[South Florida DX Association] Miami Hamboree ...

[John/K4WJ]

Some of my htoughts:

I arrived late for the forum and there were very few empty chairs. I saw 
folks sitting on the tables against the wall. Either there were more folks 
in attendance than we thought would be there or we didn't have enough 
chairs. I didn't stay because my right knee was bothering me.

 From my perspective the outside flea area was a big flop. By the time I 
got to the outside area, which was around  2:30 Saturday afternoon, I would 
say more than 60% of the spaces were empty. I must admit that I saw more 
spaces filled when I arrived at the Hamboree, which was around 10:45 a.m.

Just about everyone that discussed the Hamboree with me stated that they 
doubted there would be one next year. I wish I could have made it to 
Orlando so that I could have compared the two events.

It seems like when solar activity is low so is the attendance at the 
Hamboree. It usually picks up as the next solar cycle begins to improve but 
never reaches the peak attendance that was experienced during the previous 
solar cycle. Sad to see!

As I was leaving the Hamboree I realized that I hadn't thanked Ed Dauer for 
all of the things he has done for our Club. I was upset for not taking 
advantage of the opportunity.

Many thanks to the members that made this happen. I was proud to be 
associated with the South Florida DX Association.

73..de John/K4WJ


At 03:32 PM 02/13/2005, Bill Marx wrote:
>The Friday night fun at the Falcon Pub with Bernie and Wayne was terrific.
>This was a new feature for the club and I think may be a part of all future
>Hamborees. We had RSVP's from 21 SFDXA Members and Friends and 35 showed up!
>A little scrambling and some help from the owners of the Falcon Pub and we
>all had a great time. No Don did not try the hot sauce again.
>
>The Miami Hamboree took some interesting turns this year and it seemed to
>work well. The Hamboree consolidated and mixed in some Flea Market Tables
>with the Manufacturers and Distributors. This was new and seemed to work
>very well as the Vendors had a great show. Evelyn and I spoke Sunday morning
>and she was saying how many good comments she was receiving from the
>Sellers. The outdoor Flea Market while not many vendors were there (35?)
>they were busy until Sunday Afternoon. I suspect next year we will see a ton
>of vendors. Most of the guys outdoors sold everything they had by Saturday
>Morning.
>
>The DX Forum was one of the best ever. They seem to get better all the time.
>Bernie W3UR fascinated us with his adventures at 4U1UN and KH3 DX Peditions.
>He was informative and interesting the entire time. We hope to have him back
>again. Wayne N7NG was there representing the ARRL and he provided us with
>answers to questions. I'd say we had about 55 attendees over all.
>
>Wayne then spent the rest of Saturday checking cards with Don W3AZD. Bernie
>stayed with us at the DX Booth through Sunday proving to be big help at the
>booth and subscribing guys to the DX Bulletin.
>
>The Gathering of Friends at Casa Paco once again was one of the highlights
>of the weekend for those attending. As always Dan from The Hamstation came
>and tested the local Beers. We had 42  for Dinner. I'd say everyone had a
>terrific time. the food was excellent as it was two years ago at this same
>place.
>
>Door Prizes from The Ham Station, Cubex Quads, QRZ DX,  Daily DX Bulletin,
>Mike's Electronics, ARRL (Thanks Sherri) were given out at the DX Forum and
>Saturday evening. Please shop these supporters.
>
>We still want to know how Bernie of the Daily DX Bulletin managed to win a
>subscription to his own Newsletter. He gave the subscription to Grant who
>hasn't won a Door Prize in a long time. Bernie thought he should have it.
>(The 160 information alone is worth the subscription Grant).
>
>And of course the Big News of the night and the year was the awarding of the
>"DX HOG" Of  The Year to Ron W4BP. A well deserved award indeed. Past Winner
>of 2003 Kappy WA4WTG picked Ron to wear the Hog Cap for this year.
>
>Special Thanks to Volunteers that made it happen. In no particular order.
>Steve W4DTA
>Mark K2AU
>Bruce W4OV
>Don W3AZD
>Hope WB3ANE
>Gil W1RG
>Pete N8PR
>and Thanks to all Members of the SFDXA that contributed their efforts to
>making this a tremendous success again this year.
>
>See you all next year...
>-Bill Marx W2CQ
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>SFDXA mailing list
>SFDXA at mailman.qth.net
>http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/sfdxa

73..de John/K4WJ
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   John/K4WJ in Pembroke Pines, FL
    QTH  26 00 51 N
         80 16 16 W

K8PXG from 18 Jun 59 to 11 Feb 97
K8WJ  from 12 Feb 97 to 07 Apr 97
ZF2HZ from 17 May 84 to 31 Dec 84
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