This is RAIN Hamcast Podcast #63: Blind Software Engineer Makes Waves Worldwide - Part 2 posted 03-19-22, voiced by Will Rogers/K5WLR.

[The running time for this RAIN Hamcast Podcast is 16M31S with an ID break after 08M51S. There is an 8-second pause for timer resets at 2.50, 5.52, 11.46 and 14.40.] 

Joe Stephen/VK7JS is a blind software engineer who resides on the island of Tasmania, located some 220 miles south of mainland Australia. Today he lives on a 250-acre farm with his wife and four remaining children...at one point he had nine at home. Joe grew up in south central Australia, 15 miles from Adelaide; became a software engineer as a teenager; moved his family to Tasmania in 2017.

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 the RAIN Hamcast in its entirety via Amateur Radio. YouTube assistance from Tom Shimizu/N9JDI. 73 from RAIN. 

KEEP ON HAMMING! 

RAIN Hamcast #64 will post 04-02-2022. ©1985-2022, RAIN, the Radio Amateur Information Network. All rights reserved. 

This is the RAIN hamcast #62, posted 03-05-22. Running Time: 19M07S with a 10-second ID break after 08M47S. Voiced by Will Rogers/K5WLR.

Tasmania is an island state of Australia, 'bout the size of West Virginia, located some 220 miles south of the mainland. This island is home to 500,000-plus residents. One such resident grew up in south central Australia, 15 miles from Adelaide; became a software engineer as a teenager; at age 47 moved his family of 11 from the Australia mainland to Tasmania in 2018; has spent the last 25 years working for Freedom Scientific, the U.S.-based developer of JAWS, a popular speech screen reader program for the blind Windows PC user;  and most recently has succeeded in modifying firmware to enable the blind ham complete access to some Chinese VHF & UHF radios, not available from traditional off shore manufacturers, i.e. Icom, Kenwood, Yaesu and others. He's Joseph Stephen/VK7JS, a most articulate software engineer down under who happens to be blind. RAIN's Hap Holly/KC9RP spoke with this  affable software engineer via Zoom back in January. At that time Joe's internet service provider was Skymuster, a high-orbiting satellite Internet provider, that was prone to occasional latency. Here's the first of two excerpts from Hap and Joe's conversation.

RAIN Founder, 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 the RAIN Hamcast in its entirety via Amateur Radio. YouTube assistance from Tom Shimizu/N9JDI. Very 73 from RAIN. KEEP ON HAMMING! 

RAIN Hamcast #63 will post 03-19-2022. ©1985-2022, RAIN, the Radio Amateur Information Network. All rights reserved. 

For the next several RAIN Hamcast podcasts we’re conducting an experiment that may affect you whether you’re narrow-casting this audio service on simplex or a network that requires frequent pauses to reset shorter timers. Your preference will determine whether we continue with just the “customary” 10-second ID break before the ten-minute mark; or the six-second “timer reset” pause every three minutes. You’ll need to choose one of two RAIN podcast options: either (1) the ‘customary’ ID break every ten minutes; or (2) both the 10-second ID break every ten minutes together with a six-second pause every three minutes for network timer reset. We’ll check the stats after three weeks. You'll hear both options in this RAIN Hamcast.

A RAIN Hamcast [Extra] #200

For those who use APRS, (Automatic Packet Reporting System), Feb. 7, 2022 will remain a sad day for APRS aficionados as that’s the day Bob Bruninga/WB4APR became a silent key. In memory and respect to this ham radio visionary, the Radio Amateur Information Network presents an encore replay of two excerpts from Bob’s 2018 Dayton Hamvention talk about what he called “A Whole New World of Energy”. RAIN's Founder, Hap Holly/KC9RP, editted this talk for the July 21, 2018 RAIN Report. Here's the late Bob Bruninga/WB4APR.  

The RAIN Hamcast[Extra] ©1985-2022 RAIN, all rights reserved. Hap Holly/KC9RP produces the biweekly ham radio podcast. ©1985-2022, RAIN, all rights reserved. RAIN programming is made available under a Creative Commons license—you are encouraged to download, share, post and transmit this RAIN Hamcast EXTRA in its entirety via Amateur Radio. Your monetized support and feedback are welcome on therainreport.com. thank you to Tom Shimizu/N9JDI for his YouTube assistance.

RAIN hamcast #62 will post 03-05-22. Very 73 from the Radio Amateur Information Network. KEEP ON HAMMING!

This is the RAIN hamcast #61, posted 02-19-22. Running Time: 18M40S with a break after 08M49S. Voiced by Will Rogers/K5WLR.

This episode starts with the voice of RAIN's Founder & Producer, Hap Holly/KC9RP, expressing his regret cajoling YouTube content creator Tom Shimizu/N9JDI into adding video to the RAIN Hamcast podcasts. In the fall of 2021 Hap sought the expansion of the RAIN Hamcast listenership by adding a static video element to the RAIN Report channel on YouTube.  To Hap, combining audio with video seemed a pretty good option until he had a heart-to-heart talk with Tom in January, 2022 during which Hap learned about the challenges Tom faces adding video to Hap's RAIN Hamcasts on YouTube. This is our second excerpt from their Zoom conversation.

As a result of Hap and Tom's discussion, listeners to the RAIN Report channel on YouTube can expect to see simpler use of static video in the future. Thanks to Tom for his candor and continuing assistance with the RAIN Report channel on YouTube.

RAIN Founder 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 the RAIN Hamcast in its entirety via Amateur Radio. Thanks to Tom Shimizu/N9JDI for his assistance with the RAIN Report Channel on YouTube. Very 73 from RAIN. KEEP ON HAMMING! 

The RAIN Hamcast #62 will post 03-05-2022. ©1985-2022, RAIN, the Radio Amateur Information Network. All rights reserved. 

This is the RAIN hamcast #60, posted 02-05-22. Running Time: 18M10S with a break after 09M26S. Voiced by Will Rogers/K5WLR.

For over three decades Hap Holly/KC9RP produced the RAIN Report for the Amateur Radio Service. In the summer of 2019, Hap shelved his RAIN Report citing ‘burn out’ as a result of producing a weekly audio hamcast since 1990. Two months later, however, Hap was bitten once again by the ‘edit’ bug, resulting in what is now the RAIN Hamcast Podcast, which posts biweekly. In the fall of 2021, Hap wanted to expand the listenership to his service by adding a video element to his RAIN Report channel on YouTube—a considerable challenge for someone who has been blind since 1958. Hap was directed to Tom Shimizu/N9JDI, the content creator of his own successful A/V YouTube channel. Combining audio with video seemed a pretty straight forward process in Hap’s view until he had a heart-to-heart talk with Tom In January, 2022, during which Hap learned about the challenges Tom faces adding video to Hap's audio RAIN Hamcasts on YouTube. This is our first excerpt from their Zoom conversation.

RAIN Founder Hap Holly/KC9RP edits and produces this biweekly ham radio podcast. ©1985-2022, RAIN, all rights reserved. RAIN programming is made available under a Creative Commons license—you are encouraged to download, share, post and transmit the RAIN Hamcast in its entirety via Amateur Radio. Your support and feedback are welcome on therainreport.com. Hap wishes to thank Tom Shimizu/N9JDI for his YouTube assistance.

RAIN hamcast #61 will post 02-19-22. Very 73 from the Radio Amateur Information Network. KEEP ON HAMMING!

This is the RAIN hamcast #59, posted 01-22-22. Running Time: 19M12S with a break after 09M52S. Voiced by Will Rogers/K5WLR.

Until recently, holding a technician class ham license could be a frustrating experience. Then along came Anthony Luscre/K8ZT, whose instructional videos target the new ham on ZTLearn.com. After Anthony retired from teaching computer instruction for teachers and students alike, he began producing instructional ham radio videos. Here's our second excerpt from a virtual video he produced and presented to the August 2021 QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo. Anthony's video is entitled, "Technician Licensees: Life Beyond the Local Repeater". Anthony's website is: www.k8zt.com; for a listing of his presentations go to: tiny.cc/k8zt-p?

RAIN Founder 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 the RAIN Hamcast in its entirety via Amateur Radio. Thanks to Tom Shimizu/N9JDI for his assistance with the RAIN Report Channel on YouTube. Very 73 from the Radio Amateur Information Network. KEEP ON HAMMING!

The RAIN Hamcast #60 will post 02-05-2022. ©1985-2022, RAIN, all rights reserved. 

This is the RAIN hamcast #58, posted 01-08-22. [2022  Part 1  19M47S/09M52S]. Part 2 is scheduled to post 01-22-22 in the RAIN hamcast #59.

This is the RAIN hamcast #57, posted 12-25-2021 on therainreport.com and on RAIN Hamcast on YouTube. voiced by Will Rogers/K5WLR. (audio insert) That's the voice of Tomas Hood/NW7US, the author of many writings about space weather and effects of solar activity the past 20-plus years. Tomas has been a short wave enthusiast since 1973, a ham operator since 1990, and is a United States Army Signal Corps veteran today. He launched the first civilian space weather propagation website, HFRadio.org, in the mid 90's; hfradio later spawned sunspotwatch.com; at press time Sunspotwatch.com is being revamped for the new Solar Cycle 25. Tomas has contributed to the Space Weather Propagation column in CQ magazine for over 20 years, and for The Spectrum Monitor since 2014. A product of the Pacific northwest, Tomas resides now in Fayetteville, Ohio. RAIN's Hap Holly/KC9RP spoke with Tomas recently about Solar Cycle 25. This is the second and final excerpt from their discussion. [2021 P2 17M42S/09M37S] If you missed part one of this conversation, you'll find it as RAIN Hamcast #56 both on therainreport.com and on the RAIN Hamcast page on YouTube . RAIN Hamcast #58 will post January 8, 2022. Hap Holly/KC9RP edits and produces this biweekly ham radio podcast. It is copyright 1985-2021 , RAIN, all rights reserved. RAIN programming is made available under a Creative Commons license ; you are encouraged to download, share, post and transmit the RAIN Hamcast in its entirety via Amateur Radio. Your support and feedback are welcome on therainreport.com. Thanks for YouTube Technical Assistance from Tom Shimizu/N9JDI. I'm WR/K5WLR bidding you very 73 and 44 from the Radio Amateur Information Network. KEEP ON HAMMING!

This is the RAIN hamcast #56, posted 12-11-2021 on therainreport.com and on the YouTube RAIN Report channel (see link on therainreport.com’s main menu); voiced by Will Rogers/K5WLR. When you were knee high to a grasshopper, did you undergo a game-changing experience that shaped your future career? Tomas Hood/NW7US did. Tomas has been a short wave enthusiast since 1973. He was first licensed as a ham in 1990 at age 25. In the mid 1990s Tomas launched the first civilian space weather propagation website, HFRadio.org, which later spawned sunspotwatch.com. His NW7US.us has been up and running since June, 1999. Tomas has contributed to the Space Weather Propagation column in CQ magazine for over 20 years, and for Spectrum Monitor since 2014. A product of the Pacific northwest, Tomas resides today in Fayetteville, OH. RAIN's Hap Holly/KC9RP spoke with Tomas recently about Solar Cycle 25 and the game-changing afternoon Tomas experienced in 1973 at age 8. [2021 P1 16M43S/09M22S] We'll conclude Hap's conversation with Tomas in RH57, scheduled for posting Christmas Day. The RAIN Hamcast is produced and edited by Hap Holly/KC9RP; this biweekly podcast is copyright 1985-2021 RAIN, All rights reserved. RAIN programming is formatted for Amateur Radio transmission and is made available under a Creative Commons license ; downloading, sharing, posting and transmission of this ham radio program via Amateur Radio in its entirety are encouraged. Your support and feedback are welcome on therainreport.com. Thanks for YouTube Technical Assistance from Tom Shimizu/N9JDI. KEEP ON HAMMING!