After a long day at Hara, including some great interviews and amazing forums, the day was finally over. Unless of course you like going to the different dinners and suites!

I attended the DX Dinner, and it was excellent! Was seated at a table with a great group of guys, had a good meal, and nice presentation. However its the awards that make that dinner the DX Dinner. South Western Ohio DX Association announced the DXpedition(s) of the year, honored the DXpeditioners of the year, and recognize some young DXpeditioners.

Afterwards decided to go check out the Contest Supersuite, ended up meeting some more new guys and running into some old faces. But there's no fun in staying in one place, and ended up heading up to the Society of Midwest Contesters suite, and again ran into new and old people.

Still have a few more suites I want to visit before closing down, we'll be signing off for now!

I'm getting overwhelmed at this point, but having too much fun to stop!

Arrived at the Arena around 8:30 (eastern) and since then been having a blast. I spent the morning cruising around, checking out the vendors and the various booths. The folks at the Icom booth invited me to operate a new radio for a bit which was amazing!

The youth turnout has been AMAZING! Besides seeing several young hams wondering around, and even talking to a few I recognize; the youth lounge has been hopping. They have been busy all day, and at the Hamvention you can see kids running around with handheld transceivers and Yagis looking for the hidden "fox."

I was also given the opportunity to talk with Richard Garriott, W5KWQ. Richard who was on the International Space Station for a short mission, was active on the air and had many stories to tell about operating in space. If you look at PR videos, they often show school children talking to the ISS, but it was very cool to hear stories of those on the other end.

Gotta run! The DX Dinner is later tonight, so check back to read about that.

Making the rounds of Hamvention, there are a number of new items from small manufacturers, but not as much from the large manufacturers. At the ICOM booth they are showcasing their IC-7600 transceiver (watch the video here -- again, sorry for the poor audio) along with their new D-STAR mobile and handheld rigs. TenTec is showing off a new antenna tuner and an RF speech processor.

There is a mystery at the Kenwood booth -- no new radios, but there was a poster promising a new handheld rig and a new HF transceiver in 2010. No details -- just the poster (see the accompanying photos).

I'm a bit surprised that Hamvention Friday is as active as it appears to be. Typically, Saturday is the big day. Well, quite a few people have apparently taken the day off work or school. The ARRL Expo booth is packed, as are the aisles and booths beyond. I haven't even been able to make it into the main arena yet.

There are incredible deals on used laptop PCs in like-new condition. I was looking at one with a $280 price tag and the dealer said, "Ignore that tag! Today it is $250!" I also spotted brand new laptops with gorgeous displays selling for less than $400.

There is another brief video clip here, this one showing just a tiny fraction of the Hamvention complex (including the TenTec booth).

There may be a severe recession going on, but you wouldn't know it this morning. Dealer booths are crowded and the aisles are filled with shoppers, some on foot and some in the inevitable electric scooters.

I made a quick trip through the displays at about 10:30. See the attached photos. You'll also find a video clip here. My apologies, however. The audio is rather distorted due to all the ambient noise. Hamvention is not only colorful and interesting, it is loud!