This is the RAIN Hamcast Podcast #93, posted 07-29-23. Voiced by Kent Peterson/KD0DGY, sitting in for Will Rogers/K5WLR, who is mending his wife back to health.

[The running time for this RAIN Hamcast Podcast is 14M40S with an ID break at about 8M50S. EchoLink and AllStar timer resets are approximately every 2M50S.]

When you passed your license exam and received your ham radio call sign, you learned that FCC part 97 rules and regs restrict just what bands on which you can operate, how often you are required to I.D. your station, etc. But did you know for years the FCC has been issuing licenses to those in the so-called Experimental Radio Service with far fewer restrictions than your ham ticket?

The Shortwave Modernization Coalition has filed a petition with the FCC to advance the experimental service licensees (part five users) to the status of part 90 commercial users. For some answers and clarification we turned to Benn Kobb, AK4AV, who you long-time RAIN Report listeners will remember from his editing the FCC Tech News during the 90s; For decades Ben has edited the Experimental Radio News and he also was a regular RAIN contributor during the 90s.

We'll hear from Ben again next time with his thoughts on the future of A.M. radios in American automobiles, another issue the FCC grappled with this summer.

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 #89 will post 08-13-2023.

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

This is the RAIN Hamcast Podcast #92, posted 07-02-23.

[The running time for this RAIN Hamcast Podcast is 13M06S with timer resets approximately every 3 minutes.]

This is a RAIN Replay, voiced by Blair Alper, KA9SEQ. In the early to mid 1990s Mark Thompson, WB9QZB penned a column entitled Bites from QZB. These were often controversial but always thought provoking commentaries. While the focus of this first Bites from QZB are issues concerning the 70CM (440 mHz) band in the Chicago area, the problems discussed may very well paralel those occurring in your area. Former RAIN reader, Scott Childers, W9CHI (formerly WD9FXP introduced Mark's first column.

Back in the 1980s, the frequencies allocated to the 220 U.S. Amateur Radio Service were 220 to 225 mHz. In the late 1980s United Parcel Service (UPS) persuaded and cajoled the FCC to reallocate 220 to 222 mHz to commercial interests. UPS made a lot of noise about how much it needed those two mhz of spectrum to develop an Amplitude Compandered Side Band (ACSB) communications network. After all the wailing and gnashing of teeth had subsided and the dust had settled, UPS found the technology unworkable on those frequencies and abandoned the project! Art Reis, K9XI published his 220 Report during the early and mid 1990s until he ceased publishing it altogether later that decade. Here’s Arts first 220 Report he wrote and voiced for RAIN in November, 1990.

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 #93 will post 07-15-23.

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

This is the RAIN Hamcast Podcast #91, posted 06-17-23. Voiced by Kent Peterson.

[The running time for this RAIN Hamcast Podcast is 17M56S with timer resets approximately every 2M50S minutes.]

This is the RAIN Hamcast Podcast #91 for June 17, 2023;, voiced by Kent Peterson. Gordon West, WB6NOA is one of the most recognizable hams in Amateur Radio today. Few Amateur Radio operators have successfully carved out a career, criss-crossing America, both promoting and teaching ham radio to the masses. If you listened to RAIN Hamcasts #89 and #90, you already know Gordo is a spirited story teller. In this final excerpt Gordo continues his quasi-autobiographical presentation conducted in 2019 by Eric Guth, 4Z1UG, for his QSOToday weekly hour-long interview series. (You can hear Gordo’s conversation with Eric on QSOToday.com, Episode 264). *Audio courtesy of QSO Today*.

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 #92 will post 07-1-2023.

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

This is the RAIN Hamcast Podcast #90, posted 06-03-23. Voiced by Will Rogers/K5WLR.

[The running time for this RAIN Hamcast Podcast is 17M48S with timer resets approximately every 3 minutes.]

In this edition we bring you our second excerpt from an autobiographical presentation given by ham radio author and cheerleader, Gordon West, WB6NOA. This entertaining presentation was first heard on Eric Guth, 4Z1UG’s weekly hour-long QSOToday podcast in August, 2019. By popular demand we brought you an excerpt from Gordo’s story last time in podcast #89. Here now is our second excerpt from Gordo’s life story. You can catch Gordo’s entire one-hour autobiography on QSOToday.com; episode 264. We’ll conclude our excerpts from Gordo’s entertaining presentation in RAIN Hamcast Podcast #91.

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 #91 will post 06-17-2023.

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

This is the RAIN Hamcast Podcast #89, posted 05-21-23. Voiced by Will Rogers/K5WLR.

[The running time for this RAIN Hamcast Podcast is 18M25S with timer resets approximately every 3 minutes, beginning at 2M50S.]

---A replay of RAIN Hamcast 20 from May 29th, 2020---

Just who is ham radio's #1 cheerleader? It's Gordon West, WB6NOA. In the summer of 2019 Gordo was interviewed by Eric Guth, 4Z1UG for Eric's QSOToday podcast. By popular demand, here's our first of two excerpts from that conversation.

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 #90 will post 06-03-2023.

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

This is the RAIN Hamcast Podcast #88, posted 04-22-23. Voiced by Will Rogers/K5WLR.

[The running time for this RAIN Hamcast Podcast is 16M32S. Short pauses for EchoLink and AllStar timer resets occur every 3 minutes beginning at 2 minutes 50 seconds.]

Editing a magazine of any kind can be most demanding and nerve racking—just ask Rich Moseson, W2VU, the mind behind CQ, a ham radio magazine that has been around for over 50 years.

From time to time, we borrow from other podcasters to share other interviewing styles with you here on the RAIN Hamcast podcast. We're borrowing this time from QSOToday, a weekly one-hour interview podcast conducted by Eric Guth, 4Z1UG, born and raised in southern California; now residing in Efrat, Israel. Back in 2017 Eric interviewed CQ Magazine editor, Rich Moseson. Here's the second of two excerpts from that conversation.

RAIN Hamcast #89 is scheduled for posting May 20th, 2023. You can listen to the entire hour-long interview with Rich on qsotoday.com, Episode 147.

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 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 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!

We apologize for the lengthy break in the production time of this podcast. Hap’s and Stephanie’s vacation time to Hap’s stomping grounds in northern San Diego county, along with some PC problems combined to a six-week gap. Well, what do you want for nothing but a smile!!! You know what they say, to err is human, but to REALLY foul things up takes a computer! I’m Will Rogers, K5WLR.

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This is the RAIN Hamcast Podcast #87, posted 04-22-23. Voiced by Will Rogers/K5WLR.

[The running time for this RAIN Hamcast Podcast is 18M45S with a break for station ID at 8M38S. There are EchoLink and All-Star timer breaks around 2M50S, 5M50S, 8M50S, 11M50S, 14M50S and 17M50S.]

From time to time, we borrow from other podcasters to share other interviewing styles with you here on the RAIN Hamcast podcast. We're borrowing this time from QSOToday, a weekly one-hour interview podcast conducted by Eric Guth, 4Z1UG, born and raised in southern California; now residing in Efrat, Israel. Back in 2017 Eric interviewed CQ Magazine editor, Rich Moseson. Here's the first of two excerpts from that conversation.

We'll bring you our second excerpt from that conversation in RAIN Hamcast #88, scheduled for posting May 6th, 2023.

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 lAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license. The URL for that license (which you may want to link to from your site) is https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 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 is on vacation. Look for the next episode on April 15!

(During this time we are not on email or other communications).

This is the RAIN Hamcast Podcast #86, posted 02-18-23. Voiced by Will Rogers/K5WLR.

[The running time for this RAIN Hamcast Podcast is 20M34S with timer resets approximately every 3 minutes.]

One of the notables that Hap Holly, KC9RP featured on the RAIN Report during its 29-year run was Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, Special Enforcement Counsel to the Federal Communications Commission. Riley was gracious enough to voice a weekly audio column on therainreport.com during the mid- to late 90's that Hap dubbed "The FCC Enforcement Log with Riley Hollingsworth." Unfortunately, there are no known archives of those audio columns. Riley presented a talk during the FCC forum at the 1999 Dayton Hamvention held in Trotwood, Ohio. That presentation was aired originally as a RAIN Report in 2000. The following excerpt from that talk is just as valid today as it was in 1999.

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 lAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license. The URL for that license (which you may want to link to from your site) is https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 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 #87 will post 03-04-2023.

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

This is the RAIN Hamcast Podcast #85, posted February 4th, 2023. Voiced by Will Rogers/K5WLR.

[The running time for this RAIN Hamcast Podcast is 12M23S with timer resets approximately every 3 minutes.]

The 1990s had its share of controversy in Amateur Radio. Even RAIN Report columnist Mark Thompson, WB9QZB jumped into the fray periodically in those years. In this edition of RAIN Hamcast Podcast #85, we'll look back almost 30 years to 1994 and relive some of that hullabaloo that swirled around the Amateur Radio community then…and still does now. Here are two Bytes From QZB commentaries written and voiced by Mark Thompson, WB9QZB, that reflected the turmoil of that decade.

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 lAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license. The URL for that license (which you may want to link to from your site) is https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 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 #86 will post 02-18-2023.

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