 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||
|
|
 Previous: Mir, SK |  Next: ARRL Represented at NVOAD Annual Meeting |
By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor
March 24, 2001
The snow is gone, the grass is green, the robin's bobbing, and an old man's thoughts turn to Ohio.
Spring in Hamdom means hamfests and flea markets. Bringing out the old junk to make room for the new junk is a ham radio tradition. In the early 1970s, I cut my teeth at the Rochester (New York) hamfest, which was, at the time, the biggest ham show within a six-hour drive of the center of my universe. Rochester was great, but then one day on a whim, three of us locals decided to have a taste of the Dayton Hamvention.
We made the 711-mile, 12-hour trek overnight and spent the weekend at the biggest ham radio show in the world. I was hooked and have kept going back to the Hara Arena as often as I can. (I figure I have gone to two out of every three Hamventions since my first visit in 1978.)
 The Dayton Hamvention Web site is the place to find out all about the place to be in mid-May. |
Being a big Hamvention fan, the Dayton Hamvention Web site is permanently bookmarked in my Web browsers at home and at work, so I can keep up with what is going on Dayton-wise throughout the year.
Like the show, the Web site is big. In order to preview the Hamvention weekend, there are links for Activities, Forums, Additional Activities, and Inside Exhibits (as opposed to the outside flea-oriented exhibits). You don't want to miss those inside exhibits because the Hamvention is typically where manufacturers introduce their newest gee-whiz-bang gear for the year.
In order to view what you preview, there are the Tickets (admission and airline) and Lodging and Camping Info links. The Bus Info, Area Repeaters and Directions and Maps links will get you to the front door and around the show once you are in.
My favorite link is the Remembered link in which photos and war stories relive the previous year's Hamvention. And, as if the Hamvention wasn't weekend-filling enough, you can check the Area Attractions link, where you will find information regarding other things to see in the Dayton area like the Air Force Museum, which is billed as the world's largest military aviation museum.
I hope I'll see you in Dayton this May. This year's Hamvention is May 18-20.
Until next time, keep on surfin'.
Editor's note: Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, of downtown Wolcott, Connecticut, is an ARRL Life Member and an incessant contributor to QST and QEX (506 pieces in 22 years), not to mention the author of five ARRL books and contributor to a bevy of other ARRL titles. First licensed in 1969 as WN1LOU, he upgraded to WA1LOU in 1971. Stan began using computers with Amateur Radio in 1978 when he bought a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model I computer and wrote BASIC programs to dupe contests and calculate antenna bearings. A virtual beach boy, Stan has been surfing the radio dials as long as he can remember, however, instead of surfing all over Manhattan and down Doheny Way, he now surfs the Internet searching for that perfect page. To contact Stan, send email to wa1lou@arrl.net.
| Previous: Mir, SK | Next: ARRL Represented at NVOAD Annual Meeting |
