WEBVTT 00:00:11.400 --> 00:00:14.140 Thanks for tuning in. HamTalk Live will be on 00:00:14.140 --> 00:00:32.079 the air shortly. Please stand by. Thanks for 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:34.820 tuning in. HamTalk Live will be on the air shortly. 00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:53.420 Please stand by. This episode of HamTalk Live 00:00:53.420 --> 00:00:57.240 is brought to you by Tower Electronics. For connectors, 00:00:57.539 --> 00:01:03.280 cables, and more, call 920 -435 -2973 or visit 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:08.840 pl -259 .com and by The Ham Station. Get your 00:01:08.840 --> 00:01:14.599 new radio or antenna by calling 800 -729 -4373 00:01:14.599 --> 00:01:49.849 or go to hamstation .com. Good evening everyone, 00:01:50.209 --> 00:01:53.709 this is HamTalk Live, episode number 24, DXing 00:01:53.709 --> 00:01:57.849 and Log Analysis with Valerie Oatsfield in V9L. 00:01:58.170 --> 00:02:03.150 Recorded live on Thursday, July 28th, 2016. I'm 00:02:03.150 --> 00:02:06.709 your host, Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, and thanks for 00:02:06.709 --> 00:02:10.860 tuning in to this episode of HamTalk Live. This 00:02:10.860 --> 00:02:14.039 evening Ham Nation co -host and avid DXer and 00:02:14.039 --> 00:02:17.280 contestor Valerie Hutzfeld in V9L is here to 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:20.300 talk about working those rare DXpeditions and 00:02:20.300 --> 00:02:23.319 how to analyze your logs to do better next time 00:02:23.319 --> 00:02:27.060 around. We will take your calls live in just 00:02:27.060 --> 00:02:30.340 a few minutes. Last week on the show Nathan Nixon 00:02:30.340 --> 00:02:33.520 in N7NAN was here to talk about promoting ham 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:37.199 radio as an Mcom option. for the American Indian 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:39.699 tribes throughout the country. If you missed 00:02:39.699 --> 00:02:41.879 the show, you can listen anytime. 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This episode of HamTalk 00:03:31.639 --> 00:03:34.199 Live is brought to you by Tower Electronics. 00:03:34.520 --> 00:03:36.819 Tower Electronics has been the Ham's dime store 00:03:36.819 --> 00:03:40.479 since 1978, bringing connectors, antennas, cables, 00:03:40.580 --> 00:03:43.169 and other parts to the world. Scott and Jill 00:03:43.169 --> 00:03:45.310 travel the country bringing their store to you 00:03:45.310 --> 00:03:48.310 at HamFest, but you can also order online at 00:03:48.310 --> 00:03:57.990 PL -259 .com or by calling 920 -435 -2973. Stock 00:03:57.990 --> 00:04:01.189 up on those supplies like PL -259 and end connectors, 00:04:01.810 --> 00:04:04.689 audio cables, mobile antennas and hamsticks. 00:04:05.129 --> 00:04:07.389 Their silver -plated end connectors are even 00:04:07.389 --> 00:04:10.379 in use on the International Space Station. Tower 00:04:10.379 --> 00:04:14.180 Electronics is a dealer for MFJ, Comet, Daiwa, 00:04:14.460 --> 00:04:17.879 OPEC, Workman, and HamPro technologies. Tower 00:04:17.879 --> 00:04:22.420 Electronics online at PL -259 .com. Proud to 00:04:22.420 --> 00:04:26.339 sponsor this episode of HamTalk Live. If Denny's 00:04:26.339 --> 00:04:30.680 is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, why 00:04:30.680 --> 00:04:33.740 are there locks on the doors? Now, here's Neil 00:04:33.740 --> 00:04:38.500 Rapp with more HamTalk Live. Ham Talk Live with 00:04:38.500 --> 00:04:45.500 Neil Rapp. Hey, thanks to Scott and Jill at Tower 00:04:45.500 --> 00:04:48.459 Electronics for sponsoring the show tonight so 00:04:48.459 --> 00:04:52.120 we can bring you Ham Talk Live. They will be 00:04:52.120 --> 00:04:56.060 at the Berryville, Virginia ham fest on August 00:04:56.060 --> 00:04:59.720 7th. And they're coming soon to Huntington, West 00:04:59.720 --> 00:05:03.629 Virginia and Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. Call them 00:05:03.629 --> 00:05:09.209 at 920 -435 -2973 or visit their website at PL 00:05:09.209 --> 00:05:13.870 -259 .com Be sure to listen to HamTalk Live every 00:05:13.870 --> 00:05:16.750 Thursday night at 9 p .m. Eastern Time right 00:05:16.750 --> 00:05:19.990 here at HamTalkLive .com And if you missed the 00:05:19.990 --> 00:05:22.470 show you can download the podcast from the website 00:05:22.470 --> 00:05:27.439 and most popular podcasting websites Valerie 00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:30.199 Holtzfeld, NV9L, is originally from Wisconsin 00:05:30.199 --> 00:05:32.920 and now resides in Illinois. Val is a co -host 00:05:32.920 --> 00:05:36.519 for the wildly successful video podcast, Hamination, 00:05:36.639 --> 00:05:40.319 on Twitch TV, where she usually contributes information 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:44.620 about DXing and contesting. And Val is a numbers 00:05:44.620 --> 00:05:48.339 kind of gal, so at Contest University this year 00:05:48.339 --> 00:05:51.120 at Dayton, she gave a talk and a question and 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:54.819 answer session about log analysis. Valerie is 00:05:54.819 --> 00:05:58.120 one of the most noted YLs in the hobby and spends 00:05:58.120 --> 00:06:00.500 most of her weekends on the air working contests 00:06:00.500 --> 00:06:04.720 along with her fiance Jerry WB9Z. She is a member 00:06:04.720 --> 00:06:09.459 of many DX and contesting clubs and an ARRL volunteer 00:06:09.459 --> 00:06:12.709 examiner. She's also been the North American 00:06:12.709 --> 00:06:17.610 pilot station for Amsterdam Island, FT5ZM in 00:06:17.610 --> 00:06:23.449 2014, Wake Island, K9W in 2013, and Swains Island 00:06:23.449 --> 00:06:28.870 NH8S in 2012. Besides her ham radio obsession, 00:06:28.990 --> 00:06:31.970 she enjoys camping, traveling, hiking, fishing, 00:06:32.209 --> 00:06:36.129 bowling, gardening, and baking. That sounds like 00:06:36.129 --> 00:06:39.050 an awful lot, Val. Thanks for coming on HamTalk 00:06:39.050 --> 00:06:43.500 Live tonight. Yeah, I forgot to add basket weaving 00:06:43.500 --> 00:06:46.920 and no I was not underwater basket weaving for 00:06:46.920 --> 00:06:52.360 teens, right? Yeah, you know what I was just 00:06:52.360 --> 00:06:54.300 listening to you earlier and I have to go back 00:06:54.300 --> 00:06:57.180 and listen to that Nathan The podcast where you 00:06:57.180 --> 00:06:59.180 interviewed Nathan, because I don't know if a 00:06:59.180 --> 00:07:00.759 lot of people know this, but I am an enrolled 00:07:00.759 --> 00:07:03.600 tribal member of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska. 00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:05.819 So I am Native American. So that sounds like 00:07:05.819 --> 00:07:08.000 a cool interview that you had last week. Yeah, 00:07:08.100 --> 00:07:10.819 Nathan's done a lot of cool things with that. 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:14.660 And we've done some things with him over at Amateur 00:07:14.660 --> 00:07:18.819 Radio Newsline. And so, yeah, that's a good one. 00:07:19.860 --> 00:07:22.360 And kind of interesting to hear how he's getting 00:07:22.360 --> 00:07:25.370 some of that EMCOM stuff going. with some of 00:07:25.370 --> 00:07:29.910 the tribes. So hey tonight we want to talk some 00:07:29.910 --> 00:07:33.730 DX and we want to get into the contest analysis 00:07:33.730 --> 00:07:36.149 first but one of the things that I always ask 00:07:36.149 --> 00:07:39.170 the people who you know put together these big 00:07:39.170 --> 00:07:41.569 DXpeditions when they come on the show or whatever 00:07:41.569 --> 00:07:45.050 is is what their advice is if you're on the other 00:07:45.050 --> 00:07:48.910 end and so I want to get your advice on you know 00:07:48.910 --> 00:07:52.149 if you want to get that DXpedition in the log 00:07:52.509 --> 00:07:55.970 What are your top suggestions on making sure 00:07:55.970 --> 00:07:59.129 he or she is successful in doing that? Well, 00:07:59.730 --> 00:08:02.329 my strategy was when I just had 100 watts in 00:08:02.329 --> 00:08:04.850 a simple station and I was living on my own in 00:08:04.850 --> 00:08:06.709 Wisconsin, I would get through. Well, of course, 00:08:06.750 --> 00:08:09.129 I have the two DB game being a while, but I would 00:08:09.129 --> 00:08:11.689 get through if I'd find a empty hole in the middle 00:08:11.689 --> 00:08:14.649 somewhere. But when I was talking to Jerry, who's 00:08:14.649 --> 00:08:18.459 been on many. the expeditions, most of them in 00:08:18.459 --> 00:08:23.300 the top 10 as rarity goes. He says always go 00:08:23.300 --> 00:08:27.779 to the top of the pile or the top of the pile. 00:08:28.180 --> 00:08:31.040 So like if they're listening on 240 through 250, 00:08:31.160 --> 00:08:34.659 you want to hang up near 250 or just a tad above 00:08:34.659 --> 00:08:40.490 to get through. And you know what? Day one is 00:08:40.490 --> 00:08:43.090 crazy. That's for the big guns. You know, you're 00:08:43.090 --> 00:08:45.110 just going to drive yourself crazy. Although 00:08:45.110 --> 00:08:47.750 you'd hate to not try on day one. Then all of 00:08:47.750 --> 00:08:49.350 a sudden have bad weather come along and then 00:08:49.350 --> 00:08:52.190 they pack up and go home. So it's kind of a catch 00:08:52.190 --> 00:08:55.110 22, but I usually don't try on day one when, 00:08:55.350 --> 00:08:57.629 when I just had my hundred Watts, I wait a couple 00:08:57.629 --> 00:09:01.330 of days. Yeah, that, that does definitely help. 00:09:01.389 --> 00:09:05.049 And, and one of the things that we found at the 00:09:05.049 --> 00:09:08.950 school, that YL factor like you said you got 00:09:08.950 --> 00:09:12.590 2dB just for that but but yeah you know if your 00:09:12.590 --> 00:09:15.610 voice is a little bit different you know it helps 00:09:15.610 --> 00:09:20.029 and some of my kids they like to go just a little 00:09:20.029 --> 00:09:22.610 off frequency. Yeah I do that as well. Just so 00:09:22.610 --> 00:09:26.809 they sound just a little bit different and of 00:09:26.809 --> 00:09:29.590 course we've got a couple of YLs so we try to 00:09:29.590 --> 00:09:32.950 get them on the station too but Don't I don't 00:09:32.950 --> 00:09:35.149 zero beat a lot I do that intentionally as well 00:09:35.149 --> 00:09:37.250 So even though I have a high voice It does make 00:09:37.250 --> 00:09:38.970 a difference and I was on the other end when 00:09:38.970 --> 00:09:42.629 I went to PJ six and boy I could hear the yls 00:09:42.629 --> 00:09:46.269 come right through the top Yeah, yeah, it's easy 00:09:46.269 --> 00:09:51.690 when I was like, you know six and seven They 00:09:51.690 --> 00:09:55.299 would always think I was a while so I kind of 00:09:55.299 --> 00:09:58.860 got the YL effect because my voice hadn't changed 00:09:58.860 --> 00:10:02.000 yet and and so I could get through a lot easier 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:07.019 than than I do now so it let's let's just pretend 00:10:07.019 --> 00:10:10.919 here for a minute and say all of a sudden tomorrow 00:10:10.919 --> 00:10:14.799 they announce North Korea is on what are you 00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:21.779 gonna do Everything I can I don't know Yeah, 00:10:21.779 --> 00:10:24.840 I definitely need that one I want that one he 00:10:24.840 --> 00:10:27.980 could be online tomorrow that's a possibility 00:10:27.980 --> 00:10:30.299 because it hasn't been announced when and who 00:10:30.299 --> 00:10:32.759 knows you know We didn't know when that Dom was 00:10:32.759 --> 00:10:35.080 gonna be on when he was on before he was visiting 00:10:35.080 --> 00:10:37.059 They're working out the plans to come back and 00:10:37.059 --> 00:10:39.019 go on the air and who knew he was gonna be testing 00:10:39.019 --> 00:10:43.080 like that So I know it's coming soon to a radio 00:10:43.080 --> 00:10:48.539 near you yeah, so So get ready. Any other suggestions 00:10:48.539 --> 00:10:53.000 on breaking through those pileups or getting 00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:55.820 a de -expedition and log a favorite band or mode 00:10:55.820 --> 00:10:58.980 you like or anything like that? Well, 20 meters, 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:01.720 that's your 20 and 40s are there. 20 meters for 00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:03.580 sure. They're big money bands. So they're going 00:11:03.580 --> 00:11:08.399 to usually have someone on that 24 -7. So you'll 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:10.539 eventually get through. And a lot of times at 00:11:10.539 --> 00:11:13.259 the very end of their de -expeditions, they'll 00:11:13.259 --> 00:11:16.620 ask, For people who haven't worked them at all 00:11:16.620 --> 00:11:19.639 on any band, so they're looking for unique onlys, 00:11:19.899 --> 00:11:22.120 you can usually get through on the first try 00:11:22.120 --> 00:11:24.419 on those. Sometimes they're begging for callers 00:11:24.419 --> 00:11:27.940 on that last day, especially if it's a big team 00:11:27.940 --> 00:11:33.600 and propagation's been good. Although right now, 00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:36.019 propagation isn't that good. Nope, you're right 00:11:36.019 --> 00:11:39.899 there. Yeah, and it's looking like it's going 00:11:39.899 --> 00:11:46.009 to get worse. Okay, well very good. Let's switch 00:11:46.009 --> 00:11:49.330 gears here and talk a little bit about the log 00:11:49.330 --> 00:11:51.990 analysis. That was one of the big things that 00:11:51.990 --> 00:11:54.889 the kids that went to contest university were 00:11:54.889 --> 00:11:58.049 looking for and I was looking forward to hearing 00:11:58.049 --> 00:12:01.879 was your contest analysis because We started 00:12:01.879 --> 00:12:04.500 playing around with that a little bit and started 00:12:04.500 --> 00:12:08.080 taking a look at the logs and what kind of data 00:12:08.080 --> 00:12:10.899 we could start pulling from that. And so we learned 00:12:10.899 --> 00:12:14.759 a lot from that talk. So why don't you talk a 00:12:14.759 --> 00:12:18.440 little bit to the listeners about when a contest 00:12:18.440 --> 00:12:21.580 is over and you've got that log, what kind of 00:12:21.580 --> 00:12:27.509 statistics are really useful for them to Go back 00:12:27.509 --> 00:12:30.470 and try to improve on their score the next time 00:12:30.470 --> 00:12:33.870 around Well, first off I'd start during the contest 00:12:33.870 --> 00:12:38.289 because I think a really useful tool and makes 00:12:38.289 --> 00:12:41.789 it a heck of a lot more fun is logging into the 00:12:41.789 --> 00:12:46.289 CQ contest net Live server during your contest. 00:12:46.309 --> 00:12:48.809 So you're gonna actually see a real horse race 00:12:48.809 --> 00:12:51.590 in real time How you're doing with others in 00:12:51.590 --> 00:12:55.799 your category and that's so easy to do If you 00:12:55.799 --> 00:13:00.419 use N1MM, which a lot of US contesters use, and 00:13:00.419 --> 00:13:02.159 you just go into your configuration, there's 00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:05.179 actually a tab when you go into configuration 00:13:05.179 --> 00:13:09.460 called score reporting. And you just have to 00:13:09.460 --> 00:13:13.539 first go to cqcontest .net, register, which is 00:13:13.539 --> 00:13:16.179 free. You'll need your call sign and come up 00:13:16.179 --> 00:13:18.620 with a password. And then when you go into N1MM 00:13:18.620 --> 00:13:21.399 on that score reporting tab under the configuration 00:13:21.399 --> 00:13:25.179 menu, just put in your login. and which is your 00:13:25.179 --> 00:13:28.320 call sign and your password and you're automatically 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:31.990 linked. you're in a live leaderboard as a contest 00:13:31.990 --> 00:13:34.370 is going. And I think it's set up automatically 00:13:34.370 --> 00:13:36.850 to report your score every three minutes in the 00:13:36.850 --> 00:13:38.409 background. You don't even know what's going 00:13:38.409 --> 00:13:40.990 on. And you can really glean a lot of data from 00:13:40.990 --> 00:13:43.850 that because someone else in your category, you 00:13:43.850 --> 00:13:47.610 can see what bands, how many cues everybody has 00:13:47.610 --> 00:13:50.289 on each band. And you can see when they're moving 00:13:50.289 --> 00:13:53.389 to 40 or they're moving to 15 or, you know, so 00:13:53.389 --> 00:13:56.330 you can watch and get a lot of information while 00:13:56.330 --> 00:13:58.330 the contest is going live and make your corrections. 00:13:58.679 --> 00:14:01.360 than in there, so I really recommend that, and 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:03.220 it just makes it a lot more fun, really makes 00:14:03.220 --> 00:14:06.679 it a lot more fun. But yeah, after the contest, 00:14:07.919 --> 00:14:10.320 I think the best thing to do is you're gonna 00:14:10.320 --> 00:14:13.200 get those emails, or you're gonna have to request 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:15.200 them. Some of you have to request them once the 00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:19.960 scores are published. It's called the UBN, Unique, 00:14:20.120 --> 00:14:22.679 Spusted, and Not in the Log Report, and I kind 00:14:22.679 --> 00:14:24.899 of go through that and see how many mistakes 00:14:24.899 --> 00:14:28.620 were made. because we do a lot of multi -operator 00:14:28.620 --> 00:14:31.000 contests, so I look at who made the mistakes, 00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:35.919 what times the mistakes were made. You give it 00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:40.340 a little bit of a pass on 160. It's hard to work 00:14:40.340 --> 00:14:45.700 some of those signals, but also when the contest 00:14:45.700 --> 00:14:50.620 is over, I take my logs and I upload them to 00:14:50.620 --> 00:14:55.649 Qscope. I love Qscope .org. uh... you get it 00:14:55.649 --> 00:14:57.710 you can put a hundred of your log in hundred 00:14:57.710 --> 00:14:59.870 contacts or you can put your whole login but 00:14:59.870 --> 00:15:02.029 it'll only look at the first one hundred contacts 00:15:02.029 --> 00:15:04.250 and you can get a little bit of analysis from 00:15:04.250 --> 00:15:06.710 the those first one hundred you worked but if 00:15:06.710 --> 00:15:09.610 you want to put in your full logs from your contest 00:15:09.610 --> 00:15:12.450 you need to subscribe and it costs five dollars 00:15:12.450 --> 00:15:14.450 so it's well worth it but they'll put in your 00:15:14.450 --> 00:15:18.950 whole log give you full analysis uh... and really 00:15:18.950 --> 00:15:22.490 i look at the times when errors were made uh... 00:15:22.490 --> 00:15:25.940 to see if you know Maybe we want to add an operator 00:15:25.940 --> 00:15:28.440 because we were a little short and everybody 00:15:28.440 --> 00:15:31.220 was tired at four in the morning or you know 00:15:31.220 --> 00:15:33.360 I just I mean there's different things you can 00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:35.860 look at like that. So you're you're looking at 00:15:35.860 --> 00:15:41.000 it mostly for fatigue and making mistakes. Fatigue 00:15:41.000 --> 00:15:46.659 or did we not another good one too I look at 00:15:46.659 --> 00:15:55.919 to see is log QSO That one's free and that uses 00:15:55.919 --> 00:15:59.019 public log, so like CQ Worldwide is a public 00:15:59.019 --> 00:16:03.159 log. You can compare your contest for the same 00:16:03.159 --> 00:16:05.940 year with another call sign maybe that you lost. 00:16:06.139 --> 00:16:09.519 that beat you out. And you can look at what they 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:12.700 did on each hour. And so you can help analyze, 00:16:12.919 --> 00:16:15.720 hey, did I not change over to 15 meters soon 00:16:15.720 --> 00:16:18.659 enough? Or did I miss this opening or that opening? 00:16:18.779 --> 00:16:21.980 So you can kind of analyze a lot on what you've 00:16:21.980 --> 00:16:25.340 done wrong in your strategy as well. Okay, very 00:16:25.340 --> 00:16:31.210 good. And then If you were just looking at one 00:16:31.210 --> 00:16:33.929 individual, you know, if you're looking at your 00:16:33.929 --> 00:16:38.509 own or one of your your team members What kinds 00:16:38.509 --> 00:16:40.990 of numbers do you look at you just look like 00:16:40.990 --> 00:16:45.909 contacts per minute or then how do you Yeah, 00:16:45.909 --> 00:16:48.629 I look I look at rate per minute make sure everybody 00:16:48.629 --> 00:16:52.350 was giving good rate if not, then we know where 00:16:52.350 --> 00:16:55.830 we can correct and Help them to get their rate 00:16:55.830 --> 00:17:01.879 up Also, I will take all the, I look at all the 00:17:01.879 --> 00:17:04.339 errors made when you get your UBN report. It 00:17:04.339 --> 00:17:09.000 lists all the bad calls, busted call signs, bad 00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:12.660 exchanges, the not in the logs. And I match up 00:17:12.660 --> 00:17:16.779 to who the operator was at the time. And then 00:17:16.779 --> 00:17:19.819 I divide it out by their contacts. So each person 00:17:19.819 --> 00:17:22.839 gets their own individual error rate. And when 00:17:22.839 --> 00:17:25.680 you get those UBNs, it's gonna give you the average 00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:28.500 error rate. And you always want to make sure 00:17:28.500 --> 00:17:30.700 that you're at least under the average rate. 00:17:30.819 --> 00:17:33.759 You want a lower score than that. So keep that 00:17:33.759 --> 00:17:36.059 average late. Like CQ Worldwide last year, I 00:17:36.059 --> 00:17:39.059 think it was 3 .2%. So if you can get it under 00:17:39.059 --> 00:17:42.880 3 .2%, you're doing better than the average contester 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:45.660 out there. We like to try and keep ours under 00:17:45.660 --> 00:17:50.880 1 .5. That's our goal. And so we look at just, 00:17:50.940 --> 00:17:52.680 I mean, there's all kinds of different factors. 00:17:54.479 --> 00:17:58.799 So, not moving, you know, not, like you said, 00:17:58.980 --> 00:18:01.500 being fatigued. Propagation was really bad. It 00:18:01.500 --> 00:18:03.339 was really hard to pull out some weak signals. 00:18:03.460 --> 00:18:05.440 We might have been better on another band, even 00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:08.180 with a lower rate. Because some of these contests, 00:18:08.200 --> 00:18:10.299 you don't just lose that contact. You'll lose 00:18:10.299 --> 00:18:13.759 that contact plus two more. So, if it's really 00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:15.960 hard to pull a signal out on that band, why are 00:18:15.960 --> 00:18:17.480 we fighting so hard on that band when we're going 00:18:17.480 --> 00:18:20.240 to have a high error rate? We could have moved 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:22.119 to another band where propagation might have 00:18:22.119 --> 00:18:24.180 been better, but the rate would have been slower 00:18:24.180 --> 00:18:27.880 and still been ahead. So I just just thought 00:18:27.880 --> 00:18:30.420 of a question, too. This is one that that we 00:18:30.420 --> 00:18:34.180 struggle with at school. What's your opinion 00:18:34.180 --> 00:18:39.160 on? How long do you keep trying? You know, when 00:18:39.160 --> 00:18:41.920 do you give up and move on? When when is it, 00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:43.740 you know, you've spent so much time trying to 00:18:43.740 --> 00:18:45.680 get this one that you've already lost two or 00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:49.750 three. Yeah, well it depends if you've got a 00:18:49.750 --> 00:18:51.849 pile up going. If you've been calling CQ till 00:18:51.849 --> 00:18:54.410 you're blue and you hear someone faint, I'll 00:18:54.410 --> 00:18:56.950 try and work them. But if you have a pile up 00:18:56.950 --> 00:19:00.029 going, obviously you're gonna work the loud ones 00:19:00.029 --> 00:19:03.990 off the top. But I'll work them, I'll try for 00:19:03.990 --> 00:19:07.769 three times, is what I usually do. If I can't 00:19:07.769 --> 00:19:09.769 pull them out after three times, then I'll say, 00:19:10.390 --> 00:19:12.289 hey, sorry, I can't pull you out, oh man, come 00:19:12.289 --> 00:19:15.730 back in maybe a half hour, it'll be better. And 00:19:15.730 --> 00:19:17.230 then unfortunately sometimes right after that 00:19:17.230 --> 00:19:24.890 you call CQTIP for 10 minutes. Exactly Murphy's 00:19:24.890 --> 00:19:30.690 law. Exactly. Okay well you mentioned the Qscope 00:19:30.690 --> 00:19:34.789 and some of these. What are some of the other 00:19:34.789 --> 00:19:39.230 software packages and online tools that you can 00:19:39.230 --> 00:19:42.279 use to generate these stats? Any others? You 00:19:42.279 --> 00:19:43.880 know, there's probably more out there. These 00:19:43.880 --> 00:19:47.660 are the only two that I really use. Qscope .org 00:19:47.660 --> 00:19:51.740 is my favorite. They even have a mapping tool 00:19:51.740 --> 00:19:54.859 so you can put all your QSOS in there and it'll 00:19:54.859 --> 00:19:57.240 map it up on Google Earth and you see the earth 00:19:57.240 --> 00:19:59.940 spinning while the lights, the little dots light 00:19:59.940 --> 00:20:02.960 up on who you worked. It's kind of cool. There's 00:20:02.960 --> 00:20:06.049 lots of cool tools but it gives the rate for 00:20:06.049 --> 00:20:10.930 each operator on each hour. And logcuso .com 00:20:10.930 --> 00:20:14.509 does that as well. It shows each contesting hour 00:20:14.509 --> 00:20:20.950 and if you can compare with two other contests, 00:20:20.970 --> 00:20:23.769 so it could be you in the last three years or 00:20:23.769 --> 00:20:26.730 it could be you with two others in the same year, 00:20:26.849 --> 00:20:29.329 you know, whatever you want to compare. And it's 00:20:29.329 --> 00:20:32.329 a nice line chart and you can see the, you know, 00:20:32.349 --> 00:20:35.490 where you We're under their line and where you 00:20:35.490 --> 00:20:37.769 know where you can improve and hopefully beat 00:20:37.769 --> 00:20:41.049 them out next year if that's your goal Yeah, 00:20:41.049 --> 00:20:44.509 all right all great stuff So check those out 00:20:44.509 --> 00:20:47.450 and we will put those links on our Facebook page 00:20:47.450 --> 00:20:49.509 and on our Twitter feed after the show so you 00:20:49.509 --> 00:20:53.170 can I have a link straight to those if you missed 00:20:53.170 --> 00:20:56.470 those. And we'll be back with some more with 00:20:56.470 --> 00:20:58.650 Val and have your questions ready. We'll start 00:20:58.650 --> 00:21:01.730 taking some questions here after this word from 00:21:01.730 --> 00:21:05.029 the HamStation right here on HamTalk Live. This 00:21:05.029 --> 00:21:07.690 episode of HamTalk Live is brought to you by 00:21:07.690 --> 00:21:10.990 the HamStation. For 35 years the HamStation has 00:21:10.990 --> 00:21:13.509 brought new and used radios, antennas, accessories, 00:21:13.769 --> 00:21:15.950 and equipment to the amateur radio community. 00:21:16.289 --> 00:21:22.660 Give Jeff or Dan a call. at 1 -800 -729 -4373 00:21:22.660 --> 00:21:26.480 or order online at hamstation .com. Hamstation 00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:28.859 carries all the major brands like Icom, Yezu, 00:21:29.140 --> 00:21:32.079 and Kenwood. 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Welcome back to HamTalk Live. 00:22:25.359 --> 00:22:28.519 The HamStation has you covered for both new and 00:22:28.519 --> 00:22:32.269 used equipment. give Dan or Jeff a call at 800 00:22:32.269 --> 00:22:38.650 -729 -4373 or go to hamstation .com and be sure 00:22:38.650 --> 00:22:40.990 to listen to HamTalk Live every Thursday night 00:22:40.990 --> 00:22:44.450 at 9 p .m. Eastern Time right here on hamtalklive 00:22:44.450 --> 00:22:47.599 .com also check book check out our Facebook page 00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:51.539 and Twitter feed. Just search for HamTalk Live. 00:22:51.680 --> 00:22:54.900 Okay, well it's time for your calls. If you have 00:22:54.900 --> 00:22:58.519 a question for Val, now is the time to give us 00:22:58.519 --> 00:23:07.279 a call at 812 -NET -HAM -1. 812 -638 -4261. Again, 00:23:07.319 --> 00:23:11.920 that's NET -HAM -1. You can also Skype us at 00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:14.660 HamTalk Live. You can also tweet your question 00:23:15.019 --> 00:23:19.799 at HamTalk Live. Now, the first question that 00:23:19.799 --> 00:23:23.559 came in a little earlier this evening is from 00:23:23.559 --> 00:23:26.920 Dr. Scott Wright, KZeroMD, and he wants to know 00:23:26.920 --> 00:23:30.720 your opinion on which one has the best receiver, 00:23:31.119 --> 00:23:39.880 a Flex 6700 or your ICOM 7851. Well, hi Scott. 00:23:40.339 --> 00:23:44.789 Thanks for the question. We have the Flex 6700, 00:23:44.950 --> 00:23:47.690 but we just have not had it hooked up and are 00:23:47.690 --> 00:23:50.529 using it just yet. It's ready to go, software's 00:23:50.529 --> 00:23:53.009 downloaded, so unfortunately I cannot compare 00:23:53.009 --> 00:23:57.069 the two. But I gotta tell you, I love the 7851. 00:23:57.670 --> 00:24:00.069 On the low bands we were able to hear better 00:24:00.069 --> 00:24:05.369 on the 7851 versus the K3S. So comparing those 00:24:05.369 --> 00:24:10.750 two, the 7851 rocked. So I hope that answers 00:24:10.750 --> 00:24:12.549 your question, Scott. Hopefully I'll be able 00:24:12.549 --> 00:24:16.289 to make a comparison down the road. And Jerry 00:24:16.289 --> 00:24:20.029 says hi, Scott. Yeah, very good. Yeah. Well, 00:24:20.309 --> 00:24:23.589 I'm sure you'll look forward to that. Glenn Johnson 00:24:23.589 --> 00:24:27.390 was on a couple of weeks ago and he put everything 00:24:27.390 --> 00:24:30.789 SDR and he was just like, oh, it takes all the 00:24:30.789 --> 00:24:34.349 noise out. It's the best thing ever. So I'll 00:24:34.349 --> 00:24:37.170 be interested to see what you think about that 00:24:37.170 --> 00:24:41.400 as well. Alright 812 net ham one is the phone 00:24:41.400 --> 00:24:46.740 number 812 net ham one or you can Skype us at 00:24:46.740 --> 00:24:52.720 Ham talk live or tweet at ham talk live So we'll 00:24:52.720 --> 00:24:58.759 check that and see if we have anything here And 00:24:58.759 --> 00:25:01.240 we'll just keep talking of all people are getting 00:25:01.240 --> 00:25:05.420 ready to call so if you're calling in Please 00:25:05.420 --> 00:25:09.250 go right ahead. I will answer your call here 00:25:09.250 --> 00:25:13.990 while we're talking. So I mentioned North Korea 00:25:13.990 --> 00:25:21.369 a while ago. So aside from that, what DXCC entity 00:25:21.369 --> 00:25:26.910 would you like the most? Well, I need 21 more 00:25:26.910 --> 00:25:33.130 to have them all. But I would have to say probably 00:25:33.130 --> 00:25:37.440 Syria. You know, YK, if I get Syria then that 00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:43.420 means ISIS is gone. Right? Yeah. I don't know. 00:25:43.980 --> 00:25:47.759 I want North Korea though. Yeah. I want all of 00:25:47.759 --> 00:25:52.279 them. I'll take all 21 of them. Yeah. I'll take 00:25:52.279 --> 00:25:58.539 any of them. Troy is on the website actually. 00:26:00.440 --> 00:26:05.480 W9KVR just down the road from you. One of our 00:26:05.480 --> 00:26:09.160 sister schools, the Glenn Raymond School, W9GRS. 00:26:10.680 --> 00:26:13.740 He says, you mentioned about when to call it 00:26:13.740 --> 00:26:16.579 quits when running. How about when searching 00:26:16.579 --> 00:26:27.160 for the mulch? Oh, when to stop? Okay. If it's 00:26:27.160 --> 00:26:31.420 a huge pile up, you know, I'll come back sometimes, 00:26:31.420 --> 00:26:37.299 but I'll try. maybe three minutes, because I 00:26:37.299 --> 00:26:39.279 really don't want to mess with my search and 00:26:39.279 --> 00:26:41.960 pounce rate, and I'll keep it, I'll put it on 00:26:41.960 --> 00:26:46.920 my VFO, my VFOB, and then I'll go back and search 00:26:46.920 --> 00:26:48.839 and pounce on A, and I'll just keep switching 00:26:48.839 --> 00:26:52.519 back to that to see if, you know, and try one 00:26:52.519 --> 00:26:54.980 call if I don't get through, you know, and I'll 00:26:54.980 --> 00:26:57.599 just keep coming back. to it every now and then 00:26:57.599 --> 00:27:00.680 but yeah usually uh if it's something like it's 00:27:00.680 --> 00:27:02.740 a malt rare malt that i need i'll stick with 00:27:02.740 --> 00:27:05.019 it for about three minutes three to five minutes 00:27:05.019 --> 00:27:12.279 uh tops before i move on okay fair enough um 00:27:12.279 --> 00:27:15.140 what is your favorite contest and why is it your 00:27:15.140 --> 00:27:19.180 favorite contest you know what they're all fun 00:27:19.180 --> 00:27:22.400 and unique in a way uh but i would i i like the 00:27:22.400 --> 00:27:27.380 naqps everybody's on more even footing A lot 00:27:27.380 --> 00:27:29.220 of these contests where you get more points for 00:27:29.220 --> 00:27:31.660 work in Europe or outside of the continent, it's 00:27:31.660 --> 00:27:34.380 really hard from here in the black hole to get 00:27:34.380 --> 00:27:37.160 through that east coast wall of sound or the 00:27:37.160 --> 00:27:43.140 west coast wall of sound over to Asia. A North 00:27:43.140 --> 00:27:45.500 America contest is kind of nice in that respect 00:27:45.500 --> 00:27:50.569 where it's pretty evenly matched. Yeah, so those 00:27:50.569 --> 00:27:53.410 are good. And I always love WPX contest because 00:27:53.410 --> 00:27:57.269 my call is, you know, envy is a unique prefix. 00:27:58.509 --> 00:28:01.329 Yeah, not many of those. Yeah. One of the things 00:28:01.329 --> 00:28:02.890 that I remember you're talking about the wall 00:28:02.890 --> 00:28:06.390 of sound. One of the things I remember at contest 00:28:06.390 --> 00:28:09.509 university, I think it was last year was we were 00:28:09.509 --> 00:28:13.190 looking at the top 10 ways to improve your score. 00:28:13.250 --> 00:28:16.720 And the number one answer was Move somewhere 00:28:16.720 --> 00:28:23.059 else Nova Scotia would be nice. Yeah, yeah with 00:28:23.059 --> 00:28:27.380 a double rldx or you know Yeah, any of those. 00:28:27.420 --> 00:28:31.640 I mean I like them though the domestic contest 00:28:31.640 --> 00:28:35.500 I think Yeah, okay. Yeah, Troy says thanks and 00:28:35.500 --> 00:28:38.279 looking forward to working you and Jerry this 00:28:38.279 --> 00:28:41.170 upcoming school year and And Glen Raymond School 00:28:41.170 --> 00:28:44.250 is so close to us. Yeah, I have to come in and 00:28:44.250 --> 00:28:46.930 visit them. Next time they're going to be on 00:28:46.930 --> 00:28:49.329 the air for a contest, maybe we'll come by. Yeah, 00:28:49.470 --> 00:28:53.109 Troy's been down to visit here at our school 00:28:53.109 --> 00:28:56.829 before and we usually kind of pair up a little 00:28:56.829 --> 00:28:59.470 bit and help each other out. So that'd be great. 00:29:00.190 --> 00:29:04.369 812 Net Ham 1, 812 Net Ham 1 or you can tweet 00:29:04.369 --> 00:29:08.160 us at HamTalk Live. Or you can Skype, PamTalk 00:29:08.160 --> 00:29:11.980 Live, if you have a question for Val on the log 00:29:11.980 --> 00:29:17.059 analysis or the de -exing, the de -expeditions, 00:29:17.299 --> 00:29:24.039 whatever you want to ask. Give us a call. If 00:29:24.039 --> 00:29:27.380 you had to pick one contact that was your favorite 00:29:27.380 --> 00:29:31.920 or one that you're just so glad that it was finally 00:29:31.920 --> 00:29:37.279 over, what would that be? Well, you always fall 00:29:37.279 --> 00:29:39.519 in love with your first so my first contact to 00:29:39.519 --> 00:29:42.759 the Netherlands My first HF contact that was 00:29:42.759 --> 00:29:45.339 kind of cool, but my absolute favorite of all 00:29:45.339 --> 00:29:49.079 time was when I was in CQ worldwide sideband 00:29:49.079 --> 00:29:51.980 It was like my third contest ever. I just started 00:29:51.980 --> 00:29:55.980 contesting a few weekends earlier and I stumbled 00:29:55.980 --> 00:29:58.559 on to WB 9 sets frequency because he was doing 00:29:58.559 --> 00:30:01.019 10 meters only high power I was 10 meters only 00:30:01.019 --> 00:30:05.180 low power and got to talk to him and We flirted 00:30:05.180 --> 00:30:10.240 for a little bit and now we're engaged and yeah. 00:30:10.779 --> 00:30:15.420 So that worked out well. Yes, it did. And he 00:30:15.420 --> 00:30:20.400 was so good. And I like took 15 minutes out of 00:30:20.400 --> 00:30:22.380 that. I was only searching and pouncing because 00:30:22.380 --> 00:30:26.079 I was too terrified to run. So I took 15 minutes 00:30:26.079 --> 00:30:29.019 away from my contest and I just sat there and 00:30:29.019 --> 00:30:32.700 listened to him. And I was just so amazed. You 00:30:32.700 --> 00:30:37.500 know, one of the things that happened at school 00:30:37.500 --> 00:30:41.099 one time, which I won't mention any names because 00:30:41.099 --> 00:30:43.980 I'll probably embarrass the kid to death, but 00:30:43.980 --> 00:30:47.839 he emailed me and said, hey, I saw your picture 00:30:47.839 --> 00:30:52.339 of your club in QST and I saw you had a lot of 00:30:52.339 --> 00:30:56.039 girls in the club. And so he started asking about 00:30:56.039 --> 00:30:59.039 one of the girls and it's like, yeah, I heard 00:30:59.039 --> 00:31:02.599 her on the air. She sounded really good. I just 00:31:02.599 --> 00:31:06.960 sat there and listened for a while. Yeah. That 00:31:06.960 --> 00:31:12.099 happens. So while we're on the subject of YLs, 00:31:14.200 --> 00:31:17.539 what are your thoughts about supporting YLs more 00:31:17.539 --> 00:31:19.700 in the hobby? What are some things that we can 00:31:19.700 --> 00:31:23.680 do to help that out and raise that percentage 00:31:23.680 --> 00:31:26.819 up? Well, you know, when I lived in Milwaukee 00:31:26.819 --> 00:31:31.269 area and I was before I got on HF and I was real 00:31:31.269 --> 00:31:36.630 active in my local repeater club and I was pushing 00:31:36.630 --> 00:31:40.829 to put a YL net on because we always had a fun 00:31:40.829 --> 00:31:44.309 net, we had a computer net, we had a swap net, 00:31:44.369 --> 00:31:47.109 you know, so it was a very active repeater and 00:31:47.109 --> 00:31:49.670 so I wanted to put on a YL net where they could 00:31:49.670 --> 00:31:52.869 talk about anything except ham radio. They were 00:31:52.869 --> 00:31:54.750 not allowed to talk about ham radio because I 00:31:54.750 --> 00:31:59.529 think a lot of women in that area had their licenses, 00:31:59.890 --> 00:32:02.009 but they were afraid to get on the air and talk. 00:32:02.250 --> 00:32:04.710 And I know my fear when I first got my ticket 00:32:04.710 --> 00:32:07.009 was I was afraid to get on the air and talk because 00:32:07.009 --> 00:32:08.990 I was so afraid someone was going to ask me a 00:32:08.990 --> 00:32:12.650 technical question and I would give a bad answer 00:32:12.650 --> 00:32:15.269 to or not know the answer to it. So I was kind 00:32:15.269 --> 00:32:17.250 of afraid in that respect because I wasn't real 00:32:17.250 --> 00:32:20.109 confident in my technical skills as far as amateur 00:32:20.109 --> 00:32:24.250 radio. And so I think if things like that to 00:32:24.250 --> 00:32:27.200 get them, I mean, you know, one night they could 00:32:27.200 --> 00:32:31.579 talk about shopping or favorite recipes or, you 00:32:31.579 --> 00:32:33.579 know, just different things that women like to 00:32:33.579 --> 00:32:35.579 talk about. And I think that would draw them 00:32:35.579 --> 00:32:38.019 in on the air more and feel more comfortable 00:32:38.019 --> 00:32:41.680 being on the air. I know we have the YLRL. I'm 00:32:41.680 --> 00:32:45.000 a member of that, which helps promote women in 00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:48.769 the hobby. So there's different ways. Girl Scouts, 00:32:48.829 --> 00:32:50.829 I know I talked to Girl Scout troops on the air 00:32:50.829 --> 00:32:52.650 when I was Whiskey One Alpha Whiskey Portable 00:32:52.650 --> 00:32:57.490 Nine up in Wisconsin. A woman who was a ham came 00:32:57.490 --> 00:33:00.930 on the air and asked me if she could, she was 00:33:00.930 --> 00:33:02.910 gonna have, she's a troop leader and she was 00:33:02.910 --> 00:33:04.430 gonna have her girls there in like an hour and 00:33:04.430 --> 00:33:06.170 could she bring them on the air and talk with 00:33:06.170 --> 00:33:07.950 me and I absolutely, so I talked to all the girls 00:33:07.950 --> 00:33:11.700 in the troop and that was pretty cool. So yeah, 00:33:11.700 --> 00:33:14.019 I mean we all do our part, hopefully, to try 00:33:14.019 --> 00:33:16.039 and get more YLs in it, but I think a lot of 00:33:16.039 --> 00:33:18.940 YLs are intimidated by the technical aspect because 00:33:18.940 --> 00:33:24.359 it's just, you know, they're, it's just, they're 00:33:24.359 --> 00:33:26.960 not confident in that area, if they're like me 00:33:26.960 --> 00:33:30.019 anyway. Yeah, now one of the things my mom did 00:33:30.019 --> 00:33:33.339 when she got on the air was she would get on 00:33:33.339 --> 00:33:35.720 there and talk with another YL and they would 00:33:35.720 --> 00:33:40.920 get on the repeater and talk about recipes. A 00:33:40.920 --> 00:33:43.539 lot of the guys in the club complained about 00:33:43.539 --> 00:33:46.339 it because they're like, you're wasting repeater 00:33:46.339 --> 00:33:48.799 time. You know, nowadays, you know, it's like, 00:33:48.980 --> 00:33:51.420 yeah, the repeater sits there, you know, 23 hours 00:33:51.420 --> 00:33:54.799 a day on there. Well, back then, you know, before 00:33:54.799 --> 00:33:57.079 cell phones and everything, you know, the repeater 00:33:57.079 --> 00:34:00.859 could be a little bit busy. Uh, but, but they 00:34:00.859 --> 00:34:03.079 were like, you know, you're tying up the repeater 00:34:03.079 --> 00:34:06.430 to talk about recipes, you know, And so they 00:34:06.430 --> 00:34:08.710 could get on the air and talk about gout or train. 00:34:09.449 --> 00:34:11.469 Right. Right. Yeah. You know, it's gotta be fair 00:34:11.469 --> 00:34:13.989 for everybody. It's, it's gardens ailments in 00:34:13.989 --> 00:34:16.010 the weather. Those are the three things to talk 00:34:16.010 --> 00:34:19.889 about on AM radio and, and, you know, so they 00:34:19.889 --> 00:34:23.389 went off to simplex. So they started, you know, 00:34:23.489 --> 00:34:26.730 which they were about 30 miles apart. So it wasn't 00:34:26.730 --> 00:34:30.559 easy to do simplex always, but But, um, they 00:34:30.559 --> 00:34:33.760 both had beams, so they, they would get on simplex. 00:34:34.019 --> 00:34:37.280 But the funny thing was you wouldn't believe 00:34:37.280 --> 00:34:41.739 how many people followed them over to the simplex 00:34:41.739 --> 00:34:47.179 frequency to listen to their conversations. It's 00:34:47.179 --> 00:34:49.599 amazing how many people are in the shadows on 00:34:49.599 --> 00:34:52.219 two meters. You know, I was in the shadows for 00:34:52.219 --> 00:34:54.219 a long time because I was afraid to talk or bust 00:34:54.219 --> 00:34:58.239 into a rag too. So I sat in the shadows a lot 00:34:58.239 --> 00:35:01.539 because I was. You know, I was scared. A lot 00:35:01.539 --> 00:35:04.099 of people are shy that way. And they just wanted 00:35:04.099 --> 00:35:05.980 to have some something in the background to listen 00:35:05.980 --> 00:35:07.659 to while they're doing whatever they're doing 00:35:07.659 --> 00:35:09.699 too. So but yeah, that is pretty cool that they 00:35:09.699 --> 00:35:12.260 follow the women. Yeah, they just follow them 00:35:12.260 --> 00:35:14.960 over there. So they were still on. It was just, 00:35:14.960 --> 00:35:17.139 you know, they were still being listened to. 00:35:17.139 --> 00:35:21.179 It's just not on the repeater anymore. Now, one 00:35:21.179 --> 00:35:24.300 of the things you mentioned in your talk over 00:35:24.300 --> 00:35:29.380 at Contest University was one of the first contests 00:35:29.380 --> 00:35:36.420 you worked and you won your class. So tell us 00:35:36.420 --> 00:35:38.820 about that. And that was operator skill, I'll 00:35:38.820 --> 00:35:40.820 tell you that, all the way. It was my very first 00:35:40.820 --> 00:35:42.940 contest. I did California Q So Party. I figured 00:35:42.940 --> 00:35:46.280 I'd start small. And what I did, and you know 00:35:46.280 --> 00:35:48.019 what, actually you could take away from this 00:35:48.019 --> 00:35:50.079 something to do if you're just starting off in 00:35:50.079 --> 00:35:53.559 contesting. I looked at the category and looked 00:35:53.559 --> 00:35:56.300 at my station and what I and so I could only 00:35:56.300 --> 00:35:58.539 really I only had 400 watts because I needed 00:35:58.539 --> 00:36:00.719 new tubes on my amp and I couldn't afford them 00:36:00.719 --> 00:36:03.400 at the time and so I thought I'll just do low 00:36:03.400 --> 00:36:08.679 power while only out of state so I won but I 00:36:08.679 --> 00:36:12.139 was the only entry in that category so but you 00:36:12.139 --> 00:36:15.619 ended first I got it well or last how you look 00:36:15.619 --> 00:36:19.289 at it No, no, no, no. We'll keep it first. Yeah. 00:36:19.429 --> 00:36:23.710 Exactly. You got first place in the world in 00:36:23.710 --> 00:36:26.570 that contest. And then the next weekend, I was 00:36:26.570 --> 00:36:29.210 so hooked. The next weekend, I think was a Scandinavian 00:36:29.210 --> 00:36:33.309 activity contest, SAC. And I just got up in the 00:36:33.309 --> 00:36:36.010 morning. I had my robe on, still fired up the 00:36:36.010 --> 00:36:38.869 radio. And I hear these guys doing a contest. 00:36:38.869 --> 00:36:42.110 So I. pull up my little N1MM and I just worked 00:36:42.110 --> 00:36:44.730 a couple guys and I just kept going, kept going, 00:36:44.849 --> 00:36:47.449 kept going. Like three hours later, okay, I think 00:36:47.449 --> 00:36:49.130 I'll get dressed now, take a shower and have 00:36:49.130 --> 00:36:51.789 some coffee. And I never turned my log in. Well, 00:36:51.789 --> 00:36:53.690 they kept emailing me, turn your log in, turn 00:36:53.690 --> 00:36:56.949 your log in. So I turned my log in and I got 00:36:56.949 --> 00:37:01.610 first place USA. So always turn your log in. 00:37:01.909 --> 00:37:04.750 You never know. I keep trying to convince our 00:37:04.750 --> 00:37:09.349 local club for the field day strategy. is to 00:37:09.349 --> 00:37:16.849 work like 19 alpha. Just pick some random number 00:37:16.849 --> 00:37:21.690 and just transmit for one minute on all those 00:37:21.690 --> 00:37:23.829 different bands and modes so that we can be like 00:37:23.829 --> 00:37:27.449 19 alpha and then we're the only club in the 00:37:27.449 --> 00:37:31.789 category and we win. We tried that in college 00:37:31.789 --> 00:37:35.670 and it didn't work. It's not just, yeah, 19 separate 00:37:35.670 --> 00:37:38.429 stations. That's a lot of antennas and radios 00:37:38.429 --> 00:37:41.050 to hook up. Yeah. Well, we used a lot of hand 00:37:41.050 --> 00:37:45.429 filters and we used a lot of handhelds, a lot 00:37:45.429 --> 00:37:49.309 of VHF, UHF and different modes. You know, we 00:37:49.309 --> 00:37:53.849 got, we got CW digital and voice on two meters 00:37:53.849 --> 00:37:57.579 and then on 440 and You know, it was just a matter 00:37:57.579 --> 00:37:59.880 of, okay, everybody grab a radio and let's see 00:37:59.880 --> 00:38:04.579 how many we can get. And it backfired. Somebody 00:38:04.579 --> 00:38:08.159 else did the same thing. So you didn't end up 00:38:08.159 --> 00:38:12.400 winning, but yeah, we got second place. So, you 00:38:12.400 --> 00:38:14.739 know, it works. So yeah, turn in your log. You 00:38:14.739 --> 00:38:18.079 never know what may happen there. And, and that's 00:38:18.079 --> 00:38:20.539 a good thing too. If you, if your station's limited 00:38:20.539 --> 00:38:22.599 or whatever, and you want to do, and you want 00:38:22.599 --> 00:38:25.440 a little confidence builder, go through the, 00:38:25.440 --> 00:38:28.699 uh, You can go through the prior year's results 00:38:28.699 --> 00:38:31.780 and see where there's or world records if you're 00:38:31.780 --> 00:38:35.599 looking to win a record for your nine land or 00:38:35.599 --> 00:38:37.800 eight land or wherever and look and see where 00:38:37.800 --> 00:38:40.179 the weakness is and go you know what I think 00:38:40.179 --> 00:38:43.159 I can beat that and then plan your that contest 00:38:43.159 --> 00:38:46.900 you know and do that category because you'll 00:38:46.900 --> 00:38:49.579 see some scores are crazy high and then all of 00:38:49.579 --> 00:38:51.039 a sudden there's one real low score in there 00:38:51.039 --> 00:38:53.159 like oh look at that I think I might be able 00:38:53.159 --> 00:38:56.699 to pass that up and pick your category based 00:38:56.699 --> 00:39:00.260 on that. So I do that sometimes. I did a QRP 00:39:00.260 --> 00:39:02.780 contest. Well, Jerry had to be at a deserted 00:39:02.780 --> 00:39:05.579 island because he hates QRP. So I waited till 00:39:05.579 --> 00:39:08.780 he was on a deserted island and I did a QRP contest. 00:39:09.480 --> 00:39:13.679 And it was fun. I got second place. But yeah, 00:39:13.719 --> 00:39:17.900 that was fun. Yeah, that's great. We've got just 00:39:17.900 --> 00:39:22.030 a couple of minutes here left. Go ahead and tweet 00:39:22.030 --> 00:39:24.349 your questions if if you're out there. I know 00:39:24.349 --> 00:39:26.989 a lot of people are off watching the speeches 00:39:26.989 --> 00:39:31.570 tonight, but If you can tweet us a question or 00:39:31.570 --> 00:39:37.570 call 812 net ham one is the number But since 00:39:37.570 --> 00:39:41.289 we've got a couple of minutes here Let's talk 00:39:41.289 --> 00:39:45.809 about the about the ham nation show so You've 00:39:45.809 --> 00:39:49.730 been doing the DX part of that mostly, and so 00:39:49.730 --> 00:39:52.809 we enjoy hearing, you know, what's coming up 00:39:52.809 --> 00:39:57.550 in DX soon. So what are some of those, you know, 00:39:57.690 --> 00:40:01.369 things that you're seeing coming up soon, and 00:40:01.369 --> 00:40:04.570 some of your thoughts on ham nation? Well, not 00:40:04.570 --> 00:40:06.550 that much coming up right now, because it's summer, 00:40:06.869 --> 00:40:08.750 so propagation isn't good. Most de -expeditions 00:40:08.750 --> 00:40:12.010 happen. In the fall or the winter so I really 00:40:12.010 --> 00:40:13.949 have been watching that although, you know, there's 00:40:13.949 --> 00:40:15.909 a lot of six meter action going on right now, 00:40:15.909 --> 00:40:21.429 so But as far as and what was the second question 00:40:21.429 --> 00:40:25.030 ham nation Oh ham nation. Oh, well, I used to 00:40:25.030 --> 00:40:29.110 watch and I was always in the chat room and They 00:40:29.110 --> 00:40:31.150 noticed I think it was right around the time 00:40:31.150 --> 00:40:35.659 I was piloting maybe Amsterdam Island. I was 00:40:35.659 --> 00:40:38.360 piloting Amsterdam Island and I was a lead pilot 00:40:38.360 --> 00:40:41.079 so all the other pilot stations in Europe and 00:40:41.079 --> 00:40:43.599 Australia and stuff filtered all their stuff 00:40:43.599 --> 00:40:47.280 through me. And so people were asking me about 00:40:47.280 --> 00:40:49.739 some questions on Amsterdam Island and I was 00:40:49.739 --> 00:40:53.219 getting ready to head off to Saba Island with 00:40:53.219 --> 00:40:56.659 P -Day 6 down in the Caribbean for a contest. 00:40:56.800 --> 00:41:00.039 So people were asking me about that as well. 00:41:00.360 --> 00:41:05.900 And so I think Bob Heil and them saw me in there 00:41:05.900 --> 00:41:09.179 talking about the DX from FT5ZM and the contest 00:41:09.179 --> 00:41:12.639 I was gonna be doing from PJ6, so they realized 00:41:12.639 --> 00:41:14.500 there was kind of a hole in the programming, 00:41:14.599 --> 00:41:17.250 and so they asked me to... come on board and 00:41:17.250 --> 00:41:19.409 be their DXing and contesting version which I 00:41:19.409 --> 00:41:21.570 jumped at the chance because when I got in ham 00:41:21.570 --> 00:41:23.989 radio I had a lot of Elmer's and two meters but 00:41:23.989 --> 00:41:26.929 no one I knew did HF so I really learned everything 00:41:26.929 --> 00:41:28.949 the hard way so I thought it would be cool to 00:41:28.949 --> 00:41:30.909 get on there and teach people how to do some 00:41:30.909 --> 00:41:33.409 of this stuff that I really had to learn the 00:41:33.409 --> 00:41:35.110 hard way so they didn't have to go through what 00:41:35.110 --> 00:41:37.650 I went through. And there is one DXpedition coming 00:41:37.650 --> 00:41:39.369 up I just want to mention real quick the St. 00:41:39.530 --> 00:41:43.530 Paul Island DXpedition that's coming up August 00:41:43.530 --> 00:41:46.610 19th. through the 29th, I think it's Charlie 00:41:46.610 --> 00:41:49.550 Yankee nine Charlie, I think Charlie Yankee nine 00:41:49.550 --> 00:41:52.530 Charlie. So that's pretty much the only thing 00:41:52.530 --> 00:41:56.250 coming up that I know of. Unless we get North 00:41:56.250 --> 00:41:59.630 Korea. Right. Which could be any day. You never 00:41:59.630 --> 00:42:02.769 know. Who knows? Yeah, I want to put a PRS on 00:42:02.769 --> 00:42:07.829 Tom. Yeah. Yeah. Just hide something in his sneakers 00:42:07.829 --> 00:42:10.769 luggage. You know? Yeah, we did. We did some 00:42:11.400 --> 00:42:13.659 We always do a transmitter hunt the end of the 00:42:13.659 --> 00:42:16.860 school year with our high school club and and 00:42:16.860 --> 00:42:20.820 so some of them knew that I had a PRS So I found 00:42:20.820 --> 00:42:22.920 out they were getting they were getting on so 00:42:22.920 --> 00:42:27.500 I was always remember to turn off my to my beacon 00:42:27.500 --> 00:42:37.519 because That's a good way to get kids in the 00:42:37.519 --> 00:42:42.000 hobby to Fox hunts It's like Pokemon Go, kind 00:42:42.000 --> 00:42:45.860 of. Yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly. Well, Valerie, 00:42:45.920 --> 00:42:48.079 thanks so much for being on the show. We appreciate 00:42:48.079 --> 00:42:49.739 it. We're glad you're feeling better because 00:42:49.739 --> 00:42:52.059 you had to reschedule last time. I know, yeah, 00:42:52.059 --> 00:42:54.599 sorry about that. Glad you're feeling better. 00:42:54.639 --> 00:42:58.260 It's fine. And you're welcome back any time. 00:42:58.280 --> 00:43:01.119 And if you have some good DX news, why, come 00:43:01.119 --> 00:43:05.000 on back and we'll be glad to have you on. Appreciate 00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:06.780 it, Neil. Thanks for having me. And thank you, 00:43:06.840 --> 00:43:09.730 everybody, for listening. All right, well that's 00:43:09.730 --> 00:43:12.869 a wrap for this week's edition of HamTalk Live. 00:43:12.929 --> 00:43:16.210 I'd like to thank my guest Valerie, NV9L, and 00:43:16.210 --> 00:43:18.789 all the callers and listeners out there in cyberspace 00:43:18.789 --> 00:43:21.690 and invite you all back next Thursday night at 00:43:21.690 --> 00:43:24.130 9 p .m. Eastern Time. Now next week we're going 00:43:24.130 --> 00:43:27.920 to do something a little different. A lot of 00:43:27.920 --> 00:43:30.360 people have been asking me about how to get young 00:43:30.360 --> 00:43:33.440 people into amateur radio. Sometimes it's those 00:43:33.440 --> 00:43:37.960 discussions after the show or before the show 00:43:37.960 --> 00:43:41.500 and out and about. So I'm going to do the show 00:43:41.500 --> 00:43:46.239 next week solo. So you've been warmed. You get 00:43:46.239 --> 00:43:49.000 40, 45 minutes of just me, but we're going to 00:43:49.000 --> 00:43:52.820 talk about starting up ham radio clubs in schools 00:43:52.820 --> 00:43:56.400 and how to get young people into ham radio. So 00:43:56.730 --> 00:44:00.289 That's coming up next week. It's going to be 00:44:00.289 --> 00:44:04.070 Young People night next Thursday night, 9 p .m., 00:44:04.070 --> 00:44:06.650 right here at HamTalkLive .com. And for a list 00:44:06.650 --> 00:44:09.869 of all of our upcoming guests, be sure also to 00:44:09.869 --> 00:44:13.849 go to HamTalkLive .com. So for now, this is Neil 00:44:13.849 --> 00:44:19.150 Rapp, WB9VPG, saying 7375, and may the good DX 00:44:19.150 --> 00:44:36.449 be yours. Thanks for watching!