Nov. 21, 2025

Ham Radio (amateur radio)

Ham Radio (amateur radio)
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Ham Radio (amateur radio)
Ham Radio (amateur radio)
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In this episode titled "Ham Radio (Amateur Radio)," host Mike Dell reflects on his youth prior to the Internet and video games, mentioning his limited interaction with CB radio rather than ham radio. He explains the differences between CB and ham radio, particularly the wider range and more diverse frequencies available to amateur radio operators. Mike discusses the various frequency bands in ham radio, starting with UHF, VHF, and HF, detailing their uses and characteristics. He explains concepts like frequency modulation (FM) and amplitude modulation (AM), along with how repeater stations work to extend transmission ranges. Mike also recounts his personal experiences with these frequencies, mentioning how he engaged with fellow hams while fishing and discussing the unique phenomena of tropospheric ducting that allowed him to communicate long distances. He then dives into specific bands, starting with the two-meter band, explaining its popularity, accessibility for new technicians, and how equipment like inexpensive radios can enable communication across towns. Mike also shares anecdotes about his experiences and connections with other ham operators, emphasizing the camaraderie within the amateur radio community. Continuing, he describes several other HF bands, explaining each band’s unique properties, propagation characteristics, and modes of communication available within them. Mike touches on historical aspects of obtaining licenses, mentioning how the requirements have shifted over the years, specifically noting the discontinuation of Morse code testing for access to ham radio. Additionally, Mike elaborates on various digital modes that have emerged within ham radio, contrasting them with traditional radio communication, and shares fond memories of his early experiences, such as using packet radio to send messages to his father before email became commonplace. As the episode wraps up, Mike reflects on the significance of ham radio in his life, noting how it has helped him form lasting friendships and connections. He concludes by expressing his commitment to the hobby and the joy he finds in it, inviting listeners to explore the world of amateur radio and reminding them that he will return for the next episode.

00:00 - Introduction to a World Without Internet

01:04 - The Birth of Mike Dell's World

01:11 - Ham Radio vs. CB Radio

02:48 - Understanding VHF, UHF, and HF Bands

06:04 - Popular Ham Radio Frequencies and Bands

10:00 - Propagation and Long-Distance Communication

18:07 - Getting Licensed and the Ham Radio Journey

25:03 - Daily Operations and Social Engagement in Ham Radio

30:20 - Digital Modes in Ham Radio

34:11 - Reflections on Ham Radio's Impact on Life

WEBVTT

NOTE
Transcription provided by Deepgram

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Mike tells world number four twenty seven for

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the what is it? The twenty first of

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November twenty twenty five.

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When I was a young boy, there wasn't

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any Internet. There wasn't any World Wide Web.

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There wasn't any egghead sending you texts saying

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those are the same thing. You don't have

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to say Internet and World Wide Web. They're

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the same thing. There weren't any video games

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when I was a boy. Well, there was

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Pac Man. That was a game, I guess.

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And Asteroids, Wizard of War, Scrambled. Defender was

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a hell of a lot of fun. Those

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were what we called video games. Did I

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say we didn't have video games? Because that

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would have been a mistake. But there is

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one thing you have now that we didn't

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have when I was a boy that I

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wish we did.

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Mike Dell's World. Yep. And we also had

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ham radio back in the day, although I

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didn't participate in ham radio. I did participate

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a little bit in CB radio. CB radio

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is, not the same thing. It can be

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close in some regards, but CB radio is

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really limited to forty independent channels, so exact

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frequencies and nearly don't deviate in between those

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frequencies. Starts in around twenty six megahertz, twenty

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six point nine megahertz up to about twenty

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seven five in that vicinity. And, it and

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if you think about it in meters, and

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that's the wavelength of the radio wave, it's

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eleven meters. And ham radio is a lot

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deeper than that. Ham radio, first off, has

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a lot of traditions when it comes to,

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you know, just how people communicate via ham

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radio, but that's where it all kinda diverges.

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There's, there's UHF. There's even some higher frequencies,

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than UHF, ultra high frequency. But, you know,

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the most commonly used bands are, you know,

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in the UHF and VHF, and HF. So

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I kinda go I'll go through some of

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those. Like I said, CB would be considered

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eleven meters. In fact, CB radio was of

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a a ham radio band when it first

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started, and then the FCC and other places

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around the world decided that they should have

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a citizen's band where people can talk with

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well, at first, you needed a license, but

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it wasn't hard to get one. You know,

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getting a ham radio license is a little

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more difficult, although, nowadays, it's not too bad.

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But the most commonly used bands, for VHF,

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UHF would be, well, twenty three centimeters. Nobody

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even calls it that. We call it twelve

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hundred megahertz, but it's between twelve forty and

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thirteen hundred megahertz. Not very many people use

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that. It's, you know, usually used for linking

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things or talking to satellites, which you can

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do on ham radio. The next band that

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I don't know anybody that uses it. We

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used to have a repeater around here on

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it, but nine hundred megahertz or thirty three

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centimeters. It's three or nine zero two to

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nine twenty eight megahertz, mostly FM, but there

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is some other modes on it. I guess,

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I'll explain the modes a little bit. How

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about that? FM, frequency modulation. That's, what you

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listen on your FM radio, and, it's usually

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pretty clear and more high fidelity. Although, not

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as good as this podcast, but, pretty high

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fidelity. You know, not a lot of static,

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lot not a lot of interference. FM does

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have what's called the capture effect. Meaning, if

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you're listening to two people talking on FM

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and one's stronger than the other, you're only

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gonna hear the one that's strongest, and you're

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not gonna hear anything from the one that's

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not strongest. They don't mix well. Then there's

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AM, amplitude modulation, which is kind of the

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opposite. That's what airplanes use because of this

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effect. When two people are talking, you might

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hear both of them or you can hear

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at least the fact that somebody else is

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talking at the same time. So, that that

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helps. And it doesn't, isn't affected by the

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Doppler effect. And what the Doppler effect is

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if you're moving and it's right. Especially moving

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rather fast. FM might get a little bit

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of weird warbly effect, because you're moving where

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AM didn't matter. So that's why an airliner

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going five hundred miles an hour can, talk

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to a tower, sitting still or, you know,

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or or an air traffic control facility, and

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the communication is pretty clear. And it goes

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for a long ways because they're usually up

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in the twenties and thirties and forty thousand

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feet range. So, you know, higher the better.

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It's all kinda line of sight. And same

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thing with UHF, VHF, FM, and whatever whatever

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other mode that's more or less line of

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sight. So, you know, the two antennas can

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see each other. Now we get into the

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more popular band of seventy centimeters or four

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forty is what a lot of people call

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it. That is four twenty to four fifty

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megahertz, and that's mostly FM, mostly, you know,

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repeaters. And what a repeater is is you

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talk into it on an input frequency, and

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it repeats it out on an output frequency,

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usually at a high level, or on a

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building, on a mountain, whatever. And then when

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you unkey, somebody else can key up, talk

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to that repeater, and you hear it. You

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know? So it takes, you know, these little

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handheld radios and makes it so that it

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goes a lot further. That's what's known as

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a repeater. And then, you know, like I

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said, the seventy centimeter band is fairly popular.

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Not as popular, but still somewhat popular as

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the we call it two twenty, but, it's

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one point two five meters. That's the, two

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twenty two to two twenty five megahertz band,

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and that's the same thing. It's mostly FM,

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you know, repeaters and simplex. Simplex just means

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you're talking directly to somebody. Repeaters, you're talking

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through a repeater station and some satellite work,

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on that band. Same thing with the, you

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know, four forty band, seventy centimeters. A lot

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of satellite work, there, and there are some

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ham and satellites. And the most popular band

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of all time on ham radio is two

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meters, and that is hundred and forty four

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to a hundred and forty eight megahertz, at

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least here in the US. Other countries, it

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might go one forty four to one forty

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six rather than, all the way up to,

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you know, one forty eight. And that's VHF

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high band, is another name for it. And

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that is probably the most ubiquitous ham band.

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You come into the ham radio license, level

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of technician. That's usually the first level that

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people come in at. It used to be

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one called novice, and novices couldn't use two

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meters, but technicians could. We've done away with

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a novice license altogether. There might be a

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few left. They're grandfathered in, but they don't

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get two meters. They get two twenty, two

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twenty two to two twenty five. They don't

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get two meters or four forty. But like

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I said, it's the most popular. The radios

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are cheap. I mean, you can get a

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a Bofang, a Chinese little radio from Amazon.

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I think you can get get one for

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under sixty bucks and, you know, puts out

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a couple of watts and, you know, you

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can program it for repeaters and, you know,

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talk all over town with it. You know?

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And then that's about it for these VHF,

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UHF, frequencies. It's mostly line of sight. Now

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there are some propagation. Propagation just means, you

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can, talk longer distances depending on atmospheric can,

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you know, conditions. Being here, next to the

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Great Lakes, we get one called tropospheric ducting.

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I know it sounds sounds geeky, but, basically,

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what can happen is, say, right now, the

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lake is very warm, the air is very

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cool, and the troposphere can get confused and

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get a little bit of a temperature inversion

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going, and that sometimes carries these UHF, VHF

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frequencies longer distances. I remember one time, I

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was out fishing, with a buddy of mine,

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and we were out on a lake and

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happened to have a two meter radio handy

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in the boat. And we, turned on the

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two meter radio while we were trolling and

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heard a bunch of people talking on a

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frequency that, we usually don't hear a lot

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of people talking on. And come to find

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out, they were in Oklahoma. Here we are

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in Michigan. That is extremely long propagation for

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two meters, but it was kinda neat. It

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came in you know, it comes and goes,

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kinda fades in, fades out. But we had

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a fairly good conversation with a couple people

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in Oklahoma, on two meters. That that is

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very rare or at least rare that there's

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people on when that's happening. I I, you

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know, I think what happens sometimes is just

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nobody's talking, so nobody knows that that duct

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opened. You know? And that happens on some

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of the lower bands. As you get lower,

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the distances can get longer and, you know,

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in frequency, lower in frequency and higher in

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the number of meters. The wavelengths get bigger.

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The frequencies get smaller. Another one that is

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somewhat popular, but definitely not as popular as

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two meter, and it's considered the VHF low

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band, and that is fifty to fifty four

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megahertz or six meters. Six meters does have

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a mix of, sideband AM, FM, repeaters, kinda

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has the gamut of stuff. A lot of

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hams call it the magic band. The openings

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on that, propagation wise are a little more

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often and can consist of different kinds of

00:11:43.130 --> 00:11:48.670
propagation, not just like tropospheric ducting or ionospheric,

00:11:49.875 --> 00:11:53.815
you know, propagation that, mostly is what is

00:11:54.835 --> 00:11:57.255
kind kind of the thing. But, you know,

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six meters can be pretty active, but it's

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not highly used. Most HF radios come with

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six meters included, but you gotta have a

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different antenna. And, you know, again, it's not

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highly used, but, you know, kinda neat band.

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First of the HF or high frequency bands,

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I know it makes no sense. High frequency

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is lower than very high frequency VHF or

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ultra high frequency UHF. HF is anything below

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thirty megahertz, and the first band in there

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is ten meters. Ten meters is twenty eight

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megahertz to twenty nine seven megahertz. And notice

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that eleven meters, which was CB, is twenty

00:12:48.645 --> 00:12:51.525
six twenty seven. And then there's another one,

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twelve meters, which I don't know anybody that

00:12:53.925 --> 00:12:56.404
uses twelve meters, but that's at twenty four

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megahertz. So, you know, ten meters is just

00:13:00.165 --> 00:13:04.740
above what the, typical CB band is. And

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that one, when it's open, is very active

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and, very long distance. Not always long distance,

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but pretty long distance. I remember when I

00:13:17.715 --> 00:13:20.115
first got licensed, I got licensed as a

00:13:20.115 --> 00:13:23.155
novice and radio operator, and one of the

00:13:23.155 --> 00:13:26.435
bands we could use was ten meters on

00:13:26.435 --> 00:13:29.075
voice. You could use Morse code on other

00:13:29.075 --> 00:13:33.710
bands, otherwise known as CW, but, this was

00:13:33.710 --> 00:13:36.590
the lowest frequency that we could use voice

00:13:36.590 --> 00:13:39.950
on and also, you know, allowed you to

00:13:39.950 --> 00:13:45.650
talk long distances. We call it DX for,

00:13:45.834 --> 00:13:48.654
you know, talking to somebody outside the US,

00:13:48.714 --> 00:13:51.834
you know, or outside your country. That's that's

00:13:51.834 --> 00:13:55.435
DX. Well, that was the the the lowest

00:13:55.435 --> 00:13:58.175
frequency that a novice operator or a technician

00:13:58.315 --> 00:14:03.530
operator can use on voice. And I I

00:14:03.530 --> 00:14:06.170
just got licensed, so it's, I think, back

00:14:06.170 --> 00:14:08.730
in nineteen eighty seven or eighty eight, something

00:14:08.730 --> 00:14:11.050
like that. Boy, I've been at this a

00:14:11.050 --> 00:14:15.075
while. And the, the cool thing was you

00:14:15.075 --> 00:14:19.875
could modify a CB radio to, transmit on

00:14:19.875 --> 00:14:22.435
twenty eight megahertz instead of twenty seven, and

00:14:22.435 --> 00:14:25.075
that was totally legal. As a ham radio

00:14:25.075 --> 00:14:28.680
operator, you're allowed to modify your radio as

00:14:28.680 --> 00:14:32.439
long as it stays in technical specifications. You

00:14:32.439 --> 00:14:34.920
know, your bandwidth is not too wide, and

00:14:34.920 --> 00:14:37.639
you're not splattering frequencies all over the place,

00:14:37.639 --> 00:14:40.725
and you stay within the power limit. On

00:14:40.725 --> 00:14:43.765
ten meters, for novices, it was two hundred

00:14:43.765 --> 00:14:46.245
watts as opposed to four watts for a

00:14:46.245 --> 00:14:50.085
CB or twelve sideband, but that's a whole

00:14:50.085 --> 00:14:52.565
another ball of arms. I don't wanna get

00:14:52.565 --> 00:14:56.500
too technical, but I had a, an old

00:14:56.500 --> 00:14:58.980
CB radio that I put a different crystal

00:14:58.980 --> 00:15:00.740
in and modified it so that it would

00:15:00.740 --> 00:15:05.380
talk on twenty eight megahertz. And for about

00:15:05.380 --> 00:15:07.685
two weeks, I would drive to work. I

00:15:07.685 --> 00:15:09.045
had you know, I was in the air

00:15:09.045 --> 00:15:11.285
force, and I would live ten miles away

00:15:11.285 --> 00:15:13.525
from the base. So I had this thing

00:15:13.525 --> 00:15:16.485
in my truck, and I could get on

00:15:16.485 --> 00:15:18.405
there. And, I got out of there, and

00:15:18.405 --> 00:15:22.810
I talked to a guy in Japan. His

00:15:22.810 --> 00:15:26.570
call sign was, what is it? I don't

00:15:26.570 --> 00:15:29.690
know, mate. J o j o four h

00:15:29.690 --> 00:15:32.410
q q, I think, was his call. I

00:15:32.490 --> 00:15:34.575
now I don't remember exactly, but he was

00:15:34.575 --> 00:15:37.935
my first official ham radio contact. And I

00:15:37.935 --> 00:15:39.535
talked to him every day on my way

00:15:39.535 --> 00:15:42.675
to work for about two weeks. The conditions

00:15:42.895 --> 00:15:44.975
were such, and then, you know, the conditions

00:15:44.975 --> 00:15:47.443
went bad and whatever. But, yeah, I used

00:15:47.443 --> 00:15:49.950
to it was j o one h q

00:15:49.950 --> 00:15:51.790
q. There we go. It just popped back

00:15:51.790 --> 00:15:54.190
in my head. And at my at that

00:15:54.190 --> 00:15:57.330
time, my call sign was k b seven

00:15:58.670 --> 00:16:03.125
f g t. Fun and good times. But,

00:16:03.505 --> 00:16:09.425
anyway, I quickly upgraded to technician. Yeah. And

00:16:09.425 --> 00:16:12.545
when I got my, novice license back then,

00:16:12.545 --> 00:16:16.625
two general class operators could give you your

00:16:16.625 --> 00:16:19.660
novice license test. It didn't have to be

00:16:20.040 --> 00:16:22.760
a volunteer examiner or the FCC to give

00:16:22.760 --> 00:16:25.580
you the test. Just any two generals could

00:16:26.040 --> 00:16:27.640
sign you off on the test, and you

00:16:27.640 --> 00:16:30.440
had to pass a, five word per minute

00:16:30.440 --> 00:16:33.775
code you know, most Morse code check, and

00:16:33.775 --> 00:16:36.255
you had to pass a written test, which

00:16:36.255 --> 00:16:39.135
was, I don't know, thirty questions about rules

00:16:39.135 --> 00:16:42.655
and regulations, whatnot. Wasn't wasn't that hard. It's

00:16:42.655 --> 00:16:44.915
novice. You know? It's just a learning permit,

00:16:45.295 --> 00:16:53.060
basically. But, anyway, I got my I upgraded

00:16:53.060 --> 00:16:54.820
to my technician so then I could get

00:16:54.820 --> 00:16:56.660
on two meters, and that was kind of

00:16:56.660 --> 00:16:58.260
the thing. You know, where I was in

00:16:58.260 --> 00:17:01.140
Idaho, you know, we had mountaintop repeaters, and,

00:17:01.140 --> 00:17:03.145
I mean, we could talk for miles and

00:17:03.145 --> 00:17:06.505
miles and miles with a, with a HT

00:17:06.505 --> 00:17:09.705
or a, you know, walkie talkie style little

00:17:09.705 --> 00:17:12.825
radio. And that was a lot of fun.

00:17:12.825 --> 00:17:15.100
And, you know, I I met a lot

00:17:15.100 --> 00:17:16.700
of people and had you know, I have

00:17:16.700 --> 00:17:19.100
a lot of friends to this day that

00:17:19.100 --> 00:17:21.340
I used to talk to on two meters

00:17:21.340 --> 00:17:23.260
there in Idaho off of the mountain top

00:17:23.260 --> 00:17:27.340
repeaters. But, on ten meters, you know, I

00:17:27.340 --> 00:17:28.955
used to use that. You know, we'd get

00:17:28.955 --> 00:17:30.875
on ten meters. I'd go, you know, climb

00:17:31.035 --> 00:17:32.715
we we had a couple of mountain top

00:17:32.715 --> 00:17:36.155
parking spots, you know, kinda overlooks or whatever,

00:17:36.155 --> 00:17:38.315
and I'd go up there and set up

00:17:38.315 --> 00:17:41.115
my radio, you know, my my bigger antenna.

00:17:41.115 --> 00:17:42.920
And it's at there and talk, you know,

00:17:42.920 --> 00:17:44.760
for two or three hours with people all

00:17:44.760 --> 00:17:46.760
over the country, all over the world on

00:17:46.760 --> 00:17:49.560
ten meters. It was, it was pretty cool,

00:17:49.560 --> 00:17:51.340
but that was the top of the sunset

00:17:51.560 --> 00:17:57.835
sunspot cycle. And, you know, again, odd conditions

00:17:57.975 --> 00:17:59.655
that was, I I you know, like I

00:17:59.655 --> 00:18:02.875
said, in the late eighties, early nineties. And

00:18:02.934 --> 00:18:04.455
the we're right now, we're at the peak

00:18:04.455 --> 00:18:09.275
of another sunspot cycle, and, those bands are

00:18:09.690 --> 00:18:12.490
are wide open right now. So, it's kinda

00:18:12.490 --> 00:18:16.250
cool. Twelve meters, that's, that one I was

00:18:16.250 --> 00:18:18.970
telling you, that's just below where the CB

00:18:18.970 --> 00:18:22.409
frequencies are, and that's around twenty four megahertz.

00:18:22.409 --> 00:18:25.175
It's a kind of a weird cutout of

00:18:25.175 --> 00:18:28.535
bands. It's a it's twenty four point eight

00:18:28.535 --> 00:18:30.935
nine to twenty four point nine nine. So

00:18:30.935 --> 00:18:34.795
it's not very much bandwidth, but, you can

00:18:34.935 --> 00:18:39.910
use twelve meters to, to talk. I I've

00:18:39.910 --> 00:18:42.630
never heard anybody on there, and I've never

00:18:42.630 --> 00:18:46.230
used it myself. One of the legacy bands,

00:18:46.230 --> 00:18:48.870
the older bands that, people use a lot,

00:18:48.870 --> 00:18:52.904
it's it's especially popular in Europe and, on

00:18:52.904 --> 00:18:54.985
the East Coast of the US. I don't

00:18:54.985 --> 00:18:57.625
know. I guess worldwide too probably, but, the

00:18:57.625 --> 00:19:01.784
most usage I hear is East Coast US

00:19:01.784 --> 00:19:05.040
and Europe. But it's fifteen meters, and that's

00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:08.560
twenty one megahertz to twenty one point four

00:19:08.560 --> 00:19:11.680
five megahertz. So, you know, four hundred and

00:19:11.680 --> 00:19:16.560
fifty kilohertz worth of, bandwidth there, and, yeah,

00:19:16.560 --> 00:19:21.664
that can can get busy. And then there's

00:19:21.885 --> 00:19:24.125
seventeen meters, and that's what's known as a

00:19:24.125 --> 00:19:29.005
work band. Work was the World Amateur Radio

00:19:29.005 --> 00:19:34.900
Conference carved out this little frequency, range, in

00:19:34.900 --> 00:19:38.580
the seventeen meter band at eighteen point six

00:19:38.580 --> 00:19:41.780
eight to eighteen point one six eight. So

00:19:41.780 --> 00:19:43.700
it's a pretty small band. You know, it's

00:19:43.700 --> 00:19:47.380
only a hundred kilohertz wide, but, people get

00:19:47.380 --> 00:19:50.965
on voice and they use digital modes there.

00:19:50.965 --> 00:19:52.885
And I'll explain digital modes when I get

00:19:52.885 --> 00:19:56.485
through the, the bands here. Twenty meters, that's

00:19:56.485 --> 00:19:58.725
also a legacy band, and that's probably the

00:19:58.725 --> 00:20:02.500
most busy HF band. And that one, you

00:20:02.500 --> 00:20:04.340
know, you can talk all over the world

00:20:04.340 --> 00:20:08.280
on, or, you know, you know, it's mostly,

00:20:08.340 --> 00:20:11.300
you know, kinda worldwide or cross country. Like,

00:20:11.300 --> 00:20:15.455
we, the group I belong to, has a

00:20:15.455 --> 00:20:17.475
net, which is a, you know, a scheduled

00:20:17.615 --> 00:20:19.215
time that we all get together on a

00:20:19.215 --> 00:20:21.775
particular frequency, and we have a net on

00:20:21.775 --> 00:20:26.575
twenty meters on Sunday mornings. And I can

00:20:26.575 --> 00:20:31.029
hear the people in California, Arizona, Texas, you

00:20:31.029 --> 00:20:33.669
know, that are on this group, but I

00:20:33.669 --> 00:20:37.350
really can't and maybe Florida from here in

00:20:37.350 --> 00:20:40.389
Michigan, but I can't really hear Ohio or

00:20:40.389 --> 00:20:43.110
other people in Michigan. You know, so it's

00:20:43.110 --> 00:20:48.275
it's a longer skip zone, longer propagation. It's

00:20:48.335 --> 00:20:51.615
never really short range unless we're really close.

00:20:51.615 --> 00:20:53.455
And then, of course, it's called ground wave,

00:20:53.455 --> 00:20:55.455
and I can hear somebody that's really close.

00:20:55.455 --> 00:20:57.215
Like, you know, when my dad used to

00:20:57.215 --> 00:20:59.970
get on it from eight miles away, I

00:20:59.970 --> 00:21:02.770
could hear him, but I couldn't hear the

00:21:02.770 --> 00:21:06.050
the guy twenty miles away from me. It

00:21:06.050 --> 00:21:08.050
was, you know but I could hear the

00:21:08.050 --> 00:21:09.970
people in California. And every once in a

00:21:09.970 --> 00:21:11.490
while, we have a friend of ours in

00:21:11.490 --> 00:21:13.810
Australia that gets on that, and we could

00:21:13.810 --> 00:21:18.185
hear him. So that's that's kinda interesting. There's

00:21:18.185 --> 00:21:21.465
another band, another warp band, thirty meters, and

00:21:21.465 --> 00:21:23.545
that's at ten point one to ten point

00:21:23.545 --> 00:21:27.245
one five megahertz. So it's only fifty kilohertz

00:21:27.385 --> 00:21:31.450
wide, and it's Morse code and digital modes

00:21:31.450 --> 00:21:34.330
only. There's no voice on thirty meters, so

00:21:34.330 --> 00:21:37.770
you can't talk. You can, you can do,

00:21:38.010 --> 00:21:41.070
Morse code or, some of the digital modes.

00:21:42.605 --> 00:21:45.165
Forty meters is another legacy one, and, we

00:21:45.165 --> 00:21:48.925
do another net on forty meters that pretty

00:21:48.925 --> 00:21:51.885
much covers the eastern half of the United

00:21:51.885 --> 00:21:54.445
States. And that's that's actually a really good

00:21:54.445 --> 00:21:57.559
band certain times of the day, usually mornings

00:21:57.620 --> 00:22:00.419
or evenings, not so much in the middle

00:22:00.419 --> 00:22:02.179
of the day. It all depends on, like

00:22:02.179 --> 00:22:05.700
I said, conditions, of the atmosphere and it

00:22:05.860 --> 00:22:08.039
you know, not always the same every day,

00:22:09.154 --> 00:22:11.635
But, we have a pretty pretty good luck

00:22:11.635 --> 00:22:13.955
hearing pretty much anybody in the eastern half

00:22:13.955 --> 00:22:17.075
of the US and, of course, Canada. I

00:22:17.075 --> 00:22:18.674
don't have any check ins on that one

00:22:18.674 --> 00:22:22.929
from Canada usually, but that one, is is

00:22:22.929 --> 00:22:25.650
a pretty popular band. And, if you're gonna

00:22:25.650 --> 00:22:27.730
hear some activity, it's either gonna be on

00:22:27.730 --> 00:22:30.049
twenty or forty meters most of the time

00:22:30.049 --> 00:22:34.915
during the day. Then there's sixty meters, and

00:22:34.915 --> 00:22:38.515
sixty meters is weird. And, nobody really uses

00:22:38.515 --> 00:22:43.075
it, in the contiguous forty eight states, but

00:22:43.075 --> 00:22:45.155
most of, you know, most of it happens

00:22:45.155 --> 00:22:49.090
in Alaska and Hawaii and, you know, other

00:22:49.090 --> 00:22:51.250
parts of the world, but there this is

00:22:51.250 --> 00:22:56.850
channelized. There's actually, five channels, and you have

00:22:56.850 --> 00:22:59.010
to stay right on those channels. It's just

00:22:59.010 --> 00:23:04.795
like, CB, and it's only, upper sideband phone

00:23:04.795 --> 00:23:09.915
or CW, which is Morse code. And you

00:23:09.915 --> 00:23:13.135
can only run a hundred watts. As a

00:23:13.740 --> 00:23:16.780
general class or higher licensee, you can run

00:23:16.780 --> 00:23:19.200
fifteen hundred watts on most of the bands.

00:23:19.740 --> 00:23:23.200
But, on sixty meters, you can only run

00:23:24.540 --> 00:23:26.380
you can only run a hundred watts, and

00:23:26.380 --> 00:23:30.525
they're in a five megahertz channel segment. So

00:23:30.525 --> 00:23:35.485
that's around fifty three hundred kilohertz or five

00:23:35.485 --> 00:23:38.205
point three megahertz up to five point four.

00:23:38.205 --> 00:23:39.885
And like I said, it's in five hundred

00:23:39.885 --> 00:23:44.450
kilohertz wide channel or five megahertz channels. So,

00:23:44.990 --> 00:23:47.470
kind of an interesting weird band that not

00:23:47.470 --> 00:23:51.549
a lot of people use. Eighty meters or

00:23:51.549 --> 00:23:55.409
sometimes called seventy five meters because it applies,

00:23:55.950 --> 00:23:57.950
you know, it's between seventy five and eighty

00:23:57.950 --> 00:24:01.345
meters wavelength. That is probably one of the

00:24:01.345 --> 00:24:05.345
more popular bands in the evenings and in

00:24:05.345 --> 00:24:11.025
the mornings. And there's you know, it it's

00:24:11.025 --> 00:24:15.160
between three point five and four megahertz. And,

00:24:15.460 --> 00:24:16.740
I don't know if you hear the dog

00:24:16.740 --> 00:24:19.539
groaning in the background. He's probably, ready to

00:24:19.539 --> 00:24:22.260
go in and go to bed. I'm recording

00:24:22.260 --> 00:24:25.460
this the night before, so just, those of

00:24:25.460 --> 00:24:29.065
you keeping score. But, anyway, eighty meters is

00:24:29.065 --> 00:24:30.985
is good. We have a local net here

00:24:30.985 --> 00:24:34.105
in Traverse City called the Amateur Radio Social

00:24:34.105 --> 00:24:39.804
Hour, which is nine AM on Sunday mornings,

00:24:40.260 --> 00:24:43.300
and we're on thirty nine thirty five or

00:24:43.300 --> 00:24:46.820
three point nine five megahertz. No. Thirty nine

00:24:46.820 --> 00:24:49.160
thirty five. There we go. Thirty nine point

00:24:49.940 --> 00:24:54.055
three point nine three five megahertz or thirty

00:24:54.055 --> 00:24:58.395
nine thirty five kilohertz, and it's in lower

00:24:58.695 --> 00:25:01.415
sideband. So if you have a shortwave radio

00:25:01.415 --> 00:25:03.815
that does sideband, you can you can hear

00:25:03.815 --> 00:25:07.309
that. You can also find an SDR. Look

00:25:07.309 --> 00:25:10.830
up Kiwi SDR, and, there's a a couple

00:25:10.830 --> 00:25:14.750
of them here locally in Empire, Michigan. And,

00:25:14.990 --> 00:25:17.870
you can tune in to thirty nine thirty

00:25:17.870 --> 00:25:22.695
five and listen to the Amateur Radio social

00:25:22.695 --> 00:25:25.015
hour. I get on that one almost every

00:25:25.015 --> 00:25:29.015
Sunday, and, that covers, you know, Michigan or,

00:25:29.095 --> 00:25:35.170
you know, Wisconsin, the UP. You know, we

00:25:35.170 --> 00:25:36.770
get a check and we get check ins

00:25:36.770 --> 00:25:39.010
from Ontario. We got one of the guys

00:25:39.010 --> 00:25:42.370
that lives up on Saint Joseph Island up

00:25:42.370 --> 00:25:46.150
by Sugar Island in the UP area in

00:25:47.005 --> 00:25:49.885
in Ontario. So, he gets on there pretty

00:25:49.885 --> 00:25:52.845
much every week as well. But, that's the

00:25:52.845 --> 00:25:54.365
most likely if you're gonna hear me on

00:25:54.365 --> 00:25:56.445
the radio, that's the most likely place to

00:25:56.445 --> 00:25:58.205
hear me on the radio. It's thirty nine

00:25:58.205 --> 00:26:01.780
thirty five at nine AM eastern time, here

00:26:01.780 --> 00:26:04.100
in Michigan. But, you know, if you're out

00:26:04.100 --> 00:26:06.580
of the area, you can get on the

00:26:06.580 --> 00:26:10.920
the Empire SDR. K f eight k k

00:26:11.940 --> 00:26:15.665
is the the Kiwi SDR, but that's on

00:26:15.665 --> 00:26:19.665
Sunday mornings. And then, there's another band a

00:26:19.665 --> 00:26:21.845
little bit lower than that that is used

00:26:21.905 --> 00:26:23.985
quite a bit, but it it requires a

00:26:23.985 --> 00:26:26.145
really long antenna because it's a hundred and

00:26:26.145 --> 00:26:29.559
sixty meters. And that's at one point eight

00:26:29.559 --> 00:26:32.299
to two megahertz. And that is the lowest

00:26:32.760 --> 00:26:36.600
HF band, high frequency band. And there are

00:26:36.600 --> 00:26:42.245
bands lower than that, that, is usually usually

00:26:42.305 --> 00:26:46.065
experimental stuff and whatever. But, if you think

00:26:46.065 --> 00:26:48.065
about hundred and sixty meters is one point

00:26:48.065 --> 00:26:52.065
eight megahertz or eighteen hundred kilohertz, that's just

00:26:52.065 --> 00:26:55.380
above the AM broadcast band. So it has

00:26:55.380 --> 00:26:59.160
similar propagation to, like, your AM radio station.

00:27:00.740 --> 00:27:02.820
So, you know, at night, it goes a

00:27:02.820 --> 00:27:04.500
long way, and during the day, it doesn't

00:27:04.500 --> 00:27:08.264
go so far. So, you know, that's that's

00:27:08.264 --> 00:27:09.465
it. But, you know, you get on the

00:27:09.465 --> 00:27:11.705
AM broadcast band at night, and you hear

00:27:11.705 --> 00:27:13.465
stuff from all over the place, you know,

00:27:13.465 --> 00:27:16.664
listening. And, that's what a hundred and sixty

00:27:16.664 --> 00:27:18.585
meters is. I don't play on that one

00:27:18.585 --> 00:27:20.184
very often. Every once in a while, I

00:27:20.184 --> 00:27:24.750
will. But, anyway, that that that's the difference

00:27:24.890 --> 00:27:28.429
between CB and ham radio or family radio

00:27:28.490 --> 00:27:30.809
service or any of the other kind of

00:27:30.809 --> 00:27:33.450
radio service. You know? The ham's have a

00:27:33.450 --> 00:27:39.815
lot more variety of frequencies, propagations, modes, all

00:27:39.815 --> 00:27:41.755
that. And I was talking about the digital

00:27:41.815 --> 00:27:45.174
modes, and there's a mode that's kinda taking

00:27:45.174 --> 00:27:48.475
over a lot of the ham radio world.

00:27:48.534 --> 00:27:52.830
It's, I forget what it's called. Benny, would

00:27:52.830 --> 00:27:55.309
you just quiet down? I don't know if

00:27:55.309 --> 00:27:56.990
you heard him in the background, but he's

00:27:56.990 --> 00:27:58.669
whining at me because he wants to go

00:27:58.669 --> 00:28:00.909
in the house and, you know, he's gotta

00:28:00.909 --> 00:28:08.895
wait. Poor dog. Anyway but, yeah, there's, there's

00:28:08.895 --> 00:28:15.150
modes, that are completely automated digital modes, and

00:28:15.150 --> 00:28:20.750
there's no actual communications going on. And but

00:28:20.750 --> 00:28:23.150
a lot of people are using it. So,

00:28:23.150 --> 00:28:24.510
you know, you could just sit here and

00:28:24.510 --> 00:28:27.885
click click click and make contacts all over

00:28:27.885 --> 00:28:31.265
the world, but you're not actually communicating anything.

00:28:32.445 --> 00:28:35.985
I'm trying I'm blanking on what it's called.

00:28:36.525 --> 00:28:40.990
Here, let me bring up an SDR. Let's

00:28:40.990 --> 00:28:43.550
see if, I can get up get the

00:28:43.550 --> 00:28:47.230
SDR going here. I don't know if, you

00:28:47.230 --> 00:28:47.870
you won't be able

00:28:47.870 --> 00:28:50.270
to for the EI. For nine years old.

00:28:50.270 --> 00:28:55.655
You can hear some stuff. Yeah. Let's find

00:28:56.595 --> 00:28:58.355
find one of the digit. Okay. F t

00:28:58.355 --> 00:29:01.235
eight is one of them. So listen to

00:29:01.235 --> 00:29:10.860
this listen to this noise. Okay. I am

00:29:10.860 --> 00:29:13.900
not gonna bore you with that, but listen

00:29:13.900 --> 00:29:15.660
to that noise. And what it is is,

00:29:16.380 --> 00:29:19.660
a bunch of ham radio transmitters transmitting all

00:29:19.660 --> 00:29:21.925
at the same time. And then so, you

00:29:21.925 --> 00:29:23.685
know, like, right now, I could click on

00:29:23.685 --> 00:29:25.605
something if I was running it. I'm not

00:29:25.605 --> 00:29:27.445
running it, but I'm just listening to it

00:29:27.445 --> 00:29:32.265
on the, software defined radio, the SDR. And

00:29:33.365 --> 00:29:36.000
it's just hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of

00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:38.799
ham radio operators just clicking a thing. Oh,

00:29:38.799 --> 00:29:40.960
make contact with this one. And boom. You

00:29:40.960 --> 00:29:44.320
know? It automatically gives the exchange, and all

00:29:44.320 --> 00:29:46.000
of a sudden, you know, boom. You've got

00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:48.960
a contact from, you know, lower Slavovia or

00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:51.894
wherever. And, you know, to me, it's kinda

00:29:51.894 --> 00:29:54.534
like watching paint dry with annoying noise in

00:29:54.534 --> 00:29:57.575
the background. So I'm not a fan. There

00:29:57.575 --> 00:30:00.215
are other digital modes where it's actually keyboard

00:30:00.215 --> 00:30:03.014
to keyboard. You know, packet radio was the

00:30:03.014 --> 00:30:06.899
first one, and RIDI, which is radio teletype.

00:30:08.240 --> 00:30:12.240
That's another kind of digital mode. One that

00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:14.639
I really liked and not very many people

00:30:14.639 --> 00:30:18.715
do anymore is PSK thirty one, and it's

00:30:18.715 --> 00:30:21.434
a a very slow digital mode. But, you

00:30:21.434 --> 00:30:23.934
know, think of think of it like texting

00:30:23.995 --> 00:30:26.794
back and forth with somebody, but via the

00:30:26.794 --> 00:30:30.554
ham radio. And I can blame my, my

00:30:30.554 --> 00:30:35.390
ability to type on a keyboard from packet

00:30:35.390 --> 00:30:39.170
radio. Back in the day, I used to

00:30:39.390 --> 00:30:41.470
do a lot of packet radio out west,

00:30:41.470 --> 00:30:44.030
and, I had a, what we called a

00:30:44.030 --> 00:30:47.870
VT fifty two terminal. And, basically, it was

00:30:47.870 --> 00:30:51.015
a computer terminal that used to be used

00:30:51.015 --> 00:30:55.175
to connect to a mainframe computer that we

00:30:55.175 --> 00:30:59.515
repurposed through what's called a TNC, a terminal

00:30:59.575 --> 00:31:04.090
node controller, which is basically a modem that,

00:31:04.410 --> 00:31:10.590
sent twelve hundred baud packet signals, through VHF,

00:31:11.450 --> 00:31:13.610
and then there was nodes that would repeat

00:31:13.610 --> 00:31:15.610
that. And and, you know, there was quite

00:31:15.610 --> 00:31:18.405
a network all over the country of these

00:31:18.405 --> 00:31:21.765
nodes. And if you were patient and connected

00:31:21.765 --> 00:31:23.525
to this node, then connected to the next

00:31:23.525 --> 00:31:25.285
node and connected to the next node and

00:31:25.285 --> 00:31:26.885
whatever, you could go all the way across

00:31:26.885 --> 00:31:30.245
the country with a rather slow twelve hundred

00:31:30.245 --> 00:31:32.540
baud. And if you think of that in

00:31:32.540 --> 00:31:37.920
Internet speed, twelve hundred baud is painfully slow.

00:31:38.940 --> 00:31:41.660
I think if we used a baud number

00:31:41.660 --> 00:31:45.285
for what your normal Internet connection would be.

00:31:45.285 --> 00:31:48.165
That would be somewhere in five to seven

00:31:48.165 --> 00:31:50.485
million baud is what we're doing now with

00:31:50.485 --> 00:31:54.005
Internet connections. So this was painfully slow, and

00:31:54.005 --> 00:31:57.845
it was also, half duplex, they call it.

00:31:57.845 --> 00:32:00.960
So you type, send, and then the packet

00:32:00.960 --> 00:32:02.800
would go to one node, then the packet

00:32:02.800 --> 00:32:04.080
would go to the next node, and the

00:32:04.080 --> 00:32:05.520
packet would go to the next node, the

00:32:05.520 --> 00:32:07.280
packet node you know, so it wasn't real

00:32:07.280 --> 00:32:09.360
time in any way. But I used to

00:32:09.360 --> 00:32:10.800
be able to connect to my dad here

00:32:10.800 --> 00:32:12.980
in Michigan when I'm out in Boise, Idaho,

00:32:13.785 --> 00:32:15.545
And I used to connect to my dad,

00:32:15.545 --> 00:32:18.185
unpack it, and I'd send, you know, a

00:32:18.185 --> 00:32:20.845
a a text what's essentially a text message.

00:32:21.785 --> 00:32:24.345
And then he would get it probably ten

00:32:24.345 --> 00:32:27.270
minutes, fifteen minutes later, And he would answer

00:32:27.270 --> 00:32:28.710
it and send it back to me, and

00:32:28.710 --> 00:32:30.550
then it would go through all the, you

00:32:30.550 --> 00:32:32.630
know, the different nodes all the way across

00:32:32.630 --> 00:32:34.870
the country. And, you know, we could have

00:32:34.870 --> 00:32:37.930
a keyboard to keyboard conversation that, you know,

00:32:38.710 --> 00:32:40.870
nowadays, you could do in, you know, ten

00:32:40.870 --> 00:32:44.575
minutes on a cell phone. It took, you

00:32:44.575 --> 00:32:46.575
know, two or three hours to get three

00:32:46.575 --> 00:32:49.215
or four messages across the country. It's kinda

00:32:49.215 --> 00:32:52.195
cool. Then they had these bulletin board systems

00:32:52.255 --> 00:32:54.415
where you could log into the bulletin board,

00:32:54.415 --> 00:32:57.960
write a longer message, and send it sort

00:32:57.960 --> 00:33:00.280
of like email. And this was before email

00:33:00.280 --> 00:33:04.440
existed. And I could send a, bulletin board

00:33:04.440 --> 00:33:07.320
message to my dad's local bulletin board here

00:33:07.320 --> 00:33:10.280
in Traverse City from my local bulletin board

00:33:10.280 --> 00:33:12.505
in Idaho. And, you know, it might take

00:33:12.505 --> 00:33:14.025
a day to get there, but it would

00:33:14.025 --> 00:33:16.345
get there. And then he could reply, and

00:33:16.345 --> 00:33:18.425
then he would send it back. So, you

00:33:18.425 --> 00:33:20.745
know, I did email before email was cool

00:33:20.745 --> 00:33:23.865
via ham radio. And, you know, then there

00:33:23.865 --> 00:33:26.585
was these HF gateways where, you know, you

00:33:26.585 --> 00:33:30.640
could jump across long, places, you know, on

00:33:30.640 --> 00:33:33.679
a bulletin board system that would shoot it

00:33:33.679 --> 00:33:35.920
across the country on twenty meters or ten

00:33:35.920 --> 00:33:40.465
meters. So, you know, the hams kinda got

00:33:40.465 --> 00:33:43.184
email sort of figured out before email was

00:33:43.184 --> 00:33:46.465
a thing. And same thing with cellular. These,

00:33:46.784 --> 00:33:50.304
VHF, UHF repeaters, was kind of the basis

00:33:50.304 --> 00:33:54.260
of cellular telephones. You know, you'd have a

00:33:54.260 --> 00:33:56.660
repeater near you, and then the repeater were

00:33:56.740 --> 00:34:00.679
was connected to another repeater somewhere distant. And,

00:34:00.740 --> 00:34:02.420
you know, that was that that was a

00:34:02.420 --> 00:34:05.940
thing. And, you know, now nowadays, you got

00:34:05.940 --> 00:34:08.015
more power in your pocket on your iPhone

00:34:08.155 --> 00:34:10.715
than, than any of this ham radio stuff,

00:34:10.715 --> 00:34:12.955
but, it's still fun to play with the

00:34:12.955 --> 00:34:16.875
old technology. So, anyway, boy, I hope I

00:34:16.875 --> 00:34:19.035
didn't bore you to death with, a lot

00:34:19.035 --> 00:34:23.339
of geeky details. But, yeah, it's, you know,

00:34:23.339 --> 00:34:25.020
it's been a real ride for me. I've

00:34:25.020 --> 00:34:28.220
met, you know, many, many, many, many, many

00:34:28.220 --> 00:34:31.420
good friends via ham radio. Same thing with

00:34:31.420 --> 00:34:33.980
aviation, and some of them crisscross. I got

00:34:33.980 --> 00:34:37.265
some friends that are aviators and ham radio

00:34:37.265 --> 00:34:41.184
operators, and that's kinda cool. But, you know,

00:34:41.184 --> 00:34:44.224
it's a big fraternity, I guess, is the

00:34:44.224 --> 00:34:47.424
right way to put it. And, you know,

00:34:47.424 --> 00:34:49.505
sometimes it's just fun to get on and

00:34:49.505 --> 00:34:53.530
call CQ. CQ means, hey. I'm here. I

00:34:53.530 --> 00:34:55.530
wanna talk to somebody. You know? And you

00:34:55.530 --> 00:34:58.250
call CQ, and somebody answers you, and you

00:34:58.250 --> 00:35:00.250
have a nice conversation with them and meet

00:35:00.250 --> 00:35:02.890
them, you know, from could be across town,

00:35:02.890 --> 00:35:05.050
could be across the country, could be across

00:35:05.050 --> 00:35:08.555
the world. So Haim radio is a a

00:35:08.775 --> 00:35:11.575
pretty interesting hobby. And and nowadays, you can

00:35:11.575 --> 00:35:14.615
get in without learning Morse code. They've done

00:35:14.615 --> 00:35:17.015
away with all the code requirements. Although some

00:35:17.015 --> 00:35:19.015
people use Morse code, I have a code

00:35:19.015 --> 00:35:21.690
key here. And periodically, I do get on

00:35:21.690 --> 00:35:23.530
Morse code a little bit just just to

00:35:23.530 --> 00:35:26.890
keep my skills up. But, you don't have

00:35:26.890 --> 00:35:29.530
to learn that anymore. So there's three levels

00:35:29.530 --> 00:35:31.850
of ham radio license here in the US.

00:35:31.850 --> 00:35:34.250
There's the technician class, which is the entry

00:35:34.250 --> 00:35:37.945
level, and you have to pass a, a

00:35:37.945 --> 00:35:40.665
test. You find a a VE session, a

00:35:40.665 --> 00:35:43.545
volunteer examiner session near you, and you sign

00:35:43.545 --> 00:35:46.505
up and go pay the, license fee. I

00:35:46.505 --> 00:35:49.680
think it's forty bucks or fifty bucks, something

00:35:49.680 --> 00:35:52.880
like that, and take the FCC test. And,

00:35:53.040 --> 00:35:54.960
if you pass the test, they issue a

00:35:54.960 --> 00:35:58.240
call sign and you're ham. And then there's

00:35:58.240 --> 00:36:00.560
the next level is the general class, and

00:36:00.560 --> 00:36:03.015
that gives you all of the bands, but

00:36:03.015 --> 00:36:05.575
you don't get all of the frequencies in

00:36:05.575 --> 00:36:08.375
all of the bands, because there's a little

00:36:08.375 --> 00:36:11.335
carve out for the next higher license, but

00:36:11.335 --> 00:36:13.175
not much. I mean, it's not, you know,

00:36:13.175 --> 00:36:17.050
like, a huge difference. General class license is

00:36:17.050 --> 00:36:19.690
totally adequate for most people that wanna play

00:36:19.690 --> 00:36:22.589
around on the, high frequency or HF bands

00:36:23.210 --> 00:36:25.609
and talk around the world. If you just

00:36:25.609 --> 00:36:27.849
wanna talk, you know, with a handy talk

00:36:27.849 --> 00:36:30.650
here around town or around the state, on

00:36:30.650 --> 00:36:33.505
repeaters and whatnot, the the technician class license.

00:36:33.505 --> 00:36:36.385
So then there's the extra class, and that's

00:36:36.385 --> 00:36:39.025
what I am. I've had my extra now

00:36:39.025 --> 00:36:43.025
for twenty five years, and that just means

00:36:43.025 --> 00:36:45.845
I'm I'm able to operate on all frequencies

00:36:46.145 --> 00:36:49.700
of all bands, and, I have that privilege.

00:36:49.700 --> 00:36:52.740
I can also become a volunteer examiner. Well,

00:36:52.740 --> 00:36:54.180
that's one of the things. You have to

00:36:54.180 --> 00:36:56.579
be an extra class to give the extra

00:36:56.579 --> 00:36:59.460
class test, and so I have done that.

00:36:59.460 --> 00:37:02.515
I am a, registered volunteer examiner with the

00:37:02.515 --> 00:37:07.155
American Radio Relay League and the, w five

00:37:07.155 --> 00:37:11.815
y I group, which is another licensor licensure

00:37:12.515 --> 00:37:15.779
group. So I'm qualified for both of those.

00:37:15.779 --> 00:37:17.140
And every once in a while, I'll do

00:37:17.140 --> 00:37:20.019
a test session with, one of the VE

00:37:20.019 --> 00:37:22.259
groups around here, and I haven't done one

00:37:22.259 --> 00:37:25.220
in a while. But, you know, they they

00:37:25.220 --> 00:37:27.140
do them periodically. And now you can do

00:37:27.140 --> 00:37:30.765
them online. There's actually online testing where you

00:37:30.765 --> 00:37:35.105
can, join a, a volunteer examiner test session,

00:37:35.965 --> 00:37:39.965
via Zoom. So, yeah, there's some weird rules.

00:37:39.965 --> 00:37:41.580
You know, you gotta you know, you can't

00:37:41.980 --> 00:37:44.140
go off. You can't turn your camera off,

00:37:44.140 --> 00:37:48.140
and and the the the test itself actually

00:37:48.140 --> 00:37:50.620
locks you out of getting into any other

00:37:50.620 --> 00:37:52.300
device nearby, and you have to have your

00:37:52.300 --> 00:37:54.060
camera on so that they can see that

00:37:54.060 --> 00:37:56.625
you're not looking up questions on your phone

00:37:56.625 --> 00:38:00.065
or a book or something nearby. But, it

00:38:00.065 --> 00:38:02.785
it can be done now online. Although, you

00:38:02.785 --> 00:38:04.865
know, I'd recommend going to a session because

00:38:04.865 --> 00:38:08.369
you'll meet people, and it's kinda cool. But,

00:38:08.590 --> 00:38:12.030
yeah, that's, Ham Radio. And, again, like I

00:38:12.030 --> 00:38:13.550
said, I hope I didn't bore you with

00:38:13.550 --> 00:38:16.430
too much technical stuff, but, a lot to

00:38:16.430 --> 00:38:18.190
say about it, I guess, because, you know,

00:38:18.190 --> 00:38:19.710
it's been a big part of my life.

00:38:19.710 --> 00:38:21.310
And, you know, I got my dad into

00:38:21.310 --> 00:38:24.115
it. And before he died, you know, he

00:38:24.115 --> 00:38:26.434
was really into it. He got his extra

00:38:26.434 --> 00:38:31.234
class, license before I did. But, like I

00:38:31.234 --> 00:38:33.734
said, we, had a good time with it

00:38:33.795 --> 00:38:35.315
all along. And, and like I said, I

00:38:35.315 --> 00:38:39.110
have some lifelong friends because of Ham Radio.

00:38:39.830 --> 00:38:42.070
Those of you that know about podcasting, the

00:38:42.070 --> 00:38:45.910
inventor of podcasting, Adam Curry, is is a

00:38:45.910 --> 00:38:50.630
Ham Radio operator, and, I think it's, k

00:38:50.630 --> 00:38:53.615
five a c c or something like that.

00:38:53.995 --> 00:38:57.115
Anyway, he's, he's a ham radio operator. My

00:38:57.115 --> 00:38:59.275
current call sign is k eight l m

00:38:59.275 --> 00:39:01.755
j. Used to be n seven l m

00:39:01.755 --> 00:39:04.235
j, but when I moved to Michigan and

00:39:04.235 --> 00:39:06.555
after several years, I changed it to eight

00:39:06.555 --> 00:39:09.869
because the call sign number kinda gives you

00:39:09.869 --> 00:39:12.350
the area of where you're at. It's not

00:39:12.350 --> 00:39:14.750
required that you change it to the correct

00:39:14.750 --> 00:39:18.910
area, but I did. So, anyway, everybody have

00:39:18.910 --> 00:39:22.555
a good rest of the day. I'll get

00:39:22.555 --> 00:39:24.235
this one out so it goes out first

00:39:24.235 --> 00:39:26.155
thing in the morning since it's a longer

00:39:26.155 --> 00:39:28.955
one. And, I'm not sure what I'm gonna

00:39:28.955 --> 00:39:32.875
talk about tomorrow, but, I'll be here. Catch