n6pse

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My 2016 Hamvention Report

Posted: 23 May 2016 03:29 PM PDT
https://n6pse.wordpress.com/2016/05/...ention-report/




A new seven-band Radio Wavz antenna rises above the Hara Arena in Dayton.
It is just one of many new products on display this year. You can click on
any photograph to enlarge it.



The 2016 Hamvention was very well attended. Big crowds, new products and
interesting forums/presentations were all a part of the big show.



US Towers has a new line of aluminum crank-up towers. These could come in
handy.








Just some of the interesting sights in the huge flea market area.







Elecraft was very busy taking orders for their new KX2 80-10 meter
SSB/CW/Data radio that fits in your pocket!



There were many new solid-state amplifier offerings this year. This is the
HF-2000 from http://www.manitousys.com. Its 1500 watts 1.8 to 50 MHz



I enjoyed meeting Kan-JA1BK at the JARL area.



Gianfranco-I0ZY demonstrates Expert Amplifiers new antenna switch.






Booth Babes were more evident this year. Some were doing very nice magic
tricks!








More sights of inside the sales area.



Yaesu showed their new FT-891 6m-160 meter HF rig.





Flex Radio was demonstrating all of their products including their new
Maestro controller.



Faith Hannah-AE4FH is a real CW whiz and received a very nice CW Key as a
gift.





Force-12 Antennas/403A Products were demonstrating their latest technology.
These guys are doing some amazing things!



Palstar has a new solid-state 160-6M 1000 watt amplifier.





Luso has a new digital controller for their massive tower rotator.



Hamplus digital antenna switches are taking the contest world by storm.
K9CT has implemented them at his mega-contest station. This gear is
produced in Brazil.



RM Italy is producing a new BLA600 500 watt 6M & HF amplifier.





Array Solutions showcasing the new OM 2000A and OM 1002+ amplifiers.







DX Engineering showcases the new line of ACOM Amplifiers including the
revised Acom 1010, the revised 2000A, the new Acom A2100 and the revised
Acom 1500.



DX Engineering had a fantastic display of products.



The SWODXA DX Dinner was very well attended.



Nigel Jolly and his legendary Braveheart Crews were inducted into the CQ DX
Hall of Fame for their many years of enabling the most difficult
DXpeditions to take place all over the globe.







The Intrepid-DX Groups VP8STI/VP8SGI Team was honored with the DXpedition
of the Year award. The plaque will go home with Nigel and be placed in the
ships library with their many other awards.



Clive Penna-GM3POI travelled all the way from Scotland to present the
VP8STI/VP8SGI Team with the GMDX Groups DXpedition of the Year Award.













More sights from the vast flea market area.



Not everything was ham radio. There was an interesting robot demonstration
area.



Really nice old microphones for sale.



These kids really enjoyed the ARRL Youth Forum activities.



I won an Alinco HF transceiver as a raffle prize for the Dave Kalter
Memorial Youth DX Adventure. I will donate this radio to a youth to be
selected by the Intrepid-DX Group in the near future.



New ARRL CEO Tom Gallagher-NY2RF gives an interesting talk in the ARRL
Forum.



New ARRL President, Rick Roderick-K5UR presents Antonio Gonzalez-EA5RM with
the 2015 ARRL Humanitarian of the Year Award. It is truly deserved for all
that he has done.



VP8STI/VP8SGI Co-Leader, David Collingham-K3LP gives an interesting and
entertaining talk on the South Sandwich and South Georgia DXpeditions.



The DX Forum was standing room only for the VP8, K5P,TX3X and VK0EK
presentations.



Lou-N2TU and Craig-K9CT give the K5P Palmyra DXpedition presentation.



Gene-K5GS gives a presentation on the TX3X Chesterfields Island DXpedition.



Bob-KK6EK and David-K3EL give a talk on the recent VK0EK Heard Island
DXpedition.







The Saturday night Contest Dinner was also a full house. Tim Duffy-K3LR and
his team do an amazing job organizing and orchestrating this great event
each year. John Crovelli-W2GD gave an emotional talk about his legacy of
contesting and his on-going battle with Cancer. God Speed John!Â*
Miguel-PY3MM enjoys catching up with 3D2C teammate Craig-K9CT at the
Contest Dinner.





Gerald Youngblood-K5SDR, President & CEO of Flex Radio Systems demonstrates
their Flex Maestro and the new 4O3A solid state amplifier at the post
Contest Dinner super-suite.







On Saturday night, following the Contest Dinner, many gather for the
Contest Super Suite sponsored by DX Engineering. Everyone enjoys the cold
drinks, fire water and the great pizza and stories!

Hamvention 2016 was a really fun event. Yes the Hara Arena is old and
crumbling and there is a lot of speculation about its future. The important
thing to remember is that the great folks at DARA work very hard all year
to ensure this events success and we should all hope for more great events
from them.

What do you think?

Paul N6PSE