22 May 2016

Dayton Hamvention 2016

I was very happy to return to Dayton this year after missing the past 2 years.  Dayton can't be described, if you are a ham you just have to go experience it, and if you're not, there's no way to truly explain the magic of Hamvention.

I have gone many times, always for the purpose of working at the booth for Ten-Ten International Net, which I serve as Treasurer of.  The booth is hard work but it's a lot of fun as well.  This year, my son Jason KR7JAS came to Dayton with me for his first time.  Jason attended the Youth Forum and Youth Rally in addition to cruising the hamfest.

On our first night there, we arrived, checked in, and headed to the ARRL Donor's Reception.  We had a lot of fun there, meeting some very good people who put a great deal into supporting the amateur radio community.  Jason had the special honor of meeting with the new ARRL CEO, Tom Gallaher NY2RF, and ARRL President, Rick Roderick K5UR.  They both gave him some nice words of encouragement about his future.



Friday started out with the show, and it was huge as usual!


There were a few of us working the 10-10 booth.  We took a couple of minutes out of the work to present the 2016 President's Award to Dave, K6RDK, who has been the Data Manager for years and is always one of the hardest workers in the organization.


On Friday night, we attended the Flex Radio Banquet.  It was a nice meal and we got to chat with hams and learn more about what's happening at Flex and in the SDR radio community.

Dayton was awesome again and I can't wait to return.  I did come home with a few small toys but didn't bring anything too big with me.  Unfortunately I continued my 100% success rate with not winning a single raffle item all weekend!