I drove down to Dayton (actually Xenia) this morning and arrived just before 1 pm. I immediately went to get my vendor credential,and while they weren’t waiting for me, the friendly Hamvention staff jumped right on it.
Instead of just standing there, I decided to check on the condition of my classroom. Last year, it was in terrible condition. I had to drag a vacuum cleaner over there and clean it myself. This year, I was incredibly happy to find it in great shape.
What that let me do is to wander around, talking to people I know. Over the next three hours, I talked to:
- George, KJ6VU, and Jeremy, KF7IJZ, from the Ham Radio Workbench podcast.
- Jason, KC5HWB, of Ham Radio 2.0.
- Russ, K5TUX; Cheryl, W5MOO; and Bill, NE4RD of Linux in the Ham Shack.
- KB3IFH, who prints my QSL cards and Jeff, K1NSS, who designs custom QSLs and my book covers.
- Tom, W8TAM, and Julie, K8VOX, who are Parks on the Air stars.
It was a total blast, and Hamvention hasn’t even started yet!
I’m now sitting in the living room of an AirBNB with Frank, K4FMH, and Bill, N3JIX, who are fellow presenters on the ICQPodcsat. The British contingent, consisting of Martin, M1MRB/W9ICQ; Colin, M6BOY; Chris, M0TCH; Edmund, M0SGL; and Ed,DD5LP are due to arrive shortly. I can only imagine how much fun we’ll have when they get here.
In all your wanderings pre-Hamvention, surely you saw Elecraft setting up there K4 display?
The news broke yesterday during Ashar Farhan’s talk at FDIM, and the room was abuzz with folks showing each other their phones/tablets with the big scoop.
Keep the reports coming, Dan. Those of us who can’t make it up there do appreciate the news. Thanks!