If you're not at the Hamvention this weekend, you'll find a few hundred thousand videos on YouTube. Here's two from us: HRN 320: The Free Dating Show* HRN 321: Dayton Setup Day
Its the Laurel and Hardy Show II. (just kidding). Looks good as i am coming out on Saturday. Keep getting the word out. Thanks. Steve KB9RDS Indianapolis, IN
I tried to attend this morning about 1020 hours local but was stopped for 15 minutes one MILE away with no hope of getting to parking for an hour or so, I gave up. Unbelievable.
We were looking forward to this Dayton hamfest replacement. Pros: Lots of neat stuff to buy. Really helpful sales people. Cons: The parking crew was a strange group. I was given 4 different directions to park the car. Over a thousand of us were standing at the #3 gate for 2 hours waiting to get into a public fairground. They would not give on the 9:00 am start time. They did have a shuttle system, We had to ask 3 times to different drivers to get a ride. Seems they were not going our way and did not want to. The third time we just got in the cart and pointed to the parking lot. He was not happy but we got to the car. If you plan on eating there, bring lots of cash. Prices were outrageous...Do not expect to see them wearing hats or disposable gloves. There was NO airflow in the building, The heat was really uncomfortable. I did like that they has benches at several places, Don't let this review stop you from attending, I think they were trying.....
I went there for Friday only, which is simply not enough time to see everything. Enjoyed it so much, plan on spending the full weekend there next year. Yes, parking was a problem for many. As I understand it, most of the parking was on the highways leading to the fairgrounds. OK, bad joke. The 2 meter bulletin said the jam was about 2.5 hours long. In my case, just as the brake lights came into view, and over two miles away from the main gate, noticed the fuel gauge was defunct. Was needing diesel fuel quick. The mapping app I have been using is called WAZE, and is as close to real time as I have found to date. The fuel run quickly took me around the pileup, over paved narrow roads, and there are many, past the Xenia high school, which appeared to be about 80 percent empty. Next year, plan to enter the addresses of each off site parking area, to find the quickest one. I parked at the high school after fill up, walked 3 minutes to get to the bus. The attendants were more than pleasant, and helpful. The shuttle bus driver shut the door, and told us we would be there in 5 minutes, and we were. The shuttle from bus parking at the fairgrounds, to the ticket gate was less than 5 minutes. The bus seats are designed for school children, not those of us with significantly more girth. Sure glad I had advanced tickets, the cash line appeared to be a wreck. Am sure any problems from this year will be discussed, and ironed out. My sense is that Xenia really did not believe this would be such a big deal. Money talks, and the local economy boost should gear them up for next year. THANK YOU XENIA HAMVENTION!
Traffic was the #1 complaint on Friday. It was solved on Saturday. I talked to Michael Kalter (off camera) and he said the Hamvention committee talked to the police department and 'motivated' them to improve it. Apparently they did. There was no traffic jam on Saturday. SATURDAY UPDATE Heavy rains Thursday and Friday night led to muddy aisles in the flea market (caused by vehicle traffic) by Saturday. Friday wasn't too bad, but they just got christened by a lot of water. It was very warm in most of the buildings on Friday. ICOM had good cross-breeze and was more comfortable! The Forum buildings were the only ones with air conditioning. The 'overflow' commercial exhibitors were housed in four tents - two large and two small. My booth was in the farthest small tent. We didn't rely on traffic, but our neighbors did, and told me sales were way down from their recent Hara history. When the storms rolled through, so did the water, on the floor and some leaks from the roof. Vendors in the bigger tents fared better. On Friday, the tent city was hot and somewhat miserable. Most of Saturday was much cooler (downright chilly in the morning - in the 50's). One big thunderstorm rolled through. The committee has certainly taken note, and we'll all be watching for what they do about it next year. There are more substantial tents available (more expensive, I'm sure), but these were clearly a problem. In general, though, I think most hams attending were happy and enjoyed the fest. I haven't seen any attendance figures (they are released months after the fest closes each year). But the crowed looked substantial. With more outdoor traffic than Hara (not counting the flea market), there was more elbow room. In each building, it was crowded enough to prevent rapid navigation through the aisles, just like at Hara. I'll call it a qualified success, maybe even 'beat expectations' in some areas. Glitches to fix, but if you didn't come 'waiting to see', I think reports will convince you to come next year. I'll have a series of programs coming out in the next few weeks. A bit more walk-around on Saturday, and several interviews with help from Marty KC1CWF from the PhasingLine Podcast. You'll enjoy the thunderstorm that rolled through during the ATV interview 73, Gary KN4AQ
This is my first Hamvention (after 40 years as a ham) and it was so crowded this morning it was difficult to even approach a major seller to buy anything, yesterday I gave up one mile away from the fair grounds after moving 50 feet in 20 minutes in the car. I did score a demo Rigol DP832 lab power supply for about 50% off usual street value. I will not be back.
The crowds indicate success, but if that's a contraindication for you, so be it. Most of us bear it as the 'cost of doing business at the world's largest hamfest,' and we're glad it followed Hamvention from Hare to Xenia. The traffic problem seems to have been solved on Saturday. Sunday wouldn't be a challenge anyway, so we'll see next year. They did recommend remote parking, and while that had a few issues, it was often better than parking on site. They got a huge amount of rain, even for Dayton Weekend (as in "It wouldn't be Dayton without..."). So there was more mud in the flea market and parking lot than they anticipated. I don't think anyone got stuck. It wasn't that deep. You know this was a huge move, huge disruption, all new planning with uncertain execution, right? We expected glitches big and small. And we expect the DARA folks to address them. But no break, I guess. Gotta get it right out of the gate? That's a pretty high bar! I'd love (and I expect) to see them address 'Tent City' - that was a serious fail for people who spent $450+ for a booth. And I know I'll be back. I think this move came off better than expected. I can't guess on attendance. There were lots of people, and as you said, it was hard to talk to a tech or sales rep. And again, we think that's a good thing, not a bad thing.
Lots of challenges at the new venue and lots of HAMs this year (I think a lot of the curious HAMs came to see the new place). WX was an issue of challenges, but then again what is Dayton if it is not blistering HOT sun and steamy, very chilly and WET, or just great with clouds and 60F tenp's - well this year ya got it all.... I was there Saturday and the bright-lush green grass gave waa to serious mud, after the just before noon gust busting 20minute down pour with lightening seeking antennas the Swap/Flea market are returned to becoming a swap but now with a river. DARA missed getting a vendor in to do shoe shines as everyone had soiled mud soaked shoes. The worst of it later became the onsite parking lots and the deep rolling hills and drivers who never driven off pavements getting stuck in the grass converted mud holes. Next year there need to ban onsite parking and force all to the shuttle buses, I parked at the high school and all was efficient and GOOD. The tractors shuttling were good but they sure did mud up the parking fields - be interesting if the fairgrounds recovers for the actual county fair. So that was the bad stuff, now for the good - lots more vendors, more than seen at Hara in +10ys! From my perspective it looked like DARA tried to put the vendors in the same rooms as they did at Hara, so some of it was familiar, just tricky understanding the building relationships but just outside each building they had a vendor floor make - very smart idea. I'm just ever so glad that it did not get to be a hot steamy day as all would have suffered! At the main gate they handed out free event info maps to everyone. The center area food court was nice and setup well - but one major lack of vision was no shade and limited open seating for all to rest/eat. The few bleachers setup did not have any shade/protection (except under them). Many people stood around a trash bins using them as a table top. Overall, it will be a Dayton to remember, but for being the FIRST time at a new venue, it was well planned and worked - just the WX did not help them at all. But the cool temps brought out the masses and HAMs can suffer wet well for a purpose!
The flea market infield was a mess – a little sloppy on Friday, but a horrid virtual mud hole on Saturday. There was plenty of solid ground and room on the actual race track and it would have avoided the messy conditions in the wet infield. The race track is wide and very solid, compacted ground that would have accommodated the vendors while avoiding the mud of the infield. I question why the planners didn't consider that option? Approaching the main gate on Fairgrounds Rd. from the west was a mistake. We were in very slow 2-lane traffic for miles. Had we approached from State route 68, we would have sailed right into the parking area with nearly no traffic back-up. We did exactly that on Saturday and got right into a parking spot with zero problems. Also, we wonder why Fairgrounds Rd., being a 2-lane rural road, could not have been designated a temporary one-way road for the weekend. I think that would have vastly improved the traffic flow. Overall, we enjoyed the new venue, the many awesome food options and the fresh feel of the buildings and well-maintained grounds. It was a huge improvement over the old Hara complex which was many years past its prime as a place for holding large events. We heard many positive comments and despite the lousy rain and mud, it seems many people were having a great time. Now that the 1st one under their belt, hopeful options to make improvements will be in place for future events.
I attended Friday only. The flea market needs to be totally re-thought and I'm not sure how. Where it is currently situated ( track infield ) will be a muddy mess any year they get substantial May rains. May rains in Southern OH are very common so good luck. Say what you will about Hara, the flea market was on paved and/or gravel areas & not suceptible to mud. The weather on Friday was warm/hot & humid (again common for this time of year) and after four hours walking the flea market a little shade or A/C and a place to sit would be nice. The indoor halls & tents (forums excepted) felt stifling and uncomfortable and I spent very little time in them accordingly. Many folks were walking into the forum buildings just to cool off in the A/C. The food court area was poorly planned IMHO. Most food vendors were concentrated in the area around the flagpole which was a crossroads for the entire fairgrounds. Lines were long, unshaded and blocking the main thouroghfare foot traffic. The food choices, while expensive, were very good. Shaded seating was sparse. This was maybe my fifteenth trip to the Dayton Hamfest in the last 35 -40 years. It seemed like the flea market had as many (or more) vendors as ever. To keep them coming back the flea market issues will need to be addressed.
Satellite parking (I chose Xenia High School) was easy and efficient. Hamvention strongly recommended that attendees utilize the four satellite parking areas and most did.
A question for Gary or any other "inside" vendor set up in the tents: What about lighting? I've heard that there was no artificial lighting in the tents and some areas were very dim even with bright sunshine outside. I've also heard that there were multiple places where power cords had been run across foot traffic areas. These cords were allegedly protected, but that presents it's own problems to people with mobility issues. As for setting up the flea market on the track, my assumption is that that is a "no-go" with the fair board. The regular tenants at the fairgrounds, the horse owners and trainers, have an expectation that they will be able to exercise their horses on the track daily. These are harness racing horses so to train them properly, you just can't take them to some farmer's field for a little running around. (I used to have an uncle who bred and trained harness racing horses.)
