WEBVTT 00:00:10.700 --> 00:00:13.539 Thanks for tuning in. Hamtalk Live will be on 00:00:13.539 --> 00:00:31.480 the air shortly. Please stand by. Thanks for 00:00:31.480 --> 00:00:34.219 tuning in. Hamtalk Live will be on the air shortly. 00:00:34.520 --> 00:00:52.590 Please stand by. This episode of HamTalk Live 00:00:52.590 --> 00:00:56.090 is brought to you by Tower Electronics. For cables, 00:00:56.189 --> 00:01:01.630 connectors, and more, call 920 -435 -2973 or 00:01:01.630 --> 00:01:06.950 visit pl -259 .com and by the HamStation. Get 00:01:06.950 --> 00:01:11.109 your new radio or antenna by calling 800 -729 00:01:11.109 --> 00:01:52.939 -4373 or go to hamstation .com. Good evening, 00:01:53.260 --> 00:01:57.000 everybody. It's time for another episode of HamTalk 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:01.480 Live. It's episode number 59, Spring Antenna 00:02:01.480 --> 00:02:06.439 Projects with Radio Waves Emmet W0QH, recorded 00:02:06.439 --> 00:02:12.020 live on Thursday, April 6th, 2017. I'm your host, 00:02:12.120 --> 00:02:16.419 Neil Rapp, WB9VPG. Thanks for tuning into this 00:02:16.419 --> 00:02:19.520 episode of HamTalk Live. Tonight... We are joined 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:24.080 once again by Emmet Honesty III, W0QH, and we'll 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:28.020 take your calls live in just a few minutes. And 00:02:28.020 --> 00:02:31.300 last week, Don Wilbanks, AE5DW, was here to talk 00:02:31.300 --> 00:02:34.400 about Ham Nation episode number 300 coming up 00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:37.419 and the Newsline Young Ham of the Year Award 00:02:37.419 --> 00:02:39.939 nominations. So if you missed that show, you 00:02:39.939 --> 00:02:42.900 can listen on -demand anytime at HamTalkLive 00:02:42.900 --> 00:02:46.500 .com. or on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, TuneIn, 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:51.699 SoundCloud, or YouTube and several others. So 00:02:51.699 --> 00:02:55.659 get your antenna questions ready to go and we'll 00:02:55.659 --> 00:02:59.740 take your calls tonight as always at 812 -NET 00:02:59.740 --> 00:03:05.680 -HAM -1. That's 812 -638 -4261 or you can call 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:08.699 us on Skype. Our username is just HamTalk Live. 00:03:09.069 --> 00:03:12.110 And you can also tweet us. Our Twitter handle 00:03:12.110 --> 00:03:15.969 is at HamTalk Live. So I'll be back with Emmet 00:03:15.969 --> 00:03:18.610 right after this word from the HamStation right 00:03:18.610 --> 00:03:22.689 here on HamTalk Live. This episode of HamTalk 00:03:22.689 --> 00:03:26.069 Live is brought to you by the HamStation. For 00:03:26.069 --> 00:03:29.270 over 37 years, the HamStation has sold new and 00:03:29.270 --> 00:03:32.389 used radios, antennas, accessories, and equipment 00:03:32.389 --> 00:03:36.169 to hams everywhere. Give Dan or Jeff a call at 00:03:36.169 --> 00:03:42.729 800 -729 -4373, or order online at hamstation 00:03:42.729 --> 00:03:46.310 .com. HamStation carries all the major brands 00:03:46.310 --> 00:03:50.090 like Icom, Yezu, and Kenwood. And they have a 00:03:50.090 --> 00:03:53.889 wide selection of radio scanners, MFJ accessories, 00:03:54.229 --> 00:04:18.089 Heil Sound Pro... The grass may be greener on 00:04:18.089 --> 00:04:20.329 the other side, but at least we don't have to 00:04:20.329 --> 00:04:22.990 mow it. You're listening to Ham Talk Live with 00:04:22.990 --> 00:04:44.990 Neil Rapp. Welcome back to HamTalk Live. The 00:04:44.990 --> 00:04:47.930 HamStation has you covered for both new and used 00:04:47.930 --> 00:04:51.750 equipment. Give Dan or Jeff a call at 800 -729 00:04:51.750 --> 00:04:56.009 -4373 or go to hamstation .com. Tell them you 00:04:56.009 --> 00:04:59.149 heard it on HamTalk Live. We're on the air every 00:04:59.149 --> 00:05:02.230 Thursday night at 9 p .m. Eastern Time, right 00:05:02.230 --> 00:05:04.569 here at hamtalklive .com. And if you missed the 00:05:04.569 --> 00:05:07.550 show, you can listen to the archive on the website 00:05:07.550 --> 00:05:10.709 or download it from most popular podcasting sites. 00:05:11.259 --> 00:05:16.660 Emmett Honesay, W0QH, is the chief engineer at 00:05:16.660 --> 00:05:19.000 Radio Waves in the St. Louis, Missouri metro 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:22.079 area. Emmett designs and builds custom antennas 00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:25.720 for both amateur and commercial radio. He's been 00:05:25.720 --> 00:05:28.240 on numerous ham radio podcasts teaching about 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:30.839 antennas and was instrumental in the operation 00:05:30.839 --> 00:05:34.879 of the W8D Dayton -Hamvention Superstation. And 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:37.860 he's also helped activate the Dry Tortugas National 00:05:37.860 --> 00:05:40.860 Parks on the Airdy Expedition. And his company, 00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:46.819 Radio Waves, along with Rochelle, is also a proud 00:05:46.819 --> 00:05:49.399 co -sponsor of the amateur radio news line Young 00:05:49.399 --> 00:05:52.740 Ham of the Year Award. And you can visit Radio 00:05:52.740 --> 00:05:56.120 Waves online at Radio Waves. That's with a Z, 00:05:56.319 --> 00:06:00.300 W -A -V -Z dot com. So Emmett, thanks for coming 00:06:00.300 --> 00:06:05.089 back and rushing home tonight. Well, thank you 00:06:05.089 --> 00:06:07.089 for having me back on again. It's been great. 00:06:07.110 --> 00:06:09.730 It's been a long time and kind of missed you 00:06:09.730 --> 00:06:13.810 Yeah, well, we've had a lot of response from 00:06:13.810 --> 00:06:16.589 the first show that you were on Several people 00:06:16.589 --> 00:06:19.550 were listening and wanted to call in it was the 00:06:19.550 --> 00:06:22.490 cat trust me. It was the cat Oh, is that what 00:06:22.490 --> 00:06:25.889 it was? Well, I don't know. It was Katie's cat. 00:06:26.009 --> 00:06:28.230 No, it was Katie's Katie's I gotta blame her 00:06:29.640 --> 00:06:33.120 Katie's cat was listening to podcasts. Is that 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:35.759 how that goes? She has some smart cats up there 00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:40.379 in Wyoming. She does. Mine just, she just runs 00:06:40.379 --> 00:06:43.160 off. I don't know. Every once in a while you 00:06:43.160 --> 00:06:45.680 hear her meow in the background though, but can't 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:48.319 keep her off the microphone. There is a good 00:06:48.319 --> 00:06:50.279 advantage of having a German Shepherd as your 00:06:50.279 --> 00:06:56.899 best friend. No, I'm just kidding. Well, it's 00:06:56.730 --> 00:07:00.129 it's spring finally except all of a sudden today 00:07:00.129 --> 00:07:05.230 here in here in beautiful southern indiana it's 00:07:05.230 --> 00:07:09.069 it's dark dreary rainy and 38 degrees tonight 00:07:09.069 --> 00:07:13.209 uh after being like 60 something yesterday but 00:07:13.209 --> 00:07:16.810 but uh maybe after this spring will finally stick 00:07:16.810 --> 00:07:20.990 and so that means it's time for some antenna 00:07:20.990 --> 00:07:25.529 maintenance and time to do some of those antenna 00:07:25.529 --> 00:07:28.170 projects that you keep putting off all winter 00:07:28.170 --> 00:07:30.250 because you don't want to go through all the 00:07:30.250 --> 00:07:34.689 snow and mud and cold and all that kind of stuff. 00:07:35.410 --> 00:07:39.569 So give us some tips on some antenna maintenance 00:07:39.569 --> 00:07:45.069 and maybe a few projects for the spring. Oh, 00:07:45.269 --> 00:07:49.519 that's a fun one. The one thing I always like 00:07:49.519 --> 00:07:52.199 to discuss or bring up in any of the discussions, 00:07:52.379 --> 00:07:55.139 especially about this time of the year, is there 00:07:55.139 --> 00:07:57.899 are projects for you right now that would be 00:07:57.899 --> 00:08:00.860 to your advantage to go ahead and address. Probably 00:08:00.860 --> 00:08:02.459 some of those things are the things that you 00:08:02.459 --> 00:08:06.100 didn't do before the winter came in. And now 00:08:06.100 --> 00:08:07.959 the winter hit, and now you can't go out there 00:08:07.959 --> 00:08:09.500 and do anything because everything's frozen, 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:12.800 or it's got six feet of snow, or it's all whatever. 00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:16.610 You just can't get out there and do it. Things 00:08:16.610 --> 00:08:18.350 are starting to thaw out. Things are getting 00:08:18.350 --> 00:08:20.509 a little bit warmer. The rain is starting to 00:08:20.509 --> 00:08:24.350 fall. There's a lot more moisture. In many cases, 00:08:24.370 --> 00:08:26.750 you're able to do things that you really probably 00:08:26.750 --> 00:08:28.470 wouldn't be able to do any other time of the 00:08:28.470 --> 00:08:31.589 year. So, you know, springtime is the best time 00:08:31.589 --> 00:08:34.169 to start looking at, you know, one, do I want 00:08:34.169 --> 00:08:36.769 to do something new? Two, I got maintenance issues 00:08:36.769 --> 00:08:41.669 that we all have to do. I say every season and 00:08:41.669 --> 00:08:43.850 just about every time there's a major whatever. 00:08:45.070 --> 00:08:48.149 And then also, how can I enhance what I've already 00:08:48.149 --> 00:08:51.909 got or do things to make my life easier to do 00:08:51.909 --> 00:08:54.409 these maintenance things? And of course, the 00:08:54.409 --> 00:08:57.690 very first thing that we want to look at is, 00:08:57.950 --> 00:09:00.289 how's our grounding? Many people say, well, I 00:09:00.289 --> 00:09:02.669 just use the electrical ground in that three 00:09:02.669 --> 00:09:05.330 prong plug that the radio is connected to, and 00:09:05.330 --> 00:09:08.830 that's good enough. And in some cases, No, it's 00:09:08.830 --> 00:09:11.509 not. You know, you really should and can have 00:09:11.509 --> 00:09:15.049 a good antenna ground system and I suggest that 00:09:15.049 --> 00:09:19.350 you go to the ARRL antenna book or the antenna 00:09:19.350 --> 00:09:22.990 guide and they've got some good suggestions on 00:09:22.990 --> 00:09:25.990 how to do grounding for your station. A lot of 00:09:25.990 --> 00:09:29.740 times we get phone calls You know on a daily 00:09:29.740 --> 00:09:32.220 basis actually where I've got this problem or 00:09:32.220 --> 00:09:35.200 I've got that problem And you'd be amazed how 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:37.899 quickly those issues are resolved once the person 00:09:37.899 --> 00:09:41.480 put in a proper ground Now that we've got all 00:09:41.480 --> 00:09:44.100 that rain The first thing we're talking about 00:09:44.100 --> 00:09:46.740 of course is grounding go out and take a look 00:09:46.740 --> 00:09:49.480 at ground rod if you have one If you don't, you 00:09:49.480 --> 00:09:51.860 need to put one in. But go look at your grounding. 00:09:52.279 --> 00:09:54.240 And many times people will use the grounding 00:09:54.240 --> 00:09:56.820 from the power company. And you've got to understand 00:09:56.820 --> 00:09:58.600 that sometimes those ground rods have been there 00:09:58.600 --> 00:10:02.139 for quite a while. And the one thing most people 00:10:02.139 --> 00:10:05.399 don't realize is the ground rod itself is conducting 00:10:05.399 --> 00:10:07.799 electricity one way or the other. There is current 00:10:07.799 --> 00:10:11.639 flowing through that copper pipe or the steel 00:10:11.639 --> 00:10:15.820 rod, and it's getting in contact with silicon, 00:10:16.039 --> 00:10:17.940 and it's getting in contact with all kinds of 00:10:17.940 --> 00:10:20.840 other things. And there's an effect called glassing. 00:10:20.860 --> 00:10:22.960 So as the current goes through the ground rod, 00:10:23.539 --> 00:10:27.159 It has it it creates just a micro spark just 00:10:27.159 --> 00:10:29.120 enough to melt just a little bit of that silicon 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:32.240 And it literally coats the ground rod with glass 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:34.240 you won't you don't realize it But it's glass 00:10:34.240 --> 00:10:36.340 and you look at the ground rod and you see this 00:10:36.340 --> 00:10:38.620 green stuff all over believe it or not. That's 00:10:38.620 --> 00:10:42.730 glass And over time, that ground rod becomes 00:10:42.730 --> 00:10:46.830 less and less effective as things become glassified 00:10:46.830 --> 00:10:49.570 or there's more glass. Now you're going to say, 00:10:49.590 --> 00:10:51.769 well, what do I do? Well, there's a couple things 00:10:51.769 --> 00:10:55.610 you can do. One, if you have to replace the ground 00:10:55.610 --> 00:10:57.250 rod, don't pull it up. You don't necessarily 00:10:57.250 --> 00:10:59.809 have to go ahead and sink another one in close 00:10:59.809 --> 00:11:03.590 proximity. And then just make a jumper. Or you 00:11:03.590 --> 00:11:05.289 know move everything over to the new ground rod 00:11:05.289 --> 00:11:07.870 and still use the old ground rod as an auxiliary 00:11:07.870 --> 00:11:11.690 if you're working If it's your main home electrical 00:11:11.690 --> 00:11:14.330 ground have the power company do it or a certified 00:11:14.330 --> 00:11:16.610 electrician that's the safe way because you don't 00:11:16.610 --> 00:11:19.409 want to be messing with You know your power in 00:11:19.409 --> 00:11:21.029 and you don't want to shock yourself, and you 00:11:21.029 --> 00:11:22.629 don't want to blow anything up in your shack 00:11:22.629 --> 00:11:25.169 I'm talking about your own ground rods for your 00:11:25.169 --> 00:11:29.070 radios and like I said because it's that time 00:11:29.070 --> 00:11:31.820 of the year you can You know, you can pretty 00:11:31.820 --> 00:11:33.720 much do a lot that you wouldn't normally be able 00:11:33.720 --> 00:11:36.299 to do, like putting in that ground rod. I like 00:11:36.299 --> 00:11:40.019 to run several ground rods over, you know, around 00:11:40.019 --> 00:11:42.500 the perimeter of my building or the place that 00:11:42.500 --> 00:11:45.440 I live or whatever, just to ensure that we've 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:48.559 got a really good ground potential and that I 00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:50.279 don't have to deal with a lot of stuff that would 00:11:50.279 --> 00:11:52.879 be coming in, especially with the spring weather 00:11:52.879 --> 00:11:56.500 bringing in what? April showers. That's right. 00:11:57.100 --> 00:11:59.159 Thunderstorms, rain, tornadoes, which we've got 00:11:59.159 --> 00:12:02.360 a lot of in the last couple of weeks. And I just 00:12:02.360 --> 00:12:07.399 heard a while ago we had a EF1 not far away yesterday. 00:12:09.799 --> 00:12:12.620 Yep. A couple friends of mine down in Louisiana 00:12:12.620 --> 00:12:15.919 had a couple hurricane, had a tornado and we 00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:19.600 were down in Louisiana a couple weeks ago in 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:22.860 New Orleans specifically and they had a tornado. 00:12:23.629 --> 00:12:26.250 It's like what a tornado, you know, how did that 00:12:26.250 --> 00:12:28.990 happen? But you know now's the time to do a lot 00:12:28.990 --> 00:12:30.649 of that the other thing you can start looking 00:12:30.649 --> 00:12:34.049 at doing is if you have a wire type antenna system 00:12:34.049 --> 00:12:36.629 Go ahead and start actually not even a wire type 00:12:36.629 --> 00:12:40.350 any type of antenna system that's outside Start 00:12:40.350 --> 00:12:42.309 looking at all those connections that you have 00:12:42.309 --> 00:12:46.929 your coax If it's if the coax hasn't been sealed 00:12:46.929 --> 00:12:49.649 you definitely need to go ahead and open it up 00:12:49.649 --> 00:12:51.870 Take a look inside. Make sure there's no moisture 00:12:51.870 --> 00:12:55.899 which there is is if there's an SO -239 out there, 00:12:56.159 --> 00:12:57.940 there's water in there, especially if it's been 00:12:57.940 --> 00:13:02.200 outside. That is a notorious connector when it 00:13:02.200 --> 00:13:05.960 comes to sucking moisture in from outside. And 00:13:05.960 --> 00:13:07.720 what you'll sometimes see is you'll see what 00:13:07.720 --> 00:13:10.799 looks like a little gray film. you know, just 00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:13.740 a little line of gray along that white or whatever 00:13:13.740 --> 00:13:15.539 the dielectric is that you're using. Believe 00:13:15.539 --> 00:13:18.139 it or not, that was an electrical arc that had 00:13:18.139 --> 00:13:20.139 happened over time. So that tells you that you 00:13:20.139 --> 00:13:22.500 really need to do some work on it. You can use 00:13:22.500 --> 00:13:26.419 something like tissue paper to, you know, clean 00:13:26.419 --> 00:13:29.620 off the tip on the connector. Clean off the inside 00:13:29.620 --> 00:13:33.259 of the, the outside of the barrel. And we do, 00:13:33.460 --> 00:13:36.279 Radio Waves does have a product called our, it's 00:13:36.279 --> 00:13:38.580 our connector kit, which basically has these 00:13:38.580 --> 00:13:40.700 little, they look like Q -tips, but they're just 00:13:40.700 --> 00:13:44.399 the right size for you to insert into the connector. 00:13:45.169 --> 00:13:48.470 then pull it back out again to help clean any 00:13:48.470 --> 00:13:50.769 of the stuff that might have accumulated on the 00:13:50.769 --> 00:13:53.850 inside of that connector and then it has a little 00:13:53.850 --> 00:13:56.210 syringe that has a stuff called stuff which is 00:13:56.210 --> 00:13:59.210 a dielectric filter which fills the void so you 00:13:59.210 --> 00:14:01.870 know what happens if you have a void in a in 00:14:01.870 --> 00:14:04.029 a connector it gets filled with something and 00:14:04.029 --> 00:14:06.840 generally it's water and air So by putting this 00:14:06.840 --> 00:14:09.179 dielectric in there, it fills up the hole. Then 00:14:09.179 --> 00:14:11.559 there's another material that goes on the outside 00:14:11.559 --> 00:14:14.200 threads which helps to seal the threads and keep 00:14:14.200 --> 00:14:18.240 things nice and clean and keeps things from getting 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:22.519 contaminated. You should do that one function 00:14:22.519 --> 00:14:26.940 at least three times a year. Sometimes four. 00:14:27.299 --> 00:14:29.019 If you know that you had a lot of bad weather, 00:14:29.139 --> 00:14:32.559 definitely do it more time. Inspect the cable. 00:14:33.419 --> 00:14:36.139 Make sure that there's no moisture Physically 00:14:36.139 --> 00:14:38.279 look at the cable if you have binoculars. Let's 00:14:38.279 --> 00:14:40.200 say you've got a radio tower like my friend up 00:14:40.200 --> 00:14:43.159 in New Jersey She's got this Munster tower with 00:14:43.159 --> 00:14:47.299 this Munster antenna and You know my suggestion 00:14:47.299 --> 00:14:49.220 is if you have binoculars or something like I 00:14:49.220 --> 00:14:52.399 just go and visually inspect your coax You'd 00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:56.240 be surprised how often? The weather may have 00:14:56.240 --> 00:15:01.769 split the the the actual outside Coding on the 00:15:01.769 --> 00:15:03.750 coax lightning may have struck and you may not 00:15:03.750 --> 00:15:06.769 have known and it literally, you know You know 00:15:06.769 --> 00:15:09.029 literally busted the coax open. You don't realize 00:15:09.029 --> 00:15:16.409 it I can testify to that one personally I Bet 00:15:16.409 --> 00:15:22.009 you wonder I got all this curly hair. Yeah You 00:15:22.009 --> 00:15:23.690 visually inspect it because you know, there's 00:15:23.690 --> 00:15:25.309 a lot of things that you don't really anticipate 00:15:25.309 --> 00:15:28.289 you really don't think is gonna happen I've had 00:15:28.289 --> 00:15:31.059 some people call and say hey I've had this coax 00:15:31.059 --> 00:15:33.279 for 15 years, and there's nothing wrong with 00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:35.460 it. And of course, a couple of days later, I 00:15:35.460 --> 00:15:36.879 called back and said, you know, I touched that 00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:38.620 thing, and it felt all crinkly. It turns out 00:15:38.620 --> 00:15:41.639 the dielectric had all their moisture had gotten 00:15:41.639 --> 00:15:44.120 in and broken down the dielectric. The dielectric 00:15:44.120 --> 00:15:45.879 had cracked. And then next thing you know, there's 00:15:45.879 --> 00:15:49.899 all kinds of problems. So just now is the time 00:15:49.899 --> 00:15:54.340 to eliminate a lot of issues prior to heavy weather, 00:15:54.700 --> 00:15:58.450 change of season. It's nice weather, so you're 00:15:58.450 --> 00:16:00.129 not going out when it's 100 degrees. You're not 00:16:00.129 --> 00:16:01.649 going out when it's 20 degrees. You're going 00:16:01.649 --> 00:16:04.830 out when it's 60 and 70, where you can at least 00:16:04.830 --> 00:16:09.309 enjoy the time out there. And then, of course, 00:16:09.470 --> 00:16:12.629 after the connectors and coaxes and stuff like 00:16:12.629 --> 00:16:18.539 that, if you have a wire type antenna, My recommendation 00:16:18.539 --> 00:16:20.639 has always been if you're going to mount an antenna 00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:23.179 outside, you really need to come up, make sure 00:16:23.179 --> 00:16:26.759 you have a way to do maintenance on it. I know 00:16:26.759 --> 00:16:28.840 some people say that, well, I've had this thing 00:16:28.840 --> 00:16:33.639 for fill in the blank years. And it does, you 00:16:33.639 --> 00:16:35.019 know, I really don't have to do anything because 00:16:35.019 --> 00:16:36.879 it was built to where, you know, blah, blah, 00:16:36.980 --> 00:16:39.460 blah. Well, think about this, even the military, 00:16:39.639 --> 00:16:43.580 the government. other major organizations, commercial 00:16:43.580 --> 00:16:46.960 companies, do maintenance on their antenna systems 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:49.120 and inspect them on a regular basis. As a matter 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:51.659 of fact, as a chief engineer for a radio station, 00:16:51.820 --> 00:16:55.620 or radio stations... I inspected our station 00:16:55.620 --> 00:17:00.320 on a regular basis just to make sure that everything 00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:02.679 was working properly. Because in that world, 00:17:03.299 --> 00:17:06.119 that antenna goes down, their revenue goes off. 00:17:06.279 --> 00:17:09.319 And when the revenue goes off, guess who gets 00:17:09.319 --> 00:17:12.359 in trouble? Yeah, that's right, me. I don't want 00:17:12.359 --> 00:17:15.519 that to happen. I can't help it if it's a bad 00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:18.039 reporting, but I can help it if the transmitter's 00:17:18.039 --> 00:17:22.559 not working. But those are some of the big things 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:26.180 right there. Just real simple projects that you 00:17:26.180 --> 00:17:27.900 can do. You don't have to do it all at once. 00:17:28.039 --> 00:17:30.880 Come up with a little list. Sit down at your 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:32.759 table one morning when you're having coffee, 00:17:33.240 --> 00:17:35.039 tea, water, milk, whatever it is you have in 00:17:35.039 --> 00:17:39.910 the morning. Write down on a piece of paper a 00:17:39.910 --> 00:17:41.630 couple things that you want to do to check out 00:17:41.630 --> 00:17:43.529 to make sure your stations were working well. 00:17:43.970 --> 00:17:46.769 We were talking about wire antennas. When you 00:17:46.769 --> 00:17:49.130 installed your antenna, most people have a tendency 00:17:49.130 --> 00:17:51.009 of just sticking it up there, getting it up there, 00:17:51.369 --> 00:17:53.950 and setting it up to where it's not coming down. 00:17:54.289 --> 00:17:57.289 The problem with that is it's twice as hard to 00:17:57.289 --> 00:17:59.289 get that thing down and get it back up again 00:17:59.289 --> 00:18:02.670 if you didn't set things up to where you could 00:18:02.670 --> 00:18:06.690 manage it, i .e. For instance, where I live, 00:18:07.170 --> 00:18:09.769 I'm not allowed to have antennas. So what I ended 00:18:09.769 --> 00:18:13.950 up doing is I ran my... I have a DX160 going 00:18:13.950 --> 00:18:17.950 east to west and a DX160 going north to south. 00:18:18.130 --> 00:18:20.829 And what I did is I ran it through the tree lines 00:18:20.829 --> 00:18:23.390 or up the top, you know, over the top of the 00:18:23.390 --> 00:18:27.190 trees. And, you know, it's kind of difficult. 00:18:27.250 --> 00:18:29.190 But what I did is I made sure I had plenty of 00:18:29.190 --> 00:18:32.690 line that so that I could... either I could pull 00:18:32.690 --> 00:18:36.089 the antenna down service that the balan I could 00:18:36.089 --> 00:18:38.329 also you know pull it all the way in because 00:18:38.329 --> 00:18:41.369 I literally had a lot of extra let's say string 00:18:41.369 --> 00:18:45.009 or whatever believe it or not my antenna system 00:18:45.009 --> 00:18:48.230 is suspended using a weed whacker line it's lasting 00:18:48.230 --> 00:18:50.450 me five years but I do change it out every two 00:18:50.450 --> 00:18:53.589 years the weed whacker line has done great for 00:18:53.589 --> 00:18:57.369 me it's uh how do I say this it's it's it stretches 00:18:57.369 --> 00:19:00.269 and it acts like a rubber band almost So what'll 00:19:00.269 --> 00:19:02.089 happen is as the trees start to sway and things 00:19:02.089 --> 00:19:04.509 start getting crazy that thing stretches and 00:19:04.509 --> 00:19:06.589 goes back together again stretches and goes back 00:19:06.589 --> 00:19:09.109 together again And it works just fine, but I 00:19:09.109 --> 00:19:11.849 always give myself enough line to bring the antenna 00:19:11.849 --> 00:19:15.190 down And so I service it and if there's any other 00:19:15.190 --> 00:19:17.390 issues like squirrels getting on the wire How 00:19:17.390 --> 00:19:19.470 many times you heard that one where you know 00:19:19.470 --> 00:19:21.789 the squirrel ate my wire and chopped it in two 00:19:21.789 --> 00:19:25.539 well guess what? You know if you had You know 00:19:25.539 --> 00:19:28.779 the wire if you had things set up you could effectively 00:19:28.779 --> 00:19:31.420 drop the balan You know drop the other end where 00:19:31.420 --> 00:19:34.440 the wire is pull the wires through Replace the 00:19:34.440 --> 00:19:37.400 wire and pull the antenna back up again. I know 00:19:37.400 --> 00:19:39.940 it sounds complicated and generally takes more 00:19:39.940 --> 00:19:43.319 time But if you spend more time in the beginning 00:19:43.319 --> 00:19:46.279 if you take the time To set these up and get 00:19:46.279 --> 00:19:49.829 them resonant and all that The antenna or the 00:19:49.829 --> 00:19:52.490 radio station itself will definitely work a whole 00:19:52.490 --> 00:19:56.349 lot better. And I can guarantee that as you spend 00:19:56.349 --> 00:20:01.190 more time on the outside, things go a lot better 00:20:01.190 --> 00:20:05.289 on the inside. As one of our slogans for our 00:20:05.289 --> 00:20:10.049 company is that radio waves, we make your radio 00:20:10.049 --> 00:20:14.009 sound good. And that's literally the truth. And 00:20:14.009 --> 00:20:17.170 that's my antenna project that I need to do right 00:20:17.170 --> 00:20:21.869 away is the rope needs to get replaced. I've 00:20:21.869 --> 00:20:24.250 got to get that through the pulley and get that 00:20:24.250 --> 00:20:26.369 replaced because it's been way too long since 00:20:26.369 --> 00:20:30.170 that rope's been replaced and it's getting frayed. 00:20:30.210 --> 00:20:34.109 So that's definitely my next antenna project. 00:20:34.490 --> 00:20:37.930 Well, if you guys have some questions about some 00:20:37.930 --> 00:20:42.740 of these projects and some maintenance, Write 00:20:42.740 --> 00:20:45.480 those down, think those out, and then we're going 00:20:45.480 --> 00:20:47.640 to take your calls here in just a little bit. 00:20:48.440 --> 00:20:51.500 So have those ready to go and we'll see what's 00:20:51.500 --> 00:20:53.799 going on. We already have a tweet or two going 00:20:53.799 --> 00:20:57.480 here. But before we take a break here, I want 00:20:57.480 --> 00:20:59.920 to talk a little bit about a couple of other 00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:03.859 things going on. First of all, you just got back 00:21:03.859 --> 00:21:11.180 from a week out. out in Vegas and IWCE. So share 00:21:11.180 --> 00:21:14.700 with us a couple of minutes of what your adventures 00:21:14.700 --> 00:21:19.859 were out there with IWCE. Adventures in the Great 00:21:19.859 --> 00:21:23.700 West is about the best way of describing it. 00:21:25.190 --> 00:21:28.150 Yeah, it was almost like we had the theme of 00:21:28.150 --> 00:21:31.930 blazing saddles going on in the background. Sometimes 00:21:31.930 --> 00:21:33.950 we weren't sure if it was serious or if it was 00:21:33.950 --> 00:21:37.890 real, but no, it was a good trip. Ended up going 00:21:37.890 --> 00:21:41.210 from St. Louis down to going down visiting my 00:21:41.210 --> 00:21:44.390 son who's in the military, and then continuing 00:21:44.390 --> 00:21:47.650 on meeting up with a group of guys that I hold 00:21:47.650 --> 00:21:52.809 near dear. Basically, it's the MCOM -1 vehicle. 00:21:53.150 --> 00:21:55.789 It's an emergency communications platform, which 00:21:55.789 --> 00:21:59.190 it was called. The best way to describe this 00:21:59.190 --> 00:22:02.670 is it's interoperability, a mobile interoperability 00:22:02.670 --> 00:22:06.690 platform designed for emergencies, emergency 00:22:06.690 --> 00:22:10.710 operations centers, and so on. And I'm part of 00:22:10.710 --> 00:22:13.490 that group to the extent that I built the HF 00:22:13.490 --> 00:22:16.369 antenna systems and so on. So I got to play along 00:22:16.369 --> 00:22:21.269 with them and got a chance to go to... the show 00:22:21.269 --> 00:22:26.049 IWCE, which is a very, very, very, very large 00:22:26.049 --> 00:22:30.490 land mobile communication show. And it's basically, 00:22:30.490 --> 00:22:32.970 you know, the big players like the Kenwoods, 00:22:33.049 --> 00:22:39.740 the Yesus, the ICOMs. Motorola, Harris, Tate. 00:22:40.339 --> 00:22:43.200 The list goes on and on and on. A lot of the 00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:46.559 Japanese manufacturers who you see in a lot of 00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:50.299 the amateur side, they also make what they consider 00:22:50.299 --> 00:22:54.359 to be land mobile, the new digital modes and 00:22:54.359 --> 00:22:57.859 so on. It was an interesting experience in that. 00:22:58.160 --> 00:23:00.500 You got to see a lot of this stuff that I know 00:23:00.500 --> 00:23:03.740 is starting to filter down to the amateur world. 00:23:04.660 --> 00:23:07.039 Like the DMR stuff is a really big thing, and 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:09.920 I know DMR is very popular in the amateur realm 00:23:09.920 --> 00:23:14.599 now. Got to see a couple new ICOM radios. Got 00:23:14.599 --> 00:23:18.259 to see some really cool Kenwood stuff and some 00:23:18.259 --> 00:23:20.799 Yesu stuff, and of course I got to see a lot 00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:23.059 of Motorola and Harris, which was interesting 00:23:23.059 --> 00:23:29.019 as well. It's kind of interesting in that When 00:23:29.019 --> 00:23:31.380 you look at a show like this, this is this this 00:23:31.380 --> 00:23:34.619 is the kind of show that Unlike with on the amateur 00:23:34.619 --> 00:23:37.140 world. These people are looking for like government 00:23:37.140 --> 00:23:42.200 entities Police stations fire emergency services. 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:45.279 So literally these this communication equipment 00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:49.079 is the kind of stuff that you used when people's 00:23:49.079 --> 00:23:51.859 lives are on the line. So it absolutely has to 00:23:51.859 --> 00:23:54.420 work. There's no question about it. There's no, 00:23:54.700 --> 00:23:56.099 you know, I don't know what the right button 00:23:56.099 --> 00:23:58.960 is, because, you know, fill in the blank. It 00:23:58.960 --> 00:24:01.779 has to work the first time and every time. And 00:24:01.779 --> 00:24:04.299 so it becomes it's a it's an interesting show. 00:24:04.339 --> 00:24:08.200 It was really nice, literally inside the Las 00:24:08.200 --> 00:24:12.769 Vegas Civic Center. I swear that building is 00:24:12.769 --> 00:24:18.829 a mile long. It is a mile long. It was one of 00:24:18.829 --> 00:24:21.109 those things where if you look down the hall, 00:24:21.430 --> 00:24:23.269 you could almost see the curvature of the earth. 00:24:23.410 --> 00:24:26.910 It was that long kind of a deal. And it cut off 00:24:26.910 --> 00:24:31.640 your signal, didn't it? Oh my goodness. And what 00:24:31.640 --> 00:24:34.200 was really interesting is this place was so big 00:24:34.200 --> 00:24:37.259 that it had another convention center underneath 00:24:37.259 --> 00:24:40.579 ours. So it was like a double stacked convention 00:24:40.579 --> 00:24:42.420 center. So they had just as much room underneath 00:24:42.420 --> 00:24:45.680 us as we did. And they had another convention 00:24:45.680 --> 00:24:49.980 and it was a computer show. And I'm thinking, 00:24:50.480 --> 00:24:53.500 man alive, that is huge when you think about 00:24:53.500 --> 00:24:57.750 it. So it was quite busy. We got to see a lot 00:24:57.750 --> 00:25:01.430 of new things. Like I said, the DMR stuff. My 00:25:01.430 --> 00:25:03.569 time was spent mostly in the ICOM booth because 00:25:03.569 --> 00:25:09.349 I was with the MCOM1 team. And it was quite an 00:25:09.349 --> 00:25:12.269 experience. It was really neat. We got to show 00:25:12.269 --> 00:25:16.559 off our Sentinel hex beam. You have to understand 00:25:16.559 --> 00:25:18.519 too that the central hex beam that we showed 00:25:18.519 --> 00:25:21.299 off at IWCE and the one that we built for the 00:25:21.299 --> 00:25:23.599 amateur world are two completely different antennas. 00:25:23.660 --> 00:25:26.039 One antenna, even though it looks like your hex 00:25:26.039 --> 00:25:29.779 beam, is designed specifically for land mobile 00:25:29.779 --> 00:25:33.759 type use ALE type operations, you know has a 00:25:33.759 --> 00:25:37.319 broadband element on it It's built differently 00:25:37.319 --> 00:25:40.220 specifically for you know, the individual channels 00:25:40.220 --> 00:25:44.339 that the radios hop to for ALE So it it's a it's 00:25:44.339 --> 00:25:46.240 a different animal even though it looks the same 00:25:46.240 --> 00:25:48.400 which is kind of funny because we did have some 00:25:48.400 --> 00:25:51.140 hams show up and is that a Hex beam? Oh, yeah, 00:25:51.140 --> 00:25:53.880 it's a hex beam and it's but it's not the same 00:25:53.880 --> 00:25:56.019 hex beam that you're it's not the one that you're 00:25:56.019 --> 00:25:58.339 familiar with I guess is what it boils down to 00:25:59.299 --> 00:26:02.039 Um, but it was, it was an adventure. Sounds like 00:26:02.039 --> 00:26:05.859 a lot of fun. Oh yeah. It, uh, you know, it was 00:26:05.859 --> 00:26:08.420 two days. It was pretty intense. A lot of stuff 00:26:08.420 --> 00:26:13.140 going on. Um, it, uh, very formal. Uh, you, you 00:26:13.140 --> 00:26:15.220 know, generally I was blue or not. I was wearing 00:26:15.220 --> 00:26:18.640 a suit and tie. Okay. Give you an idea. Wow. 00:26:18.819 --> 00:26:22.000 Wow. Now that says a lot right there. It wasn't 00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:25.730 the kilt. It wasn't the kilt. I was tempted, 00:26:25.809 --> 00:26:30.690 but no, it wouldn't have flown, not even. Although 00:26:30.690 --> 00:26:32.430 I kept telling my wife, I should bring my kilt. 00:26:32.630 --> 00:26:34.369 I really should. We are gonna be wearing kilts 00:26:34.369 --> 00:26:36.829 again for Dayton, which is gonna be fun. Then 00:26:36.829 --> 00:26:40.309 after that, we finished up on Thursday evening 00:26:40.309 --> 00:26:43.329 at five o 'clock. Now imagine this, you got a 00:26:43.329 --> 00:26:45.589 mile long of stuff, people trying to get out 00:26:45.589 --> 00:26:48.519 of this place. Okay, you know how, like, the 00:26:48.519 --> 00:26:52.460 ham shows are and like ham vincennes and so on. 00:26:53.079 --> 00:26:55.440 Well imagine this done on a professional level 00:26:55.440 --> 00:26:57.319 and everyone's trying to get out at once and 00:26:57.319 --> 00:26:59.160 they got big stuff they're getting out you know 00:26:59.160 --> 00:27:02.400 power segments you know microwave dishes radar 00:27:02.400 --> 00:27:05.240 stuff and of course here we are with mcom1 the 00:27:05.240 --> 00:27:07.819 vehicle and we got to break down the entire station 00:27:07.819 --> 00:27:11.700 we we literally set up mcom1 in its deployed 00:27:11.700 --> 00:27:14.410 condition in other words It was set up in the 00:27:14.410 --> 00:27:17.269 icon booth in the condition that it was actually 00:27:17.269 --> 00:27:18.829 operational, even though we didn't operate out 00:27:18.829 --> 00:27:20.529 of it, but it was operational. So we had the 00:27:20.529 --> 00:27:24.829 hex beam up. We had our folded terminated dipole 00:27:24.829 --> 00:27:28.630 up in the back. All the VHF stuff was up. If 00:27:28.630 --> 00:27:30.809 you go to our website, our actually Facebook 00:27:30.809 --> 00:27:35.569 page on radio waves, at radio waves, there'll 00:27:35.569 --> 00:27:38.250 be some pictures there. But anyway, we had all 00:27:38.250 --> 00:27:40.190 that set up. So what happened was at five o 'clock 00:27:40.190 --> 00:27:44.569 we had to tear all that down. And it was interesting 00:27:44.569 --> 00:27:46.730 because it was our we were already dog tired. 00:27:46.730 --> 00:27:49.970 So we tore this thing down and packed up the 00:27:49.970 --> 00:27:54.309 van And the generator and everything And tried 00:27:54.309 --> 00:27:57.470 to navigate through all these boxes and all this 00:27:57.470 --> 00:27:59.650 stuff, you know, they're pulling up carpet They're 00:27:59.650 --> 00:28:02.329 you know, you know forklifts moving. I mean flying 00:28:02.329 --> 00:28:04.210 all over the place You better not be in that 00:28:04.210 --> 00:28:07.930 lane because that forklift will get you But anyway, 00:28:08.170 --> 00:28:12.410 we pretty much got the vehicle out. I think we 00:28:12.410 --> 00:28:15.950 arrived at the East Canary Casino, which is where 00:28:15.950 --> 00:28:21.569 the NVCon was held, at about 7 o 'clock in the 00:28:21.569 --> 00:28:25.630 evening. And we literally redeployed. In other 00:28:25.630 --> 00:28:27.849 words, we pretty much set most of our stuff back 00:28:27.849 --> 00:28:31.619 up again. for the next day, which started, you 00:28:31.619 --> 00:28:34.440 know, in VCon on Friday. So it was, you know, 00:28:34.619 --> 00:28:37.779 a tear down in the set up. And then we had in 00:28:37.779 --> 00:28:40.519 VCon, which was Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 00:28:41.480 --> 00:28:43.460 Unfortunately, we couldn't stay for the Sunday 00:28:43.460 --> 00:28:45.920 section of the show because, you know, these 00:28:45.920 --> 00:28:49.019 said we were driving and, you know, it's a two 00:28:49.019 --> 00:28:53.460 day drive, three day drive from Las Vegas to 00:28:53.460 --> 00:29:02.900 St. Louis. Anyway, it was a fun show. Phil and 00:29:02.900 --> 00:29:05.380 Mike were basically from Florida, so they had 00:29:05.380 --> 00:29:09.000 two more days. So this was a long trip. And Neil, 00:29:09.019 --> 00:29:10.680 I think we've got a break coming up, don't we, 00:29:10.799 --> 00:29:13.559 sir? Yeah, we do. We need to take a break and 00:29:13.559 --> 00:29:15.920 we need to get back and talk a little bit about 00:29:15.920 --> 00:29:19.339 the Superstation and take some calls here. So 00:29:19.339 --> 00:29:22.000 we're going to do that. And we'll be back right 00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:24.240 after this word from Tower Electronics right 00:29:24.240 --> 00:29:27.480 here on HamTalk Live. This episode of HamTalk 00:29:27.480 --> 00:29:30.559 Live is brought to you in part by Tower Electronics. 00:29:30.779 --> 00:29:33.180 Tower Electronics has been the Ham's Dime Store 00:29:33.180 --> 00:29:36.579 since 1978. When you need connectors, mobile 00:29:36.579 --> 00:29:39.839 and handheld antennas, cables, or adapters, visit 00:29:39.839 --> 00:29:43.440 Scott or Jill at a HamFest near you. Or you can 00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:49.619 order online at pl -259 .com or call 920 -435 00:29:49.619 --> 00:29:54.640 -2973. Stock up on those supplies like PL259 00:29:54.640 --> 00:29:57.900 and end connectors, SMA adapters, audio cables, 00:29:58.200 --> 00:30:01.359 soldering supplies, mobile antennas, and hamsticks. 00:30:01.640 --> 00:30:03.759 Their silver -plated end connectors are even 00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:06.420 used on the International Space Station. Tower 00:30:06.420 --> 00:30:10.240 Electronics carries MFJ, Comet, Daiwa, OPEC, 00:30:10.480 --> 00:30:13.759 Workman, and HamPro products. And don't miss 00:30:13.759 --> 00:30:17.819 their 0 % off sale going on now! Tower Electronics 00:30:17.819 --> 00:30:22.059 online at PL -259 .com. Proud to sponsor this 00:30:22.059 --> 00:30:27.950 episode of HamTalk Live. You get a 5 -9. You 00:30:27.950 --> 00:30:36.529 get a 5 -9. Everybody gets a 5 -9. Join the conversation. 00:30:36.930 --> 00:30:40.369 Call us on voice with Skype at HamTalk Live or 00:30:40.369 --> 00:30:44.869 give us a call at 812 -NET -HAM -1. That's 812 00:30:44.869 --> 00:30:51.380 -638 -4261. Now here's more HamTalk Live. Thanks 00:30:51.380 --> 00:30:54.200 to Scott and Jill at Tower Electronics for sponsoring 00:30:54.200 --> 00:30:56.200 the show yet again tonight to help bring you 00:30:56.200 --> 00:30:58.519 HamTalk Live. They're at Mobile, Alabama this 00:30:58.519 --> 00:31:01.779 weekend and also Staunton, Wisconsin this weekend 00:31:01.779 --> 00:31:04.660 on Saturday. They'll also be at Calhoun, Georgia 00:31:04.660 --> 00:31:07.779 on April 22nd or you can give them a call at 00:31:07.779 --> 00:31:13.619 920 -435 -2973 or visit their website like I 00:31:13.619 --> 00:31:15.779 did a while ago and got some soldering stuff 00:31:15.779 --> 00:31:19.779 going here. PL -259 .com and tell them you heard 00:31:19.779 --> 00:31:22.880 it. Ham talk live and we're here every Thursday 00:31:22.880 --> 00:31:25.619 night 9 p .m. Eastern time ham talk live comm 00:31:25.619 --> 00:31:28.400 check out our Facebook Twitter and Instagram 00:31:28.400 --> 00:31:31.720 just search for ham talk live you will find us 00:31:31.720 --> 00:31:35.799 there and we are Getting late into the show here 00:31:35.799 --> 00:31:38.720 and we want to take some calls, but real quick 00:31:38.720 --> 00:31:41.460 Let's talk about the the Dayton Superstation. 00:31:41.460 --> 00:31:46.960 It's gonna happen again. Oh Yes, I did have one 00:31:46.960 --> 00:31:50.039 question for you though, you know Now you just 00:31:50.039 --> 00:31:52.400 said tower electronics is going to be down in 00:31:52.400 --> 00:31:54.799 Alabama and then they're going to be back. Where 00:31:54.799 --> 00:32:00.160 else? Wisconsin. Yeah. So Jill, Jill went to 00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:03.180 Alabama and Scott's a big guy, but I don't think 00:32:03.180 --> 00:32:05.839 he can do two shoes at the same time. Yeah. Jill 00:32:05.839 --> 00:32:08.480 went to, to Alabama. She got down there today. 00:32:08.700 --> 00:32:14.339 I saw so sent Jill on the road. Yeah. He's done 00:32:14.339 --> 00:32:18.069 that before. He stays home in the hot tub. Okay, 00:32:18.069 --> 00:32:21.430 I get it. And Scott and Joe, I tell you what, 00:32:21.730 --> 00:32:24.109 those guys, they got hearts of gold and they 00:32:24.109 --> 00:32:27.730 want, they've got parts. That's the best way 00:32:27.730 --> 00:32:30.490 I can say it. It's like, it's a mobile, what 00:32:30.490 --> 00:32:33.130 used to be a radio shack, a quality radio shack, 00:32:33.410 --> 00:32:37.450 which, anyway, I love those guys. But yeah, we're 00:32:37.450 --> 00:32:42.950 talking about the... Dayton ham station or the 00:32:42.950 --> 00:32:45.910 superstation which we're doing part two this 00:32:45.910 --> 00:32:48.910 year Last year was the first time ever where 00:32:48.910 --> 00:32:53.269 we had We had a meeting of the the big and the 00:32:53.269 --> 00:32:58.150 big the the big radios ie icon Kenwood and yesu 00:32:58.150 --> 00:33:05.109 we also had two of our antennas which was a One 00:33:05.109 --> 00:33:07.470 of our Barrett's which is the great big 40 meter 00:33:08.069 --> 00:33:10.690 through 10 meter hex beam, and then we had our 00:33:10.690 --> 00:33:14.049 Sentinel, which was 10 meter through six, both 00:33:14.049 --> 00:33:20.190 operating on OM amplifiers from Array Solutions. 00:33:20.750 --> 00:33:24.230 And then we also had ICOM, Kenwood, and Yesu, 00:33:24.470 --> 00:33:26.529 the best of the best, and tech radios. We had 00:33:26.529 --> 00:33:29.849 a Kenwood 990 that... Yes, we did. Neil, you 00:33:29.849 --> 00:33:32.869 all about playing on. Yes, we did. As a matter 00:33:32.869 --> 00:33:34.369 of fact, it was one of those things that he says, 00:33:35.269 --> 00:33:37.859 you're not getting this mic back. I mean, until 00:33:37.859 --> 00:33:40.740 you get him off my cold, dead fingers. No, I'm 00:33:40.740 --> 00:33:46.259 just kidding. Not really. You're not really kidding. 00:33:46.900 --> 00:33:50.180 He really got into working it as you can tell 00:33:50.180 --> 00:33:52.000 because his neck got a little red which meant 00:33:52.000 --> 00:33:55.180 he was excited and You know, it was good to see 00:33:55.180 --> 00:33:57.880 and it was it's a fun radio to work with and 00:33:57.880 --> 00:34:02.539 then we had the esu 5000 we had the the flagship 00:34:02.539 --> 00:34:07.420 radius of of the icon line, which was the 7851 00:34:07.420 --> 00:34:11.380 which is a just imagine two hf radios in one 00:34:11.380 --> 00:34:15.210 box that do 200 watts and they're Absolutely 00:34:15.210 --> 00:34:19.429 quiet that would be the ICOM 7851 beautiful radio 00:34:19.429 --> 00:34:23.250 Then of course I was hooked up to OM an amplifier 00:34:23.250 --> 00:34:26.889 as well and we split the two we split the two 00:34:26.889 --> 00:34:30.469 Stations up between the two antennas and one 00:34:30.469 --> 00:34:32.409 would be working on 20 meters and the other one 00:34:32.409 --> 00:34:36.090 would be working on 17 We tried 40 off and on 00:34:36.090 --> 00:34:39.849 but it wasn't exactly How do I say it the best 00:34:39.849 --> 00:34:44.059 in the world? We also had Another special event 00:34:44.059 --> 00:34:46.280 station that was running on 40 meters, which 00:34:46.280 --> 00:34:51.900 was on a yesu. I want to say DS 3000 and then 00:34:51.900 --> 00:34:55.179 It was attacked we had that was attached to one 00:34:55.179 --> 00:34:57.840 of our off center fed our DX 80 off center fed 00:34:57.840 --> 00:35:03.920 Pro lines which were they had a MFJ ALS 600 amplifier 00:35:03.920 --> 00:35:06.179 which that is a nice little solid state amplifier 00:35:06.179 --> 00:35:09.179 if you ever want to have a no mess no must no 00:35:09.179 --> 00:35:12.190 fuss solid state that you can't I mean, it's 00:35:12.190 --> 00:35:14.190 kind of in between things. You don't have enough 00:35:14.190 --> 00:35:16.889 money to get the big ones, but you don't want 00:35:16.889 --> 00:35:19.809 to go too cheap. That would be a very good product. 00:35:19.909 --> 00:35:22.170 And it's solid in its design. And I like it a 00:35:22.170 --> 00:35:24.849 lot. And you don't have to mess with tuning finals 00:35:24.849 --> 00:35:29.170 and so on, which I like a lot. And then, of course, 00:35:29.170 --> 00:35:31.849 they had one more station, which was a vertical, 00:35:31.949 --> 00:35:34.309 which was more of like CW and digital modes. 00:35:34.329 --> 00:35:37.349 And that was using one of our Pathfinders this 00:35:37.349 --> 00:35:42.230 year. The Dayton Hemvention is going to Zinnia, 00:35:42.269 --> 00:35:43.969 as you know. It's still going to be called Dayton. 00:35:44.710 --> 00:35:46.909 Even though it's in Zinnia, it's still going 00:35:46.909 --> 00:35:48.949 to be Dayton, because that's how we all identify 00:35:48.949 --> 00:35:54.230 with it. I'm very excited about the new venue. 00:35:54.969 --> 00:35:58.070 People complain, oh, it's a fairground, yada, 00:35:58.150 --> 00:36:01.179 yada, yada. Has anyone ever been to Hera Arena? 00:36:01.380 --> 00:36:04.340 You realize that in that main area, they do on 00:36:04.340 --> 00:36:07.000 a regular basis. Think about it. That's where 00:36:07.000 --> 00:36:12.739 the rodeo goes. I think just about every one 00:36:12.739 --> 00:36:15.619 of the major rooms has it set up for livestock. 00:36:16.119 --> 00:36:20.199 So you're not losing any. You're not really going 00:36:20.199 --> 00:36:22.019 anywhere different than you're used to. It's 00:36:22.019 --> 00:36:25.739 just that it's cleaner. It's newer. The people 00:36:25.739 --> 00:36:29.670 from Zinnia are just bending over backwards for 00:36:29.670 --> 00:36:32.489 the Hamvention people. They're literally letting 00:36:32.489 --> 00:36:36.090 the kids out of school half a day earlier just 00:36:36.090 --> 00:36:38.809 so that they can free up parking. Think about 00:36:38.809 --> 00:36:42.159 that one. I think that is cool. I mean, the city's 00:36:42.159 --> 00:36:44.719 participating at that level just to bring the 00:36:44.719 --> 00:36:48.559 Hamvention in and make it a success. And I mean, 00:36:48.659 --> 00:36:50.920 that's a lot of weight right there. So back to 00:36:50.920 --> 00:36:54.039 the station. This year, we're going to have our, 00:36:54.460 --> 00:36:58.280 once again, we're going to have all the big ones, 00:36:58.400 --> 00:37:01.679 plus several radios that we didn't have last 00:37:01.679 --> 00:37:03.820 year, but this year we're going to have. And 00:37:03.820 --> 00:37:09.570 the new stations will be... the flex radio 6700 00:37:09.570 --> 00:37:14.090 with their new 500 watt amplifier. They'll also 00:37:14.090 --> 00:37:18.630 be showing off their maestro and their ability 00:37:18.630 --> 00:37:23.449 to do remote operations. There's a young lady 00:37:23.449 --> 00:37:26.280 up in New Jersey who probably will be... You 00:37:26.280 --> 00:37:29.980 know removing this their station using a maestro 00:37:29.980 --> 00:37:32.679 to from her location So you literally there'll 00:37:32.679 --> 00:37:34.840 be a booth set up where you're going to be operating 00:37:34.840 --> 00:37:39.059 off of the off of the remote location And it's 00:37:39.059 --> 00:37:40.559 going to be just like you were there, which is 00:37:40.559 --> 00:37:48.500 absolutely cool A craft is set in a system with 00:37:48.500 --> 00:37:52.469 a 500 watt amplifier I think they might even 00:37:52.469 --> 00:37:54.750 be bringing in their new amplifier, which is 00:37:54.750 --> 00:37:58.110 the one kilowatt. It hasn't been 100 % confirmed 00:37:58.110 --> 00:38:02.730 yet, but I think it's this. Let's see. Who else 00:38:02.730 --> 00:38:04.789 is going to be the amplifier? I'm trying to remember 00:38:04.789 --> 00:38:08.190 the amplifier line. We've got one more other 00:38:08.190 --> 00:38:11.840 amplifier besides OM. Noah was being. brought 00:38:11.840 --> 00:38:15.260 in by, um, well, obviously the company named 00:38:15.260 --> 00:38:18.739 OEM and, uh, uh, erase solutions is providing, 00:38:18.960 --> 00:38:20.860 is providing that. Plus they're also providing 00:38:20.860 --> 00:38:23.860 all the filters, the bandpass filters and, and 00:38:23.860 --> 00:38:26.199 switches, which is really nice. Jay does a great 00:38:26.199 --> 00:38:33.219 job on all that equipment. Some cool stuff. Well, 00:38:33.340 --> 00:38:38.039 we need to, uh, go ahead. Oh yeah. We need to, 00:38:38.079 --> 00:38:40.119 we need to get some calls in here. Cause we're 00:38:40.119 --> 00:38:43.809 just. getting close and and you're connections 00:38:43.809 --> 00:38:46.110 cutting out a little bit here too. Not sure what's 00:38:46.110 --> 00:38:49.250 going on there but let's open up the lines here 00:38:49.250 --> 00:38:51.130 so we can at least get a call or two in here 00:38:51.130 --> 00:38:57.010 at 812 -NET -HAM -1 812 -638 -4261. If you wanted 00:38:57.010 --> 00:39:00.570 to get a question in here we'll try to get one 00:39:00.570 --> 00:39:03.909 or two in here before we have to get off of the 00:39:03.909 --> 00:39:10.010 air. 812 -NET -HAM -1 812 -638 -4261 or you can 00:39:10.010 --> 00:39:13.780 Skype us or tweet us and did get a tweet from 00:39:13.780 --> 00:39:21.280 KM0MMM that said his project today was the radio 00:39:21.280 --> 00:39:24.340 waves dx -40 offsetter fed dipole and added wire 00:39:24.340 --> 00:39:28.119 to the short end to make it an 80 meter and it 00:39:28.119 --> 00:39:32.219 looks great. Okay that's cool. You can do that. 00:39:33.219 --> 00:39:36.500 It's field improvisation, which we've done that 00:39:36.500 --> 00:39:40.119 a lot. I mean, that's my world. They send me 00:39:40.119 --> 00:39:42.619 places and say, hey, I need to talk from point 00:39:42.619 --> 00:39:46.039 A to point B. And this is what you got. OK, let's 00:39:46.039 --> 00:39:50.340 do it. Yeah, so sounds like a good spring antenna 00:39:50.340 --> 00:39:52.340 project there. So if you have a question about 00:39:52.340 --> 00:39:55.579 a spring antenna project, Give us a call, 812 00:39:55.579 --> 00:40:01.639 -NET -TAM -1, 812 -638 -4261 while we still have 00:40:01.639 --> 00:40:05.400 a couple of minutes left. And while we're waiting, 00:40:05.539 --> 00:40:10.980 go ahead and finish up your SuperStation stuff. 00:40:11.679 --> 00:40:14.380 Yeah, the rest of the SuperStation is kind of 00:40:14.380 --> 00:40:17.619 the same. Of course, we're going to have ICOM, 00:40:17.760 --> 00:40:22.710 the ICOM 7851. We'll be set up again. We'll have 00:40:22.710 --> 00:40:28.650 a Kenwin 990 and a Yesu 5000 with all the bells 00:40:28.650 --> 00:40:31.889 and whistles attached. And, excuse me, all that 00:40:31.889 --> 00:40:33.730 will be attached, too. We're only going to have 00:40:33.730 --> 00:40:40.050 two antennas this year. a radio waves Barrett 00:40:40.050 --> 00:40:44.250 hex beam, which is 40 meters through 10 meters. 00:40:44.590 --> 00:40:46.070 And the unit that we're going to be setting up 00:40:46.070 --> 00:40:50.530 this year will also have our 80 meter short option, 00:40:50.710 --> 00:40:53.329 which means that you'll be able to have something 00:40:53.329 --> 00:40:56.929 on the order of a 7 dB forward gain with a 15 00:40:56.929 --> 00:41:00.269 dB front to back. It's going to be a 80 meter 00:41:00.269 --> 00:41:02.449 beam. Can you believe it? And it's still in the 00:41:02.449 --> 00:41:06.179 same space as the 40 meter. And then we'll also 00:41:06.179 --> 00:41:10.780 have our high power off center fed, which is 00:41:10.780 --> 00:41:13.360 designed to have 5kW. So we're just going to 00:41:13.360 --> 00:41:16.659 have two antennas. Also for your reference, there 00:41:16.659 --> 00:41:19.539 will also be the MCOM1 vehicle will be there 00:41:19.539 --> 00:41:21.659 and we'll have our hex beam set up out there 00:41:21.659 --> 00:41:25.619 as well with the couple ICOM 7300s. Sounds like 00:41:25.619 --> 00:41:30.139 we got a call. Yeah, we do. We have a call and 00:41:30.139 --> 00:41:32.280 a tweet. So let's take the call. Who's this? 00:41:36.680 --> 00:41:41.440 Hey, how are you doing? Good evening. So I actually 00:41:41.440 --> 00:41:45.500 bought one of those 40 meter offsetter bed fed 00:41:45.500 --> 00:41:49.679 by holes. That was the last tweet. And I was 00:41:49.679 --> 00:41:52.659 wondering, do you really need to have anything 00:41:52.659 --> 00:41:55.280 else other than just hook that up to your rig 00:41:55.280 --> 00:42:00.900 and start running or does it need any of the 00:42:00.900 --> 00:42:04.380 balance or anything else? Well, typically you 00:42:04.380 --> 00:42:06.860 should be able to work without anything else 00:42:06.860 --> 00:42:11.940 I do recommend Well, obviously You need to bring 00:42:11.940 --> 00:42:14.139 the antenna to resonance if you can just follow 00:42:14.139 --> 00:42:16.800 the directions. There's like a five page Thing 00:42:16.800 --> 00:42:19.260 on how to you know, make the antenna resident 00:42:19.260 --> 00:42:24.539 on 40 meters and then 20 20 10 and 6 should come 00:42:24.539 --> 00:42:27.679 in quite easily. We do recommend that you in 00:42:27.679 --> 00:42:30.360 a simple common mode choke of some kind just 00:42:30.360 --> 00:42:32.860 to take care of any spurious radiation that might 00:42:32.860 --> 00:42:35.860 be coming back, especially if you're not working 00:42:35.860 --> 00:42:37.780 on the resonant frequencies, like let's say you're 00:42:37.780 --> 00:42:41.800 working on 17 or 15 or 12 meters. Having that 00:42:41.800 --> 00:42:44.619 common mode choke will help with any RFI issues 00:42:44.619 --> 00:42:46.420 that you might have coming back in the shack. 00:42:46.880 --> 00:42:49.539 But for the most part, once you get it up in 00:42:49.539 --> 00:42:52.400 the air, you tip it. We don't have to do too 00:42:52.400 --> 00:42:54.659 much to it to make it work because it is a resident 00:42:54.659 --> 00:43:00.719 antenna on 40 and then 20 and then 10 and 6 All 00:43:00.719 --> 00:43:02.300 right. Thank you very much guys. Have a great 00:43:02.300 --> 00:43:05.960 night Thanks for calling in call Yeah, thanks 00:43:05.960 --> 00:43:09.099 for doing that and appreciate it All right. We 00:43:09.099 --> 00:43:13.170 have just about a minute. So Blast thoughts. 00:43:13.170 --> 00:43:15.710 Give me your tweet. Give me your tweet Oh, no, 00:43:15.710 --> 00:43:18.690 he was just saying great show and and and even 00:43:18.690 --> 00:43:21.929 Emmet likes icon. They were dr. Scott right keys. 00:43:21.929 --> 00:43:24.449 Your MD was harassing me. He knows I'm a Kenwood 00:43:24.449 --> 00:43:27.829 fan Well, I'm a Kenwood fan too. Don't get me 00:43:27.829 --> 00:43:31.250 wrong. I have a good relationship with with all 00:43:31.250 --> 00:43:35.389 the manufacturers You know, it happens that icon 00:43:35.389 --> 00:43:38.449 and radio waves have a working relationship on 00:43:38.449 --> 00:43:41.469 the commercial side So it it works out quite 00:43:41.469 --> 00:43:44.590 well Well, thanks so much for coming back on. 00:43:44.929 --> 00:43:47.309 Oh, go ahead. Make it quick. No, I just say, 00:43:47.469 --> 00:43:49.429 Neil, I really appreciate your program. I really 00:43:49.429 --> 00:43:52.050 do. You're providing a great service. It's informative. 00:43:52.250 --> 00:43:55.769 It's lighthearted. It's not hard hitting because 00:43:55.769 --> 00:43:59.159 that's not what we want. Or light breaking. Yeah, 00:43:59.159 --> 00:44:04.880 yeah. Oh my goodness. And I thoroughly enjoy 00:44:04.880 --> 00:44:08.880 speaking with you. Anytime you want me to do 00:44:08.880 --> 00:44:11.199 something for you, just give me a call. And I 00:44:11.199 --> 00:44:14.760 think we talked about a project next week or 00:44:14.760 --> 00:44:19.860 so for your next shows. He'll have an announcement 00:44:19.860 --> 00:44:24.219 in his post. So we will, we will make an announcement 00:44:24.219 --> 00:44:26.760 on that. So thanks so much for coming on the 00:44:26.760 --> 00:44:28.880 show and doing that. And we'll be talking about 00:44:28.880 --> 00:44:31.199 that soon. Thanks to everybody for listening, 00:44:31.420 --> 00:44:34.239 calling in, tweeting in Thursday night, 9 PM 00:44:34.239 --> 00:44:36.699 next week starts our Dayton Hamvention preview 00:44:36.699 --> 00:44:40.079 and Tim Duffy will be here K3LR to talk about 00:44:40.079 --> 00:44:43.400 contest university. So be sure to check that 00:44:43.400 --> 00:44:45.320 out for a list of all of our upcoming guests. 00:44:45.820 --> 00:44:48.940 Visit HamTalkLive .com. For now, this is Neil 00:44:48.940 --> 00:44:53.199 Rapp, WB9VPG, saying 7 -3, 7 -5, and may the 00:44:53.199 --> 00:44:54.900 good DX be yours.