“This Week in Technology,” or TWiT to add Ham Radio Show

Leo Laporte is adding a little ham flavor to his online techie stewpot.

Netcasting network TWiT.tv will have a new show called “HamNation,” hosted by microphone maker and ham radio enthusiast Bob Heil. It will launch on Tuesday May 24.

If you attended the ham reception at the recent NAB Show, you may have seen Laporte. He was the one followed by the gaggle of admiring fans.

And if you know Bob Heil and ham radio, you won’t be surprised to learn that the first guest on “HamNation” will be rock star and fellow amateur Joe Walsh.

“This Week in Technology,” or TWiT, was inspired by an earlier network called ZDTV or TechTV. The first program launched after radio host Leo Laporte got a strong response to audio commentary he posted online about Macworld Expo in 2005.

Early on, fans provided money to pay for equipment and web hosting; the netcast network now is supported by donations and advertising. Laporte later began to produce other shows for the network, in both audio and video formats, all focusing on some aspect of technology. Shows are free and can be subscribed to via iTunes or other netcast/podcast programs.

(The producers prefer the term “netcasting” over “podcasting” because no iPod or other MP3 player is required; you can listen or watch on a computer too.)

“In time we hope to make TWiT a CNN for geeks, with 24-hour live streaming video and downloadable audio and video so you can watch and listen where and when it’s convenient for you,” it states on the site.

— Paul McLane

Original Here

 

This is 100% concentrated awesome!

Since TechTV was essentially stripped to the axles by G4 TV, Leo has slowly been building an empire. It's great to know that amateur radio will now be on the TWiT! This will no doubt bring in some more enthusiasts from the tech savvy crowd that haven't delved into the airwaves before.

 

Very cool!

I had the pleasure of meeting Bob Heil once and can attest to the fact that he's the perfect guy to be hosting a ham radio podcast.

 

This is fantastic. As a regular viewer of Twit network shows, I've been following the development of HamNation since it was first mentioned, in passing, a couple months ago.

One thing is for sure, if we tune in enough to keep the program running, it will expose our hobby to a great number of very technically inclined people. This is truly an opportunity for some of the most targeted exposure to a key demographic for healthy growth of the hobby. <O</O

 

This is great news! I've been listening/watching Leo since the Tech TV days. He and Bob Heil were awesome in a netcast a few months ago about how Heil Inc. came to be. I'm a frequent viewer of several of his netcasts. Let's get him a ham ticket too.

Dean, KC9EOQ

 

Yeah, that would be cool. Leo knows quite a lot about ham radio, he could probably pass the test with about 30 minutes of study to catch up on regulations and such.

I look forward to Bob's show!

 

More Techs for VHF/UHF repeaters, and what else, do you think?

 

Looking forward to Hamnation

Leo has alot of great shows. Hamnation will be fantastic for ham radio

 

there are other reasons for that. a great many i worked with (lab or electronic techs) had little desire for ham radio due to it's image among scientists and techs. hate to say it but the tech world views ham radio as; old, redneck, white trash and little more than racist ignorant truckers. this was the way people spoke of the hobby if it came up. i never understood that stigma until i got on the air.
many who did show an interest had it quickly sour due to what they heard on the radio from other hams. i know several hams that are not active as result. people with a brain don't want to hear rants about jews, mexicans and atheists, nor do they want crazy far fetched ranting in general. they will instantly lose any respect they held once they hear that garbage as often as it is now, especially if they are a minority. yea this stuff exists everywhere, but i can tune my dial on at almost anytime of the day and hear a similar rant. because of this i wouldn't even let my kids get involved. there are hams that wonder why i don't talk to them anymore... there's your answer if you read this post.

when that image is shaken then more techs will jump in and remain active. hopefully things like this turn that stigma around. there is a lot to radio to be enjoyed and we shouldn't let crazy gramp's low blood sugar spoil the fun. i got interested due to the home brew aspect and this is very popular among others like me. however we are a different culture than the baby boomers.

more people do need to get involved before the hobby really declines. things like this will help.

 

Umm.....I always thought Leo had a ticket. Am I wrong on that?

I do too

Cheers :& 73 D

 

Yeah - With a big fat *DOH!

Cheers & 73

 

If I wanna hear people go on political tangents, I'll watch the cable news channels, thank you very much!

If I wanna get on MY OWN political tangent, I have a place for that. (That would be here for those who care to check it out). I don't need to pick up the mic of either my ICOM IC-706 MKII-G or my ICOM IC T7H to do this, thank you very much

Besides, why limit my audience to just a few locals or people around the world with ham radio RXers when I can have THE WHOLE WORLD (Both Hams & Non-Hams alike) as my oyster? Seems rather silly, doesn't it?

Well that depends on when you were born. I was born in 1966. I think that makes me a baby boomer.....

AMEN to that

Cheers & 73

 

This great, I already watch Twitv live in the evening when I get home. It's about time Ham radio gets more exposure.

 

I heard a story years ago:


An elderly gentleman was sitting on the porch of a general store in a small town and a stranger came walking down the road from the next town over and stopped to greet him.

The stranger asked the gentleman, "How are the people in this town?"

The gentleman answered with a question, "Well, how were the people in the last town?"

The stranger answered, "They were the meanest, discourteous, stingyest bunch of sorry no-good jerks I ever did meet! I was so glad to get out of that place!"

The elderly gentlman replied, "Well, you will find they are just like that here, I wouldn't stay here if I were you."

The stranger nodded and wandered on down the street and out of town at the other end of town.

The gentleman sat there a few more hours and soon another stranger wandered into town from the same direction. He, also, stopped to greet the elderly gentleman and asked him as well, "How are the people in this town?".

The gentleman answered again with the question, "Well, how were the people in the last town?"

The stranger answered, "They were the nicest, most courteous and giving people in the world, they would give you the shirt off their backs if you needed it. I was sad to leave there."

The elderly gentlman replied, "Well, you will find they are just like that here, We hope you plan to stay a while."



The moral being, You will find people, for the most part, will treat you as you treat them, whether good or bad.

So, if you treat the new hams like they are a burden, and are no good, and you don't try to elmer them and gently correct them, how do you expect them to be the good hams that you would like them(and yourself) to be?

Also, you don't have to be old, to be an old fart abd be set in your ways - open up, welcome the new ham, take him/her under your wing, show them the right way to do things(not necessarily the way YOU do things!), be a good citizen, be helpful, etc. and maybe that new ham will be so much better than you expected. It doesn't hurt to try, does it?

Let's get the negative out of Ham Radio and off the boards, and welcome new hams into the fold and build Ham radio into a better place!

Just my 2 cents worth..

 

That's one reason I used digital modes and seldom have a mic hooked up to the HF radio. (Not that 2M CB is any better.) That way, I really don't have to hear anything and still get a great QSO going. I don't recall ever seeing a foul word or racist remark ever ticker across my digital waterfall.

But really, don't let a few over-powered loudmouths with no respect taint the flavor of amateur radio overall. You don't have to look hard to find there are thousands of hams out there that are just as decent as they'd be in church.