With Varying Frequency – Amateur Radio Ponderings

“Dayton Yesterday – Dayton Tomorrow?”

I’ve posed seven points about Dayton that I had been reflecting on.

1. “Living in the Past”
2. “Keeping to Comparative Standards”
3. “Where be Tomorrow?”
4. “Having a field day at Field Day!”
5. “Parallel Universes”
6. “Would you go out like that?”
7. “Secret Handshakes, nah, lets go Whole Hog!”

Each of those thoughts are part of a personal evaluation on “Dayton Yesterday – Dayton Tomorrow?”

With only a few years of attending Dayton my personal “Dayton Yesterday” lacks the deep nostalgia some have – a nostalgia that transforms the present experience into something more for them personally.

True, I will remember this year for having my eldest son Tom KC9JGD attend with me. That will be part of my “Dayton Mystique” forever.

And time tends to blot out the distasteful memories like the wannabe muggers hanging around downtown, the panhandlers & beggars, the filth of the Hara and the forever under construction Dayton road system.

So what does that mean for “Dayton Tomorrow” for me personally and for the Hamvention as a whole?

Once upon a time Dayton was “The Place” for information flow and deals, but the Internet has changed that. One doesn’t HAVE to attend Dayton to be “in the know” or get good deals.

Personally I will need a catalyst to attend Dayton’s Hamvention in 2010. That could be one or several of my sons asking to go, or a group of buddies saying “come on along” or something commercial/educational that can only be done by attending Dayton.

With a personal opportunity cost of 2-1/2 days of vacation needed, the miles & hotel rooms, and the other small fees I could use the same any go on a mini-DXpedition somewhere warm, safe & pretty, or attend a different Ham Event, or go to the NRA show, or just go fishing.

I’ll start deciding next autumn, thought gazing into my personal Crystal Ball I’m guessing I will attend another major Ham Fest type event in 2010 rather than Dayton. If nothing else just to give it a try.

As for the Dayton Hamvention as a whole, the inertia of the DARC group and the event will carry Dayton’s Hamvention forward for some years to come. It would take a catastrophic event (loss of the Hara, a terror/violence event, something VERY major like that) to bring any rapid change to Dayton.

Rather my Crystal Ball sees Dayton much like a a now elderly chorus girl, successfully piling on enough makeup, getting a nip & tuck here and there, and largely through that special attitude of the “once lovely” able to pull it of for some more years.

What will change is the elevation of alternatives becoming more viable choices, while the old Hamvention fends off retirement. Just look how successfully the nearly co-located “QRP Four Days in May” and “Contest University” have become as parallel events during Dayton!

My Crystal Ball doesn’t have enough resolution to resolve which other event might eventually overtake Dayton, or whether it will be a brand new event. It does seem pretty certain that it forecasts a continuing decline to the present Hamvention in the dirty Hara.

How many years until the transition occurs with Dayton loosing its Kingpin status is best forecast as less than ten, but not in the next two or three years.

In an ideal world the next major Ham Fest I attend will be clean enough and in a nice enough place to include in a family vacation, and will have events that interest & inspire my teenage sons. I am thinking Friedrichshafen in 2010 for the Ham Radio Exhibition as I have left it too late to arrange it for 2009.

“Dayton Yesterday – Dayton Tomorrow?” Well it simply isn’t what it used to be, and doesn’t have much of a future trying to hold to the past in squalor.

73

Steve
K9ZW

“Secret Handshakes, nah, lets go Whole Hog!” and talk in layered jargon.

Not really so much of a Hamvention comment, but noticing that at the Hamvention the usual Ham tendency to used jargon does make many presentations “indulgences for the initiated” while being indecipherable to those new to our hobby.

Just week or so before Dayton I had the opportunity to join a lunch group after church which included another Ham. Our supply priest had been a multitalented fellow who among his life accomplishments had earned his General Class ticket over forty years ago.

Our lunch group’s discussion had been much about the church and lessons of the day, until Fr Michael and I had a brief “eyeball QSO” discussing his efforts to resurrect his station after a decade of being off air.

We suddenly realized that the other three at this lunch gathering were staring at us in wide eyed amazement, as we had distanced our language from anything they were going to comfortably follow.

Our brief full tilt “ham chat” was didn’t say anything to the non-ham and excluded them.

A Ham Fest, by definition, is a greater moment of this sort of indulgence – one where we should remember to go the extra mile to make the conversation approachable by the uninitiated – in the hope that they join us in our hobby!

The Dayton Hamvention has taken me a couple years to get “the hang of” even with seasoned long time Dayton Hamvention attendees elmering. The tutorage of attending with George W9EVT has been invaluable.

But what would Dayton be like if I was a walk-in off the street?

What is the quality of the Hamvention experience for a first time attendee who doesn’t know the ropes?

The event guide wouldn’t help much. As most were distributed without a vendor list & booth guide they really fell pretty far short as a planner. Oh, and they are not available in advance to use in planning, though some of the forum & event information is available on the internet ahead of time.

What about that extra mile effort for the non-Ham who hopefully would become a soon-to-be-licensed-Ham as a result of a positive Dayton experience? Glossary? – nah. Maybe some extra literature and a gathering spot for newbies to meet each other and get their first bit of Elmering? – don’t think so.

Or an advanced guide on how to plan your Dayton Hamvention that brings together all the little bits of information floating around (like how various DX Clubs have hospitality events, or the advance registration policy of the various hotels, or a few words on how the Salem Mall shuttle works, or if there was anyway other than driving to get between various events like Four-Days-in-May (the QRP focused event nearby) and the Hara?

How about a simple bit of information on where to go in an emergency? Or what food is available? Where is the first aid stations?

And of course that decryption key to our “Whole Hog Jargon” for the lay person!

73

Steve
K9ZW

When a person not an Amateur sees photos of Hamfest Attendees, much less the real people, they simply have to ask themselves, about you their ham friend, “Would you go out like that?”

Dr Suess hats to leather “Big Boy” 75m net “colors” to what looks like gardening clothes to impersonations of the homeless to characters who obviously feel they are one giant humanoid “utility belt.”

Really “Would you go out like that?” Really would you?

It was interesting to attend this year with my college aged son – he was quick to point out the countercultural dress of some of the Hamvention subgroups.

Rather astutely he pointed out that these were nothing more than consensus-arrived ad hoc uniforms to allow subgroups with shared interests to acknowledge each other.

You do see this in other hobbies. The music clef lapel pin, the “C & NW Railroad” cap, a pair of EAA wings on the jacket, or as I recently noticed a key fob with a miniature Falconer’s Glove with Jesses, Hood & Bell….

Usually these “in group” symbols are ok in polite company.

Yes somehow we are an exception, as some of our Radio Amateur “in group” symbols lack the social norms. You see other lapel pins than musical ones, see other logo hats and jacket logos, and other miniature emblems, but most hobbies don’t have baby book carton character hats covered in flashing LEDs, suspenders filled with cables, antennas, radio & emergency gear four-five times what even comic book super heros were drawn with, or even leather jackets emblazoned with radio net logos proclaiming basically “If you don’t have thick enough skin for us to insult, stay away.”

Not too many hobbies make a big deal of their flea markets, where you will find millionaires groveling through assorted rubbish of questionable providence dressed as if their personal shopper had an account only at Goodwill….. and end up paying over the odds in the bargain….

One has to question if they would join this lot and the question “Would you go out like that?” Would you?

73

Steve
K9ZW

“Parallel Universes” is a cheesy way to point out that many of us have other interests which also have major convocations.

Over the last several years I’ve attended the NRA National Show, The Shot Show, the International Saxophone Congress, the EAA Fly-In at Oshkosh and several smaller events. You may have attended a mix of events matching your interests.

In these hobby “Parallel Universes” we arrive at expectations on how we will interact with our hobbies. I don’t play at the level of the most technically junior saxophonists at the International Saxophone Congress, but no other single place could I learn as much and hear players of this level. The last session I attended was held in a major University’s Fine Arts complex, profoundly clean, well organized and in general an absolute blast.

The Shooting shows are stunning in the level of speakers, the quality of exhibitions & vendors, and the opportunity to see & handle the finest offerings in the sport shooting field.

Oshkosh is at a different level, being the largest general aviation event in the world. I don’t always agree with some of the Oshkosh politics (maybe it would be better if I never heard about them) but the show is first rate.

Another one of the “Parallel Universes” we experience is attending professional shows. Again over the years I have attended construction, footwear (at one point I ran four shoe factories), machinery shows & numerous smaller specialty shows throughout Europe and the USA.

These shows long ago have learned they either have to put out a commercially acceptable product, or they will be done for.

Some of the “Parallel Universes” speakers I’ve heard speak over the years have included Gen. Colin Powell, Rudy Giuliani, Gen Schwartskopf, Sin John Paul Harvey Jones (Chairman of IEI), Lord Young, Former Norther Ireland Prime Minister Enoch Powell, Former President Ford and many more.

Standards in these “Parallel Universes” is pretty consistent – good quality venue, lots of local amenities & services, good transport, first rate speakers, first rate educational seminars, and very high quality exhibitors.

To each of these major shows in their “Parallel Universes” there are flea-market style gatherings of a similar nature, though as far as I know non have them collocated at the same time.

“Parallel Universes” – what qualities does yours have and how does it contrast to the present Dayton Hamvention?

73

Steve
K9ZW

“Where be Tomorrow?”

Yeah, if Dayton was not to be the location of the “big one” of annual Amateur Radio convocations, where would it be?

Several things would need to come together:

1. Location
2. Location
3. Location

Ok, so I borrowed the classic real estate valuation guideline, but really “location” is likely to be the primary factor.

A decent location would have:

• Interstate access
• Near or at airline access
• Suitable Exhibition Hall
• Hotels & Infrastructure Support
• Sponsoring Group(s)

Suggestions have been trickling in, with the major Ohio towns mentioned, Indy, Kansas City, several locals in Kentucky & Tennessee, suggestions of combining the Hamvention with one of the newer regional events, and an interesting idea of having the Hamvention rotate between four cities.

Will cover more on thoughts about “Where be Tomorrow?” in my last thoughts on Dayton 2009, as their definitely is an interest to locate to a quality venue.

73

Steve
K9ZW