Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, is taking to the Internet airwaves Thursday, February 18th at 9:00 pm Eastern (02:00 UTC) with a brand new live call-in podcast. Ham Talk LIVE! will feature general interest ham radio topics and special guests with a wide range of ham radio expertise.

Unlike traditional ham radio podcasts, Rapp says he hopes to create something a little different. “I really look forward to just doing some open line shows,” he says. “I want it to be a conversation and just talk about happenings more than just disseminating information. We already have people doing a great job with that, and I enjoy watching and listening to them.”

Thursday night’s episode will discuss DXing and contesting and will feature well-known DXer Dr. Scott Wright, KØMD. Next week he’ll host popular Amateur Radio Newsline anchor Don Wilbanks, AE5DW.

To tune into the show, you can visit HamTalkLive.com. To participate, listeners can either call Skype username ‘hamtalklive’ or dial (812) 638-4261. “I don’t have a call screener. Once I answer they will be on immediately so I won’t answer until I’m ready for the caller,” Rapp says.

The show will last 30 minutes each week. If listeners miss the live show, a downloadable podcast will be available on iTunes, Spreaker, and possibly other outlets soon after each broadcast.

If the format works out well, he may extend the show longer than the allotted thirty minutes. “If people listen, I’ll definitely extend the time,” he says.

Rapp is a high school chemistry teacher and sponsors the ham radio club at his school. He was first licensed in 1976 at the age of five. He is the recipient of the 2014 Indiana Radio Club Council Amateur of the Year award, the 2003 Indiana Radio Club Council Technical Excellence Award, and the 2004 ARRL Professional Educator of the Year award.

Every amateur radio operator is attracted to different aspects of our diverse hobby. For Cliff Batson, N4CCB, of Nashville, Tennessee, it’s QRP — making radio contacts with 5-watts or less.

“I’m not an expert, but I have quite a bit of passion and enthusiasm for QRP. There’s just something magical about being able to make contacts using less power than a nightlight,” says Batson.

Batson started a video blog called QRP School late last summer and recently added his twentieth episode. He’s already covered topics like using a deploy-anywhere vertical HF antenna (below), solar power operations, building a computer-to-CW interface, bringing your gear along on vacation, and many more. He says that he hopes to add even more QRP-related videos soon.

“Ham radio is a big hobby, and there’s room for all of us to enjoy whatever we enjoy, while letting others do their own thing,” he says.

If you enjoy QRP or want to learn more, you can visit his site at QRPSchool.com and subscribe to his YouTube channel.

I’ll coin a phrase for a program like this: Wonkie-Talkie.

The WRC (World Radio Conference) last November ended up with a worldwide Amateur Radio 60 Meter allocation of 15 kHz. You’ll be forgiven if you thought there already was a 60 meter allocation, as many countries have authorized 60 Meter Amateur operation. But it’s never been a formal ITU deal.

But 15 kHz, with a power restriction of about 10 watts into a dipole? (Or 15 watts EIRP – an ‘isotropic radiator’ – a dipole has 2 dB gain over an isotropic radiator?) Compared to the 5 discrete SSB/CW/digital channels we have now with a 100 watt/dipole power limit…. is that a win, lose or draw?

In this Episode of HamRadioNow, ARRL Chief Technology Officer Brennan Price N4QX explains how the WRC ended up with this meager offering, and how hams in the US and other countries with maybe more spectrum and certainly more power may continue to enjoy those privileges. Or not… At the very least, the FCC won’t act on the WRC changes for some time… maybe years.

Well, it’s years if we’re gaining something, like the 137 kHz spectrum that was authorized in WRC 07, that we’re just getting rules opening it up to US hams now. But if we’re losing something?

Brennan is happier to talk about some of the defensive successes at WRC 15. If half the battle is gaining spectrum, the other half is avoiding losing it. And there were many eyes on some of our microwave allocations, but the attacks were fended off.

So, Wonkie-Talkie? You’ll also be forgiven if you drift off to work some DX on 20…. while we still have 20….

Oh, and ‘Let’s Go Dutch’? The contingent from the Netherlands strongly supported a wider allocation and 100 watt limit. They compromised down to 100 kHz, but were out-shouted (apparently there is no voting) by the “almost nothing” faction. So their government immediately authorized Dutch hams that 100 kHz/100 watts anyway.

Brennan says it’s not going to happen here in the US.

73, Gary KN4AQ

And if you don’t have time to watch, maybe you have time to listen while you commute or work out (work out? Hams? Who am I kidding?). Paste this into your podcast app: http://HamRadioNow.tv/hrn/hrnrss.xml. You’ll be subscribed to our audio download.

First of all, thank you to the 2,015 people from all over the world who entered the giveaway. That’s a record number of entries for us!

Now for the moment you’ve been waiting for… the winners!  OK, here they are:

We will contact the winners by e-mail with further instructions today. If you are one of the 41 winners, please reply quickly so that we can get your prize on the way to you! If you don’t receive your e-mail today, please double-check your spam folder to make sure it didn’t end up there.

Here are the prizes:

One (1)
HackRF One SDR transceiver bundle
Estimated retail value $500 each
Contains everything you need to listen to, and transmit, HF, VHF & UHF (1 MHz to 6 GHz) with the HackRF One from Great Scott Gadgets, down to 100kHz or lower! Standard bundle includes HackRF, Ham It Up, Antenna Balun, 2 SMA interconnect cables and an SMA to BNC adapter. Pre-installed in a black aluminum enclosure and with the RF shield.

Three (3)
NESDR XTR+ HF bundles
Estimated retail value $140 each
Each kit will contain an SDR, an upconverter to enable HF reception, and a cable to connect the two units.

Two (2)
NESDR Mini 2+ HF bundles
Estimated retail value $125 each
Each kit will contain an NESDR Mini 2+ SDR with 0.5PPM TCXO, MCX-connected antenna for VHF, an upconverter to enable HF reception, and a cable to connect the two units.
 Ten (10)
NESDR XTR+ sets
Estimated retail value $60 each
NooElec NESDR XTR+ SDR & DVB-T USB set, including GPS-rated +/- 0.5PPM TCXO, quality telescopic antenna and remote control. Genuine Elonics E4000 tuner is guaranteed.

Ten (10)
NESDR Nano 2+ sets
Estimated retail value $30 each
Same form factor as the Nano 2 but with a TCXO!

Fifteen (15)
NESDR Nano 2 sets
Estimated retail value $25 each
The NESDR Nano 2 is based on the R820T2 tuner IC made by Rafael Micro, which means an approximate tuning range of 25MHz-1700MHz and improved selectivity and sensitivity in most frequency ranges versus R820T-based SDRs. There is also an RTL2832 (RTL2832U) IC on board of course, to provide basic demodulation and USB interface functionality