HRN 327; EmComm Extra #12: Rick Palm K1CE

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Rick Palm K1CE writes the Public Service column in QST Magazine for the ARRL. He also publishes the monthly ARRL E-Letter, with a compilation of ARES and other public service Amateur Radio activity. In this EmComm Extra, Rick joins HamRadioNow hosts David Goldenberg W0DHG and Gary Pearce KN4AQ for what's basically an EmComm Bull Session (but we stuck with the EmComm number, not a BS number, in a futile attempt to keep it simple).

Not only is this mostly a talking head show, but Rick – brand new to Skype – couldn't get his camera going. David was at lunch in a borrowed conference room with a hard cutoff time, so we went with a still picture of Rick from the mid-90's. So the only thing you'll miss is Gary's 80's-vintage graphics at the top of the show (you'll hear what they're for, so just think crappy TV and you'll be close enough).

That yields a Radio Rating of A+. Nothing to see here... move along....

HRN 326: What's Coming from D-STAR (from the 2017 Hamvention)

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Robin Cutshaw AA4RC (left), co-inventor of the DVDongle, DVAP, and the D-Plus networking system for D-STAR, and John Hays K7VE, co-founder and Marketing Director for NW Digital Radio join Marty (Chicken With Fries) and Gary KN4AQ for a discussion of digital voice radio, with a decidedly D-STAR focus.

If D-STAR is 'dying,' you couldn't tell it by these guys.

Radio Rating: A+. Oh, it's kind of fun to see Gary scrambling to pick up the power cords as a thunderstorm rolls by, and watch as the tent gets really dark during the peak of the storm. But otherwise this is a radio show with pictures. So plug in for your commute.

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HRN 325: Amateur Television

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This episode was recorded in the SIB* at the 2017 Dayton Hamvention, thunderstorms and all!

Mel Whitten K0PFX brought over Mike Collis WA6SVT, editor of ATV Quarterly, the magazine for Amateur Television, and that's what we talked about.

This is as general a conversation as a bunch of geeks can have, which means it lapses into the jargon and details of ATV now and then. But if you're not one of the ATV ops (and odds are strongly that you're not), you'll still get the flavor of this niche mode that everybody seems to mention when they tell the general public about ham radio ("Oh, and we have television!").

The big thing in ATV these days is the transition to digital. While FM voice operators can argue the merits and demerits of the digital voice modes (D-STAR, DMR, Fusion, etc.), Digital ATV is all upside. But there is still a lot of analog out there.

This show is 99% talking heads, so the Radio Rating is a big fat A. The only thing that robs is of a + is how loud the rain gets in the middle. 

You know, since this is all about television, you'd think Gary would have slugged in a bunch of ATV video as Mike and Mel talked about it. And while there is a lot of it on YouTube, Gary couldn't find any that came from the guys we were talking about. So if you want to see it, head to YouTube and search for Amateur Radio Television ATV. (Just plain "Amateur Television" will get some interesting results, but not what you're looking for).

*Studio In a Booth