[SADXA] My impressions of Visalia 2016

[Richard Solomon]

>From what I have heard, the Northern California guys
do put on a better show.

Next year ... Visalia !!

73, Dick, W1KSZ

On Mon, Apr 18, 2016 at 11:43 AM, Jim W <wysocki1 at mindspring.com> wrote:

> Carl (KB7AZ), Bill (K6SWC), and I spent the weekend at the 2016 Visalia
> International DX Convention.  Most of us know that Carl is a pilot: this
> trip was made possible by Carl's decision to fly to the Convention in his
> plane.  We shared the fuel expenses and that made the trip much more
> affordable for each of us.  None of us had been there before and the first
> thing we all noticed was the friendliness of the attendees.  The people at
> Visalia 2016 typically were very gracious.
>
> At the meetings I was able to associate faces with calls among those with
> whom I have exchanged signal reports over the years.  There were groups who
> came in from Germany, Sweden, Mexico, Canada and other places.  The
> majority of the Americans came from California, which is to be expected.  I
> had a chance to meet and talk with members of the CADXA and the Arizona
> Outlaws Contest clubs.  Nice folks.  I also met a few celebrities like Bob
> Heil (K9EID) and the some of the HamNation crew.  I particularly enjoyed my
> conversations with Bengt (SM5ALJ).
>
> Most of the major tower, accessory, and radio manufacturers were out in
> force, displaying their wares and taking orders.  Kenwood was noticable by
> their absence.  DX Engineering was not there as a vendor, but their owner
> was a conference attendee.  He dropped off a small stack of "Hamfest
> Special" discount coupons on one of the tables.  They're good for a
> one-time discount of 20% off on a $100+ order, and expire on 5/31/2016.  I
> picked up a small number of them and will bring them to this Thursday's
> monthly meeting.  See me if you want one.  First come, first served until
> they run out.
>
> There were many good presentations on DXing, DXpeditions, contesting,
> Software Defined Radios, RFI remediation, learning how to tweak your audio
> chain for best signal intelligibility (demonstrated by Bob Heil), etc.  I
> was particularly impressed with how the latest and greatest high-end
> FlexRadio could be run as a one-box SO2R contest station.  Maybe when they
> start turning up on the used-equipment market in a couple of years I'll be
> able to afford one.  Several times I wanted to be different presentations
> that were being held in the same time slot: Visalia 2016 thereby met my
> criterion for a high-quality convention.  There were some substandard
> aspects to the conference experience, however.
>
> Unlike last year's convention there were no conference attendee nametags,
> so everyone had to provide their own ID.  Hamfest callsign tags were in
> abundance, although I didn't bring one since I didn't think I'd need it.  A
> bad assumption on my part.  This year there were no shuttle buses, so those
> who were staying at other hotels than the Mariott (i.e., a great many of
> those present) had to provide for their own ground transportation.  The
> first day the three of us went back and forth from the conference center
> and our hotel by using taxis, which were expensive.  Carll, Bill, and I got
> good at hustling for rides from those who had their own cars (our thanks
> went to K0XG and K6CEL for their help).  But we still paid over forty bucks
> in cab fares.
>
> The Southern California DX Club ran this year's conference.  Perhaps the
> shuttle buses and name tags will be back next year, when the Northern
> California DX Club runs Visalia 2017.  My overall evaluation is that this
> year's conference content was excellent. However the conference logistics
> are in need of some improvement.
>
> So that was Visalia 2016 from a newbee's perspective.  Would I return
> again?  Yes, I would.  First to see the differences between the Southern
> California-run and Northern California-run versions. But more importantly,
> to get a better sense of how DXing is improving over time, and to meet and
> learn from my fellow DXers.
>
> 73,  Jim  W9FI
>
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