Everyday Ham Podcast: Amateur Radio Conversations
Welcome to the Everyday Ham Podcast, where three friends dive into the world of amateur (ham) radio with a casual, lighthearted twist. (Visit www.everydayham.com)
From discussing what we're working on, current events, and lessons learned to sharing our gripes and off-topic banter, we bring a mix of fun, relatable conversations and radio expertise.
Whether you’re a seasoned operator or new to the hobby, join us for engaging chats that celebrate the quirks, challenges, and joys of being on the air.
Everyday Ham Podcast: Amateur Radio Conversations
Do You Really Need a New Radio? Honest Ham Radio Upgrade Advice
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Do you really need that new radio? In Episode 14, James (K8JKU), Jim (N8JRD), and Rory (W8KNX) get honest about the pressure to upgrade ham radio gear and share what they’ve learned from their own buying mistakes.
We begin with a moment of remembrance for Elwood Downey, creator of HamClock, and share what his contributions meant to the community. Then we catch up around the shack — Jim’s new CW trainer, James’s hotel radio experiments from Germany, and Rory’s progress with Morse code through the Long Island CW Club.
The main topic digs into upgrade pressure. Jim confesses his $10K shack might not outperform his old $890 FT-DX10 and $99 end-fed combo. Rory makes the case that antennas matter more than radios. James shares his FTX-1F disappointment and why he went crawling back to his trusted FT-891. The unanimous takeaway: more antenna, less radio.
We also talk BuddiHEX plans, hamfest buying strategies heading into Hamcation and Hamvention season, and preview our upcoming trip to Orlando.
Don’t miss a single episode! Follow the Everyday Ham Podcast on your favorite podcast platform (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, and more) and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel.
https://www.everydayham.com
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The Everyday Ham Podcast is hosted by James Mills (K8JKU), Jim Davis (N8JRD), and Rory Locke (W8KNX) – three friends who dive into the world of amateur radio with a casual, lighthearted twist.
Follow us at: Website: https://www.everydayham.com/
Good evening, everyone. It is episode fourteen of the Everyday Ham Podcast, and it is February 2026. If you've stuck around with us for this long, we do sure appreciate your
Opening And Community Notes
SPEAKER_03patronage, and we do welcome you uh to the Discord if you're aware of that, or our website. Check out all of the socials. And if you're a listener on the podcasting platforms, we appreciate you there as well. Welcome this evening, gentlemen. Uh, have K JKU James here with me, and W8KNX Rory, uh, my esteemed colleagues. I am, of course, N8JRD Jim from the South End of South Lion here, and uh it's another regularly scheduled podcasted episode. This is our long form podcast, and uh we'll uh have some very interesting topics. But uh starting on a bit of a somber note this evening, Mr. Elwood Downey, creator of the ham clock, uh, has unfortunately passed away. And if you're not familiar with the ham clock, of course,
Remembering Elwood Downey And 988
SPEAKER_03uh one of the probably most uh prolific free pieces of ham software, I think many of us had it running in our shack. Uh awesome, awesome tool, uh, and many of us using it every day for data that we use to hunt DX and PODA and see how our signals are doing. So uh real sad information that we learned earlier on this week. And we just wanted to take a moment uh to recognize his uh contributions to the ham community uh and reach out and just say uh our sincere condolences to the family of uh Elwood there.
SPEAKER_00I think if uh it's something to keep in mind as well, if you or any of your family is struggling with thoughts of suicide or any mental health crisis, keep in mind the national suicide hotline of 988, and that's of course in the United States. If you're outside of the U.S., I think a quick Google will find you some support. Certainly they're there 24 hours a day, and that's something to keep in mind if you're in need. Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02And his contributions also can't be understated for just getting hams to use a Raspberry Pi, get comfortable with programming and flashing and doing all the things. He did a lot, not just for ham clock
DIY Spirit And Ham Clock’s Impact
SPEAKER_02itself, but also the ham spirit and the development spirit. So he will be greatly missed.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, the DIY spirit of ham, right? Is to put those things together, put a piece of uh uh ham created software on it and just have it be such a useful tool. So we are sad to say uh that uh Elwood has passed, but uh we did want to recognize him this evening. And with that, let's jump into uh how things are going around the shack, gentlemen. Uh a little turn of the corner here. Uh we have a couple of interesting things coming up, and we'll be traveling next week uh for Ham Cash. We're gonna
Travel Plans For Orlando Hamcation
SPEAKER_03talk about that in a few minutes. Headed to Orlando. Headed to Orlando. And I just checked the extended forecast indicates that instead of a balmy 20 degrees Fahrenheit, uh, if you're listening here in the United States, if you're listening over the pond, uh you can do the conversion yourself because I'm bad at it. Uh it's probably cold. Uh but down in Orlando, Florida, it is 80 degrees. Uh starting next week on Friday, we're expecting 80, 78. Uh, I could take both of those. Uh get me an umbrella drink, gentlemen. I haven't had a drink for two and a half months, but it might be might be time. Uh when we get down there, I'll kick my sandals on uh and uh we'll just have a regular old Jimmy Buffett time. Uh it might be Margarita Mills. But anyway.
SPEAKER_02Setting those expectations.
SPEAKER_03I mean, I I am kidding, I am kidding. I I'm gonna behave myself.
SPEAKER_00Go ahead. Go ahead. I I I was gonna make an umbrella drink comment, but uh I think I think if you do resume, you gotta stick to beer. I think we all know that.
SPEAKER_03Okay. That is also fair. Uh I am I'm more of a beer guy than anything. Fair statement, Rory knows. All right, around the shack, gentlemen. Uh, so we had we talked to Terry last month about CW, uh, and we've had uh just an absolute uh, I would say, sort of uh resurgence of CW interest here, uh, especially in the the metro area in the South
CW Resurgence And Club Momentum
SPEAKER_03Lion area amateur radio club, which of course you are all familiar with at this point uh if you listen to the Everyday Ham podcast. Uh and part of that was uh really getting an idea of how to learn CW, what tools folks were using. And so I did uh commit to a purchase uh to help me on my journey. Um, and I'm I'm I'm not gonna lie, I bought one of these CW Pokemon uh Ham Cube Pro trainers. Uh really
CW Trainer Review And Use Cases
SPEAKER_03cool little tool. This is a $99 tool. Uh, you can find it on the Ham Geek website. It uh ships from China. Uh so you know, uh just awareness there, it takes about seven or eight days to show up. No tariffs, though. So that was cool. $99 out the door. Uh, and it is just a really nifty box. This particular one here can do decode. So if you have like an FT891 in your POTA kit and it doesn't have a CW decoder, you can plug this guy in right through the audio and you have a built-in decoder if you decide to go out there and start to experiment or even just listen to what's going on on CW. The other cool thing it does uh is it actually allows you to uh do uh like a key or setup so you can actually play in your shack with this. Little color screen pops on and you can send your CW right into this. You don't have to worry about interrupting all the uh very serious Morse operators on the bands. Uh, you can test your metal uh with the CW paddle uh in the shack. And so just really, really cool device. Uh it also has a couple games built in so you can listen back. And listening for me has been an absolute challenge so far. Uh, and you can also uh try to play uh games where the the letter will fall down, and as it hits the bottom, if you haven't already killed it by, of course, uh using the paddle the right way, uh well then you you you build up enough of those and you you fail the game. So really neat uh tool. We'll do a little bit of a special on this, I think, at some point. But uh I have been really pleased with this. It gets a recommend from me. There was another guy in the club, W8JLN Joe, uh, who has the non-pro version of it, just the trainer, and he loves it too. So uh if you haven't checked it out, go check it out. Maybe it's something uh that can help you on your CW journey.
SPEAKER_00Well, it's a cool enough device to have out at the bar. We we had our uh outing with the club last week out at the uh two beer social that we do as a club, and uh it was making its way around the table, and everyone was trying their hand at their uh, you know, their little bit of CW
Bar Night CW And Club Culture
SPEAKER_00skills there. Everyone was uh you know, we were we were the table and nerds at the brewery.
SPEAKER_03You know you're having a rousing uh evening out at the bar if uh out of your winter jacket pocket slips a iambic key and a CW trainer and all the cables to connect those two so that you can pass it around. And it's not a light key. I mean it's a good uh what is it, VK6. So anyway, uh hilarious little uh conversation. That's right, it did get passed around. Rory, what's new in your shack?
SPEAKER_00No new toys, but uh a lot of CW practice, been spending a lot of time with uh trying to fine-tune my listening skills on CW, struggling hard. And uh I'll
Practicing CW: Struggles And Routines
SPEAKER_00tell you something, it it really is an everyday thing you have to do every day. Uh certainly my my practice sending, um Jim and James can probably both they they've heard me send a little bit, I can do that pretty well. But I I still I still can't hear all the letters and I can't make sense out of them all the time. So certainly I've been spending my time with Long Island CW Club's uh online practice and uh their their carousel training sessions that they do. Uh certainly I'm starting to hear it. It just takes time. It is an everyday thing. So that's my focus right now. No new toys, but uh certainly some time learning and and fine-tuning the CW.
SPEAKER_03Who knows what next week holds for you? Right.
SPEAKER_00How about you, James?
SPEAKER_02You know, it's been a pretty crazy time with work the last few weeks for me. So I have not had a lot of radio time. Uh I guess uh one good thing was I was in, I talked about a little bit, I was in
Portable Ops Abroad And Hotel Antennas
SPEAKER_02Germany, uh, did take a the 4XCR uh radio with me, tried to do a little bit of digital while I was in the hotel room. Uh didn't have the most success, but it was fun trying. Uh apparently shoving an N Fen antenna out of a hotel window is not the most efficient method of antennaing in the hotel room. Uh so next time I'm supposed to go back here to uh France, Germany, and maybe Poland in a couple weeks. Uh I'm gonna borrow Jim's Mag Loop. Unfortunately, I don't have much time to go to parks or else I'd be getting a POTA activation in. Uh, but Jim, I'm I'm probably gonna take you up on that offer to borrow that mag loop. Yes, make a much more efficient hotel antenna situation. Uh so I'm pretty excited about that.
SPEAKER_03You know how I know that you weren't in the United States uh up on the 15th floor. Uh you could actually open the window uh at the hotel. Oh, that's nice. You you actually could drop something out the window like an antenna, because in the United States, every window is locked, closed, and you have to run the annual. No, no, no, of course not. Nah. But yes, you are welcome to the mag loop, and we had a lot of fun with that mag loop doing a little testing in the park. Uh at just nine watts, it was getting out pretty well. So I'll be really curious to see what your experience is with that uh and uh see how it travels uh with you and uh we'll look for some reports.
SPEAKER_02That'll be a fun, fun trip. I don't have a lot of time while over there, as I mentioned. Uh so when it's the evening and just to have something set up and have a little fun, uh you know, unwind and relax is is always kind of nice. Uh also uh like to do the two shout-outs, actually, three shout-outs this week, if that's okay. Uh so I'd like to thank uh we were at Winterfield Day. Uh by the time this podcast posts on our YouTube
Winter Field Day Shoutouts
SPEAKER_02channel, you should be able to see our Winterfield Day update. Uh the recap and the recap. We were in the very, very freezing uh winter storm that recently happened across the U.S. here in Michigan. Uh so a lot of fun, great time with the guys. Uh the Lavonia area club area amateur radio club was operating in a cabin next door. Uh so Sean AE8 S P and Eric W8APS, also some good friends of ours from uh the neighboring club. Uh, and then also a special shout out to another South Lion Area Amateur Radio Club member, Ray, uh KC8RC, uh always a huge help with taking media and photos for us and all around great guy to hang out with. So very much appreciate him and all the support he provides us as well.
SPEAKER_03Ray's got that uh creative mind and uh he's always got his camera out there and uh getting very artistic shots. Yes. So if you're in the Discord, uh the multimedia share is dominated by Ray's uh posts, and he he messaged me on the side uh the other day and said, Jim, do you think people are getting annoyed with all the pictures? I was like, Ray, full set, buddy. Just keep just keep posting them. I love the activity. So go check them out. And if you show up to one of our events, you might get a glamour shot of your own that you could post on your whatever the best social media is right now profile.
SPEAKER_02Yep. And and I guess uh last topic for my international travels here. Uh if if you're in near Koblenz, Germany by any chance, uh, which seems to be the geographic region in Germany I'm located most of the time, uh let me know because I'd love to try to meet up for a POTA
Meeting Hams Overseas For POTA
SPEAKER_02activation. Who doesn't like to meet up with strangers in a park here uh for some good old-fashioned ham radio? Uh, but I I've never activated a park overseas at this point, so I'd be definitely interested in learning how to do that. And uh I I pack lights, so I was gonna say with somebody else.
SPEAKER_03With somebody else's hundred-watt radio and big antenna, right?
SPEAKER_02Maybe not the most ideal setup. Uh, but with that, I'd like to maybe move into our next topic. Uh this is one maybe near and dear to all our hearts for different reasons. Uh, but we'd like to talk about when was the last time you felt pressure to upgrade a radio, even when you were perfectly happy with it. So we see a
The Pressure To Upgrade Radios
SPEAKER_02lot of uh social media posts and YouTube influencers and even ourselves uh peddling the latest and greatest and being very excited about it. But we also find ourselves sometimes with either buyer's remorse or honestly, just maybe we don't need to upgrade it this time. And I'd like to kind of go into your thoughts on this and and where you stand today. Yeah, I'll be go ahead. Go ahead, Roy. Take it out.
SPEAKER_00I think we have two opposite ends of the spectrum here. If if you look at my approach to this and Jim's approach to this, I tend to keep a radio for 10, 15, 20, 23 years. True.
Different Upgrade Philosophies
SPEAKER_00Jim over there at the at the other end of South Lion, always wheeling and dealing to sell something, move something along, and try something else. But I think I think Jim's approach is always that to learn about the new stuff. I think I think his interest in learning about the new stuff and how the new stuff actually performs and what it can do is it's a lot of his driving force. Me, on the other hand, I don't mind hearing other people talk about it. I I like to I like the radios that I know. So, you know, it's it's definitely we've all talked about for some time. We've all sold. I wonder how many DX10s we've sold. I I I'd be curious about that. Quite a few. You know, I'm sure how many FT 891s have we have we sold? Quite a few.
SPEAKER_03Is this where we say not sponsored by Yesu? But Yesu, if you're out there, we would love to talk. Not a plug, but a plug.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. But for some of the other ones, how many, how many ICOM 7300s have we sold? We've spent some time talking about that, Rick, too. So, and of course, they're they're new upgrades. So, you know, it's uh everyone approaches it differently. Jim, your thoughts on on your approach to it.
SPEAKER_03Well, yeah, uh I think it's very evident, right? Uh, we've done 14 episodes and I've gone through at least 14 radios in those 14 episodes. So I mean, plus or minus. I think that's about one one a month. Uh every I'm kidding.
SPEAKER_02It's not quite that rapid,
Value Radios: 7300, 891, And DX10
SPEAKER_02but at least at least maybe a new radio or at least a new gadget to go into the can we make a list of things.
SPEAKER_00There's a there's a flex that's come and gone.
SPEAKER_03The flex is come and gone. We have gone through two DX10s in the shack, uh, got the first, it was awesome, sold it because I wanted to, you know, get something else. You know how it goes, right? And then you don't have it and you're like, wow, that was a great radio. Grass is not always greener. So that's one of the takeaways that I was gonna say out of the gate is in moving rapidly across all these radios and in hearing uh, you know, if you're a regular ham tube listener, right? Uh all the guys, you know, name name them, right? K8MRD, Josh, K I6 N A Z, right? Uh Ham Radio 2.0 down there in Texas, Jason, all these guys, right? They're always showing us the newest stuff. We're guilty of it just recently with the D750 preview that we did, right? Absolutely. Uh, and it doesn't necessarily be need to be that way. Uh, I absolutely love moving gear. I love playing with the new stuff, but it doesn't always stay in the shack. And I've said this before, right? Uh, it's not within my means to keep every piece of expensive gear that I buy. I just I just don't have that kind of uh disposable income for this particular hobby. But as part of wanting to be able to talk about it and have the experience to share with you guys, I do uh rapidly change uh things and I I one thing moves and the next thing comes into the shack. So I do have a very strange approach to it. There are some things, however, uh that I do consider to be stalwart gear, uh, and we've talked about those, just like the DX10, right? That is an unbeatable radio in today's market. Uh it's an expensive radio in today's market. So a lot of folks are not starting there, and that is okay as well, right? If you're listening to this podcast and we joke all
Antenna First: Why It Matters
SPEAKER_03the time about DX10s, DX10s, DX10s, there are a number of great SDR-powered receive uh receive and transceive uh radios out there that you can get today that are half that price, if not less. And and a fine example of that, the 7300. Mark 1, 7300. We have a club member just last week uh that got a hold of a brand new in the box 7300 from ICOM, his first SDR transceiver upgrading from I believe an FT891, was it? Yep, yep, that's correct. And just had a blast, I think he paid 600 bucks for this thing, brand new in the box. Uh, and he has had an absolute blast with it, making it sing FT8, uh, enjoying that it has the built-in sound cards and all the modern amenities. And that thing's been around for years. So, right, that that's the the idea here is that although we talk about it and we joke about always getting the newest and latest, I I mean it it that's not how this hobby really has to be. And I don't think that a lot of our our listeners out there uh have the means. We we heard a lot of you commenting in the D7 uh the D750 video that it's that price that pricing is unrealistic. It's it's pie in the sky. And and folks on fixed incomes, I'm a retiree now. I'm I've moved to my uh you know my cabin in the woods, and I I don't have that kind of money to spend. That is totally fair. Those those radios probably aren't something that you need to add to your collection. But I I I think that it's a really interesting um it's an interesting conversation to have because there is this constant pressure uh to upgrade to the next best thing, and I don't know if the next best thing is always the best, best thing. Go ahead, James.
SPEAKER_02No, I I mean I was gonna use the 7300 example. Uh that that sort of is why I was actually bringing up this topic to begin with, is it
Power Vs Hearing: Station Balance
SPEAKER_02sort of struck a chord with me because now I do have a DX10 sitting right next to me here. Yep. Uh, but I started with the 7300 and that was my primary base station Poda radio. I took it everywhere with me. The first HF radio I actually bought myself after I upgraded to a general license. Absolutely. And I love that radio still. I actually have it over there in a you know hard shell case, uh just sitting on the shelf. And I probably should pull a gym and offload it and sell it for to collect the money, but it holds sentimental value to me. But yeah, the truth is, too, for my experience level and the type of radio operating I'm doing, I think this is a lesson for maybe some new hams as well. Is there's a lot of things you can do that isn't necessarily radio specific, buying a new radio, upgrading your radio, sure, better antenna, uh, maybe try some new fun modes out there that are new to you to sort of stay excited in the hobby that isn't just going out and shelling out more money for a different radio. And the truth is for me, and was this point I was going to make, is if I was to go back and pull out that 7300 for me, I would notice some of the sounds, you know, the noise floor differences and other things. Um, but however, I think I could have just as much fun on the air with that radio as my DX10 in the shack if I if I wanted to. And you don't always need to upgrade the radio to really get that difference. Really, or
Band Openings And Making DX
SPEAKER_02if it was me, and maybe this is a question to you two as well, if I was to go out and try to upgrade my shack, I would upgrade my antenna situation uh before I really go out and update my radio. Because I feel like with a specialized antenna or more broadband antenna, you can really kind of make more of a difference in your operating than necessarily always upgrading the radio or just even spending time learning the features of the radio uh that you can fully maximize what you do have versus just going out and trying to buy something else on top of it. But I'd be curious where you're at on if you're gonna try to do something other than the radio, what what would it be to sort of improve your experience?
SPEAKER_00Well, I mean, you come over to my place here and I'm I'm 100% on attic, very bad antennas. I mean, they're not they're they're not good. Uh my my NFED in the attic that doubles back against itself and runs across the building and back in the condominium here, you know, that would have to be number one. There isn't a radio I could buy that would improve my my my situation here with how well I hear or or get out uh receiver transmit. It's all in the antenna system. And of course, that's something that's on the list for the spring is to get something out back here and run a wire outside finally after all these years. But uh you you can't buy you can't buy a radio to to get past that antenna system. Um you know another example I thought of is I think we have a club member locally here who has uh DXCC on two bands using the FT891, if
Doing More With Less Through CW
SPEAKER_00I if I'm remembering the shack correctly. So I mean that's that's pretty good. You don't need you don't need the radio. You don't need I'm I'm one that makes fun of people who say, Oh, I need I need the waterfall. I I don't you don't need you don't need the waterfall. Spin the dial and turn your ears on and listen. You don't need the waterfall. So all these things, you know, you you can have a perfectly good radio and all these extras you can you can operate just the same and do do all the same things, but definitely, definitely need the antenna system to go with it. I know uh Jim added the amp over there, he added some power, and and I I ragged him, I ragged him incessantly. I'm like, you need an antenna to go with that power. And um, I think some improvements have been made in time, but uh, but you know, it's it's it's all the things, right? It's not just it's not just the radio and it's not just uh um spending more money on on the hardware, it's uh it's it's other things that have to be in place too. But you know, we look at guys who have been in the hobby for for 30 and 40 years, and and they're still using those 30 and 40 year old radios, too. And and they're doing they're doing just as well. You know, they're there's some advanced filtering that we all know is better in the newer radios, but they're they're having just as good of a time and and and making the same contacts everyone else does.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, the your your question here, and uh here's something that I've learned, right? I do have an FT DX 101 MP, Jesus top-of-the-line radio online.
SPEAKER_02Oh, stop name-dropping.
SPEAKER_03No, I I I'm using myself as a poor example here. This is why I'm saying it out loud, right? Like I have what I would consider an asinine shack, right? Like it's way too much shack
Aligning Gear With Your Lifestyle
SPEAKER_03for a gentleman of my uh operating stature, uh, as far as that's concerned. I I'm still learning so much. A lot of the equipment that I own is probably well above my pay grade as far as a ham radio op is concerned. But what I will say about it, right, is I've I've seen some of those weak points uh show themselves relatively rapidly. And and Rory knew, you know, as I was buying the stuff, he's like, radio's too much, right? The radio is too much for your for your situation. The amp is too much for your situation. And I knew it too, right? But you you gotta you gotta try it for yourself. And to be very honest with you, I sat here barefoot with my FTDX 10 connected to the NFE halfwave out in my backyard, which is a $99 antenna. And that combination of radio, I could have done just as much with as my uh there's ten thousand dollars in my stack now, right? There's if you put it all together, there's ten thousand. Worth of radio equipment sitting on my on my desk right now. So to answer your question, it was an $890 DX10 and a $99 antenna, could have done all the things that I've done with this radio. Now, can the radio stack that I have here do more? Absolutely. Absolutely.
Try, Learn, Resell: The Experiment Loop
SPEAKER_03There are ways that it excels. And there are certainly some advantages to having a whole bunch of extra power, right? When you turn it up to 11, you're certainly going to be the first one that gets an answer if you're the first one that gets heard, right? But that doesn't mean you can't get that DX. And it doesn't mean that you can't get that POTA hunt that you're looking for. It just means that you need to have more patience. And I think that really is actually something that uh it was good that I didn't start right at the top there. It did teach you a little bit of something. I probably ascended more rapidly than I should have to having the full power. But I'll tell you, I've learned now with that, I only operate the amp at 500 watts top, really, because much beyond that, I've exceeded my antenna system to the point where everyone can hear me shouting into the ether, but I can't hear them shouting back. And there you go. There's the problem, right? Is when you have something built up like that, you really need to balance the entire build. And you guys know that out there. If you're listening, if you're a if you're a longtime ham radio operator, you knew that. You knew you were you were you were laughing along with Rory as I was buying the equipment. You were saying, Jim, more antenna, less radio, right? That is exactly right. So go out there and get a get an antenna, right? And and the DX Commander was my next step on that, uh, moving from a an N-Fed, which you do load up the N Fed, you use some of that power as heat uh in the coil and the whole nine yards. But I'm pretty happy with that vertical, and uh, I still would love to get a beam on the roof, right? So there's a lot of lot of room there.
SPEAKER_00Something else to always keep in mind, even if you have a station, a limited station, even a QRP station for that matter, you really can always take advantage of band openings. You you have to be patient and wait for them. But you can get a tremendous band opening. For example, the other night, uh Jim and I both worked in Alaska Poda station on 10 meters.
SPEAKER_03Definitely.
SPEAKER_00I'm over here at 80 watts because my my power supply was failing and couldn't do 100 watts. That's
POTA As A Reason To Explore
SPEAKER_00a separate story. Power supply is now dead. And Jim, I think, turned it up to 11 to get to uh get to Alaska, and we both made the contact.
SPEAKER_03You did.
SPEAKER_00So, you know, there they're the the band was open 10 meters from here to Alaska without any problem. Me on my mediocre antenna, Jim on his uh good antenna and high power, you know. We we both made it. But you know, you can always uh even with the with the most marginal station when the band's open, and we have the technology now to let us know when the bands are open, uh you you can make you can make contacts with with the the the smallest station, even even QRP.
SPEAKER_03Yep. And we're doing a lot of conversation here that surrounds sideband. I'd be very honest with you. None of us are proficient CW operators at this point. So when we're talking power, if you're sitting out there and you're like, you're running CW at a thousand watts, no, we're not. We're running sideband phone at a thousand watts or you know, a hundred watts in this case, right? Yeah, yeah. So like we're not we're not blasting you know that kind of power out for CW because it's not required, right? And that's the other part of this. As you learn all of these new things, and that's why we're focused, I think, heavily on this CW idea this year. Uh, it's the idea that you can do more with less, right? And
Surprised By CW Interest
SPEAKER_03doing more with less actually sometimes ends up being quite uh quite a bit more exciting.
SPEAKER_02That's all that's all I want, right? And I've mentioned this now at probably nausea that I I like to go hiking and backpacking.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And I was talking to some people yesterday, and uh they asked if I was gonna take a radio with me when I go to the Grand Canyon in April, and I was joking, I'm like, oh yeah, I'm gonna put the 891 in my bag, and poor Mike was like, Don't don't kill yourself. You're not you're not doing that. Yeah, he about so. I was like, no, no, but to be fair, I I I I'm gonna take it with me, but I'll I'll leave it in the car when I when I actually go to summit. But um at this point, I I to me I like to try to align my hobbies to my radioing because it allows me to get more enjoyment out of it. I you know, if I go for a hike or I go walking or I travel, to me it's exciting to go Poda or find new spots or or try to see what stations I can pick up or or get some new DX that I wasn't able to get before. Yeah. So I think that's where my lesson has come in. I I would keep my 891 all day. And we we actually, and I'm switching gears here a little bit, we did the FTX1 experiment. We were all on board,
New Gear Season And Smart Buying
SPEAKER_02choo-choo, the hype train of the FTX one, and my head. Yeah, and then we went through the disappointment of the FTX one, then we had the hangover, and then I I was like, Well, I I'm going back to my 891. That that bad boy's trusted and true, and I throw that in the bag and it gets me where I need to go. And I'm sorry I ever left you 891, please take me back. I made a horrible mistake. But just to say, it's not always glitz and glamour, but uh try to align your, as you said, the build, right? It's the overall build. If you're a car person, and if you put a turbo on your engine or you change your engine tuning, you know, you might have to adjust your weight skate or your exhaust system as a as a follow-up to that to really be able to be efficient and get more power. So if I'm a new ham and I was to give advice, it is find what you enjoy now, find something that works for that, but something that can also grow with you a little bit as you start to explore and enjoy the hobby a little bit more. And I I kind of wish, you know, again, I I wouldn't have experimented this so much, which is fun, but just kind of maybe learn some new things like CW instead of trying to voyage off into the shiny new SDR rig and all that kind of stuff as well. I feel like I lost a little time there.
SPEAKER_03Listen, let me be true to myself here, gentlemen. I don't wish that I did anything different. In fact, I love all of the stupid decisions that I've made in ham radio because they were part of the journey that I have taken, and it really is my journey, right? The way that I've approached it has been very gym. I've done it all my way. Some folks don't agree with it.
SPEAKER_02I did my That's right.
SPEAKER_03So so I think that you're exactly like you're saying, James, right? You're uh I think more avidly outdoorsy, uh, and you are one that has been out on the trails much more than Rory and I have been combined, probably. Uh, and and these lightweight
Buddihex: Use Case And Setup
SPEAKER_03builds are that you're thinking about now for this upcoming trip, which is going to be awesome. We're looking forward to hearing about how that goes. Uh, this is gonna be a real opportunity to try some new equipment that fits that particular lifestyle, that particular style of operating. And I'm I'm really excited to see what you find and I'm excited for you. You know, that that's that's what this is about. So if you're out there, right, like and listening to it tonight, and you're like, man, you guys, you're so funny, right? You're all you're all counter contradicting yourself. That's fair. But honestly, you're gonna do it your own way. Because we're hams, and that's what hams do. You're gonna do it your own way. You're listening to us tonight because you're looking for something to entertain you that is on the YouTube or on the podcast, uh, and we're a couple of folks that like to talk am ham radio and you are a ham radio operator, right? But you're gonna you're gonna figure it out for yourself. So take some of this as, hey, wisdom, perhaps. Uh take some of it as learning experience, but go go do it yourself, and then leave a comment down below and let us know what sucked for you or what worked awesome for you, because we would love to hear that. That's that's what we're that's what we're talking about tonight is how
Rotators, Masts, And Solo Deployments
SPEAKER_03are you doing it, how are you doing ham radio, what are the things that you learned, and what are you taking away from it? Because the other cool thing is, as we're doing this, new folks are joining us in the club doing it as well, right? And then we get to talk about that with them, and that just gets other folks fired up about ham radio, and now we've got more hams to talk to on the air. So it really is kind of this big snowball, right? I get excited about something, then Rory does, so on and so forth, right?
SPEAKER_00That's that's or it spurs or it spurs something adjacent. It's not even always the same thing. Sure. You know, we we you you might bring something to my attention and and I'll you know, it'll remind me of something I I wanted to do. Right. It's it's all it's all do do what you what what fits your needs, what your interest is. You know, we we look at PODA, for example, and one of the big things for PODA for me has become it gives me an excuse to go to that random park I've never been to. It gives me an excuse to make a stop on you know, on my way to Chicago. I wanted to activate an Indiana State Park. Okay, I there pulled off at uh Indiana Dunes, you know, there it at uh is that what it's called, I think that's what it's called. The blank down on my way to I'm you know, all these all these little things, these places that you don't see. We look at Jason, who was a guest on here, KN4AL. We had him on at uh at Hamvention last year. Um, you know, he that's a big part of his POTA exploration is you get to go down that two track that you never went down and and get on the air and play radio, but that might not be your thing either. You know, that's so what what works for one of us doesn't might not work for someone else. Uh and and and and as time goes by, you might learn something that you didn't think you were gonna be interested in. That's happened as well. This big resurgence in CW. I had I had said hard no to CW for years. I didn't think I didn't even think it was a there was a chance. But but magically there's there's a key on my on my on my desk here, and you know, every now and then you get a few you get a few letters out of out of me so far. So you you never know where it's gonna take you.
SPEAKER_03James has always been quoted as saying there's so many ways to ham, right? Uh since no no no wrong way to ham. No wrong way to ham, just like the Reese's comment that we always make here on the the Everyday Ham. I think like version one of the podcast, we've said that. So I I love I love it. It's kind of bringing it full circle here as we we go into 2026. It's a brand new year.
Making Purchases Match The Mission
SPEAKER_03You're gonna be just absolutely hit over the head with brand new gear as we head into Orlando hamcation. Uh Dayton hamvention. This is like after Christmas and into the spring and and and then summer season is when you just get bludgeoned with all the like hamcation sale, hamvention sale, you gotta have the newest and latest thing. So keep that in mind, right? Consider where you're at today, make some make some mindful purchases, splurge on something too, get something cool that you weren't sure if you're in, yeah. Treat yourself, and then uh and then see how it works and and take it into the summer. I will tell you, I bought a whole bunch of fun gear at ham uh venture last year. I think I spent my full budget, which was $750 that I took uh out in the flea market and at some of the vendor booths. Uh and of all the gear that I bought, of all of the gear that I bought, I I've held on to one of those items. So I I have gone through and I said, nope, that's not that's not a fit, that's not a fit, that's not a fit. All that stuff's moved on, but I got to experience each of those things. You use a Linko handheld. You know, you guys know if you've been listening for a long time, a hand handheld uh handheld enthusiast uh got to play with the the Buddy Pole Poda antenna, right? Got to play with the ATOS 25, which is their non-motorized antenna. That was a cool experiment. In fact, I took that out and I tried to make it work. If you've watched Mean Girls, I tried to make fetch work, it didn't work. It was never happening. But ATOS dating myself here. But yeah, like the the ATOS 25 is a neat, it's a neat idea. I thought it was a really clever antenna because it's super lightweight, but get it out in the field, and I realized that you could take something that weighed just as much and you could do four times better with that antenna, right? Reception-wise, distance-wise,
Hamcation Plans And Travel Light
SPEAKER_03getting out. There's so it was a great, great way to go and experiment. And I don't think I'm gonna go that crazy this year at Hamvention. My second hamvention might be a little more of a mature hamvention as far as purchasing is concerned. But I also have a hot take, which is is Rory's Buddy Hex that he aspires to uh acquire this year the next regrettable purchase, or is Buddy Hex gonna be the win?
SPEAKER_00So regrettable for who? You you or me?
SPEAKER_02Not for me, because I'm not buying it.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_02I'd like you to buy the buddy hex so I can use the buddy hex.
SPEAKER_00Is this one on me? Well, okay, so here's the thing with buddy hex.
SPEAKER_03I I've literally We love Buddy Pole, by the way, and Buddy Hex is an excellent antenna. This is all about the experience of using Buddy Hex and whether or not it can be deployed. Go ahead.
SPEAKER_00I have to do it for myself. I mean, that's that's what it comes down to. Just with any of these things we talk about, you you have to test it, you have to do it for yourself. Absolutely. Yeah, so I've I've spent a lot of time on on Buddy Hex of uh is that the next thing I need in the kit. And I look at my use case scenario of how I would use it, and there's a few things that point to that. Um I've I've become very interested in in QSO parties and running QSO parties from a POTA park. So some directionality on bands that you can use in the daytime to get some distance out of is very important. The Buddy Hex or Hex Hexbeam in general, but the Buddy Hex for sure fits that, you know, checks that box. Something portable that checks that box. The one thing that keeps coming up though is I hear some people tell me it's a pain in the ass to set up. Other people tell me it's not that bad once you get used to it. You know, I I talked to the guys at at Buddy Pole at their booth last year at Hamvention at length about the Buddy X, um, about the setup, and he he told me, you know, of course, you think it's a sales pitch, of course, it's coming from the guys that that make the thing.
What We Want To See In Orlando
SPEAKER_00But he, you know, he's telling me, you know, he asked me the first question, are you doing it by yourself or are you gonna have help? And I said, Oh, I mean, I I tend to go by myself places, you know. He said, It's gonna take you an hour the first time. He was he was you know very transparent about that. He said, You'll probably cuss at it the first time. He was very transparent about that. But he said, once you once you get it down, um you'll be at a half hour for setup. I noticed uh one of our our POTA friends, uh Cody K3KLB out of uh Pennsylvania there, that's become his very commonly used antenna. Uh he just uh did exceptionally well in winter field day with with running the Buddy X. Yes um out doing POTA and Winterfield. Really cool picture, by the way. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_03Really cool picture. Go check it out.
SPEAKER_00And um so I reached out to him, I sent him a message. I said, tell me the truth. I mean, wow, how hard is it? And he he said, honestly, you could do it in in 20 minutes if you had to and you had your practice. So, you know, based on based on performance and what I want to do with it, ultimately it's something that I could set up at a campground for a weekend when there's a camper in place. So that checks another box. So yes, it's likely it's likely there's a buddy hex in my future.
SPEAKER_03We'll see how much I if anybody's watched our buddy pull uh deluxe setup video. There was some cussing in that video, which is a record.
SPEAKER_02If cussing at an antenna is an automatic disqualifier, why not to get it? Then I'm in the really the wrong hobby here.
SPEAKER_00So the my and full
Closing, Community, And Seventy Threes
SPEAKER_00transparency, my buddy poll has been sold. It was uh sold to sold to a a viewer of the channel who actually came and came and got it from me at our our cold winter uh support your parks a couple weekends ago. But again, you know, it's he he knew what he was getting and he knew what we went through to get it up. But it's another one of those things. When you do set it up, it is an exceptional antenna. It just took a little bit more than than I had for for getting it up for what I was using it for. I think the buddy hex, when I set that up when I have it, not if I have it, when I have it, um I'll I know I'm gonna be setting it up for a long multi-hour operation, and and that's that's probably worth the time. So we'll see. The use case changes, your interest changes, and if you don't like it, I'm I'm learning more and more from from Jim every day.
SPEAKER_02What's the uh is there a wait time correct? Because I know in the Buddy Hex for a period of time there was a waiting period.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think it's I think they're saying on their website right now it's a two-week waiting period. You you let them know you're you let them know you're interested and then they'll get back with you. I I think the way it's written, I would assume they're they're just manufacturing more to need. And I'm sure that's a that's a cash flow deal for them if you if you look at it from a business standpoint. If I remember correctly, and don't quote me on this at Hamvention last year, they did only have a limited amount with the that's why they they were basically taking orders there to ship FUDEC. It's not a long wait. Buddy stick uh Buddy Pull, the Buddy Pole Company is is 100% customer satisfaction oriented. I mean, and I say that just from having talked to the guys at the booth and and dealing with them. Um and and my buddy stick, the vertical, is still among my favorite antennas. I deployed it a few weeks ago during PODA. So nothing, nothing against them. I didn't sell my buddy pole because I disliked it, it just wasn't for my use.
SPEAKER_02So what uh what mast would you get with your buddy hex if we're not gonna go the uh shopping road here?
SPEAKER_00I don't know the answer to that. So I the the answer is I think I would need more than one. I think I would need different ones for different applications.
SPEAKER_01Sure.
SPEAKER_00I think I would need something different for the weekend setup in the campground.
SPEAKER_01Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_00I think I would need a different one for when I go set up at the back side of my Jeep at Island Lake here to do stuff, you know. I I think I think there's different different things in play there.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you're not standing a 20-footer up behind your Jeep when you're there for uh a couple hours in Island Lake. But when you're there all weekend, yeah. If we can add the weight and throw it in the trailer, 20 feet might be uh more reasonable.
SPEAKER_00Right. So there's a lot, there's some research that still needs to be done, but you know, that's I that's the way I'm looking at it now.
SPEAKER_02And they had a rotate, did they sell a rotator for the now? I'm just on the advertisement. I'm looking at the Buddy Hex website. So there we go.
SPEAKER_00There are rotators out there. Are they sold by them? I don't know. If you're if you're on their site there, you can take a look. I have actually this afternoon I went down the needed to give the brain an accounting break at work. I had crunched a few too many numbers for probably five hours straight, and the numbers were not coming out the same as they were going in. So it was time to time to take a break. And uh I actually did look at a video of and that would be another thing. There would be an instance where I might want to have a rotator on on the the buddy hex when I'm at the campground, but it's not something that would make sense when I'm set up for a long afternoon at the park.
SPEAKER_03No, it's I think everybody includes two rotators, uh, along with uh their ownership of uh the buddy hex, which is your two hands. I've seen most folks just twisting twisting the buddy hex with their hands. I see what you're saying. I think in a permanent installation perhaps a motorized rotator makes sense, but seems like for a weekend or a POTA setup.
SPEAKER_00So so tell me this. So you're you're set up in your big old your big old monster RV that you and Becca have there. You're set up out there.
SPEAKER_02Let's no, no, but let him let him get on his preachy horse here. Let's tell us that we got three.
SPEAKER_00Where are we going? Where are we? Let's get out there and run. More I'm trying to think which campground do we want to go to? Let's let's go to Sleepy Hollow just because it comes to mind. You're you've got you've got your your beer, you're back on the beer at that point. You've got the you've got the radio going, you're making the contacts. You've got poodles sitting on your phone. You've got a poodle sitting there, you've got both poodles sitting there.
SPEAKER_03I gotta tell you.
SPEAKER_00You know, you got uh but you have your your buddy hex out back that's just a little bit off, and you're trying to get you're trying to get that park to park to Australia, you're trying to get that park to park to China, and you're just a little bit off. You're gonna use your two hands then? No, you're gonna want to rotate job. That's a rotator job. You can you can you can use your two hands all you want, but I'll tell you, if I'm set up for a weekend and I've got a rotator, I'm I'm I'm pushing the button.
SPEAKER_03You're rotating. You know what? It's uh ironic that we started this uh podcast this evening on a uh very uh don't buy reasonable note, and now we've completely devolved into uh go ahead and buy out Buddy Hacks, which is only a thousand dollars worth of antenna for whatever you're doing. Let that be a listen to you, other hams.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, just we'll see you know. Yeah, we'll hop you off the peer pressure wagon, only to put you right back on the peer pressure wagon.
SPEAKER_00Sure, peer press peer pressure, but in all seriousness, look look at look at how we got there. We were we were all talking about evaluating our use case scenarios, evaluating what works for us, evaluating what we how we how we radio, how we each radio. If I wasn't a a relatively big POTA person interested in, you know, something that's directional for those contests that I tend to run from a park these days, that wouldn't be on the list. So, you know, it's a it's again, take a look at what you need, how you're gonna use it. Is it what you need? Is it going to be used how you need it to be used? And make a smart purchase. Don't necessarily just start buying things because you know, Jim down down the street at the other end of South Lion bought an amp. I sure don't have an amp here because I don't think my neighbors need me putting that kind of power into the attic.
SPEAKER_03So, you know, make your make your make your TV will be projected upside down and backwards by the time you turn it off.
SPEAKER_00I I am aware of one instance where I did set off a smoke detector in the building. So it's it's never happened again.
SPEAKER_02Allegedly.
SPEAKER_00No allegedly. There's there's no allegedly. And I I have spoken to her since then. We've we've we've taken care of that, so it's no problem. But uh because I did feel bad. It was late at night. I I actually did feel bad. Uh and she has a good she has a good neighbor. So I'm like, hey, yeah, you you had a little problem there. I don't know why it was going on. I'm like, I know why it was going off. So we we talked through it and and everything's fine there.
SPEAKER_03But yeah, I admittedly did seat us on the buddy hex because I did think it was a funny conversation, right? We you tried one thing, it didn't work. You you have a thing with that you've set your sights on that you think might work better. Uh and we'll find out uh time will tell uh when you get it and deploy it a few times, whether or not you have the patience and you think it does give you that return on your investment and your time uh to make it worth uh owning the buddy hex for a long period of time. I'll be really curious. And I was gonna also say, uh, if you're looking at like a pragmatic look at how to set that buddy hex up and what it actually takes, ham radio 2.0 did a video. It says building the buddy hex in 2023. Go check it out. Jason actually has a pretty good video of him setting it up, going through the whole thing, and you can see how big it is for one, uh, how much is involved in doing it. And I've watched that video a couple of times now in just sort of research mode. So uh shout out to Jason. He does a nice job with most of his stuff, and uh, I thought that was a really useful video if you're looking for buddy hex.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's actually one I just just uh thumbed through this afternoon real quickly when I was thinking about buddy hex, actually. So yeah, it's um yeah, it's uh you know, uh we're we're all making fun of each other here. So but I do want to like hearted. I do want to have a buddy hex buddy hex in place by uh California Cuso Party in October. So that's uh gotta go for that number one Poda out of state slot again. Gotta get it two years in a row.
SPEAKER_03I like it. This year it might be another California Cuso party hat for Rory. It might be. Or maybe it'll be a coffee mug. I don't remember what they're actually giving away. James, are there any ridiculous things on your list that we would wear?
SPEAKER_00I would prefer a coffee mug just to put that plug out to the California Cuso Party people.
SPEAKER_02Is there anything no, but now I'm on the uh Mastworks website. Oh yeah. Oh, you're going out to go with Rory's buddy hex. Only the finest. Uh and it does have a rotational hand crank arm for uh spinning that bad boy around. And I'm sure there is probably somewhere a kit you can get to make that an electronic rotator arm.
SPEAKER_03So James, you and I have 3D printers and you have enough wherewithal that I'm sure we could develop something there if Rory needs help and he doesn't want to use his meat mitts to twist it around.
SPEAKER_00So I'm using a rotator. Yeah, he's the one that wanted the rotator. We've made we've made we've made that clear. I'm not I'm I have no poodle, but I'm not getting up.
SPEAKER_03Once you're tucked in the camper for the evening, sitting in your boxers operating California or China, there's no uh there's no stepping out to be twisting that rotor around anymore.
SPEAKER_02I'm not I'm not gonna lie, my my big purchases right now are I'm buying some new backpacking gear for uh this trip here in April. Very cool. And then I I'm trying to I usually will go to a good ham fest and I'll buy some cheap ends and you know odds and ends, I guess is what I was trying to say there. Uh and you know, uh adapters uh cost a fortune these days. So I I need to save it.
SPEAKER_03Five plus bucks a piece. Five bucks apiece is is is like the going rate at most ham fests now for a single uh gender-changing adapter of your choice. Um so yeah. I whenever I see uh one of the uh less organized tables with a big bag of adapters, I always question, you know, how much how much are you asking for those adapters? And it's a dollar a piece. It's true. There's video footage of me digging through. There's lots of videos.
SPEAKER_02Sam will spend hours just digging through bags of adapters.
SPEAKER_03Finding the amphenol adapters in those, the the treasures, the diamonds in the room. You gotta look for the infennel ones, man, the high quality ones. All right, guys. I think we're at the bottom of uh episode 14 here. We are I don't I don't know if there's anything more to say, but to encourage folks to go out and be more reasonable than the everyday ham is. Uh we encourage all of your behavior though. Go it go experiment. Ham radio. Let us know what you're getting.
SPEAKER_00Ham radio for yourself. Do what works for you, do what works for your budget and uh do some always do research. I will mention uh uh hamcation or Lando Hamcation is coming up. If you're down there at uh Hamcation, we will be there. And uh we look forward to meeting meeting some of our our listeners and friends that are going to be there. So if you see us, we're definitely friendly. We're not gonna talk you into buying anything. Certainly say I won't I won't talk you into buying anything. James and James might be there. The two of them can handle that. I I'll just be standing awkwardly and quiet as I do, and uh and definitely stop by and say hello, get a sticker from us, and uh we'll be we'll be happy to meet you for sure. So uh looking forward to that experience. Looking forward to warming up from this 20 degrees and uh and just looking forward to to spending some good sunshine around some sunshines.
SPEAKER_02That's all we want is a little warm weather, some umbrella drinks, apparently, and ham radio.
SPEAKER_03So I think we can maybe get all three of those. I can guarantee at least one thing. I won't be wearing a vest. Uh so I know you probably won't recognize me, but I am excited to meet anybody that is down there.
SPEAKER_00What if it's chilly? What if it's chilly in the morning?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, possibly. Get some good coffee in me though, and get me going, we'll be we'll be good. I'm I'm really looking forward to the warm, warm weather. Uh, hopefully a couple of good flea market buys down there at the uh Hamcation. If you've gone to Hamcation in the past, let us know how the flea market is because I'm looking forward to it. I have this much, and that's a very tiny box that I'm drawing in the space in front of my face. Uh, if you're listening on the audio podcast, that much space to pack anything that I buy from this because uh we're flying Spirit Airlines, which uh we've said before. Very high-end air, and uh I am not only only the finest. I am not checking a bag, so uh it's going to be very limited. If I end up at any killer deals, uh they may either be coming back with uh Steve NADAR, uh who has a van down there. Steve, I haven't checked in with you yet, but I'm hoping you'll be willing to bring it up. We need to give Steve a call. Or I'll be uh sending myself a package from UPS ground. So uh there are two ways to get it back. But yes, I think hamcation is gonna be awesome. Looking forward to getting away from this cold weather, getting away from the snow for a few minutes. I have not traveled down to a warm weather location in the winter in years. So it should be a lot of fun to uh to go down and do something cool with you guys, uh play some ham radio, go touch some of the fancy new things, the Flex Aurora I want to touch, the 7760 that uh ICOM let out to finally uh go play with that. I really haven't put my meat mitts on it. Uh, and go check out some of those other kind of cool radios. I'm hoping that the 5200 preview unit is also down there, the ICOM 5200, so we can look at that. Uh so we'll have a list of uh folks and we'll have try to capture some fun conversations. Uh video will be posting as we are down there, and then we'll do a little recap when we get back. So look forward to all of those, all of those new uh Orlando related videos coming. Uh and uh I don't know if we're gonna try to live stream because uh we've learned from other YouTubers that the the coverage at these places is pretty limited.
SPEAKER_02Good enough for live streaming.
SPEAKER_03I'm gonna streaming caliber here, folks. If you've been watching tonight, all those jump cuts were us cutting. No, I'm just kidding, there haven't been any jump cuts.
SPEAKER_02So, but we'll uh we'll we'll we'll see. Let's play about let's play that by ear here.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So with that, uh, don't forget everydayham.com. Check out the channel.
SPEAKER_03Check us out on the Discord, as always. We do have an Instagram, a couple new followers today as we posted jokes about uh wanting to get away from the snow. Uh lots of different ways to get in touch with us. Do feel free to jump into the Discord uh and do feel free to start a conversation about anything. Don't you don't have to just talk about the podcast, uh, you don't have to just talk about everyday hams. Uh listen to this. All right, guys. All right, with that, seventy threes.
SPEAKER_02Seven threes.
