[SFDXA] Hamvention Gets Off to a Promising Start at Its New Venue

[Bill]

 From The ARRL Letter:

_Hamvention Gets Off to a Promising Start at Its New Venue_

Official attendance numbers are not yet in, but Hamvention® 2017 drew a 
happy and enthusiastic crowd to its new venue at the Greene County 
Fairgrounds and Expo Center May 19-21 in Xenia, Ohio. The sponsoring 
Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) was forced to relocate the event 
after the dilapidated Hara Arena in Trotwood closed for good last 
summer. Traffic jams were the order of the day on opening day, however, 
with those eager to experience Hamvention's first Xenia outing waiting, 
or up to 2 hours in traffic. Traffic flow smoothed out on Saturday and 
Sunday. Heavy rain on Saturday didn't dampen spirits, although it made 
things a bit dicey in the flea market. ARRL Contributing Editor Ward 
Silver, N0AX, a Hamvention veteran, gave the show high marks.

"Overall, I would give it a 9 out of 10, just due to the [Friday] 
traffic and some mud," he said. "I had a great time, and I think a large 
collective sigh of relief went up from everybody that it all worked out 
as well as it did -- rain and traffic issues notwithstanding." Silver 
said DARA did "a fantastic job," in moving the show from Trotwood to 
Xenia. "I look forward to many more years of Hamvention. They saved it 
with this performance." Silver noted that Hamvention had renamed several 
of the large halls on site after such notables as Hertz, Tesla, and ARRL 
co-founder Hiram Percy Maxim.

"I liked the way they had the buildings clearly labeled," Silver said, 
"so you could tell who was inside."

The ARRL team at ARRL Expo. [Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R, photo]

QST Managing Editor Becky Schoenfeld, W1BXY, felt Hamvention 2017 went 
well, by and large. "I visited a lot of forums and generally saw very 
good attendance," she said. She said ARRL's "Ham Radio Makers and 
Hackers" forum drew a capacity crowd. "Attendees seemed to be pleased 
with the number and variety of food trucks." But Schoenfeld and others 
also remarked on the warm and steamy atmosphere in the exhibit halls on 
Friday; cooler weather made things more comfortable on Saturday and Sunday.

The ARRL Expo remained busy throughout the 3-day international 
gathering, which featured, among other things, a meet-the-author table. 
Visitors also took the opportunity to meet with League Board members and 
staffers as well as to stock up on new publications and ARRL Field Day gear.

ARRL CEO Tom Gallagher, NY2RF. [Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R, photo]

More than 100 turned out for the ARRL Member Forum, where moderator and 
ARRL Great Lakes Division Director Dale Williams, WA8EFK, encouraged 
attendees to build something, mentor a young person, become a volunteer 
examiner, and contribute to Amateur Radio in some meaningful way.

Keynote speaker and ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR, offered members 
more information about the revamping of the ARRL Official Observer 
program, prompted in part by the FCC's closing of several field offices 
and cutting staff.

"We will be retraining OOs," Roderick told the forum. "Instead of 
focusing on individual offenses by hams, we will focus on patterns of 
offenses, things that happen routinely. Once we observe and establish a 
pattern of offenses, then the FCC may become involved."

Roderick also talked about possible changes to entry-level licensing, 
assuring those on hand that a new or revised entry-level license would 
not be "dumbed down" but redirected toward privileges that the "new 
generation" of hams actually want. He also challenged forum attendees to 
approach potential new hams with activities and information that they 
will find interesting.

RBN aggregator software developer Dick Williams, W3OA (left), speaks 
with HamSCI's Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF.

The Hamvention Youth Forum, moderated for her 30th year by Carole Perry, 
WB2MGP, attracted a large crowd on Saturday morning to hear some of 
Amateur Radio's best young minds present on a variety of topics.

The HamSCI citizen science team reported "a successful weekend" at 
Hamvention, with a booth in the ARRL Expo area, where they discussed the 
HamSCI mission, upcoming experiments, and ways ham radio operators could 
participate in HamSCI activities, including the upcoming Solar Eclipse 
QSO Party (SEQP). On Saturday, HamSCI presented an ARRL-sponsored forum 
about HamSCI research and activities.

Schoenfeld said Hamventioneers seemed pleased with the choice of 
cuisine. "Over the course of the weekend, many Hamvention attendees 
commented on the variety of food choices that had been available, from 
'walking tacos' and corn dogs, to pork chop sandwiches and local 
sausage," she said.

The Hamvention flea market. [Photo courtesy of The SWLing Post]

Products debuting at Hamvention included the FLEX-6400/6400M and 
FLEX-6600/6600M from FlexRadio Systems; the KPA1500 1,500 W amplifier 
from Elecraft; the IC-7610 HF/50 MHz transceiver from Icom; a new line 
of microphones from INRAD, and new antennas from MFJ, Momobeam, and 
SteppIR. The August issue of QST will include a roundup of new products.

"Xenia was a significant upgrade over Hara Arena," noted contester and 
Hamvention regular Kirk Pickering, K4RO, told ARRL. He said the large, 
comfortable forum rooms were far better than those available at Hara 
Arena. Silver pointed out that the new arrangement meant no "QRM" from 
adjacent forums.

"I really preferred the county fair atmosphere over Hara and am already 
looking forward to next year," Pickering added. "I felt good about the 
new venue and think that DARA has found a nice home for Hamvention. 
Major kudos to DARA for pulling it together."

ARRL Marketing Manager Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R, compiled some short GoPro 
videos: The Faces of 2017 Hamvention and A Walk through 2017 Hamvention.