After a missing Hamvention last year due to my wedding and the previous years in person due to Covid, I was able to venture back to Dayton Hamvention this year! Like previous trips, I was part of the ARRL team supporting the ARRL Collegiate Amateur Radio Program with my brother Tony, KD8RTT.
Tony and I managed a booth in the ARRL Expo. On Friday we were able to explore the expo a bit as students from Missouri S&T, W0EEE volunteered to man the booth.
Friday proved to be fruitful as I was able to secure a 50 watt dummy load for $5 and get my ARRL Life Member badge. Tony and I wanted the swap meet a few times and it is still recovering from Covid. It didn’t have the attendance or the density of items it had prior to the pandemic.
The commercial booths were busy as always with Kenwood showing off their new TH-D75A and Icom with their ID-50A. Both radios were announced at or just before Hamvention. The real star of the show (and the one commercial item I purchased) was the QRP Labs QMX radio kit. This a true kit and something I will be building and documenting (on here and probably on a YouTube video).
Besides the purchases, I was able to connect in person with Ward Silver, N0AX (the resume is too long to list, but literally an expert in all things radio), Neil Rapp, WB9VPG (host of Ham Talk LIVE and runs Region 2 YOTA Camp), Jason Johnston, W3AAX (the man behind Parks on the Air), and of course Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R (again the resume is too long to list, but he is one of the key people at the ARRL), just to name a few. There were countless other hams as well and it was awesome to put faces to call signs!
Overall Hamvention was a great event. I got to meet a few friends I haven’t seen in years and make some new ones. I’m looking forward to going back next year!