By ARRL New England Division Vice Director Phil Temples, K9HI   

The Northeast HamXposition (“HamX”) — hosting the ARRL New England Division Convention — held on August 21 - 24, 2025, was a resounding success. The weather for the Marlborough, Massachusetts event was picture-perfect, the flea market was buzzing with sales, and major equipment manufacturers were back, along with other vendors inside the bustling exhibition area.    

According to HamX Program Chair Skip Youngberg, K1NKR,“This year’s four-day program featured 72 presenters who gave 82 talks and four workshops spanning over 101 hours.”    

Topics included everything from antennas and EmComm vans and trailers on display, to on-air activities such as POTA, contesting, and DX. There was even a special technical talk entitled “Demystifying Quantum Computing: Application of RF Control System.”    

HamXposition kicked off on Thursday night, featuring nationally-known comedian Juston McKinney. On Friday, full-length educational seminars were held, including the ever-popular mini-Contest University. Twenty convention-goers went on a bus tour of W1AW, the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station, and ARRL Headquarters in Newington, Connecticut.   

The Friday evening DX/Contest banquet talk was presented by well-known multi-multi station owner Tim Duffy, K3LR, CEO of DX Engineering.   

On Saturday morning, popular QRP YouTube podcaster and influencer Thomas Witherspoon, K4SWL, gave an inspirational convention keynote address to a standing-room-only crowd.    

The Saturday Grand Banquet featured Dr. Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, from the University of Scranton. Frissell is the founder of Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI). He shared with the audience descriptions of cutting-edge experiments conducted by ordinary radio amateurs who are helping to advance the knowledge of propagation and the Earth’s ionosphere.   

Dozens of youth members of New England Sci-Tech, a nearby STEM/makerspace, attended throughout the weekend and at the two evening banquets. “Having young hams in the middle of the action… and running a number of presentations demonstrated the spirit of the future leaders in our hobby,” said Volunteer Chair Barbara Irby, KC1KGS.   

HamX also featured kit-building sessions led by Bob Phinney, K5TEC, and other volunteers. Under supervision, beginners were invited to build easy kits for a nominal cost in under an hour, ranging from Morse code oscillators to blinking name badges and night lights. All tools were provided. The kits were developed by students from New England Sci-Tech.    

See more of this story on the ARRL New England Division website.