[Elecraft] Elecraft [OT] Visalia Hamfest

[Jim McDonald]

I've been to Visalia many times because I used to live in Phoenix, and many
members of the Central Arizona DX Association went, making it more
enjoyable.  I've been twice, I think, since I moved to IL in 2006.

The attendance is usually between 550 and 625. What's nice is that it all
takes place at the convention hotel, the Holiday Inn.  The Comfort Inn is
just across the parking lot, as the Holiday Inn fills up quickly, so you
could still try them for rooms, and they're probably cheaper.  Both are much
cheaper than the contest/DX hotel in Dayton, the Crowne Plaza.

The website is http://dxconvention.org/ .

You can also fly into Fresno, which is 45 minutes north of Visalia.  I
believe that there's a flight into Visalia (the airport is walking distance
to the convention) from Ontario, but that what I remember from last year.
I've flown into Fresno and Burbank, which is on the north side of Los
Angeles.

Several of us toured the VOA station west of Hwy. 99 in Delano many years
ago, but I doubt that you can today.  A few years ago I wanted to see the
VOA station at Greenville, NC, but the best I could get, which I
appreciated, was having a ham/engineer come outside the gate and describe
the facility.  He said the VOA closed the stations after 9/11/01.

It's very different than Dayton.  There's no swap meet, and the vendors'
area is in one small room.  The convention is focused on DXing and
contesting.  The Friday night dinners are nice; twice I've been to the
Topband dinner that WB6RSE organizes, and I really enjoyed it.

I've always attended the Saturday banquet and have enjoyed it.  I think the
food is OK, but the food isn't why I attend.

73, Jim N7US



-----Original Message-----


On 1/2/2012 1:51 PM, Doug Turnbull wrote:
> Dear OMs and Yls,
>       I am considering along with K1VGF skipping Dayton this year and
> visiting the Visalia Hamfest but I am looking for some information.    I
> understand that Elecraft is sponsoring the Contest University which is an
> event I would want to attend but I know little else about this event.   So
> perhaps some of the W6 land crew might fill me in:
>
> 1)The Contest University is on the Friday.   Is it April 20?

in the past, this event has been produced by our club, NCCC. See www.nccc.cc
I've not seen plans for this year, but would expect the same. I think we
call it Contest Academy, and there are usually two tracks, one for beginners
and one more advanced. Some pretty good guys do the teaching in both tracks.

> 2)Does the Hamfest run on both Saturday and Sunday

Usually starts Friday afternoon, goes through Sunday noon.  Search on
Visalia DX Convention.

>   Crudely what is the size of this event in comparison to Dayton in 
> percent terms?

Much smaller in attendance, programs, and exhibits. I'd guess 20% of Dayton.

>    I doubt there are any dinners but perhaps this is not the case and 
> if there are I would like to know about them.

There are dinners for DX, Contesting, 160M, and IOTA, in addition to the
Saturday night banquet.. And some of us go elsewhere for dinner in town and
return in time for the banquet program -- it's a Holiday Inn in a not very
big town, and the food is forgettable.

> 3) Is Fresno the best airport to fly into?   Are there any other nearby
> airports to consider?   We would be flying from Connecticut and I
understand
> that AA has flights from Hartford via Dallas.

Visalia is roughly equidistant to San Francisco and Los Angeles, and most
folks who fly in go through one of the airports around those cities. Oakland
San Jose, and Sacramento are served by Southwest. Many who fly in also take
time to see the sights in one of those cities, or along the way. There's a
VOA antenna farm a few miles off the highway about 70 miles S of Visalia (no
possibility of a tour, but it's easy to drive around it and look at it), and
Visalia is pretty close to Yosemite and the Sierra. Although high elevation
roads will still be closed by snow that time of year, there's still some
pretty country to look at. 
And after a few meals in the hotel, you'll appreciate having the car to run
into town for some very nice local restaurants. Some guys also get together
around SF on Thursday to take in a ball game, then drive down to Visalia.
I've driven some east coast visitors on tours to Alacatraz, and to a couple
of vintage ship to shore transmitting sites along the coast.  LAX has a bit
of a jazz scene, though not nearly as much as in years past. Ditto for SF.

You should also be able to hitch a ride from SF or LAX with one of the
locals if you put out a timely request.  From SF, the easy way to do this is
to have an NCCC member post to our email reflector, and that's also a good
way to find a room. You could also get some shack tours just by asking.
.
> 4) Does the Hamfest take place in the Holiday Inn as I believe the 
> Contest University does?

Yes to both.

>    Does anyone have contact details for this Hotel and yes I can 
> search on line.

It's fully booked the day after reservations are opened, and that was
several months ago. There are more than enough good hotels nearby to hold
attendees, including one just across the parking lot. The others you need to
drive to. Rooms (or a bed in a 2-bed room) become available periodically as
plans are changed by health, personal circumstance, and the XYL.  I suggest
that you contact DX or contesting friends if you want to stay in that hotel.

Visalia is fun event, a lot smaller than Dayton. While it's officially a DX
event (and sponsored by major clubs in SF and LAX), there are getting to be
as many contesters involved in organizing it and attending it.  
And because it's a lot smaller than Dayton, it's easy to meet and hang out
with those who do attend.

73, Jim K9YC