[ARC5] ARRL National/HamCom Display Report

[David Stinson]

The mil-radio display  went very well, and 
I wouldn't have gotten it done at all 
without the help and guidance of Mike and others.
I don't think it's an exaggeration to say 200 photos
 of the display were taken on Saturday.
The questions were courteous and sensible,
showing real interest. I only had a couple of guys who
were ready to educate *me* on how SCR-274N was
used on Morse Code by bomber radio operators 
or how WS-19 was installed in Bell Aircobra fighters. 
Even they were nice about it, 
so I just smiled and said "thanks" and went on 
to the next guy ;-). After their "merit badge" class,
a big crowd of Boy Scouts came by 
and had a good look.  I talked myself horse. 
SCR-274N was the most popular by far,
followed by SCR-287.  Likely because these
were the most familiar.

The goal was to inspire more interest in our niche', 
to make contact with folks who had stuff 
stashed in old barns before it went to the dump
(found quite a few of them), to get out the word
about some of the specific items we are seeking, 
to dispell myths about the sets and, of course,
to show-off a little I guess ;-).

I did learn some lessons for any "next time."

First- many hams never check-out the flea areas;
vendor display area would be better, except that
it's about 10 times the expense...ouch.

Second: I had two hand-outs. One was a full sheet
of "grounding" basics and pointers to more information,
the other showed photos of sets we seek with contact info.
Twice as many people will pick-up the handout with
pictures- no matter how crude- than will pick-up
the "information" handout. Guess they dont' like reading.
And I printed too many- 250 each. 150 each would 
have been a big plenty as most people- even those
who stop and ask good questions and seem very 
interested in the info, don't pick up the free hand-outs.
I don't understand that, but then- 
I'm after the exceptional five or six in the crowd anyway.

Third:  Most of them won't read signs beyond the first
couple of sentences. About 25% will actually read
the whole two-paragraph sign over a set.

Fourth: Check the convention center's policy on AC power
*before* you spend weeks working to make the sets
ready for a "live demo." The convention authority
(not the HamCom guys- the local pols) wanted 
*$50* just to plug a cord in the wall socket.
So all that work was in vain and the sets had
to display dark.... oh well.

Fifth: If you have two beautiful daughters 
behind your display, you get much more attention ;-).

73 DE Dave AB5S