The Dayton Hamvention is the largest Ham Radio get-together in the in USA and possibly in the world.  It goes on for three days every year along with many related events before and after.

Here I am on a rented scooter, checking out some of the gear in the flea market

 

 

Here is a view of a small section of the flea market.  Overall it covered acres.  This is where the scooter was a very big help.  Particularly when it got hotter later in the day

 

 

 

More radios from the 50’s and 60′.  These are ones I drooled over   as a kid.

 

 

 

Here I’m wondering how I could get one of these neat old radios home if I bought one  Probably too much of an load to lug back to the bus/

 

 

Not only Amateur Radio gear was here but lots of broadcast equipment too.  Here are a couple of old audio mixing boards.

 

 

 

When we went out to Dayton we traveled with a number of members of our local radio club, The EIDXA.  We kept in touch via radio along the highways and could coordinate stops  that way.

Here are fellow members Tom Vavra (WB8ZRL) and Jim Spencer (WØSR).

An inflatable antenna.  Pretty impressive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This old Edison phonograph was not for sale but seemed to be in great shape, in working order, and prized by the owner.

 

 

 

 

 

Not all serious stuff.  Here is the Alien Biker Ham.

 

 

 

 

This is a view of the inside vendors displays.  Later in the weekend it got a lot more crowded and I took to parking my scooter and walking to avoid running over someone in the crowd.

 

 

 

Here is one of the most popular booths, the one for ICOM radios.  They were showing some newly released gear so it was quite popular and always busy.

 

 

I never could figure out what the business model of this company was.  A very unusual combination of things being sold.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Откъде да купя иконаХудожник 

Warning, this is sort of a brag post but I hope you will allow me this bit of vanity.

Last weekend (Feb 17-19) was the ARRL International DX Contest, CW  and, despite chemotherapy on the 16th, I participated.  I made a moderately serious effort, mostly to prove that I could.  My final results were: 648 QSO‘s,  251 Countries, & 487,944 Points.  This was approximately 90,000 points fewer than last year but I am still happy, considering my health situation.

Related to this.  On that Saturday (Feb 18) I received a large envelope from the ARRL.  In it was this certificate for my effort in the 2011 ARRL International DX Contest, Phone.  My score in that contest was 739 QSOs, 277 Countries & 614,109 Points.  On February 27 I received a second envelope with a updated certificate.  It seems that the original contained a printing error which implied my achievement was greater than it actually was.    The certificate is for first place in my category in the ARRL Midwest Division which consists of the states of Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri.   The corrected certificate is for first place in my category in the state of Iowa, not the entire division.   Still, this is something I am proud of.

Next month is the 2012 instance of this contest — we’ll see how I do on that one.

иконографияКартиниOn 07/09/11 I reached a major milestone in my ham radio career.  On that day I received word that my latest submission to the ARRL DXCC program had been accepted.  This application was my final step in receiving 5-Band DXCC (5BDXCC) which means I have contacted, and confirmed via QSL cards,  100 or more countries on five different amateur radio frequency bands.

This is the culmination of an effort I started over 30 years ago and something I am very proud of.  As of the above date I have the following totals: 103 countries on 80 meters, 109 on 40m, 167 on 20m, 164 on 15m and 118 on 10m.  Here is the 5BDXCC certificate I received today.

In addition to the 5BDXCC I also received endorsements on my CW (Morse code) and Mixed (CW+Voice) DXCC totals which brings me to 325 and 329 countries respectively.  Currently the DXCC program recognizes 341 ‘countries’ and when I have worked all but 9 of them I will be eligible for the DXCC Honor Roll !

In addition to the certificate shown above, the ARRL offers an optional plaque for this award.  I ordered one and it arrived a couple of days ago.  It really looks great.