Dayton Hamvention Moving - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / rf-microwave

author: Jay_Diddy_B
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 02, 2016, 07:59:42 am
content: Hi group,For those members who haven't heard yet, it looks like this year will be the last year that the Hamvention will be held at the Hara Arena in the Dayton suburb of Trotwood.Link:http://www.arrl.org/news/good-bye-hara-arena-hamvention-to-relocate-in-2017AndLink:http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/sports/area-youth-hockey-to-feel-impact-of-loss-of-hara-a/nr8B3/I have been to the Hamvention every year for the last 12-15 years. I will have mixed feeling about the move.I look forward to seeing the new facility.The new location is Greene County Fairgrounds, Xenia, Ohio.Do you have any Dayton stories?Regards,Jay_Diddy_B

author: LaserSteve
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 02, 2016, 08:14:48 pm
content: Good Riddance to Hara...Indoors is too small, parking always a mess... Sadly Trotwood is a bad neighborhood.It will be interesting how the hotel situation works out in Xenia. Also the repeater coverage.Its moving to Xenia because the Dayton Conference Center is just too expensive.I'm lucky, I'm just a four hour drive from Dayton.Steve

author: dr.diesel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 02, 2016, 08:22:00 pm
content: I've been to the Hamvention 5-6 times, Hara was a shit hole. Literally even one year,Looks like the new location has about half the floor space with the majority of it being non air conditioned.

author: Seekonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 02, 2016, 09:12:18 pm
content: I gave up on the Hamvention years ago. The small sellers in the flea market were driven out by people who just bought a space to park their cars.

author: dr.diesel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 02, 2016, 10:14:36 pm
content: Quote from: Seekonk on August 02, 2016, 09:12:18 pmYeah, along with that half the market is nothing but old school business radios, old Cisco crap and loads of other junk people think is worth gold.Living fairly close the attraction to me was the new rigs, which many had live on display. But having 4-5 different rooms on multiple levels made it very disorganized and somewhat difficult to ensure one made it through everything.Hara was poor, but I fear the new location might be worse.

author: German_EE
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2016, 08:48:35 am
content: I'm not impressed, at all, the place is a cattle market! Compare this with the Friedrichshafen event in Germany or the Tokyo Ham Fair.http://www.uska.ch/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/hamradio_2.jpghttp://www.dxcoffee.com/eng/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/IGP7038-e1309127580294.jpghttps://ukamsat.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/tokyo-ham-fair-2013.jpghttp://onjapan.net/2006/hamfair/img_1953.jpghttp://www.greenecountyfairgrounds.com/images/livestock1.jpghttp://www.greenecountyfairgrounds.com/images/livestock2.jpg

author: dr.diesel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2016, 11:35:05 am
content: That's kinda funny, but true!I suppose they felt it necessary to keep it close to Dayton for nostalgia reasons, should have moved it to Indy.I plan to attend in 2017, hoping they somehow make it great again and surprise us all.

author: whalphen
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2016, 03:30:50 pm
content: I've been to the Dayton Hamvention for only the past two years. The first time was a bit of a letdown. I was surprised at the poor condition of the facilities. There were posters on display promising nice, renovated facilities for 2016. But, on arriving in 2016, it was obvious that never happened and the posters were gone. Anyway, I did enjoy some of the sessions and some of the flea market booths. But there's not enough to entice me to make the long trip there again unless I have another need to be in the area. Those who enjoy repairing and working on old equipment should enjoy the flea market. But, for folks like me who work mainly with newer technology and SMD, there's not much to be found. And prices are much higher than on the Chinese internet marketplaces. Anyway, all hams should try to go at least once. There is a lot to learn and see at Hamvention. I hope things work out well at the new facilities!

author: LaserSteve
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2016, 04:50:56 pm
content: I'm after microwave gear, boutique parts, cheap heatshrink and one table that always shows up with good trimmer caps, and trimpots by the pound.Dayton has always been good to me in that respect. I find whole commercial microwave datalinks with stabilized oscillators etc. at Dayton.But Ohio fairgrounds are always cattle pits. A few have nice buildings for the 4H, Pie Auction, and Sheep. Too bad they did not consider Columbus State Fair arena or Convention Center.. 45 minutes away and modern..The Xenia fairground has limited roads in and out. Limited Hotel Space. This should be a mess, with only two exits on the Interstate Highway.Hopefully they can get it into a better venue next time, or this will be a bad move... This just makes it going to an overloaded classical fairground County Hamfest.Dayton area has lots of alternative venues, Air Force Base Annex, multiple major University Arenas, etc. They should have reached out to ARRL for help.Some one with limited vision was thinking small and cheap.Steve

author: Jr460
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2016, 10:15:27 pm
content: I started going to the Hamvention back in the 1970, about an hours drive. Hara was crowded and run down at that time. The flea market was the best part if you took your time to look around.I stopped going in the early 80s because you didn't find Ham gear or parts anymore, it was all home computer junk in the flea market. They tried to fix that by having in the fall a "Computer Fest".Maybe they have gotten a bit better over time, but they lost me years and years ago.I also never did like the attitude of the group that ran it. They thought they owned every 2 meter repeater frequency pair for 100 miles around them all year long.That area Dayton has continued to go down hill.Xenia. Yikes! They could have it UD arena, or Wight State's Nutter center, but something tells me those venues wanted too much money.