eHam.net at Dayton 2000

Dayton 2000 - eHam update Number 1 (one day late)

Many journeys to Dayton were complicated and delayed by severe spring weather over much of the upper Midwest and throughout the central U.S.

In my case, I was expecting to fly to Dayton on Thursday, and arrive in Dayton at about 5:30 pm.  The flight was way overbooked and the airline offered a flight voucher of a significant value. I decided to take advantage of this offer which would have delayed my arrival until around midnight Thursday.  

There were many ham celebrities on this flight, and in retrospect, I should have stayed on the flight.  Maarti Laine OH2BH, Joe Walsh WB6ACU, Barry Merrill W5GN and others were in attendance and I waved so-long to them as they departed at about 2:30 pm..

To make a long story short, my later flight was cancelled at 2AM after sitting on the plane for 6 hours and I rebooked on Friday's flight that should get me into Dayton at 5:30 pm.  

When I arrived at the airport on Friday, I was not optimistic as the plane was not there.

The terminal was crowded.  There were cots and blankets all over the airport from people staying there Thursday night.

The plane was delayed but did show up and I was on the way.  This fellow sitting next to me, is Marc Sotcher who was traveling to Dayton on business and although he is not a ham, his father back in California was.  There were few hams on this flight but once we were underway - about 2 hours late, the flight was very pleasant.

I arrived in Dayton and things were in full swing at the Crowne Plaza hotel in downtown Dayton.  The Southwest Ohio DX Association sponsors a "DX Dinner" which draws many DXers and even many DX operators.  Several clubs sponsor "hospitality suites" where hams can meet each other face-to-face for perhaps the first time, or to renew old friendships.

Bert N4CW, Joe "Palooka" K8JP / V31JP and Bill Hellman NA2M

Ken K5KA and George K5TR

And for the first time, the 3 "Kuwaitis".  Mannaf Al-Sammak 9K2SD, Jeff Clarke KU8E and 
Hamad Al-Nusif 9K2HN.  The real 9K2's got a kick out of Jeff's callsign and agreed to pose for this shot.  Both 9K2SD and 9K2HN told me that they visit eHam.net frequently.

Many contesters were on hand as well; Tyler Stewart K3MM, Dr. James Breakall WA3FET, Jim White K4OJ, Jeff Bolda WC4E, Dan Street K1TO, Dennis Motschenbacher K7BV, Ralph Bellas K9ZO and yours truly.

Several people told me about the new Kenwood prototype transceiver which supposedly covers from 160m up through 1296 MHz.  There's no model number on it yet, but I'll have photo of it here later today.  Yaesu has announced a new FT-1000MP "Mark 5" which has 200 watts output and has additional DSP capability compared to its predecessor.

I'll file a report tonight after seeing the other activities out at the HARA arena.

73 from Dayton 2000!

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