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This is the RBR TVPR in Focus podcast. Here's your host,
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Radio and Television Business Report Editor in Chief Adam R. Jacobson.
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Hello, and welcome to the in Focus podcast, which is
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presented by dot FM streaming social podcast broadcast. Get a
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dot fm domain name by heading over to get dot fm.
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Today and today we continue our preview look at the
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CES twenty twenty six Mega Conference and Expo in Las Vegas. Yes,
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that's the Consumer Electronics Show, and the anticipation, if you will,
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from broadcast media is extremely huge. We've heard a little
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bit about AI in all of its forms. Now we're
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going to hear a little bit about what CEES might
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bring from a broadcast technology perspective by having a conversation
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with Ray Mickleus. Ray is the vice president of Technology
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at Gateshare and he joins us from Quincy, Illinois. CEES
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twenty twenty five in the NAB Show are once again
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highly anticipated events from broadcast media, which is eagerly looking
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at new products to bring greater efficiencies and improved back
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end technology to the forefront. We understand that the coming
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year we'll see gates Air take a starring role in
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servicing FM radio station owners with new products and service needs.
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So I'm wondering what in the nutshell where you can
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share when it comes to FM and the things that
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Gates is working on. In the next twelve months, we.
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Have both on the you know, content delivery side, we
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have our interplex products as people go to IP delivery,
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so we'll be accepting that line out with a bunch
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of new boxes with new feature sets. So, you know,
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we've been working a couple of years now on replacing
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obsolete components. Ever since uh COVID happened. The semiconductor people
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are are more than happy to obsolete their device as
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much quicker than they had in the past. But in
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doing so, you know, we get more processing power. UH.
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So we're adding additional feature sets into you know, the
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interflex boxes that we have, you know, so all the
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different CODECX different standards will be integrating. Maybe like wheat
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Net for example from Wheatstone is on our roadmap. We've
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come out with you know, ant X Bridge, which is
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a new ant X space UH product. We're coming out
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with some stort and forward on the interplex so that
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particularly with you know the issues with the satellite delivery,
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we're building a system whereby you can keep the spot
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load and alternative content on our device. If something happens
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with connection, it'll actually play from a from a downloaded playlist.
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So trying to keep radio stations on air. That was
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a customer driven request. And then on the f M side,
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we're replacing the controllers and control screens on all our
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Fax products. Again it would give us more horse power.
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One of the things that customers are asking us is
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giving them more network security, and we couldn't do some
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of you know, what they're requesting from us with the
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processors that we had. So we'll be releasing a whole
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new suite of security software updates with our new controllers. So,
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you know, trying to meet customer demand, uh, for customers
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who are using our radio products for sure.
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And I'm sorry you said fast products.
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FACTS FACTS is our model family f big S, big A,
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big X.
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FACTS like a Fax machine and just wanted to make
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sure I heard.
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You, Frost, and so, you know, just trying to keep
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our products modern. In addition, you know, we've completed the
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development of our cost effective f M line from fifty
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watts to three and.
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A half kill a wats. It's the ground up build
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new exciter. Uh so those for those who are a
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cost contract hire, if you will, we now have an
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alternative to provide both domestic and international customers smaller footprint,
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higher efficiency. I think we're touching seventy eight.
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Percent
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efficiency with our new product line, which is outstanding,
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So pretty happy with the results of that and our
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final three and a half kill a lot will fill
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out the line and that that will be available for
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shipment in quarter one.
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At CES Gates Air will be enveloped in the ATSC
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three point zero story which is still unfolding for broadcast
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television now the coming year could see a lot in
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terms of eventual sunset of ATSC one point zero that
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could truly push the new broadcast TV standard forward in
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a big way and do a lot for Gates Air. Now,
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the developer and manufacturer standpoint, what can you share with
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respect to CEES ATSC and some of the work that
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gets here is going to be doing in this space.
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Well, you know, we're kind of in the background, right
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We have a modulator the supports ATSC three to zero,
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and you know we do participate in the Business Advisory
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Council to three dot zero, so you know, whatever they
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come up with we have to implement in our modulator.
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We just finished the the DPS feature, which is an
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alternative to GPS. It's carried by the three OUTO signal
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and that is being tested by the AKSC three group
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and a couple of pilot customers. The big thing we're
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working on now is what they call my bow, which
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allows much greater bandwidth for within.
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The PC, and that's MIMO M I m O.
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Yeah, big M big I, big M big O.
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Okay, thank you.
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It's and it is actively being going to be tested
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by the Brazilians in the first half of twenty twenty five.
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A highly complex development that we are currently We've done
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the software work and it's currently under early testing, so
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we want to be ready for the Brazilian opportunity and
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MIMO is a requirement. Again. It further enhances the value
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of three dot zero in that it carries more bits,
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whether it's for you know, allowing the station to sell
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off bandwidth or to carry you know, four K material
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and or to carry additional programs. For the Brazilian market especially,
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it's highly attractive to some of the major broadcasters down there.
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Is Gateshare actively involved in discussions with groups such as
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the ATSC is working at all with the NAB in
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terms of discussions in Washington and what could be happening
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at the FCC with a new chairman that could be
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more eager to have a firm sunset date for ATSC
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one point zero.
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Yeah, we do that indirectly. I know that, For example,
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we've got a call from their representati asking us, you
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know what our view of how many of our transmitters
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are running through dot all within the domestic space. We've
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shared some data with them, and I believe that those entities,
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whether it's NAD or ATSC three, are going to go
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to the FCC see if uh they they'll buy into
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a sunset that for ATSC one. You know, I think
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they're preparing to go in. I don't know how successful
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they'll be, but you know, any support they need from us,
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we would be more than willing to uh provide. But
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I do know that they are planning their plan of
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attack if you will to go right. But other than
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you know, market uh implementation data. That's that's been the
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extent of our our participation in that effort.
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One last question for you. Then I'm gonna have to
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go because I got a deadline to hit. Okay, Gates
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are a care program. It launched in June. It's continuance
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roll out. Look, we see the widening gaps and engineering
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skill sets because you have retirements, and you have reduction
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in force, and you have perhaps a recruitment concern as
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well when it comes to certain companies and their desire
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to have on prem individuals with this level of knowledge.
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So what can you share about the continued development of
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this enhanced managed services program because certainly, you know, this
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widening gap is something that we perhaps haven't really talked
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about as much as we should.
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Yeah, so you know, Phase one of our implication was basically,
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you know, on site services preventive of maintenance, on site
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preventive maintenance engagements. As you know, we have av or
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gates there university where we'd run you know, even basic
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RF training uh here in Quincy, and we can't take
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it on the road. In fact, it's funny we're having
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a class Todaybody mentioned that this was the first class
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where we actually had some younger people in training.
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That's nice.
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So our second phase we're about to pilot is we've
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developed a network operating center here in Quincy and we'll
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be providing twenty four to seven monitoring of you know,
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any customer who wants to sign up for the service.
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And on top of that, if we do see a problem,
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we will dispatch people or and or parts. So based
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on you know, monitoring twenty four to seven, we can
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more proactively with our resources service some of the RF
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plants that our customers want us to. So we're hooking
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up our first five customers here early in twenty twenty
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five and hope to get a lot of sign ups
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through next year. You know, we've built a system whereby
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anything that any alarm that comes in, any problem that
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our system notices, we actually notify one of our twenty
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four to seven resources here and they will be passed
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to immediately get an action plan to retro you know,
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rectify any of the situation we might encowent. We with that,
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I want to thank you, Yes, yeah, no problem.
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And with that we want to thank you the listener
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for tuning into this radio and television business report in
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Focus podcast. It was presented by dot fm, streaming social
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podcast or broadcast get a dot fm domain. Ame heading
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over to get dot fm today and joining us from Quincy,
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Illinois again, Ray Nileus at Gateshair in Boca Raton, Florida.
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I'm Adamar Jacobson on behalf of the staff and management
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at stream Line Publishing's Radio Inc. Magazine and the Radio
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Intelevision Business Report, which you have very merry Christmas, Happy
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Honica Mary Kwanza, and a happy all the best for
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a very strong and very peaceful and powerful twenty twenty five.
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Take care, We'll see you next time.