Good show, not too big, but big enough.  Facilities are quite adequate. Not a good place if a TRW occurs, though. Handles the crowd reasonably well (but not like Disney World).
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If you don't stop to talk too much, omit forums, and dinners, etc., you can do the entire Hamfest in 4-5 hours.
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(I'm not particularly fond of crowds.)

K4FMH, you are in the deep south. If you use faux lightning rods, consider the possibility that "they" might have to become real  at some instant.  Plan, from the beginning, for good lightning grounding/protection for what it's worth.

Wanted to erect a 31' vertical (Eagle One) in a CCR/HOA. No specifically mentioned antenna restrictions, but any "change" to outside appearance of condo needed Board of Directors approval and needed permission to drill coax and ground wire holes through wall of condo.
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Figured that the best thing to do was go all out and above board to lay out the entire picture. [Didn't try to invoke FCC Reg on zoning and antennas as The Board (including me) had learned from the satellite TV dish issue.  Couldn't prohibit antennas, BUT could specify where and how installed plus owner's responsibility for building damage.]
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Presented an illustrated (photos, with drawings), four page proposal, complete with a license copy, to the Board. Supplied letter indemnifying the Association against damage. Said I would have 811 (One Call) check for utilities -- good thing -- gas line within three feet of proposed location for base spike to be driven down 30". Need to hand dig for irrigation line location. No problems with 4' ground rods
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Used local TV cable technician for guidance as to what I might encounter in drilling through condo wall.
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Having previously been on the Board as president and developed a reputation for thoroughness significantly helped.

Getting a Novice or Conditional class license and living more than 125 miles from a quarterly examination test site often meant waiting as much as six months to have the exam graded and a call sign, if successful, issued.
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What a wonderful change, and advance, the new VE/VEC license testing system is!  It took the VEs longer to grade three exams than it did for me to take them. I couldn't believe that i had my new call sign in a WEEK!  I figured that at least two weeks would elapse.
Dave, AB3MO

-   My used FT-857D (purchased in early '11, manufactured in 2006) starting showing the "flag" normally seen when the SELECT knob is pushed in allowing tuning by 1 MHz increments, but no tuning!
-   Works fine as a VHF mobile and HF backup. But would like the capability to go from 144 to 162.425MHz for NOAA WX
-   Does a field repair/fix exist for this problem? Could the average ham take the display apart and successfully repair this???
-   Want to check this out with others first before contacting Yaesu, Inc.
-   This may be why I bought a Kenwood TS-5090S rather than the corresponding Yaesu!

Thanks, guys, sorry about the e-mail address omission (gaseous emission from brain!).  I successfully downloaded needed documents using IE7. Suspected after several attempts that Firefox was the problem rather than a temporary glitch. Some web sites do block downloads through Firefox in preference to IE's by excessively optimizing their site for a particular browser.

Have unsuccessfully tried to download pdf files of the above manuals from the Kenwood web site.  Just bought a TS-590S and I would like to know everything possible about it.  I use FireFox, not IE7, 8, or 9 -- that may be the problem.
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Would someone be kind enough to e-mail the pdf files as attachments, to me?
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Have yet to put it on the air, but the receiver, on an awful antenna (15 ft of wire), does quite well.  It's a carefully thought out and well-crafted piece of work

The only stupid questions are the ones NOT asked.

Dave Taylor, AB3MO
(retired college chemistry professor)

VA7VPC & N4KZ -- thanks -- looks good. No modifications, thankfully! Makes sense, although perfect sense will have to wait until I try it.  Hi Hi.  Knew that someone would have the answer. I have Yaesu site manual, but as you are well aware, that isn't always as clear as it could be. 
AB3MO

I bought a used 857 that seemed to have had 2 m repeater shifts programmed according to figure/table in manual.  Had to do a re-boot.  Lost the shifts!  Any way to restore?  Have 3 degrees -- need 4! Fourth out of question at my age.

A Sieman is a unit of electrical conductivity, reciprocal ohms. Remember the mho?  The ARRL Handbook for Radio Communication will solve a lot of these problems for you.  First thing that i did when starting studying for the Tech and General was to buy a copy. Good Luck!

As a retired college professor, taught chemistry, who has taken a lot of tests: graduate school, FAA (private, instrument), SCUBA certification, for example, I can tell you that the best learning comes from active participation -- paper to eyes to brain to hand back to paper.  Work as many numerical problems as you can and do practice tests -- the wording of test questions differs from the textbook encounter of ideas and principles (don't get caught in the memory trap, you want logical reasoning flexibility) and become accustomed to the testing environment.  This took me from a 50 year absence (as WN1HTD and W1HTD (conditional)) to AB3MO (Am Ex) in three-four months of easy (for me) studying.  Code would be (is) a different situation, but taking an active role there with available computer study programs is such an improvement.

   back in Amateur radio after a 50 year absence by taking all three exams at one time.  Yes, it's worth the effort.  However, if you like to have a goal ahead of you, you'll lose that.  My goal: get code up to speed of many years ago.  Several good computer programs to do that are now available that didn't exist 50 years ago. (Neither did computers!)
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Always shoot as high as you can!  Nothing to lose, much to gain, and you can direct your effort to other goals.

     Having spent four years as a condo association board president, I've dealt with the satellite dish problem. Can't restrict use but can control installation.
     Best solution. Take antenna down. Eat humble pie. Apologize. Then ask for permission, in writing, to install an antenna that you can take down when you are not using.

You might want to review the following, massive amount of text to employ in your behalf.

Dave Taylor, AB3MO/4 Winter Haven FL


GOOGLE THE FOLLOWING
Antenna Restrictions: Are They a Catastrophe Waiting to Happen?

by Richard White

FLORIDA STATE STATUTES:
125.561 Amateur Radio Antennas; construction in conformance with
federal requirements.--
(1) No county shall enact or enforce any ordinance or regulation which
fails to conform to the limited preemption entitled "Amateur Radio
Preemption, 101 FCC 2d 952 (1985)" as issued by the Federal
Communications Commission. Any ordinance or regulation adopted by a
county with respect to amateur radio antennas shall conform to the abovecited
limited preemption, which states that local regulations which involve
placement, screening, or height of antennas based on health, safety, or
aesthetic considerations must be crafted to reasonably accommodate
amateur communications, and to represent the minimum practicable
regulation to accomplish the local authority's legitimate purpose.
(2) Nothing in this section shall affect any applicable provisions of
Chapter 333.
166.0435 Amateur radio antennas; construction in conformance with
federal requirements.--
(1) No municipality shall enact or enforce any ordinance or regulation
which fails to conform to the limited preemption entitled "Amateur Radio
Preemption, 101 FCC 2d 952 (1985)" as issued by the Federal
Communications Commission. Any ordinance or regulation adopted by a
municipality with respect to amateur radio antennas shall conform to the
above cited limited preemption, which states that local regulations which
involve placement, screening, or height of antennas based on health,
safety, or aesthetic considerations must be crafted to reasonably
accommodate amateur communications, and to represent the minimum
practicable regulation to accomplish the local authority's legitimate
purpose.

Dividing 3750 pounds by the cube of 25 (15625) equals 0.24 pounds (3.84 ounces).  You are scaling the dimensions down by a factor of 25 in all three dimensions, so the weight should be scaled down by 25^3.