The Muscatine Amateur Radio Club and the Washington Area Amateur Radio Club will present the 27th Annual Southeast Iowa Hamfest on Sunday, October 2nd, at the Muscatine County Fairgrounds, in West Liberty, Iowa.
The Annual Wiener Roast will be held Saturday, October 1st, from 6:00pm to 9:00pm with a meal price of $4 for adults and $2 for children 12 & under.
The Hamfest will be held on Sunday, October 2nd, from 7:00am to 1:00pm. It features indoor and outdoor flea market, commercial vendors, license testing, food and drink. There will be testing for all Amateur Radio license classes from 9:30am to 11:30am. New this year will be the launching of an iHab high-altitude balloon with a ham radio payload at around 11:30am, weather permitting. All tickets are $5. Children age 14 and under are admitted free. Gates open at 7:00am. There will be hourly drawings for door prizes, including a cash grand prize drawing. Indoor flea market table space is available for $8 per table. A "Tailgating" flea market space is free with paid admission and available on a first come, first serve basis. Electricity will be available for a fee. Vendor setup will commence on Saturday, October 1st, from 3:00pm to 11:00pm, as well as Sunday, October 2nd beginning at 5:00am. Overnight camping will also be available for a fee.
For more information, visit www.muscatinehams.org or contact Tom Brehmer, N0LOH, at (563) 263-3097 or .

For the first time in its 27 year history, the
Southeast Iowa Hamfest, a gathering of amateur radio operators, will be
up in the air as the Iowa High-Altitude Balloon project, or iHab,
launches a high altitude balloon with an amateur radio payload,
including radio, video and photographic equipment.

The purpose of the iHAB (Iowa High Altitude Balloon) Project is to
design and build a vehicle to fly into Near Space. Near space is the
region of Earth's atmosphere that lies between 65,000 and
325,000–350,000 feet (20 to 100 km) above sea level, encompassing the
stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere. A more understandable
definition would be above where a commercial airliner flies but below
the realm of an orbiting satellite. The realm is of interest for
military surveillance purposes, as well as to commercial interests for
communications. Currently, craft that fly in near space (nearcraft) are
generally high altitude balloons, blimps (non-rigid airships) and
sounding rockets.

The launch will commence on Sunday, October 2, at the Muscatine County
Fairgrounds, located at 101 N Clay Street in West Liberty, Iowa. There
will be a webcast on www.ihabproject.com beginning at 10:00am, with the
launch scheduled for 11:00am, weather permitting. The public is invited.