Hamvention 2023 - Xenia, OH
Club board member James [KG5PTE] recently attended Hamvention 2023 in Dayton and has shared his thoughts and comments on the show. Photos at the bottom.
Hamvention 2023 https://hamvention.org was a great experience. I had the privilege of riding up in style in a Newmar London Aire coach bus with fellow ham radio operators and veterans of the US Military. The Vice Commander of the Air Forces Flyers Club (A.F.F.C.) https://airforcesflyersclub.org Dale Clark (Colonel USAF Retired, call sign W5OG), along with his Brother Brian Clark (Major USAF Retired, call sign WB5DRI), and Cliff Jager (USN Veteran, call sign W5PIX). We met up with three other A.F.F.C. club members Bob Sherman (K2SJP), Bob Gast (NX6RG), and Arte Caoforti (WX7LL).
I can truly say that Hamvention is an event that any ham radio operator should attend at least once in their lifetime. This is one of the only places and times you will get good discounts from the large vendors like Flex Radio, DX Engineering, HRO, MFJ, and many others. This is an event where you can see new radios and meet representatives from Icom and Yaesu. Many of the companies were letting you order on site and choose to have items shipped to your house or buy on site.
It was here at the Dayton Hamvention 2023 I made my biggest radio purchase since becoming a ham. I purchased a FLEX 6400 software defined radio (SDR). I joked with members of our group and to other FLEX radio employees that I traveled 1122 miles to purchase a radio (to get the Hamvention discount) that is made in Austin, 1 hour away from my home.
The Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) https://w8bi.org sponsors this event and allow others from across the county to join their association. I joined them and have participated in zoom meetings already.
This event is also an event where you can meet the leadership of the ARRL as well as buy merchandise from their store on site. The event is two and one-half days from 9am to 5pm Friday and Saturday, and Sunday 9am to 1pm. There is no way you can do it all in two and a half days. The flea market area inside the horse track alone would take up one full day. The main vendor area was one day. And if you were to try and attend any of the forums being taught there, that alone would take another week.
They have food stands (vendors) outside, and the Ohio homemade ice cream is out of this world. Some of the best homemade ice cream I’ve ever had!
I would like to thank Cliff (W5PIX) for doing the majority of the driving and Dale (W5OG) for providing the transportation. While at Hamvention 2023 we attended the FLEX Radio banquet at the Hilton Garden Inn. I won a carrying case for a computer.
The Palomar Company did an excellent presentation at the Flex Radio banquet on RFI and proper use of chokes. Yes it was made clear for HF RFI you use Toroid mix number 31.
My advice for future Hamventions is to download the ARRL Smartphone app "ARRL Event" and plan. Review their web site weeks before. Go by every booth and take pictures and pickup business cards and information sheets. Many vendors give away free swag (hand bags, pins and souvenirs). The Hamvention used all the Greene county Ohio Fairground facilities. The Hamvention is one of the biggest money makers for the Miami Valley (Ohio) area. And the community welcomes this event every year.
To cap things off, we visited the USAF museum of flight at Wright Patterson AFB Ohio. https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil Well worth the visit. Who knows, there is next year, and maybe some of you can join in. We met a lot of good people.
Talking with hams from all over the country and gained a lot of knowledge. Many knew of the Ham Expo we sponsor here in Belton, TX twice a year.
And for your information throughout the weekend there in the evening they have a drag racing strip just a few miles away, called the "Kil-Kare" drag raceway. https://www.kilkare.com There is plenty to do there.
Thank you.
James (KG5PTE)
All Photos ©2023 [KG5PTE] Used by permission.