Just got home from the annual Dayton trip. It was great. Why? I saw so many of my contesting friends from all over the US and the world. I got to make a few new friends, too. The weather was just fine - contrary to warnings from www.weatherunderground.com. Don't trust anyone when you want to know what the weather will be in Dayton on Hamvention weekend.
Thursday - Jack W1WEF, Gerry W1VE and I arrived in Dayton at around 2pm via Chicago and Boston. The flight was uneventful. We debated how to spend the afternoon and decided to head over to Mendelson's surplus store. None of us had seen it, and we really enjoyed looking over the various treats. I was able to resist the urge to buy an inexpensive China-made hunting jacket. It had all the right pockets; it would have been a great coat for photography. Ah, well . . . maybe next time.
Later, we split up, and Gerry and I ended up at the SMC Hooters event for about an hour; then we managed to connect with W0GJ, N1DG, AA1V, K2TJ and KT1D for dinner at Thai9 in the Oregon district of Dayton.Although it was easily walkable, we drove because it was raining hard around dinner time. The rain didn't last long, and it was the only serious weather we encountered during the entire trip. Dinner was fantastic. Our waiter was super, and the conversation was invigorating. The rest of the evening was spent in the Contest Super-Suite. Thursday in the Suite was quite a bit more active than in past years due to the large number of contesters who had arrived early to participate in Contest University.
Friday - Gerry, Jack, Richie W1STT, Andy K2TJ and Tim KT1D headed off to the arena at about 7:45 after enjoying a quick breakfast in the Concierge lounge at the Crowne Plaza. We like that because it is very convenient and not too expensive. We spent all of Friday bouncing back and forth between the indoor vendor exhibits and the outdoor flea market. Our home base at the arena is the flea market space occupied by YCCC friends Vern W1VB and Ed K1EP. They have been in the same space for many years, and have become friendly with the guys in the adjacent space who come to Hamvention from the Milwaukee area. We share in the expenses of food - this year Thursday's lunch was New England clam chowder from Legal Seafoods combined with mid-western "brats". Quite delicious.
We spent some time helping Richie look for a 2-element 40m yagi. He decided on the M2 antenna, and got a price direct from M2. WX0B wanted to see if he could do better and promised to give us a price on Saturday morning. We headed back to the Crowne at about 5pm, stopped in at the Concierge lounge for a quick frosty, and started the search for a good dinner option. That turned out to be dinner with 20 of our closest contesting friends at the Hickory barbecue place. The restaurant was packed, and we got split up into several groups. Some of the crew we dined with were from the famous W2FU HF and VHF multi-multi operation. A great time. Naturally, we made our way back to the Crowne and enjoyed the remainder of the night celebrating in the Super Suite, and in the NJDXA, KCDX and NODXA hospitality suites. Midnight pizza was served at 11pm . . .
Saturday - After breakfast in the Concierge lounge, we were off to the arena again. Gerry spent a good portion of the morning at the SDR forum. Richie and I locked down his 40m yagi purchase. W1VB was on a mission to buy an SDR. After we heard the excellent pitch by Stefan, of German SDR manufacturer Microtelecom, Vern placed his order for their Persus SDR. Nice radio. Lunch at the W1VB/K1EP flea market spot was more chowder and pulled pork sandwiches. I had way too much to eat. After lunch, Gerry, Richie, Jack and I headed over to the arena for the Contest Forum, led by K1DG. The forum was dedicated to our good friend, Stu KC1F, who had suddenly passed away only a few weeks earlier. The forum included discussion of contesting history through the eyes of Doug KR2Q, and the impact of new technologies like SDR and Skimmer. It was a lot of fun. Feeling my money burning a hole in my pocket, I headed out to the flea market to make a deposit. I was able to keep it to just $30 worth of connectors to refill the station supply.
Putting together dinner plans for Saturday night was a little tougher than the other nights. Several of us had decided to skip the Contest Dinner this year and try something different. We ended up at Caffe Anticoli, and Italian restaurant to the north of Dayton. Around the table we had George W1ZT, W1STT, W1VE, W1WEF and K1IR. I must have been truly exhausted at that point . . . I brought my camera to capture the moment, but forgot to take the picture. In the end, Jack and I had to drive all the way back to the restaurant from the Crowne when I realized I had left the camera hanging on the back of my chair! After retrieving the camera, we made our way back to the suites. The highlight of the night was the KCDX CW Pileup Competition, of course. Jack, Gerry and I scored from 39-41 - I'll let you figure out who won. The rest of the night was spent socializing, drinking moonshine [which suite was that in again?], and talking about plans for next year. It was a great Dayton.