New Tower

Finally, after almost 50 years of being a ham radio operator, I have a suitable tower and tri-band beam. The tower is about 38 feet of Rohn 25. The antenna is an A3S Cushcraft Beam.

Antenna Stirs Up Controversy

Here's another thing of beauty. It's clear from this video that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Thing of Beauty

Ice Storm 1979-043, originally uploaded by ak5x.

The picture on Flickr says AK5X misses this antenna. I wonder if it was destroyed in this ice storm. Looks like it's getting along well in this picture. Imagine the operating joy having this aluminum up at 60 feet.

Hamvention 2008 in Review

The comments on the the Dayton Hamvention 2008 by Steve, K9ZW, posted on his web site, have drawn some interesting responses. If you are interested in the future of the Hamvention, the comments will be interesting reading. He calls it Dayton Unwashed, apparently referring to the filthy, deteriorated condition of the Hara Arena.

I've come home for the last two years with a serious respiratory ailment. This picture of a stunt during the condition shows how I'd like to be attired if I ever go again.

W9EVT’s Ham Shack

Here's the dream ham shack. All hams have dreams of how things would be if we had property and money. Here's one ham who lives out his dream. Click on the picture to see his blog with more photos.

Dayton Hamvention 2008

Agreeing with another writer on another blog, the problems with Dayton are the problems with ham radio today. Yes, the Dayton Hamvention is a metaphor for the hobby at large.

One of the problems we face is that we are not willing to allocate large sums of money to the hobby. For most of us, it's just a hobby. Yes, we are cheap, but many of our membership have limited funs and other important financial demands. And part of the appeal of ham radio is it's offerings for inexpensive fun.

I bristle when vendors complain that we do not spend more money. Just attending Dayton is a big expense. I drove 12 hours each way this year so I could spend more money. There are no bargains in the flea market. The appeal is on the inside where we have a chance to connect with established vendors. We all have our priorities. It's a free market. Let the vendors vote with their feet. I would hate to see them go, but maybe we can't afford to keep them.

Yes, we have an aging population. How attractive would it be for a young person to join a hobby populated with a bunch of grumpy old men. I started on my own at age 14 and now find myself becoming a senior citizen at 59. No other business or interest group complains because youth do not choose their offerings.

Yes, Dayton is filthy. I've attended for the last few years and every year I come home appalled by the conditions and sick with one or another respiratory condition. My advanced years may partly account for it, but, to say again, Hara Arena is filthy and, for me, a health hazard. I intuit that the owners of the property are holding it for some future development. It's certainly not maintained for events like the Hamvention. I wouldn't be surprised if the owners would be content to let it fall down. Holding costs, etc. Face it, Hamvention will only get more filthy. Maintenance costs money. Hams are cheap. Round and round we go. We get what we pay for.

Yes, the Crown Plaza is no gem. And it's not cheap. But it's becoming a center piece for the "other" Hamvention. Things evolve. The Contest University is becoming a big part of Dayton. The dinners and the suites are important too. Maybe something will grow out of the Crown Plaza activities that can survive to another venue.

Our hobby could be rejuvenated by some killer product or application. ICOM is trying hard with D-Star, and it has great potential. Advances in equipment technology are exciting, but they are usually expensive. I do my part to buy the latest and greatest, but I'm still not able to move up to the ICOM 7800. (Thanks ICOM for the chance to dream.) QRP offers the best combination in technology and costs, but it requires more operator expertise. Elecraft may have found a profitable market niche here. Satellite work is exciting, and some forms of it use our existing equipment. Contesting may be our salvation. It doesn't require big equipment expenditures since it has flighted categories for low power, single operator, etc. It also has the virtue of collegiality.

Inertia is a powerful force, things at rest, things in motion, etc. Hamvention has inertia because it's still the biggest hamfest in the country, but it's in a state of decline. Rather than complain, we may as well make our decision from year to year based on what's offered and how we want to spend our lives. I'll go again, but my interest in going to Dayton is declining with the decline of Hamvention. DARC take note.

All About WA4ILO

My first call, WN4ILO, was issued to me when I was licensed as a novice in 1962. Back then a novice class license was valid for one year with limited operating privileges. When I upgraded to conditional class (so named to denote someone who lived far enough from an FCC examining center to be allowed to take the test before another ham qualified, the forerunner of our current VEC system), the "N" became an "A," and I began to enjoy full operating privileges. After a change in the rules, my conditional class license became newly limited in privileges. After I finished law school in the spring of 1974, I used the summer vacation to upgrade my license to advanced class taking the exam at Columbia, SC where I was living at the time. Years later in 1999, I upgraded to extra class taking the exam at the Orlando Hamfest.

Memberships:

* AMSAT (#32349)
* The Ten-Ten Club (#72524)
* FISTS (#7325)
* Macon Amateur Radio Club
* ARRL (Life Member)