One of the problems I have with writing about Dayton is that it’s so overwhelming. It’s really an intense three days, chock full of amateur radio.
For the last several years, I’ve started off my Dayton experience with the QRP Amateur Radio Club International‘s Four Days in May. While this event is really a combination of many different sub-events, the main event is the Thursday seminars, starting at 8 am and running through 4:30 pm.
Because I am only a 3.5-hr. drive from Dayton, I used to drive down early Thursday morning, leaving my house at 4:00 am, to make sure that I arrived by 8:00 am. That makes for a really long day, so I’ve started driving down Wednesday afternoon. What that allows me to do is have dinner on Wednesday with other FDIM attendees.
This year, I had dinner with Rick, KA8BMA; Jeff, KE9V; Scott, NE1RD, and his wife (whose name I apologize for not remembering). Rick is the guy who designed the hardware for the FreeDV SM1000, Jeff is the mastermind behind the weekly newsletter Calling CQ, and Scott is famous for his 100-lb. DXpeditions. It was a great dinner with some truly interesting people and a great start to the weekend.
The seminars started early Thursday morning, and because I didn’t make my hotel reservation early enough, I didn’t have a room at the Holiday Inn Fairborn, where the seminar was being held. Instead, Rick and I ended up at the Fairborn Hotel, which was decidedly not as posh as the Holiday Inn. I hesitate to call the Fairborn Hotel a fleabag, but it was close. Its main advantages were that is was cheap and actually closer to the new Hamvention venue than the Holiday Inn.
FDIM is a fun event, and I tried to get into the spirit by wearing my new “Real Hams Went to Hara” t-shirt (right). Most of the guys seemed to get a kick out of it, and a few even asked to take a picture.
The presentations included:
- Practical Magnetic Loop Antennas. Howard Zehr, K4LXY
- Giving Your Rig a Facelift. Jack Purdum, W8TEE
- Man-Made Noise. Ed Hare, W1RFI
- Building the Next Generation: Bringing youth into ham radio. Dave Cripe, NM0S
- Portable Operation. George Heron, N2APB
- Radio Repair Tips and Hints. Mike Bryce, WB8VGE
These were all very good, but I especially liked W8TEE’s presentation. What Jack’s done is to hack a Bitx40 QRP transceiver, adding a DDS VFO, a display, and some other features that make it easier for a newbie to operate, while at the same keeping the price down. This is really top-notch work, and I’m hoping to include this in a book I’m currently writing, Ham Radio for Hackers.
I think that QRP-ARCI makes the conference proceedings available for purchase, although I couldn’t find it on their website. You could wait a week or so, or contact them directly for information.
That evening, I once again participated in Vendor Night. I sold a fair amount of books, but the most memorable purchase was by Ed Hare, W1RFI. Ed, as you may know, is the Lab Manager at the ARRL. Towards the end of the night, he came up and said, “I want to buy one of your study guides for a new hire at the League. She’s been having a heck of a time with the ARRL license manual, and I think she needs a new perspective on the subject matter.” He said he was going to give it to her right in the middle of the ARRL booth at Hamvention. More on that later.
By about 9:45 pm, I’d had enough. I packed up and headed back to my hotel. I had a long day ahead of me on Friday as well.
I’ll be posting more about my Dayton 2017 experience over the next couple of days….Dan
Dave, N8SBE says
The QRP-ARCI folks were selling extra copies of the proceedings for $20 at the table outside the seminar venue. I don’t know if they offer them online, but they also showed up at their Hamvention booth later in the week.
John, WB4FEN says
Appreciate the info in your blog. I had preregistered and have previously been able to reserve room at the Holiday Inn. The ARCI-FDIM coordinator did not do a good job of getting the word out about reservation. I called HI and was told that ARCI had many rooms, but the coordinator said rooms were taken. Since xyl and I are disabled, we did not go this year. Hope they do a better job next year of assigning rooms next year