Listener comments!

🤖 ♥ 5:54pm
: Mark! Techtondcasters! 🤖 ♥ 5:57pm
Handy Haversack: Mark and the Techyons! 🤖 ♥ 6:01pm
Sara Clemens: Happy December Mark and Techticians!! 🤖 ♥ 6:01pm
Will thee SG OCNY: Good evening, Mark Hurst and all!!! 🤖 ♥ 6:01pm
Bas NL: Hi Mark! Hi all!   6:02pm
David (in London): Evening Mark and all Technoids here gathered. ♥ 6:02pm
MIster Mark: 👾👽🛸📻✌️🙏✊ 🤖 ♥ 6:02pm
Deano de los Muertos: wazzap Mark and all ♥ 6:02pm
MIster Mark:

↳ MIster Mark @6:02

Let's get dumb and lo-fi radio .wav 2 nitE uHHHH!!! 🤖 ♥ 6:03pm
chresti: Hi Mark and markers! 🤖 ♥ 6:03pm
Sara Clemens: Digging tonight's theme already ♥ 6:03pm
MIster Mark:

↳ MIster Mark @6:02

just gonna put out the name Joe Walsh think about it before you Big Lebowski harsh ♥ 6:04pm
Peter from Saranac Lake NY: Good evening Mark and technophobes. ♥ 6:04pm
dale: i listen to 2 meter ham nets on the scanner....hey now. 🤖 ♥ 6:05pm
Webhamster Henry: Happy Cyber Monday! Back when people had internet in the office, but not at home, this is when people would buy Holiday goodies during office hours after the weekend. ♥ 6:05pm
MIster Mark: Hearty White 6pm ET Thursdays had a funny riff on call signs that Lou did 🤖 ♥ 6:05pm
Deano de los Muertos: I’m gonna send this episode to my dad! We’re going to rig to his ham radio antenna up this winter. I played him the ChatGPT conversation from a few episodes over the holiday 🤖 ♥ 6:07pm
Webhamster Henry: This fun little website provides and interface to Software Defined Radio that can listen to normal radio and more bleepy-blorpy digital signals websdr.ewi.utwente.nl   ♥ 6:07pm
WantageInsomniac: Tom's videos really got me motivated to learn Morse code, I am KD2YJX ♥ 6:07pm
Mark Hurst: Hi ultra, Handy, Sara, WtSG, Bas, DiL, MIster Mark, chresti, Peter, dale, webham, Deano, WantageInsomniac - welcome! 🤖 ♥ 6:08pm
Sara Clemens: My husband just told me he was in a ham radio club in middle school but the teacher running it wouldn't let the kids touch anything so they just sat around and watched teach get on the radio and try to find people.   ♥ 6:08pm
WantageInsomniac: In fact he has one video I often point people to as a quick Morse primer. 🤖 ♥ 6:08pm
Ken From Hyde Park: Hello and welcome to Don't Let the Cybers Win Monday! 🤖 ♥ 6:08pm
DjLorraine: Great topic! ♥ 6:08pm
Mark Hurst:

↳ WantageInsomniac @6:08

Sounds interesting, post the link!   6:08pm
yippie: you inspired me to donate a WFMU tshirt to the Jamaica hurricane relief ♥ 6:09pm
MIster Mark:

↳ Peter from Saranac Lake NY @6:04

Good evening, Peter! Dare say we're more fascistphope than technophobe ♥ 6:09pm
Mark Hurst:

↳ Ken From Hyde Park @6:08

Hi KfHP ♥ 6:09pm
crateslinger: I'm a ham. kd2fbu   6:09pm
anon: "radio doesn't rely on anything" except if you transmit encrypted packets the government will come and arrest you ♥ 6:10pm
John Dalton: KD2HIS here ♥ 6:10pm
crateslinger: QRZ.com is a good resource too. ♥ 6:10pm
dale:

↳ anon @6:09

fcc has been gutted. ♥ 6:10pm
MIster Mark:

↳ crateslinger @6:09

aspire 2 bee one some day won't van halen goof on u respect 🤖 ♥ 6:10pm
chresti: So you need equipment? 🤖 ♥ 6:10pm
Sara Clemens: Back in my acting days I was a ham too 😏   6:10pm
anon: https://github.com/LibertyFarmer/hamstr - nostr communication and lightning payments over ham 🤖 ♥ 6:11pm
Handy Haversack:

↳ John Dalton @6:10

Does the KD2 that you and crateslinger share mean anything? Location? ♥ 6:11pm
Mark Hurst:

↳ John Dalton @6:10

Ah cool, hi John   6:11pm
anon:

↳ dale @6:10

good thing, too ♥ 6:11pm
crateslinger: 73's JD! ♥ 6:11pm
dale: 40 meter band doesn't seem to be civil anymore, more pirates and a heck of aa lot of swearing and name calling.   ♥ 6:11pm
WantageInsomniac: Lol, I had to remember his call sign, when You said TOm Witherspoon, I had no idea, as soon as I heard his voice I knew him.
Tom is K4SWL ♥ 6:11pm
PaulRobeson1925: Ok ♥ 6:11pm
Mark Hurst:

↳ Sara Clemens @6:10

heh ♥ 6:11pm
Howard & the Cats: Listening in Portland, OR and Techtonic is just starting now, at 3:10pm. There isn't usually a 10-minute lag in the audio stream, is there???   6:12pm
?: my father in law was a HAM. He had been the radio man in the air force in the Pacific in WWII. Back home in Pittsbugh he had a radio room in the house. The network of these guys after the war thought themselves keeping the country safe in the event of nuclear war 🤖 ♥ 6:12pm
Handy Haversack:

↳ Howard & the Cats @6:11

Stop and restart your streamer? ♥ 6:12pm
John Dalton: Yes, initial call signs are issued by the FCC based on region. 🤖 ♥ 6:12pm
Handy Haversack:

↳ John Dalton @6:12

Ah, thanks. ♥ 6:13pm
PaulRobeson1925: Why can’t i pickup any shortwave? Is my radio broken?   ♥ 6:13pm
WantageInsomniac: FCC issues By region in order.
But you can get a Vanity call with any region number, 2 is NY and NJ ♥ 6:13pm
Howard & the Cats:

↳ Handy Haversack @6:12

But then I'll miss ten minutes of the show! :P   6:14pm
Sasha: https://frinkiac.com/img/S04E13/782314.jpg   ♥ 6:14pm
WantageInsomniac: SW is mostly nighttime, if you have a long enough wire, you'll pick something up at night. 🤖 ♥ 6:14pm
Handy Haversack:

↳ Howard & the Cats @6:13

I know -- I had the same thought! You're doomed to live in the past forever!   6:15pm
anon: what happens if you do ham stuff without a license? ♥ 6:15pm
MIster Mark: Thomas Witherspoon is our new favourite vocal fry   6:15pm
Listener Robert: Listing various forms of wireless communication -- c.w., voice, data -- the guest omitted TV, both slow and fast scan. 🤖 ♥ 6:15pm
Webhamster Henry: I have actually exchanged email with Tania Finlayson, woman with cerebral palsy who communicates via Morse code! www.youtube.com... ♥ 6:15pm
Howard & the Cats:

↳ Handy Haversack @6:14

Haha! Restarting the browser did fix it, I'd never seen that happen before.   6:15pm
yippie: i do enjoy the relaxing sound of waves bouncing off the ionosphere ♥ 6:16pm
MIster Mark:

↳ MIster Mark @6:15

There's a great article years ago how the NPR studio engineer devised their whole sound 🤖 ♥ 6:16pm
Ken From Hyde Park: Once you get your HAM radio license, you can get a license plate for your car. www.arrl.org... ♥ 6:17pm
PaulRobeson1925: I tune AM radio, at various times of the day/night and it’s always one of two things. either Michael Savage or folks talking in Korean 🤖 ♥ 6:17pm
Sara Clemens:

↳ Howard & the Cats @6:15

This has happened to me a time or two, but mostly when I'm listening via Apple Music 🤖 ♥ 6:18pm
Will thee SG OCNY: I always wanted to get a ham license ♥ 6:18pm
MIster Mark: Appreciate Thomas starting with the DIY low budget approach ♥ 6:18pm
PaulRobeson1925: The old West German Lion has short wave. Why does nothing come in? The tubes work, record player
Works. But I am very afraid of fire. 🤖 ♥ 6:18pm
Bas NL: Recommended weekly podcast on world news on the shortwave: The Shortwave Report www.outfarpress.com... ♥ 6:18pm
MIster Mark:

↳ MIster Mark @6:18

there's online tuners to listen in on 2 git familiar with 🤖 ♥ 6:19pm
Webhamster Henry: The radio spectrum is full of all kinds of stuff! I have a MSW radio, but it doesn't pick up anything. Also, in the good old days of cell phones, their audio would turn up on the UHF TV stations audio after UHF went away, so if you had an old TV, you could hear cell phone calls. www.echonyc.com... 🤖 ♥ 6:19pm
DjLorraine:

↳ Will thee SG OCNY @6:18

I've met 2 teachers! I haven't started studing yet ♥ 6:19pm
PC77:

↳ Song: "Interview with Thomas Witherspoon"

I can see why Thomas enjoys radio so much- he has a very good radio voice. Nice & clear. ♥ 6:19pm
dale:

↳ PaulRobeson1925 @6:17

should be a few stations broadcasting coast to coast. always good to hear about being beamed up to an alien ship. 🤖 ♥ 6:20pm
Webhamster Henry:

↳ Webhamster Henry @6:19

We also used to listen to ship-to-shore radio on out multiband receiver. ♥ 6:21pm
MIster Mark: Couple tiny Chicago backyards had HUGE HAM antennas   6:21pm
anon: anyone here connected to nycmesh? ( https://www.nycmesh.net/ ) 🤖 ♥ 6:22pm
Ken From Hyde Park: When I visited my cousin in Seattle, her boyfriend showed us a radio he used to monitor ship conversations with a drawbridge operator. Useful for timing your trip across said bridge. ♥ 6:22pm
MIster Mark: David Cracker Lowery is a HAM enthusiast, yes? 🤖 ♥ 6:22pm
Bas NL: One pound iHAM. ♥ 6:22pm
PaulRobeson1925:

↳ dale @6:19

Contact! 🤖 ♥ 6:22pm
bravedelay: My brother was in WNC during Helene and texted me just now: "it's crazy how radio, town squares, and handwritten flyers were the ONLY means of communcation for ages after the storm. Radio hosts were like everyone's best friend" ♥ 6:23pm
Mark T: Cool stuff. I have worked as an EMI/EMC Test Engineer for different periods of my career of 40 plus years. ♥ 6:23pm
MIster Mark:

↳ MIster Mark @6:22

Shure hope he does 1st responder warnings about Nazi skinheads at bowling alleys 🤖 ♥ 6:23pm
Handy Haversack:

↳ Ken From Hyde Park @6:22

I have a marine radio, for obvious reasons, and the local bridge crews are on the main bridge-to-bridge channel (and the Coast Guard band). Big sign on the bridge saying what channels to call on. ♥ 6:23pm
Marshall Stacks: I'm licensed. I learned a lot in studying for the Technician exam. 🤖 ♥ 6:23pm
Deano de los Muertos: They’re planning to fence in the side of the farmhouse, so the animals can clear the brush around trees. Then my dad and I are gonna try to slingshot the antenna between two tree limbs   6:25pm
Listener Robert:

↳ PC77 @6:19

A shame to waste that great voice by working c.w. as he prefers, huh? ♥ 6:26pm
dale:

↳ Listener Robert @6:25

it's how we defeated the aliens in independence day though.   6:26pm
anon:

↳ Marshall Stacks @6:23

Ralph! ♥ 6:28pm
MIster Mark:

↳ Listener Robert @6:25

beautiful lil' twang ♥ 6:29pm
Sasha: Well I've never had a car
Never been near a lorry
Got a nasty habit of scratching my nose
My codename's Happy Harry 🤖 ♥ 6:30pm
Deano de los Muertos:

↳ dale @6:26

Randy Quaid? 🤖 ♥ 6:31pm
Webhamster Henry: The AARL used to be in West Hartford, CT (where I'm from), but now is in Newington CT. 🤖 ♥ 6:33pm
ultradamno:

↳ Song: "Interview with Thomas Witherspoon"

It's incredible we've gotten this far with it considering "nobody even knows what a magnet is" ♥ 6:33pm
Rick from SC:

↳ Song: "Interview with Thomas Witherspoon"

I saw a guy in a car with an antenna in the trees in a parking lot on the Blue Ridge Parkway this summer. Hmm. ♥ 6:35pm
Marshall Stacks: My area is vulnerable to natural disasters. Many of my neighbors have emergency response skills, but very few are radio amateurs. For the rest, there are cheap MURS radios, which don't require an exam or license. They have enough range to cover our whole area. If you're in a similar situation, check them out.   6:37pm
anon: interesting that the temporary removal of the FCC regulation created widespread good ♥ 6:37pm
MIster Mark:

↳ MIster Mark @6:28

long they stay on the line or the whisky soaks in the brogue is revealed ♥ 6:37pm
egould: Rumors started immediately. Yeah, the human factor is always the weak link. ♥ 6:38pm
MIster Mark:

↳ egould @6:37

code whisperers ftw   6:38pm
ron-ji: Excellent episode. Apologies if someone else has brought this up, but ON THE MEDIA aired a great 3-part miniseries on the history of shortwave radio earlier this year. Here’s part 1 (although part 3 is the most directly relevant to tonight’s interview) : https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?i=1000706636546 🤖 ♥ 6:38pm
bravedelay:

↳ egould @6:37

And Helene was red meat for the misinformation crowd. FEMA was there before it hit, but bad actors exploited the challenging terrain and edge cases to say that WNC was "ignored" ♥ 6:39pm
Mark Hurst:

↳ ron-ji @6:38

interesting, thanks, ron-ji ♥ 6:40pm
MIster Mark: "multiple kits" chuckle dad joke around the fireplace ♥ 6:41pm
MIster Mark: 6:40 this part right here Thomas talks about is key: some areas are overcompensated so redistribute 2 the needier ♥ 6:41pm
Mark T: A great topic to introduce the masses to a subject and wonderful hobby that people have enjoyed for decades. For the record, Ham radio operators were essential to the success of the military operation to rescue Americans in the military operation in the island of Grenada.   6:42pm
anon: a mini Stateless utopia.... dreamy!   ♥ 6:42pm
WantageInsomniac: This is one of his videos I often point people to, I think he spoka about POTA and SOTA. www.youtube.com... ♥ 6:43pm
dale:

↳ Deano de los Muertos @6:30

yeah, sorry - i was eating dinner. ♥ 6:43pm
Mark Hurst:

↳ Mark T @6:41

didn't know that about Grenada, thanks ♥ 6:43pm
Mark Hurst:

↳ WantageInsomniac @6:42

thanks ♥ 6:44pm
Marshall Stacks:

↳ anon @6:42

Except for the FEMA and disaster parts, yeah, Utopia. ♥ 6:44pm
MIster Mark:

↳ Mark T @6:41

'military operation' 🤖 ♥ 6:45pm
chresti: A bar band?   6:45pm
anon:

↳ Marshall Stacks @6:44

he just got through explaining how far they went before FEMA showed up and how 90% of the valuable services were provided between neighors ♥ 6:45pm
egould: Self-reliance is a hell of a drug. ♥ 6:45pm
MIster Mark:

↳ chresti @6:45

Utopia or Military Operation?   6:46pm
anon:

↳ egould @6:45

you got it. and equally regulated lol ♥ 6:47pm
egould:

↳ anon @6:46

Daddy Government wants to take care of you. And will punish you if you don't let him. ♥ 6:48pm
MIster Mark: How shall we revamp billionaire doomsday bunkers and gated communities in to? ♥ 6:49pm
Mark T:

↳ MIster Mark @6:44

I stand corrected. Dummy me trying to do three things at once. D’oh! ♥ 6:49pm
MIster Mark: Know yer neighbors ♥ 6:50pm
PaulRobeson1925: One time I tuned AM radio… I’m not sure I can write it, it was so graphic ♥ 6:50pm
MIster Mark:

↳ MIster Mark @6:49

A double Arrrrrrr Ellllll ♥ 6:50pm
Mark T:

↳ Mark Hurst @6:43

Sure thing ♥ 6:50pm
MIster Mark:

↳ MIster Mark @6:50

just don't fall 4 a Scharpling Wurster geocities $$ 2 learn gimmick   ♥ 6:51pm
WantageInsomniac: Most clubs have open doors for guests, Mine does in Sussex County, scarcnj.org. We meet every third Friday.   6:51pm
traven:

↳ MIster Mark @6:48

When the fat lady sings, they'll be the first to go down.   6:52pm
dj4thepeople: That was FASCINATING! 🤖 ♥ 6:52pm
bravedelay:

↳ anon @6:45

Thomas praised FEMA's response before saying that. Given the limited access routes and challenging terrain, once Helene hit and the rains stopped, neighbors were indeed the lifeline until federal resources could be deployed. I don't think a 'negative' needs to be found here.   6:52pm
convoy_pt2: Great show, more stuff like this. Super important.👍 🤖 ♥ 6:52pm
Sara Clemens:

↳ Song: "Mark's comments"

Don't sell yourself short, you're the host for the whole show, not just last few minutes!   6:53pm
anon:

↳ bravedelay @6:52

I hadn't found a negative, I pointed out a positive re: the community aspect sans FEMA 🤖 ♥ 6:53pm
Handy Haversack: Well, that was totally fascinating. I mean, no surprise that there's good overlap between amateur radio users and WFMU fans. And no surprise that learning more about it is so interesting to this crowd. But still: great thing to bring to us, Mark! Huge thanks to you and Thomas. 🤖 ♥ 6:53pm
Jeff Moore: I've never fully trusted SMS as a second authentication factor (because mobile phone numbers are subject to port-out scams and probably other forms of faking), but lots of vendors are forcing the use of SMS in 2FA and no longer offering the option to choose a different method. The guest mentioned another reason to prefer not to use SMS-based 2FA. ♥ 6:53pm
egould: Social media just amplifies the worst of human foibles. ♥ 6:54pm
MIster Mark:

↳ traven @6:51

dag 😬   6:54pm
anon: signing off, check out NOSTR if you're interested in non-big-tech, decentralized communication protocols 🤖 ♥ 6:54pm
bravedelay:

↳ anon @6:53

All good, I conflated your comment with others! 🤖 ♥ 6:54pm
Sara Clemens: Seriously though, great, fascinating show today. Thank you Mark and Thomas! ♥ 6:54pm
PaulRobeson1925:

↳ PaulRobeson1925 @6:50

It was a few years before the Donald Sterling story, this was Daniel Pearl. And whoever it was, maybe It was Savage maybe it was Mark Levin but whomever it was, aired the sound of a beheading...Jesus!That little Sony on the bathroom shelf. Always on 710 or 770am. 🤖 ♥ 6:54pm
Will thee SG OCNY: Thank you Mark Hurst, Thomas Witherspoon, and accu peeps! ♥ 6:55pm
John Dalton: Thanks for a great interview Thomas and Mark. A really great story of community based disaster management and amateur radio.
73 ♥ 6:55pm
MIster Mark:

↳ John Dalton @6:55

The Fun 91! ♥ 6:55pm
egould: Thanks Mark. Thanks Thomas. 🤖 ♥ 6:55pm
DjLorraine: Thanks Mark ♾️ 🤖 ♥ 6:56pm
Deano de los Muertos: one of my favorite episodes, thank you Mark and Thomas! ♥ 6:56pm
PaulRobeson1925: Radio can be powerful. yes it is 🤖 ♥ 6:56pm
Bas NL: Thanks Mark! Thanks Thomas! Great story/report! 🤖 ♥ 6:56pm
chresti: Thanks Mark and Thomas!   6:56pm
Fredericks: Big radio was not very useful during hurricanes. It was the community station that had the most up to date information and real people at the station. Much commercial radio is rebroadcasting for somewhere nowhere near the storm.   ♥ 6:57pm
WantageInsomniac: I think it came up last time, but if anyone hasn't seen WebSDR, you can liste to HAM and SW online, just search for WebSDR ♥ 6:57pm
MIster Mark:

↳ WantageInsomniac @6:57

Bingo ♥ 6:58pm
dale: nice transoceanic in the pic. 🤖 ♥ 6:58pm
Ken From Hyde Park: Thanks, Mark. There could be Ham license classes in Monty Hall, maybe. ♥ 6:58pm
Count d'Al Dente: Good show. Glad I caught it. A side note: it is possible to make phone calls via short wave. ♥ 6:58pm
bleubombersune: Thanks Mark All stray safe and be well ♥ 6:58pm
MIster Mark:

↳ Ken From Hyde Park @6:58

*should bee   6:58pm
P-90: Fascinating. Thanks guys. 🤖 ♥ 6:59pm
bravedelay:

↳ Song: "Amateur radio during Hurricane Melissa" by "Todd ...

can't emphasize enough how important a weather radio is while hearing this. it's sometimes up to a minute in front of app warnings. when you have a dog to get to the basement, those minutes count! ♥ 6:59pm
MIster Mark:

↳ bravedelay @6:59

Bingo ♥ 6:59pm
Mark Hurst: Thanks, everyone! 🤖 ♥ 6:59pm
Ken From Hyde Park:

↳ MIster Mark @6:58

10-4, good buddy!   6:59pm
cbunny: Good show.
I though I had heard that every cellphone has a radio receiver installed, but is always switched off. 🤖 ♥ 6:59pm
Sara Clemens:

↳ Song: "Amateur radio during Hurricane Melissa" by "Todd ...

This is amazing.   7:00pm
wimpy:

↳ Song: "Amateur radio during Hurricane Melissa" by "Todd ...

this is really cool   ♥ 7:00pm
WantageInsomniac:

↳ Count d'Al Dente @6:58

We call any voice mode (FM, AM, SSB) Phone There used to be ways to make phone links, but I don't think they are active. Email and TXT can be done via HF ♥ 7:00pm
dale: i put some recordings of hamnets up on FB a couple of times and you always get someone saying 'shame you for sharing a private conversation.' they don't get that it's out there for the entire globe to consume if atmospheric conditions are right. ♥ 7:00pm
MIster Mark: We'll all bee on bespoke artisinal Andy Warhol soup cans before this is over   ♥ 7:01pm
WantageInsomniac: There are also relay messaging services, where someone will attempt to pass a message along, often through many hands, by any means to get to the final point.
So a message may be passed along through a few modes on RF, then taken the final stage on telephone, or even mail. ♥ 7:03pm
Count d'Al Dente:

↳ WantageInsomniac @7:00

I'm just remembering that with SW radios for car installations, they had key pads on the backside of the microphone, so you could make calls, but it was requested to keep that to a bare minimum, I guess because it could clog up the system, or however you'd put it. ♥ 4:11pm
Bob Tankenstein: Just listened based on Deano's recc. Fantastic. I've got my local amateur radio club's next meeting on my calendar. Taking off my SW training wheels and putting on my HF pants.