TEN REASONS I’LL BE COMING TO HAMVENTION

By Hamvention Webmaster03/31/2022

1. I’ve been missing my ham radio friends! It is fun to see them in a Zoom meeting, and it is fun to make a radio contact with them, but walking around the Fairgrounds with them and talking over what has happened since we last saw each other is much, much better. I’ll be able to catch up with news about family, new hobby interests, the latest improvement in our radio shacks, and remember those of us who are not able to be here this year.
2. I love to go to the Forums and see what new ideas are being discussed. Hearing about the new radios, advanced techniques for contesting, simple ways to solve the problems with POTA set-up, and dealing with the new Solar Cycle to the best advantage will be the main aims of the forums I go to. I even get to moderate a forum devoted to the amateur radio operators who made contributions to the Covid-19 Pandemic response and operation Warp Speed.
3. I’ll be keeping an eye out for new homebuilt kits, especially those developed in the last 3 years. I enjoy the challenge of soldering up the components (including the tiny surface mount chips) and testing to see if my homebuilt results can match the factory robots at a lower cost.
4. I’ll be watching the presentations of our youngest hams. I’ll be listening to what Carol Perry’s students present in the Saturday morning Youth Forum, and will try to get some of my grandchildren there to be inspired by these “rock stars” of where the hobby will be going in the next generation. I’ll enjoy seeing what robots they develop, what techniques they are interested in, and wonder if the fastest CW copy at the CWOPS booth will still belong to a young ham.
5. I’ll be looking for international hams who successfully navigated all of the regulations various governments put up, and worked hard to get to Hamvention. I’ll be stopping by the booths of companies from other countries and thank them for all the hard work they accomplished to get to Xenia, OH instead of just offering their products on the internet.
6. I’ll be stopping by Contest University on Thursday to encourage folks trying to improve their radio practices, antennas, rigs, and recording DX contacts; thereby improving their contest scores. I will also be stopping by the Four Days in May get together to see what bright (and inexpensive) ways these creative hams have found to improve the weight/power ratio of homebuilt radios.
7. Lunch each day of Hamvention, I look forward to the great food trucks, with reasonably priced eats, arranged by the Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center. I love how the food always seems a cut above typical “fair food”. My favorite is the butterfly pork chop grilled fresh by a member of the Greene County pork producer’s group. I hope they are there again!
8. I’ll be looking carefully among the assembled throng of amateurs for the Hamvention award winners. I want to be one of the first to congratulate the Technical Award, Special Achievement Award, and Amateur Radio of the Year Award winners. I bet the Club of the Year members will make their presence known far and wide!
9. I hope to have a few hours to walk thoughtfully through the Flea Market and decide if I have room for in my radio shack for something. I already have several (working) antique radios on my shelves. I’m sure something will strike my interest as an appropriate boat anchor that I need to take home.
10. As I walk through the inside exhibits, I’ll take a moment to share the excitement of hams that have been away from Hamvention for too long. I’ll ask the commercial vendors if their business at Hamvention is going well. I’ll help someone carry an antenna outside where they are less likely to run into their fellow hams. I’ll stop to take a picture of people with Hamvention antenna hats (and antenna hair!); of pedestrian and bike mobile setups, and of a whole bunch of folks doing nothing more than having fun.

That’s ten great reasons worth being at Hamvention!! and bring $$$$ for the flea market vendor area for pro-loved goodies and new gear to enhance your operations from the commercial vendors.