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News and notes from the ARRL National Convention, May 15-17, 2009, hosted by Dayton Hamvention®. More info at http://www.arrl.org/expo. Follow KU0DM at twitter.com/arrlyouth.
SDR
May 17, 2009 11:20 ET
Duncan P MacLachlan, KU0DM
The Flex Radio booth has been full to the brim the entire Hamvention
Just stopped by the Flex Radio booth, and all I can say is wow! I really like their SDR (software defined radios), very cool stuff.
I can see my friends being fascinated by it, I think it could hold a huge appeal to younger hams.
11 AM Sunday
May 17, 2009 11:12 ET
Steve Ford, WB8IMY
It's 11 AM and it is still difficult to navigate the aisles.
Joe Veras, K9OCO and his wife Gwen. Joe is the photographic genius behind the hit book "50 Years of Innovation."
Did I say the crowds were light this morning? That may have been true at 9AM, but two hours later I'm astonished at the number of people in the aisles. Elecraft is attracting a audience, as they usually do. I also stopped by the MicroHam booth to catch a glimpse of their new USB III digital interface with a built-in sound card. Tiny and cool!
W0AR Memorial
May 17, 2009 10:05 ET
Duncan P MacLachlan, KU0DM
Your author KU0DM, Brian Short KC0BS, and Bill Henderson K0VBU turning in the club application for the Lee Bergren Memorial Society.
Shortly before Dayton Hamvention 2009, a close friend of mine and a friend to all on the airwaves passed away. Lee Bergren, W0AR left us on May 1, 2009 at 93. With 78 years in ham radio, all spent elmering, engineering, expeditioning, and starting a few clubs here and there, a group of us have decided to preserve the W0AR callsign in Lee's memory.
We were going to mail the application, but decided it'd be cooler to hand it to the VEC in person.
DARA: 80 Years as an ARRL Affiliated Club
May 17, 2009 10:00 ET
Steve Ford, WB8IMY
DARA celebrates 80 years as an ARRL Affiliated Club. Left to right: ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN; DARA Senior Trustee and Historian Ed Collins, N8NUY (holding the original charter certificate), ARRL Chief Executive Officer Dave Sumner, K1ZZ; DARA Vice President Jim Simpson, WB8QZZ.
The Dayton Hamvention is sponsored by the Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA). This is a ham club dear to my heart because I joined this fabulous fraternity through one of their Novice classes in 1970.
This morning I saw the original charter awarded to DARA when it became an ARRL Affiliated Club in 1929. They really knew how to make certificates back in the day! DARA Senior Trustee and Historian Ed Collins, N8NUY, was kind enough to give me a close up of the original document.
The Final Night
May 17, 2009 09:53 ET
Duncan P MacLachlan, KU0DM
Contest dinner filling up
A group engaged in battle for an Acom 1010 amplifier
Many people get excited over the pile-up competition, some more so than others
Last night was the final night of Dayton Hamvention 2009; and yes, the suites WERE packed.
Tim Duffy K3LR started out the evening speaking at the contest dinner. The dinner was dedicated to the would-have-been speaker K3TUP, John Kanzius. After another excellent meal, excellent presentation, and excellent prizes, the dinner came to a close.
But on the upper floors the party was just getting started! On the 5th floor I was helping to run the Kansas City DX Club pile-up competition. The pile-up competition consists of sitting down to 6 computers, and copying as many calls as you can in 5 minutes. This year it was a very tricky one, with the average number being around 25-30 calls copied. We were lucky enough to have several young operators drop by and give it a whirl, they all did quite well!
That was my Saturday night, which actually ended Sunday morning. But hey, no one said running one of the most popular events at Dayton was easy!
