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
Are Radio Prices Going Up? Bouvet, Yaesu & HamClock
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
A Bird 43 wattmeter score at the swap, two new budget handhelds worth a look, and Rory's CW skills getting sharper through QSO parties and daily POTA hunting set the stage for a packed Episode 15.
FT2 mode is here and it is fast - we're talking 3.75-second transmit/receive cycles and roughly 240 QSOs per hour at peak. But speed costs you something: the weak-signal performance drops significantly compared to FT8, and your time sync has to be nearly perfect. We map out where FT2 makes sense and when you should stick with what works.
Then we head south - way south - to Bouvet Island. The 3Y0K DXpedition has the bands blazing and livestreams running via Starlink. But not every station should be in that pile. We talk strategy and sportsmanship: use PSK Reporter or GridTracker to confirm your signal is actually going that direction before calling, understand how Fox and Hound works, and know when your antenna and geography just are not going to win the slot.
The market news is hard to ignore: significant Yaesu MSRP increases across popular rigs including the FTDX10, FT-891, and FTDX101MP. We break down why tariffs, logistics, component costs, and yen-to-dollar swings are all pushing prices up - and whether waiting for Hamvention deals still makes sense.
Finally, HamClock lives on. After the passing of its creator Elwood, the community moved fast. Hamclock.com (W4BAE) restores the data feeds with redundancy and a simple host file edit. OpenHamClock offers a polished browser-based and self-hosted option. HamVision is an emerging alternative worth watching. And Geochron remains a solid turnkey choice for those who want it to just work.
We wrap with a genuine win from the ARRL: amateur operators are exempted from foreign adversary contact reporting requirements. When the community organizes, good things happen.
Don't miss a single episode! Follow Everyday Ham on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, and more, and subscribe to our YouTube channel at @EverydayHam. Ideas or feedback? Email us at cq@everydayham.com.
Short show intro audio clip
Short outro audio clip
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/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everydayhampodcast/
Welcome & Follow Us
SPEAKER_00Okay, everyone, welcome to episode 15 of the Everyday Ham. If you can believe it, we are here with another episode. So we got a lot of topics to discuss with you, but before we begin, uh, we want to remind you that you can follow all our podcasts at everydayham.com as well as our YouTube channel, Everyday Ham as well. And all our links to the Discords, our social medias are also available on the website. So please go out there, follow. If you like what you're hearing, also leaving a comment or a rating helps us a lot and helps us get some new viewers. So with that, uh, let's get into our main show topics. Our first segment is going around the shack to see what's been new since our last recording. So why don't we start with you, Jim? What's been up?
SPEAKER_01Well, good evening to both Rory and yourself. Nice to see your faces tonight. I know, James, you have a big trip coming up here. So I'm glad we were able to sneak in our regular monthly episode before you uh jet set your way to the Germany one more time. Back to Germany. Yeah. Good evening, everybody. Yeah, I'm happy to be back. Uh, we have had uh very strange weather here in Michigan. I suppose it's still winter as far as all that goes. So uh a nice little break on Friday afternoon where we went down and uh had a little social hour with a couple of folks from the South Lion Area Amateur Radio Club, as we always speak to our Two Beer Social. It's a monthly event. And uh, if you're in a club and you're looking for something fun to do uh that will kind of remove you from the uh sort of super technical atmosphere and just find a nice place to uh meet club members, socialize a little bit about radio topics, maybe projects you're working on, but uh maybe not uh so heavy on the technical side. Two Beer Social is not a bad thing to add to your uh club's meeting agenda. And we do it once every month on the last Friday of the month, uh, and it's been really well received. So there's your fast tip, I guess, from NHJRD, the event coordinator of the South Lion Club. If you're trying to build up some uh some club block club club velocity, uh it might not be a bad thing to uh to try out. And uh you don't have to you don't have to go to a bar, but uh we often uh find ourselves at uh one of the numerous microbreweries around the Metro Detroit area, and of course, uh Michigan, uh long known for all of its uh very good craft beer. But uh good evening to each of you and glad to see you tonight. Uh the Shack here has uh had a few new developments, as it always does between episodes, constantly buying, selling, trading, or otherwise wheeling and dealing here in the uh NHJRD Shack. Uh we did go to the uh the Lavonia swap, and so I uh acquired myself a bird 43 watt meter uh at the swap uh for a absolute song,$110 for that little watt meter. Uh, in beautiful condition. BNC connectors on both sides, uh, untouched paint. I mean, this thing looks like it's never been used. I'm sure it has been, but it's a really nice bird 43. Uh, if you're not familiar with the bird 43, it's basically like a bog standard watt meter that uh most folks end up getting uh in one capacity or other, and they're often traded at swaps, so really, really good place to find one.
SPEAKER_00But uh and I can vouch, it is in pristine condition. In excellent shape. Jim wouldn't even hand it to me to look at when we were at the swap. I don't know about it because he was worried that I may drop it. And don't pretend right now. You you were a little worried. You were a little bit.
SPEAKER_01It is in very nice shape. I was really thrilled to find it. It had two slugs in it. One of them, of course, was the 2560 slug. Uh that was a uh uh standard 100-watt slug for uh basically a lot of uh 10 meter CB space up through 60, where you could maybe use it uh on uh you know the the higher band. But uh realistically, six meter is gonna top out there. Uh not a slug that I was going to use. I don't do a lot of CB, and it's a really popular slug to resell for CB guys. So uh that went immediately to the uh eBay to offset the cost of the meter uh so that I could find a couple more amateur focus slugs. And so that's been my uh most recent uh acquisition journey is collecting all the slugs to plug into my brand new bird wattmeter. But I think I've got a good collection going. If you're not familiar, the slugs end up being the place where you lose all your money on the deal. So the HF slugs, uh big ones uh for 2,500 watt power, uh 250 bucks a piece. Uh the 100 watt slugs are closer to about 125 bucks, and then anything in between there uh for higher power. So the HF slugs are super desirable. If you ever see one of those for a good price at one of the swaps, stick it in your pocket, take it back, and throw it on QRZ. You might make a couple bucks. Pay first, stick it in your pocket. Then don't don't steal it from the gentleman. I didn't know those were that expensive.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I really had no idea.
New Gear: Bird Meter & HTs
Contesting And CW Progress
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the and and honestly, it's one of those things where it's it's kind of a supply and demand, right? The VHF, the UHS UF slugs, they're they're very affordable. They're pretty reasonably priced, even for the higher power ones for the most part. But uh man, those HF slugs, everybody's looking for the two to 30 megahertz one. So, like I say, if you're looking, if you find one uh worth picking up. But I'm excited to have it. The reason I'm excited to have it, it will allow us to do some more uh basically testing for you guys uh in videos that we're continuing to create here on the everyday ham YouTube. So I think it'll be a good tool to have in the shack alongside of my, of course, rig expert uh 650 zoom, uh my nano VNA and some of my other testing equipment. It just fleshes it out. It allows me to tell you more about what we're actually learning on the radios that we are playing with uh here in the shack. So that's one thing. The other thing is uh two new handhelds have entered the shack uh between last time and and this time. If you're watching on YouTube, you're seeing me hold up a Radtel handheld, RT910B, uh, and then a Quan Shen. I think that's how you say it. It is a UVK18. And it's just a UVK1. The eight only matters if you care about the uh cool metal faceplate on it. But both interesting handhelds. I had done some reading on both of them. Uh they're both UV handhelds, so uh, you know, two meter, 70 centimeter handhelds. The nice thing about these is they are fully unlocked, so they pretty much will transmit wherever you'd like. Be respectful of the bands and your license, of course. That's my uh little star here, but uh was happy to find out that both of those handhelds will transmit half a watt on 220, which is kind of a neat little uh extra feature. Now, need to do some spurious emissions testing before we can say go out and buy them for 220, but they are kind of neat. So I don't know. It uh it's always a uh it's always a day here in the uh shack at NAGRD space, uh, and I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys are up to. So we'll send it over to Rory, who I know has been doing a little more CW than last month.
SPEAKER_03A little more CW. I did also, I didn't find a cool bird meter at the Lavonia swap. I did find an Astron power supply, which that that's in the shack and powering all the things, which uh it is powering the the DX10, which is indeed powering some CW. So we're fresh off of the uh North Carolina and South Carolina Cuso party uh this past weekend. And anyone who's been around for any period of time knows that uh I'm making some attempt to work every CUSO party between now and the end of the year. So so far we're we've made it into all of them, so that's good. Uh with at least two contacts in each. Uh British Columbia, I only had two, so but that that counts. So that's good. Uh North Carolina, uh South Carolina was on Saturday. I didn't have a whole lot of time. Uh I think I might have gotten uh 18 or 20 contacts. Uh North Carolina was on Sunday. I had time to sit here on and off throughout the day. 52 contacts, about half phone, half CW. So uh the the CW skills are improving. I can see we're spending time with it. You start hearing more things, but I am still a slow copy. It's still uh two and three times before I'm sure I have the call signing designator right. I'll sit and listen to them, have exchanges with other folks and and and get it written down before I even try them. But uh once I try them, it's it's one and done. It's it's uh I enjoy it. I I enjoy the speed. I enjoyed getting the Q so in the log and moving on without uh a whole lot of fluff. So um, and I'm still every day when I come home from work, I I usually spin the dial and look for at least one one or two POTA stations to hunt on CW. Um and that's that's keeping it helping keep it sharp every day. It just takes a little bit of time when I get home. Still need to spend some time with with some of the courses, Long Island CW, a little more time with them, because I'm still not hearing it confidently enough. I I'm not at the point where I could sit on a frequency and call CQ yet. Um not at all. But uh I could see where that's coming. The improvement, the improvement is there. Um around town here we have another video that I think already dropped. I know already dropped. We've been we've been battling some demons with our our local repeater. We had some routine maintenance and uh we did drop a video on uh Jim and I and our friend Lewis NALEK going out there and helped giving us a handout at the the water tower in town here, and um we we took care of the maintenance, but either either it's just coincidental or we've um managed to to to skewer up some demons. I I don't know. I don't know.
SPEAKER_00You angered the repeater gods.
Repeater Maintenance Troubles
SPEAKER_03Yeah, we've got an echo in there that that comes up, and it it's an intermittent problem we've had over the last couple years, but it's it seems to be more pronounced. So I don't know if we jostled something in that old girl or or what the problem was is, but uh we're trying to keep our eye on it. But um as a result of that video, uh I know we had at least one one listener call into our our Sunday night net of the South Lion. Which was cool, uh, South Lion repeater, which our our local South Lion repeater is on, All Star, 454-050. And uh Mike N2N KP from from New York joined us on our on our Sunday night net. That was super cool. Gave us a shout out to uh to the to the podcast from uh from afar there. So that was that was pretty cool. So it's uh a little bit of CW. We're getting to the point it's gonna be time for some spring projects. I'm I'm closing in on a camper purchase here pretty quick.
SPEAKER_02Very exciting.
SPEAKER_03And uh we're gonna be we're gonna be ready to go. Um if you're watching on YouTube, that's one thing we we I hope to encourage. We're what's our what's our subscriber count at this point? All right, 15. You guys both look at it consistently. I don't.
SPEAKER_011591. There we go. Oh, 91 now. All right.
SPEAKER_03So if you're watching this and you're not actually subscribed, take a minute to press that subscribe button and help us build that number up. It it uh it encourages us, it encourages the two the two gyms over there to uh to keep reading the number aloud to me on an hourly, hourly basis of how many subscribers are. Metrics driven.
SPEAKER_01Metrics driven.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, everyone's driven by different things. So I uh I uh that's okay. But yeah, hit the subscribe button, help that number go up, and uh encourage us to keep doing more more cool things. We have um quite a bit planned for the year ahead, actually. James, what's in your check?
Travel Plans & Hotel HF
FT2: Speed, Sync, And Tradeoffs
SPEAKER_00Oh, so I think we talked about it before. I'm gonna be traveling back to Germany uh for some work trips. So those that don't know, I work for a company, an automotive supplier company, an electronics and ADAS technology group. Uh we are being sold to another German-owned uh supplier. So we're in the process of working through those many issues, but very exciting, and I think it's uh a really positive thing overall. However, more trips to Germany. So that's pretty cool. Uh I'm gonna be taking your mag loop that Jim let me borrow. Uh so I I will be trying to have a more efficient setup than stringing a wire outside of a hotel window. Uh salt shaker. On a salt shaker, yeah, as as a as a counterweight there. Um so look for me if you're in the area. But I one exciting news, I I took the moment. So this trip is actually going near the Munich area. Okay. And I was looking at the office we're gonna be in, and there happens to be a POTA park in Germany. Nice uh walkable distance or at least a close distance. So I don't know if I'll have time this trip to sneak out. However, that is very optimistic for a future trip. Uh so if you're in the Munich area, stab in the dark here, uh, feel free to reach out to me because one day I will activate that park. Um, other than that, I've been kind of busy. I've been playing, uh I did download the FT2, the Decodium, uh, just to try to give it a shot. Okay. I realize there's a little bit of controversy right now around FT2 on if you should use it or not, because what I know is it's using the WSJTX standard, uh, but some people are questioning if Decodium properly published the source code or not to meet those requirements for WSJTX. Uh however, um, first impressions, it's an interesting mode. It's definitely a lot faster. So I think the average time I was completing a QSO was about seven to ten seconds or so. Uh, you're definitely not getting the range, let's say the weak signal propagation. It definitely takes away from that from traditional FT8. Uh, from what I was looking at, if FT8 decodes, you know, down to about negative 20 dB, uh, I think FT2 is published around negative 12 dB. So it's definitely a little bit more regional, or you need a little bit stronger signal to be able to decode it. Um, but it is fast. I mean, I I could see that for contesting or or de expeditions or something being a very useful tool in the future. Uh, so I'm really interested to see how that maybe gets baked and more evolved in the future here. Uh, it still still needs a little time in the oven, obviously. And I think there's even a competing standard uh right now between the two formats of FT2 that exist. Just what we need fragmentation in tech now. Yes, exactly. Because that doesn't exist enough for us. Right. Uh, but it's it's it's good. So if you want to experiment with something that's a little bit different and a little bit patience, uh, you know, go out there, search the webs, you'll find the download link and the instructions to get it up and running.
SPEAKER_01I want to say out loud, uh WizGit improved, so WSJTX improved version 3.10 does have FT2 in it, actually now. So you do not need Decodium if you want to stick on the uh brand new uh improved bandwagon. I just downloaded it on my MacBook or I'm yeah, my MacBook there. Uh and uh FT2 is uh it's it's present in the most recent uh release, which is downloadable off get GitHub.
SPEAKER_00So fitting that I went the hard road when I could have just waited a week and got the easy road, but still it's worth checking out. It's it's a fun little new mode uh just to experiment.
SPEAKER_01And you said it, you said out loud, right, uh, that FT2, and we won't spend a ton of time, but FT2 is is far less resilient uh weak signal than FT8, for example. And even less than FT4.
SPEAKER_00You feel the difference, yeah.
SPEAKER_01So when we when we talk about you know de-expeditions using FT2, I've I question whether or not that's ever going to be realistic when we think about how far those those de-expeditions often have to uh reach.
SPEAKER_03Well, so few even use FT4 and and you know FT FT8 gives you the time you need to to to make the deal, to seal the deal and get the contact in those, you know, the the more difficult situations. And I know James mentioned when he was testing FT2 that the uh the time sync had to be pretty much on the nose for it to work. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00It had a uh NTP time sync server option directly into the WSJTX that I was working with. And my Windows, uh I can't remember what tool I'm using on my JT time sync or JT something time sync. Um it it I mean it was usually synced well enough for FT4, FT8, but I didn't realize why I wasn't decoding. And it was like the first time I was using FT8, I didn't have a time sync tool and nothing would decode. So I'm like, all right. So I I looked and sure as enough, as soon as I put in the new correct NTT server into that, I was decoding. But I have to imagine right sensitive.
SPEAKER_01The transmit receive cycle on FT2 is 3.75 seconds transmit, 3.75 seconds receive. If you're off by a second, you've lost better than a quarter of the actual TR cycle uh for either side of that. So uh when I look at FT8 and I I've started up my computer, not looked at the the time offset, and I've transmitted for for many cycles with a 1.5 uh plus minus offset by accident and still been able to decode just fine, right? Yeah, right. But when you talk about FT2, you're you're cutting so far into that that you're gonna have to be far, far closer, and that's gonna be more important. So really, really interesting mode there.
SPEAKER_00I mean, if you think about it, what seven to eleven seconds, right? Total completion, you're looking at about 240 Cusos per hour, roughly. I mean, that's that's insane. Could you imagine going to sit at a Poda Park and just running FT2? And I mean, you're gonna you're gonna be racking up kilos and uh, yeah, but you're gonna run out of people too.
SPEAKER_03I mean, uh if you think about even on FT eight, when you look at your average screen, unless the bands hop and then it's a weekend where everyone's got time to to watch paidri running FT eight, you know, there there there might be a lot of people. Take it as you will. Digital's old now. And and I do run FT eight, but it's not the most exciting thing. I mean, you run out of people on FT8 to work. So I mean on FT2, you're gonna you're unless really everyone adopts it, which I don't imagine they will.
SPEAKER_01Um, F FT4 has been around for ages at this point, and I flip over to FT4 occasionally just to try to catch a few people. And it's it's three or four guys transmitting uh off the FT4 side of either band, you know. So I'll be really curious if it picks up.
SPEAKER_00It now I will say for FT4, if you catch the right time of day with the gray line, you can get some really interesting DX stations out there. I think I actually do have Japan on FT4. Yeah, it's worth flipping over if you're ever just got a little extra time to spend.
SPEAKER_01So I started doing it on WSJTX just recently. I started saying, I'll check FT4 just to see if anybody's over there. And and there's always somebody there, but it's not nearly as many, of course, as FT8.
SPEAKER_00You you work that you work that QSO line and then you're you're on to uh back to FT8, probably.
SPEAKER_01If we can further digress here on the idea of DXing with these faster modes, right? There is a little bit of an advantage here, right? When propagation is up and down, having a faster end-to-end transmission and you know, a a a Q QSO actually has a huge advantage, right? If the if the tri if the propagation is up and down and we can get that done in half the time, I may have a better chance of closing that longer DX, even if the the signal's weak. So I'm I'll be curious. Maybe there are advantages there with FT2 in very specific conditions.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I mean, as long as as long as the signal is up in the in the period that you're receiving and the period they're receiving you. I mean, that's exactly that's the thing with FT8. Sometimes it takes that whole period to to be able to decode the signal because it is is weak. So who knows? We'll see. I guess I'm gonna have to uh put another uh update on my my brand new MacBook here and and uh and try some FT2. I still run the uh I still run very old WSJTX because why doesn't not improved.
SPEAKER_01Not improved. No, I don't improve anything, I don't optimize anything.
SPEAKER_03But oh you know, we put you know I've been on Apple since I've been on Apple since 2004, so there's no change in my mind now.
SPEAKER_01Go ahead, James. What did you have?
SPEAKER_00No, I was gonna say the one thing you're gonna hear a lot for our American friends at uh ARL Field Day this summer is two seconds. So this is gonna be definitely something that a lot of people, I'm sure, at field day are gonna be experimenting with.
SPEAKER_03Why have the vi that's that's that's a peeva, man. Why have the volume up? I I don't understand that.
Bouvet Strategy And Ethics
SPEAKER_01I'm I'm that masochist. I listen to it. I listen to it. I have it low, but I listen to it because I can tell Well, because you can tell when the band is screwed up or somebody's doing something stupid on there and you can move along. You know, just we're gonna talk Bouvet Island, by the way. And and speaking of some lids, uh, there's there's already some of that happening. Not saying that the whole thing's a mess, but some of it is already. I tried to get some FTA yesterday night and and there was absolute craziness happening on the Bouvet bands uh were on 40 meter yesterday evening. So having the the volume turned up allowed me to know that fat chance that I was getting in there uh on that first night, right? Yeah, on board. I listened. I I had no look.
SPEAKER_03We'll talk Bouvet. I'll let everyone know my my plan for working Bouvet.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Well, I think I think we're there now, to be honest with you. What's your what's your plan for Bouvet? Let's talk about it. I'm not even gonna bother. Ooh, all right.
SPEAKER_03So here's height. Here's the deal. I have I have such a shitty antenna. I have an attic antenna. I don't get out Bouvet is essentially what south, southeast of here. Uh I don't get out to the south. I struggle with South America with this antenna. I just do not get out to the south. So um I'm not gonna win the pile up. It it's not worth the frustration. Um, I I I'm glad for people who have and will, and I'm sure will hear all about the people, but I don't plan to work them. If if the band opens and I happen to hear them and I and the magic happens, I'm gonna try. But I'm not gonna sit there and bang my head against the wall trying to work them, um, which is which is unfortunate. But it's just the nature of my limited station, and I don't have any problem with that. It's the same reason, you know, I'm you know, ham for 20 some years and don't have DXCC, whereas, you know, we have folks who have been licensed in the last six months and have it across several bands. It's just a it's just a function of your station, and I I'm not able to have anything more than I have at the moment. So I look forward to hearing the stories. I mean, we were fortunate at our local club to have uh Dennis KT8X come in and give us uh give us a talk on what they're doing beforehand, and I think we might hear from him afterwards as well. I think that might be in the works to have him visit us again after the the expedition is over, and I'm I'm really looking forward to hearing about it. I'm glad um the internet is away now that we're already seeing videos and getting real-time updates um out of Bouvet. I I I'm loving it. It's exciting. It's very exciting. So I mean, don't don't take my my curmudgeon on on whether or not I'm gonna work them as me being against them at all. I'm loving seeing the videos. I'm loving seeing the updates. I'm enjoying hearing other people that have been able to work them, but why why get myself more frustrated than I already am with things by by trying to get a signal out that's just not going to make it there.
SPEAKER_00And then maybe ruining it for others that have a chance to work them.
SPEAKER_03I could be, I could be I could be spamming the FT FT8 and being a lid. So there you go. I'll turn it off.
SPEAKER_00And then before before we turn over to you, Jim, for those that don't know what we're talking about. Is the Bouvet Island 2026 De-Expedition 3Y OK. So they're out there now, February of this year, 2026. But Jim, let's talk about the what you saw from the spamming of the band.
SPEAKER_01Oh, it, you know, this is this is a really exciting de-expedition, no doubt. If you haven't been following the news, which would be shocking because uh you're listening to us here on YouTube, and uh we're definitely uh much lower on the news cycle than Bouvet Island has been on all of the uh Ham Radio DX sites. Uh, you know, Bouvet Island is as the most expensive de-expedition ever to launch. Uh we're we're well over$1.7 million of uh resources involved in this particular expedition uh to send a very small number of folks uh to an uninhabitable island in the middle of nowhere to run their to run their radios. And and honestly, they're adventurers, right? I can respect the fact that uh these folks have the desire, the drive, and the monetary capability to go on an adventure like that. It won't be me, it won't ever be me, and that's okay. But uh it is a really cool thing, like Rory said. I think this is uh really kind of one of the first major uh de-expeditions that we've seen. Uh and look if I'm missing one, just go ahead and put it down in the comments and tell me I'm an idiot because I'm brand new, remember.
SPEAKER_03In my more active ham radio life, this is one of the bigger deals, absolutely. Yeah.
Following The DXpedition Live
SPEAKER_01Yep. So this is one of the more uh huge, I think, news-making expeditions, but also because it's more connected than any de-expedition has ever been. We have Starlink that gives high high-speed internet in places we never thought that was going to be a possibility, right? We don't have to put it on a thumb drive, put it in our pocket, and bring it back six months later and get it on the internet. We're getting videos from uh what's his face? Uh I believe it's Chun uh uh set S-A-T-O-F-I-S-H-I uh on YouTube, three Y of the three Y O K. Uh he's posting videos on YouTube of this thing, right? We're seeing high resolution, yeah, high resolution pictures of the camp being set up. And and if you're not watching that, that part of it is really interesting to me. The radio is, of course, cool, but just the idea that uh these guys are out there uh in the middle of nowhere doing doing something neat with technology is is is pretty awesome.
SPEAKER_03So the uh the logistics behind it all is fascinating. It and Jim mentioned the the$1.7 million and and rising all the time, I'm sure, to to complete this. But take all the radio out of it. I'm a I'm a logistics nerd at heart, and uh I work I worked many years in that field and somehow ended up stopping working in it, but that's a story for a boring night on two meters. But uh I uh You know the All-Star node number if you want to talk to Rory, just plug it in. I'm probably I don't even have the radio on tonight. But anyway, um just all the all the work of getting all the things, testing all the things, double checking all the things, having redundant backups. Um it's all these things they have to be completely self-sufficient, haul everything in and haul everything out when they're done. Uh 100% responsible for their own medical support while they're there. There's no help. If someone someone has a problem, they're there, I believe there is one actual doctor on the trip, so they have that. But you know, there's there's situations that that could be uh not enough to take care of something bad, but the the logistics behind it, the planning behind it, years of planning. Um it's fascinating to look at it. And I I hope they have an excellent time. I I I I came off kind of harsh at the beginning by saying I'm not gonna work them, but that that, like I said, that's a personal personal thing because of my station. It's just not not worth the frustration. But if I could go over to Jim's house and and turn up the amp and give them a shout, I might.
SPEAKER_01I'm gonna give I'm gonna give them a shot, but uh yesterday evening was definitely a monitoring experience just to kind of get it get a feel for what was going on. I have never seen three k hertz of band space so burning hot with RF than than I did yesterday night. The the band scope was literally plus 40 dB across the entire swath of that FT8 segment, uh which is offset by the standard FT8 segment.
SPEAKER_03I mean, I was seeing it even with my my limited antenna setup here. I was seeing that. And uh you know it's it's just fascinating to see. But uh three uh I mean you have to go on uh on Club Log and or in various other places, DX Cluster to look for the spots. They're out there. Um they're they're running, I think, mostly Fox and Hound on FT eight, and uh they're probably gonna be running split when they're running voice on IHF.
SPEAKER_01Uh but uh yeah, three probably up ten or more given how many people are calling, is what we're hearing.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's that that's interesting. So yeah, it'll be interesting to try. Certainly give it a shot. It's a it's a cue so you won't forget if you do get it.
SPEAKER_01And what if our call is a plan is for that actually the last time that we're there, a couple years ago. K-A-U-T actually, before right before he passed away. He got that. Wow. So kind of a quick one.
SPEAKER_00And I was gonna say the plan is I think they're there for if I look at the website, three weeks. So obviously weather and other conditions permitting, uh, but patience.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I g and and this is really, you know, us talking about it tonight. Yeah, go go go try to chase it, but be respectful of other operators. Try to find a spot where it's maybe less busy when you throw your call out there. If you know that there's not a chance, like Rory said, maybe take a break from uh just throwing RF into the ether uh so that there's space for other folks to use it. And then and then look for your opening, right? It just spamming those calls doesn't make sense, and it it it really is just uh uh making the band busy for no reason.
Yaesu Price Increases Explained
SPEAKER_03So yeah, I I do I guess I do have one suggestion, and there won't be any spots down that way if you were to run FT8 because there's nothing there, but certainly maybe take a minute to run a little bit of FT8 and see where your spots look on um look on Grid Tracker or one of the other spotted. TSK reporter, anyone. Take a look, make sure your signal's actually going that way before you uh give it a shot. Make sure you actually have a chance and you're not just clogging up an already busy frequency. Um that's like I said, there's not anything going to spot you down there to let you know you're being heard. Um, but it's uh certainly if if you realize you're only you know you're not crossing any oceans and you're barely making it to Florida, well, you're not making it to Bouvet.
SPEAKER_01That's right. That's a that's a great that's a great way to look at it. You know, use use the information at your uh at your at your fingertips, and there's a ton of it online with all the different tools that we have. We're gonna talk about ham clocks in a minute. So this is a nice little stuff.
SPEAKER_03Oh, that's another tool?
SPEAKER_01So yeah, we're gonna talk ham clocks in a minute, but that's a great way to check and make sure that you're getting there before you uh set it on repeat on FT8 and let it just cycle for uh you know an hour with no chance to get it. All right, guys. That's Bouvet. I think it's uh I think it's gonna be a really interesting one to keep our eye on. I hope that everybody uh does stay healthy out there, that they are successful in what they're trying to do, uh, and that we get great reports back uh from all the folks that really do want uh to get this one in their DXCC log. It's gonna be a really great opportunity. And they're going to Peter Island after this, if everything goes to plan. All of that stuff's being packed back on the ship. Uh, it's gonna get rechecked and re-readied, and it's gonna head out to Peter Island, which is another big expedition. Uh again, lots of cost involved there. So we'll see how quickly they can turn and burn on that. But uh I think this is uh this is really the start of something very interesting and very technically connected from a the exposition uh standpoint. So James, any last thoughts on Bouvet?
SPEAKER_00Nope. I just wish everyone the best and hope they stay safe.
SPEAKER_01Very good. Well, I guess that brings us to our next topic of expense. And uh boy, oh boy, is it expensive? There's a there's your there's your segue. So if you haven't been following the news and uh we'll keep you in the know here on the Everyday Ham podcast, we always like to try to keep you up to date. Uh Yesu, price-wise, is headed upwards. And uh perhaps you've noticed that uh Yesu's, especially uh top-end rigs, uh, really have been competitive in the market uh pricing-wise for quite some time. Rory scored a DX10 for close to$1,000. Uh, it's a top receiver, it's a top transmitter. Going to be one of the best radios you can put money into right now if you want to have a great base station radio, or even one that can be a little bit portable. Uh, but all of that is about to change on March 1st here. Uh Gigaparts made a post and uh conveyed uh the the Yesuit pricing was headed upwards. And uh I, for one gentleman, was shocked. The are big numbers we're seeing on these.
SPEAKER_00And I I wonder what you guys uh did they say the reasons why they are I'm assuming tariffs and I'm one two questions actually. Is this the US only? And two, what were the reasons?
SPEAKER_01So they they are right now we're we're speaking only from the uh from the the US perspective on this. So absolutely tariffs are impacting it here. Uh obviously, if you're listening from outside the United States, thank God uh you don't have to deal with all the things that we are uh currently. It's a very tumultuous time here. Uh but uh with all that being said, right, uh there are a ton of things that they've quoted, and one of them, of course, is manufacturing and material costs are up, right? Across the board. And you know this, James. You're in this space. Rory knows this because you guys are building the buildings that these things are getting shipped from.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, so we all know materials costs and manufacturing is up. Uh Yacy tried to uh sort of absorb some of this in expectation that perhaps some of the initial tariff uh pricing uh that was announced was going to be recalled uh for legal reasons. That didn't happen, unfortunately. Uh and at this point it looks like uh they're going to go ahead and uh make those changes. The other thing is, uh, of course, logistics continue to be extremely volatile as far as shipping, uh receiving, and getting the parts from point A to point B. Yes.
SPEAKER_00I I see that. So again, I work for a company that produces electronics and ADAS components. Uh so we we deal with a lot of smaller end electronics to to complete our assembly and and where we manufacture them. And the supply chain has been erratic to say the best. Uh we're also seeing other things like what's been coined Ramageddon, uh, where the RAM modules prices have skyrocketed due to D uh AI center and data center building. So for consumers, that pricing is, and we're like, well, our our radios don't really have the expense of RAM in it or really a lot of RAM. However, that still impacts the general electronics market. And then you look at even a lot of those smaller uh electronic components, a lot of them are airshipped, not freight shipped via boat containers because they're so small that honestly the cost differential is really not there from the the value of manufacturing speed.
SPEAKER_01There's a huge speed advantage, right? Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So then you look at things like, you know, I again I'm hoping everyone's safe here, but the Iran crisis that we're currently in. And we're already seeing notifications from our suppliers that due to restricted airspace and having to route around areas and not being able to kind of fly through Europe directly and all the other things that we're already being notified that we're anticipating a shortage here very shortly in the components that we're purchasing. And this is only one recent, you know, let's say, incident or example, I guess. Variable example. Sure. Yeah. Yep. So the electronics manufacturing community is still definitely in a crisis, and especially when you look at uh tariffs. And I guess the other part I'm curious of seeing if they mentioned was uh yen to dollar fluctuations. So a lot of people don't know, but the yen at one point a couple of years ago compared to the dollar was fairly weak. And I know that um the Japanese economy and the government has been trying to increase their uh, I think they're basically reduced their inflation. So they're increasing their interest rates to drive the price of the yen up a little bit compared to the dollar. So I'm assuming that their margins that they would have been able to absorb at one point are uh maybe a little bit less, which is why they're also considering these these larger increases now versus historically.
What To Buy Now Vs Later
SPEAKER_01Yeah, thanks to thanks to the internet, right? Uh what we can see there is five years ago, uh there's from five years ago, the the yen is uh 30% stronger essentially, right? Uh you get you get basically 0.0063 United States dollars to one Japanese yen, uh, where you were getting close to 0.1 uh back in 2021. So uh major fluctuations, and that's where a lot of our components are still coming from, uh, whether we like that or not. Uh that's where a lot of that high-tech manufacturing happens. So it is really interesting uh to see this. Uh gigaparts, if you were paying attention, I'll give you some numbers here if you if you weren't tuned in. Gigaparts gave us a little sneak preview of what to expect, unfortunately or fortunately. Uh the FT DX10, uh, where it has been traditionally trending around$13.99 uh at today's market price. Uh, you know, I think the MSRP was somewhere around$1,599, but we've been able to order it for$13.99 consistently. Uh MSRP is moving up to$19.49,$1,949 for the DX10. Uh that means that at sale pricing, I would expect to see that somewhere around$1,600 or$1,700. Um, so we're speculating here, but uh, we know that the MSRP is going up dramatically. Optima, which has been living around the$18.95 mark, we really haven't seen big discounts on Optima at all yet. Uh probably for the lack of uh units shipped. I would love to know that number. But uh Optima jumps up. Yeah. One one can wonder. Uh the Optima jumps up to$2,500 uh in in the adjusted market. Uh if it were not a great uh sign for Optima before, it certainly gets much more interesting at$2,500. I just can't even see it. Um and and I I say that tongue in cheek. If you like the Optima, I hope that it's working well for you. Um but boy, is that an expensive radio. We were we were talking even five or six years ago about$25,000 to$3,000 being a top of the line base station sitting on your desk, and the Optima is not a top of the line base station. I'm sorry. So that that seeing that number is huge. Uh and then$101 MP, uh, which was tracking around$4,000 uh just a year and a half ago.$66.99 is the new MSRP, and I suspect we'll be holding around$61.99 on sale. Uh, what I can tell you is some of these prices do make alignment with some of the other manufacturers. So ICOM$7760,$69.99. So a very expensive radio. Awesome 200-watt radio comparable to$101 MP, of course. Uh, some differences in its uh its characteristics. And then$7,300 Mark II, which just launched. We know that price is a little higher at around$1,600, but DX10 uh is going to have uh some stiff competition by Mark II from ICOM uh with that price increase. So I really do wonder uh if this changes the landscape a little bit for it. I still love the the DX10's receiver. I think it is top-notch, absolutely one of the best you can buy. But uh boy, 7300 Mark II makes a really good case uh when you start comparing pricing uh now. Go ahead, James.
SPEAKER_00Well, that was that was gonna be my question. And this is just an announcement from Yezu at the moment, and I'm assuming partly they've blown through their inventory that was already in the country. So now they're having to import more, and the tariffs are having more of a uh general impact on the supply that they have. But has any other supplier, Kenwood, ICOM, have they at this moment announced any price increases? Well, Kenwood would have to launch a radio before they could announce a price increase.
SPEAKER_01So they'd have to show up at events, too. Yeah, so I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Kenwood. You really haven't launched anything anyway. Uh, but iCom, I think, has been traditionally uh quicker to uh be adjusting those prices along the way. We've seen ICOM's radios hold pricing higher for longer. Uh and uh it's no knock on iCOM. I just think that realistically, they were already where they needed to be price-wise, and Yesu may have been trying to hold those prices artificially a bit lower to keep that competitive edge. Uh, and it's just not tenable uh in the changing market that we're seeing now.
SPEAKER_00So if you're if you're iCom, I mean you you try to plan ahead. Do they do they hold their prices where they're at now as long as they can to try to buy in that market share? Because you're right, the Mark II becomes a very attractive radio. Even the uh 705, uh, which right now I'm I looked it up on gigaparts is uh$1399 US dollars. Yep. I mean, that's uh that's now very attractive in comparison. And remember 705.
SPEAKER_01705 has a uh 100 watt amp coming, if I understand correctly, right? If I if I hear that correctly. So I'm very curious on on the whole change there. But uh it's definitely a very interesting time to be in the radio market. By the time this podcast drops, which will be this Thursday, uh, March 5th, 2026. So we'll time and date this, stamp this conversation. Uh, you're gonna probably have missed the boat on the uh on the lower Yesu pricing. I hope it's still there. DX Engineering and Ham Radio Outlet are still holding the pricing where they are uh until they sell through their existing stock. So if you have a radio that you've been eyeballing and you have the funds available, uh now might be the time to buy. Because what I'll give you is one last piece of uh thought on this whole topic. Hamvention pricing has traditionally been very aggressive. But if our starting prices have raised close to 40 or 40 percent in some cases, uh, I would imagine ham vention pricing is not going to bring us even close to where we're at uh even today. So if you're waiting for a radio for hamvention this year, now might be the time to buy. It may it may not be worth waiting to hamvention.
SPEAKER_03Go get that 891 that you need for Pota. There we go.
SPEAKER_01That is a must-buy. And the 891 raised to$900. That is wild. That is a pricing scheme.
SPEAKER_03You know what? When when you were I was reading through something you had posted in in the channel earlier today, and none of it really clicked until you gave the price to the 891, which of course might still my favorite radio.
SPEAKER_01100% great radio.
SPEAKER_03Uh you know, it I'm like that is a wild number, but I think um, you know, you're glad I have two. I uh I need an I need a second one because you know there is there is a somewhat of a plan to stick one in the car permanently, but you know, James James has a retirement plan and it's old Yesu radios to be resolved.
SPEAKER_00You know what's sad as a side topic, really quick here, too, is uh James has been looking at that 705, and James might be thirsty for a 705. There we go. So I I was actually looking online, you know, the this is really, by the way, a very sad comment because I do think the 705 is a very nice radio. Uh it's been six years now, roughly, in the market. I think it's it was released. Well-established, bleeding edge QRP radio, though, really. 100%. And the one thing that drives me nuts on it is, and again, six years old, so totally expected. Micro USB. And I know there's a mod and I know there's things you can do, and yada, yada, yada. I I don't know why it drives me nuts, but I I was really eyeballing that 705 because one of our club members put it for sale. Yep. And I was a great price on it, by the way.
SPEAKER_03He has a great price.
SPEAKER_00I was looking on that Discord link sitting there, and I know the guy very well, and I know he takes good care of it.
SPEAKER_03And uh you know that radio was babied, completely babied.
SPEAKER_00I know, I know. I was also shocked to see this is a man that saw him had that.
SPEAKER_03I bet he never even shouted into the radio.
SPEAKER_00No, he just coddled it and put it in a warm blanket and tucked it in a big digital guy.
SPEAKER_01Big digital. Casey 8RC, by the way, if uh if he's listening.
SPEAKER_03That's a yeah, good, good fellow, but certainly uh uh gentle on the equipment.
SPEAKER_00And that is gonna maybe be my ham my hamvention purchase. Oh the treat yourself purchase, but I don't know now.
SPEAKER_01So there's a lot going on. And and again, I think everyday ham's here to bring you fun and exciting news. And uh boy oh boy, I don't know if I'd call that fun, but it's certainly exciting, and uh, we do encourage you to go make a bad purchasing decision. Opposite of fun. We do encourage you to go make a bad purchasing decision and get yourself a radio.
SPEAKER_03I'll always encourage you to spend money. I'll I'll I'll sit here and and piss and moan and tell you I'm not buying anything, but I'll tell everyone else go buy it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. If if you tuned into episode 14, we're we're totally turning a corner here.
SPEAKER_03But uh the one titled You Don't Need That Radio. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00And now we have ultra. Now I will say the other side effect this will probably be, and this is my last comment on this, I promise, is you're probably gonna see some of the China OEMs, their sales go up almost as a result. The Bao Fangs, the Zhaigu's, those radios will become more desirable because they're gonna be able to hold their price longer. And uh that is gonna be one of the side effects of this.
Ham Clock After Elwood
SPEAKER_03And I think in the in the used market, people selling things on tables and the swaps, we're gonna probably start to see see on you know even more unreasonable prices on on things where where people don't just just don't budge. And I know what I have. Yeah, you you you've got nothing. And and you know, that's that's a shame because you you're going home with with all of it if you don't budge on the price.
SPEAKER_01Keep looking in though at the swaps and uh and do try to uh find those things that you're looking for, uh better pricing, and uh hopefully uh you'll get the radios that you need. Uh have more fun with the stuff that you already have, though, perhaps uh in the interim. Uh I don't think this is a forever adjustment. I do think that at some point things have to settle down, but uh right now is tumultuous around the world, so uh be careful, uh have fun and uh use what you got and uh and make sure that you're making the most of that.
SPEAKER_03I sure I still say that 750 is uh$1299. It's not gonna be less than that. If it even happens.
SPEAKER_01We'll see. And we're talking about the Kenwood TM D750A, by the way, which we have talked about at length and uh we still haven't seen the final prototype. Hoping to see it there at ham benchin. All right, I'm gonna give you the hard transition. I'm gonna give you the hard transition, guys. Next on the list tonight. You ready? You ready? Hit us ham clocks. Ham clocks are boy oh boy. Uh there have been waves since uh uh the unceremonious passing of Elwood last month, unfortunate, and we again uh wish our best to the Elwood and his family. But uh the ham clock community has gone absolutely nuts. Uh it has sort of brought some uh some builders out of the woodwork, some folks that were really motivated by The need to fill this niche where we knew that there was going to be a discontinuation of ham clock in June 2026 if nobody did anything about it. And it has opened the floodgates. There are a whole bunch of new options that have accelerated in their development by just leaps and bounds. And I want to recognize one right out of the gate that'll let all of us who already invested in the original ham clock to continue using it because that for most people is going to be the most realistic way forward. And that is hamclock.com. So the gentleman at hamclock.com has really put out an effort to uh maintain and recreate some of the missing parts of the back end. I won't pretend like I know all of the parts that he's building. Uh there was a very big um note that he posted, which was uh fact, not fable. Uh it's since been pulled from the website. So if you missed that, it was a pretty scathing uh review of the ham clock landscape. But uh W4BAE, uh Bruce over there uh is, I believe, in his best intention, trying to keep the ham clock running for longer term and also uh prevent it from having another single point of failure in the future. And so what he has done is partnered with other hams to make sure that hamclock.com is a co-owned uh venture, uh co-developed, and that more than one person understands it so that God forbid something happens to somebody out there uh that this continues to live on for the community. So if you are not monitoring the ham clock uh world, uh you do have an option. Uh, it's very simple to change what you are doing with your current ham clock by editing the hosts file. Host file essentially allows you to take a uh web address like uh the previous ClearSky Institute and tell your hardware to go look for ClearSky at a different place. And that's the d that's the dumbed down version. If you know how host file works, good for you. If you're a listener out there that doesn't know what a host file is, it's just a shortcut letting your ham clock know where else to look for the details that it's generally looking for.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, looking looking at the website, hamclock.com, uh, it's actually really nice. It's a it's a well-built website, but they have a section that says data feed status, where they're showing that these feeds have their live and their open status, no dependency on Clear Sky Institute, which was part of Ham Clock, and the data's sourced directly from NOAA, NASA, USNO, Open Medio, et cetera. And they have a lot of them live. I mean, it's a long list, but solar and x-ray flux, sunspot numbers, uh KB index, band conditions, basically, this list would include a lot of what you're looking for uh to keep your ham clock running. So I mean, kudos. It looks it looks really well done and in some really fast time.
SPEAKER_01The intention, of course, of hamclock.com is to make it transparent to you, the user, after you make the host file edit. There are three different ways to employ this. And if you don't like host file editing, you can do some other things. All of the details are at hamclock.com, h-a-m-c-l-o-c-k.com. So go over there and check it out if you're running one and you don't want it to shut down in June. However, we're not going to spend too much time on ham clock because I love what they're doing and I hope that they continue to iterate. I will say one last thing on this one. I have it pointed at my ham clock, or I have my ham clock pointed at them, to be technically correct. And uh on the first day that I pointed it there, uh, I did have some data dropouts. I did have some issues with PSK spots showing up. I showed uh very strange numbers, but I'll tell you what, in the last three or four days, it has gone from somewhat inconsistent to almost perfect. Uh, and that's really uh a kudos to the developer team or the developer. I don't know if it's just Bruce right now, uh, that are are rapidly uh iterating on the uh the back end there. Uh it shows that they have 6,512 clocks connected to the ham clock uh back end already. Uh and I'm sure there's probably triple or more uh that could still be connected out there. And that's that's just a wild guess number wise.
SPEAKER_03I still need to convert mine over and and uh do all the things, but uh I'll be doing that soon.
Open Alternatives: Web And Self‑Hosted
SPEAKER_01Awesome. Now, if you're not interested in maintaining that ham clock, uh there are still a couple of more options that have sprung up from the uh sort of proverbial ashes of the original ham clock. And and this is where it starts to get sort of interesting because there were some projects not on the fast track before Elwood, uh the Lwood clock went down or was uh going to go down. Uh and openhamclock.com is a very cool portable version that runs in your browser, can be fully customized with your call sign, your DX, you know, your your DX space, all of the different things that you're looking for. Uh, and it looks really nice. It is a modern ham clock interface uh that you can pull up in your browser anywhere, recall your profile, and you have a ham clock working without any hardware at all. And I think that's a really cool new way to do ham clock. Uh, whether there were open ham clocks before, if I'm, you know, there may have been, but this is a very polished version. This is a very polished version. Uh, it has been developing rapidly, it looks awesome. Uh, encourage you to go check it out if you're looking for an alternative to the OG uh ham clock.
SPEAKER_00From looking at also Open Ham Clock's website, uh, they have a classic theme that closely mirrors the original ham clock look and feel. So if you if you're familiar with that, and you mentioned it was web-based, uh, so web browser. However, they do also have a self-hosted locally version as well. So you can pull down the GitHub uh repository and it will actually work on Windows, Raspberry Pi, Linux, et cetera. So very nice. I'd say that's a great alternative. This is the one too I've seen a lot online. Uh so if you follow the ham Facebook feeds, uh you see a lot of open ham clock, uh, especially once the original ham clock was announced that it would be decommissioning on June 2026, at least the data feed side.
SPEAKER_01I'm glad to see him getting some uh critical mass here. I think this is a really nice project. I think it's well developed. Uh how much of the back end is being reused from Clear Sky, that is where I know there is some concern. So let's, you know, we'll hedge our bets here and hope that they've got everything in order and that they're doing the things that they need to do uh so that this thing can live on. I love that you can self-host it. It will be installable on your Innovato if that's what you had. A lot of us had those Innovato uh quadra boxes, uh, so you can install it there and uh you'll have a way for that to move on if you want to go to a new ham clock option. Rory, go ahead.
SPEAKER_03I think the resiliency of the ham community, they're not gonna let it fail. You know, making it so that more people can can play with it and bring their ideas into it. We're we'll we'll just keep seeing this grow and improve. And I think that'll be uh it'll be a sight to see. I'm excited to see where it goes from here.
SPEAKER_01What did they say? The necessity is the mother of invention? I feel like that is what exactly happened with ham clock. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Needed a couple people to get the ball rolling. I mean, there was pretty much a hard stop from from Elwood, and and it was uh debatable. I mean, he always said it was out there, whatever, but it was debatable whether he actually wanted it to continue, depending on what you read. But uh there were people out there who were not gonna let it uh not let it go by the wayside. I'm glad their hard work is uh it's all coming together now. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01So open ham clock, another option for you. Openhamclock.com. Go check it out if you're looking or in the market for a replacement ham clock. And I've got one more for you. And this one uh sort of an underdog right now for me, uh, but certainly uh mirroring a lot of what uh the original ham clock was doing. It's hamvision.net. Hamvision.net. That's a new one too.net. Uh and hamvision uh has a very uh, I would say, ham clock-esque interface. It almost resembles the classic interface that uh open ham clock is doing. Uh and uh this one uh is a little more involved to get set up. Uh I have not set this up myself, but uh there is a demo running where you can see uh an example of what it can do. You can click all of the buttons. So uh hamvision by uh PD2TX, I believe, uh is the uh is the site there. Go check that one out. I I really want to give a little exposure to all these different projects, and that's why I picked three tonight that we knew were uh kind of uh big. Go ahead, James. What did you have on this?
SPEAKER_00I have I have one more that we did not mention. Not necessarily a ham clock, but ham clock-esque in terms of data. Uh, the Geochron is also still an available option for those out there that just want to be able to purchase something and not run it and have to build their own uh Raspberry Pi or something of that nature. Um, you're paying a little bit more, honestly, for the hardware. You're paying for a subscription for the ham radio bundle. Uh, however, it it is good software, it's a good tool, and you know it's up and running, and you get the support that comes with it as well. So for those that would like that option, uh the Geochron is still a reliable, a reliable choice for you. But I can't stress enough though, I think especially when I was starting as a new ham and I was learning what the K index was and the gray line and all the different things that came with kind of learning radio propagation. I built a ham clock, I had that running, and I just kind of watched it and learned and looked things up on the internet to kind of see what I'm looking at and kind of do a little research. And again, it's it's it's a really good tool. So I'm glad that someone is continuing to develop alternatives or support the original ham clock because these are the things we need in the community.
ARRL Win On Reporting Exemptions
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I I did a I did a quick like, hey, Gemini, what are the advantages of ham clock for a ham operator? Just tell me, like, summarize it for me. And I just asked Gemini out of curiosity, because I was just really like, if I'm a brand new user, you say ham clock to him, I'm like, what the hell does a ham clock do? Right? Like it doesn't ham clock doesn't describe to me what it does for me. And that's why I thought it was kind of interesting. So I'll tell you what it gave me in four points here. You tell me whether or not you think it's accurate. All right. Tells you which bands are alive, shows you predicted signal strength into a specific DX region. It can. Tells you the highest frequency that you can reach a target at. The muff. Yeah. Got it. You got it. And predicts the auroral scatter and opportunities for VHF operations. So again, solar weather, essentially. I thought that was a fair summary. Is that everything that a modern ham clock can do? Absolutely not. But I will tell you, I think ham clock absolutely does get you uh a sort of cursory look at some of the more advanced tools like the vocap maps, the muff, the the PSK reports, all of those different things that you're gonna dig into in a lot more about spots, all that stuff that later on you're gonna dig into in more depth. So it's a really nice summary front end that gives you at-a-glance information. So that's ham clock. I I think it's a neat spot. James, I'm glad you brought up Geocron. Geocron is is an excellent piece of piece of equipment. It's expensive. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00It is expensive. Again, I built a ham clock. I still actually have my ham clock sitting over there. Um, I look at it and I had it upstairs in my office for a while as well. It's it's a great piece of hardware. I I just I got talked into the Geochron and I'm I'm happy with it. Honestly, I I really do love it. Uh it's set it and forget it, and it just kind of works, but it's not and the amateur radio layer is really excellent.
SPEAKER_01What is it,$69 for the year if you pay up ahead? I think is what it is. Yeah. Really, for the less than the cost of a taco at Daco Bell, you could have it every month, I suppose.
SPEAKER_00It's an expensive taco.
SPEAKER_01Well, if you get one of the you know, the value meals these days, I'm pretty sure that's better than$10.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. I hope they give you two sour creams at that price. Jeez.
SPEAKER_01Oh boy. All right. Last uh last on the list, and we're getting really close on time here, so I think uh we're just gonna uh make an make a note of this as as uh sort of maybe a win for the ARL. ARRL, and uh of course, uh we all know uh we're in sort of uh conflicted times uh as uh as we uh enter this this month, even. Uh the uh the exemption for amateurs on foreign adversary reporting requirements. And uh if you you haven't looked at this yet, I do think this is a massive win for the ARL and and and in lobbying the FCC to keep us off these lists as amateurs. This is not a place that I want to be involved at all. I don't want my my name on these lists. Uh I don't need uh uh places like China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russian Federation, Venezuela, and others uh who uh are are looking to uh to have lists of folks that they might uh have a problem with uh to show my name. And now that I've said it on this podcast, I'm sure they do, but you know what I'm saying.
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SPEAKER_00Yeah. Could you could you imagine a world where every time you made a contact or a QSO with uh Cuba that you basically had to fill out a form on the on the U.S. government's website to say that you made a contact with someone? Huge administrative burden. With FT2, I mean, I'd be making a uh form fill out every seven to eleven seconds. You might have to automate it with the software.
SPEAKER_03There might be an automatic Well, there there are a few of those Cuban stations on FT8 that that are on all the bands at all hours. So I I imagine uh old uh CO8LY will be down there on FT2 in short order.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we'd have to talk to Sebastian about some sort of plug-in to create a form and submit it. Oh, he can do it. He can do it.
SPEAKER_01Thankfully, thankfully, it appears that this is uh this is gonna work out for us here. And so I'm I'm happy to see him. Yeah. So I'm happy to give the ARL a win on this one. Uh second clap of the day. Go ARL. That was uh kudos. Give them some give them some respect for uh for catching this one early, making sure that it didn't end up uh in a in a worse situation. So guys, somehow we we've talked for an hour and I always enjoy you guys, uh, but uh any longer than that, I might be uh might be tired. So I'm kidding.
SPEAKER_03Well if you've if you've made it the hour, thanks for listening. And again, that's right. Make sure you hit subscribe, whether you're listening to us on YouTube or any of the podcast platforms. If you're listening on Apple Podcasts or any of those, take a moment to give us a rating, a review. Let us know how we're doing. Let us know if we're uh talking about things you like or don't like. I mean, we don't want a whole lot of negative feedback, but if there's something we can do better, we we we should constructive criticism. Constructive criticism. This this one guy, you know, just talks about all the things he hates on the air all the time. Well, that's true, but you know.
SPEAKER_00We we already know these things.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you do. But uh take a moment to uh to hit the subscribe button, leave a review, get in touch with us if you uh if you want to with any any contact uh ideas or content ideas. James just had a light bulb go on over there.
SPEAKER_00I was gonna say, Rory, are you gonna drop the new email?
SPEAKER_03CQ at everydayham.com. Feel free to reach out to us at our fresh email address. Uh certainly take you know, email us or leave a comment down below. Jim is is always on the comments within 30 to 50 seconds of each comment. So it's uh keep you guys involved. Yeah, it's certainly easy to get in touch with us. Of course, join our in our Discord community. We have a couple of really really regulars. We have the what we could probably almost call the Discord. We could almost call the morning, the morning crowd now. I I look forward to everybody uh a little bit of coffee chat anywhere between, you know, depending who it is, 4 30 and 30.
SPEAKER_014 30, oh god.
SPEAKER_03Uh well Rodney out there in Texas, he's he's got some early mornings. He he gets to work to make the coffee. I think that's that's uh but uh we'll be hearing more from him actually as as he nears retirement and uh he might come on uh one of our episodes and talk about his sh backyard shack build. So I'm looking forward to hearing about that. But uh yeah, certainly reach out to us. We enjoy hearing from you. We enjoy you know talking to you if you're in the area in the Detroit area and you hear us on the on the local repeater. Feel free to jump in. If you join on the All-Star Network, feel free to give us a shout. Um, definitely enjoy hearing from folks.
SPEAKER_01And James, I think uh even the podcast listeners have a way to connect now, if I'm not mistaken. They can send a text if I'm if I'm correct there. Is that a new one? There is our mechanism.
SPEAKER_00Uh BuzzSprout uh app, which is our hosting service, does have a let us know how we're doing or send us feedback as well. So just search uh everyday ham at BuzzSprout and you'll you'll see a way to connect through there as well.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's uh it's neat to see all the different methods. Uh, we've gotten some really encouraging email uh saying that people like what they're doing. Uh we've heard some really fun buzz of people uh saying that uh they have listened uh from all around the states now, and that's uh that's awesome. If you have a great idea for a show, we'd love to hear it too. Uh throw it in that cq at everydayhampodcast.com email address. Uh, we'd love to get that. If you have something uh that you're interested in having us take a look at, uh you can certainly pose that to us as well. I will encourage you to share that. Uh we do kind of still act pretty selective on that front, so don't feel bad. Uh, we'll give you a reply, but uh uh we only have so much time in our day, and each of us is still fully employed, uh, thankfully. Uh 40 plus hours a week. Uh so this is a uh hobby for us, but we do love uh spending a time looking at new and fun uh technology products and otherwise. So uh we're certainly open to that. Uh you could drop us a line there at CQ at Everyday Ham. This has been the 15th episode of the Everyday Ham podcast. Thank you both for joining us. 73 guys, and we'll catch you next time.
SPEAKER_0373. Good luck in the contest.
