Dayton Hamvention 2013:

Last year, Tony KB2HRB and I had a blast traveling to the Dayton Hamvention. The Hamvention was all we had expected it to be.

Be sure to bring your walking shoes. It took us a whole day to go through the indoor exhibit and another 1/2 day to see most of the the outdoor flea market. As a former owner of a K1 and presently a KX3,  I spent an inordinate amount of  time drooling over the Elecraft booths. Of course Tony had to tear me away from the Begali display.

Having no idea of what we were going to get into, I booked us at the Natural Springs Resort in New Paris Ohio. At the end of a very long drive from eastern Long Island which took us past Dayton, we were beginning to believe that we would never find the resort. It really became disappointing when we hit the Indiana border and then had to make a UTURN to get to the resort. In the end,  it was well worth the few extra miles.

As it turned out, the cabins we reserved were perfect and lacked nothing. To make it even better, there was an awesome BBQ restaurant across the road. So if you are going to tent,  pull a trailer or want to rent a cabin in an awesome place about 15 minutes from Dayton Hamvention, Natural Springs Resort is a place I’d highly recommend.

My final comment about Dayton Hamvention is; if you are a Ham Radio Operator, you owe it to yourself to make the pilgrimage to Dayton Hamvention at least once.

On To The ARRL Centennial Convention:

With all the advertising the ARRL has bombarding us Hams with over the past six months, there can’t be too many hams that need an explanation of  what the ARRL National Convention is all about. While it will be small compared to Dayton Hamvention, it should be fun and interesting to attend the convention.  John, WA2KSM and I booked the Marriott early so we won’t have to trek around the city. Since John and I both enjoy more of the  traditional things about the hobby and are also QRP’ers, we should enjoy this trip as much as our trip to the ARRL HQ last year.

In any event, here is my schedule for the Convention. Hope to see you there!