[The running time for this RAIN Hamcast Podcast is 15M57S with a 10-second station break after 8M55S. There are 3-second breaks every 2M50S.]

For this episode, we’re going to step back to a RAIN Report from early 2004, voiced by Blair Alper/KA9SEQ, reviewing a scary event that took place in South America, Nov. 18, 1978 with some ham radio elements.

As a postscript to this intriguing RAIN Report, it is unknown as to how far Joey got into establishing just how much involvement ham radio actually had in the mass suicide at the Peoples’ Temple Agricultural Settlement in Jonestown, Guyana. We shall endeavor to bring you an update to this bizarre story.

RAIN Founder Hap Holly/KC9RP edits and produces this biweekly ham radio hamcast without monetization. Your support via PayPal and feedback on therainreport.com are appreciated. RAIN programming is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license.

You are encouraged to download, share, post and transmit the RAIN Hamcast in its entirety via Amateur Radio. Thanks to Tom Shimizu/N9JDI for posting a not-for-broadcast version of these podcasts via the RAIN Report Channel on YouTube.

Very 73 from RAIN. KEEP ON HAMMING!

The RAIN Hamcast Podcast #103 is scheduled to post 12-16-2023.

©1985-2023, RAIN, the Radio Amateur Information Network. All rights reserved.

For November 18, 2023, This is the RAIN Hamcast Podcast #101, voiced by Kent Peterson/KC0DGY.

[The running time for this RAIN Hamcast Podcast is 14M31S with timer resets approximately every 3 minutes.]

In May, 2022 a legally blind resident of Janesville, WI studied for and passed the Amateur Radio technician exam to become a ham. She's Ericka Nelson/KD9VBX. Ericka works for the Industries For The Blind in Janesville; has been married five years to Chad/WI9HF; and is referenced by at least one church friend as being "uniquely enabled". Ericka IS unique being a lady ham who is legally blind. RAIN's Hap Holly/KC9RP recently spoke with this energetic lady.

As a footnote: you can find Ericka and her hubby, Chad on their Janesville, WI. UHF repeater on 440-950 mHz 123.0 pl, 5 mHz up offset. Happy b-day, Ericka.

RAIN Founder Hap Holly/KC9RP edits and produces this biweekly ham radio hamcast without monetization. Your support via PayPal and feedback on therainreport.com are appreciated. RAIN programming is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license.

You are encouraged to download, share, post and transmit the RAIN Hamcast in its entirety via Amateur Radio. Thanks to Tom Shimizu/N9JDI for posting a not-for-broadcast version of these podcasts via the RAIN Report Channel on YouTube.

Very 73 from RAIN. KEEP ON HAMMING!

The RAIN Hamcast Podcast #102 is scheduled to post 12-02-2023.

©1985-2023, RAIN, the Radio Amateur Information Network. All rights reserved.

You've connected with RAIN Hamcast Podcast #100, for 11-4-2023. Voiced by Kent Peterson/KC0DGY.

[Total playing time is 14M25S with a station ID at 8M53S, and 2S pauses every 3M.]

If you are an HF officionado, just how low can you go? According to the ARRL website, U.S. hams could not transmit below 160 meters (1.8 mHz until 2012. That’s when the World Administrative Radio Conference voted to reallocate 472-479 kHz (630 meters) and 135.7-137.8 (2200 meters) to the U.S. Amateur Service. In 2019 a retired Green Bay, WI. ham, Tim Selner/ W9SRW let his curiosity get the best of him. RAIN’s Hap Holly/KC9RP recently spoke with Tim about life below A.M. radio. You can learn for yourself more about hamming below the U.S. broadcast band by going to 472.khz.com.

Hap Holly/KC9RP edits and produces this biweekly ham radio hamcast without monetization. Your support via PayPal and feedback on therainreport.com are appreciated. RAIN programming is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license.

The RAIN Hamcast Podcast updates every other Saturday on Apple, Overcast and whereever you get your Podcasts.

You are encouraged to download, share, post and transmit the RAIN Hamcast in its entirety via Amateur Radio. Thanks to Tom Shimizu/N9JDI for posting a not-for-broadcast version of these podcasts via the RAIN Report Channel on YouTube.

Very 73 from RAIN. KEEP ON HAMMING!

The RAIN Hamcast Podcast #101 will post 11-18-2023.

©1985-2023, RAIN, the Radio Amateur Information Network. All rights reserved.

Greetings to this replay of a RAIN Report from 2017, read by Will Rogers, K5WLR.

[Total playing time is 10M35S with a station break at 6M31S.]

If you built electronic kits while growing up, especially those marketed by HeathKit, chances are you used a small plastic too called a Nut Starter. Did you know HeathKit did not manufacture the Nut Starter? A young man named John Brake sold tools to HeathKit, one of which was the erstwhile Nut Starter. So what happened to John Brake? And the little tool that could’’’and still does? John is CEO of Desko Industries Inc. in Chino, California. RAIN’S Hap Holly, KC9RP, caught up to John to piece together the Nut Starter story.

For more information about Desko Industries Inc., go to www.Mendapump.com.

Hap Holly/KC9RP edits and produces this biweekly ham radio hamcast without monetization. Your support via PayPal and feedback on therainreport.com are appreciated. RAIN programming is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license.

You are encouraged to download, share, post and transmit the RAIN Hamcast in its entirety via Amateur Radio. Thanks to Tom Shimizu/N9JDI for posting a not-for-broadcast version of these podcasts via the RAIN Report Channel on YouTube.

Very 73 from RAIN. KEEP ON HAMMING!

The RAIN Hamcast Podcast #100 will post 10-28-2023.

©1985-2023, RAIN, the Radio Amateur Information Network. All rights reserved.

You've connected with RAIN Hamcast Podcast #98, for 10-07-23. Voiced by Kent Peterson/KC0DGY.

[Total playing times is 15M57S with a 10-second, FCC-mandated break at 08M45S]

Did you write for a ham radio news letter in years past but don’t know the whereabouts of all those columns you wrote? Or do you have a file cabinet full of old communications news letter that you don’t know what to do with? One option is DLARC, the Digital Library of Amateur Radio and Communications. Its Curator is Kay Savetz, K6KJN. RAIN’s Hap Holly, KC9RP recently spoke with Kay about DLARC.

You’ll find 1,300 RAIN Hamcasts and RAIN Reports in DLARC in the RAIN Collection at archive.org.

Hap Holly/KC9RP edits and produces this biweekly ham radio hamcast without monetization. Your support via PayPal and feedback on therainreport.com are appreciated. RAIN programming is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license.

You are encouraged to download, share, post and transmit the RAIN Hamcast in its entirety via Amateur Radio. Thanks to Tom Shimizu/N9JDI for posting a not-for-broadcast version of these podcasts via the RAIN Report Channel on YouTube.

Very 73 from RAIN. KEEP ON HAMMING!

The RAIN Hamcast Podcast #99 will post 10-21-2023.

©1985-2023, RAIN, the Radio Amateur Information Network. All rights reserved.

This is RAIN Hamcast podcast #97: Radio Shack Goes 202 in '91 - Part 2, posted 09-23-23, voiced by Kent Peterson, KC0DGY.

[The running times for this RAIN Hamcast Podcast is 14M28S; with a station break at 8M48S. Short timer resets occur approximately every 2M50S.]

In the late 1980s Radio Shack made history in the ham radio world with the introduction of its first Amateur Radio transceiver, the HTDX100 10-meter rig. Radio Shack made history once again in the ham world in 1991 with the release of its first handy-talkie, the HTDX202, a fully functional 2-meter synthesized handy talkie.

The introduction of that HT wasn't without its detractors, who predicted the fully synthesized, 12-channel, 2-meter HT would introduce increased illegal activity on the 144-148 mHz 2-meter ham ban with the talkies being so available in Radio Shack's 7,000 stores nationwide. In a summer, 1991 interview with RAIN Founder, Hap Holly/KC9RP, Ed Juge/W5TOO, Director of Market Planning for Radio Shack, poo-pooed those who predicted trouble on the horizon.

We QSYed 32 years to 1991 for an early interview conducted with Ed Juge/W5TOO, Radio Shack's Director of Market Planning in 1991, talking about Radio Shack's first ham radio handheld, the HTX202 2-meter HT with RAIN Producer, Hap Holly/KC9RP. Be advised Ed Juge became a ‘silent key’ in March, 2003; he was only 66.

Hap Holly/KC9RP, edits and produces this biweekly ham radio hamcast without monetization. Your support and feedback are welcome on therainreport.com. RAIN programming is made available under a Creative Commons license; you are encouraged to download, share, post and transmit these RAIN Hamcasts in their entirety via Amateur Radio. YouTube assistance from Tom Shimizu/N9JDI. 73 from RAIN, the Radio Amateur Information Network.

KEEP ON HAMMING!

RAIN Hamcast #98 will post October, 7, 2023.

©1985-2022, RAIN, the Radio Amateur Information Network. All rights reserved.

This is the RAIN Hamcast Podcast #96, posted 09-13-23. Voiced by Kent Peterson/KC0DGY.

[The running time for this RAIN Hamcast Podcast is 14M014S with a station break at 8M46S. Short timer resets occur approximately every 2M50S.]

Did you frequently shop at your local Radio Shack store in the 90s? In August, 1991 7,000 copies of the Fall Radio Shack catalog were mailed out with an ad on page 68 that drew the attention of ham radio enthusiasts worldwide. The ad featured Radio Shack’s first handy talkie.

Just what HT was it? And who did Hap interview in the summer of 1991 from Radio Shack who strongly backed his company’s decision to enter the VHF & UHF ham radio market? Here’s a replay of part one of Hap’s interview with Ed Juge, W5TOO, Director of Market Planning.

Hap Holly/KC9RP will return with the conclusion of his 1991 conversation with Ed in podcast #97.

RAIN Hamcast Podcasts can be found in many places including Overcast, Victor Reader, THERAINREPORT.COM, and Archive.org. 73 to you all. Keep on hamming!

RAIN Founder Hap Holly/KC9RP edits and produces this biweekly ham radio hamcast without monetization. Your support via PayPal and feedback on therainreport.com are appreciated. RAIN programming is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license.

You are encouraged to download, share, post and transmit the RAIN Hamcast in its entirety via Amateur Radio. Thanks to Tom Shimizu/N9JDI for posting a not-for-broadcast version of these podcasts via the RAIN Report Channel on YouTube. Very 73 from RAIN. KEEP ON HAMMING!

The RAIN Hamcast Podcast #97 will post 09-23-2023.

©1985-2023, RAIN, the Radio Amateur Information Network. All rights reserved.

This is RAIN Hamcast podcast #64: He Built A Better Mouse Trap, posted 04-02-22, voiced by Will Rogers/K5WLR.

[The running times for this RAIN Hamcast Podcast is 16M30S/06M22S; timer pauses: 03M38S, 06M22S, 09M26S, 12M21S, 15M19S]

What were you doing when you were 20? Tony Berg/K9ASB was delivering pizzas in the Chicago area...not a very promising future doing that. Little did he or anyone else realize that 16 years later Tony would sell a multi million-dollar antenna company, and that he had a hand in its short-lived success in the northwest Chicago suburbs.

RAIN's Hap Holly/KC9RP got the story behind Antennex from Tony earlier this year. You'll find it on therainreport.com, or the RAIN Report channel on You Tube. 

And that concludes an enlightening look at where a good work ethic and ingenuity will take you. Thanks to Tony Berg/K9ASB, the driving force and fertile mind behind Antennex, a shortlived Chicago company that made a name for itself back in the 90's by "building a better mouse trap", or rather a better mobile antenna setup, thanks largely to Tony Berg's effort. You can catch Tony these days in the northwest Chicago burbs on the 145.23 mHz Schaumburg Amateur Radio Club 2-meter repeater in Schaumburg, IL.

Hap Holly/KC9RP, edits and produces this biweekly ham radio hamcast without monetization. Your support and feedback are welcome on therainreport.com. RAIN programming is made available under a Creative Commons license; you are encouraged to download, share, post and transmit these RAIN Hamcasts in their entirety via Amateur Radio. YouTube assistance from Tom Shimizu/N9JDI. 73 from RAIN, the Radio Amateur Information Network.

KEEP ON HAMMING! 

RAIN Hamcast #65 will post April 16, 2022. ©1985-2022, RAIN, the Radio Amateur Information Network. All rights reserved.

This is the RAIN Hamcast Podcast #95, posted 08-26-23. Voiced by Kent Peterson/KC0DGY.

[The running time for this RAIN Hamcast Podcast is 15M04S with a station break at 8M24S. Short timer resets occur approximately every 2M50S.]

January 15, 1991 was the beginning of Operation Desert Storm for the U.S. armed forces. It was, however, a red-letter day for Passport to World Band Radio, a shortwave publication editted by Larry Magne. RAIN’s Founder, Hap Holly/KC9RP spoke with Larry Magne a few weeks following that January day for the RAIN Report.

You're invited to recommend topics you’d like us to cover. Our email address is [email protected].

RAIN Founder Hap Holly/KC9RP edits and produces this biweekly ham radio hamcast without monetization. Your support via PayPal and feedback on therainreport.com are appreciated. RAIN programming is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license. The URL for that license (which you may want to link to from your site) is you are encouraged to download, share, post and transmit the RAIN Hamcast in its entirety via Amateur Radio. Thanks to Tom Shimizu/N9JDI for posting a not-for-broadcast version of these podcasts via the RAIN Report Channel on YouTube. Very 73 from RAIN. KEEP ON HAMMING!

The RAIN Hamcast Podcast #96 will post 09-09-2023.

©1985-2023, RAIN, the Radio Amateur Information Network. All rights reserved.

This is the RAIN Hamcast Podcast #94, posted 08-12-23. Voiced by Kent Peterson/KD0DGY, sitting in for Will Rogers/K5WLR for a few weeks.

[The running time for this RAIN Hamcast Podcast is 10M47S with an ID break at about 5M50S. EchoLink and AllStar timer resets are approximately every 2M50S.]

Back when you were in high school or college, did you ever almost buy a used car until you realized its A.M. radio was missing? If American auto manufacturers have it their way, that A.M. radio (530 to 1705 kHz) would be persona non grata in future cars. But would that be such a good idea?

Last time we shared part of a conversation RAIN Founder Hap Holly/KC9RP recently had with Benn Kobb/AK4AV, a long-time technical writer and former editor of the FCC Tech News. Last time Benn talked about the Shortwave Modernization Coalition FCC petition that, if passed, could present interference to several of the stateside HF ham bands. Ben also talked about the possibility of A.M. radios being eliminated from future cars; and a short refresher about LPFM, Low Power FM stations.

RAIN Founder Hap Holly/KC9RP edits and produces this biweekly ham radio hamcast without monetization. Your support via PayPal and feedback on therainreport.com are appreciated. RAIN programming is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license. The URL for that license (which you may want to link to from your site) is you are encouraged to download, share, post and transmit the RAIN Hamcast in its entirety via Amateur Radio.

Thanks to Tom Shimizu/N9JDI for posting a not-for-broadcast version of these podcasts via the RAIN Report Channel on YouTube. Very 73 from RAIN. KEEP ON HAMMING!

The RAIN Hamcast Podcast #95 will post 08-26-2023.

©1985-2023, RAIN, the Radio Amateur Information Network. All rights reserved.