WEBVTT 00:00:10.539 --> 00:00:13.300 Thanks for tuning in. HamTalk Live will be on 00:00:13.300 --> 00:00:31.219 the air shortly. Please stand by. Thanks for 00:00:31.219 --> 00:00:33.979 tuning in. HamTalk Live will be on the air shortly. 00:00:34.280 --> 00:00:45.280 Please stand by. This episode of HamTalk Live 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:49.079 is brought to you by Tower Electronics. For connectors, 00:00:49.399 --> 00:00:55.140 cables, and more, call 920 -435 -2973 or visit 00:00:55.140 --> 00:01:00.719 pl -259 .com and by the HamStation. Get your 00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:06.579 new radio or antenna by calling 800 -729 -4373 00:01:06.579 --> 00:01:42.010 or go to hamstation .com. This is HamTalk Live, 00:01:42.329 --> 00:01:48.049 episode number 18. License study with Dan Romanchik, 00:01:48.090 --> 00:01:53.329 KB6NU, recorded live on Thursday, June 16th, 00:01:53.370 --> 00:01:58.030 2016. I'm your host, Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, and thanks 00:01:58.030 --> 00:02:01.549 for tuning in to this episode of HamTalk Live. 00:02:02.269 --> 00:02:07.010 Tonight, Dan Romanchik, KB6NU, will take your 00:02:07.010 --> 00:02:10.889 calls. About the no -nonsense study guide, the 00:02:10.889 --> 00:02:14.250 new edition for the extra class exam is now out 00:02:14.250 --> 00:02:17.509 and we'll talk about the changes and we'll take 00:02:17.509 --> 00:02:21.189 your calls live in just a few minutes. Last week 00:02:21.189 --> 00:02:24.710 on the show, Newsline's Karen Eve Murray, Katie2GUT, 00:02:25.129 --> 00:02:27.110 was here to talk about her role as the writer 00:02:27.110 --> 00:02:30.270 of Amateur Radio Newsline and the Bill Pasternak 00:02:30.270 --> 00:02:33.050 memorial episode that came out on Friday, so 00:02:33.050 --> 00:02:35.770 if you haven't listened to that, check out ARNewsline 00:02:35.770 --> 00:02:39.099 .org. And if you missed the show, you can download 00:02:39.099 --> 00:02:42.900 it at any time at HamTalkLive .com or on most 00:02:42.900 --> 00:02:47.759 of the podcast sites or YouTube. Also want to 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:50.599 mention that today I updated the guest list. 00:02:50.599 --> 00:02:54.340 It's now online. We tried to pick some of the 00:02:54.340 --> 00:02:58.280 guests that you wanted to ask questions of and 00:02:58.280 --> 00:03:01.099 so hopefully you will call in with some of those 00:03:01.099 --> 00:03:04.520 questions. for our guests, so you can check that 00:03:04.520 --> 00:03:09.000 out over at HamTalkLive .com. After the next 00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:11.379 break, be ready to call in with your questions. 00:03:11.479 --> 00:03:15.680 You can call us on Skype at the username HamTalkLive 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:19.159 or by telephone. The number is 812 -NET -HAM 00:03:19.159 --> 00:03:24.780 -1. That's 812... 638 -4261. You can also tweet 00:03:24.780 --> 00:03:28.080 us. You can send a question on Twitter. Our Twitter 00:03:28.080 --> 00:03:31.159 handle is at HamTalkLive. So we'll come back 00:03:31.159 --> 00:03:34.020 and do a little interview. Then we'll take a 00:03:34.020 --> 00:03:37.520 break and then we will take your calls live with 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:41.319 Dan Romanchuk, KB6NU, right after this word from 00:03:41.319 --> 00:03:44.719 the ham station, right here on HamTalk Live. 00:03:44.919 --> 00:03:47.539 This episode of HamTalk Live is brought to you 00:03:47.539 --> 00:03:51.000 by the HamStation. For 35 years, the HamStation 00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:53.860 has brought new and used radios, antennas, accessories, 00:03:54.139 --> 00:03:56.259 and equipment to the amateur radio community. 00:03:56.620 --> 00:04:02.759 Give Jeff or Dan a call at 1 -800 -729 -4373 00:04:02.759 --> 00:04:06.800 or order online at hamstation .com. HamStation 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:09.159 carries all the major brands like Icom, Yezu, 00:04:09.419 --> 00:04:12.389 and Kenwood. shop from a wide selection of radio 00:04:12.389 --> 00:04:15.849 scanners, mfga accessories, hile sound products, 00:04:16.230 --> 00:04:19.670 mirage and ameritron amplifiers, kushcraft antennas 00:04:19.670 --> 00:04:22.990 and more. Easy online shopping and fast shipping 00:04:22.990 --> 00:04:27.089 are waiting for you at hamstation .com or call 00:04:27.089 --> 00:04:33.689 1 -800 -729 -4373. The Ham Station, proud to 00:04:33.689 --> 00:04:37.339 sponsor this episode of HamTalk Live. The grass 00:04:37.339 --> 00:04:39.819 may be greener on the other side, but at least 00:04:39.819 --> 00:04:42.019 we don't have to mow it. You're listening to 00:04:42.019 --> 00:05:02.699 Ham Talk Live with Neil Rapp. Welcome back to 00:05:02.699 --> 00:05:05.379 HamTalk Live! The HamStation has you covered 00:05:05.379 --> 00:05:08.959 for both new and used equipment. Give Dan or 00:05:08.959 --> 00:05:15.199 Jeff a call at 800 -729 -4373 or go to HamStation 00:05:15.199 --> 00:05:19.100 .com. Be sure to listen to the show every Thursday 00:05:19.100 --> 00:05:23.019 night at 9 p .m. Eastern Time right here on HamTalkLive 00:05:23.019 --> 00:05:25.779 .com. Also check out our Facebook page and Twitter 00:05:25.779 --> 00:05:30.519 feed. Just search for HamTalk Live. Dan Romanchik, 00:05:30.620 --> 00:05:33.800 KB6NU, is coming to you live from Ann Arbor, 00:05:33.800 --> 00:05:36.240 Michigan. Dan is the author of several books, 00:05:36.500 --> 00:05:39.139 including the No Nonsense Amateur Radio License 00:05:39.139 --> 00:05:42.399 Study Guides, 21 Things to Do After You Get Your 00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:45.699 Amateur Radio License, and the CW Geek's Guide 00:05:45.699 --> 00:05:49.680 for Having Fun with Morris Code. Dan was first 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:52.860 licensed in 1971, but didn't become very active 00:05:52.860 --> 00:05:56.500 until, or in ham radio rather, until field day 00:05:56.500 --> 00:06:00.170 of 2002. Since then he's been very active on 00:06:00.170 --> 00:06:03.389 the air and has one of the top ham radio blogs 00:06:03.389 --> 00:06:09.129 that's over at KB6NU .com. Dan works a lot of 00:06:09.129 --> 00:06:12.230 CW and encourages others to use the mode and 00:06:12.230 --> 00:06:14.990 at the Dayton Hamvention this year he spoke about 00:06:14.990 --> 00:06:19.189 how to learn and have fun with CW at the CW forum. 00:06:19.829 --> 00:06:23.569 Dan serves as the ARRL Michigan section training 00:06:23.569 --> 00:06:26.560 manager and three or four times a year he teaches 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:29.879 a one -day technician class. For those classes 00:06:29.879 --> 00:06:33.519 he uses his own no -nonsense study guide. The 00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:36.199 PDF version is available for free on his website, 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:39.839 but it's also available in Kindle and Nook versions 00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:42.879 for a modest charge, and the print version is 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:47.319 also available. That's on Amazon. Professionally, 00:06:47.480 --> 00:06:51.379 Dan is a freelance technical writer and a website 00:06:51.379 --> 00:06:55.209 developer. Dan, welcome this evening to HamTalk 00:06:55.209 --> 00:07:00.250 Live. Nice to be here, Neil. So let's start off 00:07:00.250 --> 00:07:03.509 with the extra class because the extra class 00:07:03.509 --> 00:07:06.189 question pool is going to change here in just 00:07:06.189 --> 00:07:09.569 about two weeks on July the 1st. The new question 00:07:09.569 --> 00:07:14.689 pool takes effect and thus your new book, the 00:07:14.689 --> 00:07:18.449 known insets guide to the extra class license 00:07:18.449 --> 00:07:24.600 study guide. includes all of those changes, and 00:07:24.600 --> 00:07:27.680 so what are some of the changes to the question 00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:30.839 pool this time around? Well, you know, I was 00:07:30.839 --> 00:07:33.120 really impressed with the new question pool because 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:38.060 what they've done is gotten rid of a lot of the 00:07:38.060 --> 00:07:42.480 old questions and reorganized some of the sections 00:07:42.480 --> 00:07:46.360 so that the relevant questions are grouped together 00:07:46.360 --> 00:07:51.589 more closely. I'll give you an example. In one 00:07:51.589 --> 00:07:54.889 of the sections, they had questions about klystrons 00:07:54.889 --> 00:07:58.410 and parametric amplifiers. Well, I don't know 00:07:58.410 --> 00:08:00.509 about you, but I've never used the klystron and 00:08:00.509 --> 00:08:04.410 I would guess 99 .9 % of hams out there haven't. 00:08:04.430 --> 00:08:07.230 And I didn't even know what a parametric amplifier 00:08:07.230 --> 00:08:10.550 was. So they removed those questions. On the 00:08:10.550 --> 00:08:13.600 other hand, they added questions. In a later 00:08:13.600 --> 00:08:16.339 section, they added some questions on solar array 00:08:16.339 --> 00:08:19.060 charge controllers, and that's gotten to be a 00:08:19.060 --> 00:08:22.180 big thing as powering your station by using solar 00:08:22.180 --> 00:08:26.360 panels. So they've added a lot of more relevant 00:08:26.360 --> 00:08:28.379 questions and gotten rid of some of the old ones, 00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:31.600 and that's the major change. Yeah, I think over 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:33.940 the years they're doing a little bit better job 00:08:33.940 --> 00:08:36.120 of that. I remember one of the things that we 00:08:36.120 --> 00:08:40.450 used to always complain about on the technician 00:08:40.450 --> 00:08:43.870 exam was the question about Guam. I don't know 00:08:43.870 --> 00:08:46.830 if you remember that one, but what ITU region 00:08:46.830 --> 00:08:52.450 is Guam in? That was one of the questions. Okay, 00:08:52.590 --> 00:08:54.730 now wait a minute. The intent of the question 00:08:54.730 --> 00:08:59.070 here is so that people realize Guam is in a different 00:08:59.070 --> 00:09:02.070 ITU region, therefore there are different band 00:09:02.070 --> 00:09:06.610 allocations. But instead of making the question 00:09:06.610 --> 00:09:12.179 ask that, The question was, what ITU region is 00:09:12.179 --> 00:09:16.960 Guam in? And so that was one of the things that 00:09:16.960 --> 00:09:22.039 I was adamant about and some others were as well. 00:09:22.139 --> 00:09:26.240 I wasn't the first that said, hey, we need to 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:30.080 revamp these questions around and we've got maybe 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:32.960 the right material, but we're not asking them 00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:35.620 in the right way. And I think over the years, 00:09:35.860 --> 00:09:39.740 that's gotten a lot better. Yeah, I do too and 00:09:39.740 --> 00:09:42.100 and that bomb question hasn't been on the last 00:09:42.100 --> 00:09:45.120 couple of question pools anyway, so yeah Yeah, 00:09:45.120 --> 00:09:47.879 it's been it's been changed around so that it 00:09:47.879 --> 00:09:51.299 does ask the you know the intent rather than 00:09:51.299 --> 00:09:55.039 right, you know, just oh Is it one two or three, 00:09:55.240 --> 00:09:58.039 you know, which which region is it? So I think 00:09:58.039 --> 00:10:00.320 it's three, isn't it? Yeah, I believe it is. 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:04.480 I believe it is three actually You know that 00:10:04.480 --> 00:10:08.049 one always always threw me and Don't know but 00:10:08.049 --> 00:10:10.649 I think they're doing doing a better job. So 00:10:10.649 --> 00:10:16.210 if you're taking an extra class test and You've 00:10:16.210 --> 00:10:18.509 been using the current study materials. We want 00:10:18.509 --> 00:10:21.110 to make sure everybody knows you've got until 00:10:21.110 --> 00:10:26.259 the end of the month and after that uh, starting 00:10:26.259 --> 00:10:29.799 on July 1st, the new question pool takes effect. 00:10:29.960 --> 00:10:34.539 Now, just because that happens doesn't necessarily 00:10:34.539 --> 00:10:38.679 mean that you're out of luck. It's just the way 00:10:38.679 --> 00:10:41.879 the questions are worded, right? Right. And I 00:10:41.879 --> 00:10:45.159 think about between 15 and 20 % of the questions 00:10:45.159 --> 00:10:48.340 are different. So, you know, if you theoretically, 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:50.440 if you knew all the, all the answers to all the 00:10:50.440 --> 00:10:54.000 questions, you'd still pass the test, but You 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:56.279 know, there's quite a few questions that are 00:10:56.279 --> 00:11:01.740 different. So if you want to practice those particular 00:11:01.740 --> 00:11:05.419 questions, make sure you pay attention to the 00:11:05.419 --> 00:11:09.340 dates on your study guides or on your manuals 00:11:09.340 --> 00:11:12.279 and make sure that it's the right one. And the 00:11:12.279 --> 00:11:13.659 practice tests. And taking the practice tests 00:11:13.659 --> 00:11:16.620 online. Yes, yes. And there's many different 00:11:16.620 --> 00:11:19.559 sites for that. We may even talk about that a 00:11:19.559 --> 00:11:23.970 little bit if we want. but those practice tests 00:11:23.970 --> 00:11:27.690 there are different versions because that's going 00:11:27.690 --> 00:11:31.950 to change on July 1st so make sure you're using 00:11:31.950 --> 00:11:34.669 the right ones. Well tell us a little bit about 00:11:34.669 --> 00:11:38.190 your study guide that's just coming out for the 00:11:38.190 --> 00:11:41.690 extra and how that's different from some of the 00:11:41.690 --> 00:11:44.629 others that are available. Well you know I call 00:11:44.629 --> 00:11:49.000 it the no -nonsense study guide because It really 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:53.059 is kind of no -nonsense. I don't really, and 00:11:53.059 --> 00:11:54.820 I get criticized for this, I don't really try 00:11:54.820 --> 00:11:59.480 to teach the material, but I try to teach people 00:11:59.480 --> 00:12:03.580 how to pass the test. And especially for the 00:12:03.580 --> 00:12:06.860 technician class test, I do that because I think 00:12:06.860 --> 00:12:10.679 that people need to get a license to, a lot of 00:12:10.679 --> 00:12:12.759 people learn by doing, and how can they do without 00:12:12.759 --> 00:12:15.620 a license? So they... you know, they really want 00:12:15.620 --> 00:12:17.840 to get that license and that's what my study 00:12:17.840 --> 00:12:21.419 guide's about, just to cut to the chase. I had 00:12:21.419 --> 00:12:24.519 one guy email me after he passed this test and 00:12:24.519 --> 00:12:27.580 he said, you know, Dan, he said, your study guide 00:12:27.580 --> 00:12:29.720 said in one paragraph, he was talking about a 00:12:29.720 --> 00:12:32.399 particular topic, said in one paragraph what 00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:37.240 it took the ARRL study guide one or two pages 00:12:37.240 --> 00:12:40.299 to do. So that kind of gives you a feel for how 00:12:40.299 --> 00:12:43.549 my study guides are written. Now I was looking 00:12:43.549 --> 00:12:48.789 at a sample on the Kindle app and we were talking 00:12:48.789 --> 00:12:51.350 about this before the show. The way I would kind 00:12:51.350 --> 00:12:55.830 of describe your study guide is that it's a narrative, 00:12:55.929 --> 00:13:00.129 it's a story where you're starting out with this 00:13:00.129 --> 00:13:05.070 topic and then you write a story and then in 00:13:05.070 --> 00:13:08.639 bold you've got the questions. You know, the 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:11.779 information that's in the question itself. So 00:13:11.779 --> 00:13:17.039 it reads like a story. It's not so much a manual 00:13:17.039 --> 00:13:21.580 but a true study guide. It's a thing that you 00:13:21.580 --> 00:13:24.799 read and you notice the bold print things and 00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:28.379 so it really does cut down to the chase where 00:13:28.379 --> 00:13:32.220 you may still need some explanations on some 00:13:32.220 --> 00:13:36.870 of these things but This is the study guide version 00:13:36.870 --> 00:13:42.710 exactly and and It's kind of interesting story 00:13:42.710 --> 00:13:48.149 how I started doing these things About I guess 00:13:48.149 --> 00:13:51.090 maybe ten years ago now. We were at field day, 00:13:51.269 --> 00:13:53.629 you know field days coming up We're at field 00:13:53.629 --> 00:13:56.750 day I'm at the public information table and a 00:13:56.750 --> 00:13:58.830 guy comes up to me and he says hey, you know 00:13:58.830 --> 00:14:01.429 I've written this study guide and I'm trying 00:14:01.429 --> 00:14:05.250 to get more people to use it And he'd read my 00:14:05.250 --> 00:14:08.470 blog, I guess. And so I looked at it, and it 00:14:08.470 --> 00:14:14.129 was written in that same style. And I said, well, 00:14:14.129 --> 00:14:17.889 I'll put it on my blog. And I put it on my blog. 00:14:17.990 --> 00:14:20.090 Two years later, the question pool was updated. 00:14:20.250 --> 00:14:23.070 And it was pretty popular on the blog. Two years 00:14:23.070 --> 00:14:25.509 later, the question pool was updated. And I tried 00:14:25.509 --> 00:14:27.509 to find this guy. I tried to find him and ask 00:14:27.509 --> 00:14:29.889 him if he was going to update it. And I couldn't 00:14:29.889 --> 00:14:34.080 even find him. I looked him up on QRZ .com. He 00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:38.220 had no email address listed. I sent him a postal 00:14:38.220 --> 00:14:40.840 mail. Never got a response. I said, well, this 00:14:40.840 --> 00:14:43.980 thing's too good to just let go. So I updated 00:14:43.980 --> 00:14:48.440 that version, and then I added the general and 00:14:48.440 --> 00:14:50.759 extra class versions. So that's how I kind of 00:14:50.759 --> 00:14:53.100 got into it. So I can't even really take credit 00:14:53.100 --> 00:14:56.220 for the style per se, although a lot of that 00:14:56.220 --> 00:15:01.320 content is mine, the storytelling part. Sure. 00:15:01.820 --> 00:15:03.639 One of the things we were talking about again 00:15:03.639 --> 00:15:07.159 before the show, maybe we ought to record before 00:15:07.159 --> 00:15:09.320 and after these shows. It seems like we always 00:15:09.320 --> 00:15:11.500 have good discussions before and after the shows 00:15:11.500 --> 00:15:16.379 that people would benefit from. But one of the 00:15:16.379 --> 00:15:18.519 things that I was talking to you about being 00:15:18.519 --> 00:15:21.860 an educator professionally is learning styles. 00:15:22.700 --> 00:15:25.259 different people learn in different ways. There's 00:15:25.259 --> 00:15:27.820 auditory learners and visual learners and tactile 00:15:27.820 --> 00:15:30.279 learners and all these different types of learning. 00:15:30.440 --> 00:15:34.700 And most people, for some reason, I once again 00:15:34.700 --> 00:15:38.500 am the exception to this, but most people favor 00:15:38.500 --> 00:15:43.820 one heavily. And so where some people may do 00:15:43.820 --> 00:15:48.740 better with one of the traditional study manuals, 00:15:48.840 --> 00:15:54.519 let's we'll call it, They really need this this 00:15:54.519 --> 00:15:59.639 Reading this narrative style to help them get 00:15:59.639 --> 00:16:02.759 it and like you said it cuts to the chase so 00:16:02.759 --> 00:16:05.759 You know, it's it's a different approach to the 00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:10.679 same thing And we're ending up at the same point 00:16:10.679 --> 00:16:13.259 And because like think think about this, you 00:16:13.259 --> 00:16:15.379 know, I'm I have an electrical engineering degree 00:16:15.379 --> 00:16:18.740 it took me four years to learn this material 00:16:18.740 --> 00:16:22.090 from from a engineering slash scientific viewpoint. 00:16:22.509 --> 00:16:24.970 Well, you know, we're not going to do that in 00:16:24.970 --> 00:16:27.009 ham radio, right? Nobody's going to take that 00:16:27.009 --> 00:16:30.710 much time. So it's, you know, like I said, get 00:16:30.710 --> 00:16:33.250 criticized sometimes for the, for the lack of 00:16:33.250 --> 00:16:36.230 technical depth, but that, I mean, this is a 00:16:36.230 --> 00:16:37.909 hobby, you know, that's still, that's still kind 00:16:37.909 --> 00:16:41.889 of the way it is. Yeah. It's unfortunate that, 00:16:41.889 --> 00:16:47.049 um, that we don't have a chance to, you know, 00:16:48.459 --> 00:16:52.340 Teach more and build more in at at the beginning 00:16:52.340 --> 00:16:57.299 You know your philosophy here and a lot of people 00:16:57.299 --> 00:17:01.120 is that you know, you get the license and then 00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:04.559 you start learning it and it takes time it does 00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:08.119 it takes a lot of time to to do that and there's 00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:11.759 just too much to cram in all at once and So I 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:14.599 think you know, I think that's a good approach 00:17:14.599 --> 00:17:17.900 for a lot of people is is to to do it that way 00:17:18.119 --> 00:17:21.259 And I consider every one of my students, and 00:17:21.259 --> 00:17:25.299 even almost every one of my readers, as my Elmaris. 00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:29.140 And they're free to contact me, call me, email 00:17:29.140 --> 00:17:31.759 me if they've got questions about anything. And 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:36.140 a lot do, a lot of them do. And I help them as 00:17:36.140 --> 00:17:39.640 much as I can. And if they're... not here in 00:17:39.640 --> 00:17:42.539 Ann Arbor, it's kind of harder. But even so, 00:17:42.619 --> 00:17:45.339 I get lots of emails on different topics and 00:17:45.339 --> 00:17:49.019 I try to answer them. And that's how I work around 00:17:49.019 --> 00:17:54.180 the lack of actually teaching the material, if 00:17:54.180 --> 00:17:57.279 you will. Yeah, the depth. Yeah, the depth. Yeah, 00:17:57.579 --> 00:18:00.339 very good. And there are other sources for the 00:18:00.339 --> 00:18:03.900 depth. You could use this with one of the other. 00:18:04.059 --> 00:18:08.859 uh, manuals or, um, I know, um, reading on your 00:18:08.859 --> 00:18:12.019 blog, you often just recommend Google. Yeah. 00:18:12.039 --> 00:18:14.599 There's lots of stuff on Google. You know, I 00:18:14.599 --> 00:18:16.680 mean, it's, it's, it's, it's amazing how much 00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:20.279 is on Google. Really? Yeah. It's just so much. 00:18:20.500 --> 00:18:22.519 Yeah. There's just so much stuff out there and 00:18:22.519 --> 00:18:26.079 thank goodness for Google for pointing us in 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:29.759 the, where to go on the net to get it. Um, so 00:18:29.759 --> 00:18:32.400 remind everybody how, uh, they can get a copy 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:38.410 of this. Okay, just go to my website, kb6nu .com. 00:18:38.829 --> 00:18:41.490 There's a link right on the homepage to the study 00:18:41.490 --> 00:18:45.529 guides page. And like you said, the PDF version 00:18:45.529 --> 00:18:48.130 of the Technician Class Study Guide is free. 00:18:48.950 --> 00:18:52.390 There's a charge for the Kindle and Nook versions. 00:18:52.849 --> 00:18:56.450 And then there's a link to Amazon for the print 00:18:56.450 --> 00:18:58.849 version. And that's for all three study guides. 00:18:59.910 --> 00:19:03.069 Okay, so be sure to check that out. That's KB6NU 00:19:03.069 --> 00:19:08.869 .com and then you can look on Amazon or on Nook 00:19:08.869 --> 00:19:16.210 for the print and the ebook version of the study 00:19:16.210 --> 00:19:18.730 guide. The other thing that I want to talk about 00:19:18.730 --> 00:19:22.009 before we take a break and take everybody's questions 00:19:22.009 --> 00:19:24.809 here, hopefully we've got some questions lined 00:19:24.809 --> 00:19:31.539 up for you. If not, I do. How do you? Cram everything 00:19:31.539 --> 00:19:35.519 for a technician class into a single day. I've 00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:39.559 I've done a lot of classes I teach for living 00:19:39.559 --> 00:19:43.359 and and I teach ham radio as well and I've done 00:19:43.359 --> 00:19:46.619 You know, I've done the traditional 10 to 13 00:19:46.619 --> 00:19:52.299 week classes. I've done four weeks of You know 00:19:52.299 --> 00:19:56.640 a variety of things but one time three of us 00:19:56.799 --> 00:20:00.579 Kind of pitched in and and did a weekend class. 00:20:00.579 --> 00:20:05.480 We did it in two days and We liked it never finished. 00:20:05.480 --> 00:20:08.059 I mean the last couple of sub elements. It was 00:20:08.059 --> 00:20:12.240 like Okay, and now that Okay, now it's time to 00:20:12.240 --> 00:20:15.440 take your test and and so how do you cram all 00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:19.779 that into one day? Well, so so there's several 00:20:19.779 --> 00:20:23.339 sort of tricks of the trade first off. I eat 00:20:23.339 --> 00:20:28.130 I'm require everybody to pre -register. Not that 00:20:28.130 --> 00:20:31.009 I really need them to pre -register, but it gives 00:20:31.009 --> 00:20:33.609 me their email addresses so I can email them 00:20:33.609 --> 00:20:36.410 information about the class. One of the most 00:20:36.410 --> 00:20:39.230 important things I tell them is to download the 00:20:39.230 --> 00:20:43.069 study guide immediately, however long before 00:20:43.069 --> 00:20:45.410 the class is going to take place, and just start 00:20:45.410 --> 00:20:47.509 reading through it and maybe take some online 00:20:47.509 --> 00:20:50.589 practices. That gets them prepared for the class. 00:20:51.279 --> 00:20:54.079 Then once we get into the class that one of the 00:20:54.079 --> 00:20:57.519 first things I'd say in the class is I'm not 00:20:57.519 --> 00:20:59.460 really trying to teach you the material here 00:20:59.460 --> 00:21:02.440 I'm trying to teach you enough to pass the test 00:21:02.440 --> 00:21:04.779 and I tell him I said I'm gonna I'm gonna go 00:21:04.779 --> 00:21:08.000 through all this material pretty quickly I will 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:10.599 take some questions, but at some point, but I'm 00:21:10.599 --> 00:21:13.940 but I don't get distracted. I you know at some 00:21:13.940 --> 00:21:16.650 point if the answer gets too long, I just cut 00:21:16.650 --> 00:21:19.509 it and move on, because we do have to get through 00:21:19.509 --> 00:21:21.910 all the questions in the question pool before 00:21:21.910 --> 00:21:25.470 the VEs come in. So armed with those two, and 00:21:25.470 --> 00:21:29.609 I start and stop on time. I start right on time 00:21:29.609 --> 00:21:32.069 in the morning. We take a half an hour for lunch. 00:21:32.569 --> 00:21:34.829 I don't wait. If people aren't back from lunch, 00:21:34.890 --> 00:21:38.549 I have to start, because there's all that material 00:21:38.549 --> 00:21:41.250 to get through. The other thing I do, and I think 00:21:41.250 --> 00:21:45.079 this is kind of an important thing, I follow 00:21:45.079 --> 00:21:49.420 my study guide from front to back, okay, just 00:21:49.420 --> 00:21:52.599 in that exact order. And the way my study guide 00:21:52.599 --> 00:21:56.880 is organized is all the technical material comes 00:21:56.880 --> 00:22:00.779 first. So the first thing I teach about, cover, 00:22:01.119 --> 00:22:04.960 is the Ohm's law, how to calculate power. Then 00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:08.799 we get into the circuit diagrams and talk about 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:12.579 the components. So we cover all that. that technical 00:22:12.579 --> 00:22:14.539 material early in the morning when they're still 00:22:14.539 --> 00:22:17.480 kind of fresh and then we go through the rules 00:22:17.480 --> 00:22:20.000 and regulations and operating practices later 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:22.680 in the afternoon where it doesn't really matter 00:22:22.680 --> 00:22:25.589 you don't have to Think so much about that stuff, 00:22:25.589 --> 00:22:28.369 but just sort of memorize the answers and you 00:22:28.369 --> 00:22:29.950 know That's the other thing about the tech test 00:22:29.950 --> 00:22:32.289 a lot of those thought of those questions you 00:22:32.289 --> 00:22:34.930 can only learn by memorizing, right? I mean, 00:22:35.029 --> 00:22:38.109 there's no there's no way to memorize that 52 00:22:38.109 --> 00:22:41.730 .5 I guess you can't calculate that but but there 00:22:41.730 --> 00:22:43.490 are a lot of quite especially the rules, you 00:22:43.490 --> 00:22:46.930 know, there's no way you're you can What is the 00:22:46.930 --> 00:22:49.609 function of a control operator? That's right. 00:22:49.970 --> 00:22:53.960 No Well, how much power can you run when operating 00:22:53.960 --> 00:22:56.000 a radio control model? I mean, those are all 00:22:56.000 --> 00:22:59.319 just memorization, you know? So anyway, I think 00:22:59.319 --> 00:23:02.160 that's a key point, too, is the order in which 00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:07.299 I cover the topics. Very good. Any other big 00:23:07.299 --> 00:23:10.039 suggestions to people who are teaching one of 00:23:10.039 --> 00:23:14.019 these one -day or weekend classes as opposed 00:23:14.019 --> 00:23:18.970 to the long -grown -out? Yeah, but one thing 00:23:18.970 --> 00:23:22.950 one thing I one thing I do is is I and of course 00:23:22.950 --> 00:23:25.470 not I've done this a number of times already 00:23:25.470 --> 00:23:28.630 So I'm I've pretty practiced at it, but but go 00:23:28.630 --> 00:23:30.470 to go along with what you said about my study 00:23:30.470 --> 00:23:33.950 guide I tell stories I tell stories as we go 00:23:33.950 --> 00:23:36.730 through that keeps people's interest and it brings 00:23:36.730 --> 00:23:39.210 home the point I'll give you an example. There's 00:23:39.210 --> 00:23:42.710 several questions on the test about Using ferrite 00:23:42.710 --> 00:23:46.180 chokes if you have a noise problem And I always 00:23:46.180 --> 00:23:49.819 tell the story of the first 40 meter dipole I 00:23:49.819 --> 00:23:54.359 put up at my house here. I stretched out the 00:23:54.359 --> 00:23:57.059 dipole. I got my antenna analyzer out. I tuned 00:23:57.059 --> 00:24:00.180 it up. Everything looked great. I go down to 00:24:00.180 --> 00:24:03.200 the shack and start calling CQ. The next thing 00:24:03.200 --> 00:24:05.759 I know, my wife's running down the stairs. What 00:24:05.759 --> 00:24:08.380 are you doing? She says. I said, well, I'm just 00:24:08.380 --> 00:24:11.319 here calling CQ. She says, well, you're opening 00:24:11.319 --> 00:24:17.250 and closing the garage door. And it's true. So 00:24:17.250 --> 00:24:21.990 the way it worked was that the dipole was run 00:24:21.990 --> 00:24:25.950 almost parallel to the wire from the switch on 00:24:25.950 --> 00:24:29.150 the wall to the garage door opener. And of course, 00:24:29.210 --> 00:24:31.650 those garage door openers did not have any noise 00:24:31.650 --> 00:24:33.930 suppression on their input. And it was just picking 00:24:33.930 --> 00:24:36.329 up that RF and opening and closing. So what did 00:24:36.329 --> 00:24:39.849 I do? I got a fairy choke, wound a few turns 00:24:39.849 --> 00:24:42.960 around it. work like a charm. I haven't had trouble 00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:46.680 since. So telling that story brings home that 00:24:46.680 --> 00:24:49.640 point about the ferrite choke. That reminds me 00:24:49.640 --> 00:24:52.819 of a story. I had found this thing that I just 00:24:52.819 --> 00:24:55.640 thought was just incredible. It was a wireless 00:24:55.640 --> 00:24:59.859 microphone. So you'd plug in the little receiver 00:24:59.859 --> 00:25:03.940 into the mic jack and then you had this little 00:25:03.940 --> 00:25:08.279 almost walkie talkie like microphone with this 00:25:08.279 --> 00:25:12.289 telescopic antenna on it and it used 49 megahertz 00:25:12.289 --> 00:25:17.589 I think it was and so I love that thing because 00:25:17.589 --> 00:25:21.509 I could turn the radio up in my parents bedroom 00:25:21.509 --> 00:25:24.230 which is where the radios were and I could go 00:25:24.230 --> 00:25:26.990 into my room and I could still hear it you know 00:25:26.990 --> 00:25:29.809 and I could be you know walk into my room and 00:25:29.809 --> 00:25:33.430 grab something and then come back you know without 00:25:33.430 --> 00:25:36.690 having to having to drop it this before we had 00:25:36.690 --> 00:25:43.380 $30 handhelds and one day I noticed that I made 00:25:43.380 --> 00:25:47.859 a phone call and On my cordless phone and every 00:25:47.859 --> 00:25:54.019 time I hung up I heard but uh I'm like wait a 00:25:54.019 --> 00:25:56.140 minute. That's the courtesy tone on the repeater 00:25:56.140 --> 00:26:00.119 and and so I I You know got a dial tone and then 00:26:00.119 --> 00:26:03.119 I hit it again and turned the phone off and I 00:26:03.119 --> 00:26:09.569 hear but uh And yep sure enough my cordless phone 00:26:09.569 --> 00:26:14.009 was on the same frequency as the wireless microphone 00:26:14.009 --> 00:26:17.910 and so yeah thankfully whoever I called that 00:26:17.910 --> 00:26:24.009 day did not answer. So yeah those things happen 00:26:24.009 --> 00:26:27.329 and that does make you know it makes it interesting 00:26:27.329 --> 00:26:29.710 so that way you know you can use that to teach 00:26:29.710 --> 00:26:34.490 something like interference or A lot of people 00:26:34.490 --> 00:26:36.569 don't realize just how much stuff is up there 00:26:36.569 --> 00:26:39.190 at 2 .4 gigahertz and why your Wi -Fi doesn't 00:26:39.190 --> 00:26:42.529 work well. There's a bazillion things up there. 00:26:44.109 --> 00:26:48.950 Stories are always good. The other suggestion 00:26:48.950 --> 00:26:51.349 I'd make, and everybody's different and I've 00:26:51.349 --> 00:26:54.549 gotten the little pushback on this, I don't use... 00:26:55.150 --> 00:26:58.650 PowerPoint slides at all. It's all me talking 00:26:58.650 --> 00:27:01.509 to them and telling them stories. I think, I 00:27:01.509 --> 00:27:04.690 think PowerPoints generally put people to sleep, 00:27:04.930 --> 00:27:06.869 especially if you're talking about six hours 00:27:06.869 --> 00:27:09.910 of it, right? And so I, you know, I just don't, 00:27:09.930 --> 00:27:12.710 I just don't use them. I walk around, I draw 00:27:12.710 --> 00:27:16.589 things on the board, all that activity gets them 00:27:16.589 --> 00:27:21.160 to follow me and not fall asleep. There's a balance 00:27:21.160 --> 00:27:24.079 there, definitely. I use PowerPoint a lot, but 00:27:24.079 --> 00:27:27.759 you can get PowerPointed to death. Right, right. 00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:32.279 So I go the total, you know, totally off it, 00:27:32.420 --> 00:27:34.759 but everybody's got a little different way to 00:27:34.759 --> 00:27:37.819 do it. But I just say be careful of that, you 00:27:37.819 --> 00:27:40.400 know? Sure, sure. Well, it's time to take our 00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:44.000 break. But after the break, we will take your 00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:47.170 call. So if you have a question about. the new 00:27:47.170 --> 00:27:50.710 extra class pool, or the study guides, or teaching 00:27:50.710 --> 00:27:54.650 one of these classes, or finding one of these 00:27:54.650 --> 00:27:58.210 classes, whatever, for Dan Romance at KB6NU, 00:27:58.730 --> 00:28:03.670 give us a call. It's 812 -NET -HAM -1 is the 00:28:03.670 --> 00:28:06.309 phone number. That brings you in on Skype, or 00:28:06.309 --> 00:28:09.829 you can just Skype directly at HamTalk Live. 00:28:09.869 --> 00:28:13.170 So we'll be back with your calls right after 00:28:13.170 --> 00:28:17.059 this message from Tower Electronics. This episode 00:28:17.059 --> 00:28:20.180 of HamTalk Live is brought to you by Tower Electronics. 00:28:20.440 --> 00:28:22.779 Tower Electronics has been the Ham's dime store 00:28:22.779 --> 00:28:26.440 since 1978, bringing connectors, antennas, cables, 00:28:26.579 --> 00:28:29.119 and other parts to the world. Scott and Jill 00:28:29.119 --> 00:28:31.240 travel the country bringing their store to you 00:28:31.240 --> 00:28:34.359 at HamFest, but you can also order online at 00:28:34.359 --> 00:28:43.940 pl -259 .com or by calling 920 -435 -2973. Stock 00:28:43.940 --> 00:28:47.180 up on those supplies like PL259 and end connectors, 00:28:47.759 --> 00:28:50.619 audio cables, mobile antennas, and hamsticks. 00:28:51.079 --> 00:28:53.339 Their silver -plated end connectors are even 00:28:53.339 --> 00:28:56.319 in use on the International Space Station. Tower 00:28:56.319 --> 00:29:00.099 Electronics is a dealer for MFJ, Comet, Daiwa, 00:29:00.359 --> 00:29:03.819 OPEC, Workman, and HamPro technologies. Tower 00:29:03.819 --> 00:29:08.359 Electronics online at PL -259 .com. Proud to 00:29:08.359 --> 00:29:12.359 sponsor this episode of HamTalk Live. HamTalk 00:29:12.359 --> 00:29:17.559 Live with Neil Rapp. Hey baby, I'd love to be 00:29:17.559 --> 00:29:22.440 in your grid square. Join the conversation. Call 00:29:22.440 --> 00:29:25.779 us on voice with Skype at HamTalk Live or give 00:29:25.779 --> 00:29:31.059 us a call at 812 -NET -HAM -1. That's 812 -638 00:29:31.059 --> 00:29:36.690 -4261. Now, here's more HamTalk Live. We'd like 00:29:36.690 --> 00:29:38.910 to thank Scott and Jill at Tower Electronics 00:29:38.910 --> 00:29:41.109 for sponsoring the show once again tonight so 00:29:41.109 --> 00:29:45.009 we can bring you HamTalk Live. They will be at 00:29:45.009 --> 00:29:49.130 the Monroe, Michigan HamFest on Sunday and then 00:29:49.130 --> 00:29:54.769 next they have Oak Creek, Wisconsin on July 9th. 00:29:54.769 --> 00:29:56.750 If you can't make it to one of those, give them 00:29:56.750 --> 00:30:03.119 a call at 920 -435 -2973. or you can visit them 00:30:03.119 --> 00:30:08.460 online at PL -259 .com. Be sure to listen every 00:30:08.460 --> 00:30:10.759 Thursday night at 9 p .m. Eastern Time right 00:30:10.759 --> 00:30:13.900 here on HamTalkLive .com and if you missed the 00:30:13.900 --> 00:30:17.079 show you can download the podcast from the website 00:30:17.079 --> 00:30:21.500 and most popular podcasting websites. So it is 00:30:21.500 --> 00:30:25.259 time for your calls. So now's the time if you 00:30:25.259 --> 00:30:27.880 have a question that you'd like to ask give us 00:30:27.880 --> 00:30:31.119 a call on Skype at HamTalk Live, or if Skype 00:30:31.119 --> 00:30:33.640 isn't your thing, you can call us by telephone. 00:30:33.759 --> 00:30:40.759 The number is 812 -NET -HAM -1. 812 -NET -HAM 00:30:40.759 --> 00:30:44.279 -1. And we will take your questions and see if 00:30:44.279 --> 00:30:48.559 we can answer those for you. Dan Romanchuk, KB6NU's 00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:51.819 our guest, the author of the No Nonsense Study 00:30:51.819 --> 00:30:56.400 Guides. So we will stand by here and see if we 00:30:56.400 --> 00:31:02.170 get any phone calls for you. While we're waiting 00:31:02.170 --> 00:31:06.470 here, let's talk a little bit about the CW. I 00:31:06.470 --> 00:31:09.670 know that's one of your big things and you had 00:31:09.670 --> 00:31:15.190 a presentation at Dayton this year on CW. So 00:31:15.190 --> 00:31:17.809 tell us a little bit about the CW and if you 00:31:17.809 --> 00:31:19.670 want to call in, just go right ahead and call 00:31:19.670 --> 00:31:30.819 in. We'll take your call. Oh, I'm sorry, Dan, 00:31:31.339 --> 00:31:33.660 I forgot to hit your button here. Oh, that's 00:31:33.660 --> 00:31:36.980 right. Go. So they didn't hear that. So go ahead. 00:31:37.720 --> 00:31:40.440 OK, you know, so for old timers like me, I got 00:31:40.440 --> 00:31:43.839 my license in 1971. You know, we had to pass 00:31:43.839 --> 00:31:46.259 a code test, so we knew all about code. But since 00:31:46.259 --> 00:31:49.460 there's been no code test requirement, CW has 00:31:49.460 --> 00:31:51.400 gotten to be kind of a little there's going to 00:31:51.400 --> 00:31:53.299 be kind of a little bit of a mystique about it. 00:31:53.359 --> 00:31:55.980 And so I just wanted to try and break down that 00:31:55.980 --> 00:31:59.660 mystique, show that it's not rocket science and 00:31:59.660 --> 00:32:03.279 it's a lot of fun. So that was the whole thrust 00:32:03.279 --> 00:32:07.039 of my talk at Dayton. And of course I have another 00:32:07.039 --> 00:32:09.759 book, The CW Geek's Guide to Having Fun with 00:32:09.759 --> 00:32:13.140 Morse Code, where I went through basically the 00:32:13.140 --> 00:32:15.180 same material, still talks a little bit about 00:32:15.180 --> 00:32:16.980 how to learn the code and then a little bit about 00:32:16.980 --> 00:32:19.799 how to operate and basically how to have fun 00:32:19.799 --> 00:32:27.839 with it. Very good. Um, so, um, why, why CW? 00:32:28.039 --> 00:32:32.980 What, what's your, um, what fascinates you more 00:32:32.980 --> 00:32:36.240 about that than some of the other modes? I don't 00:32:36.240 --> 00:32:38.559 know. That's a good question. I think that it's, 00:32:39.279 --> 00:32:41.519 uh, you know, it's kind of, I don't know, maybe 00:32:41.519 --> 00:32:43.279 it's kind of a flow thing. You know, it's a, 00:32:43.380 --> 00:32:45.539 it's certainly a skill. You know, I take certain 00:32:45.539 --> 00:32:48.519 pride in the, in developing my skill at sending 00:32:48.519 --> 00:32:52.400 and receiving, uh, I sometimes joke that anybody 00:32:52.400 --> 00:32:55.920 can talk, but it takes some skill to send and 00:32:55.920 --> 00:32:59.940 receive Morse code. So that's not quite the case. 00:33:00.160 --> 00:33:03.339 Of course, phone operation is a skill, too. But 00:33:03.339 --> 00:33:06.579 I think that's it. More than anything is the 00:33:06.579 --> 00:33:11.039 skill involved. OK, very good. Well, yeah, I 00:33:11.039 --> 00:33:16.859 remember taking my test when I was five and you 00:33:16.859 --> 00:33:22.180 had to copy a whole minute. of a solid copy and 00:33:22.180 --> 00:33:27.220 first time I got 23 letters, I needed 25. Didn't 00:33:27.220 --> 00:33:31.319 make it, but the second time I got 104, so made 00:33:31.319 --> 00:33:35.079 it and finally got up to 20 words a minute. I 00:33:35.079 --> 00:33:37.680 put it off for a long time. I got up to advanced 00:33:37.680 --> 00:33:41.640 by the time I was nine, but the 20 words a minute, 00:33:42.119 --> 00:33:44.839 I just, I was like, yeah, the theory, yeah, I 00:33:44.839 --> 00:33:47.619 can do that, but the code, no, there's no way. 00:33:48.889 --> 00:33:52.329 When I was 18, I finally said, okay, I need to 00:33:52.329 --> 00:33:54.849 be a VE now that we've got this VE stuff going 00:33:54.849 --> 00:33:59.589 on and I need to pass this. I finally got the 00:33:59.589 --> 00:34:01.690 20 words a minute down. It took a few times, 00:34:01.750 --> 00:34:05.569 but finally got it right before they dropped 00:34:05.569 --> 00:34:09.730 all the code tests. It's a lot of fun and I still 00:34:09.730 --> 00:34:12.650 teach it. I still remember it and I still teach 00:34:12.650 --> 00:34:14.909 it because some people want to do that just so 00:34:14.909 --> 00:34:21.210 they have a secret code. Right, right. I encourage 00:34:21.210 --> 00:34:24.750 people to try it. If it's not your thing, fine, 00:34:24.769 --> 00:34:28.309 don't do it. Don't let anybody browbeat you into 00:34:28.309 --> 00:34:31.010 thinking that you got to know code to be a real 00:34:31.010 --> 00:34:35.110 ham because that's the least of my, the farthest 00:34:35.110 --> 00:34:38.090 thing in my mind. But I think everybody should 00:34:38.090 --> 00:34:40.190 try it just because I have a lot of fun with 00:34:40.190 --> 00:34:47.630 it and you won't know unless you try it. Very 00:34:47.630 --> 00:34:51.010 very good very good, and you know it hasn't it 00:34:51.010 --> 00:34:54.329 hasn't gone away. There's still a lot of a lot 00:34:54.329 --> 00:34:58.510 of people using CW so give it a shot and There's 00:34:58.510 --> 00:35:01.590 all kinds of resources out there to to help you 00:35:01.590 --> 00:35:05.710 do that as well 812 net ham one is the phone 00:35:05.710 --> 00:35:11.309 number 812 net ham one if you want to ask a question 00:35:11.309 --> 00:35:17.199 to KB6 in you about His license study guides 00:35:17.199 --> 00:35:22.079 or the new extra class Pool that's out or the 00:35:22.079 --> 00:35:24.159 blog, you know, we haven't haven't even mentioned 00:35:24.159 --> 00:35:28.900 the blog Talk a little bit about the blog. Sure. 00:35:28.900 --> 00:35:31.760 So I sometimes joke that I have the number one 00:35:31.760 --> 00:35:36.219 rated ham radio blog The reason I say that is 00:35:36.219 --> 00:35:40.340 most often if you Google ham radio blog or amateur 00:35:40.340 --> 00:35:45.159 radio blog I come up number one And the reason 00:35:45.159 --> 00:35:49.260 for that is, I think, not so much that it's the 00:35:49.260 --> 00:35:51.440 best thing out there, because there's lots of 00:35:51.440 --> 00:35:54.360 great blogs. But I've been at it a long time. 00:35:54.380 --> 00:35:57.420 I've been doing it over 12 years now, and there's 00:35:57.420 --> 00:36:04.119 over 2 ,500 posts. And Google rates that highly, 00:36:04.699 --> 00:36:08.079 longevity and amount of content. But there is 00:36:08.079 --> 00:36:10.500 a lot of good content on there, I think, and 00:36:10.500 --> 00:36:14.170 a lot of people like to read it. Very good. I 00:36:14.170 --> 00:36:17.230 think we've got yeah, it came through we have 00:36:17.230 --> 00:36:21.389 our first call of the night Familiar 1k zero 00:36:21.389 --> 00:36:25.730 MD. How are you this evening? Good evening. I 00:36:25.730 --> 00:36:28.510 Nice to hear you on I enjoy your show as always 00:36:28.510 --> 00:36:31.570 and I've enjoyed hearing Dan's story tonight 00:36:31.570 --> 00:36:34.769 and reading his blog Then what's your secret 00:36:34.769 --> 00:36:37.610 for keeping your blog so well read? I mean sometimes 00:36:37.610 --> 00:36:40.809 you tackle some controversial issues Do you ever 00:36:40.809 --> 00:36:44.150 get criticized or get a lot of heat from that, 00:36:44.409 --> 00:36:47.750 especially when you criticize the ARRL and what's 00:36:47.750 --> 00:36:50.809 your experience been with that? Oh, Scott just 00:36:50.809 --> 00:36:52.690 opened up a big can of worms there. All right, 00:36:52.789 --> 00:36:56.210 go ahead, Dan. It's all yours. Well, you know 00:36:56.210 --> 00:36:57.769 what? This is a call -in show, right? We have 00:36:57.769 --> 00:37:00.489 to have some controversy. Exactly. Yeah, yeah. 00:37:00.769 --> 00:37:03.869 Well, you know, I'm not afraid of tackling controversy. 00:37:04.829 --> 00:37:08.389 And, you know, it would be one thing if I just 00:37:08.980 --> 00:37:11.579 criticize the ARRL. But I'm, you know, as you 00:37:11.579 --> 00:37:13.340 know, as you probably know, since you read my 00:37:13.340 --> 00:37:17.559 blog, I'm a big ARRL supporter. So all my criticism 00:37:17.559 --> 00:37:22.360 is aimed at making the ARRL better and making 00:37:22.360 --> 00:37:27.059 ham radio better, not just the ARRL. So yes, 00:37:27.059 --> 00:37:31.619 I take on some controversial topics, but I walk 00:37:31.619 --> 00:37:34.059 the walk too. I just don't talk the talk. You 00:37:34.059 --> 00:37:37.039 know, I ran for the board of directors twice. 00:37:37.690 --> 00:37:41.309 And so I was ready to serve, you know, and it 00:37:41.309 --> 00:37:43.550 didn't work out. I didn't get elected, and that's 00:37:43.550 --> 00:37:48.409 another story, but yeah, I'll take on controversial 00:37:48.409 --> 00:37:53.030 topics. And the other part of it is, maybe I 00:37:53.030 --> 00:37:55.769 spent too much time doing this, I'm on like every 00:37:55.769 --> 00:37:58.389 ham radio mailing list you can think of. So I 00:37:58.389 --> 00:38:01.869 get all the new, and I'm on Twitter, I get news 00:38:01.869 --> 00:38:06.250 via Twitter about ham radio. And so I'm kind 00:38:06.250 --> 00:38:09.139 of, tuned in to what's happening in ham radio. 00:38:10.159 --> 00:38:12.820 And conversely, I turn around and put it on my 00:38:12.820 --> 00:38:15.739 blog for other people to read. So I think that's 00:38:15.739 --> 00:38:19.480 how I keep that fresh as well. That makes sense. 00:38:20.940 --> 00:38:23.539 And I recall, I think that your criticism of 00:38:23.539 --> 00:38:26.159 the league was simply focused on the fact that 00:38:26.159 --> 00:38:28.300 they were not growing membership as aggressively 00:38:28.300 --> 00:38:33.710 as you thought they should. Had Dayton made a 00:38:33.710 --> 00:38:35.590 point of saying the league has increased membership 00:38:35.590 --> 00:38:38.170 by 200 ,000 or it will fold financially in the 00:38:38.170 --> 00:38:41.309 long run because of the age of the ham population? 00:38:41.789 --> 00:38:43.849 So you were just probably a few years too early, 00:38:43.909 --> 00:38:46.349 but you were right on. Well, right. Yeah. And 00:38:46.349 --> 00:38:47.869 I was going to mention that because you're right. 00:38:47.989 --> 00:38:51.429 That was one of my latest. I won't say criticisms, 00:38:51.530 --> 00:38:55.989 my latest things about the ARRL. And I was at 00:38:55.989 --> 00:38:59.230 that meeting, too. I was at that forum. And I 00:38:59.230 --> 00:39:00.969 just haven't gotten around to writing about it 00:39:00.969 --> 00:39:03.230 yet. But you're right on. That new president, 00:39:03.409 --> 00:39:06.170 he's got that in his mind. I don't know that 00:39:06.170 --> 00:39:09.369 he set a goal like I would like to have them 00:39:09.369 --> 00:39:12.210 set. My thinking was that they should set a goal 00:39:12.210 --> 00:39:16.489 of 25 % of licensed radio amateurs. as the membership 00:39:16.489 --> 00:39:19.670 goal for the ARRL. But you're absolutely right. 00:39:19.710 --> 00:39:21.949 He's hot on increasing membership, and I think 00:39:21.949 --> 00:39:25.769 that's great. I want to ask you a question about 00:39:25.769 --> 00:39:28.269 CW, if Neil will give me a little more time tonight. 00:39:28.789 --> 00:39:31.530 I have a work colleague who's an extra class 00:39:31.530 --> 00:39:34.670 ham, but really a five word per minute ham. And 00:39:34.670 --> 00:39:38.329 I'm sort of a higher speed CW contester. I like 00:39:38.329 --> 00:39:43.110 to do 35, 38 words a minute. during contests. 00:39:43.369 --> 00:39:46.210 So I find it hard to converse with CW at the 00:39:46.210 --> 00:39:48.670 slower speeds now because of the setup that I 00:39:48.670 --> 00:39:51.590 have and just the fact that once you get used 00:39:51.590 --> 00:39:53.650 to doing it at higher rewards per minute it's 00:39:53.650 --> 00:39:57.050 a challenge. Are there any nets or any times 00:39:57.050 --> 00:39:59.989 of events on the air where someone who wants 00:39:59.989 --> 00:40:02.789 to increase their speed from say 5 or 10 up to 00:40:02.789 --> 00:40:06.630 20, are there regular... groups of hams getting 00:40:06.630 --> 00:40:08.929 on to help one another, and what would you tell 00:40:08.929 --> 00:40:11.710 this colleague of mine that he should do to increase 00:40:11.710 --> 00:40:14.050 his code speed? Other than get on the air, but 00:40:14.050 --> 00:40:16.429 he said it's hard to find people, and he actually 00:40:16.429 --> 00:40:19.889 says, we hams are a bit rude to him. They won't 00:40:19.889 --> 00:40:22.570 stand to talk to him because he's so slow. And 00:40:22.570 --> 00:40:24.630 I wasn't surprised to hear that, but I was disappointed. 00:40:24.889 --> 00:40:26.389 And that'll be my last question, Neil. Thanks 00:40:26.389 --> 00:40:29.550 for taking the call. Oh, thanks for calling in, 00:40:29.710 --> 00:40:32.239 Scott. Go ahead. I'm kind of disappointed to 00:40:32.239 --> 00:40:34.800 hear here. He's gotten that reaction, too But 00:40:34.800 --> 00:40:37.219 you know, there is a little portion of the 40 00:40:37.219 --> 00:40:41.539 meter bands from 7100 to 7125 Where a lot of 00:40:41.539 --> 00:40:43.619 slower speed the operators hang out. He might 00:40:43.619 --> 00:40:47.699 try that the other thing I would suggest is if 00:40:47.699 --> 00:40:52.320 he is having look into the CW ops CW Academy 00:40:52.320 --> 00:40:57.360 and he can go to CW ops dot org for that the 00:40:57.360 --> 00:41:00.860 CW ops is a group that Yeah, you know, in a way, 00:41:00.940 --> 00:41:02.699 they're kind of a little bit of elitist. You 00:41:02.699 --> 00:41:05.800 have to be able to operate at 25 words a minute 00:41:05.800 --> 00:41:10.500 or more and get five of the current members to 00:41:10.500 --> 00:41:13.840 support your membership. But the one thing they 00:41:13.840 --> 00:41:18.800 do right... and totally right, is the CW Ops 00:41:18.800 --> 00:41:22.079 Academy. And it's totally designed to take slower 00:41:22.079 --> 00:41:24.980 speed operators and turn them into higher speed 00:41:24.980 --> 00:41:26.900 operators. The goal is to get them to that 20 00:41:26.900 --> 00:41:30.059 word per minute plateau. So he might want to 00:41:30.059 --> 00:41:34.780 look into that. Well, thanks very much. And Neil, 00:41:34.800 --> 00:41:36.820 I'm excited about your program going forward. 00:41:36.940 --> 00:41:38.780 You've got some great people lined up after Dan. 00:41:39.340 --> 00:41:42.420 So congratulations on the success of your call 00:41:42.420 --> 00:41:44.219 and show. And thanks for taking my call tonight. 00:41:44.519 --> 00:41:47.239 Yeah, we added several of your suggestions to 00:41:47.239 --> 00:41:51.019 the list today, so we'll look forward to hearing 00:41:51.019 --> 00:41:54.380 from you and thanks for the support and calling 00:41:54.380 --> 00:42:01.460 in. We appreciate that. All right, well that's 00:42:01.460 --> 00:42:04.860 going to finish things up pretty much for us 00:42:04.860 --> 00:42:07.860 tonight. We're just about out of time, Dan, but 00:42:07.860 --> 00:42:11.159 we've got about a minute here, so if you've got 00:42:11.159 --> 00:42:14.880 any other tips that you've thought of or anything 00:42:14.880 --> 00:42:18.420 that you want to Throw in why go ahead and if 00:42:18.420 --> 00:42:21.840 not, we'll just wrap things up Well, I just say 00:42:21.840 --> 00:42:25.920 one last thing so Getting back to the classes. 00:42:25.920 --> 00:42:29.400 I would like to encourage everyone all the clubs 00:42:29.400 --> 00:42:33.639 out there to Teach teach some tech classes. You 00:42:33.639 --> 00:42:35.420 don't have to do the one day if that's not your 00:42:35.420 --> 00:42:37.599 thing You can do the more traditional ones, but 00:42:37.599 --> 00:42:40.719 I think it's important to have classes because 00:42:40.719 --> 00:42:45.510 you know hams are not getting any younger and 00:42:45.510 --> 00:42:49.789 people transfer from town to town. And I think 00:42:49.789 --> 00:42:51.909 the only way the clubs are gonna stay in business 00:42:51.909 --> 00:42:55.909 is if they teach classes. And so I would encourage 00:42:55.909 --> 00:42:58.969 that. And if anyone has any questions about that, 00:42:59.090 --> 00:43:02.079 I would love to. to take your emails or even 00:43:02.079 --> 00:43:05.960 your phone calls you can email me at cwgeek at 00:43:05.960 --> 00:43:09.579 kb6nu .com and I'll do what I can to help you 00:43:09.579 --> 00:43:13.760 get get a class set up in your club. Very good 00:43:13.760 --> 00:43:21.900 again at cwgeek at kb6nu .com to contact Dan. 00:43:21.980 --> 00:43:24.039 Well thank you Dan for coming on the show really 00:43:24.039 --> 00:43:26.940 appreciate it and good luck with the with the 00:43:26.940 --> 00:43:29.059 books and good luck with your class coming up 00:43:29.059 --> 00:43:32.550 this weekend. Well, thanks, Neil. It was a real 00:43:32.550 --> 00:43:38.469 pleasure. I hope I've gotten a few neurons firing 00:43:38.469 --> 00:43:42.449 out there. Alright, very good. Thank you so much. 00:43:43.090 --> 00:43:46.329 Quick shout out to the Xenia Wireless Association. 00:43:46.829 --> 00:43:50.309 One of the guys from the Xenia, Illinois wireless 00:43:50.309 --> 00:43:54.460 association came by the program that we had at 00:43:54.460 --> 00:43:58.579 Dayton. They're a 501c3 non -profit that's raising 00:43:58.579 --> 00:44:01.119 money for repeaters and emergency assistance 00:44:01.119 --> 00:44:03.940 and communications so a shout out to them and 00:44:03.940 --> 00:44:08.659 also Jtron .com. They have a lot of parts and 00:44:08.659 --> 00:44:10.800 kits and that kind of thing and they want me 00:44:10.800 --> 00:44:12.980 to mention that they have a monthly soldering 00:44:12.980 --> 00:44:15.659 iron contest so if you want to win one of those 00:44:15.659 --> 00:44:22.469 go over to J -tron .com Well, that's a wrap for 00:44:22.469 --> 00:44:24.550 this week's edition of HamTalk Live. I'd like 00:44:24.550 --> 00:44:28.010 to thank my guest Dan Romanchik, KB6NU, and all 00:44:28.010 --> 00:44:30.110 the callers and listeners out there in cyberspace 00:44:30.110 --> 00:44:33.869 and invite you back next Thursday night at 9 00:44:33.869 --> 00:44:37.849 p .m. Eastern Time when Sean Kutsko, KX9X, the 00:44:37.849 --> 00:44:40.670 public relations manager and former contest manager 00:44:40.670 --> 00:44:43.389 at ARRL, will be here to talk about Field Day. 00:44:43.630 --> 00:44:45.849 So, for a list of all of our upcoming guests, 00:44:46.110 --> 00:44:49.230 visit HamTalkLive .com. So, for now, this is 00:44:49.230 --> 00:44:54.090 Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, saying 7375, and may the good 00:44:54.090 --> 00:44:55.590 DX be yours!