I can’t believe it. I first heard about Hamvention, which is held in Dayton, Ohio, last August when I attended the Hamfest in Huntsville. Hamvention is purported to offer one of the biggest electronic flea markets on the planet — a veritable smorgasbord of tempting trifles I can use to enhance my various Steampunk projects.
Did you see my recent column about Creating a Vetinari Clock Using Antique Analog Meters? As part of my blog, I mentioned that I’d visited the Hamfest in Huntsville, Ala., which is where I acquired the antique analog meters in question.
While I was at the Huntsville Hamfest, several of the stall holders mentioned Hamvention in Dayton Ohio. From what I hear, this is the biggest Hamfest in America (possibly the world).
As you will see if you read the comments to the Vetinari Clock column, my chum Duane Benson mentioned that he had some analog meters, but not enough for this project. I replied that maybe we should take a road trip to Hamvention, and — before you could say “Max really is a clever sausage” — this had swelled into a “Happening.”
EETimes community member Mark Rackin (a.k.a. mhrackin) tells me that his friend Joe and his wife (that's Joe's wife, not Mark's) have been attending Hamvention for years, and that they say it's absolutely amazing.
Mark says that Hamvention 2015 will take place Friday through Sunday May 15-17. I'm thinking that it would be great for a bunch of us to drive up there on Wednesday May 13, spend Thursday during the day visiting one or two interesting museums in the area, spend Friday and Saturday wandering around the Hamfest, and then return home on the Sunday.
We can spend the evenings munching food, quaffing beer, and regaling each other with tall stories of “embedded systems that got away.” Unlike regular technical conferences — when we're all running around in ever-decreasing circles shouting “Don’t Panic!” and trying to do more than is humanly possible — this will be a much more relaxed affair, so wives, husbands, and significant others are more than welcome.
Well, the sands of time have trickled through the old hourglass, as is their wont, and — almost unbelievably — the great day is upon us.
“For any study aid that you use, be it a book, video, etc., be aware of the dates of the “question pool”. For example, Technician class (Element 2) Pool is effective July 1, 2014 and is valid until June 30, 2018, while the current General class (Element
“I haven't been to the Hamvention since the 1980s, but as I remember it I don't see how you could have attended and NOT come away with a pile of reference materials and knowing exactly how to get your license. Aside from all the cool stuff for sale, it see
“It was my bad — I spent most of the day outside roaming the electronic flea market looking for parts for my Steampunk projects — by the time I started thinking I should look into getting my license, I was too tired to track the info down inside the main
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“Max, I think you need to get your license. And, for a person of your standing, nothing less than Extra Class will suffice… ;^)nnN9BDF”
“I agree (at least about getting my license) — how do I go about getting started?”
“http://www.arrl.org/getting-licensed”
“For any study aid that you use, be it a book, video, etc., be aware of the dates of the “question pool”. For example, Technician class (Element 2) Pool is effective July 1, 2014 and is valid until June 30, 2018, while the current General class (Element
“Wonderful — thanks for this link — Max”
“I haven't been to the Hamvention since the 1980s, but as I remember it I don't see how you could have attended and NOT come away with a pile of reference materials and knowing exactly how to get your license. Aside from all the cool stuff for sale, it see
“It was my bad — I spent most of the day outside roaming the electronic flea market looking for parts for my Steampunk projects — by the time I started thinking I should look into getting my license, I was too tired to track the info down inside the main