QSO Today Podcast - Interviews with the leaders in amateur radio

Jerry Weisskohl, AC4BT, always had a love of radio and short wave listening. He got a late start in amateur radio but thinks that the art and practice of CW, or Morse code, is exactly what quiets and relaxes the mind after an engaging day as a computer scientist. AC4BT has taken lead roles with CWops and CW Academy and is my QSO Today.

Peter Butler, W1UU's ham radio journey began with the purchase of a J38 code key and a trip to the library. Sputnik inspired Peter to a career in microwave engineering reinforced by this ham radio interest. Peter is the Vice President of CWops and actively involved in sharing his love for CW and good operating practice with the hundreds of amateurs who are signing on to do the same. W1UU is my QSO Today.

Mel Swanberg, WA6JBD, has a love of radio that goes back to his childhood. Growing up in Southern California, Mel found his Elmers and Mentors that led him into a career in the land mobile business and public safety radio. Mel is the former president of the Cactus Intertie, perhaps the largest point to point full duplex amateur radio network in the World. Other interests include microwave communications and he is a leader in the San Bernardino Microwave Society. WA6JBD is my QSO Today

Clint Turner, KA7OEI, is an experimenter, builder, and operator on all bands and modes. He shares his background in microwave communications, EME or Moonbounce, and his involvement in the Northern Utah Web SDR Project, an amazing on-line resource hams who want to listen to all of the lowbands with waterfall display at the same time. KA7OEI is my QSO Today.

Tim Deagan, KJ8U, loves to build just about anything to try out a new tool, and he has an amazing assortment of tools to support his construction of amateur radio antennas as well as Burning Man like propane powered visual displays. KJ8U is a maker, and since ham radio operators were the original makers, Tim's cross-over between the maker community and the amateur radio community is just natural. Tim tells this story in this QSO Today.

Joe Reisert, W1JR, continues to pay forward, the kindness of his early ham radio mentors, with his contributions to our amazing hobby. Amateur Radio paved the way to a successful career and amazing encounters, Worldwide, with people and technology. W1JR tells his amateur radio story in this QSO Today.

Wayne Yoshida, KH6WZ, has been an active ham since the 1970s, growing up in Los Angeles. Wayne is a home brewer, especially microwave equipment on 10 GHz, and has taken our amateur radio hobby to the Maker Faire in the Bay Area for live demonstrations. As a technical writer and Contributing Editor to CQ Magazine, Wayne is in one of the best places to experience just about everything in ham radio.

Michelle Thompson, W5NYV, is a third generation amateur, beginning her ham radio journey in elementary school. Her interest in microwave circuit design and computers led her to a successful engineering career and now a board member of AMSAT. Michelle is an advocate for open source applied to satellite design fueling future generations of amateur spacecraft. W5NYV is my QSO Today.

Rob Suggs, NN4NT, is a space scientist at NASA, specializing in outer space environments that protect our astronauts from the hazards of space including space junk and debris. We discuss NASA, Apollo space technology, and amateur radio in this QSO Today.

Rick Miller, N1RM's ham radio story began at McMurdo Station in Antarctica and weaves its way through Russian submarine hunting to operate APRS on the back of a Harley Davidson motorcycle, on a grand tour of the United States. N1RM will fill in all of the open spaces in this QSO Today.

Ralph Haller, N4RH, started his ham radio journey as a nine year old with a knack for electronics leading to his first amateur license at age 9. Within a few years, Ralph earned broadcast engineering licenses, radio station jobs, education, and a career at the Federal Communications Commission. N4RH was the driving force behind many of the FCC initiatives that have had a lasting impact on radio amateurs in the USA and around the world. N4RH is my QSO Today.

Stan Johnson, W0SJ, started his amateur radio career in high school. A scavenger of junk, and a kid with the knack, led Stan to electronic project building with his collected parts. These skills filtered and honed through the Air Force and the Bell Telephone Laboratories. Stan would say that his involvement in amateur radio resulted in a life of curious exploration.

Bob Weed, W7SCY, was born and raised in the Oregon Cascade Mountains over eighty years ago. In this retirement, Bob has returned home to an area that has always been subject to fire, mudslides, earthquakes, and active volcanoes. W7SCY shares his seventy plus years as a radio amateur that includes his interest in traffic nets and emergency operations in his area, in this QSO Today.

Ria Jairam, N2RJ, discovered amateur radio on her native Caribbean Island of Trinidad back in the 90s. As an immigrant to the United States, Ria pursued a degree in Electronic Engineering and learned from great ham radio mentors. Now an electronic security professional, mother, active ham radio operator and contester, Ria was recently elected ARRL Hudson Division Director. N2RJ tells her story and the ham radio issues that interest her in this QSO Today.

Keith Schlottman, KR7RK, is not only a mountain goat, he is also a super sloth. Terms like this are not endearing, however if you are a SOTA activator or chaser, then you know how important these terms are to SOTA operators. KR7RK tells his ham radio story in this QSO Today.

Jim Moss, N9JIM, portable 6, spends his ham radio life above 50 Mhz. He has made contacts on every band above 50 MHz and is now working in the 122 Ghz band. If you are considering a new and different frontier, N9JIM tells his amateur radio story and how to make the transition to VHF and Microwave in this QSO Today.

Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R, discovered amateur radio as a kid, like many of the QSO Today guests. One of his desires was to work at the ARRL, where he started his career and has been for 29 years. Bob shares his ham radio story and speaks about the ARRL and what he has learned about amateur radio in this QSO Today.

Steve Masticola, WX2S, took a 30 year vacation from amateur radio to pursue his life. Now he is back. WX2S loves to operate in the field, necessitated by living in an HOA. This has created a new passion for SOTA, Parks on the Air, and QRP Fox Hunting. All this and more in my QSO Today with WX2S.

Jim Heath, W6LG, has been a ham for over 56 years. Jim is an Elmer's Elmer with an amazing You-Tube channel, with over 30,000 subscribers. Jim not only reviews the basics of amateur radio, and he makes that content up close and personal, reflecting on his years of experience as an amateur radio operator.

Bill Salyers, AJ8B, had a great ham radio start as a kid in the Seventies. Bill loves to work CW to pursue DXCC and just to ragchew and communicate. He hones his skills with the help of CWOPS and is open to the opportunities afforded by all of the new digital modes.

Eric Silverthorn, NM5M, has a great ham radio story, especially at the beginning with the support of his family for this ham radio interest. Eric was a speaker at the QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo and gave a fine talk on CWOPS. You can tell in these weeks that I want to make sure that you know the Expo speakers and that is why NM5M is my QSO Today.

Marcel Stieber, AI6MS, contributed three talks to the QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo earlier this month, on topics that included remote administration of amateur radio exams, wireless networks for emergency communications, and lithium batteries and their care and feeding. He uses his amateur radio license and the opportunities it affords to advance the state of the art, contribute to his community, and to share with all of us. AI6MS is my QSO Today.

Michael Walker, VA3MW, joins me from the Canadian State of Ontario where he started his ham radio journey. Getting into ham radio as a kid, Michael's interest in amateur radio and technology led him through a technical career. He is now widely known as FlexRadio's inside sales person, and he is a frequent guest host on the Ham Radio Workbench Podcast. VA3MW is my QSO Today.

Mark Smith, KR6ZY, has been a ham since the mid-nineties and finds problem solving and building electronic equipment his special area of our ham radio hobby. A trained and graduated computer engineer, Mark resides near the Central California coast. Mark is a frequent contributor to the Ham Radio Workbench Podcast, and has his own YouTube channel. KR6ZY is my QSO Today.

Dr. Scott Wright, K0MD, was my guest on this podcast in October of 2016, in Episode 116, almost 200 episodes ago. I asked Scott to be the keynote speaker at the first QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo. Even as busy as he is, during the Covid-19 pandemic, he was willing to prepare and share with all of us in his keynote address. I thought it appropriate that if you heard the Keynote, but didn't know Scott, that now would be a good time to let Scott tell his own ham radio story, once again.

Carole Perry, WB2MGP, was my guest in episode 51, five years ago this week. Carole leads a Youth Forum at the major hamfests every year including Dayton and Huntsville. This year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, she will lead it at the QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo. I thought to introduce Carole again before the Expo to put her and the Youth Forum into context. Be sure to visit Carole at the Radio Club of America booth in the Expo.

Don Minkoff, NK6A, was my guest in episode 158, in August of 2017. Don has a love for QRP and SOTA, and will be a speaker in the upcoming QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo. I reprise Don's interview to set the stage for his upcoming presentation in this remastered audio version.

Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, started his ham radio career in Rock Hill, South Carolina, in 1960, proceeded through law school to a career at the Federal Communications Commission, or the FCC. Riley was a part of the evolution of the FCC as it dealt with paging, cellular, PCS, and amateur radio. K4ZDH tells his amateur radio story as well as his impact on the amateur radio service through his career at the FCC.

Al Brogdon, W1AB, was licensed almost 70 years ago, has made significant contributions to our hobby through his writing for QST magazine over the years including the "100, 50, and 25 Years Ago" column, and articles for both 73 and Ham Radio Magazine. W1AB can head copy CW at 55 words a minute and is my QSO Today.

While I am busy working with my team on the QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo, I am reprising some older episodes of guests who will appear as speakers in the Expo. Carl Lutzeswchwab, K9LA, is one such speaker who was interviewed in episode 37 of this podcast five years ago. Of course, Carl's story is timeless, but now the audio is remastered by Ben Bresky.

Doug Millar, K6JEY, grew up in Southern California, is a teacher of teachers, and like to operate EME or Moon Bounce on the sidewalk in front of his home. Doug likes everything about ham radio and operates on a range of rigs from boat anchors to the most modern QRP, all modes in all bands. K6JEY is my QSO Today.

Curt Kinghorn, W6OEA, grew up in a ham radio household and was already a builder before his first amateur license. An education in physics and exposure to a cosmic ray detector kindled an interest in radio astronomy. It seems that ham radio operators make great radio astronomers and it is in this area that we will jump into the deep end in this QSO Today.

Julius Jones, W2IHY, had an early interest in electronics and radio as a teenager growing up in Boston, in the early 1960s. Like many young hams, in those days, the intoxication from the space race and the evolving electronic technology led young Julius into an engineering career and the ultimate establishment of his own company based around solutions he created for his own ham shack. W2IHY is my guest in this QSO Today.

Anthony, Luscre, K8ZT, has a love for cataloging all of his interests and sharing with others. In this episode, I find some great websites, built by Anthony, that are not only amazing resources for ham radio operators, but also for teachers who want to master the on-line resources that they now need to support their students during this pandemic. K8ZT is my QSO Today.

Tim Carter, W3ATB, was the first home remodeling media personality, even before it was popular. Tim's ham radio journey was enhanced by his understanding that expert mentors are the best and fastest way to success in any subject, especially amateur radio. Tim shares his interesting story in this QSO Today.

Bob Fontana, AK3Y's, ham radio and electronic career was a friend's broken shortwave to AM down converter. Bob shares his ham radio story, his past and current ham radio interests, and the ultra wide band technology that he developed over his career.

Jim Andrews, KH6HTV, has spent a life in amateur radio and technology, and is known for his contributions to amateur radio digital television and the use of this technology supporting emergency communications in and around Boulder, Colorado. KH6HTV shares his ham radio story in this QSO Today.

Rick Dubbs, WW9JD, spent four years at sea in US nuclear submarines, retired as a teacher of junior high school kids, flies drones professionally as a part of his small business, and now has time for his ham radio projects. WW9JD shares his ham radio story and his project details in this QSO Today.

This week I celebrate 300 episodes of the QSO Today Podcast with George Zafiropoulos, KJ6VU, Bill Meara, N2CQR, Pete Juliano, N6QW, Ashhar Farhan, VU2ESE, and Hans Summers, G0UPL.

Don Banta, K5DB, is a ham's ham, because of his generous nature, his contributions to the local ham community and his being ready to mentor any amateur or would-be amateur that needs help. Don is the organizer of the Arkansas QSO Party, active in 80 meter nets, and likes to work DX. K5DB is my QSO Today.

Paul Taylor, VK3HN, loves to operate QRP, SOTA, or Summits on the Air, with his homebrew pocket-sized multi-band transceivers that he designs and builds in his home workshop. Paul enjoys a weekly 160 meter AM net using his homebrew 200 watt solid-state AM transmitter. VK3HN is my QSO Today.

Sam Birnbaum, W2JDB, has a background in computer science and programming that led him to first develop a software logging program called QLog for operating and logging the digital modes more easily while doing National parks on the air. Sam's enhancements to QLog now allow blind ham operators to work FT8.

Charlie Morris, ZL2CTM, builds his QRP rigs, the old fashioned way, starting with a paper and pencil, combining basic components to make each stage of a receiver or transceiver. Once the radio is made, he adds an Arduino micro-controller, touch screen, and other advanced components to bring his masterpiece into the 21st century. Charlie is a prolific creator of You-Tube videos to document and demonstrate his creations. ZL2CTM is my QSO Today.

Bry Carling, AF4K, collects old boat anchor radios, is the co-founder of the Novice Rig Roundup, and provider of thousands of old-time crystals, that he sells for your next rig restoration, or a new build of Bob Heil, K9EID's, pine board project AM transmitter. Bry shares his eclectic ham radio story in this QSO Today.

Bob Nagy, AB5N, is having the time of his life in retirement. He teaches technology and the Russian language in his adopted community of Hot Springs, Arkansas, creates You-tube instructional videos, builds solar powered devices for hiis house and ham shack, and operates the digital modes. His expertise and improvements of the audio characteristics of the microphones on amateur transceivers is unmatched. AB5N is my QSO Today.

Michael Rainey, AA1TJ, is a master of building simple HF transmitters from the materials that he has on hand, including the parts from a compact fluorescent light bulb. AA1TJ was my guest in Episode 80, more than four years ago. We remastered the audio of this valuable episode to present Mike again in this QSO Today.

Dale Parfitt, W4OP, developed a love for operating VHF and above, including moonbounce operation, from an early exposure to a 6 meter Gonset Communicator, or Gooney Box. His love for electronics grew into a career as an electronics engineer and the entrepreneur founder of Par Electronics where custom filters and antennas are Dale's special forte. W4OP tells his story in this QSO Today.

Glen Jenkins, WB4KTF, grew up on US Marine bases in the 50's and 60's, and was no stranger to starting over in new places. Glen tells his ham radio story that includes a professional start in Israel, a stint in Moscow, a successful landing in Houston Texas, until Hurricane Harvey changed his retirement plans. Glen loved his early Heathkit HF Transceivers, collecting Colliins gear, and working the digital modes on his modern station. WB4KTF is my QSO Today.

Janis Carson, AB2RA, first licensed in 1959,has been an active ham since childhood, has an interest in the restoration and repair of older tube type amateur rigs, is a frequent contributor to Electric Radio Magazine, and documents her projects on her own website. Janis may be the "Erin Brokovich" of ham radio, as an advocate for your hobby to the FCC, and she mentors new and old hams in her community. AB2RA tells her ham radio story in this QSO Today.

Michael, Mike, Ritz, W7VO, left the big city for rural Oregon to build his dream contest station. Mike uses his station to help new and local hams to learn the skills necessary to become lifetime contestors and HF operators. In addition to his leadership