Hamvention

amateur radio buff writes "The Hamvention is coming up on May 16 - 18, for all you amateur radio people out there. This is the worlds biggest Ham fest held in Dayton, Ohio. With over 2500+ space outdoor vendor, and 500 inside exhibit spaces, find any amateur radio and electronic items there. Also the The 11th Annual Dayton Contest Dinner is held this year too! Dont miss it!"

Comments

Ham Nerds

[iamdrscience]

I think a friend of mine said it best; "You can be into ham radios and you can be into computers, but being into both is taking it just a little too far".

His dad "took it too far" by the way.

Re:Ham Nerds

[Blaine Hilton]

Very true, although the two can be highly interwoven with like technologies. Now just add in model rocketry and you can really have some interesting experiences.

the other white meat

[swankypimp]

D'Oh! I clicked "Read More..." before I realized that the article was not about sweet, sweet pork. A Hamvention like that I could really get into. Stupid radios.

Since no one has mentioned it yet...

[Pettifogger]

Before the inevitable joke comes, yes, you can run Linux with Amateur Radio! Go take a look at:

http://radio.linux.org.au/

And there are many other sites, too. I disagree with what someone stated earlier about being both into computers and amateur radio taking it too far. Believe it or not, there's a lot of overlap between the two. Hams often spend a lot of time tweaking their stations, building stuff, and completely customizing their equipment. Sound familiar to anyone on Slashdot?

73, KG6JBF

Oh, simpler times...

[MrPerfekt]

My dad took me to the good ol' hamvention every year for about 8 years. I went since I was 7 or so. Good times. I remember when it was held in the middle of April and you froze your butt off at your table space trying to sell your old nintendo games. Not that gradually nudging it into May helped that much with the weather.

In any case, this is hardly new so if you're just learning about this for the first time, where have you been?

But seriously, my experience is that this event as with most ham radio things has been dwindling over the years. Anyone else feel that way?

It's a shame too because the community spirit of the ham radio operators rivals that of the early days of the Internet. But the Internet has lost its spark (or at least it's friendliness) far faster than amatuer radio.

But at least we have the memories.

Re:Oh, simpler times...

[Chuck Milam]

...some blame "the internet" and others say that it's "young people" who have no interest anymore in technical hobbies.

I blame the Internet and cable TV. No kidding. I was headed to a Linux Business Expo in the Twin Cities a couple years ago with some of my close (and very interested in technical hobbies) friends. We drove my car, and I was tuning around the HF bands as we made our way across town in the morning hours. The guys were interested for all of about 2 minutes. They were extremely disappointed that I couldn't just dial up whatever country they wanted. No kidding. It was like they expected me to dial in the [Japan|Germany|Mexico|France] channel, and have a open direct line to the country immediately.

Once I explained that HF SSB mobile was more "art" in the sense that you had to bascially take what was on depending on the time of day, band conditions, whether someone was actually on, etc., they lost all interest.

All too used to punching in a channel or a web address and having content delivered immediately, I guess.

--Chuck, KF9FR

Re:Oh, simpler times...

[KC7GR]

I think the biggest change I've seen is that the "tinkerers" (those who modify commercial gear for ham purposes, or design their own stuff) are no longer so great a force in the hobby. The hams who take the hobby seriously enough to have a labful of RF test gear, and who know how to use it, seem to be getting increasingly rare. I know, because I'm one of them! ;-)

It used to be that I could turn on any of the local 2m (VHF) or 70cm (UHF) repeater channels, and hear a discussion going on that at least included something technical. It used to be that I could pop onto those same channels with a technical question, and chances were good that someone would know how to answer it.

Not any more. It seems that I can have a conversation with a dozen different hams, and out of them there will be 1-2 that know anything more about their radio than how to turn it on and use it. "Appliance Operators," once a rarity in the ham field, have become largely the norm.

I have mixed feelings about it. On the one wing, it's sad, I think, to see so many people take their exams just for the sake of taking them, and then forget everything they learned and have no further interest in expanding their electronics knowledge.

On the other wing, a big piece of my side business is dependent on those who choose not to do the technical side for themselves. I try to give my customers a bit of free education as they walk out the door with their newly-programmed radio, but I never know where they're going to go with it.

Also, don't forget that tinkerers need stuff to tinker with. The quality and quantity of stuff showing up at many ham swap meets all over the country seems to be going down. I think it's due largely to the depredations of Ebay. Why comb the swaps when you can search for goodies from your easy chair?

I have an answer for that. Social skills! Ham swaps are more than swaps; they're social gatherings, just like the rest of any ham convention. As I've said on my Ebay 'About Me' page, where can you get a clearer impression of who you're buying stuff from? By looking at someone's feedback record, or looking them in the eye and watching how they interact in real time?

Anyway, I've drifted off-topic enough. I plan to make the 'pilgrimage' to Dayton, possibly in 2004. Until then, those of you that are going, good luck and good journey.

73 de KC7GR

Re:available bandwidth?

[N3Bruce]

The VHF and UHF amateur bands can get a little crowded with all of those HTs walking around, plus the communications by the event organizers. There is more room on UHF (420-450 Mhz) than on VHF (144-148 Mhz). Also add in all the traffic for cell phones and demonstrations of different modes and it is sometimes hard to find a quiet frequency, based on my observations at the Timmonium, Maryland hamfest. Patience is sometimes needed, but there is usually enough bandwidth that a frequency opens up. Usually groups of hams will work on a pre-agreed frequency, and there are only so many simplex channels and repeaters within HT range to go around, so patience and courtesy goes a long way. Perhaps a few experiments with trunking on the amateur bands could extend the limited bandwidth, but since large hamfests are local and infrequent events, there seems fairly little incentive to push the technology, and get the rules changed to allow it.

as an amateur:

[Anonymous Coward]

I realise that most if not all of the people who read and post to this site are computer geeks in one way or another. (I am)

If you are into computers for the pure technical geek aspects, try out amateur radio. I guarantee that you won't be disappointed. There are so many different things you can do in ham that you won't be bored. I've done shortwave, packet radio, satelite, earth-moon-earth bouce, and microwave radio etc. etc. Amateur radio gives you an oppourtunity to delve into physics...

Oftentimes amateur radio is seen as an "old man's" game, as many of the newer geeks jump into computers immediately, and choose programming and networking as their fix of choice. I'd like to see more young people on the air! (I'm 25)

Anyway, give it a try, it doesn't cost much to get started.

Re:available bandwidth?

[KC7GR]

No longer required to be skilled in CW? Perhaps not in the UK. In the States, however, one still needs to be proficient to 5 WPM CW to go any higher than a Technician-class license.

The dividing point is HF privileges (1-30MHz). If you want to work HF (with the possible exception of the 10-meter band), and you live in the U.S., you still have to pass a minimal CW test.