eHam.net at Dayton 2000 (Update)

Dayton 2000 - eHam update Number 2 (delayed two days)

For those of you who have not seen the first Dayton coverage, click here to see that also delayed story which is now in the eHam archive.

For many, especially air travelers, the word "delay" may become synonymous with the memory of the Dayton Hamvention® this year.

As I described in my first installment from Dayton, my usual two hour flight to Dayton became nearly a 30 hour ordeal. Apparently, many others ran into the same types of delays and either arrived late, or regrettably canceled their travel plans altogether. As a result, attendance was not record-setting at this Y2K Hamvention® which was combined with the ARRL's 2000 National Convention.

Yesterday at the final prize drawing, which was packed into the HARA arena, the announcement was made that approximately 30,000 attended this year. In years past, attendance has reached nearly 40,000. Many hams felt that the HARA Arena and grounds were much less crowded than they've seen before. The attendance numbers seem to confirm their feelings.

I've attended the Dayton Hamvention® for 20 years straight. In my opinion, the attendance appeared to be down a bit, but the Hamvention® people did a superb job this year and the entire event was very well managed. Weather during the event was very good, and perhaps too good on Saturday as many got some spring sunburn. The grand prizes and the numerous hourly prizes were outstanding representing nearly $100,000 in value. The forums and commercial displays had more new product introductions than there have been in years.

Next years' Hamvention® will be the 50th and hopefully, weather around the country will be better and travel will be less hampered. The folks in Dayton are planning to deliver a great convention next year.

Many people did get to Dayton and had a great time. The Hamvention® has set up a very efficient system of shuttle buses that deliver you to the front entrance of the HARA Arena.

These shuttle bus routes make it easy for you to park and not have to walk miles to the arena.

There were many first-time attendees this year including the family of David Ho, AF4BH. This was Davids' 15th visit but his wife, Lisa and their two young girls Elana and Anna were enjoying their first-ever Dayton Hamvention®. David organized not only his family's visit to Dayton, but also for a large group of Pacific Rim amateurs from China, Japan and other Asian countries. Lisa indicated that she's considering becoming a licensed amateur - but no guarantees. She and the girls appeared to be enjoying themselves.

Other veterans of Dayton attended as well and were having a great time too. Here, Barbara and Roger Weaver, N8BAU and WM8I from Shelby, OH, said that they've been attending Dayton for 20 years plus and enjoyed it very much this year. They also described an economical opportunity for lodging for the Hamvention® at the University of Dayton dormitories. Apparently, many hams took advantage of this $25 per night lodging and saved their money to buy things at the Hamvention® itself.

Speaking of things, there were myriad things to look at this year. As above, where Bob WA1ZRU points out features of his new amplifiers and antenna tuners, many manufacturers announced some spectacular new radios and equipment this year.

click here to see Leo's full written desription of this new radio

Here, Leo KJ6HI answers questions about the new Kenwood HF/VHF/UHF Transceiver, with the prototype designation TS-0000. This rig covers from 1.8 MHz through 1296MHz and will be available in two configurations. One as a desktop, the other as a "remote head" operation. The remote head unit resembles the Kenwood D700A unit.

Icom introduced their new IC-718 which is aimed at the new amateur, or new upgrader to HF privileges. This unit is priced around $700. Here, John Dilges K9GKR from Fairlfield, IL looks it over.

Arthur Condra W5XY of Plano, TX checks out the colorful display of the recently introduced Icom IC-756PRO.

Krassy K1LZ demonstrates Acom's new two-radio, single amplifier switching system to Allen Moore W3QO from Palm Bay Florida.

Sharon N5CK of ArraySolutions discusses their line of WX0B products with Joe Szczubelek K9DMV of Algonquin IL.

Jeff W0ODS and Amy N0AMY team up to discuss the latest from Kachina with Donald Huff W6JL of Fallbrook, CA(middle)

Scott Robbins W4PA shows off TenTec's new Pegasus FP to Pete Kozup K8OUA of Warren, OH. This new radio puts a front panel (the FP part) on their successful Pegasus Computer Controlled radio.

Dick Williams K8ZTT of Franktown, CO looks on as Neil Sims N5OC of Yaesu explains some of the new features of the FT-1000MP Mark V(5). This new unit features 200 watts output power and more receiver filtering capability.

The above report is a small fraction of the entire Dayton experience. Every possible special interest in amateur radio has a forum, a social event, or is featured at a manufacturers' booth. The Dayton Flea Market is incredible. It is so huge that you will be hard-pressed to look everything over in the 3 days allotted.

eHam will be displaying more images from Dayton soon on the eHam home page. Please stay tuned!

73,

Bob N5NJ

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