The Ham Expo is now finally over for us here at QSO Today.  All of the reports have been generated, surveys returned and tabulated, and the last tasks are almost finished.  In another two weeks we will start work on the March 2021 QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo to have enough time to make all of the upgrades from the lessons that we learned from the August Expo.  

In Israel, we are in the middle of the Jewish High Holiday season, that began with Rosh Hashana last week, and ends with the 8 day Sukkot holiday beginning next week.  This is my favorite time of the year in Israel.  The weather is cooling down, the days are beautiful, and the Sukkot holiday is outdoors.  It is also a very special social and family time. 

We are also in our second lock down that began yesterday due to a spike in the number of new Covid-19 cases.  So the holidays this year are not social and family time.  My next door neighbor, who has been diagnosed with the virus, went to the hospital yesterday.  His family also tested positive, but are hardly symptomatic.   All of us on the street see each other every day, masked up and social distancing.  Whats-app also keeps us up to date on who needs what and who needs help.  The pandemic has brought us all closer as we all have our personal and public struggles. 

We Israelis are great in a short term crisis, but we need coherent arguments for continuing the long haul.  I know this is also true in the rest of the World.  Instead of 100 meter diameter limit, we have a 1000 meter limit.  I even found a website that helps me to draw a circle on a Google map to know what 1000 meters from my house looks like.  Pathetic.  The rest of the rules for public gatherings, like prayer services, require an advanced degree in mathematics to figure out the formulas for what makes a "capsule".  Everything is closed and the police are stopping traffic in Jerusalem to keep the socializing to a minimum, unless you are headed to a protest.  

As an amateur radio operator, I think that I am in a better position.  I tell folks that amateur radio operators are natural social distancers, and we know how to communicate around the world for our social outlet.  I am also telling people and believe it myself, that I am doing a "gap year",  where I am separated from family and friends, to learn and try new things.  The QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo is my example.  I would be lying to you and me if I said that I am not anxious for this to be over.  I really am a social animal in spite of what I tell others. 

I was so glad to meet Jim Heath, W6LG, to do his interview.  Jim is just a nice guy.  His YouTube videos are just the right length and at the right level for  new and returning hams to master new skills or get a refresher on old ones.  Jim is the kind of mentor that I had, live and personal many years ago,  from the amateur radio club.  He also provides wisdom and insight from his personal experience to make his channel a must watch.  I hope that you enjoy my QSO Today with Jim as much as I did. 

We are lucky as hams to have our hobby and each other during this difficult time.  Stay safe and 73,   Eric,  

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

​School is over for Karen, my teacher and XYL. She is nursing a broken arm from a fall in the house. We have floor tiles that settle that are easy to trip over if you don't watch it. We both didn't notice it until it was too late. So she is on the mend and we are still social distancing as the summer moves forward. The beautiful Summer weather and our exhaustion with social distancing is causing the virus to spike here as our population attempts to get back to normal. A reminder that we are not out of the woods yet and have to continue to be careful.

The QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo is also moving at a rapid pace. The ARRL has partnered with us to make us an "ARRL Sanctioned Hamfest" that will result in lots of publicity. Our staff is up to five people including me to get this show opened on August 8th at 0100 Zulu, with Dr. Scott Wright, K0MD's keynote speech. I can't wait. We are still selling booths knowing the many of our favorite ham radio vendors will sit this one out waiting to see how successful we will be. Our Sponsors are great and are working to promote this event and getting their exhibit hall booths set up. I said to one that we will be a success just from the over 70 speakers that will present on the two days of the event and the existing exhibitors who did not hesitate to support this effort. I respectfully ask you to sign up for your free ticket as registration numbers are an important confidence builder to sponsors and speakers.

Here is where I need some help on August 8th and 9th.

I am arranging "talk in channels" during the Expo using Echo-link, D-Star, System Fusion, Allstar, IRLP, DMR, and P25. I think that I have the DMR, D-Star, System Fusion and Allstar covered. I would like to have Echolink, IRLP, and P25 "talk groups" available. Any ideas?

I will also need net control operators on those talk groups to answer questions from a FAQ that I will prepare to help people around the virtual conference hall. If you would like to volunteer, please click on this link: https://bit.ly/3ibEQfx to sign up.

If you have other ideas on how to create an on-the-air presence, please reply to this message. I am open to suggestions.

The name of this post is called "sidewalk EME" because that is exactly what my guest this week, Doug Millar, K6JEY, does to work DX by bouncing signals off the moon. You see, Doug does not have a lot of yard to do EME on 10 GHz. So he assembles his 8 foot satellite dish and 10 GHz rig on the sidewalk in front of his condo in Southern California. He demonstrates that a determined amateur radio operator can make a contact from just about anyplace. I hope that you enjoyed this QSO Today as much as I did making it.

Thanks for listening. Stay safe and be careful out there. 

73, Eric 4Z1UG

We are about 8 weeks away from the first QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo, and have started in earnest to sell exhibitor booths to pay for this event. As I write this, FlexRadio and RT Systems have signed to be the first Gold Sponsors after Icom's Platinum position. These companies will lead the way for the rest of the exhibitors so that we can create an amazing and memorable event for the ham radio community. Brad, Emanuela, and I  are making calls and demonstrations of the unique platform that we are using to make this event. Its fun and on the edge.

I told a well known ham and business person in the ham radio community as I was making a demonstration for his company, that my first vision of a pioneer is the American settler with his face down in the dust of the Great Plains with a few arrows in his back. Its hard to be first and you hope that the arrows are not deep enough to hurt.

When I need a ham radio logo or QSL Card, my first choice is always Jeff Murray, K1NSS. Jeff was kind enough to do a spectacular job on the "Expo" logo with our name inside of a magnetic loop antenna.  Its a beautiful representation (above) of what I wanted to express and besides it will look good on coffee cups and hats.  

I had a great conversation with Tim Carter, W3ATB, who is my guest this week.  Tim is a relatively new ham, but an old hand in being a media personality.  Tim was the first full time remodeling guy with a radio talk show, years ago.  Since then he has created a great media business around his building interests.  When he became a ham, his first act was to find a mentor to get him to success fast.  That is why I called this message from Zero to 60 in four seconds.  Tim says in the show that a ham radio mentor is the fastest way to success and enjoyment of the hobby.  I can't agree more.  

Thanks for listening. Stay safe and be careful out there.

73, Eric 4Z1UG

Beginning last week, the restrictions on our movement in Israel began to loosen up with the opening of malls, outdoor markets, and health clubs.  My wife's schools are saying that a limited number of kids can return to school, no more than 17 per class, and they don't have to wear masks inside the classroom with the teacher, only outside.  Huh? The XYL is not required to return until she is ready and comfortable with the situation.

Being older and perhaps in a higher risk group for the Covid-19 virus, our strategy is to add two weeks to whatever is going on outside.  If nobody is getting sick at school after two weeks, then we can exit our isolation and get on with our lives until the next crisis.  If on the other hand the opening is premature, then we hold for a while. Being unable to see the grandchildren has been the most difficult part of this isolation. Hopefully in a few weeks, that separation will also end.

In the meantime, me and my team are working on the QSO Today Virtual Ham Radio Expo. The dates are set for August 8 and 9th. We are using a virtual reality platform that will give us a full convention experience with exhibit hall, speaker auditoriums, and hospitality rooms. George, KJ6VU, from the Ham Radio Workbench podcast is helping me with the list of speakers, now close to 40 in 5 subject tracks. I’m excited.

I need a small favor. Please complete my survey by clicking on the button on the Expo page of the QSO Today website. This survey will give you a FREE ticket to both days of the event in August. Your registration will also show potential exhibitors that this project has your support. If you have already filled out this survey, then you have your free ticket.  I am truly grateful for this support. In a few weeks I will contact you with your registration.

I wish you a happy and healthy week and that you enjoy this episode 301 with Rick Dubbs, WW9JD. Rick learned to “social distance” while spending four years at sea in a US Navy nuclear submarine. He shares this and the rest of the story in this QSO Today.

73, Eric 4Z1UG

I don't often speak or write about my other lives, outside of the podcast, but this week I felt compelled to speak about my most recent loss.  Windows 7 is now dead, buried, and a fading memory.  

For the last 30 years, every time I was at some transition point in my computer use, to buy a new one, or a change in the operating system, I reluctantly stayed with Microsoft.  I felt that with Windows 7, MS finally got it right.  On January 15, of this month, Microsoft decided to end its support of Windows 7, preferring that all users move up to Windows 10.  I have to run Windows 10 on a laptop to support my clients who still use it. 

For my own use and "my daily driver" , I finally made the decision that I put off for years - to move out of Microsoft Land to Kubuntu, or Ubuntu with KDE Plasma Linux.  My old Dell desktop now has a new 1TB SSD running Linux and it is fast and does not break, so far. Linux takes some getting used to, requires lots of Googling to understand how to add your favorite applications, and what new applications to use instead of Microsoft utilities, like Snipping Tool, that I use all day long.  

I am tweaking it along the way, but so far, so good.  I can do all of the tasks around the QSO Today podcast that I did on Windows, without restarts.  The suite of software that is available on Linux is remarkable. 

As I am a computer and network consultant by day, I have moved all of my clients off of Windows 7 to Windows 10 or Linux. I believe that an un-patched MS operating system is dangerous, and right now is a malware target. Consider upgrading to Windows 10, Apple OS, or Linux. 

My guest this week is Mike Foerster, W0IH, who has contributed many articles to QST and QEX Magazines over the years.  Mike points out that one of the problems with dipoles on 75-80 meters is that they are not broadband enough to cover the entire band.  Mike tunes his dipole in a very clever way that he discusses in the podcast and was the subject of one of his QST articles. 

Thanks for listening. 

73, Eric 4Z1UG

I am back from my trip to the West Coast of the USA, visiting my dad, going to an Internet of Things (IoT) expo, speaking at at the West Valley Amateur Radio Association meeting, day trip to Phoenix, and a final weekend with friends.  Whooo!  

I have a business in Israel and had to wake up at 3:00 AM PST to check messages, speak to the office, support clients, and keep the fires burning low while away.  Combined with jet lag, I am grateful to be home and getting back to normal.  

Really the roughest part was the TSA searches at every airport where I discovered the rules of engagement depend on the airport, the line, and the person on duty.  The only commonality was taking the shoes off.  Not being use to these up close and personal searches, I settled into a very slow and agreeable state of mind.  Slow and methodical to take out all of my things (in some places all electronics), and slow to make sure that all of my gear was recovered out of the machines, in six plastic bins, before moving out of security.  My lesson, if you are in a hurry, you will loose your stuff.    

I am glad that I carried on the electronics everywhere as my checked suitcase went missing on the final leg home.  I will drive to the airport tomorrow to see if it is there while the airline reports that they don't have it yet.  

I had the QSO with Clark Stewart, W8TN, while on the road proving that it is possible to record the show with a portable setup.  Clark is doing moon-bounce, and in our conversation says that the new digital modes make it possible to make moon-bounce contacts without a lot of fancy gear.  The difference is made up by the guy at the other end.  The link budget is the same for all contacts I'm told.  W8TN is an interesting guy and loves to be a mentor to hams. 

Happy Thanksgiving to my listeners in the USA.  

Thanks for listening. 

73, Eric 4Z1UG