On 09 Jun 2005 20:58:12 GMT, Steveo wrote:

BTW, how was Dayton?

Nerd festival. :P

That's a shame. It used to be interesting, from an electronic flotsam
perspective. Some hams have a er... ah... problem with personal
hygiene though......

True. It was ok but the used gear there wasn't any cheaper, or better
than what is on ebay really.

E-Bay will be the death of Hamfests. A shame, but an interesting part
of ham culture is about to become extinct.

I believe your right. I kinda hate to see the boat anchors fade away but
it's inevitable. The new wave of technology is going to leave a big part of
the HF radio hobby in the dust.

I'm at an age now where I'm fighting the nostalgia of old rigs and
technology, with trying to keep current with new technology. Ham radio
used to be at the forefront of technology. Now it's lucky if it can
just keep up. But my nostalgic side thinks that's just fine. I still
get a warm fuzzy just sitting next to an old tube rig on a cool
morning tuning through when the band is just waking up. I doubt if
digital modes will ever replicate that feeling for someone in my
generation or older.
But for someone in their 20's who's never known the old stuff, now is
the time to blaze those digital trails.


I'll try Findlay next. Ever been there?

No, I can't say that I have. I usually don't travel that far from home
to attend hamfests. Dayton was the lone exception. And were it not for
the fact that my company paid to send me there (And hotel for the
weekend), I probably wouldn't have gone. It took me 9 hours to drive
there.

Yea, that's a cruise. It takes that or a little more to haul my travel
trailer to Bristol for the Nascar race in the spring. I -sure- wouldn't do
it for what I saw at Dayton, more than once.

I've heard the same thing echoed from many hams. I've known hams who
have religiously made the trek to Dayton every year, and now talk of
this being their "last year". I guess it's a shell of its former self.
Talk like this is certainly not making me want to experience it again
any time soon.

Dave
"Sandbagger"