I think it is a good idea. With the event well advertised in the area, people with little to no interest may stop by just to see what the fuss is all about. Of course with the new venue, the weather every year has the ability to smash the best of plans.
I sure wish they opened at 8am on Friday and Saturday, like the old days as Hara. 9am wastes time when everyone has to show up early to find parking, and by 9am the flea market folks have already gone around buying the 'hot' items from the other dealers.
Hara was private property while Fairgrounds is likely municipal. That means the police have to do double duty with the usual early morning town traffic also. Incidentally the Chief is now a ham and a very nice fellow--say hello to him at Xenia!
I think this is a good move. People that pay will still have first pick at the items they want from the flea market area for the first two days so it’s not unfair to paying people from that standpoint. I see some younger kid maybe being able to entice his Mom or Dad that has no interest in amateur radio into possibly taking them on Sunday because it’s free. Some of the more basic items that the seasoned hams left behind might be let go for a reasonable price because it’s the last day which could turn out to be a great start into the hobby for some kid. Likewise the indoor vendors may have more time to spend with a perspective new ham and discuss some of the hardware without being mowed down by someone that wants to play touchy feely with the latest hardware with no intention of buying to begin with. There will also be that cheap guy that will go now just because it’s free but he’s not spending any money anyway. I’m sure their main intention was to attract new hams. Those vendors that aren’t interested in that possibility of business aren’t forced to stay. It will be interesting to see how it works out.
Hello. I will cross the Atlantic Ocean wednesday 15th to be at Hamvention again after 12 years. See you there guys. 73, Marco IK2CHZ - K2CHZ
Well all of that Rain in the forecast is great for the Mud Bogging & Mud Wrestling. LOL The High & Might can handle all of that rain with ease I am sure. Rain is always good for business,the Wrecker Business & they need a Boom in business as well. LOL Well all of that off site parking can now be a BIG HIT for the Locals with boats who can come move the crowd around when they need to get those heavy items back to their vehicles. I smell some very hurt feelings coming really soon. I hope there are plenty of videos made & posted for comedy sake.It should be a great weekend for a boat show at least. LOL https://weather.com/weather/tenday/l/45385:4:US Clayton W4KVW
Maybe the fleamarket can move some of the "non ham" stuff that is left over if they let the public in. But for that reason, I will avoid coming back on Sunday. Have not done Sunday in decades. But I did come back on Sunday once in 73 or 74? and won the only door prize or anything like that I have ever gotten in all these years. Maybe impoverished school kids will come in and get a taste of H. R. on Sunday and that might be a boon. Or it might be swarmed with riff raff, I mean even beyond the ham radio riff raff.
3 years ago we had bus that was going from Vermont to Dayton and had to have at least 23 signed up and this was advertised 6 months in advanced and there seemed to be 50 interested people and only 18 signed and not only that at the hotel there was a block of rooms reserved for these people and so the deal fell through. the club president said " never again ".
wish we had a BUS from SoCal!! The drive is just a KILLER!! I talked to the NUN yesterday and she said "FORGET IT!!! NOTTA CHANCE IN THE WORLD!!!" So my days at Dayton are over, Alas!! Dayton is the most FUN a Ham can have!! But it would be no fun if I had to limit what I scored at the Flea Market to what I could carry back on a Plane. Yes, they have shipping and packing services available. I remember the year I bought a Heathkit Marauder and a Drake TR4 to bring back, and also scored my Hallicrafters SR-2000!! It was a very full Town Car trunk indeed! Imagine the shipping costs for all that!! t was indeed cheaper to drive it back. Things that bring me to TEARS I didn't bring home with me: A beautiful Hallicrafters SX-115 for $400! and a 5KW linear that I really need now!!! Dayton will go on and PROSPER AND FLOURISH!!! But atleast I have some great memories. I was always a HARA type of guy, Still on the fence about Xenia. Hara was the ultimate Destination!! Not sure how much impact the FREE SUNDAY will have. I don't see a large amount of people coming. If they had any interest at all, they'd be there Friday and Saturday too. The entrance fee is negligble compared to what they spend once inside!! OH and enjoy the MUD!!! but maybe Mother Nature will give 2019 a break and Xenia will get some SUN!
Dayton hamvention... Supposedly something every ham should do at least once. That might have been true once. ...And it might still be true if the hamvention has enough going on in addition to the swapmeet and vendors. But going all that way just to see aisle after aisle of boat anchors for sale? Spending large amounts of cash and even more precious time for a swapmeet? Not for me. Not now, and probably never... If I was going to a ham get together, it will most likely be the International DX convention in Visalia. That is much more to my liking. Sorry Pat...
'THIS IS HAM RADIO' booth should have been up there in the beginning. Why do we always put the cart before the horse, it would have made more sense to install a booth and make Sunday's a regular thing for free for folks who just want to "kick the tires" and check it out.
Yes I was there in 1996 and lots of free stuff on last day. Motorola HT 90 Tons of them in trash can. Anyone with a current amateur radio license must attend this event once in their lifetime. Paul Tretiakoff Tucson, AZ
