[Milsurplus] Some old Dayton Notes

[B. Smith]

  I found some old Dayton Notes.
73 k4che

"Whew, Saturday, Dayton, I still am only in Dayton andit is raining. Not 
a downpour but steady, gloomy rain. I pull out myponcho and don itand 
proceed to walk the rows. The rain hits the poncho hood and the rain 
soundsbrings back memories - most of them not too pleasant, rain in a 
far off place in another century.I listenon the unofficial military 
hamfest frequency of 51.0 and I can hear one or two casual remarks about 
the famous Dayton MilitaryNets that will be held today but overall the 
radiotraffic is light.I am slightly discouraged, my guess is the rain 
will scare everybody off and we will only have one or two check 
ins.Where is everybody, I guess they are all inside the arena looking at 
the Rice Boxes, I trudge down the rows, boots sloshing in some puddles 
in thelowareas,occasionally Iget under alean to shelter in several spots 
that enterprising individualshave erected anticipatingthisrain.

I go past Joe's spacebut don’t see anything but it is early and its 
Dayton, I really don’t care about the rain, I am here doing what I want 
to do, my mission today to check into the now famous Dayton 3885 
MilitaryNet with my BC-611 and then the coup de grace will be to check 
in on the “cold war net" with my PRC-6. I’ll use the ole PRC-6 , a man’s 
radio instead of those sissy solid state things. That will show em.

Twelve o’clock is getting close, I recon down to Joe's spot and see 
activity, they are setting up in the rain, not to be critical but they 
look like a bunch of drowned rats, but the activity is furious . . . I 
leave them alone, there is nothing I can do but go back to my spot and 
wait. Wait for the net.

I open the bottom cover of myBC-611 and check my home brew battery pack, 
everything is in order, closing the coverI turn the radioon but only 
hear a slight hiss, the noise cause by rain hitting myponcho hood 
doesn’t help and its hard to hear.Islide the poncho hood back slightly 
to make room for the radio, what a mess. Then unmistakably I hear a 
carrier, weak at firstand withgenerator whine, the purr of the hand 
cranked generator, not exactly steady but the carrier is on now and 
obviously Joe and his crew are tuning up their BC-654. You can hear 
therhythmic whine of the generator, no voice audio yetbutI could imagine 
each crank handle comingto the top of thegenerator and the “volunteer” 
operatorhits it with another stroke. Then Joe WA4VAGis calling the net, 
the rain picks up slightly but I hold the earpiece of the BC-611 
tightly, I don’t want to miss the instructions, we are to check in by 
call areas, simple enough.

We all check in, more check ins than I thought possible under the 
conditions. Military collectors are out there in the rain, doing their 
mission. I listen to eachcheck in giving vital info, where they are from 
and what they are using, what an event, more operational WWII radios 
gathered here in one spot today than any other place on this earth. I 
actually think I can hear rain hitting Joe’s mike as he talks. The net 
goes on and we all agree to meet at Joe’s spot for Photos. The crowdthen 
gathers, must be twenty or twenty five people, lots of BC-611 antennas 
sticking up in the air,all of usout in the rain, ponchos are the uniform 
of the day. Rain or no rain nothing can stop this group from gathering. 
What an event, I will remember it for years. Thanks WA4VAG for starting 
this wonderful tradition at Dayton."