When I started on the QSO Today Virtual Ham Radio Expo, I sent invitations for speakers to my QSO Today guests. The response was great with almost 40 applicants. I got a reply from Ashhar Farhan, VU2ESE, my guest in Episode 87, that he was busy working with Dr. Gordon Gibby, KX4Z, noted software developer Jack Purdum, W8TEE,, and other University of Florida physicians to design and build a low cost, open source, ventilator from the parts commonly found in hardware stores. The need for low cost respirators exceeded the World supply. Ashhar sent me a link to a You-Tube video showing his Arduino controlled respirator using his home vacuum cleaner, relay, and pressure sensor.

It is gratifying, but not surprising, to see that the ham radio community can step up to the plate to try to tackle the worldwide pandemic and the need for respirators, with the skills and expertise that we have built from our pursuit of amateur radio. Ours is a playground of learning, and as Dr. Ulrich Rohde, N1UL, said in episode 208, we have a license to learn and the playground is our frequency spectrum. These skills that we develop have consequences well beyond the hobby that we so dearly love.

I hope that I can get Jack or Ashhar to speak in June about hams re-applying their ham radio and professional skills to solve a tremendous and life saving need.

My QSO Today is with Sam Birnbaum, W2JDB, who when approached by Rich Zwirko, K1HTV, to help blind hams discover and enjoy the FT8 digital mode, he stepped up to the plate. Sam created, from his years of professional experience as a software designer, a software program called Q-Log, so that he could better enjoy working National Parks on the Air. In the best tradition of hams helping hams, Sam adapted Q-Log for blind operation making the digital modes available to them. Necessity is the mother of invention, and Sam tells the rest of the story. 

Again, I wish all of you nothing but continued good health, and if you are sick, that you have my prayers for a complete and speedy recovery.