I just got back from Dayton.

As I expected, I had a good time.

I got to drool over the new Yaesu and Icom top end rigs. Not that I'm
likely to ever own something that costs over 10K!

Friday was hot and muggy.
Saturday was rainy and cool (hey-it's Dayton, eh?)
At the flea, there was a lot more radio equipment than last year, thank
goodness. And real radio equipment, not just old Motorola UHF
Handi-talkies. I think maybe some of the bloom is off the Ebay seller's
orgy.

Stuff I liked:

The better flea market.
Of course the new equipment to look at.
The couple funny pictures I got of people taking pictures of "Booth
Babes" - that's right, not the ladies, but the people taking pix of them.

Parking at the Salem Mall beats heck out of parking in the grassy
(muddy) fields next to the Hamvention. The short bus ride takes you and
your purchases close to your car in a paved lot, so you don't get muddy.

At the flea beer stand, there was a rep giving out free samples of
Michelob Ultra (yuck!) and Michelob amber bock (amazingly enough -
yummmmm) I had to buy a couple.

Stuff I didn't like:

Seems every year, we get there on time, and the flea doesn't open until
20 minutes late.

Flea sellers that are firm on prices. I insulted a few people with my
offers on equipment..... Seriously newbies, you are *supposed* to
wrangle over the price. If you think that FT-101 is worth 600 dollars
and won't haggle, you probably aren't going to sell it.

With all due respect - are those Collins rigs *really* worth it?

Ten-Tec wouldn't sell me the demo of the Capacitor kit they had for
sale. I needed two for a tuner project, and they only had one plus the
demo. And I just couldn't talk them into selling me the display unit! I
kinda understand, but it was still frustrating.

Finally, this observation - and I really hate to make this, because of
all the jokes about obese hams. I noted a number of those little three
wheeled carts at Dayton. Some of them were moving around people that
obviously needed them. This is a wonderful thing, allowing people that
might otherwise not be able to even attend the event. Unfortunately,
fully 95 percent of the riders of the carts were people whose only
apparent affliction was that they were very, very overweight! This is
not good for a person, and it made me kind of sad to see it. If these
good people want to do themselves a favor, they could rise off their
backsides and get the exercise that they need. Good for the heart, and
will help get rid of the excess baggage.

Note this is not only Amateur radio. I'm beginning to see grossly obese
people doing the cart thing all over. SO this isn't aimed at Dayton or Hams.

But all the niggling over small things - and they were indeed very
small - I had a hoot at Dayton this year, and if everything works out
I'll be there again next year.

- Mike KB3EIA -