I am trying to make sense of this year, this pandemic year.  It did create for me an opportunity to see that it was possible to pull off a great ham radio event, virtually.  The lessons for me and the people that helped me were huge.  One of the things that I learned is that there are a large number of hams that will not go to live events, even if there was not a virus, due to their location, their means,  their age, or their health.  The Expo was an opportunity to increase their ham radio knowledge, reach out to exhibitors, and potentially make new friends.  

I titled this message, "The Gap Year" because traditionally, the gap year is that year between high school and college, where if you could, you traveled abroad, took a Eurail Pass to travel in Europe, or took a year of study.  You were out of your element, in a different place and time, away from your friends and family.  You were there to experience something new and different.  It was, for many young people, transformational. 

This pandemic year feels like the gap year to me.  My friends and family are at the end of Zoom or Skype. My relationships outside of my marriage are literally at two arms length, out of reach, for now.  My only public mixing is swimming laps in a pool 3 times a week.  I am told that the chlorine kills the virus.  Perfectly safe.  Locker room - not safe.  Wear my mask from the car to the pool.  Use my Corona Virus App to file the daily statement that I don't have symptoms or a fever to be allowed into the pool.  Straight forward, but strange. 

Most of the things that I like to do include people, often lots of people.  The physical presence of people, lots of people, is potentially dangerous.  By calling this a gap year, I have hope that it will end, and we will all be back in our element,  including live ham radio events.  I will be there, if possible, when this gap year is over, in addition to hosting another virtual Expo on March 2021. 

73 - Eric, 4Z1UG

​I realize that it has been a few weeks since I have sent out a message when posting a new podcast.  I am still recovering from the Expo.  The post Expo work is large but different.  We are all pouring over 3000 plus surveys to understand what we need to improve for next March.  

The majority of the Speakers for the QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo were former guests of the QSO Today Podcast. Only ten were not. So I am interviewing the remaining ten, so that you will have their ham radio story too. You will find these interviews easily by putting in the their call sign on the search bar at the top of the QSO Today Homepage.

The QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo is still open in on-demand mode. This means that all of the great content and speakers are there on the platform, only the chat system is not operational. Until September 9th.   
We are putting the Q&A sessions up on the platform now after cutting and editing over 180 GB of video. Sadly, some of the Q&A sessions did not get recorded. We are working on a better solution for next March.

I have had one of the "gamers" of the Leaderboard reveal to me how gaming was done and why all of the top scorers are tied. They in fact have milked every point out of the system to the very last one. Some of these guys are very sophisticated. Of course, the game will be very different in March.

Mark Smith, KR6ZY, "Smitty Halibut" as he is also called, is a relatively new ham that has taken up ham radio project building as one of his key areas of interest. I can relate to him as project building has been my interest over the years. Mark was a speaker at the Expo and is a regular contributor to the Ham Radio Workbench Podcast hosted by George, KJ6VU and Jeremy, KF7IJZ.

Finally, QRP Labs, is ending their sponsorship of the QSO Today Podcast. Hans, G0UPL, is a great friend and supporter of QSO Today. I want to thank him and remind you that all of the links to QRP Labs from earlier episodes still work and support us both. He has some great new projects over there and I for one always look to see what's new at QRP Labs. 


73, Eric 4Z1UG

Last week, Al Brogdon, W1AB, was episode 310.  Al has contributed scores of articles to the ham radio magazines going back over 60 years.  It was a fun QSO for me.  Be sure not to miss it.   

I somehow seem overwhelmed by the QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo preparations.  However, I have an amazing staff helping me with all of the details from exhibitor booths to on-boarding all of the speaker presentations to our expo platform.  It is a huge job and it is getting done, piece by piece.  So I can't wait for you to see it when it opens at 0100 hours Zulu on August 8th with Dr. Scott Wright, K0MD's Keynote Address.  Scott is a big supporter of the QSO Today Podcast.  I wanted Scott's keynote address to stand by itself, so it is going out Friday Evening, August 7th USA time.  

The Exhibition Hall will be open at the same time for the next 48 hours.  Most of the exhibitors will be in their booths beginning at 1500 Zulu on August 8th, or Saturday morning USA time.  

Our speakers are busy this weekend uploading their presentations to us for some minor editing and on-boarding to the convention auditorium.  They have been great and I am looking forward, like you, to view their presentations.  

In the middle of all of this, I had the opportunity to have a QSO with Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH.  Riley is a well known amateur radio speaker and spent his career working at the FCC.  Riley worked there as the wireless industry started to boom and evolve the services like paging, cellular, PCS, and the modern services that we have today.  He shares his ham radio story and what impact he had on the FCC during his tenure there. 

The COVID-19 is spiking in Israel this Summer.  The Summer heat has not made it go away, so stay safe out there. 

73, Eric 4Z1UG