So expand on that. The vast majority of QRZ users did not attend. Share some things about it - why was it not impressive? What did you see? What did you like of what was there? Did you take photos? Do tell.... Dave W7UUU
I was there and it seemed pretty lively.Wide range of goodies and back to back testing for new and upgrading hams. Food, drink and good conversation. Weather was fine and there was a good turnout, at least while I was there. Can't see any reason to be underwhelmed.. Fair enough there were no dancing girls or marching bands but there again I am pretty adaptable to what is available at a post pandemic gathering. Just nice to be back with my peeps!
I did not take any photos. Compared to previous Hamcations I found it to be 'sparse', both inside and out. I guess I was expecting a bit more from the much anticipated big event. This of course just my opinion. As much as I hate to think it, I'm not sure I'll bother with the next one here in the FL.
It was what I expected. A few big names AWOL and a few regular flea market traders were not there . Flying from Europe/UK is still difficult with tests needed one day before departure . I enjoyed the show and hopefully all will settle down next year. One thing that is always missing is an ice cream seller like Dayton. Well done to the organizers I will be back.
I was there and I had a great time! I saw all kinds of stuff both new and old. The weather was great on Friday and Saturday. I heard it got up in the 90's on Saturday on Sunday the weather was still somewhat ok (since I'm from the PNW ) It rained and then the sun came out then rained again. I bought me a new scanner, the Uniden 436 that I can hook up to a GPS, and it well reprogram it self every time my GPS changes, so has I go a cross the USA it well reprogram it self I had a friend that showed me how to do that. I also heard that there was about 25,000 people that showed up, but I could be wrong on that. MY biggest complaint I had was paying 20.00 for chicken on a stick, even though it was very good later I found out that the fair grounds charge the food vendors 38% to sell food I had a great time I'm glad I went, and I'm planning on going next year I'm going to drive again
Picture dump: https://imgur.com/a/ytNGtA7 My wife and I flew in to check it out since Dayton has been on covid haitus. My wife's cousin lives just north of Orlando so we had a place to stay and got to spend some family time which was very nice. This was my first trip to Hamcation, so I have no basis to compare against previous years. The indoor vendors/exhibitors areas were well laid out, felt the hole left by a couple of the larger exhibitors that pulled out but that didn't kill the mood. I got ample knob-twiddling time on the new equipment from Icom, Flex, and Yaesu. The indoor swaps were nice, especially to escape the mid-saturday heat. The outdoor swaps/flea-market felt a little disorganized in layout, this I think could be improved if only be finding a way to make straight uniform rows. The biggest detractor was the food contractors charging exorbitant prices, this was noticed by Hamcation leadership and they were equally dissatisfied by what happened. I am told they will be re-negotiating with the fairgrounds on this since it was unacceptable. Overall, I had a good time, I made a few purchases and shipped a box of stuff back home. I would consider returning since it made for a good excuse to escape the Ohio chill and see some distant family.
My first visit to Hamcation, and indeed, the U. S. A. We'd been planning for ages, covid holding things up. I really enjoyed the experience, I'm involved with the U.K's biggest hamfest, and thought the ticket sales were very well done, very little queuing, I was quite surprised. Loved wandering around the halls, and picked up quite a few bits and pieces at lower prices than I find at home. The RV Park impressed me immensely, lovely to see people mixing with their mates and having a good time. As others have said, the food and drink prices came as a bit of a shock, but if, as mentioned earlier, the fairground is taking 38% then I suppose it's to be expected. Overall I was very impressed! M0KED, Lincoln, U.K.
38% is low end - most venues I know of get at least 50%. So, yeah, food is off the chart. As for the rest, skipped it as it was too far to fly...
This was my first Hamcation since 2011. It seemed about the same as that one to me with the exception of a few venders missing and of course the addition of many more. Yep $28 for a hamburger , fries and a Coke is a bit much. New prices were of course higher IF you could find what you wanted. Very few "Show Specials" at least of what I saw. I bought a $500 tuner direct from the manufacturer who promised me that he would get it shipped out Monday. Monday I got a voicemail telling me it is on back order for at least 4 weeks. A large dealer from North Carolina had some items listed that I wanted. I went up to the counter to order them and was told "there are 3 terminals for Self Serve ordering". I asked if there was any discount for ordering at the hamfest and he said "no". Hell, I can do that at home and even shop for a better price. They said they had the items in stock, but not at the hamfest. The used prices for the most part seemed really good compared to what I have been seeing on QTH, QRZ, and the Facebook pages for the last 2 years. The Bargain of the show happened just as I got there at about 10 A.M. There was one of those old RCA General Coverage receivers that looked like it just came out of the box. He had it priced at $250 but I don't know if that was the final price or not. I wouldn't have been able to lift it, let alone get it back home to Chicago, but that guy got a deal. On the other side of the coin, just inside the gate there was a 75s-3b/32s-3 Winged emblem that was in pretty nice shape, but by no means the cleanest I have ever seen. He had a $3500 price taped to it. I asked if that was all that was included and he told me that it had been refurbished and he didn't really care if he sold it or not. What he was really saying is that he hoped to find a new guy that had no idea what it was worth and had more money than brains. I don't know if he found him or not. It seemed to me that there were more nice amplifiers than usual and most went for very reasonable prices such as $900 for Kenwood TL-922s, and $1800 for a really nice Alpha 91. This is just my opinion, but it seemed that most dealers had gobs of stuff aimed at the shack on a belt crowd but not very much for the HF or contest crowd. One more thing, the last time I was there I met probably 25 or 30 guys that I knew from the old DX and contest days. This year I saw 3. My wife went with me and we were looking around and I said "just imagine the average of this crowd 10 years from now and even worse 20 years from now". I am not lying, with the exception of a few babies I saw a grand total of 5 teenagers. My wife mentioned that this was Friday ad school was probably in. I said" I f my kid was interested, I would definitely let him or her take a day off of school". Believe me, this hobby is in trouble. I think it may finally be time to sell the Boat Anchor collection.
I was there as well with a young ham. It was my fourth trip down from NC and his first. There was a curious lack of interesting old equipment and accessories at good prices. Andrew was looking for a DK-60 relay and I was interested in a few tubes and a roll of solder for example. No dice. We both observed that attendance was down and there was less vendor presence. Tables were empty in the main building and there were fewer tail gaters. They have made some facility improvements and there were more golf cart taxies. Bathrooms were kept spotless. I can't fault the organization, but the spirit of the event was down from previous vintages and travel costs have increased so we will stick closer to home for other events. 73's Ron:
I was there with WB8NUT for the first time, so no idea what it was in years past. I found it to be a good regional hamfest. It may be the second largest in the US, but it is a distant second. A good selection of vendors and exhibitors, but with pared down selections. The indoor swaps building was well attended, however the outdoor flea market was spotty, with sellers spread out. Prices for what I was looking for was no better than is currently available online today. As previously noted, food prices were outrageous. I brought stuff in so I was not affected. The drive and parking is easy, so one could go out for lunch if one wanted too. I will probably not go back, I had frequent flyer miles to use, so I only had hotel + rental car expense. If one is tight on finances, I would skip this one and spend the funds going to Dayton. That being said, if I were going on vacation around Orlando in Jan-Feb-May, I would probably align my vacation with Hamcation. 73, Rod - WI0T
Friday Morning when I saw that RCA receiver that I wrote about, the same guy had the largest selection of Really Nice Johnson gear that I have seen in a very long time. Judging by his really reasonable prices, I would guess he bought out a large estate and had no idea what the stuff was worth. He had every Viking transmitter that I know of except for the Invader series. Somebody got some really great deals!
I am impressed that there are fellows who travel to the U.S. from abroad for hamfests! That shows a significant love and dedication for our hobby given the difficulties of travel and the cost! I am honored by your presence.
