- Date:
2023-05-19 - 2023-05-21
Despite having been an amateur radio operator since 2000, this is the first time I have been to the Dayton Hamfest. This event is significant because it is the largest of its kind in the country, and perhaps in the world.
My YL, KQ4HJD, and I rented a house for three nights, and we were joined by Chuck for two of these nights.
Just past the North Carolina line there is a rest stop with coffee and bathrooms.
THe view of the rest stop's parking lot from the wooden deck.
Haocheng driving North to the hamfest.
On Friday morning, Haocheng, Chuck and I drove to a remote parking lot of the hamfest where we rode in a bus to the hamfest entrance.
To stay in communication we used FM 145.680 MHz with a PL tone of 67.0Hz to stay in simplex communication. This was effective, and there was not any interference on this semi-randomly chosen frequency. At the hamfest there were several groups that set up mobile repeaters on a few designated frequency pairs in the 70cm amateur band. One such group was the Four Landers VHF/UHF Contest group.
Haocheng and I found our friends Bill and Carol at the Four Landers group's table located inside the horse racetrack.
Even though we took the bus, the traffic was significantly backed up as the bus approached the hamfest. I asked to walk instead, and this proved to be effective since we all obtained some exercise and arrived well ahead of the bus.
Once at the hamfest there were many volunteers who shuttled patrons from the parking area to the front gate. This event was well staffed with plenty of generous volunteers.
This photo does not do the actual size of the crowd justice.
Antennas everywhere
Radios everywhere
Haocheng and Chuck looking at one of the many booths.
Ha ha.
Now THIS is cool. Lots of legacy compact cassette players and recorders.
This one is for David - N4TS.
Haocheng at the HamStudy booth. She recently used their services to study for her General Class amateur radio license.
Jim Trapani at the JT Communications booth. See his website here.
Lunch on Friday was expensive and the quality control was less than desirable. The employees handled the money and then handled the food with no gloves. We jokingly called the hamburgers "handwiches". As Chuck pointed out, we still ate them. The other two days we brought our own food.
N1DUC station with her pet duck. There were some interesting people at the hamfest.
Haocheng discusses CW keyers with a vendor. I ended up buying two Yaesu VX-170 radios from him for $50 each. This seemed like a fair exchange.
A view from the back of the bus returning back to our personal vehicles on Friday afternoon.
The Tower Electronics booth. I bought some extraneous antennas there. This photo shows the piece I (probably) need to connect an antenna to my 2019 Jeep Wrangler.
The hamfest had a 10W temporary AM broadcast station on 1620kHz. This was the setup they used. the audio was run on a loop of audio.
The antenna used for the temporary AM broadcast station.
Part of the boneyard.
Haocheng holding two Motorola XTS 5000R VHF radios that I bought for $350. Lately I have been learning to program these radios.
Some radios in the back of my car. I only had three handheld radios when I drove to the hamfest.
The handheld radio I bought for Haocheng. It's the Yaesu FT-70D.
Tee shirt paying homage to Wilford Brimley's Liberty Medical "Diabeetus" commercials.
Mark (KE8NMZ) and Alex (KE8YBX). On Saturday night I was testing the mobile Alinco radio in the Cherokee that I bought Haocheng. We were on 146.52MHz FM Simplex, and the met these gentlemen. The following day we met them in person. Alex has the same Yaesu FT-70D model radio that I bought Haocheng, so they were able to text the Yaesu System Fusion "C4FM" Digital mode that is built into the radio. I have never before seen a contact's call sign appear on my radio when I keyed up. This is a feature of system fusion. This encounter was heartening, and I hope we see them in the future.
The drive back to Athens, Georgia. We left the hamfest around 12:30pm, and we arrived back home around 11:30pm. I was tired all day Monday after the fun and exciting weekend.
