WEBVTT 00:00:12.330 --> 00:00:15.070 Thanks for tuning in ham talk live will be on 00:00:15.070 --> 00:00:33.350 the air shortly, please stand by Thanks for tuning 00:00:33.350 --> 00:00:35.810 in ham talk live will be on the air shortly, 00:00:35.909 --> 00:00:41.479 please stand by This episode of Ham Talk Live 00:00:41.479 --> 00:00:45.299 is brought to you by Tower Electronics. For connectors, 00:00:45.579 --> 00:00:51.320 cables, and more, call 920 -435 -2973 or visit 00:00:51.320 --> 00:00:56.920 pl -259 .com and by the Ham Station. Get your 00:00:56.920 --> 00:01:02.799 new radio or antenna by calling 800 -729 -4373 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:38.459 or go to hamstation .com. Good evening, everyone. 00:01:38.599 --> 00:01:42.900 This is ham talk live episode number 16. Joe 00:01:42.900 --> 00:01:46.340 Eisenberg k zero any be the kit guy recorded 00:01:46.340 --> 00:01:51.739 live on Thursday, June 2 2016. I'm your host 00:01:51.739 --> 00:01:55.299 Neil Raff WB nine VPG. Thanks for tuning into 00:01:55.299 --> 00:01:58.980 this episode of ham talk live tonight on the 00:01:58.980 --> 00:02:02.159 show. Joe Eisenberg k zero any be the kit building 00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:05.340 editor at CQ magazine is here to talk about the 00:02:05.340 --> 00:02:07.840 latest in kit building. We'll take your calls 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:10.900 live in just a few minutes. Last week on the 00:02:10.900 --> 00:02:14.400 show, 2013 Newsline Young Ham of the Year Padraig 00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:17.960 Lassendreux, KC9 UUS, was here to talk about 00:02:17.960 --> 00:02:20.680 life since the award, including his internships 00:02:20.680 --> 00:02:24.659 at SpaceX and being on the build team of a nano 00:02:24.659 --> 00:02:27.780 satellite named Violet. If you missed the show, 00:02:28.060 --> 00:02:30.639 you can download it at any time at HamTalkLive 00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:34.280 .com or on Spreaker, iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud. 00:02:34.539 --> 00:02:39.139 Google Play, TuneIn or YouTube. If you missed 00:02:39.139 --> 00:02:42.060 the HamTalk Live shirt sale that ended a couple 00:02:42.060 --> 00:02:45.300 of days ago but we will do a second order later 00:02:45.300 --> 00:02:48.180 on in the summer so feel free to check back on 00:02:48.180 --> 00:02:53.460 our Facebook page or Twitter feed or the website 00:02:53.460 --> 00:02:56.719 but I do have a few remaining from the staff 00:02:56.719 --> 00:03:01.460 order so I don't have all the sizes and all the 00:03:02.230 --> 00:03:06.270 different ones, but I do have a few, so if you 00:03:06.270 --> 00:03:09.990 want you can message me and see if I have the 00:03:09.990 --> 00:03:13.030 one that you want. Otherwise we'll be doing another 00:03:13.030 --> 00:03:16.930 order later on in the summer. After the second 00:03:16.930 --> 00:03:19.129 commercial break, be ready to call in with your 00:03:19.129 --> 00:03:23.110 kit questions. You can call us on Skype at the 00:03:23.110 --> 00:03:26.430 username hamtalklive or by telephone. The number 00:03:26.430 --> 00:03:33.039 is 812 -net -ham -1. That's 812 -638 - 4261, 00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:35.219 and you can also send a question via Twitter. 00:03:35.699 --> 00:03:39.400 Our Twitter handle is at HamTalk Live. Next, 00:03:39.560 --> 00:03:43.280 Joe Eisenberg, K0NEB, right after this word from 00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:47.419 the HamStation, right here on HamTalk Live. This 00:03:47.419 --> 00:03:50.099 episode of HamTalk Live is brought to you by 00:03:50.099 --> 00:03:53.080 the HamStation. 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Five out 00:04:39.250 --> 00:04:42.329 of four people have trouble with fractions. Now, 00:04:42.509 --> 00:04:57.560 here's Neil Rapp with more HamTalk Live. Welcome 00:04:57.560 --> 00:05:00.420 back to HamTalk Live. The HamStation has you 00:05:00.420 --> 00:05:03.459 covered for both new and used equipment. Give 00:05:03.459 --> 00:05:09.079 Dan or Jeff a call at 800 -729 -4373 or go to 00:05:09.079 --> 00:05:12.680 hamstation .com. Be sure to listen to the show 00:05:12.680 --> 00:05:15.259 every Thursday night at 9 p .m. Eastern Time 00:05:15.259 --> 00:05:18.740 right here on hamtalklive .com. Also check out 00:05:18.740 --> 00:05:20.819 our Facebook page and Twitter feed, just search. 00:05:20.990 --> 00:05:25.189 for HamTalk Live. Joe Eisenberg, K -0 NEB, is 00:05:25.189 --> 00:05:27.790 an expert in kit building. He's the longtime 00:05:27.790 --> 00:05:30.769 kit building editor at CQ Magazine and often 00:05:30.769 --> 00:05:33.470 makes presentations and offers kit builds at 00:05:33.470 --> 00:05:36.449 HamFest conventions and club meetings including 00:05:36.449 --> 00:05:39.230 the Dayton Hamvention and the Huntsville HamFest. 00:05:39.629 --> 00:05:42.290 Joe started Ham Radio at age 14 and has been 00:05:42.290 --> 00:05:46.649 licensed since 1969. He is also well known for 00:05:46.649 --> 00:05:49.990 his picture shows of Hamvention, his famous Dr. 00:05:50.170 --> 00:05:52.370 Seuss hat that he only wears at Dayton. Maybe 00:05:52.370 --> 00:05:55.550 we'll have time to talk about that. And Joe lives 00:05:55.550 --> 00:05:58.870 in Lincoln, Nebraska and is an avid Cornhusker 00:05:58.870 --> 00:06:01.930 fan. He works in the IT industry for his day 00:06:01.930 --> 00:06:04.389 job. Joe, thanks so much for being on HamTalk 00:06:04.389 --> 00:06:08.170 Live tonight. Well, good evening, Neil, and hello 00:06:08.170 --> 00:06:11.360 from Lincoln, Nebraska. Yeah, it's great to see 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:15.959 you ham -vention for just a minute or so But 00:06:15.959 --> 00:06:19.060 maybe we'll talk about some ham -vention stuff 00:06:19.060 --> 00:06:21.959 a little later on and I got to see you when you 00:06:21.959 --> 00:06:24.860 were five years old at the Kenwood booth Yeah, 00:06:24.860 --> 00:06:28.540 I was actually telling Joel over the Kenwood 00:06:28.540 --> 00:06:32.879 booth about that That that was the place where 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:36.360 I was when I was a little kid signing QSL cards 00:06:36.360 --> 00:06:42.629 and everything so 520 yeah I found the receipt 00:06:42.629 --> 00:06:46.009 for that the other day and my mom had passed 00:06:46.009 --> 00:06:50.930 away here a couple months ago and I well not 00:06:50.930 --> 00:06:53.829 a couple months ago a month ago or so anyway 00:06:53.829 --> 00:06:56.350 we were going through some stuff and found the 00:06:56.350 --> 00:06:59.290 the receipt for the 520 that they they wrote 00:06:59.290 --> 00:07:04.259 no charge on it was pretty cool So what's the 00:07:04.259 --> 00:07:07.439 new stuff going on in kit building? What's the 00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:10.519 latest going on in kit building these days? Well 00:07:10.519 --> 00:07:13.639 there's a lot of kits coming from a lot of sources. 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:16.560 Now of course you know in the early 90s when 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:19.040 Heath kit went out they were the biggest source 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:23.060 of kits and the one that had the most kits in 00:07:23.060 --> 00:07:26.300 terms of numbers of kits was Ramsey electronics 00:07:26.300 --> 00:07:30.709 from that point on. And as of January 1st, they 00:07:30.709 --> 00:07:32.410 got out of the business. So everybody's saying, 00:07:32.430 --> 00:07:35.149 well, who else has a lot of kits? Well, they 00:07:35.149 --> 00:07:37.610 come from all sorts of places. There are, of 00:07:37.610 --> 00:07:42.939 course, private builders. as well as organizations 00:07:42.939 --> 00:07:46.639 such as the Four State QRP Group has a whole 00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:49.199 bunch of neat kits like the Ozark Patrol, which 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:52.120 is a regenerative receiver where you solder the 00:07:52.120 --> 00:07:54.839 parts onto the back of the board that's the front 00:07:54.839 --> 00:07:58.060 panel. So for a beginning kit builder, it's pretty 00:07:58.060 --> 00:08:00.699 cool because you don't have holes to put the 00:08:00.699 --> 00:08:03.120 wires through. Instead, you solder them to pads 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:06.800 and trim them there. And it's easy to de -solder 00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:09.339 that by simply tucking the soldering iron under 00:08:09.339 --> 00:08:12.660 the part. it up. So 4State QRP has several kits 00:08:12.660 --> 00:08:16.620 that are built in that style. Some receivers, 00:08:17.079 --> 00:08:22.680 transmitters and stuff for QRP. There is qrpkits 00:08:22.680 --> 00:08:26.959 .com which has a huge variety of QRP radios including 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:30.420 transceivers with digital display and a lot of 00:08:30.420 --> 00:08:32.820 simple kits they call their new easy kits that 00:08:32.820 --> 00:08:37.059 just came out that are I would say easily built 00:08:37.059 --> 00:08:43.220 in an hour or so. Some less than that And you 00:08:43.220 --> 00:08:45.200 go all the way up to Ella craft who makes them 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:48.240 pretty high -end kits now the k2 transceiver 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:52.080 has been around for quite a while and Although 00:08:52.080 --> 00:08:55.179 it's not really inexpensive. It is still a part 00:08:55.179 --> 00:08:59.240 -by -part you solder each piece all band all 00:08:59.240 --> 00:09:03.039 mode transceiver And with a lot of the features 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:07.899 that you'd expect on a on a good radio and some 00:09:07.899 --> 00:09:10.759 of the best performance in the receiver business 00:09:10.759 --> 00:09:15.820 on the K2. There are modular kits like the KX3 00:09:15.820 --> 00:09:18.580 and the K3 from Millicraft that you put together 00:09:18.580 --> 00:09:21.600 but you don't solder, which is still useful because 00:09:21.600 --> 00:09:24.700 you learn about what's inside the radio. But 00:09:24.700 --> 00:09:27.860 they still make the KX1, which is a portable 00:09:27.860 --> 00:09:31.299 handheld CW transceiver, and the K1, which is 00:09:31.299 --> 00:09:34.830 another portable CW transceiver. And there's 00:09:34.830 --> 00:09:38.230 a company called DZ Kits, and they're from Colorado, 00:09:38.289 --> 00:09:41.309 and they have the Sienna XL, which is a full 00:09:41.309 --> 00:09:45.649 -featured multi -band transceiver that you can 00:09:45.649 --> 00:09:48.590 get with options from 20 milliwatts to 100 watts. 00:09:49.769 --> 00:09:52.769 In fact, I would say that the two best sets of 00:09:52.769 --> 00:09:58.149 manuals are the Ellicraft and the DZ Kits. I 00:09:58.149 --> 00:10:00.929 think they are probably some of the more well 00:10:00.929 --> 00:10:04.570 -documented kits out there. Four -state QRP kits 00:10:04.570 --> 00:10:10.570 have nice manuals as well. A lot of the kit makers, 00:10:10.629 --> 00:10:14.799 besides those two big ones, I have the manuals 00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:18.519 as a download as a PDF and so you download the 00:10:18.519 --> 00:10:20.399 manual and print it yourself that way if they 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:23.419 make any changes or updates They don't have to 00:10:23.419 --> 00:10:26.159 change a bunch of books and you can read the 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:30.850 manual before you order the kit so There's a 00:10:30.850 --> 00:10:33.450 lot of kits. I can't put my finger on the best 00:10:33.450 --> 00:10:37.690 ones Another source of simple kits to get going 00:10:37.690 --> 00:10:43.409 is qrpme .com and that's Rex W1rex and he makes 00:10:43.409 --> 00:10:48.009 the tuna tin series of kits based on the original 00:10:48.009 --> 00:10:55.509 tuna tin by Doug DeMaw from ARRL so the the Kits 00:10:55.509 --> 00:10:58.750 that are out there come from a wide variety of 00:10:58.750 --> 00:11:02.330 sources. There are QRP clubs, like I said, like 00:11:02.330 --> 00:11:04.889 FourState, that actually finance their conventions 00:11:04.889 --> 00:11:10.870 by the sale of kits. So I can't put my finger 00:11:10.870 --> 00:11:13.350 on which one is the very best, but there's some 00:11:13.350 --> 00:11:16.269 very high quality kits there. Now one of the 00:11:16.269 --> 00:11:19.750 things I heard you talking about on the Ellicraft 00:11:19.750 --> 00:11:23.559 rig was that I'm not sure if it's all of them 00:11:23.559 --> 00:11:28.019 or one of them, is the test equipment for the 00:11:28.019 --> 00:11:32.740 rest of the build. Yeah, the K2, they have you 00:11:32.740 --> 00:11:35.720 build the front panel first because it has basically 00:11:35.720 --> 00:11:38.240 a digital display that's a frequency counter 00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:41.840 and can measure voltages and things like that. 00:11:42.179 --> 00:11:45.559 It's kind of an amazing way to do it. And so 00:11:45.559 --> 00:11:48.620 the K2, actually the front panel is the test 00:11:48.620 --> 00:11:51.899 equipment to align the rest of the radio. Yeah, 00:11:51.899 --> 00:11:56.039 that sounded like a really cool idea and of course 00:11:56.039 --> 00:12:00.179 documentation is like you said is always a real 00:12:00.179 --> 00:12:03.539 valuable thing and you know when I was growing 00:12:03.539 --> 00:12:08.840 up building the Morse code gear and I think I 00:12:08.840 --> 00:12:11.139 actually built a cruise control if I remember 00:12:11.139 --> 00:12:15.259 right that from Heath kit You know those Heath 00:12:15.259 --> 00:12:17.899 kit manuals were just always fabulous, but they 00:12:17.899 --> 00:12:21.389 always would have that Sheet, you know of changes 00:12:21.389 --> 00:12:25.110 and then you know sometimes two or three. Yes 00:12:25.110 --> 00:12:28.590 And so you had to make sure that you you you 00:12:28.590 --> 00:12:31.809 know, you hit those Corrections to the manual 00:12:31.809 --> 00:12:34.549 but they always did have very clear directions 00:12:34.549 --> 00:12:41.950 and it made it really easy to to build So those 00:12:41.950 --> 00:12:44.429 are some of the best kits out there what would 00:12:44.429 --> 00:12:49.579 use for transceivers what you would you suggest 00:12:49.579 --> 00:12:53.240 for beginners that are just kind of learning 00:12:53.240 --> 00:12:57.740 like maybe a clock kit or something simple just 00:12:57.740 --> 00:13:01.720 to start identifying parts and start to learn 00:13:01.720 --> 00:13:04.220 which way a diode goes in and that kind of thing. 00:13:04.259 --> 00:13:06.840 What would you say would be the best ones for 00:13:06.840 --> 00:13:09.700 that? Well, there's all sorts of simple ones 00:13:09.700 --> 00:13:15.679 out there. I would say Some of the kits from 00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:19.100 QRP guys are real simple. They're like a CW keyer 00:13:19.100 --> 00:13:24.580 and paddle. And from Rex, W1REX, he has one called 00:13:24.580 --> 00:13:28.139 the Little Squall, which is kind of a fancier 00:13:28.139 --> 00:13:31.480 version of the Pixi, which is a CW transceiver, 00:13:31.580 --> 00:13:35.679 very simple. And the circuit board is labeled 00:13:35.679 --> 00:13:39.289 with all the different stages. It so you not 00:13:39.289 --> 00:13:41.149 only put the parts on the board But you know 00:13:41.149 --> 00:13:43.730 what stage those parts belong to so you learn 00:13:43.730 --> 00:13:45.669 radio along with it, so that would be a good 00:13:45.669 --> 00:13:49.129 one the little squall There's a company called 00:13:49.129 --> 00:13:51.629 Well, I'm trying to remember the exact name, 00:13:51.669 --> 00:13:57.149 but their webpage is va kits calm va kits calm 00:13:57.149 --> 00:14:00.730 and they have things Like a crystal tester and 00:14:00.730 --> 00:14:05.690 crystal oscillator and a lot of things that like 00:14:05.690 --> 00:14:08.110 flashlights and sequence and things like that 00:14:08.110 --> 00:14:11.610 with LEDs, that's probably a really good choice 00:14:11.610 --> 00:14:15.450 for a beginner that just wants to solder parts 00:14:15.450 --> 00:14:18.330 on a board and make something work. The Chinese 00:14:18.330 --> 00:14:21.789 Pixie also comes to mind because those cost around 00:14:21.789 --> 00:14:26.440 $4 and it's a great club buy. And, uh, it's a 00:14:26.440 --> 00:14:29.100 simple 40 meter CW transceiver that shouldn't 00:14:29.100 --> 00:14:31.120 take more than about an hour and a half or two 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:33.559 hours for a beginning builder to put together. 00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:37.799 Excellent. Those sound like some, uh, some great 00:14:37.799 --> 00:14:40.519 choices. Now you mentioned, um, you know, some 00:14:40.519 --> 00:14:43.840 of the kit makers going, uh, out of the business 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:47.639 like, uh, electronic rainbow and Ramsey. And 00:14:47.639 --> 00:14:50.440 one of my favorites from Ramsey was the, the 00:14:50.440 --> 00:14:55.460 old radar zapper. When radar detectors were big, 00:14:55.620 --> 00:14:59.259 you could build this little CW transmitter that 00:14:59.259 --> 00:15:02.679 was up in the 5 GHz range, I think it was. It 00:15:02.679 --> 00:15:05.059 was actually 10 GHz. 10 GHz, yeah. And it looked 00:15:05.059 --> 00:15:08.539 like a garage door opener. Yeah, and I still 00:15:08.539 --> 00:15:12.360 have mine. I still have that. Well, I had one 00:15:12.360 --> 00:15:15.399 and I called it my tractor beam because if somebody 00:15:15.399 --> 00:15:17.600 zapped around me and I saw a detector on their 00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:19.559 dash, I'd push that button and it was like a 00:15:19.559 --> 00:15:21.559 tractor beam. You could pull him back. Yeah. 00:15:21.620 --> 00:15:24.500 And they even in the instructions had this game 00:15:24.500 --> 00:15:27.519 that you got, you know, two points for brake 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:33.090 lights and five points if they pulled over. That 00:15:33.090 --> 00:15:35.809 was really good. You learn about microwave diodes 00:15:35.809 --> 00:15:39.789 and microwave circuits. So it had its use and 00:15:39.789 --> 00:15:43.710 it actually had a legitimate use and that was 00:15:43.710 --> 00:15:47.929 testing those kind of receivers as well as automatic 00:15:47.929 --> 00:15:51.889 door openers would work with that as well. Yeah, 00:15:51.929 --> 00:15:55.500 that was a really cool kit. And so, Ramsey's 00:15:55.500 --> 00:15:58.460 gotten out of those kits, but Joe just gave you 00:15:58.460 --> 00:16:00.980 some good places to find some of those kits. 00:16:01.000 --> 00:16:03.019 Now, you can still get some of the Ramsey kits. 00:16:03.500 --> 00:16:06.259 They're still available on Amazon .com, and you 00:16:06.259 --> 00:16:10.220 just search for Ramsey Electronics or Ramsey 00:16:10.220 --> 00:16:15.019 kits, and whatever they have left is being sold 00:16:15.019 --> 00:16:18.200 on Amazon right now. Now, did you ever build 00:16:18.200 --> 00:16:24.909 the service monitor? No, I did not yeah, they 00:16:24.909 --> 00:16:27.750 had they had the service monitor that that they 00:16:27.750 --> 00:16:32.909 would offer in kit form and I can't imagine having 00:16:32.909 --> 00:16:37.490 that kind of a build but They had it in kit form 00:16:37.490 --> 00:16:41.870 so yes, they did. I just never Take the time 00:16:41.870 --> 00:16:45.070 to build one of those yeah Massive undertaking, 00:16:45.110 --> 00:16:47.730 but it would have been a great addition to my 00:16:47.730 --> 00:16:52.509 bench Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Well, I read an 00:16:52.509 --> 00:16:57.409 article here online just a week or two ago About 00:16:57.409 --> 00:17:01.029 the shack is back that Radio Shack has come out 00:17:01.029 --> 00:17:03.929 of bankruptcy, but they're they're in a very 00:17:03.929 --> 00:17:08.630 different state and you know for a lot of years 00:17:08.630 --> 00:17:11.730 my big complaint was well all the parts are gone 00:17:11.730 --> 00:17:14.829 and you know, it's just radio -controlled cars 00:17:14.829 --> 00:17:18.640 and cell phones and gadgets and stuff and And 00:17:18.640 --> 00:17:20.960 it got to the point where, you know, if I had 00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:23.980 to go fix the repeater, I couldn't just run to 00:17:23.980 --> 00:17:26.759 Radio Shack and get the parts anymore. And now 00:17:26.759 --> 00:17:30.380 they're saying that they're going after the maker 00:17:30.380 --> 00:17:35.900 market and that this guy that wrote the opinion 00:17:35.900 --> 00:17:39.960 piece was saying, you know, good for Radio Shack 00:17:39.960 --> 00:17:43.960 and hello Heath Kit, where are you? Because Heath 00:17:43.960 --> 00:17:48.920 Kits trying to make a comeback. And so can you 00:17:48.920 --> 00:17:51.880 comment on that a little bit and tell us what's 00:17:51.880 --> 00:17:54.440 going on with that? Actually, it was a little 00:17:54.440 --> 00:17:57.160 over a year ago when everybody was making raids 00:17:57.160 --> 00:17:59.859 on Radio Shack stores with all the bargains when 00:17:59.859 --> 00:18:02.339 they were closing things out. Yeah, I bought 00:18:02.339 --> 00:18:06.660 $400 worth of parts at a Radio Shack that was 00:18:06.660 --> 00:18:11.319 going out in Greenwood for $31. Yeah, that's 00:18:11.319 --> 00:18:14.079 my part collection at school. Yeah, I picked 00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:16.339 up for like a hundred dollars I picked up like 00:18:16.339 --> 00:18:19.720 three or four soldering irons and boxes that 00:18:19.720 --> 00:18:23.180 that were those 15 or 20 foot or whatever of 00:18:23.180 --> 00:18:28.500 RG 58 coax assemblies and then those two assortment 00:18:28.500 --> 00:18:31.539 boxes they had of parts and stuff I got all that 00:18:31.539 --> 00:18:36.200 for a lot less than what I would have paid and 00:18:36.200 --> 00:18:40.099 It's great. I'm still using that stuff And it 00:18:40.099 --> 00:18:42.460 was a great bargain. But it also tells you that 00:18:42.460 --> 00:18:45.859 they did have Arduino stuff and a couple of things 00:18:45.859 --> 00:18:48.259 for the Raspberry Pi before they went bankrupt. 00:18:48.339 --> 00:18:50.779 And now they seem to be looking back at it. The 00:18:50.779 --> 00:18:55.079 only thing is is that about 70 % of their stores 00:18:55.079 --> 00:18:58.640 are Radio Shack Sprint stores. So they're primarily 00:18:58.640 --> 00:19:01.930 the Sprint. Phone products, but they do carry 00:19:01.930 --> 00:19:05.069 a variety of the regular radio shack products 00:19:05.069 --> 00:19:08.609 in there But it's much smaller variety of stuff 00:19:08.609 --> 00:19:12.049 than then you used to see before and then there 00:19:12.049 --> 00:19:14.210 are a handful of stores that are traditional 00:19:14.210 --> 00:19:16.890 Radio shack that I don't know if they even have 00:19:16.890 --> 00:19:20.269 the cell phones in them anymore That are more 00:19:20.269 --> 00:19:22.589 traditional radio shacks here in Lincoln. We 00:19:22.589 --> 00:19:26.740 have just one of each the the phone one and the 00:19:26.740 --> 00:19:29.299 regular one. And I have not been in there lately 00:19:29.299 --> 00:19:33.019 to take a look again. I was there about six months 00:19:33.019 --> 00:19:35.799 ago, though. And like I said, the traditional 00:19:35.799 --> 00:19:38.240 one was still pretty traditional, but it just 00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:41.000 didn't have as many merchandise items as they 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:44.880 used to have. But they were carrying more stuff 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:48.240 that was aimed at Arduino and Raspberry Pi users. 00:19:49.799 --> 00:19:53.160 Heath kit. has reconstituted itself somebody 00:19:53.160 --> 00:19:56.140 actually bought the rights to the copyrights 00:19:56.140 --> 00:20:00.240 on the original intellectual property and the 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:04.339 logo and so forth and he's out in Silicon Valley 00:20:04.339 --> 00:20:09.440 and so far he's come out with a TRF AM radio 00:20:09.440 --> 00:20:14.420 kit which sells for $149 .95. So it's $150 for 00:20:14.420 --> 00:20:17.579 a relatively simple AM radio. And he has two 00:20:17.579 --> 00:20:19.700 versions, one that you solder and one that you 00:20:19.700 --> 00:20:22.519 don't. And then he has a version of what's called 00:20:22.519 --> 00:20:26.720 the Ventenna. They don't call it that, but it's 00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:30.539 a two meter and 440 antenna that clamps to your 00:20:30.539 --> 00:20:33.319 vent on your house. You can have an outside VHF, 00:20:33.319 --> 00:20:37.500 UHF antenna that meets neighborhood restrictions, 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:42.640 and that's also $150. And so that's the only 00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:45.880 two real new products I've seen other than some 00:20:45.880 --> 00:20:48.759 replacement assemblies and upgrade boards for 00:20:48.759 --> 00:20:51.839 certain Hi -Fi equipment that RadioShack came 00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:55.920 out with, not RadioShack, HeathKit did, as well 00:20:55.920 --> 00:20:58.700 as a replacement set of cups for their anemometer 00:20:58.700 --> 00:21:04.170 and things like that. Yeah, I want to say it 00:21:04.170 --> 00:21:07.549 was a cruise control that I built for some force 00:21:07.549 --> 00:21:11.829 for somebody actually When I was a kid, you know, 00:21:11.869 --> 00:21:15.430 there was just an unlimited number of kits that 00:21:15.430 --> 00:21:20.329 they had and So it'll be interesting to see Yeah, 00:21:20.329 --> 00:21:24.750 this guy comes with that. Oh, wow. Yeah, it'll 00:21:24.750 --> 00:21:27.670 be interesting to see if they if they revive 00:21:28.039 --> 00:21:32.200 you know, a lot more than just those two. So, 00:21:32.460 --> 00:21:35.079 well, we'll have to keep an eye on that and see 00:21:35.079 --> 00:21:38.480 how that goes. Well, it's time to take our final 00:21:38.480 --> 00:21:42.400 break. We'll be back to take your calls for Joe 00:21:42.400 --> 00:21:46.579 Eisenberg K0 -NEB right after this message from 00:21:46.579 --> 00:21:49.920 Tower Electronics. This episode of HamTalk Live 00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:52.740 is brought to you by Tower Electronics. Tower 00:21:52.740 --> 00:21:55.119 Electronics has been the Ham's dime store since 00:21:55.119 --> 00:21:58.460 1978, bringing connectors, antennas, cables, 00:21:58.579 --> 00:22:01.140 and other parts to the world. Scott and Jill 00:22:01.140 --> 00:22:03.259 travel the country bringing their store to you 00:22:03.259 --> 00:22:06.299 at HamFest, but you can also order online at 00:22:06.299 --> 00:22:15.960 pl -259 .com or by calling 920 -435 -2973. Stock 00:22:15.960 --> 00:22:19.180 up on those supplies like PL259 and end connectors, 00:22:19.759 --> 00:22:22.619 audio cables, mobile antennas, and hamsticks. 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:25.359 Their silver -plated end connectors are even 00:22:25.359 --> 00:22:28.339 in use on the International Space Station. Tower 00:22:28.339 --> 00:22:32.079 Electronics is a dealer for MFJ, Comet, Daiwa, 00:22:32.380 --> 00:22:35.839 OPEC, Workman, and HamPro technologies. Tower 00:22:35.839 --> 00:22:40.380 Electronics online at PL -259 .com. Proud to 00:22:40.380 --> 00:22:45.299 sponsor this episode of HamTalk Live. HamTalk 00:22:45.299 --> 00:22:58.400 Live with Neil Rapp. My shack are yours. We'd 00:22:58.400 --> 00:23:01.380 like to thank Scott and Jill at Tower Electronics 00:23:01.380 --> 00:23:03.519 for sponsoring the show tonight so we can bring 00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:07.420 you HamTalk Live. They'll be at the Princeton, 00:23:07.460 --> 00:23:11.640 Illinois HamFest on Sunday. and next week they'll 00:23:11.640 --> 00:23:17.759 be in Newberry, Michigan. Call 920 -435 -2973 00:23:17.759 --> 00:23:23.480 or visit their website at pl -259 .com and they 00:23:23.480 --> 00:23:26.660 have all kinds of stuff for kit builders, right 00:23:26.660 --> 00:23:30.119 Joe? Yes they do. In fact, I always tell kit 00:23:30.119 --> 00:23:32.740 builders to always have on hand plugs, jacks, 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:37.099 connectors, power supplies. All the things you 00:23:37.099 --> 00:23:39.200 need when you get a kit done to plug it into 00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:42.380 the outside world And they have it all and they 00:23:42.380 --> 00:23:45.220 are my first go -to at a ham fest when I see 00:23:45.220 --> 00:23:48.220 them there They just know to hand me a box and 00:23:48.220 --> 00:23:50.160 start filling it up because they know that's 00:23:50.160 --> 00:23:52.460 where I get my plugs Jackson connectors Scott 00:23:52.460 --> 00:23:55.460 and Jill do a wonderful job at tower electronics 00:23:55.849 --> 00:23:59.170 Oh, absolutely. They came to the Hamfest that 00:23:59.170 --> 00:24:03.190 I ran in Evansville for every single year it 00:24:03.190 --> 00:24:07.869 existed and were always helpful in providing 00:24:07.869 --> 00:24:10.670 the club with some things and my school club 00:24:10.670 --> 00:24:16.349 with things and just fabulous people. So towerelectronicspl 00:24:16.349 --> 00:24:25.279 -259 .com or 920 -435 -2973 so shout out to Scott 00:24:25.279 --> 00:24:31.319 and Jill for that and connectors cables plugs 00:24:31.319 --> 00:24:35.519 you name it adapters they've got it so be sure 00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:40.819 to visit them when they are in your area or online 00:24:40.819 --> 00:24:44.720 and be sure to listen to the show every Thursday 00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:48.329 night at 9 p .m. Brought to you by tower electronics 00:24:48.329 --> 00:24:51.430 right here on ham talk live if you missed that 00:24:51.430 --> 00:24:54.910 show you can download it From the website and 00:24:54.910 --> 00:24:59.049 most popular podcasting sites. Well, it's time 00:24:59.049 --> 00:25:05.609 for more of your calls so Call us You can do 00:25:05.609 --> 00:25:10.289 an audio call on Skype at ham talk live Or you 00:25:10.289 --> 00:25:14.190 can call us by the old Twisted pair as they used 00:25:14.190 --> 00:25:18.410 to call it the telephone at 812 net ham 1 that's 00:25:18.410 --> 00:25:25.589 812 net ham 1 6 3 8 4 2 6 1 you can also tweet 00:25:25.589 --> 00:25:31.450 us at at ham talk live and Let us know what your 00:25:31.450 --> 00:25:35.730 questions are so before we we get too far away 00:25:35.730 --> 00:25:40.440 here Tell the audience the story about the dr. 00:25:40.599 --> 00:25:42.960 Seuss hat now. I know you only wear that at Dayton 00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:47.279 But tell tell the audience the story of the dr. 00:25:47.440 --> 00:25:50.859 Seuss hat. Well, actually It's only been worn 00:25:50.859 --> 00:25:53.039 one other place and that was two years ago when 00:25:53.039 --> 00:25:56.539 I went to Friedrichshafen but one year I was 00:25:56.539 --> 00:26:01.500 sick and did not make Hamvention and so the following 00:26:01.500 --> 00:26:04.799 year I still wasn't doing really well and Didn't 00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:08.019 go to any of the hospitality suites and so forth 00:26:08.019 --> 00:26:10.660 in the evening in fact I kind of slept in in 00:26:10.660 --> 00:26:13.279 the morning and didn't get there till later also 00:26:13.279 --> 00:26:18.720 and The second year that I had come back people 00:26:18.720 --> 00:26:22.900 were saying you know I missed you twice in a 00:26:22.900 --> 00:26:24.559 row, they'd tell me on the air, I missed you 00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:26.160 two years in a row. And I said, well, I was gone 00:26:26.160 --> 00:26:28.660 one, but I had my little red ball cap on. Well, 00:26:28.660 --> 00:26:31.400 finally, one guy on the air said, well, maybe 00:26:31.400 --> 00:26:33.619 you need a bigger hat so I can see you in the 00:26:33.619 --> 00:26:35.559 crowd, because I don't want to miss seeing you. 00:26:36.519 --> 00:26:39.660 And so I took it to heart. And when I was at 00:26:39.660 --> 00:26:43.019 the state fair a few months later, I saw these 00:26:43.019 --> 00:26:45.920 Dr. Seuss hats, but they were not quite Dr. Seuss 00:26:45.920 --> 00:26:47.539 hats. They looked like it, but they had kind 00:26:47.539 --> 00:26:51.809 of a spiral stripes on it. And so I went to a 00:26:51.809 --> 00:26:54.930 store in Omaha which sells a lot of Halloween 00:26:54.930 --> 00:26:59.329 costumes and I found the actual Dr. Seuss hat 00:26:59.329 --> 00:27:02.910 and then I had it stitched with my name and call 00:27:02.910 --> 00:27:07.190 letters on it and extra felt put on it to mount 00:27:07.190 --> 00:27:10.329 the antenna. that goes up the back, and it actually 00:27:10.329 --> 00:27:13.970 helps because my friends that listen to me on 00:27:13.970 --> 00:27:17.569 VHF or UHF at Dayton can usually copy me pretty 00:27:17.569 --> 00:27:19.970 good, because it works a lot better than having 00:27:19.970 --> 00:27:23.750 the rubber duck on your hip. And so the following 00:27:23.750 --> 00:27:25.890 year I brought it with me, but I didn't put it 00:27:25.890 --> 00:27:28.990 on. I put back on my little regular red ball 00:27:28.990 --> 00:27:31.109 cap again with my name and call letters on it, 00:27:31.130 --> 00:27:33.750 like everybody else wears, and people were saying, 00:27:34.009 --> 00:27:35.849 well, where's the hat? We need to be able to 00:27:35.849 --> 00:27:39.460 find you. So I went back out to my car and I 00:27:39.460 --> 00:27:42.799 brought the cap in and put it on and ever since 00:27:42.799 --> 00:27:45.599 then it's been a tradition and Next year will 00:27:45.599 --> 00:27:49.640 be the 20th year that I've worn the hat Wow 20 00:27:49.640 --> 00:27:52.299 years with the dr. Seuss hat, but it does it 00:27:52.299 --> 00:27:55.359 makes it really easy to find you I found you 00:27:55.359 --> 00:28:00.079 all the way across the the food area this year 00:28:00.410 --> 00:28:03.190 uh, just from that hat. So I knew, oh, I got 00:28:03.190 --> 00:28:05.430 to go down there and catch Joe real quick. I've 00:28:05.430 --> 00:28:07.390 had people who were looking for me and didn't 00:28:07.390 --> 00:28:09.930 know what frequency to call me on, crawl up into 00:28:09.930 --> 00:28:13.269 the chairs in the arena and they'd see me come 00:28:13.269 --> 00:28:16.069 in and they'd come downstairs or they'd spot 00:28:16.069 --> 00:28:19.490 me across the ball arena or something. And so 00:28:19.490 --> 00:28:21.670 it's helped. So I don't have to go searching 00:28:21.670 --> 00:28:25.630 for somebody. They, they all find me. But the 00:28:25.630 --> 00:28:30.339 thing is then when I see you at Huntsville, There's 00:28:30.339 --> 00:28:33.799 no hat. That's right. It's just a Dayton tradition 00:28:33.799 --> 00:28:35.759 of course if you look at Huntsville It's probably 00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:38.319 easier to find somebody there than it is in Dayton 00:28:38.319 --> 00:28:42.019 because it's all in one room well true so it's 00:28:42.019 --> 00:28:46.119 it is a lot easier and There's a lot less interference, 00:28:46.160 --> 00:28:49.539 so it's more easy to find me on UHF or something 00:28:49.539 --> 00:28:54.599 but Unless I'm on DMR, then I'm hiding from everybody, 00:28:54.640 --> 00:29:02.089 but But And I'm always taking pictures, and you'll 00:29:02.089 --> 00:29:05.190 always see the camera with me. I've been taking 00:29:05.190 --> 00:29:09.069 pictures since my first Hamvention in 1975. And 00:29:09.069 --> 00:29:11.130 I've kind of become the official photographer 00:29:11.130 --> 00:29:16.329 for the Hamvention. And about four years ago, 00:29:16.470 --> 00:29:19.630 they flew me to Dayton to present to Dara my 00:29:19.630 --> 00:29:23.000 old... Dayton pictures and videos that go back 00:29:23.000 --> 00:29:26.660 in the 70s and 80s and so forth and to explain 00:29:26.660 --> 00:29:29.559 to them why I make these slideshows that are 00:29:29.559 --> 00:29:33.160 set to music and And the reason I did that was 00:29:33.160 --> 00:29:36.279 because every year since my first visit I would 00:29:36.279 --> 00:29:38.700 give a presentation to my local club here in 00:29:38.700 --> 00:29:41.920 Lincoln and in Omaha and surrounding clubs here 00:29:41.920 --> 00:29:44.740 in Nebraska and Iowa and at different hamfests 00:29:44.740 --> 00:29:48.259 and conventions all year long saying what happens 00:29:48.259 --> 00:29:51.599 at Dayton and what it takes to go there. And 00:29:51.599 --> 00:29:54.779 it was a way I found to show a lot of pictures 00:29:54.779 --> 00:29:57.380 in a short amount of time to give them a really 00:29:57.380 --> 00:29:59.759 good idea and make it entertaining by sending 00:29:59.759 --> 00:30:04.500 it to music. Absolutely. Love those. We'll talk 00:30:04.500 --> 00:30:07.200 about that here in just a second. What are we 00:30:07.200 --> 00:30:09.559 buying people that were taking your calls live 00:30:09.559 --> 00:30:15.240 right now? The number is 812 -NET -HAM -1. 812 00:30:15.240 --> 00:30:18.660 -NET -HAM -1. or you can tweet us at HamTalk 00:30:18.660 --> 00:30:22.960 Live or on Skype at HamTalk Live. So if you have 00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:26.059 questions about kit building or anything else 00:30:26.059 --> 00:30:30.640 for Joe, why give us a call right now. And yeah, 00:30:32.279 --> 00:30:37.180 the Facebook group even has the top 20 countdown 00:30:37.180 --> 00:30:40.759 of Joe Eisenberg picture video. So every year 00:30:40.759 --> 00:30:45.720 you take a song. and you put all the pictures 00:30:45.720 --> 00:30:48.319 in with the song and you have a theme going. 00:30:49.400 --> 00:30:52.039 So tell us about that. Like this year's was turn 00:30:52.039 --> 00:30:55.200 up the radio. So what did you see in the video? 00:30:55.420 --> 00:30:59.140 You saw a lot of large amplifiers and big radios. 00:30:59.779 --> 00:31:02.819 Yes, you saw a whole variety of stuff, but the 00:31:02.819 --> 00:31:07.980 emphasis was on the big stuff. Each one has a 00:31:07.980 --> 00:31:10.759 theme. I did Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, and I, 00:31:10.759 --> 00:31:13.119 of course, followed up with The Boys Are Back 00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:18.660 in Town. I did Taking Care of Business several 00:31:18.660 --> 00:31:22.799 years ago, which covers the business and buying 00:31:22.799 --> 00:31:26.740 and selling at Dayton. I try to make each one 00:31:26.740 --> 00:31:30.500 have a theme, and next year's is probably gonna 00:31:30.500 --> 00:31:33.740 be radio waves, and the emphasis on that will 00:31:33.740 --> 00:31:37.599 be antennas. So I try to come up with a theme 00:31:37.599 --> 00:31:40.720 and I hear these songs when I'm driving back 00:31:40.720 --> 00:31:42.819 and forth because I live in Lincoln but I work 00:31:42.819 --> 00:31:46.539 in Omaha and so I have about an hour each way 00:31:46.539 --> 00:31:50.700 each day 50 miles where I'm listening to music 00:31:50.700 --> 00:31:53.039 on the radio and sometimes the song will just 00:31:53.039 --> 00:31:55.700 stick in my craw and I'll just say you know that's 00:31:55.700 --> 00:31:59.539 that might work. I will come up with one now 00:31:59.539 --> 00:32:02.539 a couple years ago I had one all picked out and 00:32:02.539 --> 00:32:04.980 I probably still will use it in a future year, 00:32:04.980 --> 00:32:08.420 but I was on my way to Branson with a friend 00:32:08.420 --> 00:32:10.759 of mine writing with me we were carpooling down 00:32:10.759 --> 00:32:15.890 there for Ozarkon and while driving, we kept 00:32:15.890 --> 00:32:18.190 hearing Sharp Dressed Man, and he kept saying, 00:32:18.190 --> 00:32:20.450 Joe, I love your slideshows. Why don't you make 00:32:20.450 --> 00:32:21.970 one out of that? And I said, well, it has nothing 00:32:21.970 --> 00:32:23.930 to do with radio. I can't do a radio theme. And 00:32:23.930 --> 00:32:26.490 he says, you don't have to. Just make it fun. 00:32:27.029 --> 00:32:29.430 And so I had everybody doing the gesture that 00:32:29.430 --> 00:32:35.910 ZZ Top does in the old 1980s rock video and made 00:32:35.910 --> 00:32:39.410 that into my slideshow. So that was kind of a 00:32:39.410 --> 00:32:44.589 fun one. Now now I'll tell you that though that 00:32:44.589 --> 00:32:47.490 One of the things that I noticed this year that 00:32:47.490 --> 00:32:51.890 that I don't always get to see was after Contest 00:32:51.890 --> 00:32:55.190 University when I went down to the the lobby 00:32:55.190 --> 00:32:57.230 at the Crowne Plaza because I normally don't 00:32:57.230 --> 00:32:59.309 go down there but this year I did because of 00:32:59.309 --> 00:33:03.970 some parking things and All these guys started 00:33:03.970 --> 00:33:06.690 coming in and in their suits and ties and everything 00:33:06.690 --> 00:33:11.990 because they were going to the ARRL banquet and 00:33:11.990 --> 00:33:15.509 keynote on Thursday night. And so they were all 00:33:15.509 --> 00:33:19.069 sharply dressed. So you might be able to do that. 00:33:19.809 --> 00:33:22.190 Yeah, that was the donor dinner. And I've been 00:33:22.190 --> 00:33:25.970 to that before. And yeah, so you do see a lot 00:33:25.970 --> 00:33:29.049 of sharp dressed people on that. I kind of took 00:33:29.049 --> 00:33:32.369 a lighter look at it with with my show. Freeze 00:33:32.369 --> 00:33:35.720 frame, which I did. Couple years ago looks at 00:33:35.720 --> 00:33:37.960 photography how many people are taking pictures 00:33:37.960 --> 00:33:42.180 like I am So every year has kind of a theme and 00:33:42.180 --> 00:33:45.440 we try to follow it and if you listen carefully 00:33:45.440 --> 00:33:48.400 to the words of the songs and look at the pictures 00:33:48.400 --> 00:33:53.430 you'll see that it actually ties in and And then 00:33:53.430 --> 00:33:56.430 there's one that has a real sad ending, and that 00:33:56.430 --> 00:34:00.569 is Mr. Blue Sky. I actually showed the teardown 00:34:00.569 --> 00:34:03.130 of Hamvention. That was because I had like a 00:34:03.130 --> 00:34:06.089 630 flight that year, so I had the time to do 00:34:06.089 --> 00:34:11.610 it. But there's some photographic tricks in some 00:34:11.610 --> 00:34:17.269 of them, like in Radio Gaga. everybody thinks 00:34:17.269 --> 00:34:19.710 somehow I was in the cockpit of the plane to 00:34:19.710 --> 00:34:21.190 take the shots because you're looking straight 00:34:21.190 --> 00:34:23.349 down the runway and you're looking into the cockpit 00:34:23.349 --> 00:34:26.510 and it was simply a juxtaposition of shots taken 00:34:26.510 --> 00:34:32.050 out my window and And when we crossed an active 00:34:32.050 --> 00:34:35.010 runway, I shot down the runway so that it looks 00:34:35.010 --> 00:34:37.769 like we're going straight down it. And so it's 00:34:37.769 --> 00:34:39.650 kind of fun. It's kind of playing with editing 00:34:39.650 --> 00:34:43.090 photos and stuff like you would with video. And 00:34:43.090 --> 00:34:45.010 it gives kind of the illusion that you're flying 00:34:45.010 --> 00:34:48.150 the plane there. And like this year, we kind 00:34:48.150 --> 00:34:51.199 of did a fun thing. We did kits on a plane. and 00:34:51.199 --> 00:34:53.980 that was when I actually built a kit with Rex 00:34:53.980 --> 00:34:57.900 who makes the tuna tin kits and so forth. He 00:34:57.900 --> 00:35:01.480 was sitting next to me on the flight and kind 00:35:01.480 --> 00:35:05.019 of by coincidence and we got to go over the kit 00:35:05.019 --> 00:35:07.559 that we were going to do together at the world's 00:35:07.559 --> 00:35:10.000 biggest buildathon. So that was a lot of fun 00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:13.440 and so you get to see kits on a plane in the 00:35:13.440 --> 00:35:16.940 slideshow. Very good. So if you want to see these 00:35:16.940 --> 00:35:19.820 if you haven't seen those before go to YouTube 00:35:19.820 --> 00:35:26.119 YouTube .com and search for Joe Husker, Joe Husker. 00:35:26.599 --> 00:35:30.820 Yes. Yeah, J -o -e -h -u -s -k -e -r is the channel 00:35:30.820 --> 00:35:35.059 name and you can also search for KZeroNEB Okay, 00:35:35.260 --> 00:35:37.800 so those are those are always great to watch 00:35:37.800 --> 00:35:41.900 and enjoy those greatly so You'll have to check 00:35:41.900 --> 00:35:46.920 those out too. 812 netham1, 812 netham1 if you 00:35:46.920 --> 00:35:49.940 have kit building questions or questions for 00:35:49.940 --> 00:35:53.519 Joe about the pictures from Dayton or anything 00:35:53.519 --> 00:35:59.320 else give us a call or you can tweet or you can 00:35:59.320 --> 00:36:08.260 Skype at HamTalk Live. I want to go back to the 00:36:08.260 --> 00:36:12.300 kits for a moment. And now it escapes me, of 00:36:12.300 --> 00:36:19.579 course, as soon as I say that. But if you were 00:36:19.579 --> 00:36:27.800 looking at a kit to do for a large group, like 00:36:27.800 --> 00:36:33.039 you said, the world's biggest buildathon, what 00:36:33.039 --> 00:36:36.650 would you suggest for something like that? Simplicity 00:36:36.650 --> 00:36:39.670 is best obviously when you have a larger number 00:36:39.670 --> 00:36:41.989 of builders you want to make it as simple as 00:36:41.989 --> 00:36:45.849 you can and yet entertaining and and have a At 00:36:45.849 --> 00:36:48.570 least a variety of components like an IC and 00:36:48.570 --> 00:36:51.250 a couple of transistors and a few resistors and 00:36:51.250 --> 00:36:54.690 a few caps So that they get an idea of how to 00:36:54.690 --> 00:36:56.949 handle each different kind of part because you 00:36:56.949 --> 00:37:00.170 want at least one of each of the major groups 00:37:00.170 --> 00:37:03.730 of components so I would look at that when you're 00:37:03.730 --> 00:37:06.590 choosing a kit because you don't want to make 00:37:06.590 --> 00:37:09.369 it too hard like having to wind a toroid or something 00:37:09.369 --> 00:37:12.070 unless you have plenty of time like an all -day 00:37:12.070 --> 00:37:16.110 kit build there's a kit that's relatively simple 00:37:16.110 --> 00:37:18.130 to put together but it takes some preparation 00:37:18.130 --> 00:37:22.530 to do it as a group and that is and I can't remember 00:37:22.530 --> 00:37:26.010 who puts it out but it is a direction finding 00:37:26.010 --> 00:37:32.500 kit it's put out by somebody in Ohio and it you 00:37:32.500 --> 00:37:35.139 make kind of a bowtie antenna out of bent coat 00:37:35.139 --> 00:37:39.039 hangers and solder lugs and you hook it to this 00:37:39.039 --> 00:37:40.960 board and you put it on your receiver and you 00:37:40.960 --> 00:37:43.860 hear a tone and when the tone nulls you're looking 00:37:43.860 --> 00:37:47.539 the direction of the transmitter and so it lets 00:37:47.539 --> 00:37:53.039 you teach both kit building and fox hunting and 00:37:55.289 --> 00:37:57.449 I remember the name now. It's called a handy 00:37:57.449 --> 00:38:01.730 finder h -a -n -d -i -f -i -n -d -e -r the handy 00:38:01.730 --> 00:38:06.550 finder runs on a 9 -volt battery and each kit 00:38:06.550 --> 00:38:10.309 does not come with the wire for the connection 00:38:10.309 --> 00:38:14.250 to the radio nor does it come with the Coat hanger 00:38:14.250 --> 00:38:16.610 metal coat hanger that you've been to make the 00:38:16.610 --> 00:38:19.010 bowtie, but you can also use stiff copper wire 00:38:19.010 --> 00:38:26.739 as well and In fact, household electrical wire 00:38:26.739 --> 00:38:29.260 works really good for the antenna, the stiff 00:38:29.260 --> 00:38:33.699 stuff like you'd put in a house. And the kit's 00:38:33.699 --> 00:38:35.920 relatively inexpensive. I think in bulk, it's 00:38:35.920 --> 00:38:39.440 about $24 each, has a variety of parts, goes 00:38:39.440 --> 00:38:42.239 together very quickly, and then you get to have 00:38:42.239 --> 00:38:44.519 two events. You have a kit build, and then you 00:38:44.519 --> 00:38:46.780 get to teach fox hunting. And so that would be 00:38:46.780 --> 00:38:50.159 a good group build. Oh, that sounds like a really 00:38:50.159 --> 00:38:53.230 good deal. We just had a... Transpender Hunt 00:38:53.230 --> 00:38:59.909 Fox Hunt on Tuesday for the school and they did 00:38:59.909 --> 00:39:03.309 a good job with it. We had several that had been 00:39:03.309 --> 00:39:06.110 on one before so they they did really well with 00:39:06.110 --> 00:39:08.190 that but that would be a good good project for 00:39:08.190 --> 00:39:11.110 them. I remembered what I was going to talk about 00:39:11.110 --> 00:39:14.329 before the show we were talking about the old 00:39:14.329 --> 00:39:18.980 spring kits where you would take a wire and Bend 00:39:18.980 --> 00:39:22.460 a spring and put it in inside of one of the springs 00:39:22.460 --> 00:39:26.079 to to connect it like I had the Radio Shack 150 00:39:26.079 --> 00:39:29.400 in one kit and You said that you started out 00:39:29.400 --> 00:39:32.579 on something similar when you were seven Yeah, 00:39:32.659 --> 00:39:35.559 it was I was nine years old and it was a 40 in 00:39:35.559 --> 00:39:39.420 one kit and It had a it was a little more difficult 00:39:39.420 --> 00:39:42.239 type spring terminal and some fond stock clips 00:39:42.239 --> 00:39:44.590 and things like that But they would have all 00:39:44.590 --> 00:39:47.829 the parts in there and labeled and then you would 00:39:47.829 --> 00:39:51.730 just plug the wires in So that you could connect 00:39:51.730 --> 00:39:54.269 and disconnect pretty easily and then I know 00:39:54.269 --> 00:39:56.570 they they started coming out with these snap 00:39:56.570 --> 00:40:00.909 kits Yeah, the things yeah would just snap together. 00:40:00.909 --> 00:40:06.110 So so watch compare and contrast those And what 00:40:06.110 --> 00:40:09.449 you think of those and are those spring kits 00:40:09.449 --> 00:40:13.619 still made by anybody? Yes, they are. I think 00:40:13.619 --> 00:40:19.500 a Lenco Len co Make some of those and they're 00:40:19.500 --> 00:40:22.940 good If they allow you to make more than one 00:40:22.940 --> 00:40:25.099 item they have several that only make one thing 00:40:25.099 --> 00:40:28.719 like an AM FM radio Which is okay, too But I 00:40:28.719 --> 00:40:30.800 kind of prefer the ones that let you make several 00:40:30.800 --> 00:40:32.900 different circuits because then you learn that 00:40:32.900 --> 00:40:37.349 a component can do more than one thing And so 00:40:37.349 --> 00:40:39.889 I would look at Elenco, and I can't remember 00:40:39.889 --> 00:40:43.170 who else carries those. And I think Radio Shack 00:40:43.170 --> 00:40:48.130 may still offer them mail order. OK, very good. 00:40:48.809 --> 00:40:53.570 Well, I remember probably seven years old, eight 00:40:53.570 --> 00:40:57.010 years old, something like that. We actually needed 00:40:57.010 --> 00:41:01.139 a circuit to trigger the push to talk on. The 00:41:01.139 --> 00:41:04.400 repeater because something had gone out and and 00:41:04.400 --> 00:41:08.059 we actually our repeater was actually a kit it 00:41:08.059 --> 00:41:11.719 was one of the Hamtronics yeah, it's actually 00:41:11.719 --> 00:41:15.119 VHF engineering, but it was the the hamtronics 00:41:15.119 --> 00:41:18.210 thing with a different name on it, but Somebody 00:41:18.210 --> 00:41:21.050 in our club had actually built that and you know, 00:41:21.210 --> 00:41:22.909 everything was great and then all of a sudden 00:41:22.909 --> 00:41:26.750 the King circuit went out and so My 150 in one 00:41:26.750 --> 00:41:29.789 I wired it up for the vox circuit I think it 00:41:29.789 --> 00:41:33.389 was and we modified it slightly and and actually 00:41:33.389 --> 00:41:36.349 had it running the repeater for a week or two 00:41:36.349 --> 00:41:41.030 Until we could get everything working. So Yeah 00:41:41.030 --> 00:41:43.070 shows the things you learn from kit building 00:41:43.070 --> 00:41:46.280 and I always tell people that One of the neat 00:41:46.280 --> 00:41:48.440 things you can do once you've learned about your 00:41:48.440 --> 00:41:51.599 kit is add to it, improve on it. You might want 00:41:51.599 --> 00:41:54.639 to adjust different values to see what they do. 00:41:55.320 --> 00:41:57.500 There's all sorts of things you can do once you 00:41:57.500 --> 00:41:59.659 learn about the circuits that make up the kit. 00:42:01.199 --> 00:42:02.639 Yeah, that is a great opportunity to do that. 00:42:02.639 --> 00:42:05.480 And of course you know how to fix it. Yeah. And 00:42:05.480 --> 00:42:08.079 that's always the good part about, you know, 00:42:08.500 --> 00:42:10.679 like building an Ellicraft, you know, that's 00:42:10.679 --> 00:42:14.239 a complicated build, but you learn how to fix 00:42:14.239 --> 00:42:17.079 it, and you can go in there and repair those 00:42:17.079 --> 00:42:20.219 things. So it's a great advantage to that. And 00:42:20.219 --> 00:42:22.760 that's one of the things I tell my kit building 00:42:22.760 --> 00:42:26.239 classes, and that is that if you find somebody 00:42:26.239 --> 00:42:30.280 selling a set of standard parts, like an assortment 00:42:30.280 --> 00:42:32.260 of quarter watt resistors, which are probably 00:42:32.260 --> 00:42:37.219 the most common in kits, or a variety of disk 00:42:37.219 --> 00:42:41.320 capacitors or NPO capacitors, or electrolytic 00:42:41.320 --> 00:42:44.559 capacitors or diodes or transistors or ICs that 00:42:44.559 --> 00:42:47.480 are common in kits. Make sure they're values 00:42:47.480 --> 00:42:51.239 that you would commonly use and set up some parts 00:42:51.239 --> 00:42:53.619 bins. You can get them at Harbor Freight or Sears 00:42:53.619 --> 00:42:56.519 or places like that and sort them out so that 00:42:56.519 --> 00:42:59.619 you have them available. I keep those on my bench 00:42:59.619 --> 00:43:02.699 because it's terrible to be working through a 00:43:02.699 --> 00:43:05.179 kit and suddenly find out you need a 10K resistor 00:43:05.179 --> 00:43:08.380 because you'd lost it or it was missing or something 00:43:08.380 --> 00:43:10.860 like that. can just reach up in your tray and 00:43:10.860 --> 00:43:13.320 pull out one of those and put it in. Or you might 00:43:13.320 --> 00:43:16.539 find out that, oh, the CW side tone, it can be 00:43:16.539 --> 00:43:18.460 a little more comfortable pitch to your ears 00:43:18.460 --> 00:43:21.239 if you substitute a 680 ohm resistor instead 00:43:21.239 --> 00:43:24.639 of a 1K or something. And so you have those parts 00:43:24.639 --> 00:43:29.219 on hand. All great tips from Joe Eisenberg, KZeroNEB, 00:43:29.239 --> 00:43:32.039 the kit building editor from CQ Magazine. Joe, 00:43:32.039 --> 00:43:35.260 thanks so much for joining us tonight. And thank 00:43:35.260 --> 00:43:38.280 you very much, Neil, and have a wonderful summer. 00:43:38.880 --> 00:43:41.360 Alright, that's a wrap for this week's edition 00:43:41.360 --> 00:43:44.500 of HamTalk Live. I'd like to thank my guest Joe, 00:43:44.559 --> 00:43:47.199 K0NEB, and all the callers and listeners out 00:43:47.199 --> 00:43:49.719 there in cyberspace, and invite you back next 00:43:49.719 --> 00:43:52.500 Thursday night at 9 p .m. Eastern when Karen 00:43:52.500 --> 00:43:56.800 Eve Murray, KD2GUT, joins us from Amateur Radio 00:43:56.800 --> 00:44:00.079 Newsline from the news desk in New York. For 00:44:00.079 --> 00:44:02.960 a list of all of our upcoming guests, visit AmtokLive 00:44:02.960 --> 00:44:07.219 .com. So for now, this is Neil Rapp, WB9 VPG, 00:44:07.380 --> 00:44:11.780 saying 7 -3, 7 -5, and may the good DX be yours. 00:44:12.329 --> 00:44:28.130 Thanks for watching!