HamRadioNow

You might remember this is the Visalia DX Convention, relocated this year a few miles down the California coast to Santa Maria. But we’re not doing any DXing or Contesting - this is the ARRL Forum with two Directors: Dick Norton N6AA (the ‘renegade’, Southwest Division), and John Litz NZ6Q (the traditionalist, Pacific Division).
First, David and Gary yak a bit (because it’s their show), and then the forum, this time without the boys commenting from the corners of the screen.

Is Aviation communications stuck in the past? It's been AM - Amplitude Modulation - on VHF since the 1940s. There have been additions, including some text-based data comm and navigation aids, but primary voice communication is still used for almost everything, and it's still AM.
Captain Steeeve is a recently retired airline pilot and former military pilot. He also produces a YouTube show where he analyzes aviation 'incidents' using tower recordings and news footage, adding his deep perspective. He is often critical of current communications technology, and has blamed it in part for some fatal accidents. In this episode, we dig deep into AVcomm… and Captain Steeeve.

Dick Norton N6AA (ARRL Southwestern Division Director) sent us this video of the Youth Forum from the 2026 Santa Maria DXers and Contesters Convention. Dick is the moderator, and Violetta Latham KN2P is the speaker. Violetta is a young ham herself, and she relates her experience getting involved in ham radio along with her five siblings and her parents.
Since it’s our show, David and Gary play Stop the Music now and then to chime in with their comments.

Dick Norton N6AA remains kind of a renegade ARRL Director, part of a minority of Directors who oppose the League policy of muzzeling Directors who disagree with Board decisions. His presentations at ARRL Forums are always more interesting than the average recitation of facts and figures.
This forum doesn’t get into the disputed territory so much, but there are some enlightening moments, as well as the chestnuts about dues, needing more young people… but no one brings up incentive licensing (this may be a first, and if you’ve never heard the term…. good for you!).

We recorded this episode 14 years to the day after HamRadioiNow Episode ONE was released to an unsuspecting public. A hat-tip to that, and we move on.
Our first stop, Gary complains about his newest radio acquisition, a TYT MD UC 390, a waterproof dual-band DMR handheld. The problems: too loud at the lowest volume, and a dim screen (but remember, Gary is slowly going blind).
Then a comment about the previous episode on MARS and its 100 year anniversary, and on to a version of A Ham’s Night Before Christmas, recorded by Ashley Bernard (formerly KC1CPS - license expired). She recorded it back in 2014, apparently unaware that Gary had his own video up a few years earlier. Also unaware that Gary existed, as the poem was performed without credit. But we’re glad she even noticed and took the trouble to record her own version.
Next, hams in eastern Ohio (in the Charleston WV TV market) got on the news for helping out during the big east coast ice storm a few weeks ago. Then a note about the two major Hollywood movies out this year, apparently all about Ham Radio: Hamnet and Tron ARES. We’re looking forward to seeing them. No spoilers, please.
Finally, a look at the radio communications aspect of an NTSB final report on the midair collision between an Army helicopter and a commercial jet in Washington DC last year. There were many contributing factors. Among them was the problem that the ‘copter was on a military channel, and the jet was on the regular aviation frequency, so they couldn’t hear each other.
A YouTube guy who calls himself Captain Steeeve - a recently retired American Airlines pilot - reviewed the incident on his YouTube channel. Gary excerpted the radio-specific comments, but you can see the whole program here. He also talks about the problem with the antique AM radio system used by aviation, and the problem with what hams call ‘doubling’, and pilots call ‘blocking’.