Last October, I got an email from Eric, KG6NFJ, who asked:
We were wondering if you would be interested in offering your one day Technician license prep course on Saturday (5-Aug) during the 2017 Dayton Mini Maker Faire?
After a little negotiation, I agreed to do it. I taught the class, which turned into two classes—one on Saturday and another on Sunday—this past weekend. The Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA)—yes, the guys that put on the Dayton Hamvention—provided the VE team.
First, a few words about the Dayton Mini Maker Faire. This was really a well-organized event. It took place at Carillon Historical Park (CHP), which Eric described as a “mini Greenfield Village.” The venue couldn’t have been more perfect.
It was indeed a somewhat smaller version of Greenfield Village, which is here in the Detroit area. There were many historical exhibits, including many that highlighted National Cash Register, one of Dayton’s biggest employers in the day, and other industries that once called Dayton home.
One of the exhibits that I found most interesting was the print shop, which re-created a typical print shop from the first half 1900s. I worked in a print shop as a teenager in the late 1960s/early 1970s. The shop had a lot of the same equipment as the CHP print shop, and I had a great chat with the print shop docent about how print shops produced items like booklets and multi-part forms back in the day.
There were 13 students in the class on Saturday—nine adults and four kids (see the photo above). I’m happy to say that all nine adults passed, but unhappy to say that only one of the kids passed. As I’ve noted before, the one-day Tech class is really not the best format for teaching kids.
Once the class was over, I wandered out to look at some of the Mini Maker Faire exhibits. I spent a lot of time in the DARA tent. They had a kit-building table, an SDR demonstration, and a table promoting Hamvention. They also brought out their emergency communications van. Overall, it was very impressive.
Saturday night, at loose ends, as one often is on the road, I decided to take in a Dayton Dragons/Lansing Lugnuts minor league baseball game. It was a short drive from my hotel and while the game wasn’t all that exciting, the weather was perfect, and it was fun to be “out with the crowd.” The Lugnuts won the game, by the way, 4-1, on the strength of a three-run eighth inning. Unforttunately for Dayton fans, it was the Dragons’ eight loss in a row.
Sunday morning, I was back at it with a new group. This time, there were only 10 or 11 in the class. I didn’t find out how many passed or failed, but I would guess that there were a similar number of passes and fails. I’ll include that info here when I get it.
I was pretty beat by the time the class ended, and I hit the road almost immediately for the three-plus hour drive home. I’m glad that I was able to help so many get their tickets, but I’m not sure that I’m going to do two sessions in a row like that again.
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