Dayton 2008
The doors have closed on the Dayton Hamvention for yet another year. My plans were dashed, almost nothing worked out like it was supposed to, and best I could tell, the big show had shrunk by an order of magnitude. Despite all that, there really is nothing like Dayton for the radio amateur…
Best Laid Plans…
You might recall that I have spent the last four weeks at a clients site in Tennessee. I never came home even once in that stretch. It’s a 500 mile drive (one-way) and when I went I had planned to stay for the duration. That plan included leaving on Wednesday of Hamvention week. My hotel in Dayton was booked and I fully intended to arrive on Wednesday evening to properly kick-off the long weekend and festivities.
The “plan” began to come unglued when the client asked me if I could stay over another day.
One day turned into two and before I knew it, I was making a mad dash north on Friday afternoon. It was a beautiful day for a drive but all I could think about was how I could possibly reconnoiter and still make something of the weekend. The best I could come up with was to drive over on Saturday morning and back home again on Saturday night. Having already forfeited my hotel room, there would be no over night adventure in Dayton for me this year — but I could still spend some time at the convention and I still had my paid-for ticket to the Saturday night contester’s dinner.
I got into my own bed at home in Muncie at midnight on Friday night, and the cruel clock sounded the alarm at 5 am. By 6 am my son Jason (N9AVG) and I were in the car and headed east for Dayton.
Coming from the west on I-70, we cut through Trotwood and it was smooth sailing into the Salem Mall parking lot. It was a beautiful Saturday morning and we made the decision to walk the 1.5 miles from the Mall parking lot to Hara Arena. We entered the gates at just a few minutes past 8am on Saturday morning and for us, the Hamvention “weekend” was finally underway.
Shrinkage
Jason and I took note that the Hamvention talk-in repeater was eerily silent for most of our ride into Dayton. We joked that perhaps we might have the date wrong. But when we arrived in the Mall parking lot we had even more cause for concern — ours was one of only a handful of cars to be seen.
Walking onto the grounds of Hara Arena the place looked strangely empty. There was enough open space in the vendor parking area to play several games of football at the same time. When we walked into the front entrance to buy tickets, there wasn’t a soul in line and the wall of ticket takers looked bored to tears.
The inside exhibits didn’t open for another forty-five minutes so we decided to make a quick pass among the first few rows in the flea market and then head inside as soon as the doors opened. We noted that there were many wide open, empty spaces in the outside market. It was apparent that this year’s event was going to continue the recent trend of shrinking buyers and sellers.
Capitulation
I was burning along on five hours sleep and literally miles of walking and fresh air and by 4 pm on Saturday afternoon my body sent up the white flag of surrender. I was completely exhausted and after making the 1.5 mile walk back to the car in the Mall parking lot, thoughts of hanging around for the contester’s dinner were out the window. I just wanted to go home and get some ZZZs.
For me, the experience was something of a flop. My Twitter experiment failed as I’ve had connectivity problems for the last several days. Many were on my end but other times when I could get a connection, Twitter seemed to be down. I was supposed to meet Steve, K9ZW, Matt, KC8BEW and Curt, W0ALC and I was unable to make contact with them (sorry guys).
I’ve got lots more to tell, including thoughts on all that I saw and what I carried away from the show and I’ll tell you all about it during the coming week. But for now, all I want to do is rest and enjoy being home. It’s a nice change.
All of the pictures I took are online and ready to share. Hopefully you will see something of interest and get some idea of how Hamvention 2008 appeared to me.
73 de Jeff
May 18th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Well you’re a better man than I Charlie Brown. I’d have bagged it and relaxed at home watching for Twitters from K9ZW.
I assume the white haired guy was Fred Maia. He called me once for a comment 20 years ago, when the FCC was about to fine me. Nice guy.
My fav photo the MFJ pass through. You don’t hear much about it, but I’ve got to believe it’s a popular product.
Regards,
mike
May 18th, 2008 at 10:40 am
I’m feeling every one of my forty-nine years at the moment. Perhaps even a few that I haven’t lived yet.
The picture is of Gordon West, WB6NOA. I don’t know much about Gordo. I have chatted with him a few times on the air and he hawks license training materials. I genuinely enjoy seeing him at Dayton. He generally always has a microphone in his hand and is either giving a talk or just chatting with those passing by — it lends a sort of carnival spirit to the atmosphere that makes it all seem much less like a “trade show” and more like an event… :-)
73 de Jeff
May 18th, 2008 at 10:42 am
Forgot to mention that I stopped and talked to Martin Jue (MFJ) about those through the window cable products. I thought it was a brilliant idea and I expect MFJ will do well with them. You see home construction articles every year about something similar and it’s odd that no manufacturer has put it all together until now. They are very nicely done!
73 de Jeff
May 18th, 2008 at 10:54 am
Have to agree with Jeff that the old girl isnt what she used to be. But I try to attend Dayton with tempered expections. Its fun to walk around the flea market, I enjoy looking for vintage parts and to look at the vintage rigs. I usually see something that I’d heard of but never seen in person, for example a Hickok 752 “FAA” tube tester, and a “Scott” ship board receiver that was specially shielded so that enemy vessels couldnt pick up its oscillator signals during wartime. And the guy with the early Collins transmitter reproductions, beautifull. I saw a few old friends, but the size and number of people preclude running into everyone you would like to. I did go inside, picked up my Yaesu hat and walked right back out, always seems 10-15 degrees warmer inside. I attend a lot of hamfests, always looking for parts, and enjoy the small ones just as much or more than Dayton. Did find a few bargains this year but have done just as well at other smaller hamfests. The place is so big and takes so much time to walk the flea market that many of the bargains are gone before you ever get there. Still a decent hamfest, but maybe its time to lower the ticket price and price the flea market to encourage individual participation. 73 Bill W9VC
May 18th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Jeff,
I was also hoping to bump into you. I had a printed RockMite assembly manual for you. I did meet up with Steve a couple of times and that was cool! I also twittered, but it was tough from the I phone. Well, maybe next year!
Scott (NE1RD)
May 19th, 2008 at 7:54 am
thanks for sharing the photos, jeff. wish i could have gotten out there…
May 19th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Jeff,
Great pictures! You should know that the place was packed with people on Friday. I don’t know where they went on Saturday (outside? seminar rooms?) but it was crowded as heck on Friday. I missed you because I was in the Contesting forum in the morning/afternoon and the DX forum afterwards. Shoot!
Well, I’m home now. Time to unpack, do laundry, and check out all the cool gizmos I bought.
– Scott (NE1RD)
May 19th, 2008 at 11:52 am
Great pictures! I never seem to get the time to caption them right…
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:27 pm
I understand about not being able to meet up. There was a few people I didn’t make contact with this year. I am just glad you made it home safe!