Well it's the Saturday before my annual Dayton trip. Pulled the suit case out and started hunting for all the essential things needed. HT, charger, ear bud. Cloths and that other stuff will be packed later in the week. Called to confirm the hotel still has my reservation on hold. So far so good. Also for those that have not made the trip, a real handy tool is to have yourself a badge holder. I pull mine out and placed it with my case. Since your ticket will be used for all three days, they tend to get in pretty bad shape if you leave it in your pocket. Here is an example of one available at Office Depot http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/834768/Badge-Holder-with-Lanyard/
AARC
Anne Arundel Amateur Radio Club
Thursday 5/15/08 Update
Made it to Dayton, Flight was ontime, well maybe 10 minutes late, but that's close enough. Rough ride at 32,000 feet, pilot decended to 24,000 which made it a plesant ride. Waiting on the arrivial of some friends from New York, then will be heading to the Air Force musuem to spend a few hours. Will meet up with AA3RR and family, probably have lunch and relax a bit...
More later.
Friday 5/16
The first full day of the hamvention is complete, and as expected was a really good day. This morning temps were a little on the cool side, at 7:00AM it was 46 degrees, with a very lite rain. Met some people at the hotel during breakfest, both from New Zealand. I offered to give them a ride to the hamvention and they accepted. One of the neat things about this event, is you never know who you will meet. The rain held off, the sun came out in the afternoon and it turned into a nice day. Speaking of meeting people, on the ride out of the hamvention today, I ended up sitting with a guy from Paris... Like I said, small world, this event draws hams from around the world.
More to come later...
Saturday Update
Hamvention is now 2/3 complete. Today was a really good day, the weather was pleasant, although a little breezy. BUT NO RAIN! Saw all of the AARC crowd today, everyone seemed to be having a good time. The reaction from some of the 1st time visitors, was Wow! this place is big. The AARC VE team helped with testing this morning, not sure of the numbers yet, but it's possible that we tested 73 or more people, based on control numbers, however I am not sure if that number was used sequence or not. Yesterday I was told that 103 people tested. Not sure what todays afternoon numbers are.
Time to head out for dinner, meeting some of the group. More later!
Sunday Update
Hard to beleive another year for the hamvention is coming to an end. Weather today was plesant. As of the time I am writing this, the hamvention is officially over. The vendors are tearing down the displays, and the tailgaters are packing up. Every year I look forward to visiting Dayton, but I am also ready for the trip home by Sunday, this year is no exception. I had no goal to buy any big ticket items this year, but wanted to use the event for more of a social gathering. It was nice to see all the AARC group, and spend time with many of them. It was also nice to see some of the friends I have made from previous trips. I would rate this visit as a success. Although I didn't bring my camera with me on this trip, I know some of the members of AARC did, look for pictures to be posted in the gallery in the upcoming days. My impression is that everyone from AARC enjoyed themselves. I think the van that that came out here, now has a Uhaul on the back of it to haul back all the goodies that were purchased.
For those that have not made the trip, you have to do it atleast once. It can be an overwhelming experence to see the amount of vendors and visitors, no idea on the total visitor count, my guess would be 20,000+ Please consider it next year!
73,
K3BAY
QRT