How big was 2019 Hamcation? Reports wanted!

I'm looking for the 2019 Hamcation report from some of the attendees.

How many people?

How big was the tailgating area?

What's your opinion on Hamcation becoming the biggest ham event in the USA?

Please share your experiences with us!

 

YOU TUBE .... Look for Yourself. Just Search on YouTube.

 

I've watched the videos but I still feel empty inside because of the lack of human response. Kinda like FT-8

 

Have never attended Hamcation, but historically its attendance runs about 5K behind Dayton Hamvention.

That's a lot of ground to make up.

 

OK, 5k behind Dayton? That's a joke, right? I'd say it's bigger than Boxboro, bigger than NEAR fest but not by much, and more along the lines of a large Susssex.
Look, I walk 18,000 steps a day at Dayton. Easy. At Hamcation, I didn't break 10,000 on any of the 3 days. The tailgate area I did in about 3 or 4 hours, Dayton takes 2 days. The first day to scan everything and the second day to go back and barter.
They got a LONG way to go to call themselves a Dayton.
That being said, the first day was exciting and fun, the second day was spent mostly in the swaps building, watching demonstrations, and tailgate area, and it rained all the last day. So the rain put a damper on things, of course.
Guy
KC2PMM

 

THANK YOU!!!!!
Good intel from boots on the ground.
That's the exact kind of report I was looking for.

 

I will probably go again. Gets me out of the snowbanks for a few days, right?
I want to check out Huntsville some year also. I hear that's also a large hamfest. SEATAC? on the west coast some day also. Just to say I did it.
Guy, KC2PMM

 

Good excuse to travel!

 

I went to Hamcation for the 4th time this year and the crowd seemed a bit down, but it is a more enjoyable event than Dayton which I have been to ten times. For overseas visitors travel is much easier and reliable than Dayton . Accommodation is easy to find even with a late decision to attend. Car parking is great at Hamcation but the latest food providers at Dayton have the edge over the Orlando event.
The tailgating area is smaller than Dayton but it has stayed the same over the years. Daytons tailgate traders have shrunk by 40- 50% over the last few years . I look for specific rare items so I get round Dayton in around 30-40 minutes for my first scan . It took a similar length of time at Orlando as they have a shed full of fleamarket traders as well as the tailgaters.
I find the interior lighting better at Orlando .

 

You must have visited a different Hamcation than I did. Crowd was larger than last year, and the tailgate section was much larger than last year as well. This show is getting better each year...

 

Here's a report from a first timer at Hamcation. Overall impression - a laid back hamfest in the sun (81 on Friday when back home it was in the 20's before windchill). I had a table in the Swaps Building, arrived Thursday for setup. ~1/3rd of the Swaps vendors arrived and setup on Thursday. A variety of tailgaters also were setup on Thursday. Frankly, Thursday is when some of the best deals were to be had. Wx great on Th-F-Sat with rain appearing later in the day Saturday; Sunday, rain. Early Saturday afternoon by 1300 I would say easily 12-18 Swappers and Tailgaters packed up and departed. I reserved my table for next year (primarily to escape the great white north in February of 2020).

As a reference for my notes and comments below, I attended my first Dayton Hamvention in 1985 as a flea marketeer. Since then 100's of hamfests. Typically sell at 8-to-10 a year.

Details I noted:

Swaps Building (indoor flea market):

• ~300 indoor tables
• They were not sold out
• Had ~40 open tables though about half had a name tag
• Mixture of dealers and individuals
• It is A/C! and no sun beating on your neck
• Not a normal hamfest that I am accustomed to. Even at 0900 Friday when open to the public ~1/3rd of the tables were not uncovered. Wasn’t until 1000 that all were open.
• 2/3rds ham gear, 1/3rd crafts/jewelry/PCs
  • Of the 2/3rds ham related tables, 2/3rds were radios and accessories like tuners, amps, etc. and 1/3rd were parts
• Vast majority of ham pieces priced at eBay prices.
  • One vendor actually looked up prices on eBay and quoted as his price to a potential customer; “that’s how much they go for on eBay”. I am sure he did not filter on Sold Listings.
• Between Swaps and Tail Gaters, there were eight people selling “estates”. All stating they needed to maximum the money for the estate/widows (as buyers attempted to make a deal). I have never seen this number of people doing it.
• Nice clean building

Commercial Vendors:

• In two buildings
• Large building housed the vast majority
• Icom, Yaseu, Kenwood each had a 10x20 booth
  • Kenwood was just a couple of Pelican style cases on a table
• Big dealers like HRO, MFJ, Gigaparts setup
• The Elecrafts of the world also
• Pretty packed when I went through (main public entrance is via the primary vendor building)
• Many offering “hamfest specials”
• ~90% dedicated ham

Tail Gate area:

• Spots really scattered across several different areas (there is an east and west area; the west area also had a mixture of RVers with tables)
• >100 RVs here (everyone was commenting on how many more RVs this year)
• At 0900 most of Tail Gaters were NOT setup; DHV this is not
• By 1030 Tail Gaters fully open
• >3/4 ham; remaining ¼ mix of cheap Chinese products, crafts, etc
• I estimate ~150 Tail Gate spots were active by mid-morning
• Other spots roped/taped off with name tags, though not occupied
• Went from eBay + prices to $1 any item (one vendor had 10 tables of boxes, all items $1, tons of parts)
• I counted > 60 Collins items, most I ever seen at a single hamfest. Almost all that had prices marked seemed $$$$ to me. Most also had signs that stated do not touch, play with knobs, etc. w/o permission. Several also had signs “serious buyers only” or similar language.
• Mainly older equipment. I did not see much at all in terms of recent year Icom, Kenwood, Yaesu products
• ~1/2 appeared to be just 'one-timers' and the other ½ people make the circuit

Food:

• Cannot tell you about quality as the prices kept me away, ate off premises

Bathrooms:

• Typical fairground bathrooms with flush facilities

Hamcation Staff:

• Friendly, courteous, polite, helpful, even jovial
• Well organized
• Laid back somewhat – unlike DHV staff whom are more like Marshalls – you can’t do this; your vehicle is over the line have to move it out; etc. here just don’t want you blocking roads, parking in handicap area

 

Nice report, thank you!

 

There are 2 big ones on the west coast
The Mike and Key,in March, and Seapac at Seaside Oregon May 31,June 1 and 2

 

They think Xenia had higher attendance this year, and the weather being decent probably had alot to do with it. Maybe there seems to be less flea market stuff than Hara, but you have to consider that internet sales might be having an impact on flea markets. I know that people are using the net to sell alot of used gear now, set back and sell at your leasure, no all day marathon of sun rain wind to contend with. And some of the sellers obviously look at internet "asking prices" now when deciding what to put on their tags. I had a good time but strained to carry away a couple of my "prizes" to the car. Ouch. And I got burned. Bought a "working" used modern radio and it is boxed up to be mailed to service today. At least I can work on the 15$ boatanchor I bought, it is not full of microscopic cellphone type parts. "Yea, this is as low as I will go for this, I saw one on ebay(in much better shape!) for 50$ more!" Etc. Yet, plenty of fun bargains to be had and you buy new stuff and at least save shipping if no show discount.

 

As regards the flea market size at Hamvention, I think everybody ought to consider that the rules have changed for the flea market area. At Greene County Fairgrounds, there is NO overnight camping or sleeping in the flea area, at HARA this was just another side of the event to go and stay right in the flea market area, and party all night so to speak. Can't do that now. Also, if you're not selling, don't bother to buy a spot just to get in a day or two early, which was a common ploy used to get a guaranteed parking spot. People would buy a flea spot just to use it as a parking spot. Can't do that anymore either. The DARA knew the fairgrounds location has space limitations, so they had to do something to make the flea market smaller. These changes were deemed the least painful, it would appear, although it made nearby hotels happy! Also, I don't know that anybody has gone to the flea market map site and looked at the totals over the last few years at HARA vs the first 3 years at the fairgrounds.
Sorry I was not able to attend this year. Sorry to have sort of hijacked this thread, lol!
Guy
KC2PMM