We got Bigfoot live on the Clubhouse.

Ye, we got an official.

You're listening to the Ham Radio Clubhouse podcast, a weekly show that's live on YouTube every Tuesday night the seven o'clock Central time.

We look forward to you joining us live, but until then, enjoy this week's episode.

Thanks for joining us here on the Clubhouse.

Wow, what's going on?

It's Tuesday, it's seven o'clock.

We have a weirded redhead guy here.

Welcome, my friend.

This is like two weeks in a row.

We got Bigfoot live on the Clubhouse.

Ye, we got an official look.

Look and any of you guys hat too.

So look at this guy.

Wow, guys, oh you know that Tuesday night thing?

Yeah?

How many so the opening?

How many capacities you blow up for that smoke effect?

It's a oh it's all a I think so yeah, yeah, because radios.

He doesn't blow stuff up.

Absolutely yes, Well you know that's the next step once.

I grew into my destruction.

As we go there you.

Go, Yeah, listen, I the chat.

But hi everybody, But as you can see, I am.

I am in the woods, all right.

I was playing Poda a little while ago.

I'm trying to keep Shane from spending money again this week, because you know, it's what I do.

I'm horrible at it though, But no, we're getting ready for the meteor shower here in Jersey, South Jersey, and hopefully the night stays clear.

Good.

We'll take pictures on the tripod.

Little time time delay action time, bad boy.

What do you think I have money?

Yes, your phone.

You're lucky that my phone is in You are lucky that I am in focus?

Well, I mean you are pixelated, but we get it.

You're in the middle of the window wilderness.

Is that is that?

But jealous?

I am jealous?

Mm hmm are you sorry?

Are you gonna put it later on?

So if people have your call sign in their hand alert, they could probably work you.

In a Yeah, I'm probably gonna I'm probably gonna late shift for a little bit.

I've already got the uh regular shift taken care of.

Now KD two f m W k D two f MW put it in your hand alert, get it?

This is I like that.

It's almost like this would be a rare occasion because you don't get on the radio that often.

So people could say, oh, Andy's in a PoTA park, so you get the beers out to park at the same time.

Get two fur it's.

A three for three.

Yeah, three for you've got It's mess River, it's the pine Lands, and it's also the coastal hair.

It's true.

This is the.

This is the KT TWA.

If you use your if you use the clubhouse call and then you use the operator, they get two contacts.

No, that's double that's double down.

I might use that.

I don't know.

I've already got every everything in the computer is already set up under me at the moment.

Okay, that's gonna take a little bit to redo, and I'm it's getting dark.

Keep it simple, man, keep it simple.

Twenty three hours and fifty five minutes and the UTC day to worry about.

You got plenty of time.

Oh you making me cheer up?

Your joke.

Your eye always have going straight to your heart.

I love you, guys.

It always points that way.

Yeah, right there, Shane.

Right there.

Wait, I'm reading this right, Yes, yes, okay, we're gonna give away tonight.

You're gonna give you away give away that new Flex radio.

Yeah what out of your h hot air balloon budget?

There you go, right, m hmm.

Can we do that?

C o D.

Yeah, right, deliver to make more is the CD.

I don't think that listening.

I'm sure all of us still owe money to uh, you know, the CD company, so I don't want to hear it.

What was that.

Somebody in the chancelum plumb your house?

Yeah, the house.

I probably still money a Blockbuster.

Yeah, that's true, that's open.

There's still one that's open.

I'm sure you could send them your late feest.

We actually found a Blockbuster device here in the house about six eight months ago when we were cleaning stuff.

Upwind the rewinder.

No, it was.

It's either a game or a movie.

I don't remember which.

You never swan.

They're out of business people, that's why.

That's why he's got the leaf fees.

Red box failing.

Then, well how many of those you got?

None?

No one goes to TV, yes movies just say Walmart.

I don't go to Walmart either, because.

All the people getting the red box movies and then putting some other junk in it and return.

Oh I didn't think about that.

Just put a CD in red blank CD in there, just take.

The barcode off into Yeah, see I would have thought about that, because I'm a I'm a nice guy.

I'm not a criminal.

Or wheling red next, speaking of those in green before, really red neck.

Thanks for thirty two months, and all of you guys are ingreed.

Thanks for your monthly support.

We appreciate that that keeps me from spending money or enables me to spend money.

So thank y'all for that.

Hopefully at some point there my enablers, that's my gateway.

Joe Brett, how you being?

Man?

What's up?

How are man?

What's going on?

You're in the You're in the driver's seat tonight.

I'm just gonna sit back and relax.

That's gonna be fun.

So, uh yeah, I come home.

I'm I'm my mind's in a little bit of chaos because I'm like Hunts's coming up and uh so found out, you know, arrangements to get there a day earlier.

We was gonna leave Thursday morning, but somebody said, hey, come sitting this spot that's not being taken Wednesday night.

Mm hmm.

Man, Noel said we're going, and I wasn't sure if we was going or not, but she said, you were, so Like, I'm just man, my my brain about what I gotta get?

What am I actually gonna forget because I know it's gonna happen.

I wanted.

I wanted to get the truck washed because last year I did the three sixty video last year on top of my truck and when I handed around like the ain't been sitting at a dirt far for a year.

So I come home from work, didn't change clothes.

I grab the truck, put it in the backyard, washed it off.

Uh, went inside, ordered some pizza for supper, jumped in the truck, put the truck to town, filled it up with gas because it's a lot easier with euth camper, and picked up supper.

Come back home, eat supper.

And here we are Tuesday night on the club.

And you made it because I got a Texas said, I'm gonna be washing my truck while we're lives.

Y'all get to wash, y'all get hit to watch it.

Watch me wash the truck.

I was gonna set up if I had one of those heads.

A bikini.

Oh god, Joe washing his car in a bikini.

No, I don't think it cannot be unseen.

You're welcome, You're welcome.

And on that note, this is.

What by guys, right, nice, I gotta go it is getting too dark.

I gotta go clean up a little bit.

Love you guys, Love you man, see you later.

Log out, bitch, geez boot him, he's booting him the stream.

We have a great uh duo guest tonight for those of you who looked at thumbnail.

We'll get to them in just a few minutes.

Steve, how about yourself?

Man?

Week week has been good so far.

I talked to my boss about possibly changing jobs inside the company since I didn't get the job at the other town, and he knows I'm not happy, so we'll we'll see.

Hopefully that works out, but.

Well, it's always a good thing when it does.

If it doesn't, I'll be looking for something when I get back from Huntsville.

Yeah, I still have time.

That's right.

This weekend is Huntsville this weekends, so is there.

I'm assuming there's an official because Verned six always rents out half the campground plus the pavilion for for Huntsville.

So I'm assuming that there's an event on maybe.

Friday night all day Friday, Saturday night the meet and greet where I've already got the Blackstone in the truck.

We're gonna be cooking burgers and dogs and stuff.

So other than that, there's a list of stuff.

It's on the Toad's discord.

Four days in August, Huntsville.

Is that kind of like four days in May?

That's kind of where you got the idea.

Okay, but it's a different month, so it's not copy right true?

What any any specifics on that, because I've seen lots of posts.

You guys are like mesh tast and crazy.

Yeahville, I'm actually flashing a mustache device now.

For I got it.

Sorry, I just added to Joel Brett's anxiety.

I still have to, you know, pack everything else up and then pick up the camper tomorrow.

Julie says she got her JB shirts today.

Let me tell you about that.

Sorry, Steve, I tell you what.

When you know what he was talking about, you better order now.

You may run out of town?

Who ran out of time?

The shirts come in yesterday.

That's getting it close.

The sticker surprisingly showed up today like they were supposed to.

I paid expert to get them here.

Yeah, and uh but I was I found man because I paid extra.

I figured this is ain't gonna work out.

Last I looked they were in North Carolina, somewhere and then they showed.

Much like the every everything.

Yeah.

So my question is is the detas gonna make are you?

Are you gonna make an appearance into Mina Santo with the detas?

Yeah?

Yes, yes, what did you do?

Grab the.

Grab the tin cup again?

All right?

I don't know if you can.

Yeah, that's kind of cherry.

Yeah.

Wait you see that line under the ice?

Oh yeah, uh huh.

The water cannot penetrate this.

That means it's like one hundred and ten proof.

Not really, it cannot stir.

My oldest boy.

He texts me, He's like, you like peach, and I'm like, nope, Jesus, Oh well, I said, why.

Oh by the way, he sends me a picture, I ain't gonna turn down free stuff.

Absolutely.

He said he didn't like it.

He couldn't drink it made him made him mean.

So, uh it's wild how its separate.

But anyway, I'm a bird dog whiskey.

Oh yeah, peach flavor, and the peach is really strong and I'm not enjoying it, you know, the peach fan not a peach fan.

But I'm not that way.

Yeah, I fully expect a PODA activation using the detos.

And you can't at Monticenno because there's gonna be at least.

Ten people, so that would be a a datish.

Mm hmm.

May I may find that now before I guessed here, because I don't want to offend our guests, even though right now.

Find that doll that always guards one of those camps.

It's over year, let her hold on to it.

I forgot about that.

Oh goodness, Well, we're gonna miss Is so tonight he got called into work, so it'll be a little it'll be a short show because I won't talk incessantly.

So I also want to say.

Thank you to the the podcast folks and the listeners of the podcast.

Y'all have been very supportive in the fact that I'm a month ahead of posting because rather than posting like two or three episodes in one week, I've just said, you know what, on Sundays, you get a new podcast.

So the podcast you get is probably going to be a two or three weeks old.

So that's just an incentive to watch us on the live stream.

But as they come out, that gives me a week or two to get the editing done, because God knows, I have to edit the shit out of this podcast in order to make it feasible for people to listen to.

So what are you saying?

Right?

I want you to check this out.

Look at my background and look at the streams background.

Of course I'm not watching the streams background.

It's behind your square.

Oh the floor, yeah, oh jesus, you never Okay, the blue are are.

You talking about?

Are you talking about that background?

I can't outside of your background, yes, yes, I know.

I can't point there there now we can see it.

You don't need me in there anyway.

All right, we've got a lot to talk about.

We just has a lot to talk about, we blaining.

And a lot of explaining a lot of links.

So Mike and Becky, it comes up.

You guys are ready, all right, they're ready.

So Mike and Becky, Welcome to Ham Radio Duo.

Welcome, well, thank you, thanks for having us.

Because beer Snack's going, I can't put you in the cool spot.

Oh no, all that practice and.

See and everyone thinks that I don't plan ahead.

I was here like twenty minutes before the stream started.

I was trying to organize everything so that it would look good.

And beer Snack leaves and the shit just melts down.

We're gonna blame this on beer snack, but anyway, welcome Mike Becky, thanks for coming back.

For those that are not familiar, give a little background of Ham Radio duo.

You guys are CW masters.

Yeah, that might be putting it strongly, but.

We are.

We are sharing our compliment.

So we we love being outdoors and doing outdoor outdoor things.

And then we started doing radio stuff together and we found out that CWU was a great fit for that because it meant we could bring our teeny little radios with us.

So we started sharing our journey, mistakes and all so that we can encourage other people to do it.

We were talking about I think our first live stream was with you guys right after him fast a year ago, so.

It's year a place to start.

Yes, you can only go up from here.

It's like full circle, come back around.

Aspirations.

Great aspirations because I think you guys were you had the seventy three hundred and and you were doing the CW at the camp site.

Yeah, last time around.

We didn't have a seventy three hundred yet, but Joe Brett, Joe Brett did at his at his Oh that's what I see.

I knew there was a connection here somewhere.

It's his fault.

We now have a seventy three hundred.

That was a great story too, because so I'm fired.

I'm like, hey, you know, you can use the seventy three.

Go get your key, hook it up to my seventy three hundred, have a blast.

And then the key, Uh is a quarter on the seventy three hundred and they had was it a three point five millimeters adapt?

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, they bring that the hand faster.

So then Mike and Becky was like, oh, you know, especially Mike he was really excited to use it, and Becky was kind of happy that it wasn't gonna work.

Out because yeah, I was like, we don't get he's.

Trying to avoid the purchase.

And then I remembered, I said, wait a minute, you don't like straight keys.

You can use the button on the mic.

And boy, they both had a blast.

There's probably not another operator that said their very first use of a seventy three hundred was keying the mic for a CW contact like that.

Using the channel up and down buttons.

Yeah, and they nailed it.

Man, it was fun.

Do you remember what the how many contexts you had in the video?

Oh, I don't know about it.

I don't remember.

Yeah, I think we just did a pot a contact in the park with it.

But then here's the here's the follow up to the funny story.

I got him one for his birthday, and I snuck it in the camper on a weekend trip so that we could play with it.

And guess what we didn't have.

I didn't think about it our first contacts on our seventy three Yeah, with the buttons.

Ye full, that's awesome.

But you've tried to solve that because I know you guys have actually come out with your own straight keys.

We did?

We did?

Do they do?

They?

Do they come with the adapter?

That's that's the question, you know?

You know?

Okay, all right, let me.

I'm gonna pull up a picture.

Here, share just solo them.

There, it's got one in hand.

I do things the difficult ways.

There we go.

Yeah, yep, that's them.

So there's a flat top version and then a maybe knob top version as well.

So he I was just.

About to ask you what the difference between I know that the one's raising.

What's not so is so are some people used to just using like their fingertip on the top of that one, and then the others are used to that knob or kind of what was the inspiration for making like both sides of that.

So almost everything that we've done in the last year, it's there's a story.

There's like a reason, like why would we come up with a straight key?

And it's we love to get new operators into c W and they always like, what key should I use?

And we picked up a J thirty eight, which is, you know, a World War two authentic military key, but you can't just go buy one at a store.

So, but we love how it feels.

So he said, well, I'm just going to design one, and so he designed it around that key with all the dimensions so it feels the same.

Yeah, yeah, and so and we both because of the fact that that's what we got started it with.

We like the flat top version, and then and I was the only version we were going to make.

And like the first three people that I talked to about the key, they're like, oh, you have a you have a navy nod style too, write so.

Well about a day.

So for those of us me who don't understand the difference between the two on the on the one that I've got on screen.

Do you just tap so or do you how do you raise up me make let me make you fool screen here trying to go quickly.

Okay, so how do we how do you do the das if you get when you push down, how do you do the DA or vice versa.

Right, So there's the contact is right under here, and it's really just an on off switch.

So if I push it down quick, it's a DIT.

If I hold it down.

It's it's not like a okay, it's not like a bug or something where you have one that does a DIT, one.

That does a These are these are paddles and and like you were thinking, this is a DIT and this sides a doe and so you you just do your time in that way.

This your your movements are directly.

So I guess okay, so straight key meaning it is whatever you push is what you get, hold it down and it's a dot or you tap it and it's a dip.

Automation, no automation, no no crazy stuff yeah.

No ai inside no.

Yes, I will say if I hate to keep breaking in, but no, go right ahead, that key I happen to have to be able.

I've had the opportunity, thank you, to actually have one of those keys and look at it in person.

And at first some of you may be going, it's a three D printing key, buddy, this is the most engineer your three D printing key with the finest print quality.

I mean, I'm just sitting there looking at this thing.

Just turn it around.

I'm like, my god, why did you even think to put this in here?

And there in there?

And it was just the mechanics that you got in.

It because they used them on an everyday basis, right, I would have never thought about it.

They know what needs to be in there, what doesn't need to be in.

There's like ten versions back there that didn't make it.

Yeah, the Key Museum.

I was very impressed with all the mechanics and the tuning that you could do with it.

It was that's really nicely put together.

So John says says, are you s k c C.

What is s k c C.

Yes, two two three, three, two five.

Six secret code?

So so s k c C is a Morse code organization that encourages you to use the types of keys that don't require any kind of Electric Cure, Electronic Cure Straight.

It's called the Straight Century Club.

That makes total sense sk CC.

Yeah, and you think that that would have been my first answer.

What is SKCC, Well, John John says three forty nine Tango.

So there's special characters at the end.

You can be a tune or a centurion or a senator, and that means you've contacted a lot of other SKCC members at or above the same level as you.

You can kind of step up your your awards.

So what is tango A tribune?

Tribune?

Yeah, so that's the second second level up and so that means and John's John's number is three forty nine and it's sequential, so that means that John was really early as well, you've been there.

I looked at Jody's comment.

Jody was like, silent can no, it's not.

Come on now, that's not terrible, absolutely terrible.

I mean we wouldn't expect to.

But the SKGC is a it's a really great group, especially for new operators, because it's kind of a pretty uniform exchange to get those other numbers.

It's kind of like PODA but a little bit more.

You say your name and your QTH or your location, so there's a little bit more in it.

And then sometimes the fun part of those is they turn into thirty minute conversations.

So it's which would be an hour if you're at ten words a minute for those of us who who barely can dit and can barely die.

But I digress.

But you guys have a website for that, and I put it in the chat for you guys are you and it says that you're taking pre orders now so or are all of them made to order or kind of what's the what's the plan there?

So we actually are right on the harri edge of being able to say that we're in stock, so we we actually every time.

So the print firm is a turnyon, is what you're saying.

Yeah, So for when we first announced the straight key, we really didn't know what to expect.

I didn't know if we'd get like zero orders or what.

And the first couple of orders came in and we were like, oh, this is awesome, and then more coders came in and we're like, oh, that's so that's amazing.

More orders came work, like we're gonna do.

They take about six hours to print a full key, and it also it also comes with a case, so it'll.

So how many how many printers are you running right now?

So we only have one And then and then we quickly tried to enlist the help of a local print farm, and we thought, okay, this would be a huge relief.

We'll just switch over to him and all of our problems will be solved.

And then every time so that his printer, even though it's the same brand, every little thing that we had spent all those times making things and tweaking them, they each each thing we had to re tweak with his printer.

But it's of just walking into the other room and doing another print, it's mailing things back and forth.

So then we're still doing it on our printer, and they we're like, okay, we at least we have a printer.

And then we ran into the blob of doom where the whole print head was covered in in filament and we had to order all the parts and replace all those things.

So it's now now.

You're gonna so now you have three printers right one for the bases, one for each piece.

Way Bamboo Labs heading a sale right now, just pick it up over parts right now.

They had problems with their filament that we use.

We use the HF filament.

They had problems with it, so now we're yeah, it's.

So, it's been out.

So it's been so we have we have some units in stock now pre built, ready to film the video, and say we're in stock, and then we ran out of HF first, and then our three D print partner Yeah yeah, and so that so we can't get filament for it.

So then we we don't have an example with us now because it's in our we're actually attending him fast and we're our campers up at Mons and all that.

We justro're coming home for this year today.

We appreciate that.

So we have a version that has a little bit of a Glossier finish.

This is kind of a Matt finish a little bit, so he's got some of the glossier film.

But we tested it already to make sure it still felt the same.

So have you seen it, like the translucent one, the translucent filament, you can like a translucent one.

We did.

We printed one.

Actually, see I'm always late, so Rob rob KB six hold on, I lost it, uh KB six j f L says, I need on the raised version.

Go to the link that I posted and you can order one, yeah, pre order one.

Yeah.

And so a lot of people prefer you asked about the Navy nove.

A lot of people prefer this because they can you can hold on to it, and so different people sending styles are different, and especially if you have rive this or you have or if you've been sending on Morse Code for a really long time, you might want to be able to use this.

So you can turn your handside this.

Oh that's cool.

Okay, you put away the translucent one.

Right, yes, sorry you guys.

Actually, see what happened was we started on black and we ran out, and we're like, well, let's just see what happens is if we put translucent to finish it all.

That looks really cool.

Actually, yeah, it looks awesome.

I like it.

Multicolored prints.

Next, maybe we'll take some special orders maybe after there you.

Go, there you go.

Yeah.

So and so we're so we're on the cusp of being able to be in stock with them and be able to ship them right away.

The first people, thank you very much for how much long you had to wait.

But we're done.

We're done with the long pre order weight.

But we may end up going out of the stock of the matt Ones and only have the shine, and anybody's.

Going to blind demand, sublime demand.

That's a good thing.

Talking about Mike and Becky now three D printing, it's kind of hit me in the heart because I know I missed my opportunity.

Now Mike used to feed me business ideas left and right, and I procrastinate and procrastinate.

Now he's in business.

Yeah, so have a blast, my friend.

It's your fault again.

Now on the radio.

The business ideas was supposed to be me printing on him and Mike could get one.

Hell, there you go.

Joe Brad can make your basis for you or your cases for you.

There you go.

All right, more suggestions on expensive things for us to purchase.

Please exactly.

He's going to say, you on a new three D printer that'll do too at once.

If y'all checked out that new Aurora right read for the twenty one months, just placed your order.

That is awesome.

Thank you, that's awesome.

I need I need one of those, like I need another radio.

But they really look cool.

So you're in the need for a key.

That's all that I would can't get any.

Good that it's a great place to start on a straight key.

Most of the organizations will tell you to start on a straight key because the what you're trying to do is make it easier and the sound needs to go from your head straight to your hand.

And it's Mike kind of say, he describes it like you don't want to try to learn a brand new language and then say okay and do yoga at the same time, because like a here, a key is like growing a monkey wrench in the middle of trying to send because you have to learn how to use a keyre because it's not it's not what you push, you know, it's different.

It's like it's that that muscle memory kind of thing.

Yeah.

Yeah, And for the record, we love both and we use both, but we just for different purposes.

So what what would you what is your go to like when if you were to pull a key out and just start playing, is it straight keys or.

Yeah, I prefer I activate PODA on a straight key.

And there's some that say that they can't they can't do CW without paddles or without a bug or something like that.

It's like they can't do it, Like it doesn't I guess is it is it more of your learning style or is it how you learned or is it what you learned on because like I can, I can send c Q on paddles better than I can on a straight key.

Yes, because I know how to time my fingers for for the bug versus the street, and that I don't know.

Maybe I'm just weird.

I know I'm weird.

You are weird.

But well, I think that personally, I think that there's no wrong answer.

I mean, whatever, whatever you're the most comfortable with is probably the right answer.

I think that if anybody's on the fence and they're like, well, what do I get?

Because I've never used either and I want to learn, I think that's when I would probably say, like, go with the straight key, because if you don't already have a preference, you can.

Always go to a paddle and then.

Later on and you'll be able to do both.

So Rob says he went to after forty nine years, went to a paddle and then went straight back to the straight So apparently it's whatever.

You're I mean.

But but forty nine years of practice on one thing and then trying to do another, I would be like, h I went back to what I'm used to, So you could probably send a hundred words permitted and with a street key, and now you get into this thing, you're like, your timing's off, didn't work right, so you're like ten words a minute, like no, I can't do this.

My brain's are already going faster than my fingers can and that thing's going and it sounds wrong.

So I can only imagine that frustration.

Yeah, every once in a while, like we went we did a poda in the Smoky mountains and so we really were like, okay, we got to make sure we don't take a lot of gey.

So we thought, okay, we're just going to take the paddle, and so I activated on the paddle and I was I was.

Messing up all of it.

He said, they're going to take away my potocard.

I was like, okay, I am not.

Yeah, we're going to make room for my straight key.

It can't be any worse than So t O had a stream one time.

Temporary Offline had a stream one time, and he was having people make to make CW contacts with him, and I don't know CW at all, So I was programming it into my seventy three hundred and sending it and it would show up on his live stream music.

Oh look, Jason's like, you got to give me a minute to respond because they got to.

Type that out.

I got to put it back into the seventy three hundred that I got to hit sin, so don't get in any hurry.

And he called me out on so I said I was cheating.

Yeah, it's not cheating, called using your resources.

Earlier, you mentioned we're going my SKCC.

So sometimes I'll start a call on CQ on on paddles, and then one of the things is that for a valid s KCC contact, you can't be using the electronic here that's needed to send on paddles, And so I'll just turn my paddle the sideways and just.

Off the key.

Okay, I'm not using here.

It's on one word permitted and I'm only using one side.

You started keeping the list of the ways you find to use the straight three hundred mic, and now we've got to turn the paddle sideways and.

Is there a video on that I'm waiting for it.

When you're out and you need to make a quick conversation and you want to get credit for it, use this.

Just to flip it over, slipping over.

There, there's your video idea.

We're gonna do special edition videos with.

All your activations at Monte Seno on Friday with a flipped over a key, just saying.

It's kind of hard to put a on CW up in Montseo this weekend because so many people are on sideband, like it drowns out, like there's so much noise, which we learned.

I guess you'll know this stuff, but we learned that last year because every time, every time before when we've gone to PODA, we're the only people activators there, and then we show up and we're like naively thinking okay, we'll activating, like wait a minute, we got to coordinate.

We can't.

We can't have multiple people on twenty.

That helps is if you compromise your antenna as much as you can drown out some of the activator.

Or you just you know, go to an obscure band nobody else sees we do in sideband on yeah, and then the world is oyster.

There you go.

There's one one weekend that you can get sixty over b context that half a lot of them.

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Yeah.

I think last year I was activating near the pavilion, and all of a sudden, this really really loud, and I look over and it was W one w C.

Bryan on a dummy load right there, sending to me.

Man, you're ten over.

That's awesome.

So Don says, sixty meters for the win.

Here you go.

Everybody else is going to be on sixty.

So James will be in the park, He'll.

Be That's true.

That's true.

That's true, gentlemen.

But uh, what do you what do you guys got planned for Monta Sano?

Knowing that Mike and Becky's gonna be there, You're gonna make a little side side venture, do a little c W.

I get that likely's.

Got a nice.

Oh yeah, that's true.

Un unsplain.

Have the I could have the producers, the makers these teach me in thirty minutes how to how to use it?

How much that will you retain?

This?

This is our this is our prototype.

Other is that an intent?

That's an antenna vertical antenna yep.

So we call it the just okay antenna because it's not a great antenta.

It's just okay.

No, that's perfect.

That is absolutely perfect, And I'm sure it's all banned all moods fifty once.

You know, well it's it's it's okay on twenty, that's it, and kind of okay on ten if you're.

Lucky, probably not.

A little bit, that's all.

Yeah, a little inductance there.

Seventeen meters, Like I just adjusted the whip flings down to like seventeen meters and the Yeah, it was terrible.

It was mad at you.

Yeah, but we were we were in Florida and we were staying at the Airbnb, and we really wanted to play radio, but all the places really close to each other, and we couldn't even deploy something out the balcony window.

So we're like, we got to come up with something different.

So and first we made an anten for our truck, and then and then that one.

Yeah, we have a just okay, larger version for the truck because.

It's just most of the times and just okay sometimes.

Yeah we may or may we may or may not have broken a hamstick or two pulling into the garage.

So he wanted something that was a lot shorter.

Like that's how it came.

That's why said everything we come up with is because of our own problem.

Absolutely, as it's it's what the they it's engineering out of necessity.

Yes, yes, necessity a lot.

Yes.

James in there, James, Welcome to the chat.

That's a quirky q r P.

Yeah, you want some little stuff.

He used to sell a key chain that was c W and it was on one.

Yeah, it's like a finger finger paddle like that in your Yeah, a nine vault battery.

Just take that to.

Take that to Mony Santo, to take to Mike and Becky because that would be really cool.

I don't know he still has those.

I'm sure he can make one real quick.

Shane, You got to refill your drink something like that, But I'll be right back.

Go for it.

Oh, I would love someday dedicates the time I dedicated enough time to see w a while back to like I can be sitting here talking with you and if I hear see you somewhere, like I don't even think about it, right, So I'm and I'm sure that's how you guys and girls that activate the same way.

You could probably be talking and understand the code.

And it's just the first time that I was sitting there talking and heard come through and my brain was like somebody's felling CQ.

Yeah, I was like, it was just amazing.

And I can send my call sign, but I can't recognize my call sign, so CQ is the only thing I can send and receive.

The fact that you do recognize it is a is an awesome thing.

Uh Like when when?

When?

Uh?

I think that that's that's kind of the magic of learning morse code is is I mean, there's some people who learn by memorizing the dits and does, including me myself at the beginning.

And then after I and I painstakingly memorized all the characters, and then I tried to actually copy stuff, and I realized I can't copy things because every letter that comes in, it takes me a moment to think that's a T, and then there other letters already come And so even though I could hear the recognize the letters that a certain speed, I couldn't actually copy anything useful.

And so when Becky said she wanted to learn, I did a little bit more research, and I discovered some YouTube videos from Glenn at CW Innovations, who talks about purposefully learning the letters fast enough to where there's no way that you could hear and count the dits and os.

You just only hear the sound.

So that's how she learned.

And then I relearned that way, and then I had to fight that that that look like a decode monster because it's an extra step to go find it.

But you already have c Q, so now you just have what twenty four letters.

To go, right, it's it numbers and all that stuff.

Yeah, and you.

Can forget the numbers, the numbers in your call, you know.

I just need to learn five.

That's the only one I didn't know.

Well, yeah, five, and then then you're good, right, Yeah, just.

Said five to five and you're good.

Yep.

I know when I was trying to dedicate some time to it.

One of my bad habits that I realized I was doing after you know I was doing it for a while was on the seventy three hundred, get the band scope zoomed in.

You can see the dits and the dos, and I'm sitting.

There like, I'm like, so you were reading it?

Yeah I did.

I'm like, oh, I know that letter, you know, and then I would miss everything else.

Yeah.

I had to cut the scope off and not pay attention to that.

If you do decide to give it another go.

We made a website called learnmorse Code dot org.

That's what I want to about.

And uh, so and so, and we made it on purpose as a one stop shop for if you know, we're answer questions on our YouTube channel while we're excited that people are interested in the Morse code, and we wanted to what are all the things that we would want to know if we were learning from scratch.

So and also something that if you'll ever run into anybody else's interested in Morse code, just have one link you can send them.

And yeah, it.

Was kind of, you know, the same thing.

Out of necessity, we kind of said, hey, where can we put all this stuff that we kind of tell people in messages and emails that we get put it all in one place and say, you know, here's a good place to start.

So that's that is, that's that's awesome.

Yeah, learn learn the letters learned by sound and enjoy learning.

That's really cool.

What's that link you that.

Is learnmorriscode dot org O r t H.

So we'll make sure to put that in the show notes for both the podcasts and the show tonight.

There you go.

That is fantastic.

And then a bunch of the tools, some Poda tops and our linked to the PoTA video and some of the games and tools and resources, and then organizations because like we actually started a discord channel on there also because the community of people learning.

Is really really helpful.

Like he was so frustrated at you know, when he first started learning, like he just put it away.

He was so frustrated.

But now knowing when.

We took that class that there are other people doing the same thing getting frustrated, you know, it's nice to know you're not alone in your struggles.

Yeah.

Well, and if you need it, I looked here and I said, it says find an exam session.

If you need an exam session, you just email Hammer do a clubhouse at gmail dot com.

Okay, we can take care of that part.

You can take care of that.

So that's awesome.

I might have to I might have to dive in very shallowly into CW.

I'm fascinating by it, but I'm also like an it's overwhelming.

It's like, if I have time to put I have do I have the time to put the time needed to learn how to do this?

Because it sounds cool, it looks cool, and I'm I'm my my grandfather who who was the original issuance of this call sign uh, he only did c W.

And there's.

The last time I talked to him before he passed away was that's that's the way he communicated with me, with him with my uncle when he was in college, was they would they would see W back and forth to each other.

So that's that was in the late sixties, early seventies.

But that's they didn't do voice or anything like that.

They would just pull out their little small setup and just do CW.

So I feel like I owe it to the call signed to maybe learn it, but it's it's very overwhelming.

So at least it'll make a couple of contacts.

What And I think that if anybody is interested in learning more CW, I think that don't try to do it like I did.

Like I thought, Okay, I'm gonna dedicate this whole weekend.

I'm just gonna move everything out of the way, and I'm gonna learn ce uh.

I think instead of just thinking of it, it's in that bucket of things like that where it's just small little slippers of time, like invested consistently, you know, not so you'll never have to spend a good deal of time any given day, and then you know, maybe just like ten or fifteen minutes.

Uh, and never invite your your siblings to join you in the hobby because then you get this competition.

So I bet you I beat you to extra so I'm already ahead.

Do you want to keep your crown?

So both of you, we're just trying to pool a pool for money for Yeah, who gets there first?

Right?

Who's gonna make it first?

Yeah?

Download the mors Mania app.

Start there.

It's like a game.

You need to tell me.

Don't tell him.

I'm gonna tell him to get a CW for dummies and he can start reading club the private chat.

There you go.

We can do a show soon where all the super chats are dedicated.

To the pool.

Oh that's a good idea.

And then ers has control of it.

Yeah, and you'rry walks away with it.

So do I.

Let's see we we might.

We'll entertain that you need to send.

You would have to be able to send.

We'll worry about that anyway.

Don Uh.

Do I have any of his keys?

I don't right now.

The next time I go to visit my mother, I'm supposed to go to his house and his his shack.

What's left of this shack, and I'm gonna look for it and see if any of his keys are in there, because he he stopped and about seventy I think it was like seventy two seventy three, he stopped really doing any m radio stuff and he started playing the fiddle and that kind of absorbed everything until he passed away when he was ninety five years old.

Wow.

So yeah, So but I'll see if there's I'll see if there's a if there's if there's something in there that I could snag, I've got it's not in here.

The if you go to my cure Z page, I have a picture my my granddad and the radio that he was using, and someone was kind enough to see what receiver it was and the transmitter was in the corner and sent me one of the receivers.

So I have the receiver from the picture.

I don't have the transmitter the receiver from the picture in my in the closet in here.

And that was really cool because.

Eventually, when I when I build out my shack, I'm gonna I'm gonna put that up as kind of like a piece of the too as an.

Homage that was a holocrafters.

What yes, let's finger grab it right, you know what, you know what to do.

It's heavy, Shane, don't don't hurt yourself.

So I think the winner is the first one to have a kiso with one of us.

Oh there you go a park to park with you.

Guys a video like.

We gotta we got to ensure the legitimates because we already know that Shame will program it into a radio.

It has to be it has to be witnessed, it.

Has to be on video.

We can do some good video and I was gonna say we can do some editing.

I mean technically we can live stream it.

There you go.

Yeah, if if, if Shane has a picture of the transmitter and the transmitter also we can keep a lookout for it and fast.

Yeah, I think it might be honest.

Qures that page?

Whoa green screens?

Messing up there?

But guarantee you is Mike.

Audio goes out and I'm.

Pulling out.

Of course, there you go.

That's all.

Yeah, there you go.

There is a I have a local guy who restores I'm out of breath things heavy.

Uh.

He restores boat anchors and he is offered to Uh, when we're ready to do that, we're going to restore this, So the caps and everything that's in here we're gonna do.

He's gonna let me help him do the restoration.

Dusty, there's no.

No cigarette smoke and the the end of that.

And here it's just a little dusty on the inside.

I've already opened it up to check it out, and uh, yeah, I can't wait.

I'll try to find the picture here in just a second.

After I put this way, if we hear something followed by a phone, yeah, yeah.

Turn his audio off just in case.

No, I want to hear him fall.

I know he still has the cellphones on.

So we'll see what kind of response I get from that.

And So, speaking of the hand fest and learning, we're actually in the four days and August.

We're teaching a CW class tomorrow at ten thirty at the Pavilion.

So if anybody's already in Huntsville headed up there tomorrow morning, we're gonna there's some classes that are kind of running through the day.

I think Dave is doing a mestastick if I say that word mestastick.

In the morning.

And then there's some other classes throughout the day tomorrow.

Nice.

I think APRS.

Jason's doing APRS tomorrow.

They couldn't get Mike to do it, actually, I think.

I think put himself on the list with a c K to do it together.

Yeah, I think they're doing it together.

Yeah, we'll probably see Mike tied up in a corner.

Steve, Why would you want me to throw my back out like that?

That's terrible.

I told you not to pick it up.

Let me see if I can begin this before that thing is I have one, had one.

I don't know if it's still in the closet or not.

Okay, here you go.

Let me see if I can share this share screen share tab.

Randy says, if you dropped it on stream, you'd never hear the end of it.

I know.

That's made its way around the country at least twice.

There you go.

I don't know what that transmitter is, but I'm sure and it's in that left hand corner, and uh yeah, it looks twice as big as the receiver.

So so if anyone's watching and knows what that might be, I think they're the same brand.

But if somebody's watching and knows what that might be put in the chat, put it in a comment, or shoot us an email.

I have an air club as email.

I wanted to say Collins, but it looks like mash on the top corner.

And then in Collins.

I can't tell what because the names right there, and I think it's the same as the as the receiver, but I'm sure s KT might know.

What's the receiver.

It's a holografts.

Yeah, maybe match one up at Huntsville.

Oh, I'm sure I've seen them.

I've seen them there, but every time I every time i've seen them, the dials that are on the for the for the frequencies are all either faded or they've got lines through them.

This one that's in the closet is perfect, like I don't know if I don't know if it was never used or fairly used or the Yeah, Jeff says, could be a hammer Lund.

Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna show you one.

But it's not.

They don't resemble.

This is a local friend of mine lives down the road and he has acquired both of these to recreate.

This was his father.

He's the little chap sitting there.

He's a squatter.

Yeah, and he now has his Dad's call sign there.

But this, uh, this was a hammer one, and I forget I go bigger on.

I forget what model it was, but it was the hardest to find.

You could find the model before, and you can find the model after.

Hardly find that one.

He finally found it somewhere, gave a bring you on price for it, but we got it.

Speaking of all the QSL cards that are on the wall, I.

Was about to say that is.

It's like we had planned it or something.

A great segue.

Not only do you guys have the straight key and the him the Morse code learner Morse code learning dot org.

Did you get there learn Morse code?

N you guys also are doing QSL cards.

So give us an idea.

Now, this isn't just your regular QSL cards.

Right right, it's a it's print on demand.

So like like a lot of people got a big stack of QSL cards to send, and the first like ten that I sent, I thought, this is just awesome.

I loved every little bit of filling it out and and and writing writing a little message on there.

And I really like to be able to write a message.

But I don't think that there's anything else in my life where I write things down other than that, and so I realized how bad my handwriting it's gotten, and it was just and after the first ten it became pretty painful then to uh to make out all those details, all the details on a radio basis.

And so I had a list of we both had the list of QSL cards that we wanted to send, so we thought there's got to be easier way.

So we started printing them on our printer, and we went through multiple different ways of trying to get good at high quality photo on one side and be able to actually write on the other side, and then we ended up just printing both sides on them on our home printer and they're still the colors were kind of off and all that kind of stuff.

So we made this to be a print on demand service, so it's they're all professionally printed and they're printed on the fly, so instead of pre ordering them, you just like I've been in the backyard, had an awesome QSO and then I just pull up my phone and then I order thesqs out card on the fly and then it ends up getting mailed for me.

And then the.

Cool part is also it's you can link into your QRZ page.

So if you have logged the person, you just type in their call sign and it pulls up the contacts you've had with that person.

And so you just check the contact that you want and it'll already fill in your address and your RST and what mode you're in, and then you just.

Type in a message.

You can type in a personal message, and you hit send and it's done, and you can you can create your design right there on the website.

So for if you go and you travel and do a POTE activation and you decide, hey, I want to have my QSL card be a picture of where I'm at.

For every contact, you can create a new image if.

You want to.

Nice So if one you can, we can show on ours.

But I'm maintent need to actually use this to get REDI a card back to.

Be the faster way to get a card, even if you bring one to huntle with you, oh, because he won't be there.

And we forget too.

You like you have good intentions, right, like I'm gonna send QSL cards.

Well, I mean most of us do, but job right now?

Yeah?

Yeah, And if and if you already have a stack of cards, like I did.

You can also mix a match.

I mean there's it's not like you it's a wholesale switch you can you know, and it also allows you to because it's print on demand, you can switch the image anytime you want.

So if you're traveling and you have pictures while you're traveling, you want to send QSL cards for with that image on it, you just send just just however minute you want to send while you're traveling.

We don't send QSL cards for every POTO contact.

There you go.

So here's where you would design your QSO card.

Nice and your information.

Yeah, so you can put your own in, or you can also just put a picture in and then you can put text over top of it if you want to put your call sign or where you were a grid square on top of it.

Nice.

Yeah and so yeah, so you can manually enter one in.

You can upload a log file or you if you are a subscriber of qrz, you can plug in your API key and then search for your contacts directly on qr z without having to do any kind of log export or anything.

And if you use the service, it'll remember that you already sent one to that person.

So if you have like five contacts, it'll show that you've already sent them a card, and it'll show you in a green check that this was the contact that you sent already, So you can choose a different one or like, oh, I already sent them one.

Interesting.

I'm just I'm sitting here shuffling pictures around to what pictures that want to send to someone, and that's like I could send this background.

Yeah, uh that's cool.

That's really cool.

So is there do you have to do it like one contact at a time.

Can you upload like your log and send out a bulk QSL cards or.

You can so like you can either upload a log file and it'll show you all of the all of the contacts that are in that log file, and you just check which ones you want to send, and then for each one you can type in the custom message.

And one of the things that I really love about QSL cards is actually being able to to type out a custom message, especially like you know, sometimes I'll have a great QSO and I pull up q r Z to go email the person I just contacted them and contacted and tell them something I forgot to say, and like they don't have their email on there but I can send a QSL card and then and then tell them that way, there you go, and so you can so to answer your question.

You can upload a log file and select exactly the contacts and the log file that you want and then entern a custom message for each one and then when you order it or all of them, or you can search qr Z and add by call sign one at a time.

So just what I like about Jeff's come in here.

We a lot of us have been getting these email QSL cards and they're.

Not usl either.

I've been remember there for a.

While and when I've got my first couple, I'm like, oh, that's neat, but I'm just gonna delete it.

I read it, may want to delete it.

And so yeah, this is where your service shines is the person still gives a physical QSL card.

That's what I like about.

Yep.

And we hold onto all of ours and normally we have our all the most recent ones all laid out so that we can see them, and then every once in a while we just flipped through them.

Yeah, and it's weird house and times like here a call sign and then I like, oh, I know that I can picture if I can picture.

I picture the QSL card in my.

Head, James says, can they use it?

This?

Send complaint cards to the.

Absolutely all you need is upload image or texts and I address absolutely and a credit.

Like so it looks like it's what credits are too b bucks And for two bucks you can you can do the QSL card printed and mailed, no posted, do nothing.

So so basically for two dollars you can get your cards sent out.

You don't have to pay for posted, you don't have to pay for printing.

Two bucks a couple of times.

Yeah, really, don't have to worry about your handwriting if they're gonna be able to read it.

I mean, that's kind of part of it because my handwriting and it was Shane, are you on the twitch side, No, okay, don't need to ban somebody, Oh I got.

It, okay and block, delete, kick, punt all that stuff.

Problem to you.

If you buy a you know, a big stack of bulk physical cards and mail them out yourself, it's not as inexpensive as that.

But one of the things I appreciate about it is, I uh is like I changed call signs and I still have the big stack of of of cards from the old one, and I have to be I'll only have to print with this in front of the man.

I'm only sending exactly the ones.

That is a good point, Mike, because ever since I started my YouTube journey, I would like to have a QSL card like I showed on screen earlier that's got my call sign and says something about YouTube, right, and I don't have I ordered a thousand cards.

You were a thousand that you ain't sent out yet.

Well, I've sent a lot out, but not renting ago.

You don't like seeing them in Texas.

Apparently this guy was in another country.

It was the one thousand dollars bottle and I even talked him into split five hundred for two different designs.

So I got five hundred of one design and five hundred of another.

And then I started YouTube and I'm like, you know, I really need something that goes along with that now, and uh yeah, they're a little outdated, and I still got eight hundred of them.

It's kind of like when they ordered business cards for me at the office and they ordered like a thousand business cards and I'm sitting there going.

They're gonna be nine there, Oh my god.

There you go, Brandy, one of these to be yours.

But they they're just kind of older vintage.

But yeah, brings.

God, he even got that new card smell anymore they got that I've been sitting in the corner for twenty years smell.

It's a library smell.

Look that still ain't the bottom of the box.

And that's a third of the bottle, Brandy says.

Now he's taunting me.

Ye, there you go, Brandy.

We should uh, we should fly in there in the dark of night and knock down his tent's in the car thing.

But when I ordered these, this is the box they came in.

And let's sketchy at all?

Was it duft tape together?

Yes, if you've ever so, any of you who have done YouTube and have gotten any of you who have have worked with people from China on equipment and stuff they send over you to do reviews and stuff.

When you get that box, I've never seen so much tape in my entire life.

Like it is encased in tape.

Like eventually I will get down to the cardboard.

It's but this this didn't come from China.

This has come from.

Uh Lima Zulu one Yankee wherever Lima zulu Is.

Randy says that box clearly should be a up.

It actually made it.

They were afraid to keep this one.

Yeah, they're.

That showed up to my door stuff all at duct tape and stuff.

I was like, what was it?

Uh?

Really yep?

Lima zulu one Yankee Echo bilz One?

Why Steve Garia Bulgaria?

Why you know?

I ordered mine from a US distributor, saying.

So with Mike and Baky service, you don't have to worry about having a sketchy box like that of nine hundred and fifty cars that you.

God, you should take some of those vintage ones with you to Huntsville says you can autograph them.

Yeah, like I don't let and.

Just tell herb I don't mail these out anymore.

So you get one here, saying, and you already paid for it.

If anybody signs up, we'll give you a couple free credits to try it out.

There got a clubhouse exclusive they need to do.

They need a a some sort of code to check out.

We'll see it.

We'll see it.

Come in with a new email address and a little little pop A couple on the want.

To four hours from the day to the stream anything after twenty four hours that is out the door.

Maybe if you're watching this on Team replay.

And a little pro tip that some people have done is just manually enter into contact with yourself and then you can use your free credit to mail one to yourself and then you can see what check it out.

It looks like, oh, there you go, there you go, so you get a free sample.

Yep.

See, I was thinking about that, like do I need to send myself a USL card because I would really like to see what y'all were sending sending out ye are we sure.

It sends out mark QUSL.

Car equality check it.

Nice yep.

And then you know, we've had a couple of people, uh who have you gotten one?

And the and just being mailed through USPS it's uh damaged the card or scratched off or whatever.

You know, Like, well, yeah, for sure, just need more credits to be able to order more.

We want to make sure everybody's happy with all the things that they get.

That's customer sport right there.

But you can't you can't.

I see that.

That's like Satan running around in mike stream.

Yeah, but you can't beat that.

You don't have to.

You can change them whenever you want.

That's the thing.

If you order a QSL card and you order a thousand of them, you're kind of stuck with that same QSL card, so you get at all of them.

I still have.

I don't know I'll ever order an.

I still have quite a bit in the box of mind that I've sent out.

One.

I got one the other day from uh K, a four R O P from Mount Vernon, Virginia, and I need to send I seed to send one back.

So there you go.

There's this big old stare one.

Yeah that's not like a third.

Yeah, that's just a little bit of.

What I happened.

I like the fact are they now?

Are they glossy or they matt finished?

You know they're glossy.

They're glossy.

Okay, So like I had to I had to be extra for that.

Yeah.

I think I think my total for like five hundred cards or fifty card.

I think fifty or five hundred.

I got a watch.

I think I paid probably fifty bucks because you had to pay for a setup fee, and you had to pay for them to print it, and then you had to pay for shipping.

Had I think he was fifty or five hundred.

I don't remember had the.

Look maybe how much I paid for a thousand with two designs?

He charged me extra because I broke it up into two designs.

Twenty dollars.

Is you a cheap ass?

It was like seventy five ship who Yeah, but it had to comfort Bulgeria and I had to I had to risk the sketchy duct take bot.

But remember you actually got that package actually, not like the one that came from Gym, not like the details that came from Alabama.

Yeah, if you had a q SL service, I wouldn't even.

What's the what's the from the time that I hit submit order, what's usually the lead time for the for the time it arrives at the recipient's desk, That.

Out about a week.

Okay, so it depends where you're located.

I mean, let's just go to the UK or Bulgaria.

The fair question is the production time, because shipping varies on where you are and if the man actually gets it there.

Yeah, so it ships out the next business day.

So if you do it on the on the weekend, it'll ship out on Monday.

If you order it on Monday, it ships out on Tuesday, and then it just depends on the USPS.

But Shane did Ray is a really good point.

At least for right now, it's US only and we're trying to work through the logistics of that, and we'd love any feedback from anybody if you for people who do more international and DX and QSL cards than we do.

Like one option that's easy is making it so that you can order it, you know, worldwide, and have it shipped to anybody in the US.

That way, you're not even paying any postage, you're just ordering it online and it's getting delivered for you in the US.

And then doing a lot of the countries in Europe is way more straightforward than all the countries.

So the challenge is like then it gets complicated to describe, like it's most of the countries, but not all the countries.

It's a postcard.

Literally, yeah, literally, it's a postcard.

Yeah, and the and the show ask So so.

It's just US only right now, but d X is coming.

We're working on it, yeah, the logistics of it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

We we send out a message everybody who had signed up so far just asking asking for feedback on how they would want the international to work.

And then we've got a list of people in different countries to be able to start piloting that with when we get there.

And that's gonna say is if you could print them in the UK and ship them from the UK to somewhere else in the UK are in another country close by, that's a lot cheaper than than I mean, granted the International stamp was only like three bucks for a for a card, but still, I mean, if you could print them there and not have to ship something from here over there, and then you get all that damage.

Content delivery system like like Google House where print some ships from the closest location to where it's being delivered.

Yeah, Ed, welcome back, thanks for the thanks for being becoming a YouTube member again.

Mh.

So what's next?

So we have uh, we have we have keys, we have learning how to learn more's code, we have a q s L card service.

So what's what's next?

On the on the ham radio duos, there's a lot.

Going on up there right well, the antennas, I guess that's.

That's right, that's right.

Next, we're testing those out.

We've got a handful built fairly Yeah, it's just okay.

It's just fairly good, just okay, and that's is it it.

Twenty meter vertical, ten vertical, or it's whatever you get it to work on.

It's just it's tuned for twenty meters.

And so some special things about it are that it it has a tripod mount on the bottom.

So any quarter quarter quarter quarter yeah.

Yeah, quarter ench dash twenty I think for the thread quarter yep, and so any any of the you know, whether it's like the things that are meant for for being able to suction cup onto your car, or ground spikes into the ground, anything, it would come mount on anything.

We figured that would be a really versatile way to be able to do it.

And then also our little QRP radios do not have ground lugs on them, and so we put a ground lug on it.

That way, if your radio doesn't have a ground lug, you can just connect the counterpoise directly to that.

But it's basically they they have these one point four meter vert uh yeah, Tell's couple whips that are and it's basically the design all around those because these are readily available and so that therefore like it can it can be less way less expensive.

And then it's just a loaded vertical.

So it's just the number of quails that it takes to be able to do that, and then just the the stuff to be able to to build it, and so comes apart.

Yeah, and so if you're looking for a high performance antenna.

That's how you still sit right there.

If you kind of want a mediocre antenna, then you probably want this one.

But it's not a really good one.

Look, Helm's love stuff that just kind of works a good price.

It's exactly.

Her second to last photo.

I think she used this and got a contact from uh five thousand dollars away.

Is there a video on that?

We yes, we did record it.

We have not we have not put that one out yet, but.

YouTube that that's advertising material right there.

I think it was hungry, but hungary, Hungary, Hungary.

Yeah, so it does work.

It's it's just okay, but it works with.

That with that having a quarter twenty on the bottom if you so the quarter twenties man is So, I just thought about that.

It's not connected to the coal or nothing.

If it was connected to the coal, that would open up for you to be able to attach other coals to it to maybe get some more compromized bands.

Out of.

Yeah.

More inductance, you just start tacking stacking coals.

So on the ground side, if you put out like a bunch more radials, does that does that help or is It doesn't matter, it's still what it is, what it is.

So we tried multiple different radials and it made it a little bit worse, and.

It was still just just worse, just a little worse.

So one of our goal.

It went from one point five to one to three to one.

And I did it.

And the for me, this was a huge learning lesson because I mean the SWRPH when it's it's very dependent on like how is the closest how far is the closest metal to you and all that kind of stuff, But that'st off the art, like will be almost one to one, like one point one point one to one, but it's still super highly inefficient.

So it's still you're bre you're getting you're only getting a fraction of your wattage out just because it's a loaded, loaded coil, even if it makes the radio happy.

Yeah okay.

And so as you're doing it's just you're increasing the fun Yeah exactly.

You know, you're deploying a just okay antenna, Yeah, compromised and employment here a low power contact with a just okay antenna to other countries.

I mean, that's just exciting.

David said, if you need to make you a special capacitance.

Happen, just saying that, where's my band button?

But you're right, Joe, Brad, it's fine.

Like we're creating stuff just because we're playing around like it's fun.

It's fun.

Fun, it's fine.

And then to take it out and like go to a park and like see what we can get, like gets so fun.

Exciting.

Radio stuff that I get excited about is stuff that's not supposed to work.

And it did.

Yes, Brad actually does get excited every time every now and then.

Sorry, I was just saying, like when this is an example of that.

Actually with the when we were first just checking it and tuning it and making sure we had the right number of coils, we were taking off a coil at a time as we got closer and closer, and because we're taking the coil off every time, we weren't, I just was getting the little end and sticking it into the B and C connector.

It was just like a friction touch barely as we were checking it.

And then and then when as soon as I did, oh, let's just connect to the radio, make sure we hear something, and then we tuned.

I was like, hey, you're forest.

We never hear forest, and you saw from where we're at, and he was like five nine nine or five eight nine or something.

So I got to get him.

So I got him, and then before I knew it, we got a couple more contacts, and then we went ahead and activated and I was like, I've never seen them.

Now.

Yep, good stuff.

Hey, innovation.

At least it's not another infan halfway, because everybody can do that.

If there's nothing wrong with it.

I'm not trying.

I'm just saying that someone someone decided to go down a different route and create a just okay vertical that actually fits in your back pocket.

Yep.

Well you can always hear an inft halfway that fits in your back pocket, Steve.

If you're crazy, then you get But.

Then you have to have a mast and you gotta put have somewhere to put the element in the air.

It's there's more to it this year, is all.

Once.

If you extended it might work.

You might get halfway across the state.

You might get Bulgaria.

You don't know.

Yeah, and you're going to get something very true.

If I was just like if I had this in an infant halfway like boat and the mast and it was time to go set up.

I think.

Not just twenty We have such good luck with our infant halfway and we don't even we don't even check it on the intendant analyzer anymore.

It's like it's gonna be good enough.

And this when I can set it up faster and quicker.

But then I'd have to connect the intendent analyzer just to be sure and make sure that I have a tuned And then but if if I was going somewhere like somebody's house, and I was in their backyard or something, and I just need to play radio really quickly, and I wasn't about to go bend to one of their tree branches down or something like that, I think.

Or pissing off their neighbor, right, Yeah, And we have.

Used this a couple of times for activations now, and people it seems like they don't think twice you start pulling out the mask or throwing a throwing a thing up in a tree, they start looking at you, funny, Do I need to call the cops?

You hanging hunting wildline for that or yeah, I guess it's.

Pull that out kind of looks like an f M radio anten or something.

Yeah, Like I like shortwave, I want to listen to Japan.

So yeah, so yeah, don't not get to you try create something.

That's the moral of the story is create something.

And it's all back to the three D printer also because he's like, how can I build that myself?

How can if what I paid for that, you.

Got a few more designs and it's take.

Exactly.

Oh, he just put something to put our FT eight ninety one.

We have a Ford truck, Yeah, we have F one fifty and he designed something to fit in the display logo.

The wedges in there.

It holds the face of the radio.

So we were just we're just like, we haven't mounted above the above where the big touch screen is, and when as we're driving down the road, it kind of bounces like this, and then we're like holding it like it'd be perfect if it's just like right here, but there's nowhere to mount it.

But there's a little lip under where the display is.

So we made a little mount that you just slides and then afterwards we realized the big downfall is when you go in reverse, you can't reverse camera.

Hold on, wait a minute, that's suffectually what I've got a mic holder I found online that it just goes in between the trim of your of your bezel of your radio.

So it's melted a little bit, but it still holds the micy.

So it went from like this and now something like that that something like that, slaking it.

But the mic, the mic was in it when it melted, so it still holds the mic.

Just fine, there you go.

All right, So you guys are gonna do thirty days in August days day.

Of course I started yesterday.

It was three days in May, not thirty days in May.

Sorry, we'll go back to my water water right.

You didn't watch a lot of Sessment Streak growing up.

Yeah, So for anybody coming to ham Fast and if you're coming early for the four days in August, there's stuff to do every day and tomorrow Wednesday will be the second one.

So Mashtastic first and then us and then I think Jason after.

Lunch Thursday, we're doing a group outing at Signals Museum in the morning.

We posted a video of that.

We actually interviewed the the guy that is behind the collection.

It is amazing, thousands of pieces of equipment.

And so that's at ten and then gigaparts for lunch.

They're actually providing lunch for it's kind of a YouTubers get together there go.

Yeah, see this is Tuesday, so that doesn't matter.

Wednesday yep, so those are kind of all the people coming in.

Yeah.

Yeah, so Thursday ten am, Signals Museum got apart from twelve to seven.

Yep, all afternoon.

Wow.

And then Friday night at the stadium.

Yeah, the trash Pandas have a game.

It's beer night er, so some people are going to go to the game.

They can't bring my my Raccoon Hut air balloon out there for that'd be great.

You need to.

Listen trash Pandas if your listen thing, call me me a spot.

I got this cute little trash pan with a little boat.

Since we've mentioned the Signals Museum, no too in history if anybody missed it last night or the other night.

Thirteen dollars per person if you go at this time that they're going as a group, that's a group rate.

And too said, you know, throw them a couple of extraws, So pay fifteen dollars.

That's Friday night.

Yeah, Friday night.

Yeah, so they have they have two blocks, so Friday night is kind of the post it for all of him, like anybody that's in town.

They're actually closing the museum to the public and they're only opening it to people coming into Hamfest.

What we have on Thursday morning is kind of for the group, the YouTubers and the group that follow and I think they're actually giving us a ten dollars group rate on that Thursday.

But again we're trying to say, you know, hey, it's a it's a new museum, it's really great stuff, so you know, donate what you can for your ticket.

If the if the entrance fee is ten, give them twenty.

Sure, there you go.

Yeah, it's it's definitely like you imagine, you know, what would a radio museum kind of be, especially it's mostly one person's collection.

We went on a rainy day because we were just looking on Google Maps and we it's and it's in town, and so we just popped our heads in and we're like, okay, we've got to come back.

Like we did not give enough time to.

Be able to it's really amazing.

M it's about two hundred years worth of history in equipment.

Oh, that's awesome.

And then.

Friday, was it Friday night or Saturday is when the pavilion with Jason and two point Friday pretty much just y'all talk about that.

I'm not going, so those of you know talk about what's going on in Huntsville.

Well, all day Friday, we're doing kind of a cookout hangout at the pavilion.

And first eighty people, yeah, are are getting line tright.

And it's free.

Like if you're coming in, if you say you're with the Ham Radio Group, they'll let you in the gate for free.

I think they have eighty three pass we have.

Yeah, eighty day passes.

If you're staying in the campground or your military, please do not use the day pass because you guys get already have it covered or you get in for free.

Verne covered that for us.

So also real quick, the whoever's at the gate if they don't know what you're talking about when you say Ham Radio thing telling Vern six event, Yeah, yep.

Because he mentioned the other night that they this year they got a new director or something.

They made him do a contract.

So it's under his name.

So if they don't understand the ham radio thing, which they probably pretty quickly, just tell him I'm here for twenty or thirty.

Yeah they might.

They might get it.

There you go go saying, as long as it's not the same game guy that was at the gate.

I'm looking I'm looking forward to this demo too.

N J four Z is gonna demo his Phase Z raise.

Yes, that is cool.

If you don't know, he's got Phase to Rave vertical, He's he's gonna try to set up the twenty meter versions because it takes up less space, but it's pretty much he's gonna have it.

Like if he gets it set up just for say East and West, you're gonna be able to flip a switch and cancel everybody out on the east side of where you're at, flip the suite and cancel everybody out on the west side, which.

Has had the prototype down in Orlando.

And yeah, he's insane, had him at Dayton too, Yep.

So yeah, John's good people from.

It'd be awesome to see I heard him talk about it over and over while he's at Dayton, but to see it, that's gonna be cool and don't forget the parachute jumps.

Steve jumping this year.

I am not jumping this year, all.

Right, handing the reins over somebody else.

Yep, I know Gym's jumping on Friday.

And then Jean Gem Yes, Steam is jumping.

He done lost like eighty pounds to go in this jump.

Yeah, he's I'm working with them on a thirty.

He's lost a full human.

So and then there's a special jump on Saturday because the tandem could only make it Saturday.

But we're going to try to announce it on the talking repeater and see how many people can get to run outside to make a parachute mobile contact with a special guest.

Talking about the frequencies.

Four five, yep.

Five will be where all the YouTubers are.

Between.

Steve will be there because he doesn't upload videos.

Well, if you look at this list, they actually have the clubhouse listed for me.

So okay, good, there we go.

That counts.

So I got a text message from from someone and they said, how fast do campsites go for next year?

I'm assuming usually by the time this year's done, next year's.

Booked, except it's a week later next year, so I'm assuming.

Next year you want to go, you need to make your reservation after this year.

By the end of August.

By the end of August.

Okay, I would definitely recommend making.

Okay, So if I were to, if someone were going this year and I gave you my card, would you make me a reservation at a cabin for next year?

You can make a resistion one now, but.

There's better.

There's better if you're there, because they're like, oh, well, we'll just put all of you guys together.

Yeah.

Well, the whole facility is us, so pretty much we pretty much ran out the whole thing.

I don't know where we lost Joe Brett, but it's Yeah.

The the only problem, Shane, for like you and myself is we can only book twelve months out.

But if someone's there there on premises like Joe Joe Brett, and he could or you, yeah, you could, you could tell them I need three cabins for next year and here's.

The payment for said cabin.

So you text me the day that you arrive if they'll do it, yes, and if so, I'll give you my greak.

Okay, I need one cabin for myself and someone else.

Okay, yep, I know like we tried doing that last year when we checked in we wanted to book for this year, and they were saying they couldn't do it.

Then some of us figured out how to do it.

While we're at dinner at DOI.

What was the solution or do we don want to say in public?

Let's make sure we all get our stuff booked before we say it.

Now, if you go in and select your start date on the calendar view and then select your end date, it will let you book further out.

The other kicker is have an Alabama address and you get thirteen months.

Geam o, brother up, I need, I need, I need a cabin for next year.

So I got chastised when I deliver the half to two point zero because he said you need to come back to Huntsville.

So I'm gonna try.

I'm gonna try.

I can't promise anything because put the.

Money up this year, you'll you'll have to be there.

Not necessarily.

You can just cut my losses.

But I would like to come out again.

It's a great show.

I spent maybe two or three hours at the actual ham Pest last time I went, and then I spent three days up at Montaseno, so I enjoy Montaseno.

I won't say I enjoy Monaseno more than I like the ham Fast because it's really cool.

It's the friendliest hand pest I've ever been to.

But I think the people in the community that joins us at Mont Seno is seconds and none.

It's a camping trip that ends with a hand ham fest.

Yeah, that's what it is.

Or if you get a camper, you could get a little bit bigger camper for a spot and I could help off set that cost.

I've upgraded the camper each year, okay, and this year there's four of us in the camper I'm bringing.

Okay, so next year it would be maybe four, but we still upgraded.

Yeah, we could put Carlos on the diynut.

No, Carlos can sit outside in the tenth This is the clubhouse shack, is what this is?

Oh well, we just take over Joe Brett's camper that day.

No Noel will kick us out.

You don't put up with that noise.

She wasn't going to come this year.

She's coming there, she's coming now.

And she finds out that I'm coming.

She's gonna come next year too, because I was I was told I was explicitly told that I was in trouble for not coming the last couple of years.

So I.

Guess we're I guess Joe Bret's out for the rest of the night.

He's not coming back.

So Mike and Becky thank you for joining us tonight.

Yeah, this has been fantastic.

One more potential that might happen up at Hampath is there's a planetarium and they have an actual show that happens seven thirty on Saturday night that's open to the public, but you have to get there by like seven sevent fifteen because there's only seventy spots, so it's five bucks a person if you want to go Saturday night.

But there's also.

They have a meeting for their group that is up there in the volunteers on Friday, and they are they said, we are absolutely welcome to pop in for free to check it out, and if volunteers are there, they will.

Open it up if the sky looks good.

That's tomorrow night.

It's sorry Friday at seven thirty, I think Friday.

There's a really cool things to do at Huntville too.

You have to Rocky Museum.

There's there's so a lot of other than just the Monta Sano and and the ham Fast.

There's a lot of things to do there.

In Huntield's it just gets a great place to go to.

It's a lot less of a struggle to get places to stay than say hamcashan or.

Hand cash or hand vention.

Handvention yeah, handvention, yeah, but maybe I could get I wonder if the Hunspale hand pass would let me do hot air balloon mobile from the parking lot, that'd be cool.

I bring the trailer around for that.

There's a couple of city lots that you might be able to get.

Or the park.

If the park would let me do it from from one of their parking lots, that.

Would probably be easier to get done.

Because they already told me I can fly my drone right, So for those of you who are drone flyers, you can fly your drone in Mona Sano.

You just have to email the office first your permission.

They're usually pretty leanient about it, and you can fly your drone at mont Sano.

So we're supposed to email the office.

Yes, Steve does not read directions, but that'd be kind of cool to do a hot air balloon from Monto Sano.

So that would be a poda and a Hot Air Balloon mobile from So I thought the soda was the next like heel.

Over, Well, no, so the soda is in the park.

Okay, so you could do a soda a poda.

I don't know if you can do the soda from Hot Air Balloon though, ze I think.

Zone.

I mean, yeah, that's not our vehicle because we drove up there and we put the ballon up.

So that's not our vehicle.

That just happens to be.

At the right there.

This ADHD life.

Thanks thanks forward to meeting a bunch of folks.

It's a really good time.

If you've never met most of us, it's honestly, it's a really good time.

It's a really friendly event.

It's top notch.

It's of the three that I've been to, this is my favorite and I and it sucks that I can't go.

I'll try to mark off that that that time for next year.

I guess I'm booked every weekend from now until November with Balloonshill.

Wow.

So I will try and next and block that off for next year so that we can I can make it up there because I really do enjoy going there.

It's it's a lot of fun, and I get to hang out with people that I don't get this the meat all the time.

Like Steve.

Steve and Joe Brett are the only ones that I and and Molson are the only ones that I've met.

For the clubhouse, Like, we need to get iso there, we need to get beer snacked there.

So we need to work on that.

We need to have a clubhouse cabin.

That would be a lot of fun.

They need bigger cabins, those cabins, that's true, that's true.

Well yeah, yeah, and they need bigger showers too.

Oh yeah, you can only wash half of your body at a time if you're a man of size, because the they're they're like they're like pocket showers.

You have those pocket doors that slide out.

That's kind of what the shower like.

All right, So we lost Joe Brett, so I'm not gonna worry about him.

But Mike and Becky, thank you so much for joining us tonight.

They as always, we love having you guys.

Great work with all the things that you things that you guys are doing with not only Ham Radio but CW and bringing it to different people.

Anything you'd like to talk about before we head out for tonight.

No, we're about to head back up to the Mountain of ham pass Over.

We're on our way back.

Had alert you know, handlert work them in the park.

I'm sure you're all going to activate every day on both the day and the night.

The late shift.

Maybe we activated a couple of times, but we're like thinking that once everybody gets up there, we might need to be a little bit more radio quiet to not.

Scurb band sixty meters it is thirty or thirty meters it is.

Yeah, we'll have to build another antident, you know, it's.

Just that would work all right.

Well, thank you as always.

We appreciate you all being here.

You're welcome anytime.

Like I say, uh, Steven, that you got for tonight.

Uh, nothing for tonight.

I'm gonna be finished my packing tomorrow and tomorrow night I hope to have an intent up on the air because it's pot to powers one year anniversary.

Nice.

They will be live streaming tomorrow night.

I should probably find some sort of radio to connect to.

I'm gonna, like I said, I'm gonna try to get an infed halfway.

You're remote not up.

I've gotta work on that.

Okay, no, I'm gonna work tomorrow too.

You have, I do well.

And you have and you have a mask.

Even though you don't have an intent up there, you still have a tower.

You can put an infan half wave up.

And not and the tower broke down low.

Well, you only need that much.

It's like four feet.

Oh never mind, that's where envies from from Steve's house.

We got to make sure they're on forty because kidding, I may, I may just tune up the atoss and hit them.

Yeah, there you go.

All all right, So thanks so much for joining us.

Tonight's seventy three to everybody.

Thanks beer Snack for joining us as always, and we will see y'all on the next one.

Seventy three sankty three y'all see everybody,