Dayton Debrief
I spent Friday in Xenia, OH, at my first Dayton Hamvention. It lived up to just about every expectation I had for the event.
K9MLP and I rolled out of Indy just after 5:00 AM. Other than a gorgeous sunrise, our drive was uneventful. We hit the grid lock to park outside the fairgrounds around 7:15, we were parked by 7:40.
K9MLP brought his IC-705 and a whip antenna for 40 meters, and we hoped to pass the time making some contacts. Other than one POTA operator about 20 miles away, it didn’t seem like anyone could hear our QRP signal. We definitely could not break through AC1RH’s morning pileup.
We lined up for entry around 8:20 and were inside the grounds a few minutes before 9:00. K9MLP had been to Hamvention multiple times, so I let him lead the way.
Purchases (Planned and Unplanned)
One of our first stops was the POTA tent. We both picked up POTA desk mats. I added a couple stickers and metal band plan cards. Although I am a strict Icom household (or was…), I got in line for the obligatory Yaesu hat. We cruised by the Icom booth multiple times but their big reveal of the weekend had yet to occur, and we were fine seeing it later in the day rather than standing in the crowd to watch the lifting of the shroud.
Without any definitive needs, we mostly wandered and browsed as the crowds allowed. I had no interest in buying anything from the flea market, but still spent half an hour or so making laps through the vendors there. That’s part of the charm of the event, right? I saw several once beautiful Kenwood receivers that I had lusted over 40 years ago in my SWLing prime. There’s not enough on the broadcast bands anymore to justify the expense (Which means most of these shortwave receivers were drastically overpriced). If I had found a working Sony ICF-2010 I might have gotten more interested.
I did have one “stretch” purchase in the back of my mind for the day. Given the rapid decline of the bands lately, I’ve been a bit spooked by relying on a QRP rig for my POTA work. I do have a small 20 watt amplifier for the IC-705, but even that seems like too little power for the bottom of the solar cycle. Sure, I could haul the IC-7300 out for POTA work; plenty of people do and it’s not that heavy or bulky. However, I worry about unneeded wear and tear on my home transceiver if I also made it my primary portable rig.1
If the IC-705 doesn’t have enough power and the IC-7300 is too big, well, that leaves one option, the one I decided not to take two months ago: a Yaesu FT-891.
We chatted up a DX Engineering employee and inquired about their 891 stock. He said they were out and wouldn’t have any more until June. Which seemed odd because their website showed them being in stock. Perhaps he was trying to save me from myself. I think he was just confused.
We strolled over the Ham Radio Outlet booth and peeked at their inventory. I didn’t see any 891 boxes, and in fact noticed a big gap where it seemed like they should be. No big deal, I was ready to go look for a VHF/UHF antenna and call it a day.
K9MLP got the attention of someone behind the counter and they confirmed they still had 891’s in stock, with the Hamvention discount.
Thanks a lot.
So, yes, I walked out with a new FT-891.
Not sure which decision was dumber, buying it when I already have two HF radios at home, or buying the IC-705 just as solar activity was about to crash.
There’s a chance one of them may end up for sale in the near future. As I’ve learned in the last eight months, though, there is never any shame in the ham radio community for owning more radios than you need. Elecraft and Kenwood need to start wooing me for next year.
I completed my purchases for the day with an N9TAX dual band Slim Jim antenna. I don’t have a ton of interest in VHF/UHF operations, but this gives me a chance to use the IC-705 on those bands and potentially reach the repeater that my local club uses for its weekly net.
People
One of the best aspects of Hamvention is the people watching. There are a lot of very interesting folks to look at!
I often joke that of all the circles that make up the stereotypical Ham Radio Operator Venn Diagram, I fall into the least number of them possible.2 From a purely aesthetic perspective, I was not amongst my people at Hamvention. Please note, I don’t say that with any kind of judgement or sense of superiority.
I have just been fascinated by radio since I was a child. Which, as I’ve found, is all it takes to be part of this strange tribe.
I did have one definite goal for the day: see how many ham podcasters and YouTubers I could cross paths with. Under normal circumstances I’m not one to approach famous people, even if they are “niche” famous like ham radio social media stars. I used to be a professional journalist, for crying out loud, but for some reason blank on what to ask when I run into someone with any measure of fame. If the opportunity presented itself, I wanted to tell a couple operators on my list how much I enjoyed their work. Mostly, though, I just wanted to get that little thrill that comes with walking by someone I listen to on my phone or watch on my computer screen weekly.
I tried to say hello to K1DED and KJ6VU, but each time I passed their booths they had crowds around them. I eased past the Everyday Ham Radio crew while they were recording a piece in the Icom booth, and later I nearly stumbled into N8JRD coming out of the restroom. It happened too fast for me to stop him and say hello. To be fair, probably not the ideal moment. I also saw K8MRD, KM9G, KI6NAZ, and NW9F recording content. I would imagine I walked by some other folks who I am more familiar with their voices than faces.
Again, super niche celeb sightings. My daughters and wife would not have been impressed.
There are also a couple fellow ham writers I’ve exchanged messages with over the past few months that I had hoped to encounter, but I realized I had no idea what these gentlemen looked like. So if you are on that list and I walked by you, my apologies.
Other Aspects
My only disappointment was that every forum session I was interested in was scheduled for either Saturday or Sunday. I know they were streaming live so hopefully I can go back and find the specific sessions I had highlighted to watch in the coming days.
Our ride home was eventful. When we got onto I-70 we saw there was a slowdown just west of Richmond, IN, maybe a couple miles of yellow and red traffic on the map. Then we hit it. And didn’t move for 45 minutes. Then barely moved for the next 30-45. By the time we got to the front of the slowdown, all we could see were two semis that seemed to bumped each other in a construction zone. Whether there more that had been cleared away we could not determine. It took us over 90 minutes to travel three miles. That delay made it an 11-hour day when K9MLP dropped me back at my home.
Will I return to Hamvention? Well, if my wife allows it after seeing our next credit card statement, I definitely will. K9MLP and I talked about adjusting our arrival time so we don’t have to get up at 4:30 AM. It seemed like we could have rolled in at noon and not had to wait in any lines. We could even turn it into a multi-night effort and try to camp somewhere, getting in some portable or POTA activity in the process. Now that I’ve seen the “event,” my focus on a return might be targeting specific forum sessions rather than gear hunting.
Most of all, my day in Xenia, OH reignited my passion for the hobby which had waned ever-so-slightly over the past couple months. With a new portable radio and the school year almost over for my kids, I want to work harder to get out of the house and operate each week, multiple times if possible. Have some more fun playing with antennas. Do more A-B comparisons with radios. Basically remember that there’s a lot more to this pastime than just sitting at my desk and making contacts.