Dayton attendance did seem down since I was there last 14 years ago, but the weather undoubtedly played a part. Talk about Deals: I scored a TenTec Argosy with all the filters/calibrator/etc. for $180 - the 50 watts output (dials down below 1 watt) brings me up 10 db!! I also got a 70 watt VHF Engineering 2 meter linear for $70 - now I need to get the 5 foot tripod and precision rotor up on the roof with the 2 meter big antennas on it (but I'll wait until after FD). They had 10 gb hard drives for $10 (80 gb for $69) and 17" monitors by Dell/Compaq/IBM for $25. I was going to buy a hard drive but when I went back they were out ... I saw two IC-730s with filters installed for $325 ea - I almost went for that, but the 50 watts of the Argosy will match nicely with the 60 watt rating on my Z-11 autotuner.
There were tons of neat stuff there, too. DK9SQ was there selling his 30+ foot fiberglass extensible poles - they are really neat! There were big tents of military surplus stuff - 50' 6" diameter masts that collapse into a 6' x 18" x 18" box complete with guy wires. Huge beams, tons of beautiful boat anchors, and manufacturers showing off their newest stuff, like the IC-7800. Every ham radio organization and product I could imagine was there, some I had never heard of. I sat in on the North Texas Microwave Society antenna design forum and learned more about antenna modeling and construction in 20 minutes than I probably have in months of research in the past.
I got a few photos, but not enough by a long shot. It rained the entire time (at about 53F) with only a couple of 5 minute breaks. It took me 4 and a half hours to cover the swap space once, and I went pretty quickly considering 70% of it was unviewable under blue plastic. Sales of rain parkas and umbrellas was brisk.
Everyone I talked to enjoyed the bus ride and said they would not only do it again next year, but would bring friends. The cargo space under the tour bus would easily hold a lot of tower sections - we used none of it this time. The overhead luggage storage would easily hold 10 foot masts and large antenna tubing, too. Sam KC8QCZ got this endeavour off to a great start, and the packets etc. are great ideas. I have a bunch of ideas how we can make it even better next year, and I'm sure Tom, Mark, and Ed AB8OJ have plenty of them too. I'm still in touch with a ham couple from Holland who took the bus and loved it - said they're bringing another couple with them next year, and that they found out about it via an email reflector run by the Grand Rapids ham club.
