In this episode, I join Martin Butler M1MRB, Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT and Ed Durrant DD5LP to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Topics we discuss in this episode include:
On the Internet
One-day Tech class now on YouTube
On Saturday, I taught a one-day Tech class on the HamRadio 2.0 YouTube channel. I’m not sure how many attended exactly because the class was being held in a Zoom webinar and being live-streamed on YouTube. There were 30 participants in the Zoom webinar, but I’m not sure how many were watching on YouTube.
This was the first time that I’d done a complete one-day Tech class online. It made for a long day, but I think it worked out pretty well. Take a look and let me know what you think. And, feel free to share the link to this video with those who are thinking of getting a license, but perhaps are finding it difficult to find a class or for whatever reason are unable to attend one.
ICQ Podcast Episode 389: Hams assist law enforcement, ask a ham for EMI/RFI help, Taiwanese hams prepare for war
In this episode, I join Martin Butler M1MRB, Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT, Edmund Spicer M0MNG and Ed Durrant DD5LP to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news, including:
This episode’s feature is Part two of the RSGB National Hamfest Round-up.
ICQ Podcast Episode 387 – Three Mini Ham Hardware Reviews
In this episode, I joined Martin M1MRB, Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT, Edmund Spicer M0MNG, Ed Durrant DD5LP and Leslie Butterfield G0CIB to discuss the following:
The episode’s feature consists of three mini-reviews of some new ham hardware.
Where are all the amateur radio Tik Toks?
My boss at ARDC has asked me to take a look at TikTok and come up with some ideas as to whether it’s worth it for us to spend time on creating our own videos. So, today, I created a TikTok account and browsed around for a while, searching for amateur radio content. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed.
Whereas on YouTube there’s just tons of amateur radio content, I only found a few TikTokers producing much amateur radio content. These include:
- @glamhamradio. Natalie, NW6S, is the TikToker behind this channel(?). She seems to have a good grasp of how to create short, instructional videos.
- @radioprep. David, W5CWT, has only eight videos in his channel, but all of them show how he used regular “stuff” in ham radio.
- @k5ata_goodgamehamradio. This is the channel of Steve, K5ATA, the ARRL’s Education and Learning Manager. There are 17 TikToks in this channel, but not all of them are related to ham radio.
Am I missing something here? Are there other TikTokers with more and interesting amateur radio content? If so, I’d really like to know about it.
Also, I’m trying to think how we might use TikTok to promote ARDC. I suppose that we could get some grantees to send in videos, then extract clips to post as TikToks. Do you think that would be of any interest to people? I’m kind of thinking that it wouldn’t be worth the time and energy.
From my own point of view, I might try to make a few TikToks to illustrate points in my No Nonsense study guides. It should be simple enough to do a few of them and see if they get any traction. What do you think?
KB6NU on the DitDit Podcast
A week or so ago, Bruce, N9WKE, phoned me and asked if I would appear on the Dit Dit podcast. He hadn’t produced an episode in nearly two years and wanted to get started again. He said that he wanted to have me on his show because I was “the #1 most requested guest.”
Now, I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it was still an honor to be asked. Here’s the episode:
Amateur radio videos: Contest University 2022
This year, at the Dayton Hamvention, they once again held Contest University in person. They also livestreamed and recorded the presentations. Here’s the video:
- Low Band Receiving Antennas by W3LPL
- Improving your Transmitting Antennas for Solar Cycle 25 by W3LPL
- Improving the Competitiveness of Your Station by W3LPL
- The ND7K Contest Station, Teamwork and Multi-operator Innovations by N6WIN
- Grounding and Bonding by N0AX
- Antennas and Propagation Questions and Answers by W3LPL
- Optimizing your Receiver Performance by NC0B
Recordings of previous years’ Contest University presentations are also online.
Another crazy idea for an amateur radio video
A couple of weeks ago, the Veritasium video, “The Big Misconception About Electricity” created quite a stir. If you’re interested in the physics of electricity, you might want to watch this yourself.
Also, he has almost 12 million subscribers on YouTube. If we could somehow convince him to do a video on amateur radio, it would get a lot of play. I’ve emailed him about this and am now waiting for a reply.
My question to you all is are there other video producers out there like Vertiasium who are doing something similar? I’ve been browsing YouTube for the last hour, and while there are a ton of videos on radio waves, for example, they’re all pretty dry, academic stuff. I want to find someone that can not only explain a topic, but spur a viewer’s imagination as well.
I know we have a bunch of amateur radio YouTubers, and they all do some great videos, but their audience are folks who already have amateur radio licenses. They’re preaching to the choir. I want someone who can produce a video that people outside the church will watch and convince them to join the congregation.
What do you think? Do you have any favorite video producers who might be able to pull this off? To sweeten the pot a little, let me remind you that I’m the Communications Manager for ARDC. We make grants to organizations and projects that promote and support amateur radio. If we find the right producer, funds might be available.
By the way
Dave Jones, of EEVBlog fame, has done a video on this topic, tackling it from an engineering point of view. It’s worth watching, if you’re interested in the topic.
ICQ Podcast Episode 375 – The Fed Files
In this episode, I joined Martin Butler (M1MRB), Edmund Spicer M0MNG and Ed Durrant DD5LP, and we blabbed about:
Colin (M6BOY) rounds up the news in brief and in the episode’s feature The Fed Files.
Amateur radio videos: 6-year-old ham on David Letterman, KB6NU on Operator of the Week, how to make your own DMR codeplug
Young ham on David Letterman
Veronica Harrington, KC6TQR, appeared on March 26, 1992. She was six years old at the time. David Letterman actually had a ham license at one point.
KB6NU on Operator of the Week
Yours truly appeared on the podcast, Operator of the Week by WA7PBE. It’s always fun to appear on podcasts like this.
Make your own DMR codeplug
This video by BridgeCom aims to take some of the mystery out of DMR codeplugs. The video talks about the Anytone radios that Bridgecom sells, but you should be able to set up your own after viewing the video. If you need more info, the YouTube page lists a bunch of other videos explaining how to do this.