearby just Just a real real nice way to go to 00:22:13.559 --> 00:22:17.660 a ham fest and you can easily stash your stuff 00:22:17.660 --> 00:22:21.599 in the hotel room and run back and get more and 00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:25.279 I've always really enjoyed that. That's something 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:29.839 that I don't know of any other ham fest that 00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:33.519 has that kind of close accessibility to lodging. 00:22:35.450 --> 00:22:39.130 It really is like what you said, you know, you 00:22:39.130 --> 00:22:41.589 got to have a good date where you're not competing 00:22:41.589 --> 00:22:44.049 with other places. You got to have a good space 00:22:44.049 --> 00:22:50.049 and you've got both of those. And so that's the 00:22:50.049 --> 00:22:52.809 reason I think, you know, that it's worked as 00:22:52.809 --> 00:22:56.750 well as some really hardworking volunteers and 00:22:56.750 --> 00:23:00.119 friendly faces down there. that helped put it 00:23:00.119 --> 00:23:02.319 on. Well, we're going to take some calls here 00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:04.180 in a little bit. But one other thing we want 00:23:04.180 --> 00:23:08.079 to talk about here are the forums. You mentioned 00:23:08.079 --> 00:23:13.079 that some of the familiar faces may not be available 00:23:13.079 --> 00:23:16.559 this year with all the Eclipse stuff going on. 00:23:17.079 --> 00:23:19.599 But in looking at your list of forums, you've 00:23:19.599 --> 00:23:25.480 still got a pretty impressive list of forum opportunities 00:23:25.480 --> 00:23:32.200 there. To participate in and you still got some 00:23:32.200 --> 00:23:34.980 some pretty good names coming in So tell us a 00:23:34.980 --> 00:23:37.440 little bit about the forums here before we take 00:23:37.440 --> 00:23:44.319 a break Well Since I don't work the forums Tom 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:47.839 Duncan is the one who's been doing that I really 00:23:47.839 --> 00:23:53.519 can't speak too much to the form content and 00:23:54.539 --> 00:23:56.900 I'm basically going to have to read them off 00:23:56.900 --> 00:24:03.859 the website as we have them posted. I know that 00:24:03.859 --> 00:24:09.839 the list is posted on our website at HamFest 00:24:09.839 --> 00:24:17.599 .org. And because of this eclipse, some of the 00:24:17.599 --> 00:24:20.160 big forum presenters are not going to be here. 00:24:20.700 --> 00:24:25.430 So that's going to cut our forum. down to Saturday 00:24:25.430 --> 00:24:29.289 only. But you're right, there are some big names 00:24:29.289 --> 00:24:35.809 here that give forums. One of the forum presenters 00:24:35.809 --> 00:24:39.910 I know personally, he's a local guy. It's Dr. 00:24:40.109 --> 00:24:43.549 Monty Bateman. He's also a ham, and I have lunch 00:24:43.549 --> 00:24:47.369 with him just about every Tuesday. He's a climate 00:24:47.369 --> 00:24:51.150 scientist that works for, or works in conjunction 00:24:51.150 --> 00:24:53.210 with the University of Alabama in Huntsville. 00:24:54.810 --> 00:24:59.410 And he works closely with Dr. Christie, whose 00:24:59.410 --> 00:25:03.430 name you've probably heard of before. He's been 00:25:03.430 --> 00:25:08.029 quoted a lot in the national media about global 00:25:08.029 --> 00:25:12.609 warming and that sort of thing. But Dr. Bateman, 00:25:12.890 --> 00:25:15.230 he always gives a good program on grounding. 00:25:16.410 --> 00:25:19.289 And he's going to be there again this year to 00:25:19.289 --> 00:25:26.789 do the same thing. Some of the other ones here 00:25:26.789 --> 00:25:32.190 Well, you can take a look a look at the listing 00:25:32.190 --> 00:25:35.450 here and yeah lightning protection for radio 00:25:35.450 --> 00:25:40.009 amateurs by dr. Money Bateman That that form 00:25:40.009 --> 00:25:42.609 is always a hit. It's it's standing room only 00:25:42.609 --> 00:25:48.529 and Then he's also give gonna give some form 00:25:48.529 --> 00:25:54.000 about lightning research NASA's Marshall Space 00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:58.400 Flight Center. And those are all good forums. 00:25:59.779 --> 00:26:05.539 There's going to be some DSTAR and then AMSAT 00:26:05.539 --> 00:26:11.299 forums. And I see one here, amateur radio balloon 00:26:11.299 --> 00:26:13.220 goes around the world. That ought to be interesting. 00:26:15.240 --> 00:26:18.759 But yeah, we pride ourselves in having a good 00:26:18.759 --> 00:26:23.140 forum session. And a lot of people come just 00:26:23.140 --> 00:26:27.740 for that. And we try to grow that as much as 00:26:27.740 --> 00:26:30.740 we can. Unfortunately, the totality put a little 00:26:30.740 --> 00:26:33.519 crimp in our get -along this year, but we'll 00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:38.240 be back strong as ever next year. Still plenty 00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:42.640 of good opportunities there and look forward 00:26:42.640 --> 00:26:47.509 to seeing some of those. Well, we're gonna open 00:26:47.509 --> 00:26:49.970 up the phone lines here in just a moment and 00:26:49.970 --> 00:26:53.490 I see we've got Got one trying already here. 00:26:53.490 --> 00:26:56.869 So we're gonna take a break and then when we 00:26:56.869 --> 00:26:59.910 come back we'll open up the lines and See if 00:26:59.910 --> 00:27:03.329 we've got Some people that want to talk Huntsville 00:27:03.329 --> 00:27:07.210 ham fest here tonight But first let's listen 00:27:07.210 --> 00:27:09.930 to this message from one of the vendors that 00:27:09.930 --> 00:27:12.109 will be at the Huntsville ham fest It's tower 00:27:12.109 --> 00:27:15.599 electronics right here on ham talk live This 00:27:15.599 --> 00:27:17.880 episode of HamTalk Live is brought to you in 00:27:17.880 --> 00:27:21.049 part by Tower Electronics. Tower Electronics 00:27:21.049 --> 00:27:24.269 has been the Ham's Dime Store since 1978. When 00:27:24.269 --> 00:27:27.009 you need connectors, mobile and handheld antennas, 00:27:27.269 --> 00:27:30.450 cables, or adapters, visit Scott or Jill at a 00:27:30.450 --> 00:27:33.769 HamFest near you. Or you can order online at 00:27:33.769 --> 00:27:41.549 PL -259 .com or call 920 -435 -2973. Stock up 00:27:41.549 --> 00:27:44.750 on those supplies like PL -259 and end connectors, 00:27:45.190 --> 00:27:48.369 SMA adapters, audio cables, soldering supplies, 00:27:48.589 --> 00:27:51.369 mobile antennas, and hamsticks. Their silver 00:27:51.369 --> 00:27:54.269 plated end connectors are even used on the International 00:27:54.269 --> 00:27:57.589 Space Station. Tower Electronics carries MFJ, 00:27:57.829 --> 00:28:01.930 Comet, Daiwa, OPEC, Workman, and HamPro products. 00:28:02.170 --> 00:28:05.730 And don't miss their 0 % off sale going on now. 00:28:06.009 --> 00:28:10.329 Tower Electronics online at PL -259 .com. Proud 00:28:10.329 --> 00:28:14.460 to sponsor this episode of HamTalk Live. The 00:28:14.460 --> 00:28:18.740 only thing I have on is HamTalk Live with Neil 00:28:18.740 --> 00:28:23.900 Rapp. Join the conversation. Call us on voice 00:28:23.900 --> 00:28:26.980 with Skype at HamTalk Live or give us a call 00:28:26.980 --> 00:28:34.000 at 812 -NET -HAM -1. That's 812 -638 -4261. Now, 00:28:34.039 --> 00:28:38.000 here's more HamTalk Live. Thanks once again to 00:28:38.000 --> 00:28:40.740 Scott and Jill at Tower Electronics for sponsoring 00:28:40.740 --> 00:28:43.819 the show tonight to help bring you HamTalk Live. 00:28:43.940 --> 00:28:46.119 Well, they'll be in Huntington, West Virginia 00:28:46.119 --> 00:28:49.880 on Saturday, and then they'll be at Huntsville. 00:28:49.880 --> 00:28:53.059 It's August 19th and 20th, and then in Shelby, 00:28:53.240 --> 00:28:57.220 North Carolina, September 1st, 2nd and 3rd. And 00:28:57.220 --> 00:28:59.599 if you're not at any of those, you can call them 00:28:59.599 --> 00:29:05.660 at 920 -435 -2973 or visit them online at pl 00:29:05.660 --> 00:29:09.740 -2. 559 .com and tell them you heard it on HamTalk 00:29:09.740 --> 00:29:12.220 Live. Looking forward to seeing Scott and Jill 00:29:12.220 --> 00:29:16.819 here down in Huntsville soon. So it's time for 00:29:16.819 --> 00:29:19.619 your calls now. So if you have a question for 00:29:19.619 --> 00:29:22.759 Dave, give us a call. That number to call is 00:29:22.759 --> 00:29:30.400 812 -638 -4261. 812, that spells out Net Ham 00:29:30.400 --> 00:29:35.750 One. Or you can Skype us. Skype name is HamTalk 00:29:35.750 --> 00:29:40.430 Live or you can tweet us at HamTalk Live as well. 00:29:40.430 --> 00:29:45.049 And we do have a phone call. So welcome to HamTalk 00:29:45.049 --> 00:29:49.210 Live. Who is this? Hi, this is Mark Brown in 00:29:49.210 --> 00:29:52.829 for BCD also with the Huntsville Hamfest. Hi 00:29:52.829 --> 00:29:57.269 Mark. Thanks for calling in and I believe you've 00:29:57.269 --> 00:30:00.769 got a little bit to comment on here with some 00:30:00.769 --> 00:30:04.049 of the forums and some of the stuff, so tell 00:30:04.049 --> 00:30:08.289 us a little more about Huntsville. Yeah, Neil, 00:30:08.609 --> 00:30:12.309 thanks for taking my call. Yeah, like Dave said, 00:30:12.589 --> 00:30:14.789 it's a great collection of forums, and it's a 00:30:14.789 --> 00:30:18.190 varied collection of forums. Not just technical, 00:30:18.529 --> 00:30:21.190 but there's no one right way to do this hobby. 00:30:21.549 --> 00:30:26.009 There's VHF, there's HF, there's balloon launches. 00:30:26.650 --> 00:30:30.990 We've got a program on balloon launches, WB8ELK, 00:30:31.029 --> 00:30:34.869 Bill Brown Relation. He's been published in QST. 00:30:35.309 --> 00:30:38.789 He'll be doing a forum Saturday afternoon. There's 00:30:38.789 --> 00:30:43.410 forums on D -Star, the Yesu system. uh... portable 00:30:43.410 --> 00:30:46.049 operation and of course the a double r l uh... 00:30:46.049 --> 00:30:48.930 does their forms up on the section level and 00:30:48.930 --> 00:30:50.910 uh... i think next year will be uh... division 00:30:50.910 --> 00:30:53.170 level but uh... you have the forms are great 00:30:53.170 --> 00:30:56.329 collection of stuff and one mention to uh... 00:30:56.329 --> 00:30:58.549 the d x bank with its uh... saturday night we're 00:30:58.549 --> 00:31:01.150 having bob often over from uh... from georgia 00:31:01.150 --> 00:31:03.529 talking about the challenges of the group of 00:31:03.529 --> 00:31:06.690 a island uh... but that uh... that uh... a banquet 00:31:06.690 --> 00:31:09.130 for the first time ever is sold out this year 00:31:09.130 --> 00:31:11.650 so a lot of interest uh... in his uh... in his 00:31:11.650 --> 00:31:14.509 talk We're very excited about the weekend and 00:31:14.509 --> 00:31:16.309 I hope you can join us at the Huntsville Hanfest. 00:31:16.589 --> 00:31:19.349 Thanks, Neil. Yeah, thanks Mark for calling in. 00:31:19.430 --> 00:31:22.190 And yeah, I didn't realize Bob was coming. So 00:31:22.190 --> 00:31:25.390 that'll be good. And Bouvier's getting ramped 00:31:25.390 --> 00:31:27.349 up here. That's going to happen before you know 00:31:27.349 --> 00:31:32.029 it. And lots of news coming from that team. So 00:31:32.029 --> 00:31:35.630 that'll be a great thing on Saturday evening. 00:31:35.869 --> 00:31:38.089 So thanks for calling in, Mark. Really appreciate 00:31:38.089 --> 00:31:44.329 it. And we'll see you here in about a week. See 00:31:44.329 --> 00:31:47.309 you in about a week. Bye bye. All right and we 00:31:47.309 --> 00:31:50.230 have another call and it is the man himself. 00:31:50.390 --> 00:31:55.130 Good evening Mr. Scott Cole. How you doing Neil 00:31:55.130 --> 00:31:57.529 and special greetings today. Glad to hear you 00:31:57.529 --> 00:32:00.049 on tonight. Hope you guys are doing all right 00:32:00.049 --> 00:32:03.329 and getting all rested up for the calm before 00:32:03.329 --> 00:32:08.589 the storm so to speak. Yeah Scott, good to hear 00:32:08.589 --> 00:32:14.440 you. I just wanted to say that we don't have 00:32:14.440 --> 00:32:16.220 any inhibitions about saying you're going to 00:32:16.220 --> 00:32:20.180 be able to fill the shoes of the chairman because 00:32:20.180 --> 00:32:24.200 the person that previously ran this learn from 00:32:24.200 --> 00:32:26.660 the best and you were great and instrumental 00:32:26.660 --> 00:32:28.920 in helping them and I have no doubt things are 00:32:28.920 --> 00:32:31.319 going to go well this year. And I just wanted 00:32:31.319 --> 00:32:35.440 to, I always wanted to ask and now that I got 00:32:35.440 --> 00:32:37.769 you on here, this is a good time. You guys have 00:32:37.769 --> 00:32:40.150 like a super pep rally or something for all the 00:32:40.150 --> 00:32:41.829 helpers that they're in such a good mood when 00:32:41.829 --> 00:32:44.029 we get there because it's the only thing that 00:32:44.029 --> 00:32:45.910 the guy that's standing outside in the sun all 00:32:45.910 --> 00:32:48.450 day directing traffic is just as happy and jolly 00:32:48.450 --> 00:32:50.730 at the beginning of the day as he is at the end 00:32:50.730 --> 00:32:55.650 of the day. Yeah, we're very lucky, Scott, and 00:32:55.650 --> 00:32:59.490 that we picked a good group. We drill into them 00:32:59.490 --> 00:33:05.849 that always smile, never a crossword. Help anybody 00:33:05.849 --> 00:33:09.869 with anything they can and we tell our guests 00:33:09.869 --> 00:33:13.089 that We're here to have you make sure you have 00:33:13.089 --> 00:33:16.990 a good time if you do have a good time Tell all 00:33:16.990 --> 00:33:19.869 your friends, but if you have a problem tell 00:33:19.869 --> 00:33:26.529 us And we'll try to straighten it out. I Congratulate 00:33:26.529 --> 00:33:30.099 you guys have always done just that I always 00:33:30.099 --> 00:33:32.700 put on a real high quality show without a doubt 00:33:32.700 --> 00:33:34.420 one of the best in the country that I've ever 00:33:34.420 --> 00:33:38.539 been to. And my hat's off to you guys and your 00:33:38.539 --> 00:33:41.619 entire staff. Everybody's got a great disposition. 00:33:41.960 --> 00:33:44.680 Everybody's there to help. And everybody has 00:33:44.680 --> 00:33:47.160 a good time. And you've got things well planned. 00:33:47.259 --> 00:33:49.700 And it's always a great time when we're up there 00:33:49.700 --> 00:33:51.119 for that show, even though we're working our 00:33:51.119 --> 00:33:53.500 butts off all weekend long. But I just wanted 00:33:53.500 --> 00:33:58.079 to say, we've got your backside. Things will 00:33:58.079 --> 00:34:01.200 go well, and we appreciate everything that you're 00:34:01.200 --> 00:34:03.519 doing, and thanks for everything that you guys 00:34:03.519 --> 00:34:07.819 are doing. Well, I thank Scott, and we appreciate 00:34:07.819 --> 00:34:12.599 those words. We looked to have a good prize lineup 00:34:12.599 --> 00:34:18.800 this year. We worked with the embassy next door 00:34:18.800 --> 00:34:22.340 to set aside a block of rooms that get a special 00:34:22.340 --> 00:34:26.690 ham fest rate, and that block was sold out. by 00:34:26.690 --> 00:34:31.570 May the 1st this year. And we've constantly been 00:34:31.570 --> 00:34:38.250 having to get them to add some more rooms to 00:34:38.250 --> 00:34:41.489 our block. So I don't know how many will eventually 00:34:41.489 --> 00:34:45.849 fill up. But you're talking about the situation 00:34:45.849 --> 00:34:49.150 with the embassy suite right next door to the 00:34:49.150 --> 00:34:51.750 civic center. And we've had more than one of 00:34:51.750 --> 00:34:55.380 our dealers tell us That they really like the 00:34:55.380 --> 00:34:58.460 situation because the day of the ham fest they 00:34:58.460 --> 00:35:01.360 get up get the clothes on walk downstairs to 00:35:01.360 --> 00:35:03.699 the ham fest You don't have to fill with a car. 00:35:03.699 --> 00:35:05.380 You don't have to worry about parking. You don't 00:35:05.380 --> 00:35:09.659 have to worry about driving anywhere and A lot 00:35:09.659 --> 00:35:12.079 of those dealers really like that and I'm sure 00:35:12.079 --> 00:35:14.739 some of the flea market folks do that very well 00:35:14.739 --> 00:35:19.139 also They're planning an expansion to that civic 00:35:19.139 --> 00:35:22.429 center And we don't know how that's going to 00:35:22.429 --> 00:35:27.889 impact us, but we hope it will expand our capability 00:35:27.889 --> 00:35:31.449 even more. The Huntsville -Hamfest organization 00:35:31.449 --> 00:35:35.010 is kind of unique. I think we've set ourselves 00:35:35.010 --> 00:35:38.030 up very much like Dayton and very much like Orlando, 00:35:38.449 --> 00:35:41.110 although I'm not sure about Orlando. But the 00:35:41.110 --> 00:35:44.630 Huntsville -Hamfest association is separate from 00:35:44.630 --> 00:35:47.809 the Huntsville Amateur Radio Club. Now, a lot 00:35:47.809 --> 00:35:51.769 of us... associated with the HamFest are members 00:35:51.769 --> 00:35:56.409 of the Humphill Amesier Radio Club and we depend 00:35:56.409 --> 00:36:01.869 very heavily on them to supply volunteers. But 00:36:01.869 --> 00:36:04.449 we are separate. We are separate organizations 00:36:04.449 --> 00:36:08.750 and I think that was the wisdom of our forefather 00:36:08.750 --> 00:36:13.170 who dreamed up this HamFest and having it at 00:36:13.170 --> 00:36:16.559 the Civic Center. To keep them separate so that 00:36:16.559 --> 00:36:19.960 we're not affected by club politics and you know 00:36:19.960 --> 00:36:23.420 how stuff like that go and We can always pretty 00:36:23.420 --> 00:36:25.599 much do what we want to do. But now we take a 00:36:25.599 --> 00:36:28.980 lot of input From in suggestions from the fan 00:36:28.980 --> 00:36:33.199 club and they help us tremendously and any profits 00:36:33.199 --> 00:36:36.659 it will make Over and above our seed money for 00:36:36.659 --> 00:36:41.619 next year. We hand it out to the club and repeater 00:36:41.619 --> 00:36:44.059 association since we use their repeater for talking 00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:51.579 and Try to keep everybody interested Well Scott, 00:36:51.679 --> 00:36:56.320 thanks for calling in and and save me some reverse 00:36:56.320 --> 00:36:59.420 polarity SMA's I'm gonna have to grab some from 00:36:59.420 --> 00:37:05.920 you, so Take care and one other comment for Dave 00:37:06.110 --> 00:37:08.110 I think that's really cool how you managed to 00:37:08.110 --> 00:37:10.130 muscle off the Defense Department show this year, 00:37:10.269 --> 00:37:15.469 so they went in your way. Congratulations. Well, 00:37:17.989 --> 00:37:20.949 we certainly hope they're going for good. I hope 00:37:20.949 --> 00:37:25.289 they chose it. They had it this week, and I hope 00:37:25.289 --> 00:37:27.389 they'll continue to do that in the future. So 00:37:27.389 --> 00:37:29.210 we won't be butting in with them trying to move 00:37:29.210 --> 00:37:32.739 in when they're moving out. Very good. I'll say 00:37:32.739 --> 00:37:35.340 seven three Neil and Dave. Take care. We'll see 00:37:35.340 --> 00:37:38.860 you both in another week Take care. All right, 00:37:38.940 --> 00:37:43.250 Scott. Take care. We'll see you soon 812 -NATAM 00:37:43.250 --> 00:37:46.010 -1 is the phone number. We have time for one 00:37:46.010 --> 00:37:51.170 more call here this evening. 812 -638 -4261 if 00:37:51.170 --> 00:37:54.489 you'd like to call in and talk about the Huntsville 00:37:54.489 --> 00:37:57.590 HamFest coming up. And one of the things that 00:37:57.590 --> 00:38:00.869 will be happening that I'll be involved with, 00:38:00.909 --> 00:38:04.369 at least taking some pictures, is the Young Ham 00:38:04.369 --> 00:38:08.070 of the Year Award presentation taking place on 00:38:08.070 --> 00:38:10.610 Saturday afternoon and our friend Marty, Casey 00:38:10.610 --> 00:38:15.260 1 - CWF is receiving that. So looking forward 00:38:15.260 --> 00:38:18.340 to that as well. And I know the youth lounge 00:38:18.340 --> 00:38:22.980 down there is just fabulous. Some of my former 00:38:22.980 --> 00:38:27.539 students have built stuff in there and just a 00:38:27.539 --> 00:38:31.800 very welcoming thing and prizes and kits and 00:38:31.800 --> 00:38:35.519 all kinds of stuff. So all kinds of activities 00:38:35.519 --> 00:38:41.019 for the youth there at Huntsville as well. So 00:38:41.019 --> 00:38:45.000 hopefully people will hear this, and if you get 00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:49.119 a chance to run down to Huntsville, it's a great 00:38:49.119 --> 00:38:55.119 opportunity. 812 -638 -4261 is the phone number. 00:38:56.199 --> 00:38:58.659 And Dave, did you want to comment on any of the 00:38:58.659 --> 00:39:03.239 youth stuff going on? Yeah, Dr. Monty Bateman, 00:39:03.579 --> 00:39:05.719 the one I mentioned earlier about giving forums, 00:39:06.219 --> 00:39:08.440 he's the one that sponsors that youth lounge. 00:39:09.099 --> 00:39:14.019 He's big into Boy Scouts, and he's very involved 00:39:14.019 --> 00:39:18.159 with his children in robotics, and he's done 00:39:18.159 --> 00:39:20.920 a great job with that youth lounge, and it just 00:39:20.920 --> 00:39:24.039 grows every year. And I'm afraid he's going to 00:39:24.039 --> 00:39:26.780 outgrow his space, but, you know, that's okay 00:39:26.780 --> 00:39:29.820 because we'd like for him to do that. We'd like 00:39:29.820 --> 00:39:34.440 to increase the young hands participation, and 00:39:34.440 --> 00:39:36.679 maybe we can get him interested in amateur radio 00:39:36.679 --> 00:39:40.260 as things go. But, uh, Monty does a great job 00:39:40.260 --> 00:39:43.719 with that and, um, we're trying to push it every, 00:39:43.820 --> 00:39:50.380 every chance we get. Yeah. It's a great opportunity. 00:39:51.280 --> 00:39:55.539 I know the students that come just as well. Yeah. 00:39:55.820 --> 00:39:58.539 Yeah. I remember, uh, one of the young ladies 00:39:58.539 --> 00:40:01.179 in my group, uh, that's where she learned how 00:40:01.179 --> 00:40:05.280 to solder is, is down there in the, uh, the youth 00:40:05.280 --> 00:40:08.519 lounge and just all kinds of opportunities there 00:40:08.519 --> 00:40:11.400 so and and all kinds of space for the forums 00:40:11.400 --> 00:40:15.519 and the youth lounge and the flea market the 00:40:15.519 --> 00:40:20.170 vendors all under one big roof and It's just 00:40:20.170 --> 00:40:25.050 a very enjoyable time. It's not the size of Dayton 00:40:25.050 --> 00:40:30.090 or Orlando, but it is the world's friendliest 00:40:30.090 --> 00:40:33.889 ham fest. I can certainly testify to that. And 00:40:33.889 --> 00:40:37.929 it is a good sized ham fest and plenty of opportunities 00:40:37.929 --> 00:40:42.210 there. So one of my favorites. And so looking 00:40:42.210 --> 00:40:46.710 forward to getting back down there. to Huntsville 00:40:46.710 --> 00:40:49.590 once again. Okay, let's throw that phone number 00:40:49.590 --> 00:40:56.389 out one last time. 812 -638 -4261. Just have 00:40:56.389 --> 00:41:00.050 a couple of minutes left, so if you want to jump 00:41:00.050 --> 00:41:04.469 in here, now is the time to do that. 812 -net 00:41:04.469 --> 00:41:14.030 -ham -1. Now, Dave, I remember Charlie telling 00:41:14.030 --> 00:41:18.389 me that you've got a special group there that 00:41:18.389 --> 00:41:22.489 is kind of the welcoming committee out there 00:41:22.489 --> 00:41:26.590 selling tickets and taking tickets. So tell us 00:41:26.590 --> 00:41:28.989 a little bit about the friendly folks that help 00:41:28.989 --> 00:41:35.070 make all this happen, including them. Yes, we 00:41:35.070 --> 00:41:38.389 have a group of ladies that are also hands, and 00:41:38.389 --> 00:41:41.170 they have formed their organization called the 00:41:41.170 --> 00:41:45.480 HALARC. And it stands for something like hunts 00:41:45.480 --> 00:41:51.280 fall amateur young ladies Something like that 00:41:51.280 --> 00:41:55.599 and they are the ones that man the booze out 00:41:55.599 --> 00:42:00.260 front to sell the prize ticket and We could not 00:42:00.260 --> 00:42:04.559 do it without me. I Was meeting them this afternoon 00:42:04.559 --> 00:42:07.440 or I mean this morning when I carried them to 00:42:07.440 --> 00:42:11.119 tickets from the button and The lady that's doing 00:42:11.119 --> 00:42:15.789 it that's heading that up she is about 94 years 00:42:15.789 --> 00:42:19.590 old and she's been doing it a long time. Wow. 00:42:20.090 --> 00:42:25.570 She did say this morning that this may be her 00:42:25.570 --> 00:42:27.389 last year because you know getting up in age 00:42:27.389 --> 00:42:31.409 that just it's just hard to get out of bed sometimes 00:42:31.409 --> 00:42:34.829 so we've got she's been she's been grooming younger 00:42:34.829 --> 00:42:39.849 ladies to take that function over but they this 00:42:39.849 --> 00:42:43.250 lady will take those tickets and she will count 00:42:43.250 --> 00:42:46.429 every one of them. And I carried her 22 ,000 00:42:46.429 --> 00:42:49.449 tickets this morning, and she will count every 00:42:49.449 --> 00:42:55.130 one of those to make sure that they're all there. 00:42:55.809 --> 00:43:01.449 And she can tell us by the hour what the admission 00:43:01.449 --> 00:43:04.590 sales are doing and how much we did at the end 00:43:04.590 --> 00:43:07.250 of the day and then at the end of the ham fest. 00:43:07.690 --> 00:43:10.869 So she's been a great asset. Those ladies have 00:43:10.869 --> 00:43:13.610 helped us tremendously, and they always promote 00:43:13.610 --> 00:43:16.489 the show. And they always have a kind word for 00:43:16.489 --> 00:43:19.130 the people who come up and buy admission and 00:43:19.130 --> 00:43:21.650 buy tickets. And I just don't think we could 00:43:21.650 --> 00:43:24.909 do it without them. Well, that's where we're 00:43:24.909 --> 00:43:27.489 going to leave things, Dave. But yeah, they are 00:43:27.489 --> 00:43:32.429 very friendly and very helpful. They're great 00:43:32.429 --> 00:43:36.630 representatives of the HamFest. And again, hamfest 00:43:36.630 --> 00:43:43.570 .org is the address. Very easy one to find, so 00:43:43.570 --> 00:43:47.489 check that out. Hope to see you down in Huntsville 00:43:47.489 --> 00:43:50.650 next week. So that is a wrap for this week's 00:43:50.650 --> 00:43:53.989 HamTalk Live. Thanks again to my guest, Dave 00:43:53.989 --> 00:43:59.050 Givens, K5 RSI, and everybody out there in cyberspace 00:43:59.050 --> 00:44:02.030 for listening and calling in. And next Thursday 00:44:02.030 --> 00:44:06.449 night at 9 o 'clock Eastern time, Ken Olke, VE6AFO 00:44:06.449 --> 00:44:09.449 from the Quarter Century Wireless Association 00:44:09.449 --> 00:44:12.769 will be here to talk about that group. So we 00:44:12.769 --> 00:44:15.940 look forward to hearing from Ken now. week. So 00:44:15.940 --> 00:44:19.000 for a list of all of our upcoming guests, just 00:44:19.000 --> 00:44:22.139 go to HamTalkLive .com and click on the schedule 00:44:22.139 --> 00:44:26.480 link. So for now, this is Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, 00:44:26.559 --> 00:44:33.360 saying 7375, and may the good DX be yours! Thanks 00:44:33.360 --> 00:44:48.380 for watching!