I attended the annual Yuma Hamfest this past weekend. I think it was great fun, and as always, a nice late-winter break. It was held at the Yuma County Fairgrounds in Yuma, Arizona. The temperature was mostly clear and in the upper 80's. General admission still just $5.00 and the parking was free. Several dozen RV'ers camped there from Thursday afternoon to Sunday morning. They may have spread them out a little more, the big field didn't seem quite as crowded with RV's this time. Attendance seemed up from last year, possibly because ARRL Southwestern Division Convention was combined with Yuma Hamfest this year. The outside tailgating area (swap meet, flea market) started Friday and went all day Saturday. Inside the main hall were commercial vendors (I understand all inside vendor spaces sold out), and the "Country Store" consignment table, which had a lot of used equipment for sale. There were several excellent seminars, forums and meetings held. The ARRL was well represented by the Southwestern Division officers, and several section managers. Several clubs and organizations had booths there with information. Activities included some live satellite demonstrations, and a T-hunt. There were license examinations, and DXCC card checking. There was a high altitude balloon launch by ANSR (containing a crossband repeater, APRS, ATV and other things). It reached almost 100,000 feet altitude (wow!) and landed about 50 miles east, but in a restricted area, so the recovery group will go in with escort by a range control officer to recover it. This time in addition to the usual on-site food vendor, there were other food choices for lunch, including a local pizza restaurant, a root beer float booth, and another with shaved ice. Saturday night had their traditional "Buzzard BBQ", with chicken and pulled pork catered by Texas Roadhouse. There were sixteen grand prizes raffled off, and these were all great radios... and I actually won one of them this year! There were other drawings and prizes available as well. I don't know what the official hamfest attendance was, but I'm guessing around 2000. The full information should be available soon on their website, www.yumahamfest.org. Dave AD7DB
Nice little hamfest which has a built in airshow, Harriers, T38s and F35s from the adjacent military base.
