Free services at Dayton Hamvention 2012

I have rented flea market booth space # 3977 located next to gate E (north end) at the Dayton Hamvention this year. At this location I am going to provide the following FREE services to the attending public. 1. Free access to 110 Volts to check equipment. 2. Free access to my watt meter and cantenna dummy load for testing XMTR output. 3. Free access to a 12 volt power supply for gear testing.
4. Free access to my vacuum tube tester for testing the tubes you may have purchased.
5. Free paging on 2 meters on simplex frequency 147.525 Mhz. (be sure and bring your 2 meter hand held as someone just might be looking for you) Park it on 147.525 Mhz and rip the knob off. hi hi
6. Free advertising on my huge classified ad board for looking to buy or looking to sell items.
please print clearly and use a 3X5 card as a measure of how much to advertise at one time.
Be sure to include your name and callsign and contact information on your ad.
I have never done anything like this before and my main agenda is to provide needed services, make new friends, and have a lot of fun. Voluntary donations will be graciously appreciated by yours truly.
check out my BIO at QRZ.COM for updates. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions whatsoever.

73 - W9FIZ - Barry Gose w9fiz@qrz.com home phone (765) 342-8341 TNX es GB

 

the email address listed as w9fiz@qrz.com is incorrect the correct e-mail address is w9fiz@arrl.net

Also the Title of the Add should read "Free Services at Dayton Hamvention 2013" NOT... 2012

 

Nice gesture, hope to see you there.

 

I presume you mean Dayton 2013. Anyway.....I'll probably stop by your area if for no other reason than to say hi to another Zedder.

 

YES I GOOFED- IT SHOULD READ DAYtON HAMVENTION 2013 .... Thanks for your interest.
I dont know how many times I have went to Dayton and heard someone say that someone needs to offer these things to the attendees. Now it is going to happen. I am just one guy though, I hope I dont get overwhelmed. Hi Hi Hi
worse things could happen - better to be overwhelmed than ignored. thanks for pointing out my error.
Pse spread the word fellas

 

To all -
Unfortunately I have discovered that due to LIABILITY exposure I will be unable to provide any free service at the 2013 Dayton Hamvention that entails testing another persons equipment in any way shape or form. As I am not licensed or bonded or insured to perform these types of services. I had a fellow Amateur who is an attorney contact me when he saw my add and gave me a stern warning. I still intend to be at FW 3976 and FW 3977 and Free Advertising (Buy or Sell) and Free 2 meter paging will still be available. I wanted so bad to provide these services but obviously the risk is greater than the reward.
Thank You all for your understanding and please do stop by and say Hi.
73 W9FIZ- Barry Gose

 

Dontcha just love lawyers? Shakespeare had it right (tho maybe for the wrong reason).

TOM K8ERV Montrose Colo

 

Well actually this lawyer (Ham) may have just saved my rear. He said if something, anything were to go wrong I could be in for a terrible lawsuit. So I will take that as someone looking out for my best interest. I guess he saw my posting as Free services and decided to give me some FREE legal advice. You cant beat that. Unfortunately we live in an age where lawsuits are the order of the day. I am pleased he figuratively pulled my sleeve and gave me a heads up. This is something I had not even thought about. I apologize to all that I am not going to be able provide this service.

 

What liability would you have providing a dummy load, wattmeter, PS, and tube tester to someone to use? Seriously? Saying "Hey, I have some test gear you can use at my booth" exposes you to what?

I'll try to stop by just to say hello anyhow.

 

I think you would be safe if you provided the setup but the visitor did all of the connecting and using????

TOM K8ERV Montrose Colo

 

At least the lawyer wasn't across from the booth waiting to help someone with a lawsuit. You are correct about a sue happy era.

 

How are you getting to Dayton? Did you consider that by driving there, you could get yourself in a real big lawsuit? What if your tire fails due to negligence of Michelin and you lose control of your vehicle and kill a family of 4? If you are flying, have you any idea of the risk assumed by the carrier transporting you should they injure or kill you?

But you're not going to test a tube for fear of a "terrible lawsuit?" Ask the lawyer who told you this how damages are assessed in these lawsuits. You risk "killing" the tested tube. Gosh . . that might be $5 dollars!!

Seriously, IMHO you've been given bogus advice for what you intended to do at a convention of HOBBIESTS. This is ham radio, not a convention of personal injury attorneys.

...............Bob <------------ who is also a lawyer among other things.

 

I'll also vote along with W4PG, so that makes two lawyers against one. Yes, you might get involved in a terrible lawsuit. For example, if someone comes up to your table and says, "can you help me test this bomb that I just bought," and you agree, then it's quite possible that someone will sue you if the bomb explodes. Or, if you get angry during the testing process and throw a piece of equipment at someone, then you might get sued. If you snatch something out of someone's hands and test it without their permission, then you might get sued. But if you don't plan on doing anything like that, then you're just as likely to get sued if you stay home and engage in some other activity that day.

And if you do get sued, it's probably covered by your homeowner's insurance, so if lack of insurance is what's keeping you home, that's probably not a problem.

If you're just letting people use your power outlet, some friendly advice, and some free help in checking out a new piece of equipment, I really don't see much of a problem.

The best way to avoid getting sued is to use some common sense. Ironically, I've found that people who go out of their way to avoid getting sued generally wind up doing things that get them sued. Some of the best defendants I've ever sued were people who did foolish things in an attempt to avoid getting sued.